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

Chapter 547 Ideal Result

Bruno had just communicated with the referee on the field when he turned around and saw Fellaini's leaving back. He lowered his head and hunched his back. He looked like a complete loser. Coupled with the boos from the stands, he would not be welcome here for a long time.

But I wonder if he is also on Mourinho's blacklist?

Fellaini's foul angered Shakhtar Donetsk's players, who launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's penalty area in the ensuing game.

Bruno decided to avoid the attack and use defensive counterattack to deal with the opponent after assessing the situation on the field. So he commanded the team to retreat and set up a defensive counterattack posture, hoping to catch the opponent's massive attack.

His decision was correct.

In the 27th minute, Bruno made a long pass to McTominay from the backcourt. The intention of this pass was obvious and it was not difficult to defend, so the opponent's central defender Lakiski planned to stop the ball with his chest in the penalty area and then pass it out. But when the ball hit his chest, he felt that it was not what he imagined. The power of the ball was greater than he expected, so the ball did not stop obediently by him, but hit his chest hard and bounced out again.

This gave McTominay, who was right next to him, a golden opportunity. He intercepted the ball from behind and shot!

Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Partov did not expect that his central defender would make such a low-level mistake. He was not prepared for McTominay's sudden shot and could only watch the football fly into the goal behind him.

1: 0!

Manchester United, who were playing with one less player away from home, took the lead!

The shouts of Shakhtar Donetsk fans who had been cheering for their team suddenly became weaker, while Manchester United fans cheered, their voices temporarily overwhelmed the home team fans who had the advantage in numbers.

………………

The score remained unchanged until the end of the first half. Although Shakhtar Donetsk stepped up their offensive afterwards, they became more restrained after Bruno's several precise long passes created counterattack opportunities for his teammates.

During the half-time break, everyone saw Fellaini in the locker room. He seemed to have not recovered from the blow of being sent off with a red card. He sat alone in his seat with his head down, looking very depressed.

Mourinho also criticized Fellaini mercilessly.

Although the team is leading now, the game is not over yet. No one knows what impact Fellaini's red card will have on the game. If the team loses the game because of his red card, no one will stand up to speak for him no matter how harsh the criticism is.

After criticizing Fellaini, Mourinho adjusted the team's tactics. The team still had to attack in the second half because a one-goal lead was not safe.

Bruno is the key player in attack. He must step forward to participate in the attack, because if he is too far away from the opponent, the threat he can bring is limited. But if he steps forward, the back will be empty, so Mourinho asked Mahrez to move from the wing to the middle and temporarily play as a defensive midfielder.

Before going on the court, Bruno specifically comforted Fellaini. He put his hand on Fellaini's shoulder and patted him gently without saying anything.

Of course he knew Fellaini's feelings. It was not a pleasant feeling to waste time on the bench even though he had the ability, but what could he do?

………………

In the second half, Shakhtar Donetsk stepped up their offensive in order to win the game at home and keep their hopes of advancing.

Manchester United did not retreat to defend, but took advantage of the gaps behind Shakhtar Donetsk and continued their attack.

In the 51st minute, Shakhtar Donetsk equalized the score. Shakhtar Donetsk made a long pass from the backcourt. Mahrez made a mistake in clearing the ball in the air. Fred advanced at high speed and dribbled past Smalling at the top of the penalty area. Romero rushed out to save the ball and Fred scored into the empty goal.

But six minutes later, Manchester United took advantage of Shakhtar Donetsk's eagerness to overtake the score after equalizing the score, and launched a highly efficient and quick counterattack. In the end, Mahrez passed the ball in the ribs, and Bruno, who successfully got offside, shot from close range and broke through Shakhtar Donetsk's goal again.

The score returned to the level at the beginning of the second half. Shakhtar Donetsk was naturally unwilling to give up and continued to attack.

The two sides attacked each other for nearly twenty minutes. Both sides had some opportunities, but neither of them seized them. The score was still 1:2, with Manchester United, who were playing away, taking the lead.

………………

When the game reached the 75th minute, the score remained unchanged.

Mourinho made a substitution at this time. He replaced Mahrez with Herrera, strengthened the defense, and intended to maintain the advantage of this goal.

Shakhtar Donetsk attacked with all their might, hoping to equalize the score before the end of the game.

Their offensive finally worked. In the 85th minute of the game, Mata pulled down Marlos at the top of the penalty area, and Shakhtar Donetsk got a free kick. Fred shot the ball, which went over the wall and into the dead corner of the goal.

Looking at the Brazilian midfielder who scored twice, Mourinho's eyes flashed with a strange light. Such a midfielder who is good at both offense and defense is exactly what Manchester United needs!

Among the current Manchester United midfield, the only one who can be considered to be good at both offense and defense is Bruno. The rest, including Kante, are only good at one aspect.

After the second equalizer, Shakhtar Donetsk continued to attack, but until the referee blew the third whistle to end the game, the score remained at 2:2. Manchester United still took away a draw from the away game despite having one less player.

Now they can breathe a sigh of relief and prepare for the League Cup final against Arsenal at the weekend.

………………

At 2:25 p.m. on February 4th, local time in the UK, a huge noise broke out at the new Wembley Stadium.

This is when the players from both teams enter the field.

The commentator is also introducing the starting lineups of both teams.

Arsenal starting line-up (532):

Goalkeeper: Ospina;

Defense: Bellerin, Chambers, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal;

Midfield: Evil Beggar, Xhaka, Ramsey;

Forwards: Aubameyang, Sanchez;

Manchester United lineup (442):

Goalkeeper: Romero;

Defense: Cancelo, Maguire, Van Dijk, Ashley Young;

Midfield: Bruno, Gundogan, Kante, Rashford;

Forwards: Ibrahimovic, Harry Kane;

"Huh?" Lineker exclaimed in surprise. He noticed that Manchester United's formation was not the commonly used 433, or even 4231, but 442.

Of course, the 442 formation is also Manchester United's classic formation, but that was in the Ferguson era. The old Sir Alex's two-wing flying tactics were simply a nightmare for other Premier League teams.

"Mourinho unexpectedly used a double striker tactic, with Ibrahimovic appearing in the starting lineup."

In addition, there was another change in Manchester United's defense, that is, Luke Shaw actually sat on the bench, and veteran Ashley Young started as right back.

"Without any news of Luke Shaw being injured, it seems that choosing Ashley Young to play right back is more of a tactical choice."

………………

"What is that guy doing?" Wenger glanced at him from the visiting team's coaching booth and said.

His focus is on the front line.

Mourinho finally sent Harry Kane to start, which was not unexpected by Wenger. He was surprised that Ibrahimovic, who had been in poor form since returning from injury midway through the season, actually started, replacing Mbappe, the talented striker who has been very popular at Manchester United this season.

Harry Kane and Ibrahimovic are a forward configuration that Manchester United has never used before.

In fact, Arsenal have been studying how to deal with the forward configuration of Harry Kane, Rashford and Mbappe in training these days. After all, this is Manchester United's most commonly used forward combination this season, and they have been in great form in the Premier League and the Champions League, scoring goals like crazy.

Wenger dare not underestimate Manchester United's forward configuration.

However, it was unexpected that Mbappe sat on the bench, while Rashford retreated to play in midfield and Ibrahimovic appeared in the starting lineup.

This made some of Arsenal's tactical arrangements useless.

………………

The game has been going on for quite a while.

Mourinho's attention is on Sanchez.

Arsenal's lineup seems to be a double striker, but Sanchez's position is quite flexible. He will cruise to both sides, and sometimes retreat quite deep, becoming a link between Aubameyang and the midfield.

This is a bit similar to the dual-core style of play of having Evil Beggar and Sanchez.

While Mourinho was thinking, Arsenal launched an attack.

Sanchez went to the wing again and broke through with the ball.

Cancelo had some difficulty facing the Chilean's breakthrough. Fortunately, Gundogan came to help and pulled down Sanchez.

The referee blew the whistle and called a foul on Manchester United.

The English Football Association also attached great importance to this League Cup final between two top Premier League teams and arranged for the well-known referee Mike Dean to officiate the match.

After Webber retired and Clattenburg moved to Asia, Mike Dean has become the most experienced referee in the Premier League.

However, Arsenal fans were very resistant to such an arrangement, and some even published a letter of protest online before the game, because the legend of McDean as the "North London Terminator" has been circulating among fans.

According to statistics, from 2009 to 2013, when Dean officiated Arsenal's games, the Gunners' winning rate was only a pitiful 7%.

According to statistics from netizens, in all 2009 Arsenal games that Dean officiated from 25 to before this, the Gunners' winning rate was only 20%.

Back then, in the red-blue battle in the 2015-2016 season, it was Mike Dean who sent off both Paulista and Cazorla of Arsenal, causing Arsenal to lose 0:2.

More importantly, Chelsea's Diego Costa clashed with Gunners players several times in that game, but he was safe and sound.

This is a typical case of what the aunt can tolerate but the uncle cannot. After that famous game, there were even 10 fans petitioning for Dean to be banned.

But today, judging from the penalty after the opening, Dean was still fair.