Chapter 720: Equalizing the Record Again
Sure enough, Schone did not come up, Tagliafico followed Bruno closely, not giving him any chance to turn around.
At the same time, Ajax striker Tadic followed Cancelo, and they did not intend to give Bruno any direction to pass the ball.
The opponent pressed step by step, getting closer and closer to the right sideline. Ajax's defensive strategy was to force Bruno to take the ball out of bounds by himself. This is also a very common, but at the same time very practical defensive strategy.
At this moment, Bruno had no choice.
Due to the power confrontation that lasted for many years, Tagliafico's body squeeze behind him did not make Bruno lose balance, but his steps were a little staggering, but he still carried the ball steadily.
He was paying attention to his opponent, and his opponent was also paying attention to him.
When Bruno suddenly accelerated forward, Tagliafico was shocked, thinking that Bruno was going to use speed to get rid of his defense, and immediately followed from Bruno's right side.
The left side was the sideline, and his defensive intuition told him that as long as he stuck to the right side, Bruno would not be able to fly.
But Bruno was waiting for this.
As soon as Tagliafico moved, Bruno skillfully hooked the ball behind him with his left foot, and he suddenly stopped and turned from the left.
Suddenly, the ball was in front of Bruno, and Bruno turned around smoothly.
"Cruyff turned around!!"
The whole Amsterdam Arena exclaimed.
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After Bruno turned around, he was facing the direction of attack, while Tagliafico had his back to him, and the situation was completely reversed.
Bruno quickly rushed forward with the ball, and without waiting for Schone to get close, he passed it to Fred in the middle.
Fred understood and dribbled diagonally to the middle.
Schone was worried about the middle and quickly approached Kante. But suddenly, Fred, who was originally facing the top of the penalty area, passed the ball behind Schone.
Bruno cut diagonally behind Schone at the fastest speed, and after receiving Fred's pass, he had already reached the front of the penalty area.
At this time, the only one standing in front of him was central defender Blind.
"A quick attack from Manchester United on the right."
"Bruno got the ball at the front of the penalty area, very fast."
Former Manchester United center back Blind became the last defensive player to drag Ajax. He knew very well that if he failed to stop Bruno, he would be a one-on-one player as soon as he entered the penalty area.
As a teammate of Bruno for two years, he also knew Bruno's strength better than other players in Ajax.
So, he was very focused and kept his eyes on Bruno. He didn't dare to slack off even if sweat slid down his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes. He just focused on Bruno who was getting closer and closer.
But just when Bruno was about to enter his defense zone, he didn't expect that this former teammate actually accelerated and pretended to cut to the top of the arc.
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Almost in an instant, Blind realized that something was wrong.
As Bruno's former teammate, he was very impressed. Bruno was a player who was the main player with both feet. If Bruno cuts horizontally to the top of the arc, he can shoot directly with his left foot.
"Damn it!" Blind didn't have time to think about it. He knew very well that if he was a few tenths of a second slower, Bruno might shoot directly at him and create a killing opportunity.
But just when Blind moved his center of gravity to the right and wanted to block Bruno, he suddenly felt a figure in front of him shaking. Bruno didn't cut inside and slid past him on the left.
But just when Bruno quickly passed Blind, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, and it was getting closer and closer.
What happened?
Bruno didn't have time to see who it was. His instinctive reaction was that the opponent's goalkeeper attacked. But this is the front of the penalty area. Did the goalkeeper attack too far?
There was no time for Bruno to think about it. At this time, he was extremely grateful to the super training system. It was the system that kept telling him over the years that he must do his best to control the ball in his hands no matter what. So even when he passed Blind just now, the ball was not out of his control, so when the opponent's goalkeeper Onana decisively attacked and rushed over with open arms, Bruno took advantage of the situation and poked forward.
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Ajax goalkeeper Onana was also determined to win this attack. He had long seen through Bruno's move to the middle as a fake move, so he immediately abandoned the goal and rushed to Blind's left.
His calculation was very clear. When Bruno passed Blind, he pounced on his ball.
People can pass, but the ball must stay!
Unexpectedly, this attack that was determined to win suddenly changed. When Bruno passed Blind, he reacted very quickly, and the ball did not leave his control range, which allowed him to poke the ball and it slipped past Onana's side.
Onana quickly turned sideways to intercept the ball, but he was still a step slower. After all, his passive reaction was not as fast as the ball.
Bruno accelerated and chased after him, and finally swept the ball sideways before it went out of the baseline.
The football almost brushed the right post and hit the Ajax goal. Bruno rushed out of the court and hit the billboard on the opposite side.
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“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!”
"In the 28th minute, Manchester United equalized the score tenaciously!"
"Oh my God, what a great individual performance from Manchester United's captain, Bruno Fernandes!"
…
The entire Amsterdam Arena screamed as Ajax fans were shocked by the sudden goal.
The entire scoring process seems very long and complicated, but in fact, on the court, it happens in the blink of an eye, so fast that most fans may not even have time to see clearly, the ball is scored. Only Bruno who hit the billboard behind the goal and the football inside the goal line reminded everyone: Manchester United scored!
Bruno climbed up from the billboard, raised his hands into fists, and roared. But he was quickly hugged by his teammates who were flying over.
"You are simply a magician, I am so proud of you!" Fred jumped on Bruno's body.
"Haha, I'm not a magician, I can't do magic!" Bruno laughed loudly, "But I can score goals!"
Manchester United players rushed forward and surrounded him.
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"This is definitely a surprising goal, which fully demonstrates Bruno's outstanding personal ability. From the initial turn, to the subsequent pass, to the final stab at the goalkeeper, Bruno's performance was reflected Outstanding quality, this is simply a wonderful goal. ”
"This is Bruno's 17th Champions League goal this season. He once again tied the record of 17 goals in a single Champions League season set by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2013-2014 season. Previously, in the 2014-2015 season, Bruno was still at Udi When Ness was playing, he had already scored 17 goals in one season, tying Cristiano Ronaldo’s record.”
"This is also the 62nd Champions League goal scored by Bruno in his career. He has surpassed Lewandowski and Benzema and ranks fourth in the Champions League's historical scorer list, second only to Raul who scored 71 goals. Yosi with 108 goals, and Cristiano Ronaldo with 126 goals!”
When Bruno was walking back, passing Ajax's penalty area, he noticed the black goalkeeper of Ajax. He looked young, but the speed of the attack just now surprised Bruno, leaving a secret impression on him.
In memory, the Cameroonian transferred to Manchester United in the summer of 2023, but his performance at Manchester United is unknown. After all, Onana traveled through time not long after joining Manchester United.
But Onana's performance at Ajax in recent seasons has been very good.
Onana!
Bruno remembered the name.
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Manchester United still failed to hold on to the 1:1 score in the first half, because after Manchester United equalized the score, Ajax once again strengthened its offensive and surpassed the score in the 36th minute of the game.
At that time, Ajax played a high-quality offensive. Van de Beek passed the ball diagonally from the center to the left, and found Tadic who was on the side. The Serbian forward made an inverted triangle from the left, and Ziyech followed up and volleyed far away. The corner was successful, helping Ajax take the lead again.
The final score in the first half was 2:1. According to this score, if both sides fail to score in the second half, the two sides will engage in overtime or even a penalty shootout.
Although the team fell behind in the first half, Mourinho strongly praised the players' performance in the first half during the break.
"In the second half of the game, as long as our defense can be stable, we can take away a victory from the Amsterdam Arena!"
"Because we have Bruno!" Mourinho shouted.
The players of Manchester United cheered and responded as if they were in a state of excitement.
17 goals and 11 assists in 12 games. In their eyes, Bruno in the Champions League is simply a god who blocks and kills gods, and a Buddha who blocks and kills Buddha!
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Soon, the fifteen-minute intermission ended and the two sides returned to the game.
In the second half, Ajax indeed began to adopt more proactive tactics, which was no choice.
If the game is allowed to continue like this and eventually enters overtime, many variables will occur.
On the one hand, Ajax is indeed not as strong as Manchester United. On the other hand, this is Ajax's home court. They must strive to score more goals and win Manchester United at home.
Although Manchester United is very young like Ajax, their fighting spirit is extremely strong, and many players on the team have experienced the baptism of winning the Champions League last season. Although they are young, their experience is not bad.
Ajax pressed forward, and Manchester United actively tightened their defense and counterattacked defensively.