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

Chapter 996 Precision Guidance
Of course, there are also conspiracy theorists. For example, some people on the internet speculate that Salah may have faked an injury to avoid an embarrassing situation.

Such remarks will certainly provoke resentment and controversy. But regardless, Salah's departure is an unchangeable outcome.

Manchester United fans would actually prefer to see Salah off the pitch, given his recent form; if he stays on the field, he poses a significant threat to United.

His unexpected injury not only relieved Manchester United of a troublesome opponent, but also completely disrupted Liverpool's pre-match plans, thus further reducing the threat posed to Manchester United.

Look at Klopp's expression. When the TV broadcast a close-up of Klopp, he clenched his teeth and his brows were furrowed, showing just how unhappy he was.

Manchester United fans just want to see their arch-rivals make that face.

Salah eventually limped off the field with the help of the team doctor, while his replacement, Origi, ran onto the field.

Klopp went over to greet Salah and gave him a hug as a gesture of comfort.

Salah then sat down in his seat, and an ice pack was quickly wrapped around his right thigh.

Seeing this, Andy Gray said, "Hopefully it's not too serious, because the Champions League semi-final is in a week..."

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Liverpool lost a key player just ten minutes into the game, which has caused many to worry about the team's prospects.

The two teams are very evenly matched, so it's hard to say who will definitely win. Any unexpected factor will attract attention, as it may cause the balance to be tipped.

Clearly, the balance was broken after Salah was injured and substituted.

Manchester United will certainly seize this opportunity to keep putting pressure on Liverpool, just as they did before Salah's injury, when Greenwood's cut-in shot was very threatening.

Manchester United fans watching on TV were very excited and couldn't wait for the next wave of attacking frenzy from Manchester United.

However, before that, they must get Liverpool to take the corner kick.

After the corner kick was taken, the ball was not headed by Koulibaly, but was punched away by Van der Sar who came out to challenge it.

Liverpool fans in the stands let out a sigh of disappointment, while Manchester United fans in front of their TVs began to look forward to a counterattack, but first the ball had to fall to the feet of a Manchester United player.

As expected, the ball landed at Bruno's feet at the edge of the penalty area.

Bruno controlled the ball with his foot, then turned and shielded it with his body, blocking Henderson from rushing towards him.

But this also puts him with his back to the attacking direction, seemingly leaving him with only the option of passing sideways or back, making it very difficult to deliver a killer pass.

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Henderson stayed close behind Bruno, while the other Liverpool players rushed back into their own half to quickly defend, attempting to nip Manchester United's counter-attacking ideas in the bud.

Henderson, meanwhile, kept applying pressure on Bruno from behind without committing a foul. He was very careful because Bruno wasn't very strong and could easily fall over. Plus, Bruno was a very cunning player; who knew if he would flop again...

Under his pressure, Bruno seemed to have no choice but to dribble back.

But just as Bruno lightly tapped the ball back, he immediately swung his right foot forward and then quickly kicked it back, his heel striking the ball behind him, where it slipped between the legs of the unsuspecting Henderson and brushed past the Liverpool players who were quickly retreating to defend.

After the ball slipped past their feet, some Liverpool players instinctively raised their arms to indicate offside.

Regardless of which Manchester United player received the ball, he was definitely offside!

They turned around and saw Harry Kane receive the ball!
Offside!

Many Liverpool players stood still, not continuing to retreat, but raising their arms high, like good students actively answering the teacher's questions in class.

To their surprise, they did not hear the referee's whistle!

Anthony Taylor didn't blow the whistle, and looking at the linesman, he didn't raise his flag either.

Harry Kane wasn't offside?
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"Not offside! Harry Kane has the ball, great ball!" In a moment of shock, only Alisson reacted the fastest, choosing to decisively rush out of his goal.

The other Liverpool players were all stunned, and none of them continued to follow up to defend Harry Kane.

Harry Kane received the ball and adjusted his position before unleashing a right-footed shot!
His right foot curled the ball into an arc, just past the onrushing Alisson, and sent it flying straight towards the far corner of the goal!
Alisson was powerless against the shot and could only turn his head and watch helplessly as the ball flew into the goal he was guarding...

"GOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLL!!!!" Andy Gray shouted excitedly, "GOAL!! Harry Kane! The game has only been going on for eleven minutes, and Manchester United have already taken the lead away from home!"

"Great goal! Harry Kane! He opened the scoring for Manchester United! The situation has become extremely unfavorable for Liverpool. Not only did they lose their star player Salah early in the game, but they have also conceded a goal first!" Zhan Jun said with some disappointment.

As a Liverpool fan, Zhan Jun tried his best to remain neutral while commentating on the game, but he felt very bad when Liverpool conceded a goal.

But he immediately began praising Bruno, who provided the assist: "This is Bruno's 24th assist in the Premier League this season! He's only two assists away from his record of 26 assists in a single Premier League season, set three years ago. This is also Bruno's 142nd assist in the Premier League, just 20 short of the all-time Premier League assist record of 162 held by Manchester United star Ryan Giggs! Giggs took 632 games to set that record, while Bruno has only needed 212 games to reach 142 assists!"

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After scoring, Harry Kane ran towards the corner flag, turning back to wave to his teammates, signaling them to come and celebrate.

Liverpool's players then ran towards referee Anthony Taylor, spreading their arms to protest and complain.

They believe that Harry Kane was definitely offside the moment Bruno passed the ball!
Bruno didn't even look back before passing the ball; he just kicked it back. How could he not be offside?

However, Anthony Taylor remained very calm when questioned by a group of Liverpool stars, saying, "Gentlemen, if you have any questions about my decision, you can check VAR. But the ball was not offside."

He pointed to the VAR video next to Anfield Stadium.

The Premier League introduced VAR technology three years ago in the 2019-2020 season, and it's now quite mature. In controversial situations like this, the video assistant referee team will definitely intervene. If there is indeed an offside, the goal will be disallowed. Even if there's only a suspicion of offside, they will report it to the referee, who will then review the replay and make a decision.

The TV broadcast signal will also appear here, so there will definitely be a replay of this play in a little while. If any Liverpool players question his decision, they can go and watch the replay on TV themselves. They don't trust the referee's eyes, but they should trust advanced technology, right?
………………

Meanwhile, the Manchester United players paid no attention to the Liverpool players' protests. They were celebrating wildly, reveling in their goal on their arch-rivals' turf, despite the boos from the stands.

After showing the Manchester United players celebrating, the television broadcast quickly cut to the moment Bruno passed the ball to Harry Kane.

Through slow motion, freeze-frame, and the aid of virtual technology, it can be clearly seen that at the moment Bruno flicked the ball with his heel, as many as three Liverpool players were positioned further back than Harry Kane.

Harry Kane was still among the Liverpool players at the time. He only accelerated forward after seeing Bruno pass the ball to him.

Bruno's pass was perfectly timed, and Harry Kane's starting timing was also excellent.

The two players' excellent teamwork made this goal a breeze!

A group of Liverpool players who had been arguing incessantly with the referee also looked up at the big screen, and when they saw the result presented by the technology, they all fell silent.

Harry Kane was definitely not offside at the moment Bruno passed the ball.

That was a very, very beautiful backheel pass.

………………

"Bruno's pass was absolutely brilliant, so precise and sudden, even when it was hidden. Liverpool's entire defense was completely fooled by him, and he didn't even look back before passing the ball to Harry Kane... This isn't the first time Bruno has shown such no-look passing in a match; sometimes it really makes you wonder if he has eyes in the back of his head..." Zhan Jun naturally didn't hold back his praise for Bruno.

The moment Bruno passed the ball was replayed on TV over and over again, ostensibly to check if Harry Kane was offside, but in reality, everyone was admiring Bruno's "divine skill".

Without looking at the target of the pass or at the ball itself, Bruno flicked the ball with his heel, his gaze fixed on Gündoğan nearby. This action led everyone to believe he was going to pass the ball to Gündoğan, but he didn't…

If he were to glance back, it might alert Henderson.

But he didn't, so the Liverpool captain didn't even realize it until the ball had slipped under Henderson's legs...

The television broadcast then showed the VAR system's lines, indicating that at the moment Bruno passed the ball, Harry Kane was clearly half a body length behind the deepest Liverpool defender!

(End of this chapter)