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

Chapter 999 Record End
"Manchester United were awarded a penalty, a golden opportunity to break the deadlock... If they can convert the penalty and hold onto their lead, they can win this crucial game!"

"So far this season, Bruno has scored 31 goals in the Premier League, currently leading the league's top scorer list. He has 11 more goals than Liverpool's Salah, and if he scores this goal, he will lead Salah by 12... Bruno has basically secured the top scorer title this season!"

……

The commentators' incessant chatter ceased as soon as Bruno stood still, and for a moment, both the television and the set fell silent.

In the silence, the referee Anthony Taylor's whistle was exceptionally clear.

In the shot, Bruno takes a deep breath, then runs up and kicks the ball with the instep of his straight right foot!
With a "thump," Bruno kicked the football forcefully towards the bottom right corner of the goal. It was a very difficult shot, but as long as it hit the target, the chances of scoring were extremely high.

Goalkeepers love to save penalty kicks that are half-high or low to their sides, while low, ground shots are the ones they least want to face.

As one of the world's best penalty takers, Bruno certainly knew this, so to be on the safe side, he kicked the ball towards the bottom right corner of the goal!

………………

After the ball was kicked, Bruno felt a sense of "I've got this ball" in his mind.

But then he saw Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson dive towards the bottom right corner of the goal!

It seemed like he knew exactly where Bruno was going to kick, and he even kicked the ball before Bruno did!

Alisson was like a torpedo skimming the sea, accurately hitting the target ship and saving the ball just in front of the goal line!

As Bruno took the shot, some impatient Manchester United fans cheered eagerly. They had absolute confidence in Bruno's penalty kick, as he had never missed a penalty since his debut. Before today, he had extended his consecutive penalty-scoring streak to 63. In the eyes of Manchester United fans, Bruno's shot was a sure thing—it was guaranteed to go in!

But in less than a second, they saw Alisson dive to his side and save the ball!

The cheers stopped abruptly.

"Alisson—! Brilliant save! He saved Bruno's penalty!! Woohoo!!"

Andy Gray cheered excitedly. He wasn't a Liverpool supporter; he just felt that Bruno's missed shot made the game more suspenseful and exciting.

"Bruno...oh no! He's been saved!" Zhan Jun exclaimed. "Alisson played exceptionally well! You know, Bruno had never missed a penalty since his debut! Before today, he had scored 63 consecutive penalties and was considered the world's best penalty taker! Now, Alisson has broken that record!"

………………

The football, which Alisson had saved, spun out of bounds. After rolling on the ground, Alisson got up, clenched his fist, and roared.

His Liverpool teammates rushed over to hug and high-five him, thanking him for his brilliant saves.

Many Liverpool players were devastated when the penalty was awarded. They knew that for Manchester United, with Bruno Fernandes, conceding a penalty was tantamount to conceding a goal.

You know, that man made 63 consecutive penalty kicks, he's inhuman!

But no one expected that Alisson would actually save Bruno's extremely high-quality penalty kick!

It can be said that Alisson's save kept Liverpool's hopes of winning the title alive and greatly boosted the team's morale. Calling him Liverpool's "savior" is not an exaggeration at all.

Liverpool's players were celebrating, while Bruno, who missed the penalty, held his head in his hands, looked up at the sky, and sighed in frustration.

He wasn't upset that his streak of scoring consecutive penalties had ended—he knew very well that every record eventually comes to an end—but rather that he had missed an opportunity to help his team take the lead.

The other Manchester United players felt similarly.

In a single second, they plummeted from the heights of happiness to the depths of despair.

This is not just a simple case of missing a penalty; it will also demoralize many Manchester United players: if they can't seize such a good opportunity, will they have any better chances in the future?
Missing a penalty kick in any match is a devastating blow to a team's morale, let alone in such an important match.

………………

"Damn, Bruno missed his penalty! It's like even God doesn't want Manchester United to win the title!"

"Bruno has taken over sixty penalties without missing a single one, but today Alisson saved it. Is this a sign that Manchester United is doomed?"

"I think Bruno's kick was absolutely beautiful, and Alisson's ability to save it was simply amazing!"

"A moment of heartache for Manchester United..."

……

On Chinese social media, fans have been expressing their opinions on Bruno's missed penalty.

To those who support Manchester United and Bruno Fernandes, missing the penalty was a disaster, potentially foreshadowing a bleak future. The missed penalty did indeed affect the Manchester United players' morale. After the game resumed, Manchester United's corner kicks posed little threat to Liverpool's goal. Instead, Liverpool's morale soared, and they launched a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal, putting immense pressure on them.

Manchester United could only defend passively, and the Manchester United fans at Anfield Stadium, as well as those watching the game on TV, were on the verge of having heart attacks from the tension.

Under these circumstances, Bruno decided to do something to change the current situation.

Launch an attack to bring the battle to the enemy's half.

This is certainly the best approach, but achieving it perfectly is not easy.

When possession first fell to Manchester United, Bruno launched some counter-attacks, but the quality was quite poor. The players were affected by the missed penalty, their form was unstable, they played too hastily, and made frequent mistakes.

At this point, the counter-attack was merely a quick way to pass the ball to Liverpool...

The most realistic approach might be to deliberately slow down the pace and rhythm when the ball is at your feet, using slowness to counter Liverpool's current speed, a strategy known as "using softness to overcome hardness".

………………

So when the ball fell to Bruno's feet, he didn't rush to pass it forward. Instead, he turned and kicked a cross, then quickly ran to the next spot, shouting, "Pass the ball to me!"

He was afraid that his teammate would kick the ball forward again.

He could understand some of his teammates' thoughts, wanting to keep the ball as far away from their penalty area as possible, but that would only give possession to the opponent and serve no purpose.

It would be better to keep the ball under our control and regain stability and composure.

Seeing how eager Bruno was to get the ball, Kanté passed it to Bruno again.

Bruno made a move to receive the ball, and Fabinho rushed up to try and steal it from him.

Bruno raised his foot as if to receive the ball, but he didn't actually catch it. Instead, he let the ball roll past him before turning around to chase after it.

At that moment, Fabinho swept his foot across the goalposts. He had intended to intercept the ball, but Bruno had passed it to him, and Fabinho's sweep missed completely...

It wasn't a complete miss, because his foot struck Bruno's supporting foot. Bruno wasn't able to turn around and was instead swept to the ground by Fabinho!
He spun around and fell to the ground, rolling twice before clutching the back of his left foot.

Referee Anthony Taylor's whistle blew amidst a huge chorus of boos.

"Foul! Fabinho, that was a terrible foul!" the Portuguese television commentator shouted angrily.

This winter marks the World Cup, held once every four years. At this time, every time Bruno falls to the ground, it sends shivers down the spines of Portuguese fans.

“Bruno was kicked in the left ankle by Pogba in the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City, which was quite worrying at the time, but fortunately it seems to be nothing serious and did not affect his subsequent matches. Now he has been hit in the left foot by Fabinho…” Andy Gray frowned as well.

Although Manchester United looks to be in a great position right now, if Bruno gets injured, the team could collapse completely, losing not only the league title but also the Champions League title!
Knowing he had committed a foul, Fabinho quickly ran to pull Bruno up, partly to show goodwill and partly to get Bruno to stand up and not continue lying on the ground, as it would look like he had been kicked badly.

Fabinho did this in the hope that the referee would take the decision into consideration.

Anthony Taylor ran over, his hand rummaging in his breast pocket, seemingly about to pull out his cards.

That's normal; if they didn't issue a card for that foul, Manchester United fans would definitely not have agreed.

Fabinho continued to pull Bruno up, but Kanté pushed him away.

Bruno was still lying on the ground clutching his heel, and now you want him to stand up? How can you expect him to do that?

Of course he would defend his teammates.

Kante's shoving action provoked the Liverpool players, who quickly surrounded him.

Manchester United players, of course, wouldn't let their teammates suffer, and immediately sided with Kanté, clashing with Liverpool players.

Referee Anthony Taylor was about to pull out a card, but seeing this, he could only blow his whistle repeatedly to signal both teams to calm down.

Meanwhile, unrest was also taking place in front of the coaches' benches on both sides of the field.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp shouted that he believed Kante was deliberately provoking him.

Mourinho, however, stood up for his players, saying, "Look at what your people have done!"

The two men glared at each other across the fourth referee in the middle.

(End of this chapter)