Chapter 852: Halftime End of the Battle

Mourinho said that he only gave Bruno half the game time, so he needed to end the battle in the first half!

Between the league and the Champions League, Mourinho decisively chose the Champions League. On the one hand, although Manchester City has been catching up quickly recently, Manchester United is still 6 points ahead, and the advantage is obvious. In addition, the league has just reached the 25th round, and there is still one-third of the schedule left, so the margin of error is relatively large; but after entering the knockout stage of the Champions League, it is a two-round home and away system, and the slightest mistake will result in elimination, especially when the opponent is a strong enemy like Paris Saint-Germain. On the other hand, the influence of the Champions League is not comparable to that of the Premier League. It is difficult for anyone to not choose to focus on the Champions League, especially in the knockout stage.

Of course, Mourinho couldn't completely give up this league game, so he chose a compromise, which was to let the main strikers rest and let Bruno lead several substitute forwards to charge into battle, hoping that Bruno could lead the team to defeat Newcastle in the relegation zone.

Moreover, in order to avoid losing points in this game as much as possible, Mourinho also kept the back line intact, which can ensure Manchester United's bottom line in this game: even if they cannot win, they cannot lose!

In order to get 3 points, Mourinho made it clear to Bruno before the game that he would only give Bruno half a game time. He would replace Bruno during the halftime break.

Now, all Bruno needs to consider is helping Manchester United secure the victory in the first half.

Fortunately, Bruno has rich experience in defeating Newcastle. After all, the Magpies have never won in seven games against Bruno, and have suffered disastrous defeats of 0:8, 1:8 and 1:6.

In the seven games against Newcastle, Bruno contributed 13 goals and 8 assists, averaging three goals per game. He is definitely Newcastle's nemesis!

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In the corner area on the left side of Newcastle's half, Bruno gently put down the football, stepped on the grass behind the ball, slowly stepped back a few steps, stood upright, and looked straight ahead.

In the penalty area, several Manchester United players with outstanding tall points and heading abilities have already stood in their respective positions.

Newcastle's defenders also harassed Manchester United's players as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and there were always some small harassing moves at hand, which made the penalty area look very chaotic.

In the stands of Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, every Manchester United fan had a tense and solemn look on his face.

It is now the seventh minute of the game, and as expected, Manchester United has controlled the situation and the ball from the beginning.

Newcastle retreated steadily to their own half, allowing Manchester United to attack, and they took every opportunity to counterattack.

Since the strategy was to attack in the first half, Manchester United played very actively at home after the start of the game. In just seven minutes, Manchester United had already had three corner kick opportunities.

The first two corner kicks, one from the left and one from the right, were all taken by Mahrez. As a result, without exception, Manchester United's corner kicks failed to create any threat. Newcastle had obviously made arrangements for the corner kicks.

In the seventh minute, Manchester United got the third chance. Bruno took the initiative to change and asked Mahrez for a penalty kick.

After joining Manchester United, Bruno seldom takes corner kicks, but this does not mean that his ability to take corner kicks is poor. It is more due to the club's professional division of labor.

The Manchester United coaching staff, including Mourinho, believes that it is more threatening to keep Bruno near the penalty area.

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However, fans who are familiar with Bruno will not be unfamiliar with him. During his time at Udinese, Bruno frequently scored goals with corner kicks. Maguire, who also played for Udinese at the time, benefited the most from Bruno's corner kicks.

So, when Bruno stood in the corner area, Manchester United fans immediately cheered.

This also made Newcastle feel very puzzled. From the players on the field to the coaching staff outside the field, although they didn't understand what was going on, they always felt that it seemed very powerful.

Could it be that Bruno is the most threatening player for Manchester United when taking corner kicks?

If so, the defensive strategy formulated by Steve Bruce before the game may have to undergo some changes.

Bruno could clearly feel that the live broadcast camera behind him was always aimed at him.

He heard the cheers and cheers from the fans in the stands, which was encouragement but also pressure.

If you become the top star, you have to be able to bear the pressure.

He exhaled heavily, slowly raised his right hand, and pointed his index finger to the sky, as if to say "one", which made everyone inside and outside the stadium hold their breath.

No one knew what it meant, except for a few players at Manchester United.

This is the tacit understanding cultivated by Bruno and them through daily training.

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After the referee blew the whistle, Bruno took a deep breath and jumped out quickly. Every step he took was very steady and powerful.

He had done this kind of training countless times over the years, and the pace had long become an instinct of his body.

After the left foot stood on the left side of the football, the body formed a specific angle with the football, and the right foot quickly popped out like a bowstring and touched the football.

There was a muffled sound like an air explosion at the scene, and the ball flew out at lightning speed. The arc was not high, but the speed of the ball was very fast.

In the penalty area, the players of both sides were in a mess. Van Dijk, McTominay and Greenwood all used their running and crowding to interfere with and attract the defense of Newcastle players. But Maguire suddenly retreated to the penalty spot before Bruno's penalty kick, and then suddenly rushed forward and chased the front point.

By the time Newcastle's defenders realized Maguire's danger, the England center back had already jumped in front of the goal and headed Bruno's cross into the goal guarded by Darlow with a diving header.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!"

"Manchester United scored the first goal in the seventh minute of the game, 1:0!"

"Maguire! Harry Maguire scored the crucial goal!"

"This is a corner assist from Bruno!"

"The quality of the corner kick was very high. Bruno's kick was almost aimed at Maguire's head. After the Manchester United central defender headed it, the ball changed direction and hit the goal. Darlow didn't even have time to react."

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After seeing the header score, Maguire slammed the grass with both fists, jumped up from the ground, ran towards Bruno and hugged him directly.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

The two cheered and celebrated wildly on the sidelines, shouting loudly at the live camera and the Manchester United fans in the stands.

Behind them, Manchester United players also rushed out and surrounded them.

“This goal is so crucial!”

"Everyone knows that Manchester United is saving their energy for the Champions League quarter-finals in the middle of the week. This makes their performance in this game uncertain. In this case, if Manchester United can take the lead as soon as possible, they will undoubtedly be able to better control the initiative of the game."

"Manchester United scored after just seven minutes, which was beyond everyone's expectations, but that's football!"

"Bruno's corner kick was very skillful. The level of this corner kick was very high, and Maguire seemed to cooperate very well with him. After a feint to get rid of the defender, he quickly chased the ball to the front point and scored with a header."

"1:0, Manchester United temporarily takes the lead!"

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Steve Bruce grabbed his head hard, as if he wanted to tear it off.

He kept shouting at the players on the field, hoping they could calm down.

For Newcastle, which is facing huge pressure to avoid relegation, every remaining league game is a final, and each game may determine whether the Magpies can continue to stay in the Premier League after the end of the season!

Although they made a very detailed plan before the game and even took many factors into consideration, who could have thought that Bruno would take a corner kick and Maguire would cooperate with him so well?

Bruno's most impressive set-piece performance is his penalty kicks. Since he won the right to take penalty kicks in Udinese, he has never missed a penalty kick and has scored 57 consecutive penalties, raising this record to an astonishing level.

Those who have been following Bruno may know that his corner kicks were once Udinese's killer weapon, but after joining Manchester United, he has rarely taken corner kicks.

Steve Bruce missed Bruno and also missed Manchester United's change of tactics.

This is a bit troublesome.

In the first seven minutes of the game, we conceded three corner kicks to the opponent and conceded a goal. How can we continue to play?

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Steve Bruce immediately walked to the sidelines and made adjustments, hoping that the players could remain stable. He also signaled midfielders Willlock, Hayden and Shelvey to retreat appropriately to help guard the two wings of the backcourt and stabilize the situation first.

Manchester United obviously knew Newcastle's wishful thinking and did not intend to let the opponent go back. After all, Manchester United was only leading by one goal, far from locking in the victory. After all, it was a consensus that 1:0 was a dangerous score.

According to Bruno's observation, Mourinho's strategy was to press on and end the battle in the first half.

This is a very wise choice.

The main reason is that Manchester United needs to save strength for the Champions League knockout match next week. Many key players, including Bruno, may be replaced in the second half. If the stalemate drags on to the second half, it will be very disadvantageous for Manchester United, so they must gain enough advantage in the first half.

If there is no way to establish an advantage in the first half, then the strategy and style of play must be changed in the second half to leave enough room for retreat.

Dominance in strength has such benefits.