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

Chapter 978 Spoon Shot
"Bruno!"

When the football rolled towards Bruno, Jin Xiangkai shouted excitedly.

Bruno didn't wait for the ball there, he started quickly towards the football!
When Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson saw the ball being passed to Bruno, he decisively abandoned the goal and rushed out. He reacted faster than other Manchester City defenders. This bought him an extra second or so. He opened his arms, lowered his center of gravity, and pounced on the ball and Bruno, trying to block Bruno's shooting angle.

Bruno, who was facing the football, also swung his foot.

At the same time, Cancelo, who had just advanced into the penalty area, also made it to the middle of the goal.

After Harry Kane suddenly passed the ball to Bruno, Pogba's attention was attracted by Bruno and he slowed down, which caused him to lose Cancelo.

But in the eyes of Ederson who was attacking, he didn't care whether there was someone behind him or not. As a goalkeeper, at this moment, all he saw was Bruno who was swinging his legs and the football under his feet!

Edson fell and slid out, his arms outstretched like a falcon spreading its wings to dive for its prey.

As a goalkeeper, Ederson's save was not only fast but also full of momentum!

In a one-on-one match between a goalkeeper and an offensive player, sometimes momentum is more important than technique.

A good goalkeeper must have an unstoppable momentum when attacking. Only in this way can he intimidate the opponent's offensive players!

………………

Everyone focused all their attention on Bruno and Ederson, waiting for the final decisive moment.

At the same time, Bruno's raised foot finally landed and kicked the ball. However, he did not kick the middle or lower middle part of the ball, but inserted his right foot directly into the gap between the ball and the grass like a shovel. He did not use force to lift it up, but fixed it there, but the ball was scooped up by the upper of his shoe!

Or to be more precise, it was rubbed up!
The football jumped up on the spot, drew an arc in the air, and just passed Ederson who was sliding on the ground!
Ederson slid to the ground and looked up at the football. He opened his mouth slightly in surprise. The roar he made when he attacked had stopped abruptly. The remaining half of the roar was stuck in his throat and never came out again. His eyeballs moved along the trajectory of the football. When his eyeballs reached the limit, the football continued to fly.

Ederson turned over and his neck followed, anxious to continue following the flight trajectory of the football. He didn't care even if he knocked someone down.

He finally locked onto the ball again, but the ball had already fallen into the goal he was guarding...

Many forwards, when facing a goalkeeper who is attacking aggressively, will choose to kick the ball hard, because this is a completely subconscious action, and the final result may be that the football is blocked by the goalkeeper with some part of his body.

Players with quick reactions will choose to kick the ball to their teammates in the middle first, which is already considered an outstanding performance.

But Bruno chose the third way. When he was very close to Ederson, he actually chose to lob the ball!
At that time, Ederson had already rushed in front, and there was almost no space for the ball to take off, but Bruno was still able to rub the ball up.

Through slow motion, you can see that Ederson's hands have already clapped over, and the football almost escapes from his fingertips!
………………

"The ball...the ball goes in!!" Martin Taylor shouted after hesitating for a moment.

In the commentary booth at the scene, he was a bit far away from the goal and could not see clearly whether the football went into the goal at the first time, so he kept staring at the monitor. He was sure only when he saw the football fly into the goal.

"A beautiful goal! Bruno helped Manchester United take the lead again in the 77th minute!"

"Good shot! Beautiful spoon goal! Bruno helps Manchester United take the lead again!"

"This is a crucial goal! Bruno's performance is amazing, he could score the winning goal at any time!"

From the moment Harry Kane passed the ball to Bruno, there were huge boos from the stands of the Etihad Stadium, which were all directed at Bruno by Manchester City fans.

But when the football flew into the goal, the tsunami-like boos over the stadium suddenly stopped.

"Beautiful! Well done!" Manchester United assistant coach Faria screamed excitedly, "That boy can really do it! He can really do it!"

Mourinho was grinning beside him, Bruno gave him another big surprise!

However, while Mourinho was happy, he was still thinking about what to do after taking the lead. After all, it was not the first time Manchester United took the lead in this game. Didn’t they get equalized after taking the lead before?
So the most important thing now is how to maintain the lead until the end of the game.

………………

Generally speaking, after taking the lead, many head coaches will replace defenders and the entire team will tighten up their defense, trying to maintain the one-goal lead until the end of the game.

If facing an ordinary opponent, Mourinho would choose to do so without hesitation, after all, his specialty is bus parking.

But Manchester City is not an ordinary opponent. In the Manchester derby, accidents can happen in the last second, not to mention that there are still more than ten minutes left before the end of the game.

With Manchester City's offensive power, this period of time is enough for them to make a desperate counterattack and score a goal. So it is unwise to shrink the defense now, so how to defend?
It's very simple. If Manchester United could control the ball more and prevent it from being snatched away by the opponent, wouldn't they be able to successfully curb the opponent's offensive?

And this is actually what his opponent Guardiola is best at doing at the moment.

This can be considered as giving someone a taste of their own medicine, right?
Moreover, Manchester United's ability to control the ball is actually very good.

………………

After Manchester United celebrated the goal, Bruno ran back to Manchester United's half with his teammates. He looked up at the stands and saw Manchester City fans wearing blue jerseys, which was a bit regrettable.

If he were at the new Old Trafford, he would probably be able to hear the deafening cheers by now, with one hundred thousand fans shouting only his name. It would be a feeling that would make one shiver just thinking about it!

Now, he can only wave his fists at Manchester City fans and show off his power.

Naturally, this action earned him boos from Manchester City fans, who saw it as a provocation.

………………

After the game resumed, the first team to make substitutions was not Manchester City, which was behind, but Manchester United, which was leading.

Mahrez was substituted on for Greenwood, whose physical condition had declined.

At the same time, Mahrez has better ball control skills and abilities. After he came on the court, he did not appear in the striker position, but in the midfield.

Not only that, Rashford's position on the other side also retreated, and Manchester United changed from the previous 433 formation to 451. Gundogan and Kante formed a double defensive midfielder, while Bruno formed a forward line with Mahrez and Rashford.

Mourinho's latest instructions were conveyed to the field through Mahrez.

Defend, but not shrink and defend, but try to control the football under your feet and defend in a relatively labor-saving way.

This is a more active defensive strategy.

Such defensive adjustments are not difficult to understand, especially when the team has Gundogan and Bruno, two players who are good at passing and controlling the rhythm.

As the game continued, as long as Manchester United had the ball at their feet, they were not in a hurry to move forward. They would frequently pass the ball back and forth in the midfield and backcourt. Even after attacking the frontcourt, the number of forward passes would be much less than before.

If the opportunity is not particularly good, Bruno will pass the ball back or sideways.

Anyway, he is not in a hurry now, and Manchester United is not in a hurry either, so just pass it on.

But Manchester City is anxious, very anxious.

………………

When the game reached the 84th minute, Bruno was pushed to the ground by Pogba after passing the ball, and the referee Oliver blew the whistle.

He fumbled in his jacket pockets as he ran toward the foul spot.

Manchester City fans knew something was wrong when they saw this move.

When seeing Bruno fall to the ground, Martin Taylor said: "Pogba! He has to be careful, he already has a yellow card...ah, it looks like Oliver is going to play a card! No matter what color the card is, Pogba may have to say goodbye to this game early! Bruno alone has made Manchester City embarrassed!"

Bruno lay on the ground and didn't get up, not because he deliberately fell. He was just using the time when he fell to the ground and the game was interrupted to recover as much energy as possible.

If I quickly get up from the ground at this time, wouldn't I be unable to rest?

So Bruno just lay on the ground, letting the chaos around him happen, and he just greedily took big gulps of the air.

Although his physical fitness was excellent, the competition in this game was too intense. He had to face the competition from Pogba and Rodri, two of the top midfielders at the time, at any time. This caused him to be very exhausted and had certain problems with his physical fitness.

Of course, this is also closely related to the fact that the season has entered its later stages, and the physical fitness of all the players is actually not in a very good stage.

"Pogba had a lot of fights with Bruno in this game. In the first half, he got a yellow card for tackling Bruno. Now he got another yellow card for pushing Bruno down with his hands. Two yellow cards turned into one red card! Now Manchester City is one goal behind in the score and one man short. The situation of the game is becoming increasingly unfavorable for them..."

Jin Xiangkai actually wanted to say that the game had ended early, but he thought it was better not to be too sure. After all, the ball is round, and no one can predict what will happen next...

(End of this chapter)