The First Defeat

At Maine Road Stadium, Manchester United deployed a traditional 442 formation. Yin Jun appeared in the starting lineup as a right midfielder for the first time this season, and Beckham took a rest.

For Manchester City, Keegan deployed his usual 352 formation, trying to seize the initiative on the field through the strength of the midfield. Sun Jihai once again appeared at the right midfielder position, taking on the important task of offense and defense on the right. On the forward line, Ah

Nerka and Gott teamed up to attack Manchester United's defense.

The atmosphere at Maine Road Stadium in this game was extremely warm. The enthusiasm of Manchester City fans made the home team show considerable momentum from the beginning. Although there was a slight technical gap, the active running and fighting of Manchester City players still won the victory after the opening.

Had obvious effects.

In the 5th minute, the Manchester City midfielder launched a counterattack. The ball moved to the Manchester United backcourt. Center defender Ferdinand prepared to protect the ball with his body, but Manchester City forward Anelka took advantage of his speed to intercept the ball from behind. After a few steps, he intercepted the ball.

The ball was distributed from the front edge of Manchester United's penalty area to his partner Gott in the middle. The latter broke into the penalty area with the ball and shot a single shot. Although Manchester United goalkeeper Bartes barely saved the ball, Anelka, who followed up at high speed from behind, was already on his feet.

After rushing in, facing Ferdinand who was filling in in front of the goal line and a mostly empty goal, he easily scored with his right foot in front of the small penalty area line.

However, shortly after Manchester City fans cheered the team to take the lead, Manchester United immediately equalized the score with color.

In the 8th minute, Sun Jihai was tackled from behind by Scholes when he picked up the ball in the midfield. Yin Jun, who followed up, got the ball and aimed at Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was on the left rib, and made a diagonal pass. The ball hit Van Nistelrooy.

After a collision with the Manchester City defender who came to block the ball, it bounced to the left side of the front edge of the Manchester City penalty area. Giggs followed up and volleyed the ball to the center. The ball passed the center defender Metomo and passed it to the goal.

Before that, Solskjaer, who was outflanking, fell to the ground in front of the small penalty area line and scored with a tackle.

1:1, Manchester United used their superb ability to seize opportunities to quickly equalize the score.

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The subsequent game reached a stalemate. Although there were offenses and defenses, Manchester United gradually took the initiative on the field by virtue of its strength advantage. Scholes frequently moved to the left side of the center to cooperate with Giggs, attacking the Manchester City defense.

constituted a great deal of pressure.

In the 15th minute, Manchester United intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and launched a quick counterattack. Ruud Ruud broke into the penalty area and posed a threat. However, due to excessive dribbling, Metomo, who was on defense in time, destroyed the ball.

In the 24th minute, Scholes passed a long pass from the left side of the midfield to behind the Manchester City defense. Van Nistelrooy broke into the penalty area from the right and almost formed a single goal. Fortunately, Manchester City's former Manchester United legendary goalkeeper Schmeichel attacked.

In time, he fell to the ground before Ruud van Nistelrooy's shot and confiscated the ball.

Just as Manchester City fans anxiously watched the home team gradually fall into a passive position, in the 26th minute, the situation on the field suddenly changed, and Manchester City took advantage of the opponent's mistakes to score a lucky score.

At that time, after a series of kicks from Manchester City in the midfield, the ball was passed from Fu Dajia to the Manchester United penalty area near the bottom line. Since there was no one to respond, the ball did not pose much threat.

But at this time, Manchester United captain Gary Neville made a fatal mistake. He was too careless when preparing to protect the ball from the bottom line, and the ball was successfully intercepted by Manchester City forward Gaut who followed up from behind.

Gott immediately dribbled the ball and rushed horizontally along the baseline. Facing Butters, who was attacking to block the angle, he pushed the ball into the far corner of the goal from a small angle and scored, rewriting the score to 2:1. According to international practice, the home team is in front.

.

The score fell behind again, which made Manchester United look a little anxious. The entire team pressed forward and surrounded the Manchester City penalty area to attack fiercely. Although they had more time to hold the ball, they were unable to pose a real threat due to too many errors in passing and receiving.

On the contrary, while Manchester City defended firmly, they waited for opportunities to launch counterattacks through Anelka and Gaut in the frontcourt, frequently attacking the opponent's goal.

In the 33rd minute, Sun Jihai, who broke through from the right, faced Scholes' defense and crossed from the right at an angle. Gaut, who followed up in the middle, headed the ball slightly wide.

In the 39th minute, Anelka received a pass from Gott and formed a single goal. Unfortunately, the shot was saved by Butters and failed to score.

In this way, with Manchester United pressing forward and attacking Manchester City steadily to counterattack, the two sides ended the first half with a score of 2:1.

………………

After only 5 minutes of back-and-forth action in the second half, Manchester United's aggressive pressing and the insouciance of the midfielders and backfielders soon gave Manchester City another chance to expand the score.

In the 51st minute, Manchester City intercepted the ball in the frontcourt to initiate a counterattack. Jensen intercepted the ball from the left and passed it across the middle. The responding Berkovic kicked the ball in front of the penalty area and padded the ball into the middle of the penalty area. The forward Gao followed up.

Te first moved the ball to the center with his right foot, and then used his body to protect the ball to block the defender Blanco, who was defending. Before goalkeeper Barthes could attack, he skillfully shot the ball through the center of the goal with his right foot and broke the net. Manchester City expanded the score on the field.

is 3:1.

Being two goals behind made Manchester United even more impatient, with frequent errors in passing and receiving in the frontcourt attack. Except for Solskjaer's shot from a small angle near the bottom line in the 63rd minute, which was saved to a certain extent and posed a certain threat, nothing could be done for a period of time after that.

Change the situation of only flowers but no fruits.

Seeing that the situation on the court had not improved, Ferguson made a substitution decision in the 65th minute, replacing Gary Neville with Fran. The team's formation also changed to a more aggressive 433, continuing to strengthen the offensive power of the frontcourt.

.

In addition, Ferguson also signaled Yin Jun to move to Manchester City's right wing and attack the Manchester City right wing guarded by his national team teammate Sun Jihai.

………………

Ferguson's strategy of substitutions and attacking Manchester City's right flank gradually paid off.

In the 68th minute, Ruud van Nistelrooy broke into the penalty area and fell, causing controversy, but the referee did not award a penalty kick. This made the Manchester United players very dissatisfied, and Ferguson was furious on the sidelines.

However, Manchester United pulled one back three minutes later.

In the 71st minute, Manchester United got a corner kick opportunity. Giggs drove the ball towards the center, and Yin Jun came in and poked it from close range. Schmeichel was unable to react in time, and the ball went into the far corner, and the score became 3:2.

!

Manchester United, who had regained a victory, became more and more fierce in their offensive, basically holding the home team at halftime.

In the 73rd minute, Giggs took a header from Solskjaer and shot with his right foot from the penalty area. Schmeichel miraculously saved the ball from the goal line.

In the 85th minute, Solskjaer received a header from Sylvester from the right, and Schmeichel struggled to save the ball on the goal line. Manchester United's offensive was once again blocked by the former

Trafford's old hero resolved.

In the 90th minute, Manchester United caused chaos in the opponent's penalty area, but O'Shea, who had just come on as a substitute, missed his shot from 1 meter away from the back post, missing an excellent chance to score.

Although they were under great pressure from their opponents, the Manchester City generals still withstood the pressure in the subsequent games. After paying the price of Berkovic and Horlock having to go off due to injuries, the entire Manchester City team was united and finally won.

The 3:2 victory was maintained until the end.

Manchester United, which suffered its third defeat in the league this season, was widened to 6 points by Arsenal, who won this round and returned to the top spot. Yin Jun, who scored his fourth goal in the Premier League, also encountered him

The first defeat since playing for Manchester United.
Chapter completed!