Chapter 746 Mourinho Starts to Criticize

After Bruno returned to Manchester with the third World Footballer of the Year trophy in his career, Manchester United ushered in the third round of the League Cup, playing at home against the League One team Rochdale.

Since they would have a strong dialogue with Arsenal in three days, Mourinho sent a full substitute rotation lineup to play this game.

Manchester United, who played with the substitute lineup, tied Rochdale 1:1 in 90 minutes. The game entered a penalty shootout. In the end, Manchester United won 5:3 and advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup.

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At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of September 28, a focus game in the 7th round of the Premier League kicked off at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, with the Red Devils Manchester United playing at home against the Gunners Arsenal.

Because in the early game of this round, Liverpool beat Sheffield United 1:0 away, temporarily surpassing Manchester United in the standings and rising to first place.

Arsenal's performance this season is very average, with only 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the first 6 rounds, temporarily ranking fifth in the Premier League standings.

The match between Manchester United and Arsenal has always been a world-renowned focus battle, and this match is no exception.

Before the game, Manchester United held a grand ceremony for Bruno, and Bruno carried three World Footballer of the Year trophies and displayed them in front of more than 70,000 Manchester United fans.

After the game started, it quickly entered a fast-paced offense and defense.

The visiting team took the lead in creating the first threatening attack in the game. In the 6th minute, new aid Pepe got the ball on the right and broke through with the ball. When he entered the hinterland, De Gea caught the ball before Aubameyang.

Three minutes later, Manchester United scored a goal. Manchester United got a free kick in the frontcourt. Bruno took the penalty kick into the penalty area. Maguire grabbed the first point and headed the ball into the goal.

Just as Manchester United players were celebrating the goal, VAR reminded Maguire that the goal was offside. According to VAR's line, the offside was not obvious this time. Maguire only stuck his shoulder out a little. If it were not for the slow motion, it would be difficult to tell with the naked eye.

Even the commentators said that this offside was very controversial and said that this offside was "hair-level" offside.

Manchester United was very dissatisfied with such a penalty, but they could not change the referee's penalty.

Since the introduction of VAR in the Premier League this season, there have been many controversies. For example, Manchester United's "hair-level" offside penalty this time is not an isolated case.

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Although Manchester United's goal was blown off, Manchester United still scored before the end of the first half.

In the 44th minute, Rashford knocked back, Bruno took a long shot from the top of the penalty area, and the ball went straight into the dead corner of the net, 1:0, Manchester United broke the deadlock.

At the end of the half, Manchester United temporarily led the opponent with a score of 1:0.

After the change of sides, Arsenal, who was behind in the score, launched a counterattack.

In the 49th minute, Pepe received the ball in the frontcourt and made a 45-degree cross. Bruno rushed to head the ball out of the penalty area before Aubameyang. Two minutes later, Aubameyang made a cross from the right, and Torreira's volley did not pose a threat.

When the game reached the 54th minute, there was another controversial penalty on the field. Bruno's cross hit Kolasinac's arm, and the referee awarded a penalty.

But just as Bruno was about to take the penalty himself, VAR prompted that it was a ball-hitting hand. The referee went to the sidelines to watch the video replay and cancelled the penalty.

This once again caused great dissatisfaction among Manchester United players. After all, when the referee awarded the penalty before, even Kolasinac himself did not protest. Obviously, he knew that he had handballed.

As for the basis for VAR's judgment that it was a ball-hitting hand, it was that Kolasinac had turned his body when defending at the time, and his arms tended to close.

But it is worth noting that the football hit Kolasinac's wrist, which was not tightened, instead of his arm, and the running route of the football was obviously changed.

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Arsenal, who escaped a disaster, quickly equalized the score.

Perhaps it was the continuous unfair penalties that caused some psychological fluctuations in Manchester United players.

In the 57th minute, Gundogan encountered Arsenal's pressing on the wing. He made a mistake in passing the ball and failed to find Kante in the middle. He was intercepted by Arsenal youngster Saka.

Saka made a straight pass and broke through Manchester United's defense, and Aubameyang scored with a lob.

Manchester United players complained that Arsenal committed a foul when pressing Gundogan, and Arsenal's goal should be invalid, but the referee ignored Manchester United's protest again.

The gunpowder smell on the field became stronger and stronger, and there were more and more physical contacts, almost turning into a hand-to-hand fight. The referee had to blow the whistle frequently and even showed yellow cards to players from both sides.

In just fifteen minutes, a total of five players from both sides received yellow cards, including 3 from Manchester United and 2 from Arsenal.

Seeing that the game was at risk of getting out of control, the referee had to call the captains of both sides together and asked them to control the emotions of their players.

Although Bruno was unhappy with the referee's previous penalties, he saw that his players received three yellow cards for unnecessary fouls. If this continued, someone would definitely receive a red card, so he followed the referee's instructions and called his teammates together, asking everyone to suppress their anger and focus on the game.

………………   The subsequent game fell into a stalemate, and the score remained at 1:1. Neither side was able to score again.

When the game entered the 90th minute, the fourth official walked to the sidelines. While adjusting the sign, Manchester United got a free kick opportunity in the frontcourt.

This free kick was in a good position, slightly to the right of the front court, just within Bruno's range.

Bruno took the free kick himself, and the ball drew a perfect arc, bypassing the ten fingers of Arsenal goalkeeper Leno who flew to save the ball, and flew into the goal behind him.

2:1, Bruno completed the lore!

At the press conference after the game, Mourinho fired at the referee team on duty today. Not only was the referee bombarded by him, but the video referee team was also scolded by Mourinho. He also hinted that someone didn't want Manchester United to continue winning, but those people's conspiracy failed because Manchester United had the omnipotent Bruno.

However, Mourinho's remarks also brought him punishment from the English Football Association, which issued a fine of 50,000 pounds. In addition, if he makes inappropriate remarks again in the next 12 months, he will be banned from entering the stadium for one game.

At this time, Mourinho did not continue to confront the English Football Association. He admitted that he had violated the relevant regulations and was willing to accept the punishment.

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After a difficult victory over Arsenal, Manchester United won seven consecutive games at the start of the Premier League, and continued to rank first in the Premier League with a goal difference advantage over Liverpool.

In the middle of the week, the Champions League ushered in the second round of the group stage. Manchester United played against the Croatian team Dinamo Zagreb at home.

In the first round of the group stage, Manchester United and Dinamo Zagreb both won big victories. Manchester United defeated Ajax 3:0 away, and Dinamo Zagreb defeated Atalanta 4:0 at home.

This is the second time that Manchester United has encountered a Croatian team in the Champions League. The last time they met was in the 1999-2000 season, exactly 20 years ago.

At that time, in the group stage, Manchester United drew 0:0 with the opponent at home, but won 2:1 away.

In this game, Manchester United continued to rotate, Harry Kane, Gundogan and Mbappe sat on the bench, Mata, Greenwood and Mahrez started.

After the start of the game, Manchester United showed strong control and firmly grasped the rhythm of the game.

In the 21st minute, Manchester United broke through Dinamo Zagreb's goal. Mata passed the ball, Bruno shot from the edge of the penalty area, and the football rubbed the bottom of the crossbar and went into Dinamo Zagreb's goal.

But from then on until the end of the first half, Dinamo Zagreb retracted and defended, and Manchester City failed to create any more scoring opportunities under the siege, and entered the halftime break with a score of 1:0.

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After the start of the second half, Manchester United continued to suppress Dinamo Zagreb, but the Croatian team's defense was good and did not allow Manchester United to score a second goal.

Just after 60 minutes of the game, Mourinho began to make substitutions. Mbappe replaced Rashford, and McTominay also replaced Greenwood, who performed relatively mediocre.

In the 66th minute, Manchester United expanded the score on the field. Kante made a straight pass from the penalty area arc, Mahrez made a cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Mbappe, who had just come on the field, shot from the edge of the small penalty area and was blocked and deflected into the upper corner.

With a two-goal lead, Manchester United's offensive did not stop there, but the strikers have not been able to seize the opportunity to score again.

In the 73rd minute, Cancelo made a cross from the right side of the penalty area, and McTominay's header was right into Livakovic's arms.

In the 79th minute, Manchester United missed the opportunity again. Bruno led the goalkeeper on the right side of the penalty area and made a cross. McTominay missed the empty goal from the edge of the small penalty area.

Manchester City locked the victory in the 95th minute. Bruno made a diagonal pass in the counterattack. McTominay finally did not disappoint again this time. He shot into the net from 12 yards and locked the score at 3:0.

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While people in the East were enjoying the National Day Golden Week, the Premier League continued.

On the afternoon of October 6, the last game of the 8th round of the Premier League whistled at St. James Park, and Manchester United challenged Newcastle away.

In other matches that have ended before, Liverpool beat Leicester City, which has performed well this season, 2:1 at home, Chelsea beat Southampton 4:1 away, and Arsenal beat Bournemouth 1:0 at home.

However, Tottenham and Manchester City were upset. The White Lily lost 0:3 away to Brighton, and Manchester City lost 0:2 to Wolves at home.

Manchester United's game was not smooth. In the 28th minute, they almost lost the ball. Matthew Longstaff, who made his Premier League debut, shot a falling leaf from 25 yards and hit the crossbar.

Manchester United scored in the 45th minute. Ashley Young took a corner kick and Bruno, who was unguarded, scored a header in the small penalty area, helping Manchester United break the deadlock on the field.

Newcastle equalized the score in the 72nd minute. Joelinton made a diagonal pass in the counterattack. Williams passed two people on the left side of the penalty area and passed back. Longstaff followed up and shot low into the net at the top of the penalty area.

Manchester United launched a counterattack. In the 88th minute of the game, Bruno made a cross from the free kick on the right, and Greenwood headed the ball into the goal from the edge of the small penalty area, completing the final kill against Newcastle.