Chapter 685 Unstoppable
A red card and a penalty, this can almost be said to be Newcastle's death sentence.
Of course, it's too early to say victory now, after all, there's still almost half an hour left in the game.
After the game restarted, Manchester United completely occupied the advantage on the field.
Since there is one less person than his opponent, Hayden can no longer follow Bruno as closely as before. This also allows Bruno to gain more space for movement, behave more actively, and frequently create threats. But it is a pity that due to various reasons, Harry Kane and Greenwood failed to seize the opportunity.
When the game reached the 81st minute, Bruno once again pulled to the right to receive the ball.
Dalot's pass was accurately delivered to Bruno's feet. While stopping the ball, he turned and cut inside. Bruno pushed lightly with his left foot and passed it to the feet of Gundogan in the middle.
The moment Gundogan received the ball, Bruno, who was originally running laterally from the right to the center, suddenly changed direction and quickly penetrated the area where Lascelles was.
Hayden was taken aback and immediately followed, but Bruno was obviously faster than him and left him behind.
Gundogan's through ball was also passed behind Lascelles at the right time. Bruno was like a sharp arrow, quickly penetrated Newcastle's defense, went straight into the penalty area, and caught up with the ball.
Newcastle goalkeeper Dubravka decisively abandoned the goal, and Scheer in the middle blocked Harry Kane behind him.
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The moment Bruno caught up with the ball, everything around him clearly appeared in his mind. He made a judgment in an instant. He first pointed to the left and made a posture to pass the ball. After standing still with the left foot, he pushed directly with the right foot.
Dubravka's reaction was not unpleasant, but it was still a beat slow. The football passed through the turf from the lower left side of the Slovak goalkeeper and quickly crashed into the goal behind him!
3:0!
"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!"
"Two goals! Two goals!"
"Goal from Manchester United captain Bruno!"
"This is undoubtedly a goal that seals the victory!"
Bruno was very excited after scoring. He quickly rushed out of the stadium, shaking off all the entanglements of his Manchester United teammates. He rushed directly to the corner flagpole, slid to his knees, and looked up at the crowded stands.
Manchester United players rushed over and hugged Bruno.
Benitez spread his hands helplessly on the sidelines, with a depressed look on his face. In sharp contrast, Mourinho was dancing with excitement in front of the visiting team's coaching bench.
This victory will allow Manchester United to return to the top of the Premier League standings. One day later, Manchester United's two major competitors, Manchester City and Liverpool, will face off at the Etihad Stadium.
The snipe and the clam are fighting over each other, and Manchester United will be the fisherman this time.
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One day later, good news came from the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola's team defeated Klopp's Liverpool 2:1 at home, giving the Red Army their first league defeat of the season.
So far, of the 20 Premier League teams, only Manchester United is still undefeated.
Manchester United also relied on its rival in the same city to defeat another rival at home, and climbed to the top of the standings with one game less.
The competition in the Premier League this season is very cruel.
The Premier League has completed 21 rounds. With one game in hand, Manchester United scored 54 points with 17 wins and 3 draws, returning to the top of the Premier League standings after 10 days.
Ranked second is Liverpool. Klopp's team has performed very well this season. It has remained unbeaten in the first 20 rounds. It currently has 16 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss, and has scored 52 points.
Manchester City performed very strongly at the beginning of the season and once held Manchester United at the top of the standings. Even after Manchester United completed the overtake, Guardiola's team was still chasing closely behind them.
However, after entering December, the Blue Moon suddenly fell into a downturn. They first lost to Chelsea 0:2 at Stamford Bridge in the 16th round of the Premier League on December 8, and then lost to Crystal Palace 2:3 at home in the 18th round of the Premier League on December 22. It was the Christmas game on Boxing Day. Manchester City once again lost 1:2 to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, losing two consecutive league games.
After winning the last two games of the Christmas Devils schedule, Manchester City achieved 15 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses in the first 21 rounds, ranking third with 48 points.
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Followed by Tottenham, Pochettino's team achieved 15 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses in the first 21 rounds, scoring 46 points.
Chelsea ranks fifth, with a record of 13 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses, and 43 points.
Arsenal achieved 12 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses in the first 21 rounds, ranking sixth with 40 points.
Judging from the standings, this season's league championship will be won between Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City. Although Tottenham is only 2 points less than Manchester City, with the Lilywhites' lineup, it will be difficult to narrow the gap in the later stages. The gap between the Manchester City duo and Liverpool in front of them.
Even with the start of the FA Cup and the arrival of the Champions League knockout rounds, Tottenham may soon be left behind by the top three in a third-line battle.
Among the top three teams in the standings, although Manchester United does not seem to have a clear advantage, their advantage is actually very large because Manchester United has one less game.
After all, the opponent of Manchester United's postponed game was the relegation team Cardiff City. With Manchester United's strength, it is difficult for the Bluebirds to stop Manchester United from getting 3 points.
If Manchester United wins the make-up game, they are actually 5 points ahead of Liverpool and 9 points ahead of Manchester City in the same round of games.
With Manchester United's strong performance in the past two seasons, it is difficult for both Liverpool and Manchester City to overtake Manchester United in the standings.
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On the first weekend of 2019, the third round of the 2018-2019 FA Cup started.
Manchester United's opponent in this round is Reading. The Biscuits are currently in a very bad situation in the Championship. After 26 rounds, they only got 20 points, ranking second from the bottom in the Championship, and the relegation situation is very serious.
Under such circumstances, Reading will basically not fight Manchester United to the death in the FA Cup, and they will most likely give up this game strategically.
Although this was Manchester United's first home game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Mourinho still made a comprehensive rotation of Manchester United's lineup. Goalkeeper Romero started, Dalot, Damian, Phil Jones and Ashley Young formed the back line, the midfield trio was Fred, Mata and Lingard, and the front trident was Rashford, McTominay and Mahrez.
However, facing Reading, who had no intention of fighting, Manchester United played without bloodshed.
In the 23rd minute, Mata scored directly from a free kick to help Manchester United take the lead.
During the injury time of the first half, Reading defender Richards took the ball on the left and cooperated with his teammates against the wall. The pass was wrong. Rashford counterattacked from the left and sent it to the penalty area. McTominay got the ball and got rid of Yakola, and pushed the empty goal from a small angle on the left.
2:0!
Manchester United's substitute lineup only took half a game to get the game.
The final score of this game was also 2:0, and neither side scored in the second half.
After the victory, Manchester United successfully advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup, but in the subsequent draw, Manchester United's luck was not good and they were drawn together with Arsenal.
The two most successful teams in the history of the FA Cup will meet in the FA Cup quarter-finals this season!
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On the evening of January 9, at the Cardiff City Stadium, an alternative city derby whistled to start.
Since the beginning of this year, due to the reconstruction of Old Trafford, Manchester United will use the Cardiff Millennium Stadium as a temporary home stadium in the next two years, which makes the match between Manchester United and Cardiff City a derby.
However, Cardiff City, which is currently in the relegation zone, obviously cannot compete with Manchester United.
Just three minutes into the game, Rashford forced a breakthrough on the right to create a free kick opportunity, and Bruno's free kick broke through Ezeric's ten fingers.
1:0, Manchester United got a dream start!
In the 29th minute, Bruno assisted, Rashford shot with his right foot outside the penalty area, and the ball flew into the upper right corner of the opponent's goal. Cardiff City 0:2 Manchester United.
After leading by two goals, the game completely entered the rhythm of Manchester United.
Bruno was not limited to the front midfielder position. He frequently interspersed on the right and often suddenly changed positions to the left.
In the 41st minute, it was Bruno who suddenly ran to the left, received a pass from Luke Shaw, dribbled inside, suddenly shot with his right foot, and hit a curve ball, breaking Ezeric's goal again, 3:0.
In the 55th minute, Mbappe was violated in the penalty area and Manchester United won a penalty. Bruno shot with his right foot and the ball flew into the lower right corner of the opponent's goal. Bruno performed a hat trick and expanded the lead to 4 goals.
In the 90th minute, Bruno assisted with a through ball, and Lingard, who came on as a substitute, shot with his right foot in the center of the penalty area, and the ball flew into the middle of the opponent's goal.
In the end, Manchester United beat Cardiff City 5:0 away. After 21 rounds, they are 5 points ahead of Liverpool and 9 points ahead of third-placed Manchester City.
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On January 13, the 22nd round of the Premier League.
Manchester United challenged Tottenham at the new Wembley Stadium. The two sides fought hard in the first half and the score was 0:0, but at the beginning of the second half, Bruno assisted Rashford to score in just four minutes, opening the scoring for Manchester United.
This was the only goal of the game, and in the end, Manchester United beat Tottenham 1:0 away.
However, Manchester United was unable to continue to expand its advantage in the standings, because their two major competitors, Liverpool and Manchester City, defeated their opponents in this round.
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A week later, in the 23rd round of the Premier League, Manchester United played against Brighton at home, and Bruno started again.
Brighton's defense was very good, and they also adopted a key defense strategy for Bruno, but Bruno was still very active and created several opportunities for his teammates, but unfortunately they did not seize them.
Because Bruno's outstanding performance in the middle attracted most of Brighton's defensive energy, the sneak attack on the wing was effective.
In the 26th minute, Bruno passed the ball to Mbappe, who broke into the penalty area. Brighton defender Gaitan pushed him with his hands. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Bruno took the penalty again. He shot to the right side of the goal and easily scored. Manchester United took a 1:0 lead.
In the 42nd minute, Manchester United scored another goal. Dalot made a wonderful breakthrough on the left and passed the ball to the penalty area. Rashford dribbled past the defender in the penalty area and shot from a small angle to the upper right corner. At the end of the first half, Manchester United temporarily led 2:0.
In the 73rd minute, Brighton scored a goal. Propper made a cross from the outside of the left side of the penalty area. Gross stopped the ball in the penalty area and shot. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced into the net. De Gea failed to save it. Brighton 1:2 Manchester United.
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On the evening of January 25, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Manchester United challenged Arsenal away.
Just ten minutes after the start, Manchester United's defense made a fatal mistake. Iwobi made a straight pass, Ramsey made a cross from the bottom left of the penalty area, Lacazette poked the ball and deflected it, and Aubameyang scored from close range.
After losing a goal, the team was a little impatient for a while, but soon, players such as Bruno and Kante helped Manchester United stabilize their position and regain control of the advantage on the field.
In the 36th minute, Bruno and Gundogan made a two-on-one match, and Gundogan assisted Mbappe to score and equalize the score.
Seven minutes later, Bruno broke through on the right and assisted Harry Kane to score a header from close range, overtaking the score.
After the second half, Harry Kane returned the favor and headed the ball to Bruno, who cut into the penalty area and shot directly to seal the victory for Manchester United.
In the end, Manchester United reversed Arsenal 3:1 away.
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On the evening of January 29, Manchester United ushered in the last game of January, playing against Burnley at home.
Burnley, who was deeply trapped in the relegation zone, took a defensive posture in the game, which made Manchester United unable to find an effective offensive means for a long time, and Bruno often fell into a situation of being alone in the frontcourt.
No matter how Manchester United fans cheered, the players on the court could not find an effective way to break the opponent's goal.
From the first half to the second half, from the 50th minute to the 70th, 80th, and even the 89th minute, Manchester United was still struggling to find a way to break the opponent's goal.
In the final stage of the game, Bruno was already very tired, but he still gritted his teeth.
After the fourth official on the sidelines played the sign for three minutes of stoppage time, everyone in the stadium, including all the viewers in front of the TV, and even the game commentator basically believed that Manchester United would be tied by Burnley.
But at the critical moment, Bruno received the pass from Gundogan on the right and knocked it back to Cancelo.
The Portuguese right back passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area and accurately found McTominay.
McTominay blocked Burnley's central defender with his body and gently pushed Cancelo's pass back.
Bruno, who was originally outside the penalty area, suddenly cut into the penalty area from the right rib. After receiving the pass from McTominay, he suddenly accelerated and cut across, shaking off Burnley's defensive midfielder. He passed another Burnley central defender near the penalty spot and shot with his left foot.
"Bruno passed two opposing players... and shot directly!"
"The ball went in!!!!"
"Bruno! At the critical moment! Bruno stepped up again and saved Manchester United!"
"1:0!"
...
After scoring the goal, Bruno rushed out of the stadium excitedly.
More than 70,000 Manchester United fans rushed out of their seats and shouted his name loudly.
"Bruno! Bruno!! Bruno!!!"
Manchester United players also rushed to the sidelines frantically and hugged Bruno.
This sudden goal represents a valuable three points, and also represents that Manchester United has extended its unbeaten record in the top five leagues to 64 games.
Manchester United is unstoppable!