The trick that helps Manchester United’s Senne Lammens dominate Royal Rumble corners

At full-time at Goodison Park, as Everton’s final delivery was swallowed by a sea of bodies and blue shirts, one figure rose above the chaos yet again: Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

While United’s 1-0 win away from home will be remembered for the resilience it required, for those who study the goalkeeper position closely, it was another compelling chapter in the evolution of a goalkeeper who has fundamentally changed the way this team has defended its penalty area this season.

For years, United have endured aerial anxiety. Crosses into the box brought tension, set pieces brought uncertainty. Since Lammens’ arrival, that dynamic has shifted. The Everton match was perhaps the clearest example yet of his impact.

Everton’s approach became increasingly obvious as the clock ticked down and desperation set in. With the equaliser slipping further out of reach, the hosts turned to a direct, confrontational strategy — loading the box, crowding the goalkeeper, and testing Lammens’ authority with every delivery.

After the match, United team-mate Kobbie Mainoo shared an image likening the scene to a WWE Royal Rumble — bodies tangled, arms out, shirts pulled. It was extreme, even by modern Premier League standards. And it was deliberate.

Everton manager David Moyes admitted as much afterwards. The plan, he conceded, was that “the goalie wouldn’t do as well as he did”.

Instead, what was designed to unsettle Lammens only strengthened his resolve, as he repeatedly imposed himself and controlled the space Everton tried to suffocate.

In total, Everton won 10 corners to United’s one. They attempted 35 crosses, completing five. Lammens claimed two high balls cleanly and punched four more clear of danger — the six total interactions are joint-fourth-most in a single match this season, and perhaps even better, the joint-highest from within the six-yard box.

Impressively, each intervention came through traffic, through contact, and through calculated obstruction. Yet each time, he chose confrontation over caution.

What stands out is not just the execution, but the unwavering consistency of his mentality. Whether in open play or from a dead ball, Lammens remained proactive, aggressive, and decisive, never retreating, even as his six-yard box filled with bodies.

When asked about Everton’s tactics after the match, Lammens told Sky Sports: “It was a bit over the top for me, personally. I couldn’t even be inside the goal; I had to be behind the line to come out. That’s too much, but it’s difficult for the referees to see it.”

There is something revealing in that admission. Rather than looking for excuses, he looked for solutions and searched for the necessary space to attack the ball. If he could not stand in his usual starting position, he adjusted. If the path was blocked, he found another route. That is the mark of a goalkeeper who is solution-oriented rather than excuse-driven.

At 6ft 4in (193cm), Lammens is physically equipped for aerial dominance. His wingspan is imposing and his explosive power allows him to attack the ball at its highest point. However, size alone does not create authority; positioning and timing do.

What separates Lammens is his calculated yet offensive starting position. He may not always start high off his line, but importantly, he does not shrink backwards toward his line either. Instead, he begins on his front foot, constantly hunting the ball and searching for the space between himself, his defenders and the opposition to attack the ball.

This helps him extend his range and expertly anticipate balls into the box while eliminating danger from the opposition (often) before it has a chance to develop. This also helps him adjust his position early, which means he is able to weigh the percentages and evaluate the likely final destination for each ball ahead of time. This helps to slow the game down in front of him and makes each movement more fluid and predictable.

This mentality crucially changes the psychology of the box, not just for the goalkeeper, but importantly for his defenders, who know that balls delivered into the six-yard area belong to their goalkeeper. This allows them to trust their own decisions, knowing that in the worst-case scenario, the goalkeeper will be there to bail them out. That clarity breeds calmness, and decisions become more decisive. Most importantly, when a back line trusts its goalkeeper to dominate the air, it defends confidently rather than passively.

Here, in the 65th minute, Everton send two players into the box in an attempt to screen Lammens’ path to the ball…

… only for the United goalkeeper to fight through the traffic and expertly punch the ball away with his right fist.

As the game went on, that pressure only grew stronger. What started as two players trying to screen Lammens suddenly became four or five.

Even though Everton tried repeatedly to drop balls on top of him — an uncomfortable zone too high for defenders to defend, and extremely dangerous for the goalkeeper — Lammens never hesitated, comfortably and successfully punching the ball well away from danger.

In an ideal world, every cross would be caught and possession secured, relieving the pressure. However, football rarely offers ideal conditions.

Traffic, trajectory and pace all dictate the correct intervention from the goalkeeper. Lammens’ decision-making in these moments has been a defining trait of his early United tenure.

When he can catch, he does, like he did in the 74th minute — strong hands, elbows wide, body through contact.

And when he cannot, he punches with intent.

A proper punch is not a last resort; it is a calculated attacking movement for the goalkeeper that creates space and, sometimes, is the safest decision to neutralise danger. The goalkeeper creates space with a rising knee, their arms extended, fists clenched, making contact at full elevation, and clearing the ball high and away from danger.

Against Everton, almost every punch from Lammens achieved exactly that — height, distance, and relief.

What has been crucial for him this season is that he does not allow previous moments to influence the next one. We saw that away at Arsenal, when after being screened on the equalising 2-2 goal, he left his line again minutes later in stoppage time to punch clear under immense pressure and help to secure what would go on to be a 3-2 win.

Many goalkeepers retreat after being exposed, particularly in matches of this magnitude, where every mistake is magnified and every decision dissected. Lammens, however, responds in the opposite way. Rather than shrinking into caution, he grows into the moment, doubling down on his conviction and attacking the next action with even greater authority.

You discover a goalkeeper’s character not when everything is comfortable, but in how they respond after something goes wrong. Against Arsenal, he didn’t back down after the equaliser, and again at Goodison, he showed fearlessness despite a host of players making his life very difficult.

His aerial authority has also coincided with a defensive transformation as of late. Against Everton, United recorded their third clean sheet in six games under Michael Carrick — compared to just two in the previous 16.

After the match, Carrick called him “exemplary”. Moyes went with “bloody brilliant”.

Both managers were searching for superlatives because Lammens’ influence has not always been loud, but it has been transformational.

Before his arrival from Royal Antwerp, a compilation of his mistimed exits circulated online. There were doubts from some supporters about whether his aggressive nature would translate cleanly to the Premier League.

Since then, those fears have largely evaporated.

Admittedly, he has not been perfect — no goalkeeper who plays on the front foot ever is. There have been moments where restraint would have been preferable, yet those moments have been rare, and importantly, they have not altered his conviction. And that conviction has been contagious for the entire squad.

For nearly 15 years, since the departure of Edwin van der Sar, United have searched for aerial certainty. Different profiles have come and gone. Different styles have been trialled.

What Lammens has restored is not simply the act of catching or punching crosses, it is the psychological edge that comes with knowing the six-yard box is protected and dominated by the goalkeeper.

Against Everton, as bodies collided and blue shirts attempted to pin him to his line, he continued to step forward, asserting himself over and over again.

Aerial dominance is not defined by spectacular saves, it is defined by presence and by the ability to impose your will in the most crowded, chaotic spaces and to bring clarity where there should be confusion.

At Goodison Park, in the eye of the storm, Lammens embodied exactly that.

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