future king

United's Christmas schedule gets weird and light-hearted, starting with a home game against Sunderland.

曼联在双方近14场交锋中10胜4平保持不败，双方英超历史交锋19场，曼联13胜5平1负占据绝对优势，其中主场7胜2平，唯一一次失利还是1997年3月在客场败北。桑德兰最近一次取胜曼联还是2000年11月的联赛杯第4轮，但在老特拉福德的取胜历史还要追溯到1968年5月。双方历史交锋130场，曼联55胜36平39负占据上风。

In the first 20 minutes of the opening, Manchester United threatened the opponent's goal 7 times, and completed 3 shot in less than 1 minutes on average. It almost turned the competition between Old Trafford and Sunderland into a half-time game Offensive and defensive drills.

The smooth sailing after the opening had something to do with Li Yu scoring an early goal for the team in the 5th minute of the game.

After Ferdinand made a clearance in the backcourt, Anderson took advantage of the situation to instigate an offensive. After receiving the pass from the Brazilian, Giggs broke through the defense of two players in the middle and handed it to Rooney on the right. The fat man who had been prepared sent the ball directly to the far end of the penalty area. At this point, Li Yu, who had already slapped the horse, scored with a header from close range without being marked, 2-1.

This ball is not so much the credit of Manchester United's No. 9 and 1, it is better to say that it is a manifestation of Ferguson's team's high-quality tactical quality.From stealing the ball to instigating the offense, every connection is very smooth and clean.

In the 11th minute, Anderson made a direct pass to Li Yu in the penalty area. After breaking into the penalty area, Manchester United's No. 9 received the ball comfortably.

Sunderland goalkeeper Gordon broke out in a cold sweat!

Just 11 minutes later, Manchester United's No. 9 and 1 player have already played in front of the Black Cats!

In the 18th minute, the "soft guy" once called by the British media staged another bloody scene: Li Yu received a long pass from Evra on the right, and stopped the ball with his back to pass Basley. At this time, Manchester United 1 was lucky to be kicked to the ground by the opponent, still tenaciously climbed up to participate in the attack, and handed the ball to Park Ji-sung near the penalty area. Basley, after Li Yu got up, he thought the referee would call a foul, but he didn't respond!

If Li Yu had only played a good half-time goal, the British media obviously would not have sent a high score of 9 points after the game.

After changing sides and fighting again, Manchester United's No. 9 killer became more and more courageous.

In the 52nd minute, Li Yu passed the ball with a beautiful heel in the frontcourt, and found Evra who broke through behind him, and the latter almost created a murderous intent at the bottom line.In the 54th minute, Manchester United's No. 9 unexpectedly got rid of all the tearing when the midfielder was dragged by two opponents, and firmly controlled the ball under his feet, winning rounds of applause from the fans on the sidelines.

In the 57th minute, Anders made a cross from east to west and found Li Yu in the penalty area. The latter shot calmly. The shot hit Anton-Ferdinand who returned to the defense and then refracted into the net. The Red Devils sealed the victory at home!

In the 82nd minute, Ferguson replaced Li Yu with Hernandez. When he walked slowly to the bench, the fans around him stood up and applauded him.Ferguson was even more rarely smiling. He not only shook hands with the goal hero, but also patted him kindly on the head.

Afterwards, he whispered to Li Yu, with a smile on his face, Manchester United No. 9 responded with a relaxed and confident expression.

桑德兰并不是一个软柿子，此役赛前，桑德兰排名第6，此前18场联赛有9场都力保城门不失，这在本赛季英超联赛中都是首屈一指。本季，桑德兰是名副其实的巨人杀手。他们在客场以3-0击败切尔西、客场2-2战平利物浦、1-1战平热刺；主场1-0击败曼城，0-0战平曼联、1-1战平阿森纳。在与传统四强以及曼城、热刺两大新贵的比赛中，取得了2胜4平的不败战绩。

At Old Trafford last season, Anton Ferdinand's own goal in the 94th minute helped Manchester United escape from death and scored 1 point at the last minute; while in the away game, Manchester United only relied on Nani's valuable goal. The ball narrowly beat Sunderland, who had the advantage on the scene.Manchester United failed to score in only two games this season, one of which was an away game against Sunderland. Sir Alex Ferguson said before the game, "We were very lucky to score 10 point in Sunderland in October. Toughest away game of the season."

不过，历史交锋纪录显然对曼联有利。桑德兰本赛季在英超客场只赢了1场，那便是在斯坦福桥以3-0痛击切尔西。自从1968年5月客场2-1击败曼联后，桑德兰最近42年来就再也没有在老特拉福德的联赛中赢球，上一次桑德兰在联赛中击败曼联还是在1997年的3月份的事情。

Moreover, among the 10 visiting teams visiting Old Trafford in the Premier League this season, only West Bromwich Albion returned with 1 point, and the other 9 opponents fell under the butcher's knife of the Red Devils.Sunderland coach Bruce is a disciple of Ferguson. After this campaign, the master and apprentice faced off in the league 16 times. Ferguson achieved an unbeaten record of 12 wins and 4 draws.After today's game, Bruce even said, "Many teams that came to Old Trafford have already lost in the player channel."

This statement is not too much. Mata, the international player of the Spanish World Cup champion team, said with lingering fear after the away draw with Manchester United in the last round of the Champions League group stage, "Old Trafford is really a terrible battlefield!" Even the 100-year-old Manchester United Diehard Les Burgess also came to the scene today to cheer for the Red Devils. Ferguson's disciples also rewarded more than 7 infatuated fans with a half-time championship.

Compared with the starting lineup in which they beat Arsenal 1-0 at home in the last league game, Sir Alex Ferguson made two changes in the starting lineup in this campaign. Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung replaced Fletcher and Nani respectively.

The 45 minutes in the first half of this campaign was the best 45 minutes played by Manchester United this season, even better than the 7-1 rout of Blackburn. In this half time, Manchester United bombarded the gate of Sunderland blew up and the "Black Cat" didn't even have a shot on goal before halftime.

No wonder Ferguson said excitedly after the game, "We might even beat them four or five in the first half."This statement is true.Except for Li Yu's goal, Manchester United's No. 9's angry shot to the post and Anderson's angry shot to the lintel, the opponent's goalkeeper Gordon was helpless.In addition, Anderson and Rooney also missed scoring opportunities.

From November 11th, when they defeated Wigan 20-2 at home, Manchester United defeated Blackburn 0-7 at home, Arsenal 1-1 and Sander 0-2 in the following month. Lan, achieved 0 consecutive victories in the league.After this campaign, Manchester United finished 4 rounds of the league and achieved 17 wins and 10 draws. They remained unbeaten in the league and became the only team among the 7 teams in the five major European leagues to remain unbeaten in the league this season. Team.

Previously, in the history of the Premier League, Manchester United ranked first at Christmas 5 times, and had the last laugh 3 times.After this campaign, Manchester United ranked first at Christmas for the sixth time. This is also the first time that Manchester United has ranked first in the league during Christmas since 6.

在此前18个赛季的英超联赛中，曼联夺得了7个半程冠军，有2个被阿森纳逆转，分别是在1997-98赛季(曼联半程领先枪手10分，最终落后阿森纳1分)和2003-04赛季(曼联半程领先枪手1分，最终落后阿森纳15分)。其余5次在夺得半程冠军后，曼联都能成功问鼎最终冠军。

In other words, if Manchester United wins the half-time championship, there is at least a 71% possibility of winning the final championship.What's more, Manchester United finally reversed their opponents and won the championship 6 times without winning the half-time championship.

Sunderland coach Bruce said after the game, "Everyone knows that Manchester United has always played much better in the second half than in the first half."

Now, with the same 17 games played, Manchester United leads Arsenal by 5 points and Chelsea by 6 points. Although they only lead Manchester City by 2 points, the Red Devils have 2 games less than their rivals in the same city.

That is to say, once Arsenal and Chelsea are decided tonight, the loser may be further widened by Manchester United; and if the two teams draw, it is the result Ferguson most hopes to see.Therefore, tonight, Ferguson can drink red wine and sit in front of the TV and watch the tigers fight. In a sense, there is only one winner of this duel, and that is Manchester United.

3 days later, Manchester United will challenge Birmingham away!

伯明翰上次取胜曼联还是1978年11月11日，红魔在客场1比5惨败。但其后近32年来的23场比赛中，曼联16胜7平保持不败。双方英超历史交锋12场，曼联9胜3平优势明显。双方历史交锋100场，曼联47胜28平25负。

Both Lee Yuk and Park Ji Sung are back in Asia for the Asian Cup!

Birmingham's St. Andrews Stadium is really a magical place. Before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson said when looking forward to this campaign, "Birmingham's home record is very good. At St. Andrews Stadium, Birmingham is always difficult to beat." In the first game, Birmingham only scored 2 goal with 1 shots on target.Of course, compared to Chelsea, Manchester United seems to be lucky enough. When Chelsea was at the St. Andrews Stadium this season, Birmingham only had [-] shot on target, and they beat the Blues with Bowyer's goal.

After this campaign, Birmingham has only lost 24 game in the past 1 home league games, and that was a 10-0 loss to Everton in October this year.

Fletcher had a bad cold and Nani had a hip injury. The former sat on the bench, while the latter did not enter the 18-man list at all.

Compared with the starting lineup that defeated Sunderland 2-0 at home in the last round, Ferguson only made one change. He replaced Park Ji-sung, who represented South Korea in the Asian Cup, with Gibson.

Judging from the record of the confrontation between the two sides, Manchester United has an absolute advantage.In the past 23 times (including 22 league games), the two sides have faced each other, and Manchester United has never lost.The last time Birmingham beat Manchester United was in November 1978. At that time, they beat Manchester United 11-5, but unfortunately, Birmingham was finally relegated that season.In the same year, Ferguson coached Aberdeen. He urged the team's defender McLeish to give up his accounting career and focus on football. Today, the Birmingham coach standing opposite him is McLeish.

Before this battle, in the past 4 confrontations between the two sides, Manchester United won 3 times with a score of 1-0.

This is the fourth time McLeish has played against Ferguson. Before that, he had 1 draw and 2 losses and only scored 1 goal.

In the past 15 Premier League games, Birmingham have only won 2 games.

However, Manchester United's away record in the league this season is not good. They only won 7 game in the previous 1 league away games, and that was the 10-2 away victory over Stoke City in October.After this campaign, Manchester United has been unbeaten in the past 0 Premier League away games, and has drawn 13 away games in the past 8 league games.Their last away league defeat was a 7-2 loss to Everton at Goodison Park in February.However, too many away draws have delayed Manchester United's pace of hegemony.

In the 58th minute of this campaign, the brave Rooney broke the deadlock for Manchester United, but 3 minutes later, the Englishman's shot hit the post and missed a good opportunity for Manchester United to seal the victory.

After taking the lead, Manchester United tried to control the situation. In the 60-65 minutes, Manchester United's ball possession rate was as high as 78%.

In the 82nd minute, McLeish played the winner. He replaced Beaucejour with high center Zigic.Maybe it was a bad premonition. In the 88th minute, Ferguson gestured on the sidelines to remind the Manchester United disciples to pay attention to defense and stick to the last few minutes.

But what he didn't expect was that his intuition was so accurate.In the 89th minute, Birmingham kicked the ball from the right. Zigic put his hands on Ferdinand's back and leaped high. He hit the ball to the far post with his chest and arm. The bad boy who beat Chelsea at home this season Bowyer, in the suspected offside position to complete the fatal blow.

Although Fletcher and Vidic raised their hands to signal offside, Van der Sar also ran to the linesman to signal that Zigic handball first, but the linesman insisted that there was no problem with the ball, and the Dutch goalkeeper had to return disappointed.

The British News Agency stated that Zigic was suspected of fouls and handball during the ferry.Sir Alex Ferguson was very angry about this after the game, "It was a handball. Zigic fouled Ferdinand first. In such a high-level game, you always want the referee to see it all. If he doesn't, can you What can I do? Today, I have nothing to complain about my team. They worked very hard and only had two days off after Sunderland. They almost lost their socks, but in exchange for this result, It feels hard to accept."

The Birmingham coach McLeish simply admitted Zhigic handball, but denied that the Serbia international was intentional handball, and he believed that Bowyer was definitely not offside.

In fact, the Manchester United team is really working very hard.

The "Daily Mail" reported that on Tuesday morning local time, the whole Manchester United team was waiting for the late coach beside the M56 road in the cold wind of Cheshire. Everyone's face was full of anger.

Most of the players were wearing thin tracksuits. Veteran Giggs and Gary Neville were more experienced, and they put on thick winter clothes.Rooney wore a large Russian wool cap to protect his head and ears, much to the envy of many teammates.After nearly half an hour of waiting, the Manchester United luxury bus carrying the coach finally arrived.

After this toss, facing Birmingham, who had fully rested after the postponement of the last round of the league, the Red Devils must not have as much physical strength as their opponents.

"Guardian" columnist Michaela claimed before the game that Manchester United is now at the top of the standings, which is somewhat strange.

His reason is that Rooney has misfired for a long time, and Manchester United have only won one away game this season.

But what Manchester United thinks now is that they can no longer be "hacked" and continue to suffer from being dumb.

Last season, in the home and away game between Manchester United and Chelsea, Chelsea scored 6 points on Manchester United with the two controversial goals of Terry and Drogba. Among them, Drogba's goal in the away game against Manchester United was obviously offside .Without that goal, United would have achieved an unprecedented four consecutive top-flight titles last season.In this campaign, Manchester United unjustly lost 2 points at the last moment, but it is not yet known how much impact this 2 points will have on the final championship.

If after the end of the season, Manchester United lost this season's Premier League championship just because of these 2 points, the old man's loss will be great.

Manchester United conceded a goal in the 89th minute. The away game fell short and was equalized by the relegation team Birmingham. Coach Ferguson was very disappointed that the referee did not cancel the ball. Foul first, he (Zidic) comes from the right and jumps on the back of our centre-back (Ferdinand). We hope the referee sees it, if he doesn't see it, what is he doing?"

"In an event of this size, in such an important game, you always expect the referee to see it all. If he doesn't, what can you do? Today, I have nothing to complain about my team. , They worked very hard and only had two days of rest after playing Sunderland. (Birmingham's last round of the league was postponed and got a full rest.) They almost lost their socks, but in exchange for such a result, it makes people feel It was hard to take. We deserved to win and we were clearly the better team."

Birmingham coach McLeish insisted after the game, "He (Bowyer) was not offside, absolutely not. It looked like Zigic hit the ball with his own arm to the far post, but he definitely didn't mean to do that... all of it It was so confusing. There is a penalty for intentional handball, but in other words, I don't mind."

Excited Bowyer said that Birmingham deserved to get 1 point. "Every time I've played at St Andrews, it's been an achievement to equalize from behind. I've scored late goals a lot throughout my career and I think I'm going to keep doing that until I retire. We've worked very hard and I've Thought we deserved a point but United had more possession."