Manchester United legend

Chapter 171
A week after the league ended, Manchester United went to Wembley Stadium.There, Ferguson's team will face Gullit's Newcastle for the FA Cup.

It was Manchester United's second title goal.Holt, a reporter from The Times during the season, boldly predicted, "In the league championship battle, Old Trafford has witnessed a hard-working victory, but that is not the last day. If everything develops according to plan, then this is just the beginning."

The atmosphere at Wembley Stadium was blazing. The fans of the two teams turned the entire stadium into a pressure cooker. Singing and cheering were mixed together. There were also countless fans calling out the names of star players, waving their arms and thousands of flags with the team’s emblem.

Ferguson once again rotated, and the starting lineup of 442 was like this: goalkeeper Schmeichel, the defense four were the Neville brothers, Johnson and David May, and Stam was left on the bench.

On the midfield line, Jost, Beckham, Scholes, and Giggs formed the most famous diamond-shaped "diamond quartet" of that season, and Solskjaer and Cole were deployed as strikers.

Opponent Newcastle United has reached the FA Cup final for the second consecutive season. The Magpies are also star-studded this season. In addition to the coach Gullit who advocates playing "sexy football", there are many football stars from all over the world.

In Gullit’s starting line-up, England’s most powerful striker, Alan Shearer, and Georgia’s bald Katzbaya form a pair of strikers (Kazbaya’s bald head is a striking one in the Magpies, and it is also the focus of the field. He is not only powerful in midfield, but also very crazy (such as kicking billboards after a lore, etc.). : Robert Lee, Harman, Speed ​​and Solano, with Dabisas and Chavit at the back.It can be said that Newcastle United is also attacking with a strong formation and is determined to win.

At the beginning of the game, the two teams entered into a fierce competition, and fierce fouls continued to appear.Newcastle United made rough fouls on Manchester United's midfielder in a row, and Jost was knocked to the ground by his opponents in turn.

Therefore, Manchester United did not actually beat the opponent as easily as the score. To be precise, Manchester United suffered a blow from the very beginning. With the opponent so fierce, Jost, who was caught off guard, was injured by a foul with a sliding shovel on the ground.Everyone doesn't know how his injury is and whether he can catch up with the Champions League final.I can only pray to God to bless Jost.

Not only that, but the first threatening shot of the game was also done by Newcastle United. The Magpies' defender's long pass fell into the Manchester United penalty area. Shearer headed back lightly.

Jost's injury disrupted Ferguson's deployment, and he was forced to make a substitution about 10 minutes into the game.

However, Ferguson was a surprise. He replaced a striker Sheringham instead of a midfielder. Manchester United's lineup also flexibly switched from 442 to 433: Solskjaer and Cole were separated on both sides of Sheringham, and the midfield was handed over to Beckham, Scholes and Giggs-Can Manchester United's lack of barriers withstand the impact of the opponent?
Ferguson's boldness was rewarded, and Manchester United launched an active offensive. The violent offensive began to push Newcastle's defense back to their own half, and the referee decisively gave a yellow card warning to Harman, who was a fierce tackle.

After the ebb and flow, Manchester United began to control the advantage on the field, and the war gradually burned to the core area of ​​Newcastle.

The climax is coming soon.After Solskjaer's 30-yard test shot went wide, Manchester United organized a wonderful central offensive.Cole received the ball in the middle of the opponent's backcourt. He got rid of the entanglement of the opponent's two defenders and passed it to Sheringham.Sheringham was on the left side of the midfield at this time. After getting the ball, he immediately started to dribble the ball forward to the center.

Sheringham's much-maligned dribbling technique came to a head this time around, as he dribbled past one of the opponent's defenders and dialed it to Scholes before the other made it up, as he continued to sprint into the penalty area.

Scholes understood and passed a direct forward pass to Sheringham who ran out of space.Sheringham had already inserted into the penalty area at this time, went straight in without pressure, and easily pushed and scored against the opponent's goalkeeper-1 to 0!

Manchester United take the lead!The Red Devils broke the deadlock with this smooth attack.The tacit cooperation of the players is shown in the running positions penetrated in the middle.

Cole's movement took away the focus of the opponent's defense, and Sheringham told everyone that he was not just a wooden stake with a delicate dribble, and the subsequent decisive direct penetration was full of imagination, while Scholes predicted the enemy first, and seemed to shoot a real pass. His "example is not in vain", directly taking human life.

The attacking group of the Red Devils is amazing. The overall attack showed exquisite organization and wonderful coordination. Even Sheringham's final shot was full of aura like a Brazilian player!
The score-leading Manchester United was more confident. They shrunk their formation slightly, effectively restraining Newcastle United's counterattack.The Magpies, who were in an unfavorable situation, didn't have much to do, and they couldn't control their anxiety, so they played more long-pass tactics.

Not only that, they even gave up the method of breaking through the side, attacking to the bottom line of Manchester United and then kicking up the ball, and directly raised the ball in the backcourt to find two forwards!
Manchester United coped with such an offensive very easily, and the Red Devils' back line never gave Shearer any chance.The retreat of Solskjaer and Cole actually gave Manchester United's midfielder a numerical advantage, and Johansen and David May, who stood in good positions, would not lose to Shearer in the jump, so Manchester United players played more and more confidently.In fact, the real threat to Newcastle United in the first half was not Shearer, but Solano!
Only he contributed two excellent quality shots for Newcastle!This also illustrates the success of Manchester United's defensive tactics from another angle.

After withstood Newcastle's rushing long pass, Manchester United did not actually give up control of the midfield. They deployed a tight defense in the midfield, and they also dared to press boldly when switching from defense to offense, and played much more offensive opportunities than Newcastle.

In comparison, Manchester United's two wide crosses are far sharper than Newcastle. Giggs, Beckham, and Gary Neville's crosses have all caused a crisis in Newcastle's penalty area. If Sheringham's header is more powerful, and if Cole's shot is more powerful, Manchester United can beat Newcastle into a sieve in the first half!
In the second half, Manchester United once again played a wonderful offensive routine.Solskjaer made a long pass from the backcourt. Although the ball fell to the opponent's defender, Giggs entangled all the way, forcing the opponent's defender to clear the ball near the baseline to the penalty area.

Solskjaer, who got in behind, grabbed the ball after fighting with his opponent, and immediately passed it to Sheringham near the corner of the penalty area, and then ran back to the opponent's penalty area.

Sheringham took the ball with his back in the opponent's penalty area. He did not choose any difficult ball control and turned to get rid of the defender. Instead, he returned the ball very safely and gently, setting up a fort for Scholes who rushed forward from outside the penalty area.After plugging in, Scholes greeted the ball with an angry shot, and the ball flew straight to the dead corner of Newcastle's goal like a shell fired from the chamber.

2 to 0, Manchester United almost sealed the victory, even though the game only lasted 53 minutes!

(End of this chapter)