Chapter 386: Locking Group 1 in Advance

After a disastrous defeat to Chelsea in the next game in the league, they were able to defeat the powerful Manchester City in the League Cup. Manchester United finally stopped the momentum of continued defeats, and the people who were waiting to watch the excitement before the game did not get what they wanted.

Three days later, on the afternoon of October 10, Manchester United's last game in October, Manchester United sat at Old Trafford in the 29th round of the Premier League to face newly promoted Burnley.

Manchester United deployed a 433 formation for this game, with Ibrahimovic, Lingard, and Rashford forming a front trident, and Mata, Kante and Bruno forming a three-midfielder. On the back line, Van Dijk and Maguire partnered as central defenders, Luke Shaw and Darmian were on the left and right, and the goalkeeper was still De Gea.

After the opening, Manchester United's offensive was fierce.

In the first 24 seconds, Ibrahimovic stopped in the penalty arc and volleyed. The ball was saved by Heaton.

In the 3rd minute, Mata scored the ball and Bruno's long shot missed the right post.

In the 6th minute, Rashford and Ibrahimovic made a wall-kicking combination on the left side and then broke into the penalty area and passed back in the inverted triangle. Mata's low shot was confiscated by Heaton.

In the 17th minute, Mata sent a wonderful pass from the middle. Ibrahimovic broke into the penalty area and scored with a single shot. The ball was saved by Heaton.

It wasn't until the 23rd minute of the game that Burnley got its first shot. Walkers suddenly shot a cold arrow from outside the penalty area and the ball missed the left goal post.

One minute later, Mata and Ibrahimovic volleyed in the middle and then the ball was saved by Heaton.

In the 30th minute, Mata made a breakthrough pass. The opponent's defender made a mistake in clearing the ball. Ibrahimovic's header was not strong enough, and the ball was obtained by Heaton.

When the first half of the game was about to enter injury time, Manchester United finally broke the deadlock on the field.

In the 45th minute, Ibrahimovic knocked back with his back, Bruno hit a super world wave, and the football missed the lower edge of the crossbar and flew into the goal. Heaton, who had performed well before, could not stop Bruno's goal this time.

This was the only goal of the game. In the second half of the game, although Manchester United continued to attack aggressively, Burnley's goalkeeper Heaton performed bravely and blocked the threatening shots from the Manchester United attacking group again and again. Among them There were at least four must-goal opportunities, but they were all resolved by Heaton's incredible performance.

In the game, Manchester United shot a crazy 39 times, 15 of which were on target. They also created 27 opportunities. The ball possession rate reached 75%. They made 698 passes and won 13 corner kicks. All statistics were average. Set a new record this season.

But this all serves as a background for Burnley goalkeeper Heaton. This 30-year-old goalkeeper who came from Manchester United's youth training camp can be said to have become famous in one battle.

In the end, Manchester United defeated their opponents 1:0 at home.

………………

The next midweek, the European war reignited, as Manchester United challenged Fenerbahce away from home. This is the fourth round of the European group stage this season.

In the away game against Fenerbahce, everyone will definitely be surprised when they see Manchester United's starting lineup, because the team's strongest fighting force did not appear.

Players such as Bruno, Ibrahimovic, N'Golo Kante and Van Dijk all sat on the bench, while players such as Mata, Gundogan, Ashley Young and Schneiderlin got starting opportunities.

The forward line is led by Rooney, partnered with Rashford and Ashley Young.

Mourinho's formation is very clear, and everyone in the team also knows that as long as a draw can be maintained in this game, it will be a satisfactory result.

Because Manchester United has won all the first three rounds of the group stage and is far ahead in Group A of the Europa League. The second place is their opponent Fenerbahce in this game. The Turkish Super League giants have a record of 1 win and 1 in the first three rounds. Draw, 1 loss, and only get 4 points. Feyenoord ranks third with a record of only 1 win and 2 losses.

After drawing with Fenerbahce away from home in this game, Manchester United will lead Feyenoord by at least 2 points with only 4 rounds left in the group stage.

Of course, it doesn't matter even if Manchester United loses in Turkey. After all, in the next two games, Manchester United will face Feyenoord at home and challenge Roja in the away group. It is not a problem to advance to the knockout rounds.

Even, it is not impossible for Manchester United to advance two rounds in advance at the end of this round. After all, Feyenoord is not guaranteed to score 3 points when they challenge Roja in an away game.

………………

The game started poorly. Fenerbahçe took advantage of their home court advantage to control the situation and the initiative. The ball possession rate in the first 20 minutes was as high as 60%.

But Manchester United's defense did a good job. The defense composed of Damian, Maguire, Blind and Luke Shaw performed very solidly and did not give Fenerbahce too many opportunities. Especially Maguire, the tall and powerful English central defender is simply a wall of sighs in front of the Turks. It is difficult for Fenerbahce's passes to get past the Manchester United defense led by him.

Mata, Gundogan and Schneiderlin are also very good in the midfield.

If the defense is strong, the team will have more opportunities to counterattack, so the game scene is very interesting. Fenerbahce has the advantage, but Manchester United has the advantage in scoring opportunities. The local super giants do not even have many threatening attacks. .

Bruno sat on the bench and watched the game on the court with his own eyes. He felt very sad.

This is the gap in overall strength!

When he was at Udinese, every time he played in a European game, he had to try his best and play very hard. But when it came to Manchester United, they even deployed more than half of their substitute lineup, but they still did not fall behind on the field.

The ball possession rate is inferior, but there are more threats to attack.

This is the disparity between the four major league teams and the second-tier league teams such as the Turkish Super League. Fenerbahce's offensive combination that dominates the Turkish Super League cannot pose a threat in front of Manchester United.

………………

"Our current offensive problem still lies in counterattack. If Zlatan was here, we would directly find his high point, and the surrounding teammates would grab the second spot, and we would have scored long ago." Kanter said with confidence.

Judging from the game, Fenerbahce's strength is indeed inferior to Manchester United.

However, in the second half, Fenerbahce suddenly exerted its strength and launched a wave of strong attacks. In the 59th and 61st minutes, Fenerbahce launched two consecutive threatening offensives.

"It's almost my turn." Kanter came back from warming up outside and said with a smile.

"The Turkish Super League has always attached great importance to man-to-man marking, especially in sports battles. Now Fenerbahce is willing to come out and play, which is a good thing for us." Bruno came over and said to Kanter, "So, we have to Let your teammates run more, intersperse their runs, open up their defensive positions, and then penetrate into gaps diagonally, then opportunities will appear. This is the disadvantage of man-to-man marking.”

Kanter nodded heavily.

Sure enough, soon, Faria came over to get Kanter ready to play.

The Frenchman walked to the sidelines and listened to Mourinho's instructions. He didn't know what he said. Mourinho turned his head and looked deeply at Bruno, and then nodded towards Kante.

………………

After Kanter came up, Manchester United began to control the situation on the court, which made Bruno on the sidelines look very strange.

This is a completely incomprehensible phenomenon.

Except for Kante for Schneiderlin, all the other players on the field remained unchanged. However, this substitution made Manchester United's midfield more organized and not panicked at all. Instead, it organized and planned several times. attack.

Just five minutes later, Rooney ran through the middle and got a great opportunity. He shot hard and almost penetrated Fenerbahce's goal.

Ten minutes after Kante came on, Ibrahimovic came on for Ashley Young.

In just three minutes, Mata made a pass from the right. Under the cover of Ibrahimovic, Rooney got another chance and missed the goal.

This was followed by a shot from Rashford from the left.

Time passed bit by bit, Fenerbahce and Manchester United both used two substitutions.

With the introduction of Kante and Ibrahimovic, the Red Devils turned away from home and their offensive became more and more fierce, but they were always one step away from scoring.

………………

Mourinho finally made his third substitution in the 82nd minute.

Bruno replaces Mata.

When Bruno came on as a substitute, he could vaguely hear the boos coming from the stands of Saragioglu Stadium.

They are scared! In fear!

Although Bruno has never played with Fenerbahce, Bruno's appearance put a lot of psychological pressure on the fans of the home team.

And Bruno did not disappoint them.

Mourinho only had one arrangement for him, which was to run in and out, stretch the defense and strive for goals.

After Bruno came on the field, he made a strong breakthrough from the left with his first touch of the ball, but when he passed into the penalty area, he was cleared by Fenerbahce central defender and former Liverpool player Skrtel.

But just three minutes later, after receiving a pass from Gundogan on the left, Bruno suddenly started and cut inside with the ball.

Ibrahimovic understood and retreated from the front, seemingly coming to meet Bruno, but in fact he pulled out Skrtel.

Bruno passed the ball diagonally with his right foot, and Rooney quickly crossed into the penalty area, stopped the ball, and shot, all in one go!

The ball hit the net!

1: 0!

In the 89th minute, Manchester United scored the winning goal with Bruno assisting captain Rooney!

In another Group A match at the same time, Feyenoord drew 1:1 with Zoya on the road.

As a result, after the 4 rounds of the Europa League group stage, Manchester United is far ahead in Group A with 4 points from 12 consecutive wins. Fenerbahce and Feyenoord, who are ahead of them, have both reached 8 points, thus not only two games ahead of the competition. qualified for this season's Europa League knockout round, and even secured first place in the group two rounds in advance.

As for the other promotion spot in Group A, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord and Zoya are all possible. After all, Fenerbahce and Feyenoord both only had 4 points, and Zoya also scored 2 points, so they were not completely eliminated.

But that has nothing to do with Manchester United. After all, Manchester United has advanced two rounds in advance and even locked in the first place in the group. It can completely withdraw from the Europa League.