One Manchester United star has proven pre-match comments from Ruben Amorim wrong with his excellent display against Sunderland.
Manchester United secured a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at Old Trafford, with two first-half goals proving enough to seal the points in a crucial Premier League clash.
The Reds made a lively start and broke the deadlock early through Mason Mount, who produced a composed finish from the edge of the area. Not long after, Benjamin Šeško extended the lead, capitalising on a long throw from Diogo Dalot on the right.
Sunderland thought they had a lifeline when they were awarded a controversial penalty on the stroke of half-time, but VAR intervened and the referee overturned the decision after reviewing the footage on the pitch-side monitor.
The second half offered few clear-cut chances, but United remained in control and saw out the game comfortably, recording their third league win of the campaign.
United star proves Amorim’s pre-match comments wrong vs Sunderland
Ruben Amorim finally decided to give Senne Lammens his United debut after he joined the club in the summer but the manager claimed in his pre-match interview that the decision was simply rotation rather than him overtaking Altay Bayındır in the pecking order.
“It’s rotation. Everybody has to be ready to play. We need to win this game. Every opponent is different, so we try to find the best characteristics to win every match,” he said.
Whether or not Amorim was just trying to protect the error-prone Bayındır, his new goalkeeper immediately showed why that is the wrong assessment to have.
Lammens commanded his box excellently, was calm on the ball and provided a couple of solid saves. It was a great debut and he helped United get their first clean sheet of the season.
Fans in the Stretford End chanted, ‘Are you Schmeichel in disguise?’ towards the new ‘keeper while supporters online described his debut as ‘ideal’.
Lammens must start going forward
Lammens did not do anything extraordinary on his debut but he didn’t need to. All the young shot-stopper needs to bring is the basics and a calm presence behind the backline.
That has been missing at Old Trafford recently and you can feel that Bayındır or André Onana often provided fear for their defenders rather than calmness.
Lammens appears to be the complete opposite and while it was a kind debut for him to have, the 23-year-old simply must start when the Reds are back from international break.
Amorim’s claims about rotation have been proven wrong and Bayındır should not be set to get a chance between the sticks anytime soon.
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