Chapter 666: Two Difficulties in Breaking the Record

Both attacks had ideas, but failed to create any threats.

Mourinho couldn't sit still on the sidelines and finally made a substitution. Mahrez, who has been in great form recently, replaced Mbappe, who performed mediocrely today.

This was a positional substitution, and there was not much change in the team's formation and tactics.

However, according to Mourinho's opinions brought by Mahrez, Gundogan's position is to form a double attacking midfielder with Bruno, and Kante plays as a single defensive midfielder.

Mourinho obviously still hopes that the team can play more proactively and create more opportunities.

At this time, the time had reached the seventy-third minute, and there were only about twenty minutes left in the game.

Bruno gained more freedom in the midfield and began to actively expand his activity area, actively running around to look for opportunities, but the two Southampton defenders followed him closely, making it difficult for him to get a chance to perform.

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Time passed by little by little, and finally passed eighty minutes.

The Manchester United fans who had originally expected Bruno to change the situation gradually calmed down and realized that the difficulty of the opponent was indeed beyond everyone's expectations.

But what to do next?

Mourinho has stopped making any moves because he has no other options.

The players on the field now are the best offensive combination he can put together. How else can he make changes?

If even Bruno can't do anything, then there's really nothing we can do.

Southampton became more and more confident as they defended.

2:2, although they failed to end Manchester United's unbeaten record, it was still a victory for them.

It is not something that ordinary teams can do to tie the powerful Manchester United. The new season has already started 14 rounds, and only the powerful Tottenham and Manchester City have tied Manchester United before. Other traditional Premier League powerhouses such as Chelsea and Everton have all been defeated by Manchester United without exception.

And now, they are about to become the third team capable of drawing with Manchester United.

As long as Southampton can get 1 point in today's game, they can surpass Burnley in front of them and escape the relegation zone.

Southampton players and fans seemed to see the goddess of victory waving at them.

………………

Manchester United is still looking for opportunities patiently. Bruno's advantage lies in his calmness.

Mourinho also realized that right-back Cancelo did not provide enough support to Bruno, always leaving him surrounded by two players, which made it difficult for Bruno to play to his strengths. So he kept signaling to Cancelo to press forward more on the sidelines.

After Cancelo moved forward, Bruno's pressure was much relieved.

Originally, the connection between Gundogan and Bruno was too obvious, but after Cancelo moved forward, there was an extra receiving point in the middle, and it became a triangle pass, making it difficult for the opponent to defend.

Soon, a triangle pass on the right created an opportunity.

After Bruno received the pass from Rashford on the right flank, he had no chance and passed the ball back to Gundogan. He did not run away but followed Hojbjerg.

Gundogan, who was cooperating more and more with Bruno, was clearly aware of Bruno's intention: Hojbjerg came out to the front of the penalty area, there was an opportunity behind him, and Bruno had the advantage of speed.

But passing the ball directly like this would definitely not work, as the intention would be too obvious and Bruno would be trapped behind Hojbjerg and wouldn't be able to receive the ball.

So Gundogan quickly passed the ball to Cancelo and signaled him to pass it diagonally to Bruno.

………………

After Cancelo received the ball and made a diagonal pass, Bruno started quickly and inserted from the right side to behind Hojbjerg.

Cancelo's idea was there, and the ball was passed, but the force was a bit too strong and it went straight to the baseline, which was beyond the expectations of Gundogan and Bruno.

But there was no other way, Bruno could only speed up to catch up.

"Cancelo's pass was too far, but Bruno didn't give up. Hojbjerg was chasing him closely."

Bruno was also clearly aware that Hojbjerg was chasing him from behind, but he had no choice but to catch up with him as fast as possible, otherwise the ball would go out of bounds.

Finally, he caught up with the ball before it went out of the baseline, but Hojbjerg had already caught up to his left side.

At that moment, Bruno knew clearly that he had no angle to cross the ball. If he forced a cross, it would only hit Hojbjerg, and it would be a corner kick at most.

But he is already on the edge of the penalty area. What a good opportunity he must not waste.

On the football field, there are many cases where a team fails to seize opportunities and is counterattacked by the opponent, thus losing the game.

Bruno doesn't want the same situation to happen to Manchester United.

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Bruno thought quickly and made an emergency stop to dunk the ball in front of the baseline without it going out of bounds. However, he rushed out of the baseline due to inertia, but quickly stabilized his body.

Hojbjerg next to him was not so lucky. After all, he responded hastily and passively, and rushed out directly.

Bruno quickly moved the ball sideways with his left foot and rushed into the penalty area. At the same time, he used his body to block Hojbjerg outside the baseline behind him. At this time, all the advantages were on his side.

Hojbjerg didn't dare to commit a foul, and he didn't even dare to touch Bruno, because as long as he touched him, Bruno would fall down, and it would be a penalty.

Bruno blocked Hojbjerg with his body and then dribbled the ball towards the goal along the baseline.

Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy blocked the ball tightly beside the goal post, leaving Bruno no shooting angle at all. The opponent's central defender also quickly returned to defense and stood next to the goalkeeper.

In this case, Bruno has no angle.

But Bruno did not give the opponent any time to react. He dribbled the ball horizontally to the front of the small penalty area. Suddenly, he shook his body and dribbled the ball to the left. When he was about to shoot with his left foot, he deceived the opponent's central defender to kick the ball.

As soon as the opponent's right foot was raised, Bruno gently pushed the ball sideways with his left foot. The ball passed under the opponent's raised right foot, passed through the crotch, and rolled behind the opponent.

It was at this moment that Harry Kane suddenly woke up, and with a light sweep of his right foot, the football hit his right foot, changed direction, and rolled into the Southampton goal.

The England center forward was stunned, but the more than 2,000 Manchester United fans in the stands behind the goal went crazy!

………………

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL!!!!!"

"In the 87th minute, Manchester United finally broke through Southampton's goal again!"

"Bruno's dribbling breakthrough on the right was very exciting. Even when Cancelo passed the ball too far, Bruno still did not give up. He finally caught the ball before the baseline, and at the same time broke through Hojbjerg's defense and dribbled into the penalty area."

"Then, with all shooting angles blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and central defender, he managed to create a little space for passing the ball with a fake move, and passed the ball through the crotch to Harry Kane who was waiting in the middle."

"Harry Kane got a great deal. All he had to do was kick the ball into the empty net. Neither the opponent's goalkeeper nor the central defender could affect him."

"3:2!"

"Manchester United finally took the lead in the 87th minute!"

"Bruno! It's still Bruno!! At the critical moment, it was Bruno's outstanding performance that saved Manchester United!!!"

"He is so astonishing!"

"Before the game, some media conducted statistics. Bruno has played 2018 games for Manchester United and the Portuguese national team since 65."

"He played 11 games in 65 months, and played the full 90 minutes in almost every game. He can be said to be an iron man. What's more rare is that he played a key role in almost all the games, which makes people have to admire his excellence."

"Bruno deserves the biggest credit for Harry Kane's goal, and if Manchester United wins tonight, Bruno will undoubtedly be the team's number one contributor."

"The Manchester United fans who came to the away game were already boiling with excitement. They were all cheering Bruno's name. This will be Manchester United's 12th league victory in the new season. It is also the sixth time that Manchester United has reversed and won after falling behind in the new season. Bruno once again made them enjoy the joy of victory."

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In fact, Manchester United's reversal against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League group stage means that Manchester United has now reversed and won seven times in all competitions in the new season.

The 3:2 comeback victory over Southampton was a narrow one, but it still made Manchester United fans all over the world and the club very happy.

The Red Devils have extended their unbeaten record in the Premier League to 54 games.

Not only are they continuously breaking the Premier League's unbeaten record, they are also very close to AC Milan's 58-game unbeaten record in the top five leagues.

But everyone knows that Manchester United still faces difficult tests if they want to tie or even break AC Milan's 58-game unbeaten record.

The first is the densely packed arena.

If nothing unexpected happens, including today's away game against Southampton, Manchester United is very likely to play 12 games in December, including 9 Premier League games, 6 Champions League group match, and two Club World Cup games.

For two of the Club World Cup matches, they have to travel thousands of miles to the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East.

The second is a strong opponent.

If Manchester United want to tie AC Milan's 58-game unbeaten record, they must remain unbeaten in at least the next four Premier League games.

On the evening of December 12, in the 5th round of the Premier League, Manchester United will play against Arsenal at home;

On the afternoon of December 12, in the 8th round of the Premier League, Manchester United continued to play against Fulham at Old Trafford;

On December 12, in the 16th round of the Premier League, Manchester United will visit Anfield to challenge the Red Army Liverpool.

Manchester United's next Premier League match against Cardiff City in the 18th round has been postponed due to the Club World Cup, so Manchester United's match to tie AC Milan's unbeaten record will be against Huddersfield at home on Boxing Day.

Of course, the prerequisite is that Manchester United can overcome the two major difficulties of Arsenal and Liverpool.

It is obvious that neither Arsenal nor Liverpool can let Manchester United get away with it easily!