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

Chapter 763 Arsenal Nemesis

After thirty minutes, Manchester United finally chose to defend and counterattack.

Although Arsenal was very passive when they were attacked by Manchester United, they were still stronger than horses and their strength should not be underestimated. Especially when they began to stabilize their position, Manchester United did not dare to be careless.

Arsenal had obvious problems with their physical fitness, and after taking the lead, they were a little relaxed and were caught off guard by Manchester United's counterattack. This made their players seem a little less excited and not motivated enough in the game.

At the very least, compared with Manchester United players who are all as excited as if they were injected with chicken blood, Arsenal’s excitement level is far inferior to that of Manchester United, not to mention the first round away from home.

From the 31st minute, as Manchester United switched to defense, the game became a bit dull.

Arsenal created a very good opportunity in the 36th minute. Pepe dribbled forward and made a lob pass to the right side of the penalty area. Lacazette volleyed from a small angle, but the ball hit the side net directly.

If this goal is scored, it will be very similar to Bruno's kick just now.

………………

After that, neither side created many opportunities. Arsenal seemed not excited enough, while Manchester United focused on stability.

The two sides had a conflict in the 38th minute. Xhaka and Kante had some conflicts when fighting for the ball, but they quickly hugged each other and resolved their grievances.

In the 40th minute, Bruno passed a good ball to Cancelo, but the Portuguese right-back's shot slipped directly out of the goal and failed to create a threat.

This has almost become a characteristic of both teams.

After Manchester United chose to defend and counterattack, Arsenal's condition was not particularly ideal and they were suppressed. Their rhythm was a bit chaotic and they failed to play their ideal performance.

During the half-time break, both Bruno and head coach Mourinho repeatedly reminded the players that Arsenal would not give up and they would definitely make an effort in the second half.

Sure enough, at the beginning of the second half, Arsenal suddenly intensified their offensive.

First, Torreira made a lob pass from the front of the penalty area, and Lacazette suddenly entered the penalty area and competed with Lindelof for the header eight meters in front of the goal, but the angle of his header was too straight and was directly confiscated by De Gea.

Just one minute later, Kante tripped Xhaka again and was shown a yellow card by the referee.

The Evil Beggar took the free kick, but after passing the wall, the ball fell directly into the arms of goalkeeper De Gea.

………………

For a period of time afterwards, Arsenal continued to strengthen its offensive, and players such as Aubameyang, Lacazette and Xhaka got opportunities one after another.

Manchester United quickly made a substitution adjustment. Fred replaced Harry Kane to strengthen the team's midfield defense. Bruno was pushed to the right winger position to partner with Mbappe and Rashford in the front trident.

Aubameyang soon got the best chance since the second half. He broke through the offside zone and faced the goalkeeper directly, but he did not handle the ball well with his first shot and was quickly caught up by Lindelof, forcing the Gabonese striker to volley wide.

Aubameyang immediately protested to the referee, saying that Lindelof was pulling his jersey, but the referee ignored him.

Arteta also made a substitution quickly, with Nelson replacing Pepe.

The Ivorian winger, who was signed by Arsenal for 8000 million euros in the summer, has not lived up to his value since joining Arsenal. Including today's goal, he has only scored 5 goals in all competitions. He is considered the biggest dud of this summer window.

In today's game, although Pepe scored a goal shortly after the start, his subsequent performance was very sluggish. Arteta couldn't stand him anymore and finally chose to replace him.

A few minutes after Pepe was substituted, Arteta made another substitution. Young player Sakho replaced Kolasinac and Arsenal changed to 343.

This is definitely a desperate substitution.

Arsenal began to attack aggressively, they had no way out.

Although the score on the field was 1:1, this was definitely not the result that Arteta and Arsenal hoped for.

………………

But just when Arsenal were getting frustrated after failing to score, Manchester United suddenly launched a counterattack after intercepting the ball in the backcourt.

Luke Shaw quickly moved up the left side, received the pass from Mbappe, and quickly crossed the center line.

At this time, Arsenal's defense was quickly returning, and the England left-back looked up and found Bruno, who was lurking between center back Papastathopoulos and left center back David Luiz, raising his right hand high to ask for the ball.

Luke Shaw didn't think twice and made a long diagonal pass with his left foot. The ball quickly passed Arsenal's defense and landed in front of Bruno.

Bruno also chased after him at the fastest speed, and David Luiz followed closely behind him.

Outside the penalty area, Bruno turned sideways, blocked David Luiz with his body, and stopped the ball with his chest.

But just when Bruno stopped the ball and turned to get rid of David Luiz, the referee blew the whistle.

"The referee blew the whistle for a foul on Arsenal's David Luiz. When Bruno stopped the ball and turned around, he clearly pulled his jersey. But Bruno seemed very dissatisfied with the penalty because he had already started, and obviously thought that the referee should follow the principle of offensive advantage and should not blow the whistle at that time."

"This penalty is indeed disadvantageous to Manchester United, because Bruno could have easily broken away from David Luiz and rushed into the penalty area with the ball, but now a very threatening attack was interrupted."

………………Today’s referee Mike Dean is a well-known card-pulling maniac. After Bruno made a slight symbolic protest, he immediately ran to pick up the ball.

He doesn't want to be stupid enough to get a yellow card.

Bruno picked up the ball, threw it on the ground, and quickly wanted to take a free kick, but at this time Mike Dean blew the whistle repeatedly, signaling him to stop and not to take the kick quickly. He had to wait for the opponent to form a human wall.

Bruno, who had just rushed out like an arrow, could only smile bitterly, shook his head, and kept walking back.

This expression was also captured by the live TV camera, and the commentator obviously found it very funny.

“Haha, Bruno was very cunning. He wanted to take a quick free kick, but he was obviously seen through by the referee Mike Dean. He was not given such an opportunity. He looked a little hit.”

"But I have to say that a free kick from this position is still very threatening."

"Bruno should take the penalty for Manchester United."

………………

Bruno is Manchester United's number one free kick taker, and his free kicks and corner kicks are very good.

When he is on the field, no one else has the chance to take the penalty.

In the penalty area, Manchester United's players all rushed up. Even Gundogan rushed into the penalty area, which showed that the ball was definitely going to be passed directly into the penalty area.

But even so, Arsenal still left people in the front area of ​​the penalty area, obviously worried that Bruno would attack the goal directly, because Bruno's long-distance free kicks often scored directly.

After Arsenal set up their human wall, the referee also left the penalty area and immediately blew the whistle, indicating that a penalty kick could be taken.

The football flew quickly from Bruno's feet, passed the wall of people, drew an arc, and fell to the back of the penalty area.

Arsenal's high points Papastathopoulos and David Luiz were both in the middle, focusing on defending high points such as Maguire and Lindelof, but Saka, who was defending the back point, was suddenly thrown away by Cancelo.

The Portuguese right-back is not slow at all.

After shaking off Saka, Cancelo jumped high in the left corner of the small penalty area.

At this moment, Cancelo seemed to jump over the heads of David Luiz and others nearby, making him look extremely tall and mighty, like a god descending to earth. He headed the free kick from Bruno directly into the goal.

The football hit Cancelo's head at an extremely fast speed, changed direction and went straight into Arsenal's goal.

………………

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"In the 70th minute! Manchester United scored another goal! A header from Joao Cancelo!"

After scoring the goal, Cancelo pointed at Bruno from a distance, signaling him to follow him out of the stadium and celebrate the goal on the sidelines.

Gundogan and other teammates also rushed forward.

“What an amazing jumping ability!”

"Cancelo is not tall, but his jumping ability is amazing."

"From the slow-motion replay of the entire goal, Bruno's free kick was very accurate and Cancelo also jumped very high. The cooperation between the two was very tacit. Arsenal's defense had no time to react at all."

"This is definitely a tacit cooperation between the two players!"

Manchester United players gathered together on the sidelines, all celebrating the team's goal.

After the start of the second half, Manchester United had been relatively passive on the field, but now they took advantage of a free kick opportunity to score another goal, which was definitely a goal that made Arsenal completely despair.

2: 1!

Mourinho was so excited that he turned around and high-fived his assistants one by one to celebrate.

This goal almost sealed the victory of the game.

So he quickly made a second substitution, replacing Rashford with Greenwood to keep the front line active.

Arteta had no choice. Five minutes later, he replaced Aubameyang with Guendouzi.

Although this seems to be a relatively conservative substitution, it is not actually the case, because Saka was pushed to the front line and Arsenal still used a 343 formation.

In the following few minutes, Arsenal launched an almost desperate attack.

Manchester United was also forced into a very embarrassing situation. Mourinho even replaced Gundogan with Van Dijk, changing the formation to 541 and defending the penalty area, and finally maintained the score until the end of stoppage time.

(End of this chapter)