Chapter 578 Perfect Ending
There is no championship battle, no relegation battle, and even no European qualification battle. The 38th round of the 2017-2018 Premier League season can be called the most suspense-free final battle in history.
In fact, there is no suspense whether Manchester United can end the 2017-2018 season with an unbeaten record. After all, whether it is Manchester United's current state or the historical record of the two sides, it seems that Manchester United has no signs of losing.
This is the 30th confrontation between the two sides in history. Manchester United previously had an absolute advantage with 20 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses. In the last 14 confrontations, Manchester United has won all the games. In the 14th round of this season, Manchester United won the opponent 5:0 away.
Before this round, Watford scored 41 points in 37 league rounds and ranked 13th in the standings. There was no pressure to relegation and no hope of competing for the Champions League qualification.
It can be said that today's game is a game without desire for Watford.
Judging from the starting lineup announced by Watford before the game, Watford has no intention of fighting Manchester United to the death at Old Trafford.
In fact, Watford and Manchester United have some connections, because this team nicknamed the Premier League Hornets has the same owner as Udinese, and both belong to the Pozzo family. After Udinese sold Bruno, Maguire, Cancelo and many other players to Manchester United, the two teams established a friendly relationship, and the other two teams belonging to the Pozzo family, Watford in the Premier League and Granada in La Liga, also have a good relationship with Manchester United.
For example, in the Watford team, there is currently Manchester United's old player Cleverley. And their other midfielder is Roberto Pereira, who was once a teammate of Bruno in Udinese. In addition, their goalkeeper Canitzis also fought side by side with Bruno in Udinese.
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Manchester United played at home and launched an active offensive after the opening.
The trident of Rashford, Harry Kane and Mbappe actively suppressed Watford's defense. Gundogan, Kante and Bruno swept and suppressed behind them.
Manchester United's style of play this season has a strong dominance and lethality in the Premier League. The team's offensive firepower has been greatly released. Not only did Bruno score more goals, but the goals of several other players in the team also set a new career high. This is obviously related to the team's unrestrained style of play.
After the opening, Bruno and Gundogan were very active. There were two long shots in the first ten minutes, threatening Watford's goal, showing Manchester United's strong desire to win and offensive firepower.
Watford was forced to retreat after the opening.
But as the game progressed, Manchester United gradually found out Watford's defensive weaknesses.
In the 17th minute, Bruno suddenly changed his position to the left side of the penalty area. After getting the ball, he suddenly started, dribbled the ball horizontally, and shot from a distance with his right foot.
This shot hit the post and bounced back into the penalty area, which made Bruno very depressed.
Afterwards, Bruno's running position in the front field began to become more erratic. Left, middle, right, wherever there is a gap, he will appear there.
Not only does he create threats with the ball, but he will also actively create opportunities for his teammates.
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In the 26th minute of the first half, Manchester United's most threatening attack appeared.
After Bruno got the ball in the middle, he dribbled horizontally to the left, passed it to Rashford, and turned around and quickly crossed the bottom line. Rashford understood and sent a straight pass to Bruno in front of the bottom line.
After Bruno got the ball, when facing Janmaat's defense one-on-one on the ground, he cleverly avoided his tackle from the bottom line, brought the ball to the vicinity of the small penalty area, and then passed it back to the left side of the penalty spot.
Gundogan inserted from the back row and shot directly, and the ball went straight into the lower right corner of the goal!
The German was so excited that he rushed to Bruno, knelt in front of Bruno, held his right foot, and used his jersey to wipe the grass on his boots to show his gratitude for his assist.
The fans at Old Trafford shouted their names.
For Manchester United fans, although the team has won the league championship in advance, it would be the most perfect thing if they could end this dream season with an unbeaten record.
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Although Javier Gracia's team was one goal behind, they did not take the initiative to press forward. Obviously, they knew very well that counterattack was their biggest advantage, and pressing forward would only kill them faster.
And they did not have no chance.
In the 31st minute, Watford made a very sharp counterattack. Brazilian striker Richarlison had a single shot, but De Gea decisively abandoned the goal and fell to the ground to catch the ball.
In the 36th minute, Bruno once again rushed into the penalty area. When he kicked the ball, he was deflected by Brazilian goalkeeper Gomez and hit the post again, but still failed to score.
Bruno's luck tonight was really bad after hitting the post twice in a row. But Manchester United's offensive momentum was getting smoother and smoother, and the cooperation was getting smoother and smoother.
Five minutes later, Rashford and Luke Shaw formed a cooperation on the left, and the English left back sent a precise cross. Harry Kane's header from close range was actually missed.
This also made many people worried, fearing that Manchester United's crazy attack would make mistakes.
Fortunately, in the first half stoppage time, Bruno got the ball on the right and faced Holevas. When he broke through one-on-one, he was fouled by the opponent. The referee gave him an offensive set-piece opportunity on the right side of the frontcourt.
Bruno's cross is a must-have in Manchester United, so he naturally took the free kick in this position. He also sent a precise pass, but Harry Kane's condition was obviously not very good. When he was fighting for position in the penalty area, he failed to grab the Irish international Cathcart and was cleared by the Irish central defender with a header.
The ball did not fly far and landed outside the penalty area. Mbappe followed up and shot directly, and the ball was blasted into Watford's goal again.
Gomez fished the ball out of the goal for the second time.
2:0!
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After the second half, Watford once counterattacked, but Manchester United quickly fought back. Bruno played two-on-one with Gundogan and Rashford in the middle, and shot with his left foot in the penalty area, but the angle was too straight and Gomez saved it, failing to create a threat.
"Bruno didn't seem to bring his shooting boots tonight. He hit the post twice, and just now he had a wonderful cooperation, but the last shot didn't hit the right angle."
"I have to say that he is still very eye-catching, but his luck tonight is obviously not very good."
Mourinho replaced Harry Kane, who was in poor form tonight, with veteran Ibrahimovic.
The tactical role of the English center forward is very obvious, and Manchester United needs to rely on him again whether in the league or the Champions League.
Today may be Ibrahimovic's last game at Old Trafford, because the Swedish veteran has decided to play in the Major League Soccer after the end of this season. At this time, Mourinho sent him to the field, naturally giving him the opportunity to say goodbye to Manchester United fans.
Ibrahimovic was very active after he came on the field and actively created opportunities in the frontcourt.
As the Swedish veteran became active, Watford's defensive attention inevitably shifted from Bruno, and Bruno was able to get more freedom, but he still failed to score.
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It was not until the 71st minute that Bruno scored his first goal of the day.
Bruno passed the ball directly into the penalty area, and Ibrahimovic volleyed the ball. Watford's Brazilian goalkeeper Gomez made another wonderful save and flew to save the ball.
But the ball did not fly far, but landed in front of Bruno on the right side of the front of the small penalty area.
At this time, what Bruno needed to do was very simple, with a push of his right foot, the ball was sent into the goal by him!
After more than an hour of tossing, two hits on the post, and several shots with excellent opportunities failed to score, and it came so confused!
Bruno himself was speechless, smiled bitterly and shook his head, and opened his arms to accept the congratulations of his teammates.
Sometimes, scoring is so strange. When you feel that you are in good shape, perform well, and want to score a wonderful goal, it just won't let you score. But when you are not prepared, it suddenly appears in front of you.
This is a very ordinary, not good-looking goal, but it is a goal after all!
In this way, Bruno scored his 41st Premier League goal this season.
3:0, Manchester United locked the victory.
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Then, Mourinho replaced Bruno with veteran and team assistant coach Carrick.
Although Carrick joined the team's coaching staff at the beginning of the season, he did not officially hang up his boots. However, he decided to retire officially after the end of this season, so Mourinho also arranged for Carrick to come on as a substitute in the last home game of this season, giving him the same opportunity to say goodbye to the home fans as Ibrahimovic.
When Bruno left the field, he put the captain's armband on Carrick's arm.
Without Bruno's threat in the frontcourt, Watford's counterattack seemed to be more active, but they did not score a goal. Instead, Manchester United scored two more goals through a quick counterattack, and the goals were scored by Ibrahimovic and Rashford respectively.
Manchester United defeated Watford 5-0 at home with goals from Gundogan, Mbappe, Bruno, Ibrahimovic and Rashford.
After this victory, Manchester United not only ended the perfect 2017-2018 season with an unbeaten record, but also scored 104 points, breaking Juventus's single-season points record in the top five leagues four years ago, and 121 goals also tied Mourinho's single-season goal record for online TV created by Real Madrid in the 2011-2012 season.
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“The game is over!!” Sky TV commentator Andy Gray shouted excitedly, “The game is over! Manchester United ended the 2017-2018 season unbeaten, becoming the second team in Premier League history to achieve an unbeaten season. They won 33 games and tied 5 games in 38 games, and got 104 points. Jose Mourinho’s team amazed everyone! Congratulations to Mourinho, congratulations to Manchester United!!”
“The referee blew the whistle to end the game - the game is over! Manchester United is the champion! Old Trafford is already a sea of joy for Manchester United!”
“This is Manchester United’s night, they created too many miracles on this night! Congratulations to them.”
"Watford failed to stop Manchester United. They never showed the possibility of winning the game from the beginning to the end. They did not show the fighting spirit they should have against the Red Devils Manchester United. They lost the game with a big score that we did not expect. Now, let us congratulate Manchester United. They have achieved a record-breaking season without defeat and got 104 points. The two Portuguese Mourinho and Bruno Fernandes are the winners!"
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When the whistle of the end of the game blew, the Manchester United players on the field began to celebrate wildly.
Manchester United players embraced each other passionately.
Carrick, wearing the captain's armband, raised his arms high and shouted loudly. The veteran is used to big scenes and can control his emotions. His teammates are more wild than him.
Ibrahimovic took off his jersey, rushed to the side of the stands, yelled, threw the jersey to the fans, and then the 36-year-old Swedish veteran covered his face and cried with joy.
Rashford knelt on the ground, pointing his hands to the night sky of Old Trafford, his tears could not stop flowing down. This young player with a good background in Manchester United dedicated this goal to a friend who had just died unexpectedly.
Kante and Mbappe, two Frenchmen, hugged each other, you punched me, I hugged you, happy like a child, and finally the two fell on the field, looking at the night sky of Old Trafford...
Bruno and Mata hugged, and the two competitors in the same position ran to the sidelines hand in hand, waving their arms.
Harry Kane covered his face with his hands and cried. He was an optimistic boy, but at this moment he could not hide his excitement. He used a championship to tell everyone that coming to Manchester United was his most correct decision.
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Mourinho originally wanted to shake hands with Gracia, the head coach of Watford, but as soon as the game ended, he was surrounded by many media reporters who poured into the stadium.
"Mr. Mourinho, congratulations on your team's record."
"Thank you."
"Mr. Mourinho, although the season is not over yet, Manchester United won the Premier League this season with an unbeaten record and set many records. For you, can this be called a great and successful season?" The BBC reporter asked loudly.
"I am very happy that we have achieved an unbeaten season. This is the best reward for everyone's hard work." Mourinho couldn't hide his excitement and said with a smile, "But you just said that the season is not over yet. Now is not the time to summarize the season. We can't stop moving forward."
"Mr. Mourinho, congratulations to you. At this moment, do you have anything to say now?" Another reporter asked.
"Thank you to the players, thank you to all the young men who have worked hard, thank you to the club's top management for their support, and thank you to the fans for their continued support. This championship is the best gift for Manchester United fans." Mourinho said emotionally.