host must win

Chapter 436
Just two days after Manchester United ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run, Manchester United ushered in the third round of the League Cup and played away against Championship side Crewe.

Because the two games were only 50 hours apart, and this game was a very tasteless League Cup, Ferguson directly carried out a big rotation, using the substitute players of the first team plus a few young people drawn from the reserve team and the youth team , Temporarily formed a team to participate in this competition.

However, even Manchester United's second team still has a clear advantage over the Crewe team in the middle and lower reaches of the English Championship.Manchester United's substitutes beat Crewe 3-0 in the away game and advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup.

On the last Saturday in October, Manchester United traveled south to Portsmouth for the 10th round of the Premier League.

10轮联赛过后，朴茨茅斯3胜4平3负位居联赛第十，打进14球失13球，是非常典型的中游球队。

Such a team, if they are not in shape, they can lose to anyone, but if they play well, it will be a headache for anyone who encounters them.

Manchester United encountered a Portsmouth team that is in full condition today!

Amidst the cheers of the home team fans, Portsmouth did not fear Manchester United at all, and played against Manchester United at Fratton Park.

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In the 16th minute of the game, Yin Jun received a pass from Ryan Giggs for Manchester United to open the scoring, and then shortly after the start of the second half, he received a cross from Ronaldo from the right again and scored twice.

Just when Manchester United thought they had sealed the victory and relaxed a little, Portsmouth suddenly stepped up their attack. Heinze, who was the starting left back, sent a penalty kick in the penalty area, and then joined Portsmouth in the summer. Unsworth scored a goal with a penalty kick.

Just when Portsmouth took advantage of the morale boost after the goal and launched a counterattack against Manchester United, Manchester United gave Portsmouth another heavy blow.In the 56th minute, in front of Ronaldo's pass, Yin Jun hit the goal with a header and bounced into the net. While performing a hat-trick, he helped Manchester United lead Portsmouth 3:1.

This goal was a big blow to Portsmouth, and some Portsmouth players even had the idea that it was impossible to beat Manchester United.

Manchester United launched a siege of Portsmouth, but Ronaldo's close-range header hit the crossbar and bounced off the bottom line, Rooney and Giggs' shots were also resolved.

Because the Champions League match against Sparta Prague at home will be ushered in the middle of the week, Ferguson replaced Yin Jun with the captain Roy Keane who had just returned from injury in the 65th minute of the game. Look for the state of the game, and on the other hand, save energy for the midweek Champions League game.

In the 72nd minute of the game, Portsmouth's Nigerian striker Yakubu scored a goal to rewrite the score to 2:3.

In the last 20 minutes of the game, Portsmouth aggressively attacked at home, while Manchester United basically lost control of the midfield and could only stick to their own defensive third area.

However, the Manchester United central defender composed of Ferdinand and Vidic performed well, and Heinze did not make any mistakes at the critical moment. Manchester United finally maintained the 1-goal advantage until the end of the game.

In the end, Manchester United narrowly beat Portsmouth 3:2 away and scored 3 points with difficulty.

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When Manchester United and Portsmouth fought fiercely at Fratton Park, Arsenal, who had just lost to Manchester United in the last round and ended their unbeaten record, seemed to have lost their soul. They were defeated by Southampton at Highbury Stadium. 2:2 draw.

At the same time, Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion 4-1 at the Hawthorns.

So, after this round of the game, a magical scene appeared on the Premier League standings: Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all had a record of 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, all with 26 points!
It is not uncommon for three teams to score the same points, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the standings, but it is extremely rare for the top three teams to score the same points like this.

However, Arsenal still relied on the goal difference advantage accumulated by the fiery offense at the beginning of the season, beating Manchester United and Chelsea to the top of the list with 17 goal difference, Manchester United ranked second with 14 goal difference, Chelsea ranked second with 13 goal difference Ranked third in wins.

Although Chelsea are suppressed by Arsenal and Manchester United on goal difference in the Premier League standings, in the opinion of Chelsea coach Mourinho, the Blues are already the best team in England.

Mourinho said in the post-match press conference: "From the statistics of the Premier League, the Champions League and the League Cup, we are the team that has scored more points. Today I can say such a different point of view because of the data. We've won 15 out of 12 games."

Mourinho is not lying. If only considering the three events of the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup, Chelsea's performance is indeed the best.

曼联在这三项赛事里同样进行了15场比赛，战绩仅为11胜3平1负，比12胜2平1负的切尔西要差，阿森纳同样是进行了15场比赛，则是10胜4平1负。

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In the middle of the week, the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League group stage started, and Manchester United faced Sparta Prague at home.

This game became Ruud van Nistelrooy's personal show, he staged four goals in the game, helping Manchester United bloodbath the Czech team at home with a score of 4:1.

In the 14th minute, the Spartan defender dribbled the ball, and suddenly passed the ball back to Van Nistelrooy, who was running back.

1:0, Manchester United took the lead by relying on the gift of the opponent's defender.

In the 25th minute, Ronaldo broke through with the ball and suddenly crossed to the edge of the penalty area. Yin Jun dribbled the ball to the penalty area. Petras tackled Yin Jun from behind. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Ruud van Nistelrooy took the penalty overnight, 2:0.

In the 53rd minute of the second half, Sparta Prague pulled one back.Sparta controlled the ball in the middle to organize the attack. After a wonderful cooperation in the midfield, it went straight to the penalty area. Zelenka deliberately missed the ball and quickly moved forward.

However, before Sparta Prague was happy for a few minutes, Manchester United quickly extended their lead to 2 goals again.

In the 59th minute, Yin Jun made a direct pass from the backcourt. The Spartan defender made a mistake and failed to clear the siege. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a hat-trick.

In the 90th minute, Manchester United attacked, poured the ball from the left to the right, Yin Jun passed the ball to the penalty area, Ruud van Nistelrooy was unguarded, and easily scored an empty goal, sealing the victory for Manchester United.

Due to another game in this group, Lyon beat Fenerbahce 4:2 at home. After 4 rounds, both teams got 3 wins and 1 draw, while Fenerbahce, who was third in the group, only got 3 win and 1 losses, 3 points behind Manchester United and Lyon.With only two rounds left in the group stage, it is impossible to catch up with the first two. Both Manchester United and Lyon were able to advance to the knockout rounds two rounds ahead of schedule.

(End of this chapter)