Chapter 755: The Battle of Two Reds

Manchester United, whose winning streak was ended, faced Ajax at home in the fifth round of the Champions League group stage in the middle of the week.

Although Manchester United had qualified two rounds in advance and secured the first place in the group, they did not plan to save their strength in the game. After all, they had just been tied by their opponents in the league, and Mourinho did not want the team to suffer two consecutive defeats.

At home, Manchester United got off to a dream start and took the lead in the 7th minute. Rashford made a cross pass from the left, and Bruno volleyed directly without stopping the ball. Onana was not prepared for Bruno's shot and could only watch the ball fly into the goal behind him.

In the 20th minute, Bruno made a long pass in the midfield area, and Rashford, who was advancing, volleyed slightly out of bounds, and the linesman raised his hand to indicate offside.

Although Manchester United's offensive in the first half was fierce, they were unable to score the second goal and entered the halftime break with a score of 1:0.

After the change of sides, Manchester United continued to attack and expanded their lead in the 55th minute. Bruno passed the ball diagonally to the penalty area, Harry Kane passed the ball back to his teammates in front of the goalkeeper, and Gundogan, who came in from behind, shot into the empty goal!

In the 68th minute, Ajax scored a goal. The ball was thrown from the right sideline, and Dest passed the ball to Tadic in the right penalty area. The latter passed the ball to the middle with a low ball, and Ziyech followed up and shot into the far corner.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Ajax 2:1 at home, won five consecutive group matches, and the winning streak of the entire Champions League was extended to 21 games!

In addition, their unbeaten record in the Champions League was extended to 31 games again!

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On the evening of December 1, Manchester United played against Aston Villa at home. This was the 14th round of the Premier League.

Manchester United has won 11 and drawn 3 in the last 14 games against Villa. In the last 39 games between the two sides, they only lost 1 game, and won 32 and drew 6 in the other 38 games. The two sides have played 48 Premier League games, with Manchester United having the upper hand with 34 wins, 11 draws and 3 losses, including 19 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss at home. This is the 187th match between the two sides, with Manchester United having the advantage with 98 wins, 39 draws and 49 losses.

Whether from the historical record or the team's strength, it is reasonable for Manchester United to win at home. But after the game started, the situation gave Manchester United fans a bad feeling.

Villa took the lead in the 11th minute, El Ghazi's cross from the right leaked to the far point, and Grealish cut into the left side of the penalty area and shot the arc ball into the upper right corner.

However, before the end of the first half, Manchester United equalized the score. In the 42nd minute, Bruno made a cross from a corner kick, and Rashford headed the ball from the edge of the small penalty area and hit the left post, and the ball bounced into the net.

In the second half. Mbappe and Fred's shots from the outside were both lacking in threat. Rashford fell under Gilbert's defense on the left side of the penalty area, and the referee refused to award a penalty.

Aston Villa almost took the lead again. In the 63rd minute, Trezeguet made a diagonal pass from the right side of the penalty area, and Grealish's shot from the edge of the small penalty area missed.

It is said that those who survive a disaster will have good fortune in the future. Manchester United, who escaped a disaster, turned around and scored a goal, overtaking the score.

In the 64th minute, Fred made a tactical corner kick from the right, Wesley headed the ball to the far point, and Lindelof headed the ball from the left side of the small penalty area to rewrite the score to 2:1.

However, Manchester United's lead lasted only 2 minutes. Villa equalized in the 66th minute. The Red Devils cleared the corner kick, Targett made a diagonal pass, and Mings, who successfully countered the offside, volleyed in front of the small penalty area and scored.

The linesman called offside, but VAR reviewed and determined that the goal was valid.

In the end, the two sides shook hands and made peace. After Manchester United tied in the league, they were overtaken by Liverpool in the standings. Manchester United got 38 points with 12 wins and 2 draws, while Liverpool got 39 points with 13 wins and 1 loss.

This is also the first time that Manchester United is not at the top of the standings after four months since the first round of this season.

However, one day later, Bruno won the 2019 European Golden Ball Award, which is the third time he has won this award in his career.

In this regard, Bruno also won the European Golden Ball Award and the World Footballer of the Year in 2019, completing the defense of the two major awards.

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Manchester United suffered two consecutive draws in the league, and there were voices unfavorable to Manchester United in the British media, saying that Manchester United has fallen into a slump and the league champion this season will be Liverpool.

However, Manchester United quickly slapped these media that were bad-mouthing Manchester United with facts.

On the evening of December 4, the 15th round of the Premier League kicked off, and Manchester United played against Tottenham at home.

After the downturn in early November, Pochettino's Tottenham rebounded, winning three consecutive games after the international match day. In the Champions League, they beat Olympiacos 4:2 at home and advanced to the Champions League knockout round one round ahead of schedule; in the Premier League, they also won West Ham United and Bournemouth 3:2 in two games.

Two consecutive wins in the league also allowed Tottenham to quickly climb to sixth in the standings. Coupled with the Champions League promotion to the knockout stage, Pochettino finally survived.

On the contrary, Emery, who was in a better situation than Pochettino before, was fired by Arsenal before entering December. The Gunners ushered in the second head coach after Wenger, former team star Arteta.

The eyes of the world are on Manchester United to see whether the Red Devils will usher in the second three-game losing streak in the league after Mourinho took over.

In Mourinho's first season as Manchester United coach, at the end of the league, Manchester United suffered a three-game losing streak, first losing 0:2 to Arsenal, then losing 1:2 to Tottenham, and then being tied 0:0 by Southampton, and almost lost the first league championship in the post-Ferguson era.

In the more than two years since then, Manchester United has not suffered three consecutive defeats in the league.

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At home, Manchester United played very actively and quickly broke the deadlock.

Six minutes into the game, Manchester United took the lead with their first shot. Lingard fought with Sanchez on the left rib, Rashford took the ball and broke into the penalty area on the left side, 13 meters away from the goal. The ball bounced in front of Gazzaniga's goal and was tipped into the near corner by his fingertips, 1:0.

Rashford almost scored twice in the 25th minute. Lingard made a cross from the left, and Rashford hit the crossbar 25 meters in front of the goal!

Tottenham equalized the score in the 39th minute. Vertonghen made a cross from the left, Fred headed the ball to the back point, Aurier's shot from a small angle was blocked by De Gea, and Ali leaned on Fred to hook the ball and turned to shoot into the far corner 5 meters away from the goal.

Manchester United players complained that Ali had handballed, but VAR determined that Ali did not have handball and the goal was valid.

Only 70 seconds into the second half, Rashford broke through Aurier on the left, cut into the penalty area and fell to the ground after being stepped on by Sissoko. The referee decisively awarded a penalty!

Bruno pushed the ball into the lower right corner, and Manchester United led again 2:1!

In the subsequent game, although both sides attacked and defended each other, they failed to break the opponent's goal again. The score of 2:1 was maintained until the end of the game, and Manchester United defeated Tottenham at home.

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Three days later, Manchester United visited the Etihad Stadium and ushered in the first round of the Manchester City Derby this season.

In the 2nd minute, Bruno passed the ball, Mbappe shot with his right foot from 16 meters away, and Ederson blocked the ball with a good position!

Manchester United gave a warning at the start!

In the 9th minute, Rashford passed the ball directly to the left rib gap, Bruno inserted a low shot at a small angle, and Ederson blocked the ball with his foot!

In the 16th minute, Mbappe inserted a pass from the right, and Harry Kane followed up with a powerful right-foot shot, and Ederson flew to save the ball!

Manchester United, who were attacking like a tide, finally broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute of the game. Rashford broke into the penalty area and was knocked down by Bernardo Silva. After VAR intervened, a penalty was awarded. Bruno calmly deceived Ederson and scored in the opposite direction, scoring his 9th penalty of the season.

In the 25th minute, Manchester United made a high-quality counterattack. Bruno made a diagonal pass to the empty space on the left, and Rashford entered the penalty area and shot low with his right foot into the far corner. Manchester United led by two goals away.

In the 27th minute, Mbappe made an inverted triangle pass on the right, and Harry Kane made a right-footed lob on the penalty area line. The ball hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the net!

Less than half an hour after the game started, Manchester City fell behind 0:3!

Such a situation was unimaginable to anyone, and the Etihad Stadium was dead silent.

A scene that Manchester City people didn't want to see came 2 minutes later.

In the second half, Kane and Mbappe played a wonderful wall kick. The Manchester United center forward entered the penalty area and decisively kicked the ball with his left foot. The ball rushed into the net from the near corner, changing the score to 0:4!

Two Manchester United players cooperated to break through the Manchester City's four-man defense!

In the last moment of the first half stoppage time, Walker broke through the right side and made a low pass to the bottom line. The ball hit Fred's arm who fell to the ground to intercept, but VAR intervened and did not give a penalty.

Manchester United entered the halftime break with a huge advantage of 4:0.

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After the start of the second half, although Manchester City launched a fierce counterattack, Manchester United's defense was very stable. Facing the home team's wave after wave of offensives, Manchester United's defense withstood the test until the 85th minute of the game, when Manchester City's central defender Otamendi scored a face-saving goal in a corner kick attack.

In the end, Manchester United won Manchester City 4:1 away.

It was a very intense derby. Although Manchester City was in control, Manchester United's counterattack was very effective. Mourinho's tactics were very successful.

According to the data, Manchester City had 22 shots compared to Manchester United's 11, twice as many as the visiting team; 5 shots on target compared to 7, 16 corner kicks compared to 3, and a possession rate of 71.9%. Manchester United won the game with an efficient counterattack.

Despite this, Manchester United still failed to regain the top spot in the standings, because Liverpool played equally well. They won 3:0 away from Bournemouth. After losing to Manchester United in the 9th round, they ended their 17-game winning streak across the season and won seven consecutive league games again, suppressing Manchester United by 1 point and occupying the top spot.

However, Guardiola's performance in his fourth season as Manchester City coach was somewhat disappointing. In 16 rounds of the league, they only achieved 10 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses, temporarily ranking fourth in the standings, 13 points behind Liverpool, 12 points behind Manchester United, and even 6 points behind Leicester City, which ranked third!

It can be said that the Blue Moon has bid farewell to the competition for the league championship in advance this season!

Fortunately, Manchester City performed well in the Champions League, winning 3 and drawing 2 in the first 5 rounds of the group stage, and tied with Juventus, only ranking second due to the disadvantage of goal difference.

Since Manchester City played against Lokomotiv Moscow at home in the last round of the group stage, while Juventus challenged Leverkusen away, Manchester City actually had a chance to reverse Juventus and win the first place in the group.