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

Chapter 1001 God is from Liverpool?
Amidst the deafening cheers, Rashford raised his foot to control the ball. But perhaps the opportunity was too good, so good that Rashford himself couldn't believe it, causing him to lose focus. Or perhaps the noise from the Anfield home fans was too loud, affecting Rashford's emotions. In any case, when he raised his foot to control the ball, he actually hit it too hard. The ball didn't stop obediently at his feet, but bounced away, or more precisely, it bounced towards the onrushing Alisson.

Alisson, who made a timely move, received a "gift" from Rashford, who simply fell to the ground and caught the ball in his arms!
"Oh no—!" Andy Gray cried out in disappointment, "Rashford, Rashford! How could you have controlled that ball so long? Besides, you didn't need to control it, you could have just shot! Sigh, this might be Manchester United's best attacking opportunity since scoring their first goal! And it was wasted like that!"

Huge applause erupted from the stands as Anfield's home fans expressed their gratitude to Rashford for sparing their lives.

Rashford, having missed the chance, held his head in his hands, fearing he had missed the best opportunity for Manchester United to win the game and even the league title this season.

"Bruno, who once scored 63 consecutive penalties, missed his, and Rashford had a golden opportunity but misjudged it... It seems Manchester United is really unlucky today. Perhaps God is truly on Liverpool's side?"

Andy Gray also felt that Manchester United were really strange in this game. So many chances, sure-fire chances, excellent chances, which could have changed the outcome of any game, but Manchester United failed to seize a single one, and the score remained 1-1 until now.

"God is on our side! God is Liverpool tonight!" the commentator on a local Liverpool radio station shouted excitedly.

The events of this match certainly raise questions: perhaps Manchester United shouldn't have won the league title this season?
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After Rashford squandered a golden opportunity, time seemed to fly by. In the blink of an eye, the fourth official was standing on the sidelines, holding up the sign for stoppage time, and everyone realized that the ninety minutes of the game had already passed.

The sign for injury time showed a number "5", meaning there were five minutes of injury time.

It was longer than usual stoppage time, given that the game was interrupted at one point in the second half, but for Manchester United fans, the length of this stoppage time was not satisfactory.

Is five minutes enough for Manchester United to score a goal?
If they were facing some unknown team, it wouldn't be a problem. But they're facing a Liverpool team of similar strength, and a Liverpool team that plays defensively. More importantly, the match is being played at Anfield, a stadium known for its intimidating atmosphere. Five minutes just doesn't seem like enough time...

When the fourth official held up the sign indicating five minutes of stoppage time and displayed it to the fans and camera lenses, the more than two thousand Manchester United fans who had come to the away game stood up from their seats and refused to sit down.

Nobody's in the mood to watch the game right now; everyone's incredibly anxious. Many people are placing their hands on their hearts and praying to God, hoping He will hear their cries.

But they seem to have forgotten that tonight's match is at Anfield Stadium, and God is on Liverpool's side.

………………

In the first minute of stoppage time, Liverpool completely retreated, leaving no one in front of them and moving into the 30-meter zone.

Facing a Liverpool side that held firm until the final whistle, Manchester United launched a siege. At that point, expecting the players to calmly pass the ball around and organize attacks was asking too much.

The moment the stoppage time sign was raised, it was as if a switch had been flipped, releasing the impatience within the Manchester United players.

When Gundogan received the ball on the perimeter, he didn't pass it to Bruno, but instead took a long-range shot himself. The ball couldn't penetrate the dense crowd in Liverpool's penalty area, bouncing off Henderson.

Fortunately, Manchester United quickly regained control of the ball, preventing possession from falling into the opponent's hands.

When facing a tight defense and with little time remaining, the attacking side will typically employ two methods to try and break the deadlock: the first is a long-range shot, and the second is a cross from the wing followed by a central attack.

Gundogan's long-range shot was ineffective, and Manchester United naturally shifted the ball to the wing, where full-back Luke Shaw delivered a high cross into the box.

In the final moments, the full-backs all turned into wingers, while Maguire and Van Dijk, the two center-backs, also rushed into Liverpool's penalty area and became center forwards.

………………

The ball passed by Luke Shaw wasn't headed by Maguire, Harry Kane, or Van Dijk. This time, Koulibaly didn't let the ball slip away; he leaped high and headed it away.

Bruno controlled the ball's trajectory this time. While everyone else was rushing towards the goal, he didn't go in but stayed outside the penalty area.

This actually suits his characteristics and style quite well. Given his physical condition, even if he gets into the penalty area, he wouldn't be able to squeeze past those muscle-bound giants and wouldn't have a chance at all. He might even become a burden to his teammates. It's better for him to stay outside the penalty area and try to control the second ball.

If given the chance, he would sneakily unleash a long-range shot, just like he had done countless times before; many of his goals were scored from outside the penalty area.

Despite his slender physique and seemingly lacking in physical strength, Bruno excels at scoring with long-range shots, thanks to his skillful use of finesse and long-range precision. Instead of unleashing a powerful long-range effort, Bruno, controlling the second ball, suddenly delivered a through pass. The ball rolled along the grass into the open space inside the penalty area, accurately finding Greenwood.

Greenwood didn't stop the ball; instead, he turned and shot following Bruno's pass!

This was a very sudden attack, the pass was sudden, and the shot was sudden, but Alisson still made a brilliant and timely save, he fell to the ground and blocked the ball with his leg!
………………

“Greenwood—Alisson!” Andy Gray’s tone shifted several times before finally settling on Alison’s name.

"It was an absolutely brilliant save! Manchester United's attack was fantastic, suddenly sharp, both Bruno's pass and Greenwood's shot were excellent, but in the end Alisson's save was the better one!"

“Greenwood also missed a great chance! But it’s hard to say it was Greenwood’s own mistake. He did well enough. It was clearly Alisson’s save that was more beautiful!” Zhan Jun said happily. As a Liverpool fan, he was very happy to see the current situation.

Alisson, who had saved Greenwood's shot, stood up, clapped his hands vigorously, and loudly encouraged his teammates.

His teammate, center-back Koulibaly, rushed over and gave him a big hug, thanking him for his amazing save.

If Alisson hadn't reacted quickly, that ball might have gone in.

The moment Greenwood turned and shot, none of the many Liverpool players in the penalty area reacted in time. Koulibaly could only watch Greenwood shoot, thinking to himself, "Oh no!"
"Alisson made another incredible save! I told you, tonight God is on Liverpool!" exclaimed the commentator from a local Liverpool radio station.

Greenwood held his head in his hands, unable to believe his eyes. He hadn't expected that such a high-quality shot would be blocked. How could he possibly score?

Bruno looked up at the sky: What a great opportunity...

………………

The second and third minutes of stoppage time were relatively uneventful. Manchester United's attack was somewhat hasty, so most of the time they simply relinquished possession without truly threatening Liverpool's goal.

The most dangerous shot was Greenwood's turn and shot inside the penalty area.

"It looks like Greenwood's shot might be Manchester United's last threatening shot of the game, and it's also their last chance..." Andy Gray said.

The ball was transferred to Cancelo's feet.

Cancelo was already on the wing at this point, and the penalty area was full of players, but he didn't seem to have any good options other than passing the ball directly in.

Bruno was originally outside the penalty area, and he never participates in these kinds of crosses from the wing because it's pointless to participate.

But the instant Cancelo took the shot, Bruno suddenly accelerated, sprinted into the penalty area, and made a run towards the far post. However, everyone's attention was focused on the ball and the goal, and no one noticed his move.

………………

The ball was passed high to the middle by Cancelo, and Harry Kane tried to jump to head it, but he was tightly marked by Matip and couldn't even jump, let alone head the ball. He could only watch helplessly as the ball flew over his head, then raised his hands angrily to the referee to complain that Matip had touched him.

However, at this point, the referee Anthony Taylor wouldn't pay any attention to him; the game was still going on, and the ball was still in flight.

With Harry Kane and Maguire drawing the majority of Liverpool's defensive attention ahead, Van Dijk jumped up in the middle, using their cover!

The only thing he's better than Harry Kane and Maguire is that at least he can jump, but that doesn't mean he can threaten Liverpool's goal, especially with Henderson jumping alongside him.

Under the close marking of Liverpool's captain, Van Dijk could only manage to glide the ball with his head.

As for heading the ball into the goal? That's absolutely impossible!
He's lucky if he even gets a touch of the ball; where it flies is beyond his control...

(End of this chapter)