Chapter 775 Suspense

In the middle of the week, eight matches of the fifth round of the FA Cup were launched one after another.

At the round of 16 of the FA Cup, most of the remaining teams were from the Premier League and the Championship. Among the eight matches, many were against Premier League teams.

Because Manchester United participated in the League Cup final, this round of the FA Cup was scheduled for the last game, which was on the evening of March 5th, local time in the UK.

The first seven games exposed many upsets. For example, Tottenham tied Norwich 1:1 at home in 120 minutes, and then lost in the penalty shootout and was blocked from the quarterfinals.

In another strong dialogue, Liverpool, who was invincible in the Premier League, was completely defeated by Chelsea 0:2 at Stamford Bridge.

Unknowingly, the powerful Liverpool was eliminated in almost all cup competitions, leaving only the Premier League.

In addition, Arsenal and Manchester City defeated their opponents to advance to the quarterfinals, and the other three teams that advanced were Sheffield United, Newcastle and Leicester City.

If nothing unexpected happens to Manchester United in the last game, the FA Cup quarterfinals this year will all be Premier League teams.

But no one thinks that Derby County, currently ranked only 13th in the English Championship, can create a miracle and become the only non-Premier League team to advance to the FA Cup quarterfinals this year.

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However, the current Derby County has a certain connection with Manchester United, that is, their head coach is Wayne Rooney, the former captain of Manchester United and the record holder of Manchester United's goalscoring record.

In September 2004, the 18-year-old Rooney transferred from Everton to Manchester United for 27 million pounds. In the ten years after the 2006-2007 season, Rooney and Manchester United won six Premier League titles, four League Cups, and two FA Cups. In the rainy night of Moscow in the 2007-2008 season, Rooney defeated his old rival Chelsea and led Manchester United to win the Champions League trophy that had not been touched for 9 years. In the 2016-2017 season, as the captain of Manchester United, he won the Europa League.

Throughout his career as a Red Devils player, Rooney played 559 times for the team and became the team's top scorer with 253 goals.

In July 2017, Everton officially announced that Rooney returned to the club as a free agent and the two sides signed a 2-year contract. "Little Fatty" ended his 13-year Manchester United career and returned to Everton.

But after the transfer, Rooney failed to reproduce his former glory both on and off the court. In September 2017, Rooney's driver's license was revoked for two years for drunk driving and he was punished with 100 hours of community service without compensation.

In June 2018, Rooney moved to the D.C. United of the Major League Soccer, ending his 16-year Premier League career.

In November 2019, Rooney joined the Championship team Derby County as a player and coach.

According to media reports, before Derby County faced Manchester United, Rooney recalled his cooperation with Ferguson when he was at Manchester United.

Rooney said: "I always remember one thing, that is, when I was young, I quarreled with him every time at halftime. I was depressed at the time and thought: Why does he always talk about me? There are players who are much worse than me! As I get older, I understand more and more why Ferguson did that. Obviously, the goals he set are unattainable by other players."

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In the match against Derby County, Mourinho did not line up all the main lineups, but continued to play with the lineup that played in the League Cup final last weekend, and Bruno was on the bench.

This is because just three days later, Manchester United will face Manchester City at home. This is the fourth Manchester derby this season. They have already played a league game and two FA Cup semi-finals.

At present, Manchester United is competing fiercely with Liverpool in the Premier League, and Manchester United is already behind by a lot of points. Mourinho naturally does not want the FA Cup to involve Manchester United too much energy, not to mention that the strength of the opponent Derby County is still very limited.

In the 33rd minute of the game, Manchester United players' consecutive shots in front of the goal were blocked by the defenders, and finally Luke Shaw shot with his left foot, Derby County 0:1 Manchester United.

In the 41st minute, Luke Shaw sent a diagonal pass from the left, and McTominay shook off the angle and shot low in the penalty area under the double-teaming of three people in the penalty area, Derby County 0:2 Manchester United.

In the 70th minute, Mata received a straight pass in the penalty area and passed it back. McTominay rushed to the goal but was blocked, and then he made a supplementary shot and scored, Derby County 0:3 Manchester United.

This score was maintained until the end of the game, and Manchester United beat Derby County 3:0 to advance to the FA Cup quarterfinals.

It is worth mentioning that former Manchester United player Rooney played for Derby County in this game, and several free kicks created a lot of threats.

Because the draw for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup was released a day ago, Manchester United's opponent will be the Canary Norwich.

Norwich is currently ranked 20th in the Premier League, and its position as the deputy leader is very stable. So for Manchester United, this is a good result.

The date of the FA Cup quarter-finals is scheduled from March 20 to March 22. But Bruno knows that football matches will soon be suspended, and these games will definitely be postponed.

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On the afternoon of March 8, local time in the UK, a focus match of the 29th round of the Premier League kicked off at the Millennium Stadium.

Because Liverpool beat Bournemouth 2:1 at home a day ago, temporarily widening the gap with Manchester United to 6 points. So for Manchester United, this game today must be won. Otherwise, with only 9 rounds left in the league, it will be extremely difficult to reverse the 6-point gap.

This is because the day before Manchester United won the League Cup, Liverpool was upset in the 28th round of the Premier League, losing 0:3 to Watford, and suffered the second defeat of the season. Otherwise, Manchester United would have been 9 points behind Liverpool.

Of course, Manchester City and Guardiola cannot tolerate losing the game. On the one hand, in the three matches against Manchester United this season, the Blue Moon has 1 draw and 2 losses without a win.

Even in the past four seasons, Manchester City has played against Manchester United 16 times in official matches, with a pitiful record of 1 win, 3 draws and 12 losses, which is simply terrible.

Perhaps because of the poor performance against Manchester United in the past few seasons and the eagerness to take revenge, Guardiola's team showed an aggressive attitude at the beginning of the game. Rodri was delayed, Pogba and Foden were separated on the two wings, and the front trident of Bernardo, Aguero and Sterling created a lot of trouble for Manchester United.

Just nine minutes into the game, Manchester City took advantage of a counterattack opportunity. Foden and Sterling cooperated on the left and passed the ball into the penalty area. Sterling shot from 12 yards and almost broke through De Gea's defense.