Chapter 865: Victory

After a big reversal and elimination of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United ushered in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the weekend, visiting the King Power Stadium to challenge the Blue Fox Leicester City, which is currently ranked third in the Premier League.

This is Manchester United's last game in March. Starting from next week, international football will enter the first international match day in 2021, and the Premier League will naturally be suspended.

Due to the heavy consumption of the game with Paris Saint-Germain, Mourinho made a large-scale rotation of Manchester United's starting lineup. Except for Bruno and two central defenders, the remaining eight players were all rotated. The goalkeeper is Romero replacing De Gea in the starting lineup, Dalot replaces Cancelo, and Lindelof is the left back. In the midfield, Bruno partners with Fred and young player Bellingham, and the front trident is Mahrez, McTominay and Greenwood.

The Blue Fox has performed very well this season. At present, it has surpassed Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and other traditional Premier League powerhouses, and strongly occupies the third place in the Premier League standings.

In the first round of the league match between the two sides, Manchester United did not take any advantage at the King Power Stadium, and the two sides tied 2:2. Bruno also started that game, and 1 shot and 1 pass were the key to Manchester United's ability to take 1 point away from home.

………………

After the start of the game, the Blue Foxes played very actively at home and frequently pressed forward.

In the 24th minute, Maguire passed the ball forward, Fred got the ball back to the penalty area and was directly intercepted by Iheanacho. He dribbled past the goalkeeper and pushed the ball into the empty goal to score, Leicester City 1:0 Manchester United!

However, Manchester United equalized the score in just 4 minutes. Bruno cut in two steps from the right and suddenly shot with his left foot. The football drew a beautiful arc, bypassed Schmeichel's ten fingers, and went into the goal of Leicester City.

In the 30th minute, Iheanacho was knocked down by Maguire when he changed direction with the ball, and Maguire received a yellow card.

In the 34th minute, Bruno fell to the ground in pain after fighting with Fofana, but fortunately it was just a scratch from his studs.

In the 38th minute of the first half, Bruno turned from the left side of the front court and made a triangle pass to the penalty area. Bellingham missed the ball easily, and Greenwood scored with a volley at the back.

2:1, Manchester United overtook the score!

After the change of sides, the home team equalized the score in the 52nd minute. Iheanacho cooperated in the front court, Tielemans drove the ball straight into the penalty area and shot low into the lower left corner of the goal, Leicester City 2:2 Manchester United!

In the 78th minute, Albrighton took a free kick from the left side of Leicester City, McTominay headed the ball at the back of the penalty area, Iheanacho scored with a header, Leicester City 3:2 Manchester United!

Manchester United quickly responded. In the 88th minute of the game, Bruno scored a free kick and the ball went straight to the upper left corner of the goal. Schmeichel was out of reach and Manchester United equalized the score again.

As the game was about to enter overtime, Manchester United once again overtook the score.

In the third minute of injury time, Bruno made a lob pass to the penalty area from the right side, and Harry Kane, who came on as a substitute, headed the ball into the goal, and Manchester United changed the score to 4:3!

In the end, after a goal battle, Manchester United relied on Bruno's 2 shots and 2 passes to reverse and eliminate Leicester City with a difficult score of 4:3 away from home, and broke into the semi-finals of this season's FA Cup.

In the subsequent FA Cup semi-final draw, Manchester United was favored by the god of luck and drew the relatively weak Southampton, while Chelsea played against Manchester City.

According to the schedule, the semi-final between Manchester United and Southampton will be held on the afternoon of April 17, while the semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City will be held on the afternoon of April 18.

………………

Immediately, international football entered the first international match day of 2021.

European countries will usher in the group stage of the qualifiers for the 2022 Qatar World Cup on this international match day.

Manchester United will have three games on this international match day, against Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg.

For Portugal, they are the undisputed strongest team in Group A. In the current FIFA rankings, Portugal continues to rank first, while Serbia is the second-ranked team in the same group. They are currently ranked 30th in the world, followed by Ireland at 42nd, Luxembourg at 98th in the world, and Azerbaijan at 108th in the world.

On the evening of March 24, Portugal played against Azerbaijan in the first round of the group stage.

This is undoubtedly a game with a huge gap in strength. Portugal launched a siege on Azerbaijan from the beginning of the game, but unfortunately, the Portuguese stars seemed to be out of shape, wasting opportunities again and again. In the end, Portugal relied on the opponent's own goal in the first half to take a 1:0 lead.

In the 35th minute, Ruben Neves made a cross at a 45-degree angle, and Mahamadliev's save hit Medvedev, and the ball bounced into the net.

After the start of the second half, Portugal continued to attack.

In the 68th minute of the game, Bruno drove straight into the middle, passed three Azerbaijani players in a row, and took a long shot from the top of the penalty area. The ball whistled straight into the dead corner, and Portugal led the opponent 2:0 at home.

Four minutes later, Portugal made a comeback. Bruno got the ball on the left and cut inside. After shaking the angle, he shot with a beautiful arc ball and broke through the goal of Azerbaijan, helping Portugal to lock in the victory 3:0.

………………

Three days later, Portugal visited Serbia.

This match was undoubtedly the most crucial one for Portugal in the group stage, and it could even be said to be a key battle for the first place in the group.

After the game started, the home team took the lead in launching an offensive, but Mitrovic's shot was blocked by Diaz, and Tadic's powerful shot in front of the penalty area was also blocked.

After enduring Serbia's opening attack, the game quickly fell into Portugal's hands.

In the 10th minute, Bernardo Silva made a 45-degree diagonal pass to the back post, Milenkovic made a defensive mistake, and Jota headed the ball into the net, Serbia's home game 0:1 Portugal.

In the 35th minute, Bernardo Silva made a diagonal pass to the right, Cedric inserted a cross, Jota made a header, Serbia 0:2 Portugal.

At the end of the first half, Portugal temporarily led Serbia by two goals away from home.

After the change of sides, Portugal suffered a nightmare 15 minutes.

In the 45th minute, Serbia intercepted Portugal's fast break and then launched a quick counterattack. Radojic made a cross from the right, Mitrovic faced a double-team in front of the goal, and headed the ball into the net, Serbia scored a goal!

In the 59th minute, Serbia had another counterattack opportunity. Tadic moved to the right from the backcourt, Radojic shook off the angle and passed the ball directly, Kostic broke into the penalty area and shot into the goal, Serbia tied the score 2:2 Portugal.

In just 15 minutes, Portugal lost two goals in a row, and the players were a little confused. Serbia, with its morale soaring, continued to attack, wanting to strike while the iron was hot and complete the score reversal. However, Maksimovic's shot from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by Diaz, and Radojic's shot from a small angle was also resolved by Lopez.

………………

After enduring this fierce counterattack by the home team, Portugal once again controlled the rhythm of the game and began to threaten Serbia's goal.

In the 73rd minute, Bruno made a long pass from the right side of the midfield and accurately found Ronaldo in front of the goal. But just when everyone thought Portugal could surpass the score again, Ronaldo's close-range shot was unexpectedly a cannon.

Ronaldo, who missed the shot, covered his face with his hands, looking a little afraid to see people.

At the critical moment, it was Bruno who stood up again to save the team. In the 80th minute, Sanchez, who came on as a substitute, made a long pass from the midfield, and Bruno's long shot knocked into the Serbian goal, and Portugal led 3:2.

In the 91st minute, Milenkovic, who was a little unbalanced, violently tackled Danilo Pereira, and the referee directly showed a red card and sent him off.

Before the end of the game, Portugal had hoped to expand its lead. Mendes sent a long pass, and Ronaldo faced the attacking Dimitrovic's shot. Stefan Mitrovic slid to clear the ball, but the slow-motion replay showed that the ball had crossed the goal line.

Ronaldo and a group of Portuguese players went to the linesman to argue, but the referee showed two yellow cards in a row, one for Ronaldo and one for Bruno. This shocked fans all over the world, and they shouted "Wow!"

The referee was really brave to show yellow cards to two football kings at once!

However, the referee's behavior also made Ronaldo furious. He was still angry until the end of the game, and when he heard the whistle of the end of the game, he angrily took off the captain's armband and threw it on the ground.

But no matter what, Portugal still defeated Serbia away from home with difficulty, won two consecutive victories in the World Cup group stage, and ranked first in the group.

………………

After the match between Portugal and Serbia, the referee who enforced the game was criticized by many Portuguese media.

"Record" wrote a big "ROUBO!" (thief!) on the front page.

"Morning Post" said: The referee stole the victory.

"Ball News" wrote: Sem VARgonha (a pun, on the one hand, accusing the World Cup qualifiers of not using VAR to assist in penalties, and on the other hand, accusing the referee of "shamelessness").

Of course, for Portugal, the loss of this game is not only the goal line mystery of Ronaldo, but also Bruno received another yellow card in the game.

This is the second consecutive game in which he received a yellow card. In the last game against Azerbaijan, Bruno also received a yellow card.

According to the regulations, this forced Bruno to miss Portugal's next national team game, which is the game against Luxembourg.

But there are also media with ulterior motives that Bruno is deliberately reshuffling the cards, and also wants to save strength for the next club game.

On the penultimate day of March, Portugal moved to Luxembourg City and continued to be away to challenge the weak Luxembourg.

In the first 5 minutes after the start of the game, the two sides frequently exchanged ball possession and did not create obvious offensive opportunities. After the absence of Bruno, Portugal seemed to be unable to play football.

In the 29th minute of the game, Luxembourg scored the first goal!

Senani made a cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Rodriguez jumped high in front of the small penalty area and headed the ball into the left side of the goal. Luxembourg 1:0 Portugal.

………………

The Portuguese players felt offended by the goal being scored by a weak team, which led to the team falling behind. This made them more active in the next game and formed a siege on the Luxembourg goal.

But unfortunately, Portugal has not been able to create an absolute chance and has been unable to equalize the score.

Just when everyone thought that Portugal would enter the halftime break with a score of 0:1, Portugal scored a goal in 1 minute of stoppage time in the first half!

Neto made a cross from the left side of the penalty area, and Jota scored a header from the front of the small penalty area, changing the score on the field to 1:1.

In the second half of the game, Portugal, who knew shame and then courage, continued to strengthen its offensive.

In the 51st minute of the game, Portugal overtook the score! Ronaldo dribbled on the left and cooperated with Cancelo to hit the wall. Then Ronaldo followed up and shot from the front of the small penalty area. Luxembourg 1:2 Portugal.

In the 79th minute of the game, Portugal had a corner kick opportunity on the left. Neto took the penalty and sent it into the penalty area. Parsinia headed the ball into the goal in the small penalty area. Luxembourg 1:3 Portugal.

This was also the final score of the game. Portugal reversed 3:1 away and won three consecutive group matches, leading Group A with a 3-point advantage.

………………

The international match day ended and major leagues resumed.

Bruno, who returned to the club, soon ushered in another opponent, Brighton.

This was the 30th round of the Premier League, and Manchester United played at home against the Seagulls.

Although some media used conspiracy theories to treat Bruno's accumulated yellow card suspension in the Portuguese national team's away game against Luxembourg, it must be said that the extra 3 days of rest time still gave Bruno a relatively sufficient rest time.

After the game with Brighton started, Bruno, who was full of blood, led Manchester United to frequently attack the visiting team's defense, but Bruno and Greenwood missed the chance to score goals in succession.

It is said that if you don't take what God gives, you will be blamed. Manchester United, which missed good opportunities in succession, suffered a blow in the 13th minute of the game. Brighton attacked from the right side of the frontcourt and made a high cross. Manchester United's old player Welbeck headed the ball in front of the small penalty area 1V2, but was blocked by De Gea, and then he headed the ball again and scored the ball.

0:1, Manchester United fell behind unexpectedly at home!

Although Manchester United, which fell behind, immediately launched a counterattack, the impact of the FIFA virus on the team was still very obvious. Most of the players were obviously not in good shape, which gave Brighton a lot of opportunities.

In the 18th minute of the game, Maguire cleared the ball and gave the opponent a free kick opportunity. Brighton's free kick was suspended into the penalty area. Mod followed up with a header in the crowd, and the ball was lifted out by De Gea with one hand.

Mourinho made two substitutions in the midfield, replacing Gundogan, who performed poorly, with Bellingham, and Mbappe with Mahrez.

Manchester United equalized the score in the 62nd minute of the game. Bruno got the ball in the middle of the frontcourt and took two steps forward, passing it directly to the left side of the penalty area. Rashford got the ball and pushed it into the far corner to score. Manchester United 1:1 Brighton.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Manchester United overtook the score! Bruno got the ball on the left side of the penalty area and made a lob pass. Bellingham on the right side of the penalty area volleyed the ball. Greenwood, who replaced Rashford, headed the ball into the goal. Manchester United 2:1 Brighton.

There were 4 minutes of stoppage time in the second half, and the game ended. Manchester United reversed Brighton 2:1 at home.