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

Chapter 399 Moyes
In this game, the head coaches of both sides made some adjustments to their starting lineups.

For Manchester United, De Gea continues to guard the goal. Valencia, Phil Jones, Rojo and Blind form the defense. The midfield trio is a combination of Mata, Kanter and Carrick. Bruno is pushed again Go up front and form a trident with Ibrahimovic and Lingard.

Sunderland's head coach David Moyes made adjustments to the starting lineup from the 1:0 home victory over Watford in the last round. The goalkeepers were Pickford, Billy Jones, Cone, and Gillobaugh. Gee and Van Aanholt formed the back line, Ndong, Bonayer and Larsson sat in the midfield, and Borini, Defoe and Anichebe formed the forward line.

After the players took their places, the scene became slightly quieter. After the referee Martin Atkinson and the fourth official off the field checked the table, he blew the whistle to start the game.

Sunderland took advantage of their kick-off to launch an attack. Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson forced his way past Blind on the right and then into the penalty area. After attracting Rojo's attention, he did not cross or shoot directly, but chose to knock back, and the football was caught by Denayer who followed.

After receiving the ball, the player of the Belgian Under-21 national team directly faced Bruno who was returning to defend, and he swung his feet to shoot.

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Bruno stretched out his foot to block it, but he did not throw all his weight away, but kept an eye on it, guarding against the opponent's fake move.

Bruno's idea is right, but today's venue does not give him face. He supported his body with his left foot and blocked it with his right foot.

The opponent was indeed a fake move. Denayer dunked the football back. When Bruno wanted to turn around to block it, his supporting foot suddenly slipped. He fell directly to the ground. He could only watch the opponent pass him and then Shoot.

Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea pounced when Denayer made a fake shot. Now he has no way to face the opponent's real shot. Fortunately, Kanter appeared in time and blocked the football from the bottom line with his feet, resolving the team's crisis.

"Oh! Sunderland threatened Manchester United's goal as soon as they came up. It seems that they are not willing to take a point back in the away game. Bruno was easily passed by the opponent in defense just now. I don't know if it is because the field is too slippery. …”

Sunderland's attack shocked Manchester United into a cold sweat and made the Sunderland fans very proud.

Don't look at you. Manchester United is currently the most popular team, and we at Sunderland are not easy to mess with. How can we let you shit on our heads?
Sunderland's attack made their fans full of joy, thinking that their team would definitely not disappoint this time.

Unexpectedly, after the penalty corner did not result in a goal, Sunderland retreated like they had done in previous games, which disappointed their supporters.

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Since the new season, Sunderland's football has always been disappointing. It seems that they are not going to change this kind of football that can make cows fall asleep in today's game.

This is actually what David Moyes meant.

The former Manchester United head coach analyzed Manchester United's first 17 rounds and found that in most cases it was Manchester United who scored first, and the goal was scored very early.

It can be seen from these examples that Manchester United is a team that is very good at scoring goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game, which is a bit like the German blitzkrieg during World War II.

To be on the safe side, David Moyes gave the instructions to the Sunderland players to shrink the defense immediately after the opening attack and to overcome the first fifteen minutes.

He even said to his players: "As long as we are 0:0 at the end of the first half, we will probably win this game!"

Therefore, it is Sunderland's task to defend 0:0 in the first half.

He is not afraid of others saying that his football is lackluster and can put cows to sleep. As long as he can win, that is more important than anything else.

A relegation team is asking for gorgeous football. This is simply the funniest joke he has ever heard.

There’s no guarantee of results, so what’s the use of being a gorgeous football player?

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In the face of Sunderland's shrinking defense, Manchester United was not polite.

Bruno made a long pass and passed the football to Mata who was pulled to the wing.

After Mata received the ball, he did not carry it himself. Instead, he directly kicked the ball and passed it. Ibrahimovic followed up in the middle and rushed to the top. The football missed the goal post and flew out of the baseline.

"Oh! What a pity! What a pity! Manchester United's attack was very concise and very effective. But unfortunately, Ibrahimovic didn't stand up straight and went a little sideways." Lineker said with some regret.

Ferdinand, the commentator who partners with Lineker, is a Manchester United star. Does it need to say which side he supports? He immediately said: "Sunderland once again made a very threatening attack, but Manchester United quickly changed the color of their clothes to tell them who is playing at home today!"

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Sunderland hopes to keep a tie in the first half. In this case, their hopes of winning this game will be greatly increased. Even if they cannot win, they can still take away a point. After the opening shot, they recovered the entire ball and put on a defensive posture, as if they wanted to use this iron barrel formation to block Manchester United's attack.

Manchester United's subsequent counterattack made Sunderland even more determined in its defensive strategy.

In the 12th minute, Bruno dribbled the ball forward and suddenly reached the edge of the opponent's penalty area.

Even when the commentator Lineker thought Bruno would pass the ball, he took a long shot 25 meters away from the goal, and the football was only slightly wide.

Although he did not score a goal, Bruno's long-range shot still scared Sunderland goalkeeper Pickford. After getting up from the ground, he roared at his teammates: "How can you give him such a big goal?" Vacation? Where are your people?!"

Faced with his accusations, the defenders were speechless. They had indeed made a mistake.

Seeing Bruno running wildly with the ball, the first reaction was who he would pass the ball to, so all his attention was focused on searching for the person who might receive the pass and then pose a threat to the goal. He kept retreating, but forgot to rush forward, and Bruno took advantage of him.

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The next game was completely under the control of Manchester United. Sunderland could not even attack the opponent's 30-meter area. Bruno performed impeccably in offense and defense.

In the 21st minute of the game, he distributed the football to the wing. The right back Valencia stepped in to receive the ball and pretended to continue to break through. However, he buckled the football back with his right foot, then turned around and completed the cross with his left foot. . After receiving the ball in the middle, Ibrahimovic turned and shot, but center defender Cone fell to the ground and blocked it.

But before the ball was kicked out of the dangerous area, the ball fell to the left. Bruno followed up with a push. This time, the Gabonese Didier Ndong, who was the starting midfielder in this game, blocked it.

Sunderland's other central defender Gilo Baogui rushed up and kicked the football out of the sideline with a big kick. Manchester United's offensive was finally over.

At that time, goalkeeper Pickford had already lost his position. If it were not for the help of the central defender whom he had scolded before, the ball would have been lost.

After getting up, Pickford patted Cone with lingering fear, and then patted Ndong and Jiluo Baoji, thanking them for coming forward at the critical moment.

At this time, he didn't remember that he had scolded these teammates just nine minutes ago.

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After that, the two sides were in a stalemate in the midfield for a while. Sunderland seemed to have the idea of ​​counterattack, but this idea was quickly killed ruthlessly by Bruno.

The young Belgian midfielder Denayer dribbled the ball forward. He lacked support around him, but he was not afraid. He wanted to use his personal ability to change the situation for the team. Unfortunately, he was beaten by Kante while dribbling the ball. The shovel was overturned.

The referee Martin Atkinson gave Kante a verbal warning, but Denayer believed that this should at least be a card, regardless of the color.

But Atkinson, who has always been known for his loose enforcement standards, said nothing and just signaled Sunderland to take a free kick.

Although Kanter received a foul, Sunderland suffered even greater losses - what was originally a good counterattack opportunity now turned into a free kick fifty meters away from the goal...

In the 35th minute, Manchester United also got a free kick. Kante dribbled the ball twenty-five meters in front of the Sunderland goal, but Denayer retaliated and was tackled to the ground.

This time Denayer got his wish, and the referee finally took out a card, but it was not for Kanter, but for him.

Denayer was very dissatisfied with Atkinson's penalty, but almost all commentators believed that his dissatisfaction was unreasonable.

"This is an obvious retaliation foul. If the referee Atkinson doesn't play his cards, I'm afraid the game will eventually turn into a vicious cycle of you taking revenge on me and I taking revenge on you."

"Atkinson's penalty was correct, but Denayer should have controlled his emotions."

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Bruno took a direct free kick from 25 meters away from the center, but this time he did not threaten the opponent's goal, and the football flew high over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Lingard retreated from the front of the penalty area to receive a pass from Bruno, then turned and led forward. Facing Ndong's defense, the two collided, but he still poked the football out and passed it to Mata next to him.

Mata shot hard with his left foot from inside the arc of the penalty area. Although goalkeeper Pickford flew to save, he was out of reach and the football flew from his hand into the goal!
"Mata...the ball has gone in! The ball has gone in! In the 35th minute, Manchester United finally scored after 35 minutes of furious attack...Eh? Wait...wait...What is this? Foul? From Judging from the referee's gestures...ah! He awarded Manchester United an offensive foul!" Lineker was quite excited at first, but now he felt like someone had poured cold water on his head, "Let's take a look at the replay just now... …”

(End of this chapter)