Chapter 838 The Dark Past
At 8 pm on December 29, 2020, Manchester United played against Wolves at home.
This was a focus game in the 16th round of the Premier League and also Manchester United's last game in 2020.
Originally, this game was Manchester United's last game at the Millennium Stadium, but because Manchester is still in a high-risk area, the stadium does not allow fans to enter to watch the game. In addition, the new Old Trafford Stadium has just been completed, and some facilities and equipment need further debugging. After repeated consultations by Manchester United management, Manchester United's time to regain the new home stadium has been delayed to the opening game of next season.
In this way, Manchester United will continue to play at the Millennium Stadium for the next home game this season.
As a dark horse team in the past two seasons, Wolves' performance has slipped after entering the third year of the Premier League. After fifteen rounds of the Premier League, they only got 6 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses, and are currently ranked eleventh in the standings.
However, in this game, Wolves performed very tenaciously when facing Manchester United. In addition, Manchester United's schedule this season is too dense. Although Mourinho has been working hard to rotate, Manchester United players are still very tired, so their condition on the field is not very good.
At the end of the first half, the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0.
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In the home team locker room of Cardiff Millennium Stadium, it was so quiet that only the heavy breathing of the players remained.
Facing the strong Wolves, everyone in the team tried their best and dared not slack off.
At this moment, everyone's face was full of fatigue.
Soon, Mourinho took Faria into the locker room and began to arrange the team's tactics for the second half. Basically, the play style of the first half was still continued, but he made adjustments in some positions.
For example, he hoped that Bruno could suppress the Wolves' right back Hofor more.
This player is a young player who is only 19 years old and lacks experience. It is a point where Manchester United can make a breakthrough.
Bruno also immediately said that he would go all out and would definitely find opportunities in Hofor.
In addition to Bruno, Mourinho also signaled Gundogan to move forward, mainly targeting the left side of Wolves.
Harry Kane was in the middle, focusing on restricting the central defender and the back midfielder.
Pushing Bruno and Gundogan forward, in addition to playing a defensive role, they will be the key weapons of the team's counterattack during the attack, especially Bruno, whose passing and personal ability are what Manchester United must rely on in the second half.
"Okay, everyone, this is basically how we play in the second half."
Mourinho made the final mobilization before the second half.
"Please believe that as long as we stick to this style of play, what we need to do next is to patiently wait for the opponent to make a mistake. As long as we are given a chance, we can give the opponent the most fatal blow!"
"The players of both teams returned to the court. We can see that the players of Manchester United look energetic and everyone seems very confident."
"This is Manchester United's top star, Bruno Fernandes, who just won the European Golden Ball and the World Footballer of the Year three times this month, surpassing Yosi and Ronaldo to become the world's top football player."
"We sincerely hope that Bruno can continue his previous outstanding performance in the second half, bring us more wonderful goals, and also help Manchester United win this game."
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The game started again.
Manchester United basically continued the style of play in the first half, but the positions of Bruno and Gundogan were adjusted.
Under the strong pressure of Manchester United, Wolves were forced to retreat to their own half and play a defensive counterattack tactic.
Subsequently, Manchester United still created several opportunities, but none of them were threatening attacks. It was not until the 64th minute that Manchester United launched the first truly threatening attack in the second half.
After Bruno and Rashford cooperated on the left, Rashford passed the ball to the front of the penalty area, and Gundogan followed up and shot directly.
As a result, the shot missed.
As the Wolves became more cautious, they no longer gave Manchester United opportunities easily, but tried to create opportunities again and again through their own quick counterattacks.
Mourinho also further strengthened the defense in the midfield and backcourt by substitutions, and continued to wait for the Wolves' mistakes.
As the game time passed, Manchester United also began to become a little anxious.
Because Manchester United has won almost all possible championships in the past few years, almost every Manchester United player has a natural pride because they are the king of Manchester United.
The Wolves are more and more confident in defense, especially after continuously strengthening the defense in the midfield and backcourt.
Mourinho found that the situation was not right, began to make personnel adjustments, and asked Manchester United to continue to be patient.
At present, Manchester United's advantage in the standings is very obvious. Even if they cannot get 3 points in this game, they can still sit firmly at the top of the list.
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Time quickly entered injury time. Just when everyone thought that Manchester United would draw two games in a row in the Christmas devil schedule, the situation quietly changed.
Perhaps the continuous blocking of Manchester United's offensive made the Wolves players' confidence a little inflated. They wanted to use a quick counterattack to win three points away from home.
In the 91st minute, Hofor dribbled the ball forward from the right, and Bruno ran over from the middle to defend, forcing the Wolves' right back to quickly pass the ball to the midfield.
For Bruno's reputation, Hofor was very cautious about Bruno and did not dare to confront him head-on.
The ball was passed hastily and was soon intercepted by Manchester United.
Luke Shaw passed the ball to Bruno in front on the left.
Bruno stopped the ball, turned around, and dribbled to the front of the penalty area at a 45-degree angle.
As soon as Bruno got the chance, he suddenly accelerated and sprinted with the ball.
In the past eight years, he has been dribbling the ball almost every day, and the distance, step point and stride of each step have almost become an instinct for him, allowing him to control it at will.
His sudden acceleration directly passed through the Wolves' midfield and approached the back line.
Harry Kane was very smart. When he saw Bruno diagonally inserting into the penalty area from the left rib, he immediately ran to the right side of the penalty area, which not only opened up space for Bruno but also created opportunities for himself.
Wolves' left center back Coady quickly came over and squeezed Bruno with his body. But Bruno was not squeezed away, but accelerated, took a step forward, and blocked the opponent with his body.
At this moment, the Wolves' defense was panicked.
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He failed to steal the ball and was squeezed behind by Bruno. How could he stop him?
Especially when Bruno was getting closer and closer to the penalty area, another Wolves center back Sais decisively gave up Harry Kane and rushed towards Bruno.
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When Bruno rushed to the left side of the top of the penalty area with the ball, he saw Sais rushing towards him, and his choice was to send the ball into the penalty area with his right foot, rolling to the right side of the penalty spot.
Rashford understood and chased after him, and without waiting for Wolves goalkeeper Patricio to react, he directly pushed the ball into the goal.
"The ball is in!!!!"
"Rashford!!!!"
"A wonderful pass from Bruno, Rashford scored in the 92nd minute and finally broke the deadlock on the field!"
Bruno was so excited that he ran out and jumped directly on Rashford's back.
Rashford carried Bruno all the way out of the stadium and rushed to the stands where Manchester United fans were.
The Manchester United players on the bench and in the stadium rushed up and surrounded them, and everyone was cheering and celebrating wildly.
"It's wonderful! Bruno ran 30 meters with the ball from the left side of the center line, passed the ball diagonally behind him at the front of the penalty area, and assisted Rashford to score a goal!"
"This sudden goal is very exciting! It also fully demonstrates Bruno's outstanding personal ability."
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With the last-second countdown to the injury time, Manchester United won their last game in 2020.
So far, in this year of disasters, Manchester United and Bruno have achieved a successful conclusion.
Because of the epidemic, Manchester United played only 35 Premier League games in 2020, with a record of 28 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses, making it the best team among all Premier League teams.
In addition, they also played 11 Champions League games, with a record of 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and won the Champions League.
In addition, Manchester United also reached the final of the FA Cup, won the League Cup, and won the European Super Cup.
For Bruno personally, in 2020, he played 53 games for Manchester United in various events, scored 58 goals, and sent 35 assists. Among them, he scored 37 goals and assisted 24 times in 34 Premier League games.
In the Portuguese national team, Bruno played 6 games, scored 4 goals and 4 assists, helping the Portuguese national team reach the semi-finals of the European Nations League A League.
Throughout 2020, Bruno played a total of 59 games, scored 62 goals, assisted 39 times, and directly participated in 101 goals. This is the fifth consecutive year since 2016 that Bruno has participated in more than 100 goals.
A day later, good news came from Newcastle. The Magpies tied Liverpool 0:0 at home.
In this way, before the arrival of 2021, Manchester United has already gained a huge advantage of 10 points in the standings, and it seems that the team is close to winning the Premier League for the fifth consecutive time.
The current Premier League standings are as follows:
Manchester United has 14 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in 16 games, ranking first with 43 points;
Liverpool has 9 wins, 6 draws, and 1 loss in 16 games, ranking second with 33 points;
Villa has 9 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses in 16 games, ranking third with 29 points;
Leicester City has 9 wins, 2 draws, and 5 losses in 16 games, ranking fourth with 29 points;
Everton has 9 wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses in 15 games, ranking fifth with 29 points;
Southampton has 7 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses in 16 games, ranking sixth with 26 points;
Chelsea has 7 wins, 4 draws, and 5 losses in 16 games, ranking seventh with 25 points;
Manchester City has 7 wins, 4 draws, and 3 losses in 14 games, ranking eighth with 25 points.
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