Chapter 927 The Rise of Arsenal

Chapter 927 The Rise of Arsenal

Manchester United's first game in December, and also Bruno's first game after winning the fifth European Golden Ball in his career, was on the evening of December 12, against Arsenal at the new Old Trafford.

As a traditional Premier League powerhouse, Arsenal has been struggling in recent seasons. Especially after spending more than 100 million pounds on signings in the summer window this year, they suffered three consecutive defeats at the start of the season, which once made Arsenal a laughing stock around the world. Many media outlets mocked Arsenal for spending the most money but getting the worst results.

However, after entering September, Arsenal's performance has undergone a dramatic change. They defeated Norwich, Burnley, Tottenham and drew with the dark horse Brighton in a row, and went unbeaten for four games. Not only did Arteta beat Mourinho and win the Premier League Coach of the Month for the first time in his coaching career, but it also helped Arsenal get rid of the embarrassing position at the bottom of the standings and rise to 9th place in the standings.

Although Arsenal's performance in October and November was not as hot as in September, with 10 wins, 11 draw and 9 loss in 6 games, Arsenal's ranking in the Premier League standings has steadily improved. Before this round, it had risen to sixth in the standings and tied with West Ham United, which was fifth in the standings. It was only because of the disadvantage in goal difference that it ranked sixth and entered the European war zone.

Arsenal's transformation has made them the team with the second best record after Manchester United in the past three months, and the team with the second most Premier League points in the same period.

This game is also regarded as a duel between the two teams in the current Premier League, and it is bound to be a difficult game for Manchester United.

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Before the game with Arsenal started, Manchester United held a grand debut ceremony for Bruno: at the new Old Trafford, Bruno showed his five European Golden Ball trophies to 10 Manchester United fans and accepted the worship of home fans.

However, as an opponent, Arsenal obviously does not want today's game to become Bruno's personal celebration.

In the first half, Mourinho once again deployed a 4-3-3 formation, with Harry Kane, Greenwood and Rashford forming a forward trident, Bruno playing as an attacking midfielder, and Palinha and Fred teaming up as double defensive midfielders for the first time.

In the first half of the game, Manchester United had the advantage as they wanted to win at home to avoid two consecutive defeats and also to celebrate Bruno's victory. However, they failed to turn this advantage into victory and instead fell behind all the way.

In the 13th minute, Arsenal took a corner kick from the right side. De Gea fell to the ground after being stepped on by Fred in front of the goal. The ball was cleared outside the penalty area. Smith Rowe scored with a volley. Manchester United 0:1 Arsenal!

Manchester United, who were behind in the score, launched a frantic counterattack, and their offensive was like a tide, but each shot was still a long way from scoring a goal.

It was not until the end of the first half that Manchester United equalized the score. In the 43rd minute, Manchester United passed the ball to the penalty area from the left, Fred knocked it horizontally, and Bruno pushed it directly into the goal.

1: 1!

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"GOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!" With the exclamation of the live commentator, the entire new Old Trafford stadium was boiling.

In the chairman's stand, the families of Manchester United players sat together. Liu Yimei and Bruno's official personal assistant Vanessa Hessler each sat together holding their children, and next to them were the wives of Manchester United players.

They wore matching black down jackets, knitted cotton hats purchased from the Manchester United fan shop, and Manchester United scarves around their necks. They were wrapped up tightly, leaving only their perfect faces exposed. They looked particularly simple and natural, making them unforgettable at first sight.

Even among a group of fashionably dressed ladies, it is difficult to conceal the extraordinary beauty of Liu Yimei and Vanessa, which makes them particularly eye-catching.

When they saw Bruno score a goal, heard the commentator's shouts, and the cheers of the fans, Liu Yimei and Vanessa stood up excitedly holding their children and cheered for Bruno.

This scene was naturally captured by the live camera and transmitted to the big screen at the scene and to all Premier League fans around the world who were watching the live game.

All the Manchester United fans in the stadium were shouting Bruno's name, which made everyone see Bruno's popularity in the new Old Trafford Stadium.

Bruno won the fifth European Ballon d'Or in his career, tying his national team captain Cristiano Ronaldo as the player with the most European Ballon d'Ors in football history. No one can deny his status as the GOAT of world football today.

He is definitely the undisputed leader of the current Red Devils and the undisputed king of the new Dream Theatre which has just been put into use!

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The first half was tied at 1:1, and after the second half, Mourinho still had no intention of making any substitutions. On the one hand, the team will have a lot of games in December, so it is necessary to rotate players; on the other hand, the team's performance in the first half was pretty good, except for the mistake in conceding the goal, there was nothing to complain about.

The game was still going on on the field. Manchester United failed to score after a long attack and instead allowed the visiting team to score a goal in the 54th minute of the game.

Thomas made a diagonal pass to the right, Martinelli made a horizontal pass, and Odegaard followed up with a shot into the far corner, changing the score to 1:2, and the visiting Arsenal took the lead again.

Arsenal scored shortly after the start of both the first and second half, which made Mourinho a little annoyed.

After all, Palinha and Fred are a new defensive midfielder combination, and their tacit understanding is obviously not enough.

After Fred made another mistake, Mourinho finally couldn't sit still and asked Kante on the bench to warm up on the sidelines.

"We see that Mourinho is finally going to make substitutions!"

Kante stood on the sidelines, waiting for the opportunity to enter the court with a dead ball.

Faria stood beside him, holding the tactical board and gesturing at him, gently reminding him what to pay attention to after entering the court.

Mourinho not only requires Kante to stabilize Manchester United's defense after he comes on the pitch, but also to make achievements in offense to help the team equalize the score as soon as possible, or even overtake the score.

"OK, I got it!" Kanter nodded while adjusting his shorts.

"Okay, come on!" Faria patted Kante on the shoulder gently, then turned and retreated back to the coaching area.

Soon, in the 60th minute, there was a dead ball opportunity and Kante replaced Fred.

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After Kante came on the pitch, he quickly helped Manchester United stabilize the situation and began to control the situation on the field.

When the game reached the 70th minute, Manchester United successfully intercepted the ball again and sent it to the right, where Greenwood launched the attack.

The attack on the right was very urgent, but Bruno did not follow up immediately. Instead, he paid attention to the opportunity.

The ball was handled by Harry Kane and passed to Rashford.

After Rashford got the ball, he got rid of a defender and quickly passed it back to the right side of the penalty area to Cancelo who came in from behind.

Almost at this moment, Bruno suddenly rushed into the penalty area and raised his right hand high to ask for the ball.

Cancelo obviously received instructions from the coaching staff. As soon as he saw Bruno running diagonally into the penalty area, he immediately chose to cross the ball. Harry Kane, Greenwood and Rashford also took away the defensive players in the first time to create space for Bruno.

At that moment, Arsenal players had no idea who Manchester United's cross from the right would go to, and the entire first half revolved around Harry Kane and Greenwood, so as soon as they saw these two players move, they immediately rushed up.

But in this way, the left side of the penalty area was left empty.

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Bruno quickly inserted himself into the gap and looked up at the falling ball.

What was unexpected was that, perhaps because of excessive physical exertion that caused the technical movements to be distorted, or because Cancelo did not understand Bruno's intention, the pass actually had an arc and made a small turn halfway.

In this way, Bruno ran past.

Bruno was startled, but in just a moment, he calmed down and an idea flashed through his mind, which was the overhead kick.

This was the only way of shooting he could think of now.

With this thought in mind, Bruno quickly turned around, judging the direction of the ball, and grasping the opportunity. Once he exerted force with his legs, he quickly turned over...

This overhead kick is completely different from ordinary shots, especially in mid-air, which almost entirely relies on the strength of the core muscles of the waist and abdomen. After Bruno jumps, the power of his legs is quickly transmitted to the core muscles of the waist and abdomen.

He clenched his teeth, clenched his fists, and turned over.

When the football flew towards him, he used his waist and abdomen to quickly transfer the force back to his right leg and kicked it out quickly.

The whole process happened in an instant. He had no extra time to think and judge. Moreover, his back was facing the goal, so he could only rely entirely on his own feelings to judge the trajectory of the ball, the timing of his foot, the part that touched the ball, and at the same time judge the movement of the goalkeeper and the direction of the shot.

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All of this may seem complicated, but it is actually very simple because everything is based entirely on feeling!

This is a feeling that can only be understood by oneself but cannot be described in words.

When his right foot hit the ball, Bruno had a particularly strong feeling: the ball was kicked right!

As for whether there was one or not, Bruno didn't know, because he had to think about how to land next.

This is also a science, because if the landing posture is incorrect, you may get injured.

This again requires the core muscles to work hard.

The whole process sounds complicated, but it actually happened in the blink of an eye. Bruno didn't even have time to think about whether the ball went in or not.

Until he carefully adjusted his posture and fell on the grass.