Chapter 426: Goal first!

After the warm-up, the players from both teams returned to their respective locker rooms.

Fellaini screamed when he came in: "How long until the game starts? I can't wait!"

"There's still half an hour, Jesse, are you so impatient?" A teammate answered him.

"I'm worried that if I go out in half an hour, my body will be cold again," Fellaini said.

"Then just keep running!" Bruno laughed.

"Uh..." Fellaini fell silent, while other teammates burst into laughter. Fellaini's physical strength is not very good. If he is allowed to run like Bruno, he will fall down at halftime.

After being teased by Fellaini, the atmosphere in the locker room became heated again.

When all the players came in, it didn't take long for head coach Mourinho and assistant coach Faria to push in the door.

First, assistant coach Faria pushed in the door, and then said to everyone: "Okay, boys. Be quiet, he is here."

He didn't say who he was, but everyone knew who he was. So the music in the locker room was turned off, the chatting with each other stopped, everyone became quiet, and looked at the entrance, waiting for his arrival.

………………

Soon, head coach Mourinho walked in.

After Mourinho came in, he stood in the center of the locker room and looked around at the players. Some people were looking at him, while others were looking at their toes with lowered eyelids.

It seemed that the emotions of the players were quite normal. Although this was a battle of revenge, they did not clamor to flatten their opponents before the game.

It's no different than before any game.

This is best. You need to be motivated to compete, but you can't be overly excited.

Manchester United is now like a wolf lurking in the night, with no threat in sight. But as soon as the prey relaxes, it will rush out and bite the opponent's vital part. This bite is likely to be fatal.

After pondering for a moment, Mourinho said: "Boys, I have nothing to say. I said everything I needed to say last night. You just need to remember to score goals as soon as possible..."

"What will we do if they score first, sir?" Rashford asked, raising his hand.

"What if they score first? Then we'll get it back as soon as possible."

After answering Rashford's question in a joking way, Mourinho turned to the players and said: "I still can't forget that game. We lost to Chelsea 2:5. Now it's A good opportunity. We were tied by our opponents in the previous two games. This must have given Chelsea the illusion that we have been in poor form recently. It would be great if they really thought so."

"Don't try any tests after the opening, just launch a fierce attack on their goal! Try to score first. As long as we score first, the initiative in the game will be in our hands!"

"Remember, the side that scores first will take the initiative in the game, and we have the ability to score first!"

………………

After the players took the field, there was still drizzle in the sky, and the rain seemed to be getting heavier.

Bruno looked up at the night sky and was fascinated by the flying raindrops.

This wasn't his first time fighting in the rain. Whether in Manchester United or in the previous Udinese, he often played in rainy games.

It was fine when I was in Italy. Udinese and Novara, which have a Mediterranean climate, had relatively little rainfall. But when I moved to Manchester, rain battles were a common occurrence, and Bruno had already adapted to it.

He changed his shoes to longer spikes today just to cope with such a situation.

Thinking back to the first rainy game in Novara, running on the court was like skating. He, the core of offense and defense, fell countless times, and the number on his back was almost invisible in the mud. He couldn't do it like this. Control the football calmly in a slippery environment. The opponent will lose the football if he presses for a moment.

He was in a terrible state at that time.

Playing football in the rain is still difficult today, but Bruno is no longer the rookie he was.

Last year's game was also a shame for Bruno.

He must have a strong character and be unwilling to give in easily no matter what he does. He always hopes to win and wants to be a winner. But who would have thought that when he was ambitious and wanted to create a new situation at Manchester United, he was knocked to the ground by Chelsea.

Although he had one goal and one assist in that game, and his statistics looked pretty good, his performance was definitely not good.

As the core of the team, if the performance is poor, it is natural for the team to lose the game.

So Bruno always blamed the failure of that game on his poor performance. Now he meets Chelsea again, and this game is his revenge.

He cannot tolerate a team that doubles his team in one season. That would be a complete failure for him.

I lost last time, but I have to win it back no matter what this time.

………………

"Goal first!" Coach Mourinho's voice echoed in Bruno's mind.

Bruno withdrew his gaze and found that the referee and Chelsea captain were already waiting for him to pick a side.

Because Rooney, the captain, and the three vice-captains Carrick, Valencia, and Ashley Young were not included in the squad today, Manchester United's captain on the field is Bruno.

Chelsea's captain is John Terry, but he has rarely played this season. The captain's armband is more often worn by vice-captain Gary Cahill.

In this game, it was Gary Cahill who wore the Chelsea captain's armband.

After Cahill saw Bruno coming up, he took the initiative to extend his hand and shake it.

Until now, they were not enemies and could shake hands like this. Once the referee blows the whistle, in Bruno's eyes, everyone wearing the blue jersey is the enemy.

Bruno got the right to kick off the ball. Bruno ran back and called his teammates to surround him.

"I only have one thing to say." He raised his right index finger and stretched it to the center of the circle, "You must score first!"

………………

"GOOOOOOOAL!!! GOOOOOOOOAL!!!" the TV commentator shouted.

But now, only two minutes have passed since the start of the game, the Manchester United players wearing red jerseys opened their arms and hugged each other.

Only two minutes into the game, the visiting team took the lead!

At that time, Bruno's long shot helped Manchester United get the first corner kick of the game. Mata took the corner kick, and Bruno inserted a header from the center.

The goal was scored very cleanly, no problem!

Looking at the expressions of the Chelsea players, they seemed to be in disbelief that the ball just flew into their own goal.

The game had only started two minutes, and Chelsea was already trailing 1:0 at home!

Chelsea obviously did not expect Manchester United's momentum to be so strong, and they were caught off guard by Manchester United's violent attack.

The Manchester United players ended their celebrations and ran back. Bruno was waiting on the road they must pass, high-fiving everyone, and then reminded them: "Keep attacking, keep attacking, guys! A one-goal lead is not safe, we still need to Score goals and score more goals!”

………………

Manchester United dominated the away game at Stamford Bridge and their offensive was so fierce that Chelsea could hardly lift their head.

This was completely beyond their expectations. They thought that Manchester United had just been tied in consecutive matches in the Premier League and Europa League knockout matches, and the team's morale must be very low. In addition, they have the psychological advantage of playing at home, so this game The game can definitely be won.

Unexpectedly, just two minutes into the game, their opponent scored a goal, and they were immediately at a disadvantage.

At this time, Chelsea's players wanted to be nervous, but instead they tended to become overly nervous, leading to abnormal performance.

It wasn't until the 16th minute that they had their first shot. Hazard caught the ball and got rid of it in one go, then broke through Jones and entered the right side of the penalty area. Unfortunately, the shot from a small angle was blocked by De Gea.

Chelsea took a corner kick and Cahill's volley in the penalty area was miraculously blocked by De Gea. Willian took a corner kick and Costa headed the ball high.

After this wave of attacks, there was another series of fierce offensives by Manchester United.

In the 20th minute, Bruno was pulled by the opponent's shirt when he was controlling the ball in the frontcourt. Bruno did not give up the ball. He put his arms up to block the opponent's players and protect the football at his feet. Under the interference of the opponent's pulling and kicking, he is still looking for an opening to pass the ball.

However, the referee Mike Oliver couldn't stand it anymore, blew his whistle and gave Manchester United a free kick in the frontcourt.

………………

This free kick on the left was taken by Herrera, although the angle did not seem to allow a direct shot.

Bruno pointed to his head in the crowd, and Herrera glanced at him without any expression.

The referee blew his whistle after seeing everything was ready.

Herrera kicked the football towards the goal. Bruno jumped high in the crowd and got the ball before Chelsea defenders.

However, Bruno did not shoot directly, because he was surrounded by Chelsea's strong men, and he was not sure that he could top the ball.

And when he jumped into the air, he discovered many things that he couldn't find on the ground, such as... an obvious gap!

Bruno ferried the football down in the air, but the football was closer to Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois. It looked like a header error. The intended shot turned into a back pass.

But just when Courtois stretched out his hands to catch the ball, a leg wearing red socks appeared out of the sky and stabbed the football in the air before Courtois could catch the ball. The side changed direction and flew into the goal!

"Herrera kicked the ball out and there was chaos in front of the goal...wait..."

"GOOOOOOOAL!!"

"The ball went in! The ball did go in! The second goal! Manchester United's second goal! The person who scored the goal was... Van Dijk! Central defender Van Dijk!!"

"It's only been twenty minutes since the game started, 2:0!"

"Manchester United is off to a fantastic start!"