Chapter Forty-Nine: The Comer Is Not Good

The players from both sides stood on either side of the tunnel at Old Trafford without squinting.

When the players are lined up in the tunnel, it is often when the players of both sides are closest, and there have been many conflicts here.

If it is a collision between two teams that have no grudges, maybe the players will also have a few words with the opposing players they know well, for example, the Argentine international Rojo may have a few words with the Argentine Aqui in the Manchester City team on other occasions. But now it's the Manchester derby, and no one is willing to talk to each other.

Outside the tunnel at Old Trafford, the loud singing of "There's only one face in Manchester" completely drowned out the voices of the City fans. Of the more than 70,000 spectators in the stands at Old Trafford, there were only about 1,000 Blue Moon fans.

The media is no longer surprised by such a scene, this is a Manchester derby, a showdown that affects the whole city.

'It's too difficult for Manchester City to beat Manchester United in this stadium.

'If you look at the atmosphere, it's going to be a tough battle.......... for City.'

"Manchester United have been in such good form this season that I don't know what problems Manchester City can cause Manchester United in this stadium. If Manchester City can't stop Manchester United, then this season's Premier League, Manchester United will be unbeatable. ”

"I'm actually looking forward to the battle between Li Qingshan and Manchester City's attack group, Li Qingshan's battle with Aguero, Silva, De Bruyne, as long as Li Qingshan can score, Manchester United can basically win!"

"Don't forget, Manchester United still have Di Maria and Juan Mata!"

"What a star-studded contest!"

There was a lot of talk among the reporters in the media gallery, and for most of the local media in England, they were hoping that Manchester City would win and slow down Manchester United. Otherwise, wouldn't this season's Premier League be too boring?

Carlo Ancelotti and Manuel Pellegrini were the first to appear on the pitch before the players walked out of the pitch under the guidance of referee Clattenburg and his coaching staff.

The 40-year-old will officiate in this round of Manchester derby. Manchester United's 4-2 home win over Manchester City last season was also administered by Clattenburg. Earlier, in the 11/12 season, Manchester United was beaten 6-1 at home by Manchester City, and Clattenburg was also left; And his law enforcement scale and some penalties in the game have been subject to great controversy and criticism.

Old Trafford was like a volcano erupting at the moment, and every Manchester United player who came on was enthusiastically cheered on by the Manchester United fans in attendance. When Li Qingshan, who was at the end of the queue, stepped onto the court, the cheers in the stands reached a climax.

There is no doubt that Li Qingshan is now the biggest star of this stadium!

"Players from both sides are out!" The commentators on the commentary table were also excited under such anger.

"Look at the atmosphere in this stadium, it's crazy home atmosphere!"

"Manchester City brought in Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne this summer, which has undoubtedly boosted City's attacking prowess. The attacking duo of De Bruyne and Silva is unbeatable, and as long as De Bruyne and Silva play at the same time this season, Manchester City have not lost! Fortunately, Silva, who had been exempted from the game due to injury, returned in time to catch up with this Manchester derby! ”

"If you look at Manchester City's starting line-up, they have all the main players on the line-up, the goalkeeper is of course England's number one goalkeeper Joe Hart, and at the back, the centre-back combination is Otamendi and Kompany, right wing-back Zabaleta and left wing-back Kolarov. The double midfield combination of Fernantinho and Yaya Toure, Sterling and De Bruyne on the left and right sides of the front field, and Silva in the forward position! At the top is Sergio Aguero! ”

Before the game even started, the commentator Andy Gray began to introduce the line-ups of the two teams to the TV audience, while the guest commentators he invited Gary Neville and Carragher were responsible for analysing the situation on the field.

"Manchester City have spent a lot of money to assemble a luxury division with a attacking group that is the envy of all the teams in the world. De Blane, who was brought in for a whopping 80 million, has played his worth in the last few games, and the creativity of the midfield he and Silva is amazing! Gary Neville sighed.

"But Manchester United is not far behind in spending money, this season Manchester United spent 100 million to introduce Li Qingshan!" Carragher picked up the conversation and continued.

"Speaking of Manchester United, Manchester United is also the main force in this game. Marouane Fellaini played the full game in the Champions League in midweek and there was news before the game that the Belgian midfielder was suffering a thigh muscle injury, but Carlo Ancelotti still started the game. ”

"Manchester United's solid defence this season has relied heavily on the back three of Marouane Fellaini, Kramer and Herrera, and when attacking, all three of them are involved in the attack with moderation, except for certain occasions, when Fellaini and Herrera will take turns to step forward, and in the front of United's two centre-backs, there will always be at least two midfielders to protect them."

"That's right, the reason why Ancelotti dares to invest so much manpower in the defensive line is of course based on the strong attacking ability brought by the three attacking players Li Qingshan, Di Maria and Mata. The attacking combination of the trident is very complementary to each other, with Mata's creative passing ability, Di Maria's dribbling and speed, and Li Qingshan's dominance in the box. The division of labor is different, and the cooperation is becoming more and more tacit. ”

"Di Maria's second season is much more adaptable than when he first came to the Premier League, and successfully retaining Di Maria is no less than 1:50 million in signings."

"But the relationship between Di Maria and the fans is a headache..... Gary Neville concluded.

Now, if there is one player in the United squad who is most unpopular with the fans, it is undoubtedly Di Maria. Even this season, Di Maria has scored three goals and provided seven assists for Manchester United, beating Manchester City's De Bruyne and Silva in the assist charts, with De Bruyne and Silva currently providing five assists each after 10 rounds of the Premier League, and are tied with Juan Mata for second place in the league assists list.

Now, although Di Maria has been booed by her own fans less often, she didn't want to get too much cheers.

In the past, Manchester United's number seven shirt was often the hottest number to sell, but this season the sales of Di Maria's number seven shirt have been quite unoptimistic. Not to mention comparing it with Li Qingshan's No. 9 and Rooney's No. 10 jersey. At Manchester United, Di Maria's number seven shirt sales are even behind the number three of left-back Alexis Sandro who has just joined the club.........

While the commentators were chattering, a series of pre-match ceremonies between the two sides were completed.

Sergio Aguero stomped the ball at his feet and City were awarded the kick-off.

Clattenburg was already looking at his watch, and after waiting for the last few seconds, Clattenburg put the whistle in his mouth and blew the first meeting between the two teams in Manchester this season!

……….

As soon as the game started, it quickly became clear that City were getting into the groove quite quickly.

Aguero swiped the ball backwards and turned and ran forward. The midfielder defended the ball and then turned to deliver a long, precise ball that found Raheem Sterling on the flank, despite Herrera trying to interfere next to Yaya Toure.

Raheem Sterling was comfortable with the ball but he didn't get too hungry for the ball and quickly passed it to Silva.

Silva looked relaxed against Kramer's defence and took the ball down the middle for a while before pushing it to Yaya Toure, who cut in front.

Yaya Toure won the ball and made a long-range shot. Rojo had to step forward to block, but Yaya Toure had a very accurate long-range shot.

After Rojo was brought out, Yaya Toure took advantage of the situation and passed the ball to the ribs.

De Bruyne !!

In this rather dangerous zone, De Bruyne got the ball.

He dribbled the ball near the baseline and swept it across the goal.

Aguero in front of goal was ready to fall to the ground and shoot, but Hummels was very precise in the box, and he reached out to clear the ball.

From the very beginning of the game, Manchester City created a rather dangerous attack.

Hummels' clearance was controlled by City's players on the periphery, with Fernandinho passing the ball to Silva and City continuing to organise the attack.

Manchester City looked unaffected by the heat of the Manchester derby and the Manchester United fans in the stands.

Led by several players with outstanding individual ability up front, Manchester City's attack was delivered very fluidly. In contrast to United's style, the Reds were a couple of young players up front, who threatened with the ball and kept the pressure on United's half.

Manchester City actually pressed out at Old Trafford, and they looked so aggressive.

This is clearly prepared.

Ancelotti stood on the sidelines with a frown.

He knew his team was underwhelming. This season, the team's continuous winning streak has brought strong self-confidence to the team, and often has the ability to be proud of the team.

Not only Manchester United players, but also Carlo Ancelotti himself will habitually believe that in the face of such a Manchester United, when other teams come to Old Trafford, they should first stabilize the defense and avoid conceding goals first, and then seek other goals without conceding goals.

Not quite Manchester City broke the rules and pressed the attack from the very beginning of the game.

Ancelotti was alert in his heart, he was indeed a little underestimated. And the other party is very well prepared. Although Carlo Ancelotti, as a veteran coach, has always been careful not to be too arrogant, the flutter brought about by nine consecutive wins in the Premier League still affects him unconsciously.

Even Carlo Ancelotti was like that, let alone the Manchester United players on the pitch.

Manchester City launched a fierce offensive from the beginning of the game, which made it difficult for the Manchester United players to adapt for a while, they originally stepped on the pitch with the idea of attacking each other at home, where did they think that at the beginning of the game, the besieged side was actually them, and the Manchester United players were not mentally prepared for this at all.

Carlo Ancelotti was just about to say something to cheer up the United players on the pitch and improve the concentration of the defence. The other party is not good!

However, in the cacophony of the scene, Ancelotti's voice was not transmitted to the pitch at all.

What worried Carlo Ancelotti happened, and in the sixth minute of the game, Manchester City scored.

Manchester United's players are also top professional players, and after being under siege, as long as they don't concede a goal in the first place, they can still get into the role. And Manchester United have a lot of defensive players. After Manchester City besieged for a while, the situation on the field was gradually pulled back by Manchester United.

However, just as United were about to slowly press down and put pressure on the opposition, Fernandinho fell to the ground and tackled, bringing down Juan Mata along with the ball. Juan Mata fell to the pitch clutching his ankles, but Clattenburg spread his hands and signaled for Fernandinho to tackle the ball.

This is the scale of the Premier League, and the United players did not have time to look at Juan Mata on the pitch, and the formation that had been planning to move forward was forced to retreat quickly to defend City's counter-attack.

Fernandinho dribbled the ball all the way for more than 20 meters before passing the ball out, and Silva received a pass from Fernandinho at the edge of the box arc.

Silva deftly turned away from Fellaini's defence before slotting the ball to the feet of full-back Kolarov, who had stepped in on the flank.

Kolarov crossed directly, and in the scramble for the high ball, Aguero was certainly no match for Hummels, who flicked the ball out of the box.

Unfortunately, Hummels' clearance fell right into De Bruyne's area.

When the football was still in the air, De Bruyne had already opened his bow and arrows, and before the football landed, De Bruyne directly pumped the instep of his foot, accompanied by a loud "bang", the football first flew high into the air, and then fell rapidly, a strange line of fallen leaf ball!

De Gea couldn't do anything about the ball and De Bruyne hit a world wave!

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!”

With the roar of the commentators, the Manchester City players celebrated wildly right under the noses of the Manchester United players..........

Ancelotti's face turned pale, and his worst fears came.

But what made Ancelotti even more angry was the fact that Juan Mata was likely injured and he was still lying on the pitch clutching his ankle.

'It's a goal that shouldn't have been! Did you see it, did you see Fernantinho's movements!! It's a foul!! Damn it!! When the team doctor came on to check on Mata, Carlo Ancelotti approached the fourth official to vent.

However, the last "damned" sentence drew a yellow card for Ancelotti, and Clattenburg crossed half the pitch in particular, ran up to Ancelotti and pulled out a yellow card to warn the Italian.

The next substitution gesture made by the team doctor made Ancelotti even more angry, but fortunately, the yellow card just now kept him to his senses and did not say any more swearing.

Juan Mata was tackled and had to be replaced.

In the opening five minutes, United were first hit by a goal, and then a big player took advantage of the situation, casting a shadow over the game.

Manchester City is menacing, and the comers are not good!