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Lammens: I hope I can score a goal one time

Anatoliy Trubin is the talk of the footballing world but the Benfica man is not the first goalkeeper to score against Real Madrid in a European competition.

Our very own Senne Lammens also went viral with a headed equaliser against the Spanish giants in the UEFA Youth League, back in 2019.

Then at Club Brugge, he came forward for a corner and rescued a point, by making it 2-2, to send the Belgian side through to the next stage, with a goal at the death.

Trubin's feat was remarkable as Benfica led 3-2 against Real, a scoreline that was sending the 15-times champions into the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Jose Mourinho was coming out on top against one of his former clubs but, despite the visitors receiving two red cards in the closing stages, it was not enough to keep Benfica in the competition.

The Portuguese side needed another goal to dump Marseille out by sneaking into 24th place in the table on goal difference.

As the last match to finish, there was enough stoppage time for the hosts to be awarded a debatable free-kick and, when it arrived in the box, Trubin nodded past Thibaut Courtois, Lammens's Belgium team-mate, but the celebrations were perhaps not as crazy as could be expected, with still some confusion concerning the overall picture.

“Before, I didn't understand what we needed,” Trubin said afterwards. “I see everyone start to point at me and I go and after I see [I need to go forward]. We need one more goal.

”I don't know what to say, it's a crazy moment.

“I am not used to scoring so, for me, it was something completely new. I am 24 years old and, for me, it's the first time.”

 

Lammens has that in his locker already, though, as we know.

He went into the opposing box against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this term, feeling he caused enough panic to help Matthijs de Ligt head in a dramatic leveller from Bruno Fernandes's corner.

Spurs are coming to Old Trafford next weekend, following our game with Fulham on Sunday, and Senne has mixed feelings about whether he would like to pop up and join Peter Schmeichel and Alex Stepney in scoring for United, although the latter's two strikes were from the penalty spot.

Peter Schmeichel scored for United against Rotor Volgograd in 1995.

“I mean there's two parts to that,” Senne told us. “Obviously, most of the time, we're behind so it's not always the best situation that we're in, that one.

”But I feel like I have a lot of confidence because I scored a goal in the past.

“So I feel like I can give that to my team and help my team as well in that part of the pitch.

”So I like to believe I played, also, a small role in that one, the goal of Matthijs. So, yeah, hopefully, in the future, we're not behind. But, if we are behind, I can help the team as well and maybe score a goal one time.“

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As for Benfica, they have a 50 per cent chance of meeting Real again in the play-offs, which take place in February.

United's focus remains solely on the Premier League, and our current position of fourth in the table would be enough to secure a return to the Champions League in 2026/27.

Look out for our Senne Lammens interview in full in United Review, the official matchday programme for the Fulham game on Sunday.

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