Chapter 840: Double Red Meeting 3

On the fourth weekend of 2021, the English arena ushered in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The third Manchester United derby in twelve days also kicked off at the Millennium Stadium in the afternoon of the 24th.

This is the 18th time in the history of the Red Devils that the Red Devils have been staged in the FA Cup, and it is also Bruno's first time to participate in the Red Devils Derby in the FA Cup.

This is Bruno's 2016th time participating in the Red Derby since he joined Manchester United in the summer of 13, but the previous 12 times were in other competitions.

As the most successful club in the history of the FA Cup, Manchester United has had an outstanding record in the FA Cup since 2015. It has reached the finals for five consecutive years and won four consecutive FA Cup titles. Only last season, it lost to Arsenal in a penalty shootout and missed the first five consecutive titles in the history of the FA Cup.

This season, Manchester United's performance is still relatively stable. Currently, they have gained a 13-point advantage in the standings and seem unstoppable in winning the Premier League title for the fifth consecutive time. In other fields, Manchester United's performance is also outstanding.

In comparison, after Liverpool achieved super high points in the first two seasons but ultimately missed the first Premier League title in team history, their performance in the league has experienced some ups and downs this season. They are currently ranked fourth in the standings, 16 points behind Manchester United, and have basically withdrawn from the race for the league title ahead of time.

Under such circumstances, they naturally hope to achieve something on other fronts, such as eliminating Manchester United in the FA Cup, advancing to the next round, or even reaching the final and winning the championship.

Liverpool sent Salah and Firmino to start the game, while Mane was on the bench. As for Manchester United, Mourinho also made several position rotations, but Bruno still wore the captain's armband.

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Twenty-five minutes into the game, the score was 0:0.

Although the score was still tied, the two sides played back and forth, and the tempo of the game was very fast. Only 25 minutes had passed, and the combined number of shots of Manchester United and Liverpool had reached 15, of which Manchester United had 8 shots and Liverpool had 7 shots. From the data, it can be seen that both sides showed a strong desire to attack.

Mourinho has already ordered the team to win. In such a tough battle, they must try their best to win. On the Liverpool side, Klopp is also unwilling to be outdone.

"The game has been going on for 0 minutes. In terms of fouls, Manchester United has committed 0 and received a yellow card, while Liverpool has committed and received a yellow card," said commentator Martin Taylor. "Although the score is :, we can see from the data how intense the game was."

Both sides accumulated troops in the midfield, and both wanted to fight for control of the midfield. On the field, situations of chaos occurred from time to time, especially on the Manchester United side. Mourinho seriously "warned" young player Bellingham before the game. In today's game, Bellingham must also do his best to help Kante defend.

So the audience saw that Bellingham, who previously gave people the impression that his defense was average and even because of his thin physique and fear of fighting, also desperately participated in defense today. The 17-year-old young player even once blocked a bullet hole at the top of the penalty area, which also won him warm applause from the Manchester United fans in the stands.

………………

In such a fierce game, both sides fought fiercely, and it seemed that no one was sure of scoring the other side's goal.

At this time, a flash of the player's football talent finally changed the course of the game.

Bruno suddenly dribbled the ball through the middle, and Liverpool's midfielder Thiago stepped forward to intercept.

Bruno pretended to break through the middle, but suddenly passed the ball away and it was Rashford who received the ball.

After Rashford got the ball, he knocked it back to Bellingham, who turned around and ran forward. Bellingham shook his ankle and passed the ball.

People thought Bellingham passed the ball to Rashford who was already in position, but unexpectedly Bellingham passed the ball to Greenwood on the right.

Greenwood kicked the ball beautifully, then suddenly accelerated and avoided the Liverpool left-back Robertson's attempt to steal the ball. After catching up with the ball, he did not pass the ball from the bottom, but suddenly cut inside under the double defense of Milner and Fabinho and rushed straight into the penalty area!

This change was unexpected by Liverpool's defenders.

Liverpool's head coach Klopp was shouting anxiously on the sidelines, directing the team's defense.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was also shouting loudly, directing his teammates to chase and intercept Greenwood.

After attracting three Liverpool defenders, Greenwood did not continue to break through, but suddenly stopped and made a move to pass the ball to Bruno, who also made a move to come over to receive the ball.

This immediately attracted the attention of Liverpool's defenders, and Wijnaldum immediately moved his body to block the pass.

………………

Almost as soon as Wijnaldum made this move, Greenwood, who originally had no shooting angle, immediately saw a small shooting route.

Greenwood, who was originally planning to pass the ball to Bruno, made a sudden change. He dribbled the ball back and then suddenly took a long shot from the top of the penalty area!

In the penalty area filled with legs like a forest, Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson had been paying close attention to the situation in front of the penalty area, and then he saw a flash of white light.

Is this a long shot? !

Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson's reaction was very quick. He tried his best to save the ball and actually succeeded in catching it. However, the shot was very powerful and hit the upper corner of the goal. Alisson barely managed to lift the ball but still failed to stop the ball from moving forward.

When Alisson fell in front of the goal, he looked up and saw the football flying into the net behind him.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

Seeing the team lose the ball and fall behind in the score, Liverpool head coach Klopp patted his chair in anger.

"Our players were attracted by Bruno," the assistant coach said beside him.

Klopp nodded. Bruno is Manchester United's number one star and absolute offensive core. His threat is unquestionable. You can't just ignore the movement of such a threatening player. This instead gives Greenwood the space and opportunity to shoot.

However, Klopp had to admit that Greenwood's goal was very beautiful. He dribbled the ball from the wing, cut inside, and shot in one go. The quality of the shot was also very high.

………………

Despite being behind in the score, Liverpool players did not panic. After the game resumed, losing the ball instead stimulated the team to launch a more fierce attack on Manchester United's goal.

"Liverpool's attack is too fierce." Fabia said somewhat worriedly.

There is no wrong version in the 6 book forum!

Mourinho didn't say anything, he stared at the field. He was indeed surprised by the opponent's performance after losing the ball.

Liverpool's offensive efforts paid off in the 38th minute of the first half. In a quick counterattack by Liverpool, Firmino made a pass to find an open space on the right side of Manchester United, and Salah made a single shot from the right side of the penalty area to score.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Salah! The Egyptian equalized the score for Liverpool! 1:1! Before the end of the first half, Liverpool's attack finally paid off!" commentator Martin Taylor shouted.

"Tuanzebe is still too young and inexperienced, and was blocked by Salah." Martin Taylor shook his head. The central defender was blocked behind by the opponent's forward, and the result was naturally obvious.

"Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea should take greater responsibility for this goal. There was clearly something wrong with his defensive positioning," Andy Gray interrupted.

Mourinho was furious on the sidelines. He shouted loudly towards the field. Mourinho was mentally prepared for losing the ball, but he was a little unhappy that he lost the ball because of his own mistakes and confusion.

Moreover, losing the ball at this point in time really hurt the morale.

………………

"Sly guy." Mourinho glanced at the visiting team's coaching bench.

During the process of losing the ball, Liverpool's other striker Curtis Jones tightly entangled Lindelof, and Salah got a chance under the defense of the inexperienced Tuanzebe.

Obviously, Liverpool head coach Klopp also made targeted deployments against Manchester United's defense, using an offensive player to contain Lindelof, while other offensive players sought opportunities from Tuanzebe's defense area.

Tuanzebe is indeed talented, but as a defender, growth requires time and cost. Every outstanding defender and goalkeeper who wants to grow into a top star has to grow through the accumulation of many mistakes and errors.

In addition, goalkeeper De Gea also made an obvious mistake in this defense. There was a problem with his positioning, so he failed to make an effective save.

Mourinho walked to the sidelines and shouted the name of the team captain Bruno. When he saw Bruno looking at him, Mourinho made a downward gesture: Defend!

Liverpool's morale was boosted after they equalized the score, and they took the initiative on the field in the final stage of the first half. Fortunately, Mourinho responded quickly and issued orders in advance. Manchester United retreated across the board and withstood Liverpool's offensive in the final stage.

In the end, at the end of the first half, Manchester United and Liverpool temporarily tied at 1:1.

Liverpool's head coach Klopp was a little depressed. His team's morale was boosted and he had a hunch that if the team was given a little more time, they would probably score against Manchester United again. The halftime break came at a really bad time.

Mourinho felt fortunate that the team was rather passive in the final moments and the halftime break came at the right time, which gave his team a chance to catch their breath.