Lammens' commanding presence, Harry Maguire's defensive masterclass, and Benjamin Sesko's clinical finish powered Manchester United to a crucial win.
On Monday evening, Manchester United made a successful maiden trip to Hill Dickinson Stadium, as they secured a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Everton to wrap up gameweek 27 in the Premier League.
It was not the prettiest of wins, but United showed great character and spirit to come away with all three points, making it five wins and a draw to start the Michael Carrick era.
Which players were key to securing maximum points?
To begin, Senne Lammens had yet another assured performance between the sticks. Everton is a very physical side, and had 10 corners throughout the game. Each time they packed the six-yard box, but Lammens was very commanding throughout and handled the physicality very well.
In terms of shot-stopping, there was not a whole lot to do, but he still held on well to a James Garner free kick and a fierce strike from substitute Tyrique George—just a huge upgrade in the goalkeeping department.
At the back, we saw just how important Harry Maguire is to the team. With Lisandro Martinez missing through injury, the Englishman stepped up even more than he already had done with a colossal performance at the heart of the defence.
By the Numbers
Let's look at the numbers. As a collective, United only won 16 of 43 aerial duels all night. Yet, Maguire won 7/9 duels. A much better success rate, and just under 50% of the team's total aerial duels were won by him. He also won 2/3 of his ground duels.
It really would be a shame to lose the 32-year old this summer, so let's hope a new contract can be agreed sooner rather than later. If he continues like this, it would be hard for Thomas Tuchel to ignore him for the World Cup squad. It will be interesting to see if he's called up for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan next month.
Finally, another goal for Benjamin Sesko, making it seven goals in the Premier League, having started just 11 games. A goal every 162 minutes. He should have added a second late on, but was thwarted by Jordan Pickford.
Nevertheless, his goal was a very confident finish from a player who was very confident. Perhaps the one mark against Carrick has been his use, or lack of, of the Slovenian striker. Many were shocked that he did not start this game, but surely now there is no way that he will not start against Crystal Palace this weekend. Let's see.
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