Everton clearly fancied their chances on corners against Senne Lammens but the Manchester United goalkeeper held firm to help earn his side a vital 1-0 Premier League away victory
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United competes with Iliman Ndiaye of Everton, as Everton take a corner kick, during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on February 23, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Everton flooded the Manchester United box from corners but they were unable to make any of their 10 deliveries count(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
View Image
Everton's tactics from corners were "a bit over the top" in their bruising 1-0 home loss to Manchester United. That's the opinion of the man who kept them at bay in the face of a barrage of dead-ball deliveries.
Everton suffered a fifth defeat in their last seven winless matches in all competitions at Hill Dickinson Stadium after substitute Benjamin Sesko put the finishing touch to a lightning-fast United counter-attack in the 71st minute.
The end result was harsh on the Blues, who after nullifying their in-form opponents' threat in the first half, began to play more on the front foot after the restart.
However, despite plenty of endeavour, and one excellent stop to deny Michael Keane, they never truly threatened impressive Reds Devils goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who they clearly fancied testing from set-pieces.
Time after time from corners the Blues put a host of bodies around the Belgian and attempted to float the ball into the middle of his box.
But Lammens and the United defence stood firm to secure a vital victory - their fifth in six unbeaten games under interim manager Michael Carrick - in the battle for Champions League football.
And afterwards the man-of-the-match said to Sky Sports: "Today was about the hard work, defending together. We know we didn't do our best, especially first half, it was difficult.
"We have to be better on the ball but if we defend well, don't give balls away then we have the players up top to make the difference.
"I always want to be confident. Since the manager has come in, we have been defending well together. We know if me and the defence keep it to zero then we have a chance to win.
"Everton are a physical team, their defenders are really big. We knew the corners and set pieces would be difficult.
"It's a strength of mine (dealing with crosses), but today it was a bit over the top! I had to be behind the line in order to come out. It was too much, but it can be difficult for the referee to see it.
"Sometimes you can't be thinking too much about players around you, because then you aren't thinking about the ball. My defenders can create space for me, so I have the opportunity to come and punch the ball away. But it is getting more and more difficult."
One person who was impressed with Lammens was Everton manager David Moyes, who said afterwards: "The goalie was brilliant for them tonight. The save he had from Michael Keane, the way he dealt with the corner kicks, you know, there was a huge amount of pressure on him.
“We hoped somewhere we would have got a nick on one of them… You could look at it another way and say we should have tried something else to try and get a goal, but it is very difficult to get that information on during the game and actually I thought the way it was going, we would get one from it, but we didn't.
“I thought their goalkeeper played really well tonight. For me, he was the best player for them.”
The Blues return to action on Saturday away to Newcastle United (3pm).
*Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source.Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.*