Chapter 531 Manchester Derby Tenth Goal

On the afternoon of January 23, Manchester City head coach Guardiola and Manchester United head coach Mourinho attended the pre-match press conference together.

"Manchester United is a respectable team, but for Manchester City, victory is the only goal." Guardiola made a direct statement.

"Manchester City is one of the strongest teams in England and even in Europe. It is a wonderful experience to play against them. Manchester City has many great players, and Mr. Guardiola is also a very successful championship coach..."

Hearing Mourinho say this, the Manchester City reporters at the scene all nodded with a smile, which was in line with their expectations. However, they did not expect Mourinho to pause for a moment, and suddenly changed his tone and said: "I like to play against Manchester City, because I have good luck playing against them. More than a month ago, we had a wonderful experience against Manchester City, and I hope it will be the same this time."

"Do you mean to beat Manchester City?" A reporter asked immediately.

"No one will reject victory, and no one will surrender." Mourinho smiled and nodded, "I like victory."

"Well said." Guardiola suddenly slapped the table, "I like victory too!"

Mourinho was startled, he wanted to punch the bald man, he felt that the Spaniard was doing it on purpose.

………………

At 7:40 in the evening, the stands of Old Trafford were noisy, and the players of both sides had entered the field.

At this moment, the starting lineups of both sides were also displayed on the big screen of the stadium.

Home team Manchester United: goalkeeper Romero; back line Valencia, Van Dijk, Maguire, Luke Shaw; midfielders Kante, Gundogan, Bruno; forwards Mbappe, Harry Kane, Rashford.

Away team Manchester City: goalkeeper Bravo; back line 2 Kyle Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; midfielders Fernandinho, David Silva, De Bruyne; forwards Bernardo Silva, Sane, Aguero.

Manchester United captain Bruno won the coin-guessing game against David Silva, and Manchester United won the right to choose the side, and Manchester City kicked off first.

The players of both sides stood in their positions according to the formation. After the referee on duty and the two linesmen confirmed the time, they blew the whistle to start the game.

The second leg of the 2017-2018 League Cup semi-final, Manchester United's home game against Manchester City officially began.

For this game, Mourinho's consideration is that it is difficult to prevent Manchester City from scoring, and he is more confident in the team's offensive ability, so he simply wrestled with Manchester City.

Manchester City, which has shifted its target to the cup, will go all out in the game. Guardiola hates opponents who shrink and defend. In a head-on attack, Guardiola is confident that his Manchester City can break the opponent's back door.

The tactical considerations and the design of goals and means for this game by the two head coaches determined the trend of this game from the beginning: the game rhythm is extremely fast, you come and I go, very lively.

………………

"Rashford! Rashford! Beautiful! Got it, Kyle Walker was broken through! In this duel, the English left winger defeated the English right back."

"Luke Shaw! Switch positions! Pass the ball!"

"Harry Kane!"

"A wonderful save! Bravo made a world-class save!"

After making the save, Bravo was very angry. He shouted at Stones, the backbone of his defense. Stones' movement was obviously slow just now, and he couldn't keep up with Harry Kane's sprint.

Mourinho applauded on the sidelines and cheered for the team's attack. Rashford and Luke Shaw, two young men with strong firepower, continued to attack repeatedly on the left, which was not something Kyle Walker could handle alone.

Although everyone is teammates of the England national team and is very familiar with each other, it's 2VS1 on Manchester United's side!

Manchester United's corner kick

Bruno took the corner kick into the penalty area. Harry Kane failed to get enough power to head the ball under the pressure of Stones. The ball was picked up by Bravo in the air. The Manchester City goalkeeper immediately ran to the edge of the penalty area and threw the ball with force to launch a counterattack.

De Bruyne received the ball and passed it to Fernandinho. The latter pulled the ball with his left foot, avoided Bruno's pressing, and then knocked the ball to Bernardo Silva.

Bernardo Silva was very excited and started his performance.

"Beautiful, Bernardo Silva!"

Bernardo Silva passed Rashford. Although David Silva kept raising his hand to signal, Bernardo Silva did not pass the ball. He continued to dribble along the side.

………………

Gundogan went to defend Bernardo Silva. At the same time, Manchester United's left center back Maguire was also forced to move to this side to fill the gap left by Luke Shaw's assist.

"Pass the ball! Asshole! Pass the ball!" Guardiola waved his arms and yelled on the sidelines.

At this time, Manchester United's defense line was seriously tilted to the left, and there was some space on the other side. As long as Bernardo Silva passed the ball, it would be an offensive opportunity.

Finally, after David Silva's arms were sore from lifting them, and Bernardo Silva kept dribbling and dodging, and found that he really couldn't continue to break through, he passed the ball.

David Silva was ready to receive the ball, and then he saw a red figure rushing up and directly stealing the ball in the middle.

It's Kante!

This was a very beautiful steal. Even the commentator was exclaiming "Kante! When did he appear there?! Beautiful steal!"

After Kante stole the ball, he dribbled forward and observed the surrounding situation. After Gundogan rushed up, he immediately passed the cut to his teammates and retreated without hesitation.

This is Kante. He is inconspicuous and does all the dirty work, but it is the most important job.

………………

Gundogan dribbled the ball at high speed. He directly squeezed De Bruyne who came up to steal the ball, and then passed the ball to Bruno.

Bruno controlled the ball beautifully and tried to pass Fernandinho, and then attracted a Manchester City central defender to come out at the same time to create opportunities for Mbappe who followed up on the right.

Beautiful left foot pulled the ball to the right foot, dribbled the ball, and changed direction, but Fernandinho was not completely fooled. His right foot behind tried his best to touch the ball, which made the ball bounce.

But Manchester United's attack did not end there. Bruno reacted quickly, took a small step forward, raised his right foot and gently lifted the ball, a very freehand move.

Then he turned half-way, blocked Fernandinho who came up to counter-grab, and passed the ball to Mbappe who came to respond.

Mbappe, who received the ball, dribbled the ball on the right, Stones pressed out, and the England international defender tried to follow up and lean on Mbappe, but Mbappe got rid of Stones with a simple speed change.

"Breakthrough!"

"Stones, he was easily passed, my God!"

With the commentator's exclamation, the subsequent process became simple, and Mbappe passed the ball easily on the right.

"Bruno Fernandez--!!"

Harry Kane suppressed Otamendi in the penalty area, which gave Bruno, who came in from behind, a chance. He rushed up like a tiger descending from the mountain, squeezed out the full-back Zinchenko who wanted to hastily fill the position, and rushed to the ball before Fernandinho intercepted it.

The football flew straight to the goal like a cannonball. Bravo tried his best to save the powerful shot, but when he flew out, the football had already swept over and hit the net directly.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLL!!!!!!!"

"Bruno! What a beautiful goal! What a powerful shot!!!"

The football lifted the net hard, and the net was shaking.

Old Trafford was shining with stars and the night sky was bright. Bruno stood in front of the goal, clenched his fists, and roared to the sky.

………………

When he saw Mbappe easily pass Stones and then pass the ball, and Bruno rushed to shoot the ball into Manchester City's goal, Mourinho rushed up from the coaching seat with his arms raised. He had been waiting for this moment, the moment to celebrate.

And Manchester City coach Guardiola waved his arms angrily, cursing. He didn't scold a specific player, it was just an emotional vent after losing the ball.

"Josep, do we need to make adjustments?" Assistant coach Arteta asked.

Guardiola shook his head and said, "It's too early to make adjustments now."

The game had only started for eleven minutes.

"There is nothing wrong with our tactics. Manchester United pressed forward to attack, which is the same as my prediction." Guardiola said, "What I am most worried about now is that Manchester United will retreat to defense after leading the score."

No, it's not worrying. Guardiola can almost determine that Manchester United will play a defensive counterattack after scoring, because this is what the Portuguese is best at. Manchester United is leading 1:0 and the total score is also 3:2. Playing a defensive counterattack is the most correct choice.

"Should we play a defensive counterattack?" Carrick also asked Mourinho.

Mourinho shook his head and said, "Did you notice? Manchester City's left side exposed many problems in this loss."

"Stones's condition seems not very good, and Zinchenko is inexperienced and seems very panicked." Carrick thought for a while and said.

"Not bad, Michael." Mourinho said happily, "This is our chance, focus on Manchester City here!"

As he said, Mourinho walked to the sidelines and shouted Kante's name loudly.

Kante was celebrating Bruno's goal with his teammates. Hearing Mourinho's call, he hurried back.

"Tell Bruno to focus on attacking Manchester City's left wing, especially the junction of Stones and Zinchenko." Mourinho said to Kante.

Kante was a little surprised. Why didn't the coach call the team captain Bruno to convey the tactical adjustment on the offensive end directly, but had to convey it through him?

However, Kante didn't say much and turned around and ran back to the court.

On the other side, seeing Mourinho calling Kante to the sidelines to give instructions, Guardiola's face was gloomy and he snorted: A team that is conservative when leading is a coward.