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

Chapter 537 Another victory
Otamendi was sent off with a red card and head coach Guardiola was sent to the stands, which directly affected the progress of the game.

Before going to the stands, Guardiola pointed at Danilo on the bench and told his assistant Arteta to replace him with Danilo to fill the gap in the back line.

He has given up on the League Cup and just hopes to avoid another heavy defeat at Old Trafford.

After all, if Manchester City suffered two consecutive defeats at Old Trafford, the blow it would cause would be even greater than being eliminated from the League Cup final.

Almost at the same time, Mourinho asked all the players on the bench to warm up as if they were forcing them to do something.

Mourinho was delighted to see Mata, Lingard, Fellaini, Herrera, Lindelof, Damian and other strong players sitting on the bench.

You know, with the strength of these substitute players, they are fully capable of becoming the starters of other Premier League teams. But now they are all sitting on the bench of Manchester United.

This is also the key factor that has enabled Manchester United to keep moving forward in various competitions for two consecutive seasons while fighting on multiple fronts.

Mourinho looked at Manchester City's bench again, and his mood suddenly became not so good, because the value of those sitting on Manchester City's bench was not inferior to that of Manchester United.

It seems that Manchester City is indeed a strong opponent of Manchester United!

………………

Manchester City made a substitution, with Brazilian defender Danilo, who was brought in from Real Madrid in last year's summer transfer window, coming on as a substitute, replacing Aguero.

Aguero seemed shocked at being substituted. He looked at the sidelines and pointed at himself, meaning that he needed confirmation, and then saw assistant coach Arteta nodded.

Aguero walked to the sidelines with a gloomy face. The camera followed the Manchester City striker. The Manchester City flag did not lose his mind because of anger. He finally shook hands with assistant coach Arteta.

However, the two men had a verbal exchange and Aguero seemed emotional.

Manchester City is indeed strong. Even with one man less, they did not collapse, but instead managed to pull one back.

In the 75th minute of the game, De Bruyne's shot hit Kante's leg and changed direction, flying out of the baseline, and Manchester City got a corner kick opportunity.

David Silva's corner kick flew into the penalty area, Stones headed the ball, Romero kicked the ball out, and was met by De Bruyne who was waiting at the top of the penalty area, and his long shot went into the net.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLL!!!!!!"

"De Bruyne, 2:3, Manchester City scored another goal. This is Manchester City, this is Manchester City. Even if the referee favors the opponent, even if one of us is sent off, Manchester City is still fighting, still fighting!" Manchester City's commentator shouted excitedly.

………………

Mourinho was not furious about the goal. No team can guarantee that they will not be scored by Manchester City. It is normal for Manchester United to be scored by Manchester City.

After conceding the goal, Mourinho immediately made a substitution, replacing Mbappe with Mahrez.

In addition, left-back Luke Shaw was substituted and Ashley Young came on as a substitute.

After Manchester City scored a goal, Manchester United did not try to hold on to the one-goal lead. Instead, they sounded the horn of attack and even suppressed Manchester City on the field for a time.

In the 86th minute of the game, Gundogan suddenly made a long shot that forced Bravo to make a save, and Manchester United got a corner kick opportunity.

Mahrez stood on the penalty spot and raised three fingers.

Following his move, Maguire and Van Dijk began to run continuously in the penalty area, which forced Manchester City's defensive players to follow. The two sides were pulled together and there was chaos.

The referee had to stop the game twice in a row and sternly warned the players on both sides: Be more restrained!

Finally, the whistle sounded and Rashford kicked the ball into the penalty area.

Maguire jumped high and headed the ball, but Bravo made a beautiful save and he kicked the ball out.

Gundogan was outside and headed the ball back. Rashford wanted to head the ball, but the ball he headed hit the back of the defender and bounced up. Stones squeezed over and headed the ball out again.

David Silva chested the ball and wanted to pull the ball and turn around, wanting to take the opportunity to launch an attack. At this time, Sterling was already accelerating forward.

But as soon as he turned around, the football was poked away.

………………

"Valencia, his clever tackle."

After intercepting the ball, Valencia passed the ball to the wing, and Mahrez directly swept the ball into the penalty area.

There was a lot of crowds and chaos in front of Manchester City's goal.

In the chaos, someone kicked the ball and it flew towards the goal. Bravo subconsciously stretched out his leg to block the ball. Then a player in a red jersey wanted to make a follow-up shot, but the player in a blue jersey poked the ball away first, but the ball still stayed in front of the goal. Mourinho stood on the sidelines, his eyes widened, trying to see clearly, but the penalty area was full of people and he couldn't see clearly at all.

At this moment, a man in a red jersey rushed out of the penalty area, opened his arms, and rushed to the sidelines excitedly. Behind him, several players in red jerseys rushed up.

"Mahrez! Mahrez!! Mahrez!!!" the commentator shouted, "Oh my God, Manchester United scored again, they widened the score again, 4:2! The goal was scored by Riyad Mahrez who just came on as a substitute!"

On the sidelines, Mourinho threw a punch into the air, he was so excited.

Manchester United players were celebrating wildly. Mahrez was hugged by Bruno and Harry Kane. Rashford even climbed on his back. Everyone was so excited.

………………

The goal was replayed in slow motion. In the chaos, Harry Kane half turned and shot, the ball flew up, Bravo blocked it again, Stones tried to clear it, the ball he kicked hit Danilo's back, then bounced down and landed right in front of Mahrez.

Mahrez was even stunned for a moment, then he became extremely excited and rushed forward with all his might. Before Danilo turned around to clear the ball, he kicked the ball. The ball suddenly flew up, as if it had hit someone, and almost went high into the air. In the end, it almost flew into the net along the bottom of the crossbar, scoring a goal in what was theoretically an absolute blind spot.

In the 87th minute of the game, Mahrez, who came on as a substitute, scored a goal and Manchester United led Manchester City 4:2 at Old Trafford, which was also the final score of the game.

In the last few minutes of the game, the atmosphere at Old Trafford was very heated. Seeing that the victory was already decided, the cheers and songs of the home team fans never stopped.

Although reaching the League Cup final is a happy thing for Manchester United, the real reason for their excitement is that the opponent they eliminated is their city rival Manchester City.

Due to the rapid rise of Manchester City in recent seasons, in the hearts of Manchester United fans, Manchester City is no longer simply a noisy neighbor, but a powerful opponent that can truly threaten Manchester United's position.

Now, the team has once again defeated this strong opponent at home, and the joy of Manchester United fans is naturally doubled.

………………

After the game, Manchester City captain David Silva went to the referee on duty.

The Spaniard, who has always been low-key and humble, was very emotional and said something angrily. The referee Scott had a serious expression on his face. He tried to explain at first, but later he simply took his team and left quickly amid the overwhelming applause of Old Trafford.

The fans like this referee very much because he did not let Manchester United suffer any loss at Old Trafford today, and even gave them a small advantage.

Seeing the referee being protested by the captain of the rival team, the home fans of Old Trafford naturally wanted to support the referee.

………………

At the post-match press conference, Manchester City head coach Guardiola slammed the referee's enforcement.

"From my point of view, we had a penalty that was wiped out. The penalty that was awarded didn't exist. Otamendi's red card was also unwarranted. It was a standard tackle, but some people don't see it that way."

"Faced with incomprehensible penalties, the players' mentality was unbalanced. I can understand their inner anger, which greatly affected the result of the game."

The core idea of ​​Guardiola's three consecutive attacks is that Manchester City did not lose to Manchester United, but lost to the unfair enforcement of the referee.

Mourinho said to the reporters with a smile: "I am very satisfied with the performance of the players. You know, our opponent is Manchester City. They deserve any praise for reaching the League Cup final for two consecutive years."

"Mr. Mourinho, what do you think of the referee's decision today?" asked a reporter from The Times.

"It was a very exciting game. Mr. Scott controlled the tempo and situation very well and won widespread praise from both sides. He did a good job," Mourinho said.

The reporters looked at each other in confusion. Does the person who said this have any shame at all?
Guardiola was so angry that he said directly: "I didn't say that."

Mourinho smiled and said nothing.

A reporter asked: "Don't you think that the referee's decisions today were more favorable to Manchester United?"

"I don't think so." Mourinho shook his head and said, "I believe that the referee's decision is based on the principle of fairness and justice. In fact, people who know me know that I always have the greatest respect for the referee."

"You said it well." A reporter who supports Manchester City said sarcastically.

He thought the Manchester United coach would be ashamed, but he didn't expect the bastard to just smile and say, "Thank you."

………………

Manchester United defeated Manchester City 4:2 at home, thus eliminating their city rivals Manchester City with an aggregate score of 6:4 in the two-round League Cup semi-final and becoming the first to enter the final of this season's League Cup.

A day later, the other League Cup semi-final opponents were also decided. Arsenal, who drew with Chelsea in the first round away from home, beat Chelsea 2:1 at home, thus winning another ticket to the League Cup final this season. They will compete with Manchester United for this season's League Cup championship at the new Wembley Stadium on the afternoon of February 2.

(End of this chapter)