Chapter 397 Another 8-game winning streak

Although he missed the chance to defend the Ballon d'Or, this did not have a big impact on Bruno.

In the week before Christmas, the Premier League also ushered in a double match a week.

In the middle of the week, the 16th round of the Premier League started one after another. Arsenal, who played first, encountered a strong dialogue and eventually lost 1:2 at Goodison Park.

One day later, the other five BIG6 teams played almost at the same time.

Liverpool beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at the Riverside Stadium, ending their previous two-game winless streak.

Chelsea also defeated Black Cat Sunderland 1:0 at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Since losing to Arsenal in the 6th round of the Premier League, the Blues have won ten consecutive Premier League games.

Manchester City sat at the Etihad Stadium and defeated Watford 2-0.

Fifteen minutes after the end of these three games, Tottenham beat Hull City 3:0 at White Hart Lane, while Manchester United also beat Crystal Palace 2:1 at Selhurst Park Stadium in London.

After the game started, Manchester United quickly formed a suppressive trend on the scene, but could not break the deadlock on the field.

Just when the game entered the injury time of the first half, the fans thought that the 0:0 score would remain until the halftime break, but the deadlock was finally broken.

Crystal Palace defender Kelly stepped on Blind and received a yellow card and gave Manchester United a free kick on the left wing outside the penalty area. Mata took the penalty and sent the ball into the penalty area. Ibrahimovic used his body to cushion the ball and the ball hit Crystal Palace defender Ward. Falling at the feet of Bruno, Bruno pushed the shot with his right foot from the small penalty area and scored, giving Manchester United a 1:0 lead.

This goal is Bruno's fifth consecutive Premier League goal and his 5st goal in the Premier League this season.

Manchester United took the lead at the end of the first half with this goal.

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In the 66th minute of the game, Crystal Palace equalized the score. Ward and Ledley cooperated on the left wing and hit the low ball near the penalty area line. Delaney made a wonderful pass with his heel. MacArthur inserted himself into the left rib and scored with a single knife, rewriting the score to 1: 1.

Manchester United then launched a massive counterattack.

In the 68th minute of the game, Rooney's long-range arc shot from outside the penalty area was bravely saved by Hennessey. Then Manchester United took a corner kick and was hit by Ledley. Manchester United players complained about handball, but the referee Pawson was indifferent.

Then Manchester United continued to attack. Herrera passed the ball into the penalty area. Rojo headed the ball to the back point. Mata followed up and scored from close range, but was ruled invalid for offside. Slow motion showed that this was a misjudgment.

Manchester United encountered consecutive controversial penalties. Mourinho was furious on the sidelines and was shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson.

This yellow card allowed Mourinho to calm down, and then he made continuous substitution adjustments, replacing Lingard and Rashford to strengthen the attack.

In the 87th minute, Manchester United ushered in a decisive victory!

Bruno sent a through ball into the penalty area. Ibrahimovic kept the ball from the left wing of the penalty area and scored with his left foot. Manchester United once again took the lead.

This is also Ibrahimovic's 12th league goal this season and his 17th in all competitions.

When the final whistle blew, Mourinho walked into the field to applaud every Manchester United player and hugged every Manchester United player in celebration.

It is not difficult to see that Uncle Psy is really excited this time.

Ibrahimovic also roared and encouraged the whole team, high-fiving and hugging all his teammates. The scene was quite passionate!

Fighting against the sky, the earth, and people, Manchester United's victory was hard-won.

Such a victory may be crucial to boosting the morale of the team and changing the trend of the entire season. It's not difficult to understand why Mourinho and his Manchester United players are so excited.

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Manchester United narrowly won 2:1 in the end, achieving their 15th league victory this season and continuing to lead the Premier League standings with a 5-point advantage.

Bruno scored another goal, raising his number of goals in 2016 to 73. This number ranks fourth in football history, second only to Messi's 2012 goals in 91, Gade... Muller scored 1972 goals in 85, and Pele scored 1958 goals in 75.

Bruno's shot and pass in this game raised the goal record he directly participated in in 2016 to 117, further rewriting this record.

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Manchester United maintained their lead in the Premier League standings with a difficult victory over Crystal Palace.

In this game, Manchester United had a good goal disallowed and a penalty kick missed. Head coach Mourinho also received a yellow card for protesting the referee's decision.

But when asked after the game what he thought of the referee's controversial penalty, Mourinho refused to comment on the referee's performance. He said: "Referee? I won't comment on it, there is nothing to say. This is a It was a difficult game and we deserved to win. In the first half, we completely controlled the game. In the second half, our opponents responded somewhat and were rewarded with goals. After that, we entered the best period of the game. The last 20 Minutes later, we were almost unstoppable. The goalkeeper made a great save to stop Rooney's shot, Mata scored a goal, there was a controversial penalty kick, and the final goal. The players did It’s been an incredible response and I’m really happy for the players.”

Mourinho then praised the killer hero Ibrahimovic. He said: "He played a phenomenal performance. If you want to score that goal against the opponent's four-man defense, you need strong strength and spirit, and he did it." For a 4-year-old to score goals, to be a leader, it's all amazing."

Talking about his actions on the sidelines, Mourinho said: "After being sent a yellow card, I was very calm. I sat on the bench and tried my best not to show any emotions. I am happy with the victory, and I will be happy even if I don't win this game. Yes, because I am satisfied with the performance of the team. We played very, very well. This is a big change. People now always care more about the results but ignore the performance. Now although we have 5 points in the standings advantage, but the league schedule is not even halfway through, so we still need more points.”

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Three days later, Manchester United continued their away trip and challenged West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

Manchester United arranged a 433 formation for this game, with Ibrahimovic as the single arrow, Rooney and Lingard on the wings, Bruno as the attacking midfielder, and Carrick and Kante as the defensive midfielders. On the back line, Maguire and Van Dijk partnered as central defenders, Damian and Valencia were on the left and right, and the goalkeeper was De Gea. For West Bromwich Albion, Salomon Rondon, who scored a hat trick in the last game, serves as the arrow.

In the 4th minute of the game, Manchester United encountered a controversial penalty. Lingard was brought down by Neom in the penalty area, and the referee refused to award a penalty kick.

However, the referee's unfair treatment did not affect Manchester United. After just one minute, Manchester United took the lead with an undisputed goal. Valencia made a long pass from the right, Lingard passed in at high speed, and Ibrahimovic grabbed a header and hit the lower left corner, scoring his 13th Premier League goal this season.

In the 23rd minute, Lingard scored the ball, Bruno volleyed hard, and the ball roared towards the West Brom goal. Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster had no reaction at all to this earth-shattering long-range shot, almost watching the ball hit the net as a bystander.

In the 56th minute, Rooney passed the ball from the left and inserted into the penalty area to attract the defense. After getting the ball, Ibrahimovic got into the penalty area between two defensive players and shot low. The ball hit the lower right corner of the goal and scored twice. At the same time, it helped Manchester United seal the victory with a score of 3:0.

In the end, Manchester United defeated West Brom with a score of 3:0, ushering in their second eight-game winning streak in the Premier League this season.

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After the end of this round of league games, major European leagues have entered the winter break. Although the Premier League does not have a winter break, Manchester United also has a rare respite after experiencing three consecutive weeks of double matches: The team's next game is on the afternoon of Boxing Day. Before that, Manchester United has 9 days of rest!

Mourinho gave the players five days off and only resumed training on December 12 to prepare for the upcoming Christmas game, also known as the Christmas Devil schedule.

For Manchester United, this year's Christmas Devil schedule is relatively easy.

According to the schedule, Manchester United's Christmas Devil schedule has only three games, and two of them are at home. The three opponents are Sunderland, Middlesbrough and West Ham United, all of which are in the middle and lower reaches of the standings. The team is average in strength.

The first game is at 3 pm on Boxing Day. Manchester United faces the relegation team Sunderland at Old Trafford. This is almost a game that is in hand.

On the last day of 2016, Manchester United ushered in the second game of the Christmas Devil schedule and continued to sit at Old Trafford to face Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough are currently 14th in the table and only four points above the relegation zone. With their strength, as long as Manchester United doesn't make mistakes, there won't be much problem in getting 4 points.

Manchester United's first game in 2017 came on the afternoon of January 1, visiting the London Bowl to challenge the Hammers West Ham United.

West Ham United is currently ranked 13th in the standings, but it is only 5 points above the relegation zone. There is still a lot of pressure to avoid relegation.

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After three rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United's Christmas Devil schedule has come to an end, but the intensive schedule does not end there because their FA Cup schedule has begun again.

At noon on January 1, Manchester United will usher in the third round of the FA Cup, but their opponent is weaker, Reading, currently ranked third in the British Championship.

Then on the evening of January 1th, Manchester United will usher in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals. They will face Hull City at home.

On the afternoon of January 1th, Manchester United will usher in the 15st round of the Premier League. This is the second leg of the Double Red Club. Manchester United will face Liverpool at Old Trafford.

At this point, the real Christmas Devil schedule is completely over.

In 20 days, Manchester United will participate in 6 games. The longest rest period in the middle is less than 5 days. In the two shortest games, the rest period for Manchester United players is even less than 48 hours!

The schedule is really intensive!

But the good news for Manchester United is that in five of these games, Manchester United will play at home, and five of their opponents are relatively weak. Manchester United can use rotation to give the players enough rest time.

Among these 6 games, the only heavyweight game was the last second leg of the Double Reds against Liverpool at Old Trafford.