From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 531 Manchester Derby Tenth Goal

On the afternoon of January 1, Manchester City head coach Guardiola and Manchester United head coach Mourinho attended the pre-match press conference together.

"Manchester United is a team worthy of respect, but for Manchester City, victory is the only goal." Guardiola made a direct statement.

"Manchester City is one of the strongest teams in England and even in Europe. It is a wonderful experience to play against them. Manchester City has many great players, and Mr. Guardiola is also a very successful championship coach..."

Hearing Mourinho's words, the Manchester City reporters at the scene all nodded with smiles on their faces, which was in line with their expectations. However, they did not expect Mourinho to pause and suddenly change the subject: "I like playing against Manchester City because I have good luck playing against them. We had a wonderful experience playing against Manchester City more than a month ago, and I hope it will be the same this time."

"Do you mean beating Manchester City?" a reporter asked immediately.

"No one rejects victory, and no one surrenders." Mourinho smiled and nodded, "I like victory."

"Well said." Guardiola suddenly slammed the table, "I like winning too!"

Mourinho was shocked. He wanted to punch the bald man. He felt that the Spaniard did it on purpose.

………………

At 7:40 in the evening, the stands at Old Trafford were filled with noise as players from both teams entered the field.

At this moment, the starting lineups of both sides were also displayed on the big screen in the stadium.

Home team Manchester United: goalkeeper Romero; defense line Valencia, Van Dijk, Maguire, Luke Shaw; midfielders Kante, Gundogan, Bruno; forwards Mbappe, Harry Kane, Rashford.

Visiting team Manchester City: goalkeeper Bravo; defense line 2 Kyle Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Zinchenko; midfielders Fernandinho, David Silva, De Bruyne; forwards Bernardo Silva, Sane, Aguero.

Manchester United captain Bruno won the coin tossing game against David Silva, and Manchester United got the right to choose sides, with Manchester City kicking off first.

Players from both sides took their positions according to the formation. After the referee and the two linesmen on duty confirmed the time, they blew the whistle to start the game.

The second leg of the 2017-2018 League Cup semi-final, Manchester United's home game against Manchester City officially began.

For this game, Mourinho's consideration is that it is difficult to prevent Manchester City from scoring goals, and he is more confident in the team's offensive ability, so he simply competes with Manchester City.

Manchester City, who have shifted their focus to the cup competition, will go all out in the game. Guardiola hates opponents who shrink back and defend, and in a counterattack, Guardiola is confident that his Manchester City can break the opponent's back door.

The two head coaches' tactical considerations and the design of goals and means for this game determined the trend of this game from the beginning: the game was extremely fast-paced, with you coming and going, and it was very lively.

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"Rashford! Rashford! Beautiful! Over, Kyle Walker is broken through! In this duel, the England left winger beat the England right back."

"Luke Shaw! Change position! Pass the ball!"

"Harry Kane!"

"Great save! Bravo made a world-class save!"

Bravo was very angry after making the save. He yelled at Stones, the mainstay of his defense. Stones' movement was obviously slow just now and he couldn't keep up with Harry Kane's sprint.

Mourinho applauded on the sidelines and cheered for the team's attack. The continuous and repeated attacks on the left by Rashford and Luke Shaw, two young and powerful players, were not something Kyle Walker could handle alone.

Although everyone is teammates in the England national team and are very familiar with each other, it is 2VS1 on Manchester United's side!

Corner kick for Manchester United.

Bruno took the corner kick into the penalty area. Harry Kane's header under the pressure of Stones failed to exert enough power and the ball was picked up by Bravo in the air. The Manchester City goalkeeper immediately ran to the edge of the penalty area and launched a counterattack with a powerful hand throw.

De Bruyne received the ball and passed it to Fernandinho, who pulled the ball with his left foot, avoided Bruno's pressure, and then knocked the ball to Bernardo Silva.

Bernardo Silva was very excited and started his performance.

"Beautiful, Bernardo Silva!"

Bernardo Silva passed Rashford, and even though David Silva kept raising his hand to signal, Bernardo Silva did not pass the ball, he continued to dribble along the wing.

………………

Gundogan moved over to defend Bernardo Silva, and at the same time, Manchester United's left center back Maguire was forced to move to this side to fill the space left by Luke Shaw's assist.

"Pass the ball! Asshole! Pass the ball!" Guardiola waved his arms and yelled on the sidelines.

At this time, Manchester United's defense line was seriously tilted to the left, and there was some space on the other side. As long as Bernardo Silva passed the ball, it would be an offensive opportunity.

Finally, when David Silva's arms were sore from raising them, and Bernardo Silva kept dribbling and dodging, and found that he could not continue to break through, he passed the ball.

David Silva was already ready to receive the ball, and then he saw a red figure rushing up and directly intercepting the ball midway.

It's Kanter!

This was a very beautiful steal, even the commentator exclaimed "Kante! When did he appear there?! Beautiful steal!"

After Kante intercepted the ball, he dribbled forward while observing the situation around him. After Gundogan rushed up, he immediately passed the ball to his teammate and retreated without hesitation.

This is Kanter. He is very inconspicuous. He does all the dirty work, but it is the most important job.

………………

Gundogan dribbled the ball forward at high speed, he directly squeezed away De Bruyne who was coming up to steal the ball, and then passed the ball directly to Bruno.

Bruno controlled the ball beautifully, trying to dribble past Fernandinho and then draw out a Manchester City center back at the same time, creating an opportunity for Mbappe who followed up on the right.

A beautiful left-foot pull to the right foot, a dribble and a change of direction, but Fernandinho was not completely fooled and he tried his best to touch the ball with his right foot, which made it bounce.

But Manchester United's attack did not end there. Bruno reacted quickly, took a small step forward, raised his right foot and lightly kicked the ball, which was a very freehand move.

Then he half turned around, blocked Fernandinho who was trying to steal the ball, and passed the ball to Mbappe who came over to receive it.

Mbappe received the ball and broke through on the right. Stones pressed out and the England international defender tried to follow up and lean on Mbappe, but Mbappe got rid of Stones with a simple change of speed.

"Breakthrough!"

"Stones, he got dribbled past so easily, my God!"

Amid the commentator's exclamation, the subsequent process became simple and Mbappe passed the ball easily on the right.

“Bruno Fernandez——!!”

Harry Kane suppressed Otamendi in the penalty area, which gave Bruno a chance. He rushed up like a tiger descending from a mountain, squeezed out the full-back Zinchenko who wanted to make a hasty substitution, and shot the ball before Fernandinho could intercept it.

The football flew straight towards the goal like a cannonball. Bravo tried his best to save the powerful shot, but when his body flew into the air, the football had already rushed over and hit the net directly.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLL!!!!!!"

"Bruno! What a goal! What a powerful shot!!!"

The football lifted the net hard and the net was shaking.

Old Trafford was shining with stars and the night sky was brilliant. Bruno stood in front of the goal, clenched his fists, and roared to the sky.

………………

When Mourinho saw Mbappe easily dribble past Stones and then pass the ball, and Bruno shot the ball into Manchester City's goal, he rushed up from the coaching bench with his arms raised high. He had been waiting for this moment, the moment to celebrate.

Manchester City coach Guardiola waved his arms angrily and cursed. He was not scolding any specific player, but just venting his emotions after losing the ball.

"Josep, do we need to make any adjustments?" asked assistant coach Arteta.

Guardiola shook his head and said: "It's too early to make adjustments now."

The game had only started eleven minutes at this time.

"There was nothing wrong with our tactics. Manchester United pressed forward and attacked, which was just as I predicted," Guardiola said. "What I am most worried about now is that Manchester United will retreat to defense after taking the lead."

No, it's not worry. Guardiola can almost determine that Manchester United will launch a defensive counterattack after scoring a goal, because this is what the Portuguese is best at. Manchester United is leading 1:0 and the aggregate score is also 3:2. Launching a defensive counterattack is the most correct choice.

"Should we play a defensive counterattack?" Carrick also asked Mourinho.

Mourinho shook his head and said: "Did you notice? Manchester City's left side exposed many problems in this loss."

"Stones' condition doesn't seem to be very good, and Zinchenko lacks experience and seems very flustered." Carrick thought for a while and said.

"Good, Michael." Mourinho said happily, "This is our chance, focus on this part of Manchester City!"

As he spoke, Mourinho walked to the sidelines and shouted Kante's name loudly.

Kante was celebrating Bruno's goal with his teammates. When he heard Mourinho's call, he trotted back.

"Tell Bruno to focus on attacking Manchester City's left side, especially the junction of Stones and Zinchenko." Mourinho said to Kante.

Kante was a little surprised. For this tactical adjustment on the offensive end, why didn't the coach call on the team captain Bruno to convey it directly, but instead conveyed it through him?

However, Kanter said nothing and turned around and ran back to the court.

On the other side, seeing Mourinho calling Kante to the sidelines for instructions, Guardiola's face was gloomy and he snorted: A team that becomes conservative when they are leading is a coward.