Chapter Seventy-One: Lost

Manchester United host visiting Norwich City on 19 December.

Perhaps because of too many injuries, Manchester United were held to a draw by Norwich at home.

The game didn't go too well for United from the start. In the 27th minute, centre-back Marcos Rojo was shown a red card for handball in the box, and Norwich were awarded a penalty.

Manchester United were brutally punished by the Red Dot package.

Norwich striker Raymond scored the ball in good faith to give Norwich the lead away.

United then made a substitution, with Wayne Rooney coming on for Phil Jones, who was once again combined with Chris Smalling.

Manchester United, who had one man less, equalised at the start of the second half, when Li Qingshan's powerful header from inside the area smashed open the door for Norwich.

However, in the 75th minute of the game, Norwich City counter-attacked quickly, Smalling cleared the ball and rose to the top, his mistake was caught by the fast Norwich striker Jerome, who went to the club alone and scored the ball to take the lead again.

Knowing that in the 80th minute of the game, after Li Qingshan's shot was saved by the goalkeeper in the scenic area, the football hit the knee of Norwich central defender Bennett and bounced into the goal, and Manchester United relied on the opponent's own goal to equalize.

Two to two!

Manchester United's second draw of the season!

The draw took United's lead back a bit. Manchester United is now unbeaten with 15 wins and two draws, ranking first in the league with 47 points, and currently ranked second in the league is Leicester City, Leicester City defeated Swansea City 3-0, Chelsea 2-1, and Everton 3-2 after losing to Manchester United.

Manchester City, who had been quite strong at the start of the season, have suffered Waterloo in recent rounds.

They have won two and drawn two in the last four league games, and their form has been up and down very obviously, especially when Manchester City lost to Arsenal in 17 games, they were overtaken by Arsenal in the league and slipped to fourth place in the league, while Arsenal overtook Manchester City by three points to finish third in the league with 36 points.

If the difference of 10 points still gives Manchester United something to fear, then the results of the next round of the league have made Manchester United fans nervous.

On December 26, Manchester United took to the Ribo Stadium on the banks of the River Lantrent to take on Sky City Stoke.

Stoke City, regarded as the second oldest football club in the world after Notts County, was founded in 1863 and is a founding member of the Football League.

But when it comes to the strength of the team, it doesn't have much to do with how old their team is.

Stoke City In the 70s and 80s of the 20th century, Stoke City was in the lower leagues, and before promotion to the Premier League, Stoke City did not appear in the top flight from 1984-85.

The 2008-09 season was Stoke City's first appearance in the Premier League. After that, they never left the Premier League again.

Stoke City, on the other hand, has earned them the nickname "City in the Sky" because of their traditional English football style, with players generally tall and good at heading.

However, in the past two seasons, Stoke City, under the leadership of head coach Mark Hughes, has gradually added more elements of continental football, with the addition of Messi Shaqiri of Switzerland and Boyang, a famous youth product of former La Masia, which has greatly improved their ability to ground ball in the front court. However, in their lineup, there are still many elders.

Striker Arnautovic, midfielder Jeff Cameron, central defender Walscheid and goalkeeper Batlan are all over 190 cm tall, and in addition to Shaqiri and Boyang, the other starters are also generally over 185 cm tall.

Although the cities in the sky have been lowered in height, their skies are still clear.

On United's side, Hummels returned from injury, but Carlo Ancelotti did not risk putting him in the starting line-up, while Marcos Rojo was suspended after receiving a red card in the last game. Combined with the absences of Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini, as many as five of United's early-season squad will not be available for this game.

The centre-back combination of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones has struggled to reassure fans.

This time too.

Although Li Qingshan scored two goals in this game, Manchester United's backline failed to prevent the impact of Arnautovic, Shaqiri and Boyang, and the three attackers in Stoke City's front field each scored a goal to beat Manchester United 3-2 at home, giving the opponent their first defeat of the season!

When the game was over, the fans in the stands were so excited that they couldn't have let the fans of Stoke City revel after beating Manchester United's White Stock City in the Premier League this season.

Li Qingshan walked off the field with a low face.

He was quite uncomfortable in this game. Or rather, he's felt that way in the last few games.

He could only get support from Di Maria on the left, and Rooney's side rarely got a good pass to him. Because Rooney played differently than Juan Mata in the game, Rooney was always used to swimming from the wing to the middle, and in this way, he squeezed Li Qingshan's space.

Li Qingshan sometimes wanted to retreat to receive the ball, but he saw Rooney's figure, and on the right side, Valencia did not dare to assist under the pressure of the opponent.

Both of Li Qingshan's goals came from the left, with Di Maria and left-back Sandro each sending him two goals from a cross.

It's no wonder that Li Qingshan is playing uncomfortable, if it is Rooney at his peak, it is okay, when the crowd in the middle is dense, Rooney at his peak can hold the ball, which may be helpful to Li Qingshan, but now Rooney's ability to stop the ball and take the ball is not as good as before.

Two of United's three goals were related to Wayne Rooney winning the ball in midfield.

Manchester United's excellent record this season is actually related to Ancelotti's establishment of Li Qingshan as the only attacking core, whether it is Di Maria and Mata, they are Li Qingshan's wingmen. After Juan Mata's injury, Wayne Rooney took Mata's place.

Wayne Rooney has always been a key player in United's midfield, so his style of play is different from Mata's. He is more accustomed to going to the middle frequently, receiving the ball in the front court, and participating in the team's goal organization.

However, today's Rooney's ability is naturally not comparable to Rooney at the peak, nor can it be compared with the current Li Qingshan, so the result is that Manchester United cannot suppress Stoke City on the field.

This loss is a warning to Ancelotti!