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

Chapter 967 Unlucky

The morale and confidence of Manchester United players were hit by the continuous setbacks in their attacks.

At that time, Manchester United fans thought, my God, this is the worst possible situation, right? But they soon found out that they were still too young!
When the game entered the 1th minute, the score was still 1:.

In the 81st minute, Liverpool launched another counterattack. This time, Arnold did not choose to shoot directly at the edge of the penalty area. Instead, he suddenly passed the ball. Mane cut in from the middle to the ribs to receive the ball, and then made a pass that seemed like a pass or a shot. The ball rolled past De Gea who was attacking...

"Danger!" He Wei exclaimed.

Because he had seen that Salah was on the path of the football!

Facing the rolling football, Salah kicked it and the football changed direction and rolled into Manchester United's goal.

"Mohamed Salah!!!" The commentator of Liverpool's local TV station almost stood up from his seat, he raised his arms and shouted, "The ball goes in! Salah scored twice, helping Liverpool lead Manchester United 2:1!! It also allows Liverpool to control its own destiny again!!!"

"Great Muhammad! He is the prophet of Liverpool!! His goal is expected to help Liverpool win a major trophy again after ten years!!!"

………………

When Salah kicked the ball into the goal, Manchester United players were stunned. They never thought that they had been dominating Liverpool before, but now they were behind.

In the 81st minute, they conceded another goal and fell behind. This was a huge blow to Manchester United and many people could not accept such a result.

The goal was being replayed on TV, but the focus was not on the goal itself, but on Salah's position in front of the goal.

Relying on the broadcasting technology, the picture was frozen at the moment when Mane kicked the ball. Below the football, a horizontal line was drawn that cut through the football field. On the left side of the line was Mane, and on the right side of the line were the goalkeeper De Gea and Salah who rushed out to kick the ball.

"This ball... is offside!" Gary Lineker exclaimed, "Salah is offside! This ball doesn't count!"

He Wei didn't dare to say anything too definite, he could only say: "This ball is suspected to be offside..."

The commentator of Liverpool's local TV station also saw it. As the winner, he certainly couldn't criticize his own team, but he also couldn't lie with his eyes open and think that the ball was not offside. He could only say: "... Liverpool's luck is really good..."

Although the audience in front of the TV all realized that it was an offside ball, it was obvious that the players on the field had not realized it, and there was actually no point in realizing it, as the referee Atwell could not arbitrarily change his decision.

At present, the English League Cup has not yet introduced VAR technology, so since Salah's goal was deemed valid by the referee Atwell, it cannot be changed.

Yes, Liverpool took the lead, but it was thanks to an offside goal.

Manchester United is in a state of unhappiness and couldn't be more unlucky.

………………

Liverpool players were celebrating the goal crazily, while Manchester United players were a little confused and lost. They did not watch the live broadcast of the game and did not know that Salah's goal was actually offside, otherwise they would definitely protest and appeal to the referee Atwell.

But even if they protest, it will probably be useless. Without the use of the VAR system, the referee will rarely change the penalty he has already made.

So even though they knew the ball was offside, they could only suffer in silence.

But to outsiders, Manchester United's luck is really bad.

Originally in the second half, Manchester United had a clear advantage on the field, but they fell behind due to a goal from their opponent that was suspected to be offside.

More importantly, this goal loss will greatly damage the team's morale!
In competition, morale is very important.

For the first time, the 50,000 Manchester United fans in the stands of the new Wembley Stadium fell silent. Many of them held their heads in their hands, looking at the Liverpool players who were celebrating in the stadium in a state of confusion, and forgot to boo them.

The situation is already extremely unfavorable for Manchester United.

The goal conceded in the 81st minute was so fatal in terms of timing!
Many Manchester United fans even had this thought in their minds: Are we going to lose the championship today?

Originally, a League Cup championship is a bit useless for a top club like Manchester United, and the fans would not care too much about it.

However, losing to a mortal enemy like Liverpool would be a little hard to accept.

………………

When the game restarted, Gary Lineker was still complaining about Manchester United's goal: "It was an offside ball, the linesman should have seen it, but the referee team made such a big mistake!"

"The referee team headed by Atwell has performed quite well today, but this misjudgment is very fatal because it may directly determine the outcome of today's final!"

"If Manchester United is eliminated because of this offside goal, it is absolutely unacceptable. I don't know how many media will question this goal after the game, but I think there will be a lot." "The Premier League introduced VAR technology in 2019, and the Champions League also started using it. In the past three years, VAR technology has become very mature. In my opinion, it's time to introduce the VAR system in the League Cup and FA Cup..."

He Wei also felt sorry for Manchester United's bad luck. He said: "Manchester United is really unlucky. Their situation was very good and they had a very obvious advantage on the field, but they fell behind again because of such an offside goal..."

"More importantly, Manchester United doesn't have much time left... Including injury time, there are only about 15 minutes at most... Liverpool's defense this season is very good. It is really difficult for Manchester United to equalize the score or even achieve a reversal in such a short time..."

"It would be a shame if Manchester United lost the League Cup like this... but this is football, misjudgments are part of football..."

"Although VAR technology has been introduced in the Premier League and Champions League for three years, the system has not yet been applied to the League Cup and FA Cup..."

………………

Klopp made a quick substitution after the game resumed. He replaced Mane, who assisted Salah's goal, with substitute central defender Konate, changing the formation from 433 to 532.

Replacing a striker and adding a central defender, it is obvious what Klopp means.

Liverpool needs to strengthen their defense and try to hold on for the last ten minutes of the game.

When Mane left the field, there was a huge booing at the new Wembley Stadium. The booing was directed at Mane by Manchester United fans, not because Mane assisted Salah, but because Mane's assist was an offside goal, which the Manchester United fans were very dissatisfied with.

Of course, the Liverpool fans on the other side applauded and cheered for Mane. In the eyes of the Red Army fans, Mane is their hero, and they don't care whether the goal was offside or not.

………………

When Liverpool completed the substitution and the game was about to restart, the TV broadcast gave Bruno a close-up.

As the core of the team, Bruno will naturally attract attention.

What does it mean to be a core player? It is not just about adding icing on the cake when the team wins a big victory, but also about standing up and providing timely assistance when the team encounters difficulties.

When Manchester United encounters difficulties, everyone naturally thinks of Bruno.

Turn your eyes to him and see what he can do.

However, in the minds of many people, they feel that pinning their hopes on Bruno is actually a bit too much of a demand on him.

With little time left in the game, even if Bruno was possessed by God, there would be very little he could do. After all, he is a human being, not a god.

It is true that Bruno's passing skills are top-notch and his ability to score goals is unquestionable, but he cannot defeat his opponent alone, he needs the cooperation of his teammates.

Given the current state of Manchester United players, it is difficult to create scoring opportunities for Bruno. As for whether Bruno can convert the opportunities created by Bruno into goals, that is even more difficult.

………………

After the game resumed, Manchester United did not counterattack immediately. On the contrary, Liverpool, who had just taken the lead, created a threatening offensive opportunity. In the end, Salah's shot slipped out of the goal by just a little bit.

Manchester United fans booed in the stands, booing Salah for his offside goal.

At this time, Bruno found Gundogan.

"I'll be upstairs in a moment, so I'll leave the rest of the work to you, Ilkai."

Gundogan looked ahead and knew what Bruno was going to do, so he nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will pass the ball to you."

In the last ten minutes, if Manchester United wanted to strengthen their attack, Bruno had to move forward and closer to Liverpool's goal. Only in this way could he create more and greater threats.

After explaining things to Gundogan, when the game resumed, Bruno's position was obviously much forward.

Anyone who sees this knows why it happened, but they don’t know whether it was Bruno’s own decision or an adjustment made by Mourinho.

Mourinho stood on the sidelines nervously, watching everything that happened on the field closely.

He also saw the difference in Bruno's position and knew why Bruno did this.

This was not his decision, but Bruno's. However, he did not ask Bruno to follow his arrangement, but let Bruno do it.

At this time, the coach certainly doesn't understand the situation on the field better than a player on the front line of the battle. Bruno certainly has his reasons for doing this, so let him do it.

(End of this chapter)