Chapter 999 Record End
"Manchester United got a penalty kick, which is a great opportunity to break the deadlock... As long as Manchester United can score the penalty kick and then maintain their lead, they can win this crucial game!"
"So far this season, Bruno has scored 31 goals in the Premier League and is currently top of the league's scoring list. Eleven more than Liverpool's Salah. If he scores this goal, he'll be twelve goals ahead of Salah... Bruno has basically secured the title of top scorer this season!"
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The commentators' chattering stopped after Bruno stood still, and there was silence inside and outside the TV for a while.
In this silence, the whistle of referee Anthony Taylor was particularly clear.
Bruno in the camera took a deep breath, then took a run-up and kicked the football with his straight right foot!
With a "bang", Bruno kicked the football hard towards the lower right corner of the goal. It was a very difficult place, but as long as it hit the goal frame, the chance of scoring was extremely high.
The penalty kicks that goalkeepers like to save the most are half-high balls kicked by opponents to the sides of their bodies, while low balls are what they are most reluctant to face.
As the best penalty-taking player in the world today, Bruno certainly knew this, so to be on the safe side, he kicked the ball towards the lower right corner of the goal!
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When the ball was kicked, Bruno felt that "the ball is in his grasp".
But then, he saw Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson in front of the goal rushing towards the lower right corner of the goal!
It seemed as if he had known that Bruno was going to kick the ball in that direction, even before Bruno shot!
Alisson was like a torpedo flying close to the sea, accurately hitting the target ship and saving the ball in front of the goal line!
When Bruno kicked the ball out, some anxious Manchester United fans could not wait to cheer. Because they had full confidence in Bruno's penalty kick, because Bruno had never missed a penalty kick since his debut. Before today, he had extended his record of consecutive penalty kicks to 63 goals. In the eyes of Manchester United fans, Bruno's kick was no suspense, it was definitely going in!
But in less than a second, they saw Alisson fall to the ground and dive sideways, blocking the ball!
The cheers stopped abruptly.
"Alisson——! Great save! He saved Bruno's penalty!! Ohh ...
Andy Gray shouted excitedly. He was not a Liverpool supporter, he just felt that Bruno's missed goal made the game more suspenseful and more exciting.
"Bruno... Oops! It was saved!" Zhan Jun exclaimed. "Alisson was fantastic! You know, Bruno has never missed a penalty since his debut! Before today, he had scored 63 consecutive penalties and was considered the best penalty taker in the world! Now, that record has been ended by Alisson!"
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The football saved by Alisson spun and flew out of the baseline. Alisson rolled on the ground, stood up, waved his fist vigorously and roared.
His Liverpool teammates rushed up to hug and high-five him one by one to thank him for his wonderful save.
When the penalty was awarded, many Liverpool players were heartbroken because they knew that for Manchester United, who had Bruno, being awarded a penalty was equivalent to losing the ball.
You know, that man is the one who scored 63 consecutive penalty kicks. He is really not a human being!
But no one expected that Alisson actually saved Bruno's high-quality penalty kick!
It can be said that Alisson's save kept Liverpool's hope of winning the championship and greatly boosted the team's morale. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is Liverpool's "savior".
The players on the Liverpool side were cheering and celebrating, while Bruno, who missed the penalty, held his head in his hands, sighed to the sky, and looked frustrated.
What he was upset about was not that his record of consecutive penalty kicks was ended. He knew very well that any record would come to an end. He was upset that he missed the opportunity to help the team take the lead.
The other Manchester United players were in a similar mood.
In just a second, they fell from the clouds of happiness to the bottom of the valley.
This is not just a matter of not scoring the penalty kick, it will also make many Manchester United players feel demoralized: if they didn’t seize such a good opportunity, will there be any better opportunities later?
Missing a penalty kick is a devastating blow to team morale in any game, let alone such an important one.
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"Damn, Bruno's penalty kick didn't go in! It seems like even God doesn't want Manchester United to win the championship!"
"Bruno has taken over 60 penalties and never missed one, but today Alisson saved it. Is this the end of Manchester United?"
"I think Bruno's kick was really beautiful, and Alisson was able to save it. It's amazing!"
"My heart aches for Manchester United for a second..."
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On the Chinese Internet, fans also expressed their opinions on Bruno's missed penalty kick.
In the eyes of those who support Manchester United and Bruno, the fact that this penalty kick didn't go in was a disaster and it might indicate a bad future...
The missed penalty kick did affect the mood of Manchester United players. After the game continued, Manchester United's corner kick did not pose any threat to Liverpool's goal. Instead, Liverpool's morale was boosted and they took this opportunity to launch a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal, which made Manchester United breathless.
Manchester United could only defend passively. The Manchester United fans who came to Anfield and those who watched the game on TV were so nervous that they were about to have a heart attack.
In this situation, Bruno decided to do something to change the current situation.
Launch an attack and bring the battle to the opponent's half?
This is certainly the best way, but it is not easy to achieve perfectly.
At the beginning, when the ball fell into Manchester United's hands, Bruno also launched a quick attack, but the quality was quite poor. The players were affected by the missed penalty kick, their state was unstable, they played too impatiently and made frequent mistakes.
The quick attack at this time was just to quickly pass the ball to Liverpool...
The most realistic approach may be to deliberately slow down the speed and rhythm when the football is at your feet, using slowness to deal with Liverpool's current speed, the so-called "using softness to overcome hardness".
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So when the ball fell to Bruno's feet, he did not rush to pass the ball forward, but turned around and kicked a cross ball. After passing the ball, he quickly ran to the next location, while shouting: "Pass the ball to me!"
He was afraid that his teammate would kick the ball forward again.
He could understand the desire of some of his teammates to keep the ball as far away from their own penalty area as possible, but this was meaningless except for giving possession to the opponent.
It would be better to take control of the football at your feet and stabilize the situation and emotions.
Kante saw that Bruno was so eager to get the ball, so he passed the ball to Bruno again.
Bruno pretended to receive the ball, and Fabinho rushed over to try to steal it from him.
Bruno raised his feet and made an action to catch the ball, but he didn't actually catch it. Instead, he let the ball roll past him, and then he turned around to chase the ball.
At this moment, Fabinho's foot came over. Originally, Fabinho was planning to steal the ball, but Bruno let the ball pass, so his kick missed...
It wasn't a complete miss, because his foot hit Bruno's supporting foot. Bruno didn't manage to turn around, but was directly knocked to the ground by Fabinho!
He fell to the ground, spinning twice and covering the heel of his left foot.
Referee Anthony Taylor's whistle sounded amid huge boos.
"Foul! This is a very bad foul by Fabinho!" the Portuguese TV commentator shouted angrily.
This winter is the quadrennial World Cup. At this time, every time Bruno falls to the ground, the Portuguese fans will be frightened and worried.
"Bruno was kicked in the left ankle by Pogba in the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City. It was very worrying at the time, but fortunately it didn't seem to be a big problem and did not affect his subsequent games. Now he was hit in the left foot by Fabinho again..." Andy Gray also frowned.
Although Manchester United seems to be in a good situation now, if Bruno is injured, Manchester United may collapse completely. They will not only lose the league title, but also the Champions League title!
Knowing that he had committed a foul, Fabinho quickly ran to pull Bruno. On the one hand, he wanted to show his friendliness, and on the other hand, he wanted Bruno to stand up quickly and not continue lying on the ground, as that would make it look like he had been kicked hard.
Fabinho did this in the hope that the referee would take it into consideration when making the decision.
Anthony Taylor ran over, his hand groping in his breast pocket, as if he was about to take out a card.
This is normal. If no card was issued for this foul, I'm afraid Manchester United fans would never agree.
Fabinho continued to pull Bruno up, but Kante next to him pushed him away.
Bruno was still lying on the ground holding his heels. How could he be asked to stand up now?
Of course he has to protect his teammates.
Kante's push aroused the emotions of the Liverpool players, and they quickly surrounded him.
Of course, Manchester United players would not let their teammates suffer, so they immediately stood on Kante's side and argued with the Liverpool players.
Referee Anthony Taylor was about to give a card, but seeing this, he could only blow the whistle repeatedly, signaling players on both sides to calm down.
At the same time, there was also unrest in front of the coaching seats of both teams on the sidelines.
Liverpool manager Klopp shouted that Kante was deliberately provoking.
Mourinho stood up to speak up for his players: "Look at what your people have done first!"
The two men glared at each other across the fourth referee in the middle.
