Lammens was inevitably compared to Peter Schmeichel after his impressive start in the United goal. The Dane is the most iconic of all United 'keepers and yet the comparison falls short because their personalities are so different. Schmeichel was constantly berating his defenders and squaring up to opponents or wagging his gloved fingers at them. Lammens is the complete opposite. A more apt comparison is Edwin van der Sar, who was also the picture of calm and also hailed from the Low Countries.
Speaking the day before the game on the Overlap podcast, Van der Sar said: "It certainly looks like he knows the physicality of the Premier League – I see him coming for balls in the penalty spot and he claims them with confidence, makes saves when needed, not looking to make saves when not necessary."
And after the game he spoke to him from the Sky Sports studio, praising the 23-year-old for the way he dealt with Everton's "horrible" corners and congratulating him for his first year in the Premier League. Van der Sar also joined United for a relatively low fee, signing from Fulham for just £2m in 2005. He was 34 at the time but ended up remaining at United until he was 40, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League.
The difference was he already had a wealth of experience with Ajax and Juventus and knew the Premier League, as well as being the Netherlands' No. 1 for so long. Lammens, however, had only played one full season at top-flight level and that was outside Europe's top five leagues. He had also never played a senior international for Belgium.