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

Chapter 953: The Strength of the South American Champion

Manchester United took the lead six minutes into the game, which really surprised many people.

Isn't it said that Manchester United is not used to the hot weather in the UAE? Isn't it said that they have consumed too much energy in the busy season? How come they are faster than Palmeiras, who should be in excellent form, in terms of the time they enter the game?

Palmeiras players were also stunned by this goal.

When Rashford headed the ball, everyone thought that the threat to Weverton should not be too great, but Weverton lost the ball when he tried to save it, giving Bruno a chance to make a follow-up shot.

But this goal was not solely the responsibility of Weverton. From the moment Harry Kane received the ball, Palmeiras' defense had been making mistakes.

Originally, Harry Kane should have been offside, but Palmeiras' central defender Luan lagged behind. Although he realized his mistake and ran forward quickly, he was still half a step slower, allowing Greenwood to pass the ball to Harry Kane.

Harry Kane then passed the ball into the penalty area, and the Palmeiras defenders ignored Bruno who entered the penalty area and only focused on Rashford. When Bruno made a supplementary shot, there was no Palmeiras defender around him.

The TV broadcast gave a close-up of Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira, who had his arms folded across his chest and frowned.

He was obviously very unhappy about the goal.

Fortunately, they lost the ball in the first six minutes, so there was still a lot of time left for Palmeiras. If they had lost such a fatal goal with six minutes left in the game, they would have been finished.

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The lead made Manchester United players very excited, and the whole team took the initiative on the field.

In the eighth minute, two minutes after Manchester United scored a goal, Palmeiras was attacking, but when they moved forward in the midfield, Bellingham intercepted the ball and passed it to Gundogan.

After receiving the ball on the left, Gundogan made a straight pass. Harry Kane made a forward move after offside and after receiving the pass from Gundogan, he dribbled the ball to the front of Palmeiras' penalty area and made a low shot. The ball slipped past Weverton's feet and rolled into the goal along the near post.

Just as the scene erupted in huge cheers again, the referee raised his arm and blew the whistle hard.

After scoring the goal, Harry Kane turned around and saw the gesture, then looked at the linesman and discovered that the linesman in the distance had raised the flag in his hand.

He's offside!

Harry Kane couldn't believe his eyes, he felt he was not offside.

The TV broadcast also quickly cut out the still image of the moment Gundogan passed the ball.

Through the still picture, everyone can see that Harry Kane indeed sticks half of his upper body outward compared to the Palmeiras center back next to him.

"…It was definitely offside, the linesman saw it very accurately. Although the ball didn't go in, I think it should have made Palmeiras nervous quickly. It seemed like they hadn't entered the game yet. The pass forward just now was too casual and was easily intercepted by Bellingham."

"After losing the ball, the Palmeiras players were very slow to react, allowing Manchester United to seize the opportunity and launch a counterattack. Although they were offside this time, who can guarantee that Manchester United will not be offside next time?"

He Wei criticized Palmeiras mercilessly.

………………

Unlike the situation everyone expected before the game, Palmeiras seemed to be hypnotized at the Zayed Stadium.

This time when the broadcast camera cut to Abel Ferreira on the sidelines, the Palmeiras head coach was finally not indifferent. He rushed to the sidelines, waving his arms towards the field, yelling, and looked very angry.

The opponent scored two goals in two minutes. Although the second goal was offside and did not count, it was still very dangerous.

It was an offside situation of just a hair's breadth. If the linesman hadn't looked carefully, wouldn't Palmeiras be two goals behind now?
Manchester United's two aggressive attacks within two minutes did put the Palmeiras players under tremendous pressure, and this pressure turned into stimulation for Palmeiras.

In the tenth minute, they finally had a decent attack. Wingback Spaka received a pass from striker Ronaldo at the edge of the penalty area and made a low shot. The powerful ball rushed forward along the grass, but De Gea fell to the ground and saved it at the edge of the small penalty area.

Four minutes later, Palmeiras organized an attack from the left. Pikres made a cross from the side, and Palmeiras center forward Ronnie, who was only 1.66 meters tall, jumped high in the penalty area and headed the ball to the middle.

Because the football was too close, Dudu, who was coming from behind, didn't even have time to react. The football hit his chest and bounced to his left.

Fortunately, Oliveira followed closely behind, received the ball, then swung his left foot and kicked it out!

………………

It was a very sudden shot, because everyone's attention was drawn to Ronnie and Dudu, but De Gea still blocked Oliveira's shot with his foot reflexively. The ball flew back and landed at Dudu's feet. He didn't stop the ball, but kicked it directly. In a hurry, the ball was kicked out in an arc and flew towards Manchester United's goal!

At this time, De Gea made another wonderful save. He leaped backward and stretched out his hand with difficulty to lift the ball, causing the ball to change direction and fly to the bottom line.

Although Oliveira wanted to chase the ball, he was a step too late. He failed to catch up with the ball before it flew out of the baseline, but Palmeiras also got a corner kick.

He Wei was very happy with Palmeiras' offensive in the past four minutes: "This is what it's like! This is a competition between the two best teams in world football today! Manchester United's continuous offensive finally woke Palmeiras up!"

As a neutral commentator, he certainly does not want the game to become one-sided. Whether it leans towards Manchester United or Palmeiras, it is not what he wants to see. He hopes that both teams can perform well and give the fans a wonderful match.

Palmeiras, who were one goal behind, launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal. They were unwilling to lose to Manchester United when they were favored.

And Manchester United certainly would not allow Palmeiras to beat them.

The two teams then launched an offensive battle, and this kind of offensive battle is naturally the most exciting to watch, making the fans very excited.

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In the 19th minute, Manchester United's attack advanced to the frontcourt. Bruno got the ball in front of the penalty area. He made a gesture to break through to the left, tricking Palmeiras midfielder Ze Rafael in front of him to move his center of gravity to the middle, creating a gap on the right.

Bruno quickly seized the opportunity and passed the ball diagonally.

The ball passed through the gap in Palmeiras' defense and landed at the feet of Greenwood who cut in from the wing.

Greenwood almost had a one-on-one opportunity, but instead of shooting himself, he swept the ball across the goal!
"Harry Kane--!" Amid the prolonged roar of the commentator He Wei, Harry Kane followed up from the middle and made a shovel shot!
The football was blocked by Weverton's body who was close at hand!

"Weverton! He made a world-class save! The back-and-forth attack between the two teams was truly spectacular!"

Harry Kane didn't even have time to hold his head in his hands and regret missing the opportunity because the game continued.

Weverton didn't even have time to wave his fist to celebrate his successful save. The ball he blocked rolled out of the penalty area. Fortunately, his teammate caught it. If a Manchester United player had caught the ball, it would have been dangerous.

………………

The pace of the game was so fast that the TV broadcast only replayed Manchester United's attack once and then immediately cut back to the game.

The local fans in the stands were also excited. Whether it was Manchester United or Palmeiras, the speed they showed in attack was very popular with all the fans.

Palmeiras and Manchester United both have very good chances next.

In the 24th minute, Palmeiras launched an attack from the left. Vega passed the ball to the wing and passed it to the left-back Picresse who had penetrated into the penalty area from the ribs. Picresse received the ball and passed it horizontally.

This is a very smart cross for Palmeiras, but very difficult for Manchester United. Maguire wants to tackle the ball out of the bottom line, but he also has to take the risk of causing an own goal.

De Gea rushed back from the front point, on the one hand to guard against the Palmeiras players at the back point, and on the other hand to prevent Maguire from really kicking an own goal...

In the end, Maguire didn't touch the ball, and I don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing...

The football slipped to the back, and Ronnie and Maguire made the same move and tackled the football!

"Ronnie——!" He Wei shouted.

As a result, Ronnie was unable to touch the ball, and the ball slipped through the goal between the players of both sides!

There was also a burst of exclamations at Zayed Stadium.

………………

In the 32nd minute, Palmeiras launched another attack. Vega passed the ball and Ronaldo headed the ball from a small angle on the left, but De Gea saved it with one hand.

Ronnie looked a little regretful for not scoring a goal, and he held his head in his hands.

"Ronie was very active in this game and threatened Manchester United's goal many times. To be honest, his performance was very professional. I think if Ronie can continue this performance, it doesn't matter if he doesn't score in this game. As for Wesley, he said before that Ronie's arrival would not threaten him and he was not afraid of competition. But now it seems that the time for him to stay in Palmeiras can already be counted down..."

(End of this chapter)