Manchester United don’t play for another two weeks, but on Monday night, two players were in action for Belgium, both Senne Lammens and Youri Tielemans.
Belgium are in the Nations League A group of death this year, but looked excellent value to secure European Championship football. Belgium beat Italy 2-0 last week, thanks to the efforts of Senne Lammens and Youri Tielemans, the perfect start.
An even tougher task awaited the two United players on Monday as the Red Devils hosted Zinedine Zidane’s France side. While the underdogs on paper, the clash was evenly balanced, with the two United representatives on the pitch shining, but in particular, Lammens was immense.
Senne Lammens stars for Belgium
It wasn’t the greatest game for a neutral to watch as Belgium and France played out a nervy game that Les Blues pipped at the end through individual brilliance. But the scoreline only stayed that low thanks to the contribution of Lammens in goal, wearing the number one shirt in the absence of Thibaut Courtois.
Lammens made five saves, with three being from shots within the box, and prevented 0.82 goals as a result of his shot-stopping masterclass. It was a showcase of how good Lammens is right now, but he was denied his clean sheet by a familiar means.
Michael Olise scored a ‘worldie’ which is the only way Lammens can be beaten for club or country. But he will be delighted with his performance up until that moment.
Lining up next to Lammens for Belgium was Tielemans, who also donned the captain’s armband in midfield. Tielemans was good, but far from his best as he completed just 81 per cent of his passes.
Defensively, he was busy, winning five of 11 duels, two of four tackles, and seven defensive contributions. Not a performance he will be thrilled with, and it also saw a yellow card.
Leny Yoro was the other United player who may have been involved, but he was parked on the bench for France all game, probably a victim of Zidane using attacking substitutes instead in search of a goal. Hopefully, Yoro gets a chance before the break ends.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/ovZ1hM2