Chapter 494 Black Lightning

Off the court, Mourinho also clenched his fists and waved them vigorously.

He finally waited for the goal. This goal made him satisfied and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"The ball came very timely, which allowed them to take the initiative on the field. Southampton is not weak and has been ranked in the top half of the standings in recent seasons!"

"Harry Kane's goal is very crucial! This superstar, who cost Manchester United 1.2 million pounds to introduce, performed very well after joining Manchester United. He scored 3 goals and 6 assists in 3 league games. His efficiency is extremely amazing!"

The Manchester United players seemed very excited after the goal. They surrounded Harry Kane and cheered heartily.

This goal, this counterattack, is something Manchester United has practiced many times in training. The sweat the players put in on the training ground translates into goals, which is a great feeling.

Especially it enhances the confidence of the whole team.

The coach is indeed a world-class coach, and he has two skills.

Yes, Mourinho's reputation as a world-class coach is indeed a deterrent to the players, but there is only one thing that truly convinces the whole team:

That's winning!

After conceding the goal, Southampton played more open.

Mauricio Pellegrino, who advocates offense, has injected a "fearless" spirit into this team. Then in the injury time of the first half, Manchester United succeeded in a sneak attack again. Rashford passed the ball, Harry Kane headed the ball backwards, and Bruno succeeded in a long volley.

2: 0!

The timing of this goal is also very critical. Manchester United has just scored and the first half of the game is over. This leaves Southamptonians with no time to resist. This pair of crazy attacking Southampton players Morale is a big blow.

………………

At halftime, Mourinho praised the performance of his players, and he praised Harry Kane in particular.

The England international was all smiles after being praised.

Faria glanced at Mourinho. He remembered that Mourinho was furious when Harry Kane passed the ball badly.

Faria has no doubt that if that offensive opportunity is wasted, Mourinho will scold Harry Kane bloody.

After the start of the second half of the game, Pellegrino deployed his troops one after another to strengthen the attack. However, facing Manchester United's solid defense, the Southamptonians failed again and again.

The game went on for seventy-one minutes, and the score on the field was still 0:2, with the home team Southampton lagging behind.

Southampton's attack, this time Tadic's long shot from outside the penalty area directly fired the anti-aircraft gun.

Seeing this shot, Mourinho laughed happily below. This kind of shot really demoralized his teammates: the team finally got a good offensive opportunity, and the pass came over, such a precious There was a chance to shoot, but you kicked it into the sky!

"Southampton people are impatient." Carrick shouted happily.

Mourinho nodded proudly, and he immediately made substitution adjustments.

Smalling came on as a substitute, replacing Gundogan. At the same time, Rashford and Mbappe retreated to the midfield, and Manchester United changed to 541, leaving only Harry Kane in front.

………………

"This adjustment is timely. During this period, Southampton's offense is very fierce, and it is necessary to strengthen the defensive strength." Andy Gray commented, "Kante and Bruno are in the middle, like two pliers. Clamping down on Southampton's passage."

Andy Gray was right and it didn't take long for him to notice another change in United's tactics.

Mourinho likes Bruno so much that he gives Bruno the greatest freedom.

Bruno flew all over the field to help Kanter defend. Not only did he play as a midfielder, he also became an attacking midfielder when attacking.

Harry Kane is at the front, and on the wings, two fast players Rashford and Mbappe threaten Southampton's defense at all times.

Behind these two men is Bruno, and as long as he has the ball, the Southamptonians are in danger.

As time went by, Southampton's almost desperate attack seemed quite tragic. However, it did not threaten Manchester United's goal, but instead exposed their own defensive weaknesses.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Manchester United once again stole the ball in their own half.

Subsequently, after Bruno got the ball, he directly sent a big long pass.

"It's a big pass," Lineker said, shaking his head.

The Southamptonians thought so too. Their central defender Holt signaled his teammates to press forward. He would get the ball and then continue to attack.

Then, Holt's eyes widened. What did he see?

It's like a black lightning!

"Mbappe! This kid is so fast, my God!"

………………

When Holt, who was obviously careless, saw Mbappe rushing over, he immediately realized that the opponent was closer to the football than him.

We must not let this guy pass!

Almost as a subconscious reaction, Holt reached out and pulled down Mbappe, who had just taken the ball and was about to make a breakthrough. Then, the Southampton center back knew something was wrong: he had already received a yellow card in the first half of the game.

The whistle sounded without any surprise, and the referee on duty, Craig Pawson, ran over and took the cards out of his pocket.

yellow.

Paulson first showed a yellow card to Holt, and then took out another card: red!

"Two yellows turned one red, and Huot was sent off."

"Hoot had no choice. He had to commit a foul, but he got a red card for it. Southampton suffered a major blow."

Mourinho smiled and applauded on the sidelines. In Mourinho's view, this red card was a bigger blow to Southampton than the goal.

After Southampton captain Davis was substituted, Holt was Southampton's captain and the anchor of the team's defense.

And most importantly, Pellegrino has used up three substitutions.

Pellegrino rubbed his cheek vigorously with a painful expression. Although there was still time for the game, he already had a premonition that the game was going to be lost.

"We're going to win," Faria said.

Mourinho nodded, but the game was not over yet, he had to add another lock to victory.

Mourinho signaled Fellaini, who had been warming up for a while, to come over.

Mourinho made his third substitution adjustment, Rashford was replaced and Fellaini came on as a substitute.

………………

After Fellaini came on the scene, he did not appear in the defensive midfielder position, but appeared on the front line. He and Harry Kane formed twin towers, tightly suppressing Southampton's defense.

Coupled with the fast Mbappe, the Manchester United people successfully messed up Southampton's broken defense.

In fact, if referee Pawson hadn't been merciful, maybe some Southampton players would have received a red card and been sent off.

Southampton defender Maya Yoshida committed an irrational foul. The referee only gave him a verbal warning and did not show him a second yellow card.

This also caused strong protests from Mourinho.

Finally, when the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the St. Mary's Stadium was booed.

"At the end of the game, with goals from Harry Kane and Bruno, they won the game."

"After beating their opponents by six goals in three consecutive games, Manchester United finally stopped their scoring spree, but they still continue to win. In the new season, they have won ten consecutive games in all competitions!"

"Compared to the narrow victory against Chelsea in the Community Shield in the first game, Mourinho's team is performing better and better. This is inseparable from the rapid recovery of Bruno, the core of Manchester United's midfield. In addition, the Red Devils have improved in the summer. Before the transfer window closed, they spent huge sums of money to sign Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Riyad Mahrez, and they quickly integrated into the team and showed good condition."

Andy Gray, who had always criticized Mourinho when commentating on the Community Shield against Chelsea, praised Mourinho and Manchester United fairly.

Andy Gray is such a character, he doesn't care about the situation but the person.

The sad Southampton fans were already leaving the game, and only the Manchester United fans in the visiting team's stands were celebrating excitedly.

………………

The next day, the sports section of Manchester's local media "The Guardian" used the headline: Invincible!

After 6 rounds of league games, Manchester United has won 6 games and scored 18 points. It is the only team among the 20 teams in the Premier League to have won all the games.

What is even more shocking is that Manchester United scored a crazy 6 goals in 28 games, while at the same time not conceding a single goal on the defensive end.

Such a performance can indeed be called "invincible"!

However, "The Sun" scorned Manchester United's performance in this game. They even described this game as an "ugly victory".

Compared with the hearty victories of Manchester City and Chelsea, Manchester United had a very difficult time winning this round. With the goals of Harry Kane and Bruno, the Red Devils defeated Southampton 2:0. But looking back on the entire game, Manchester United has always been the suppressed side. Especially in the second half, Mourinho even set up the bus again to help the team maintain the victory.

Objectively speaking, Manchester United performed fairly well in the first half. Harry Kane and Bruno scored early goals for the Red Devils with their strong personal abilities.

But no one expected that the situation would change suddenly in the second half. Southampton suddenly exerted its strength and formed wave after wave of attacks as if it were a completely different team. Manchester United's defense was very tight, with almost only defense left. Yu Li became completely passive.

Even if Southampton had not sent off one man in the second half, it is unknown whether Manchester United could escape from St. Mary's Stadium.

Seeing that the situation was becoming passive, Mourinho also made adjustments. But the Madman's substitutions in this campaign also appeared to be very conservative. Offensive players such as McTominay and Lingard on the bench failed to get a chance to play. Mourinho's intention of making substitutions to strengthen defense is very obvious.

Seeing that Manchester United firmly wanted to defend, Southampton also really tried their best. Pellegrino sent two centers, Gabbiadini and Austin, and the game immediately became Southampton's attack and Manchester United's defense. scene.

The most interesting scene was that when Southampton was making substitutions, Mourinho intentionally or unintentionally stood in front of the staff and delayed for a while.