Chapter 734: Give and Take

Mourinho saw clearly that Liverpool had strong offensive firepower and solid defense. Such a team had no obvious shortcomings, so he must not give the initiative on the field to Liverpool.

A one-goal lead is not an insurmountable obstacle in front of a team like Liverpool. If the initiative of the game is given up and Liverpool goes crazy, it will be enough for Manchester United to drink a pot. So Mourinho decisively arranged for Manchester United to deal with Liverpool with a more positive and proactive attitude.

Pressing the whole court and counterattacking on the spot, not giving Liverpool too much time and space, not allowing them to have a more leisurely opportunity to organize an attack.

Especially the Liverpool winger combination of Salah and Mane, Manchester United must be careful and not be careless.

For Liverpool's fierce offensive, Manchester United must respond with a fierce offensive to deter Liverpool, so that they will be cautious and unable to attack with all their strength.

Mourinho didn't know that there is a saying in the East that one should give someone a taste of one's own medicine, but he knew that Klopp's team was famous in the football world for its quick counterattack after high-pressure pressing. Whether it was Dortmund before or Liverpool now, high-pressure pressing was Klopp's famous skill.

………………

Soon, Manchester United returned the favor to Liverpool.

This was Luke Shaw's assist near the baseline, sending a low cross.

Harry Kane in front of the goal made a shovel shot, but he didn't kick the ball, but Koulibaly, who was defending Harry Kane, accidentally touched the ball, and the ball changed direction and flew towards the goal.

The ball was finally saved by Alisson.

Manchester United then organized a second attack, Bruno headed the ball in front of the goal, and the ball was slightly higher than the crossbar, which scared Liverpool fans into a cold sweat.

Manchester United's offensive scared Liverpool players, and then Alisson did not kick the ball out immediately, but stabilized it.

Facing such an offensive, even Liverpool was a little struggling.

Mourinho was very happy. He clapped his hands on the sidelines and signaled to the players, "Well done, keep doing it."

In the next ten minutes, Liverpool only had one shot, while Manchester United, who were on the offensive, had two shots. Among them, Mbappe's arc shot outside the penalty area almost hit the dead corner, but fortunately Alisson saved the ball with his fingertips.

This shot almost broke through the goal guarded by Alisson, and also scared the commentator who supported Liverpool.

"Alisson made another top save. I want to take off my hat to Alisson. He has saved Liverpool's goal at least twice." The commentator who supported Liverpool said, "But shouldn't Liverpool's defense be better and not give Manchester United such threatening shooting opportunities."

………………

Manchester United's offensive was fierce.

On the defensive end, Matip and Koulibaly's defense faced huge pressure. This has something to do with the fact that they are still actively looking for goals and not protecting their defense enough.

While Manchester United was attacking fiercely, their defense was also bearing the firepower of Liverpool's attack.

Gundogan got the ball in the midfield, and Henderson was defending him.

Gundogan tried to dribble past Henderson, who used his body to hold Gundogan tightly and prevented Gundogan from passing.

At this moment, Arnold came up to help and put pressure on Gundogan from the side. Gundogan stumbled and lost the ball!

"Double-team steal!!!"

"Beautiful!"

...

The cheers of Liverpool fans rang out in the stands.

This was when Manchester United was attacking, and the ball was suddenly intercepted. Manchester United was hit by a quick counterattack by Liverpool.

Facing Salah's speed, even Kante was a little embarrassed, forcing the French midfielder to commit a decisive foul.

The referee Skomina blew the whistle.

However, Liverpool did not suspend the game. Salah got up and sent a free kick directly. He knocked the ball to Arnold, and he continued to run forward.

Arnold passed the ball straight to Salah, who dribbled all the way to the baseline, cut in horizontally past Luke Shaw, and sent the ball to the front of the goal.

Van Dijk was taken away by Thomas Wijnaldum, and Firmino rushed in front of Maguire to complete the shovel shot, and the ball jumped up.

This time, facing such a close shot, De Gea was powerless and could only watch the ball fly into the net behind him.

………………

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Firmino! Firmino! Firmino! He equalized the score for Liverpool, a golden shovel shot, one to one, now the score is tied, and the two sides are back to the same starting line.”

“Wonderful game, wonderful goal, the offensive back and forth between the two sides is very exciting, Liverpool equalized the score, so the game will be more exciting.”

F**K!

Mourinho looked at the Liverpool people celebrating, and he cursed unhappily. However, that was all, he was not too angry.

Mourinho did not expect to keep a clean sheet in today's game. It was difficult to stop Liverpool from scoring goals.

However, the score was tied before the end of the first half, which really made Mourinho a little unwilling.

It would be great if he could enter the halftime break with a one-goal lead.

………………

Even Mourinho himself did not expect that his wish might come true in a minute.

Manchester United kicked off from the center circle. After Harry Kane kicked the football to Bruno, he ran forward.

Under normal circumstances, Bruno should pass back to the teammate behind him. No one expected Bruno to dribble the ball directly forward. The Manchester United captain first passed two people, then staggered without losing the ball, and knocked the ball to Harry Kane in front.

Harry Kane took the ball with his back and knocked the football behind him. Bruno rushed into the penalty area and was tackled to the ground by Matip as soon as he received the ball...

beep!

Referee Skomina's whistle sounded...

"Falled down, Bruno fell in the Liverpool penalty area."

"Matip was signaling that there was no foul."

"The referee Skomina's whistle sounded, and he pointed to the penalty spot! Penalty kick! Penalty kick! Near the end of the first half, Skomina whistled a penalty kick. He thought that the horse Tipp fouled Bruno in the penalty area."

………………

Skomina's penalty caused strong dissatisfaction with Liverpool.

Liverpool captain Henderson defended Skomina, saying it was not a penalty and Matip did not touch Bruno at all.

Matip waved his hands repeatedly and complained with a grimace: "I didn't meet that guy!"

Manchester United ignored the Liverpool people's behavior and they were celebrating the penalty kick.

At this time, there is no need for Manchester United players to intervene in the quarrel between Liverpool players and the referee. Otherwise, the situation will only expand and the referee will be dissatisfied with the Manchester United players.

Yes, when this happens, the profiting party should not join in the fun, and the referee does not need their support and assistance. The referee has unique law enforcement rights on the court. He hates conflict and does not need players to protect him. As long as you stay honest and don't get into trouble.

What's more, now there is a video referee team, they will give the most reasonable penalty.

Sure enough, facing the pressure from Liverpool players, Skomina's attitude was very firm. He insisted that it was a penalty kick.

"Okay, everyone, I can see clearly, this is a penalty kick." Skomina said to Henderson, "Please ask your teammates to disperse!"

"You are showing favoritism..." Mane yelled angrily.

Henderson quickly pulled Mane away, but it was too late. Skomina heard Mane's words and showed a yellow card to the emotional Senegalese.

When Henderson saw this, he could only signal his teammates to leave. He could see that the referee was already furious, and any further entanglement at this time would only make things worse.

………………

"Mane received a yellow card for protesting. After the start of today's game, Mane was in good condition and very active. He is definitely the one in the Liverpool team who is most eager to win the Champions League." He Wei said.

"Mane, how should I put it, he should also win the championship. Of course, it is not easy to win the championship today. Manchester United now has a penalty kick. If this penalty kick is scored, Manchester United will take the lead again." Zhang Lu said .

VAR replays showed that after Bruno received a pass from Harry Kane in the penalty area, Matip came to defend. The outstretched right leg of the somewhat frizzy Brazilian defender did touch Bruno's supporting foot. This was a foul.

The foul did exist, and there was no problem with the penalty kick.

Bruno is Manchester United's first penalty kicker, not to mention that this penalty was made by himself, so he picked up the football without any hesitation and walked to the penalty spot.

Mbappe glanced at Bruno, a little greedy. He also wanted to take this penalty kick, but he did not go to Bruno to ask for this penalty kick.

Although Mbappe is proud and arrogant, he is not a fool and will not find trouble with the team boss.

Another point is that Bruno's right to take penalty kicks was not only appointed by Mourinho, but also won by Bruno with his unquestionable penalty rate.

Bruno's penalty hit rate was 100% terrifying, which convinced everyone!

Since taking the penalty kick for the first time in Udinese's Champions League group match against Ludogorets on September 16, 2014, Bruno has never missed a penalty kick in his career.

So far, Bruno has extended his record of consecutive penalty kicks to a terrifying 34 goals.

Today's penalty kick will be Bruno's 35th penalty kick!

Not to mention his penalty kick skills, he controlled the power and angle very well: volleying from the lower left and pushing the shot from the lower right, basically aimed at the inner corner of the side net, and the goalkeeper had no chance to pounce!

Occasionally, a burst shot would come, and it would be of such high quality that the goalkeeper would have no time to pounce.

Bruno's penalty kicks have maintained an astonishing 100% hit rate in all competitions.

It is a pity that Bruno is not the first penalty taker of the Portuguese national team, because this privilege belongs to the captain of the Portuguese national team, Cristiano Ronaldo, who is also a powerful penalty taker with a very high penalty rate. Punisher!