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

Chapter 1000 Red Card!

Amid the chaos, Bruno got up from the ground on his own. Unlike the other players who lay on the ground and waited for the team doctor to arrive, he didn't.

After getting up, he moved his ankle; it hurt a little, but not unbearably.

Fabinho's kick was solid; thankfully he didn't show his studs, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stand up.

After separating the players from the conflict, referee Anthony Taylor called Fabinho aside.

As Fabinho walked over, he was still muttering in defense of himself: "I was going for the ball, who knew he would let it pass by..."

Anthony Taylor shook his head, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a... red card!
"Red card! Fabinho has been sent off!" Zhan Jun exclaimed.

"Kicking someone from behind, a red card is not excessive!" Andy Gray applauded referee Anthony Taylor's decision.

Anfield Stadium erupted in boos. Clearly, the home fans did not agree with the referee's decision. They believed that Fabinho had done nothing wrong and that the opposing player had faked a fall. Instead of showing him a card, the referee showed a card to a Liverpool player, even a red card, which they considered a complete blunder!
Liverpool commentators also felt that Anthony Taylor's decision was too harsh: "Fabinho definitely didn't intend to kick Bruno; he just misjudged the situation... Giving him a yellow card was already harsh enough, but a straight red card is excessive!"

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Fabinho's red card further agitated the Liverpool players, especially Fabinho himself. Upon seeing his red card, he immediately changed his expression and tried to rush towards referee Anthony Taylor, but he was stopped by his teammates.

He even yelled at Anthony Taylor across his teammates, "That shouldn't be a red card! Your decision was too harsh!"

Anthony Taylor didn't explain to him, but simply pointed to the sidelines, signaling him to get off the court immediately.

Fabinho was only forced off the field by his teammates; otherwise, he would have preferred to continue playing.

In that case, he will likely face further punishment after the match.

While things were chaotic on the field, the video assistant referee (VAR) team on the sidelines was already reviewing the footage. However, Fabinho's foul was too obvious, and they only glanced at it before accepting the referee's decision and did not intervene.

Seeing that the video assistant referee team remained unmoved, Klopp knew that the decision would not be changed, so he gave up arguing with Mourinho and began to think about how to play the game next.

Despite being down a man, Liverpool still focused on attacking down the flanks, just like before, and went toe-to-toe with Manchester United.
In that case, I'm afraid they'll die even faster.

Fortunately, the score is currently tied, not trailing, so Liverpool can choose to retreat and defend, hoping to hold onto the draw. A draw is acceptable for Liverpool given their inability to secure a victory.

With this in mind, Klopp decided to make the necessary adjustments.

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When the penalty was initially awarded, many people probably thought it would be the turning point of the game. But now it seems that Fabinho's red card was the real turning point...

Fabinho's red card caused the game to be interrupted for at least three minutes, and those three minutes will be counted as stoppage time by the referee.

The game resumed after a three-minute interruption.

Klopp has made a substitution, replacing striker Diaz with defensive midfielder Naby Keita.

The meaning of this substitution is very clear: taking off a striker basically means giving up on the attack and focusing on defense.

Originally, both sides were attacking and both teams had opportunities. Now, Liverpool has tightened their defense, turning the situation into Manchester United besieging Liverpool, but their attacking opportunities have decreased.

Because of Liverpool's tight defense, Manchester United didn't have as many quality attacking opportunities as before.

When Fabinho received the red card, many Manchester United fans cheered, believing that Manchester United had one more player than Liverpool, the balance had been broken, Manchester United would have the upper hand, and victory was a matter of course.

But now it seems that having one less player on the opposing team might not be a good thing, because it has actually made Liverpool more determined to defend to the death.

Although Klopp is not a manager known for his defensive prowess, Liverpool's defense is still quite strong after years of coaching, and it won't be easy for Manchester United to break through their defense.

So soon, Manchester United fans were no longer happy; they stared nervously at the pitch.

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On the field, Manchester United are besieging Liverpool's goal.

In the 68th minute, Gundogan took a long-range shot with his left foot from 27 meters out, but the ball went wide of the left side of the goal.

Greenwood then dribbled across the right side of the penalty area before unleashing a long-range shot, but this time the ball went high.

Liverpool's tight defense made the penalty area very crowded. Faced with such a dense defense, Manchester United didn't have many good solutions in the short term, so they could only frequently resort to long-range shots, but the effectiveness of these shots wasn't very good.

In the 72nd minute, Mourinho made his second substitution of the match. Diallo replaced Kanté. This brought off a defensive midfielder and added a striker to bolster the attack.

Mourinho is going all in.

Liverpool switched to a full-scale defense, and Manchester United switched to a full-scale attack, but time was running out for Manchester United.

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In the 74th minute, Greenwood was fouled while dribbling down the wing, and referee Anthony Taylor awarded Manchester United a free kick.

After Greenwood took the ball, Harry Kane went for the header in the penalty area, but he fell to the ground under Koulibaly's close marking and failed to reach the ball, which eventually fell into Alisson's hands.

Harry Kane lay on the ground and raised his hands to indicate to the referee that Koulibaly had fouled him, but Anthony Taylor did not award a penalty this time. He simply gestured for Harry Kane to get up.

His action drew cheers from the stands.

Zhan Jun said, "It's hard to say whether Koulibaly fouled or not. There was definitely physical contact, but physical contact doesn't equal a foul. Besides, after already awarding Manchester United a penalty and sending off a Liverpool player, Anthony Taylor will definitely have to consider the balance of the game. He won't easily award another penalty unless the evidence is conclusive and indisputable. Otherwise, he will act cautiously if there is even a slight controversy. So Harry Kane shouldn't even think about getting another penalty..."

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In the 77th minute, Naby Keita made a mistake while passing the ball in the backfield, sending it to Bruno's feet.

Of course, it might not be considered a mistake, but rather Bruno anticipated Naby Keita's passing route and waited in the middle of it.

Whatever the reason, Bruno now has the ball.

After receiving the ball, he didn't make any unnecessary movements, but instead sent a through ball to the left side of the penalty area.

There, Diallo, who had just come on as a substitute, received the ball and then turned and shot.

However, Diallo's shot was not of high quality; it was more like a pass than a shot, lacking power, and Alisson easily collected the ball.

Liverpool didn't get another shot until the 80th minute of the match. Naby Keita took a long-range shot from about 30 meters out in the middle, but the ball flew high and didn't threaten De Gea's goal at all. He didn't even make a save; he just stood there and watched the ball fly over his head.

Although Naby Keita's shot didn't go in, Manchester United didn't care about that at all; they were more focused on their attack.

After watching the ball fly out of play, De Gea turned and ran behind the goal to get it from the ball boy. For Manchester United, time was ticking away, and they didn't have much time left…

However, this was Anfield Stadium, and the caddies weren't very cooperative, deliberately holding the ball and refusing to hand it over. De Gea reached out to grab it, and after a brief struggle, he finally got the ball.

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"It's the 80th minute of the match. Including stoppage time, there are at most 15 minutes left in the game. Facing a Liverpool team that is defending tenaciously, it won't be easy for Manchester United to take all three points..." Andy Gray said.

"A 1-1 draw is a result neither side wanted, but it's also one that both can barely accept. Liverpool still has a chance to win the title, while Manchester United continues to maintain their previous dominance..."

Liverpool fans in the stands kept singing Liverpool's anthem to cheer on their team.

In the final moments, this was all the fans could do.

From the 81st to the 85th minute, a period of four minutes, Manchester United did not have a single shot on goal, and only passed the ball around.

Bruno kept running around, catching and passing the ball repeatedly.

When he wasn't in control of the ball, he would gesture to his teammates to calm down and regain control of the rhythm.

At times like these, the focus should be on quality, not quantity.

If they want more shots, they can take one long-range shot per minute, but they can't threaten Liverpool's goal. Even if Manchester United has a hundred shots in this game, it won't matter.

Throughout this constant passing and turning, Bruno was also observing and anticipating the situation, looking for any openings he could exploit.

In the 86th minute, Liverpool finally showed a weakness in their continuous passing and Bruno immediately launched a decisive pass!
Bruno passed the ball to Rashford, who was almost unmarked on the left side of the penalty area!

"Rashford—!"

As the ball flew toward Rashford, everyone saw what was happening to him, and Manchester United fans erupted in cheers, with Andy Gray also exclaiming in surprise.

(End of this chapter)