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

Chapter 749: Challenge from Salah

On October 10, at 20: in the afternoon, Salah stood in the center circle of the Millennium Stadium, waiting for kick-off.

This is the ninth round of the Premier League, a world-renowned focus battle, with the Red Devils Manchester United playing at home against the Red Army Liverpool.

The Red Devils derby has always been the most attractive classic event in the Premier League.

Both teams have won eight consecutive games at the start of the season and are ranked in the top two of the standings. Manchester United has the advantage over Liverpool on goal difference.

This also shows that both teams are in very good shape at the moment.

Liverpool in particular has won 2017 consecutive games across seasons, which is the second longest winning streak in Premier League history, second only to Manchester United's 5 consecutive wins from May 2018 to January 1.

Under such circumstances, public opinion unanimously believes that this Manchester United derby will be a big test of whether Manchester United can achieve a record-breaking fourth consecutive Premier League title.

Liverpool also attaches great importance to this game, not only because of the hatred that has lasted for a century, but also because if they can deal a heavy blow to Manchester United in this game, it will be equivalent to eliminating an opponent on the road to winning the first Premier League title in team history.

Therefore, both Liverpool and Manchester United attach great importance to this game.

………………

Salah himself also attaches equal importance to it, because of Bruno!

In order not to miss this Manchester United game, Salah made a comeback. The Egyptian winger injured his ankle in the 10th round of the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leicester City at home on October 5, and therefore missed the Egyptian national team's game on this international match day.

When the international match day ended and the league resumed, although Salah had recovered, according to the advice of Liverpool team doctors, Salah was not suitable to return to the game immediately.

But for the Red Devils derby, Salah persuaded Klopp to start in the game.

In this game, the Egyptian played as a right winger, while Bruno played as an attacking midfielder, so when Liverpool kicked off, Bruno's position was very close to Salah.

Before the game, the two shook hands politely and chatted with each other in the player tunnel. But now, when Salah looked at Bruno again, his eyes were full of provocation and competition.

Bruno was equally rude to him. Although the two had a good relationship in private, the stadium was a battlefield and both sides were enemies.

The looks between the two were filled with sparks, and the entire Millennium Stadium was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.

This is a war that has lasted for a hundred years!

………………

"The game is about to start!"

"The referee for this match is England's chief international referee, Martin Atkinson."

"When guessing the side before the game, Manchester United's captain Bruno won and they chose the side that was more advantageous in the first half, so Liverpool got the ball."

"Both teams have relatively complete lineups for this game. Liverpool's main goalkeeper Alisson and offensive core Salah both returned from injuries before the game. Manchester United's Rashford and Luke Shaw have also recovered from injuries. Both sides have basically sent out their main players to play, and both sides attach great importance to this game."

"Okay, referee Atkinson blew the whistle to start the game."

"Liverpool took the lead and Manchester United took the initiative to press forward and press."

"With continuous passing, the Reds' tactics at the start looked very proactive."

……

"Liverpool's pass was intercepted and United launched a counterattack on the spot, passing the ball to the left."

"Rashford got the ball, followed up and shot directly from long range..."

"Oh, I'm too impatient!"

"Rashford's shot was a little far from the goal and was a little too hasty."

"The most important thing for Manchester United to do at this time is to keep calm, after all, they are playing at home."

……

"It was still an attack from Manchester United."

"Cancelo crosses from the right."

"The ball went to the left, Rashford... a great stop... and passed it into the box..."

"Harry Kane failed to stop the ball and Matip and Koulibaly double-teamed him at the same time."

"Liverpool's start was solid."

……

"The ball was still in United's hands and they planned another attack."

"Henderson intercepted the ball and Liverpool launched a counterattack and passed it to Firmino."

"Firmino got the ball in the penalty area and volleyed it directly, hitting Maguire and going out of bounds."

"Maguire's block was very effective this time."

"Liverpool have a corner opportunity."

………………Robertson stood in the corner area on the right, gently placed the football, and then slowly stepped back.

Manchester United coach Mourinho seemed very concerned on the sidelines and kept calling on the players on the field to pay attention.

Bruno stood at the top of the penalty area, ready to launch a counterattack at any time.

In the materials provided by the Manchester United coaching staff before the game, set-piece defense was emphasized because in the past two seasons of the Red Devils, set-pieces have always been the key to victory, and Liverpool's most threatening players are undoubtedly Matip and Koulibaly. These two central defenders are both very threatening header attackers.

When Robertson quickly took a corner kick, the penalty area immediately became chaotic.

Liverpool players were trying hard to get rid of the Manchester United players' marking, while Manchester United players were entangled with their targets as if they were facing a formidable enemy, especially the most threatening header experts such as Matip and Koulibaly.

But in this chaos, a white figure suddenly emerged from the crowd and leaped high from the middle.

Arnold's corner kick came right in front of him. He headed the ball from close range, and the ball instantly changed its trajectory and fell to the left side of the goal.

It was so close and came so suddenly that Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea had no time to react and could only watch the football fly into the goal behind him.

………………

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"The ball is in!"

"In the fifth minute, the visiting team Liverpool took the lead in breaking Manchester United's goal, with a header from Salah!"

"It was amazing! The short Egyptian player found the best spot in the penalty area filled with tall players and scored with a header!"

"This was Liverpool's first threatening attack in the game, and they scored against Manchester United."

"Let's review this goal again. Arnold's corner kick confused many players. The attention of Manchester United's defenders fell on tall players like Matip and Koulibaly, but ignored Salah."

"This was definitely an unnecessary mistake, and perhaps it had a lot to do with Salah's weak heading ability."

"The Egyptian is a winger with distinctive characteristics, known for his speed, strong breakthrough ability and rich shooting skills. He can use his speed advantage to force breakthroughs in the game, or score goals with his excellent shooting skills, or assist teammates to score."

"However, due to his height, Salah's heading ability is not strong and he rarely scores with his headers."

"But no matter what, Manchester United clearly missed someone in this defense."

………………

After scoring the goal, Salah turned and rushed out of the stadium, running all the way along the Millennium Stadium, and finally performed his iconic goal celebration in the corner area, accepting congratulations from thousands of Liverpool fans and teammates who came to the away game.

Bruno wiped his face in frustration.

The game had only been going on for five minutes and he hadn't even broken a sweat yet, but the goal was breached, and it was Salah who scored with a header.

He was once known for his poor heading skills, but after all, he was not short, so he quickly made up for his lack of heading ability through training and became a famous aerial player.

But Salah's heading ability is really weak. As his good friend, Bruno knows this very well.

But now Salah scored a very beautiful header in front of him, which made Bruno feel very uncomfortable.

This goal had nothing to do with him, because his task in today's game was to wait for an opportunity to counterattack in the frontcourt. No one would blame him for this goal, but he still felt unhappy.

Mourinho was also very excited on the sidelines and was very dissatisfied with the goal conceded.

The madman immediately made adjustments, especially regarding the team's defense.

Because he knows Klopp, Liverpool is best at pursuing victory. As long as you give them the opportunity, they will not let go of you until you are unable to defend yourself or fight back.

Therefore, Liverpool's games often result in big scores.

Just like last season, Liverpool scored three or more goals in 3 games, tied for second place with Manchester City, second only to Manchester United with 17 games.

………………

After a wave of celebration, Salah returned to the field amid cheers from Liverpool fans and boos from the Millennium Stadium.

After the game resumed, Liverpool chose to press on and continued to attack Manchester United.

Salah was particularly excited.

After scoring a goal, the Egyptian quickly got the ball on the left flank and faced three Manchester United defenders. He still chose to work alone, and relied on his personal ability to dribble the ball and create a chance to shoot, and shot low from 26 meters away from the goal.

Not long after, Firmino pulled to the right, attacked the space behind Luke Shaw, and passed the ball into the penalty area. Salah headed the ball again in front of the goal, but this time it was confiscated by De Gea and failed to create a threat.

Just two minutes later, the Egyptian again broke through the middle with the ball and his shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked out of the bottom line.

Robertson took a corner kick from the right, but Manchester United was prepared this time and Maguire cleared the ball with his head.

The ball was still at Liverpool's feet. After reorganizing, Arnold made a cross from the right, and Salah volleyed from twelve meters in front of the goal in the penalty area, but the ball slipped past the goal again.