Chapter 838 The Dark Past
At 2020 pm on December 12, 29, Manchester United will face Wolves at home.
This is a focus match in the 2020th round of the Premier League and also Manchester United’s last game in .
Originally, this was going to be Manchester United's last game at the Millennium Stadium, but because Manchester is still in a high-risk area, fans are not allowed to enter the stadium to watch the game. In addition, the new Old Trafford Stadium has just been completed and some facilities and equipment need further debugging. After repeated consultations by Manchester United management, the time for Manchester United to return to their new home has been delayed to the opening game of next season.
As a result, Manchester United will continue to play its remaining home games at the Millennium Stadium this season.
As the dark horse team in the past two seasons, Wolves' performance has declined since entering the third year of the Premier League. After 6 rounds of the Premier League, they only have 3 wins, 6 draws and losses, and are currently ranked th in the standings.
However, in this game, Wolves showed great tenacity against Manchester United. In addition, Manchester United's schedule this season is too dense. Although Mourinho has been working hard to rotate, Manchester United players are still very tired, so their condition on the field is not very good.
At the end of the first half, both sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0:0.
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In the home team's locker room at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, the only sound left was the players' heavy breathing.
Facing the strong Wolves team, every member of the team tried their best and did not dare to slack off even for a moment.
At this moment, everyone's face was filled with fatigue.
Soon, Mourinho took Faria into the locker room and began to arrange the team's tactics for the second half. Basically, the play style of the first half was still continued, but he made some adjustments in some positions.
For example, he hopes Bruno can suppress Wolves right-back Hofer more.
This player is a young player who is only 19 years old and lacks experience. He is a point where Manchester United can make a breakthrough.
Bruno also immediately said that he would do his best and would definitely find an opportunity with Hofer.
In addition to Bruno, Mourinho also signaled Gundogan to move forward a little, mainly targeting Wolves' left side.
Harry Kane was in the middle area, focusing on restricting the central defender and the defensive midfielder.
Pushing Bruno and Gundogan forward, in addition to playing a defensive role, will make them the team's key weapons for counterattacks, especially Bruno, whose passing and personal abilities are what Manchester United must rely on in the second half.
"Okay, everyone, this is basically how we're going to play in the second half."
Mourinho was making his final mobilization before the second half.
"Please believe that as long as we stick to this style of play, all we need to do next is to patiently wait for our opponents to make mistakes. As long as we are given one chance, we can give our opponents the most fatal blow!"
"Both teams returned to the pitch. We could see that the Manchester United players looked refreshed and confident."
"This is Manchester United's top star, Bruno Fernandes. He just won the European Ballon d'Or and the World Footballer of the Year three times in a row this month, surpassing Yosi and Ronaldo to become the number one player in world football."
"We sincerely hope that Bruno can continue his excellent performance in the second half, bring us more wonderful goals, and help Manchester United win this game."
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The game starts again.
Manchester United basically continued to play as they did in the first half, except that the positions of Bruno and Gundogan were adjusted.
Under the strong pressure from Manchester United, Wolves were forced to retreat to their own half and use a defensive counterattack tactic.
Afterwards, Manchester United still created several chances, but none of them were threatening attacks. It was not until the 64th minute that Manchester United launched the first truly threatening attack in the second half.
After Bruno and Rashford cooperated on the left, Rashford passed the ball to the front of the penalty area, and Gundogan followed up and shot directly.
As a result, the shot missed the target.
As Wolves became more cautious, they no longer gave Manchester United opportunities easily. Instead, they tried to create opportunities again and again through quick counterattacks.
Mourinho also further strengthened the defense in the midfield and backcourt through substitutions, continuing to wait for Wolves to make mistakes.
As time went by, Manchester United began to get a little anxious.
Because Manchester United has won almost every possible championship in the past few years, almost every Manchester United player has a natural pride because they are the kings of Manchester United.
The Wolves became more and more confident as they defended, especially after continuously strengthening their defense in the midfield and backcourt.
Mourinho realized that something was wrong and began to make personnel adjustments and asked Manchester United to continue to be patient.
Manchester United’s advantage in the standings is very obvious at the moment. Even if they fail to win 3 points in this game, they can still maintain their top position.
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Time quickly entered injury time, and just when everyone thought that Manchester United would get two consecutive draws in the Christmas devil schedule, the situation changed quietly.
Perhaps it was because they had continuously blocked Manchester United's offensive that the Wolves players' confidence became a little inflated. They wanted to use a quick counterattack to win three points away from home.
In the 91st minute, Hoever dribbled the ball forward from the right, and Bruno ran over from the middle to defend, forcing the Wolves right back to quickly pass the ball to the midfield.
Due to Bruno's reputation, Hofer was very cautious towards Bruno and did not dare to confront him head-on.
The ball was passed hastily and was quickly intercepted by Manchester United.
Luke Shaw was on the left and passed the ball to Bruno in front.
Bruno stopped the ball, turned around, and moved towards the front of the penalty area at a 45-degree angle.
As soon as Bruno got the chance, he suddenly sped up and sprinted with the ball.
Over the past eight years, he has been dribbling the ball almost every day, and the distance, point and length of each step have almost become an instinct for him, allowing him to control it at will.
His sudden acceleration passed through the Wolves' midfield and headed straight for the defense line.
Harry Kane is very smart. When he saw Bruno running diagonally into the penalty area from the left rib, he immediately ran to the right side of the penalty area, creating space for Bruno and also creating opportunities for himself.
Wolves' left center back Coady quickly came over and squeezed Bruno with his body. But Bruno was not pushed away, but instead accelerated, took a step forward, and blocked the opponent with his body.
At this moment, the Wolves' defense was in a panic.
He failed to steal the ball and was squeezed behind by Bruno. How could he be stopped?
Especially when Bruno was getting closer and closer to the penalty area, Wolves' other central defender Sais decisively gave up Harry Kane and rushed towards Bruno.
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When Bruno rushed to the left side of the penalty area with the ball, he saw Sais rushing towards him. His choice was to send the ball into the penalty area with his right foot, and it rolled to the right side of the penalty spot.
Rashford understood what he meant and chased after him. Without waiting for Wolves goalkeeper Patricio to react, he pushed the ball directly into the goal.
"The ball went in!!!"
"Rashford!!!!"
"After a wonderful pass from Bruno, Rashford scored in the 92nd minute and finally broke the deadlock!"
Bruno ran out excitedly and jumped directly onto Rashford's back.
Rashford carried Bruno all the way out of the stadium and rushed to the stands where Manchester United fans were.
Manchester United players on the bench and on the field rushed up and surrounded them, everyone cheering and celebrating wildly.
"It's amazing! Bruno ran 30 meters with the ball from the left side of the center line, passed the ball diagonally behind him at the front of the penalty area, and assisted Rashford to score a goal!"
"This unexpected goal was wonderful! It also fully demonstrated Bruno's outstanding personal ability."
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With a last-second goal in injury time, Manchester United won their last game of 2020.
So far, Manchester United and Bruno have achieved a successful conclusion to this troubled year.
Due to the epidemic, Manchester United only played 2020 Premier League games in 35, with a record of 28 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses, making it the best performing team among all Premier League teams.
In addition, they played 11 Champions League games, with a record of 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and won the Champions League.
In addition, Manchester United reached the final of the FA Cup, won the League Cup, and won the European Super Cup.
对于布鲁诺个人而言，2020年他代表曼联在各项赛事中出战53场，打进了58球，同时送出35次助攻。其中英超联赛34战打进37球助攻24次。
In the Portugal national team, Bruno played in 6 games, scored 4 goals and 4 assists, helping the Portugal national team reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League A.
Throughout 2020, Bruno played a total of 59 games, scored 62 goals, and assisted 39 times. He was directly involved in 101 goals. This is the fifth consecutive year since 2016 that Bruno has been involved in more than 100 goals.
A day later, good news came from Newcastle as the Magpies drew 0-0 with Liverpool at home.
As a result, before the arrival of 2021, Manchester United has already gained a huge advantage of 10 points in the standings, and it seems that the team is on the verge of winning its fifth consecutive Premier League title.
The current Premier League standings are as follows:
曼联16战14胜1平1负，43分排名第一；
利物浦16战9胜6平1负，33分排名第二；
维拉16战9胜2平5负，29分排名第三；
莱斯特城16战9胜2平5负，29分排名第四；
埃弗顿15战9胜2平4负，29分排名第五；
南安普顿16战7胜5平4负，26分排名第六；
切尔西16战7胜4平5负，25分排名第七；
曼城14战7胜4平3负，25分排名第八。
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