Chapter 400: Can’t Hold It (Page 12)

The replay given by the slow motion replay was not the replay of Mata's shot, but the scene of Lingard and Ndong colliding with each other. It seems that the problem lies here.

"Ah... the referee Martin Atkinson ruled that Lingard had fouled someone with the ball, so the goal after that was invalid. What a pity..."

Although the goal was disallowed, Manchester United's players did not protest around the referee. There were so many chances to threaten Sunderland's goal in the first half that they thought winning the game would be no problem.

It's no wonder that Manchester United's players have such confidence. They completely dominate the field. Sunderland has only one shot so far, and it was created by them using the kick-off right at the beginning of the game.

After that, Sunderland was beaten so hard by Manchester United that they couldn't hold their heads high.

Although Sunderland has always played the role of a scorer in front of Manchester United, Sunderland fans are still very dissatisfied with the team's performance.

They braved the severe cold and drove to Manchester from Sunderland in the northeast of England. Is it just to watch their team get beaten to a pulp?

These people booed loudly in the stands, but no matter how dissatisfied they were, they did not do anything to help the team improve the situation on the field.

In the 45th minute, just as the first half was about to end, Bruno made a sudden through ball in the frontcourt. Lingard succeeded in countering offside, broke into the penalty area and formed a single shot, but the ball was blocked by the Sunderland goalkeeper. Kerfford's foot blocked it.

Immediately after, the referee's whistle also sounded. Because the game was going smoothly, there was not even one minute of additional time. When the forty-five minutes were up, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the first half.

………………

"Manchester United had countless chances in the first half. I have lost count of how many times they threatened Sunderland's goal. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before Manchester United broke Sunderland's goal. But it is a pity that in the first half, In these forty-five minutes, they did not score a goal..."

At the end of the first half, Sunderland really defended the score of 0:0. Their head coach Moyes was very happy. When the players came off the field, he stayed on the sidelines and hugged them one by one. Although Sunderland in the stands The fans are booing him and his players.

"You did a good job!" This was the first sentence the two head coaches said to their players after returning to the locker room.

Both managers praised his players. Sunderland's head coach is because the players really held on to the draw as he said they would, which will make him look more comfortable arranging tactics for the second half.

Mourinho praised the players because they had the upper hand in the first half. If such a performance is not worthy of praise, then the team will lose momentum.

"It's a pity that our luck is a bit bad..." Mourinho comforted the players again.

Their luck was indeed not very good. Several must-goal goals were miraculously blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and defensive players.

"In the second half, we have to continue to play like this and keep putting pressure on the opponent. From the first minute of the game, we will continue to attack. Before scoring, don't think about anything else but offense."

Offense is Manchester United's greatest weapon, and few teams can face such a sustained offensive without collapsing.

A continuous offensive is actually nothing great, but a continuous offensive that can lead to goals is terrible.

The goalkeeper has to save the opponent's one-on-one attack every time, which will lead to psychological breakdown over time. Once the goalkeeper's mentality collapses, he will never be able to keep the goal.

Manchester United's football is actually very simple to put it bluntly. It uses this fierce offensive to continuously attack the opponent's defense, and completely collapses when the opponent cannot resist it.

You know what this tactic is, but you just can't prevent it. This is what causes your opponent the most headaches.

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Over at Sunderland, Moyes is laying out tactics for the second half.

"We continued to defend in the second half and the first ten minutes were very important. Manchester United are very good at scoring goals early in the game, so be careful about that. After the first fifteen minutes of the second half, they will definitely become restless. Get up, this is our chance to fight back!"

As for dealing with Bruno, Moyes's tactic was a "wolf pack killing tactic", which meant using more than one person to take turns fouling Bruno, making it impossible for him to continuously organize an effective offensive.

Bruno is the brains of Manchester United. Disrupting his rhythm means disrupting the offensive rhythm of the entire Manchester United team.

Once Manchester United loses their offensive threat, they will become a very ordinary team.

Moyes's analysis of Manchester United is still correct. The key to Manchester United's ability to dominate the Premier League standings this season is their offense. Although the defense that conceded 17 goals in 15 rounds is considered excellent, it can only rank third in the Premier League. However, the attacking group that scored 17 goals in 48 rounds is far ahead in the Premier League, surpassing Liverpool, which has the second most goals. 7 more goals.

For Mourinho, who has always been known for his defense, this is also somewhat unexpected.

………………

When the coaches from both sides took advantage of their last chance to make adjustments to their team's tactics during the halftime break, commentators from all over the world were talking about the game.

"Except for the lack of goals in the first half, everything was good." For example, Zhan Jun, a commentator from Xinyin Sports, a major eastern country that has the exclusive broadcast rights to the Premier League, said.

"Hehehe, I'm a little worried. If Manchester United continues to attack like this, the opponent will seize the opportunity in the second half..." Zhang Lu, who was explaining the game with his partner, was not optimistic, "There were many advantages in the first half. This is an example of players being lax and careless, and then being counterattacked by the opponent and scoring a goal..."

At the same time, Lineker was also discussing this topic with Ferdinand: If Manchester United continues to attack like this in the second half and cannot open up the situation, will Sunderland be waiting for an opportunity to sneak attack?

Lineker was a little worried, but Ferdinand was very confident in Manchester United's defense. So Lineker joked about Ferdinand: "I don't know what the Sunderland fans would think if they knew about your attitude."

Ferdinand smiled and said: "I am a fan of Manchester United, and their football is better."

Vanessa also watched the game from the VIP box at Old Trafford Stadium. She was quite satisfied with Manchester United's performance in the first half. Bruno's performance was also very good. From the perspective of a professional fan, she said, Except for the lack of goals, it was really an impeccable half.

In terms of ball possession rate, the number of shots, the number of threatening shots, and the number of attacks into the opponent's 30-meter area, Manchester United far surpasses Sunderland. As long as the Manchester United players make no mistakes and continue to play like this in the second half, Winning is just a matter of time.

She was in a good mood this first half.

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The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly and the second half quickly resumed.

Before going on the field, Sunderland head coach Moyes told his players one last time: "We must defend in the second half and defend their offense!"

He stood at the door of the locker room, tapping the players on the shoulders and back one by one to remind them.