Chapter 494 Black Lightning

Off the field, Mourinho also clenched his fists and waved them vigorously.

He finally waited for the goal, which satisfied him and made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"This goal came very timely, which allowed them to take the initiative on the field. Southampton's strength is not weak. In recent seasons, it has been ranked in the top half of the standings!"

"Harry Kane's goal is very crucial! This superstar, who spent 120 million pounds to introduce to Manchester United, has performed very well after joining Manchester United, with 6 goals and 3 assists in 3 league games, and his efficiency is extremely amazing!"

After the goal, the Manchester United players were very excited. They surrounded Harry Kane and cheered.

This goal and this counterattack were rehearsed many times by Manchester United in training. The sweat of the players on the training ground was transformed into a goal. This feeling is great.

In particular, it enhanced the confidence of the whole team.

The coach is indeed a world-class coach and has two brushes.

Yes, Mourinho's title of world-class coach is indeed a deterrent to the players, but there is only one thing that really convinced the whole team:

That is winning!

After losing the ball, Southampton played more openly.

Mauricio Pellegrino, who advocates offense, injected the spirit of "not fearing death" into the team. Then in the injury time of the first half, Manchester United attacked again. Rashford passed the ball, Harry Kane headed the ball, and Bruno volleyed the ball.

2:0!

The timing of this goal was also very critical. Manchester United had just scored and the first half of the game was over, which left Southampton no time to resist. This was a big blow to the morale of the crazy attacking Southampton players.

………………

During the halftime break, Mourinho praised the players' performance, and he especially praised Harry Kane.

The praised England international was full of smiles.

Faria glanced at Mourinho. He remembered that when Harry Kane made that bad pass, Mourinho was furious.

Faria had no doubt that if that attacking opportunity was wasted, Mourinho would scold Harry Kane.

After the start of the second half, Pellegrino deployed troops one after another to strengthen the attack. However, facing Manchester United's solid defense, Southampton returned empty-handed again and again.

The game was in the 71st minute, and the score on the field was still 0:2, with the home team Southampton behind.

Southampton's attack, this time Tadic's long shot outside the penalty area directly fired an anti-aircraft cannon.

Seeing this shot, Mourinho laughed happily below. This shot really hit the morale of his teammates: the team finally got a good attacking opportunity, the ball came over, such a precious shooting opportunity, but you kicked it into the sky!

"The Southampton people are impatient." Carrick shouted happily.

Mourinho nodded complacently, and he immediately made substitutions.

Smalling came on as a substitute, replacing Gundogan. At the same time, Rashford and Mbappe retreated to the midfield, and Manchester United changed to 541, leaving only Harry Kane in front.

………………

"This adjustment is very timely. During this period, Southampton's offensive was very fierce, and it was necessary to strengthen the defensive strength." Andy Gray commented, "Kante and Bruno are in the middle, like two pliers, clamping Southampton's passage."

Andy Gray was right, and he soon noticed that Manchester United's tactics had changed again.

Mourinho likes Bruno too much and gives Bruno the greatest freedom.

Bruno ran all over the field to help Kante defend. Not only did he play as an organizing midfielder, but he also became an attacking midfielder when attacking.

Harry Kane was at the front, and on the two wings, Rashford and Mbappe, two fast players, were always threatening Southampton's defense in front.

Behind these two people is Bruno. As long as he gets the ball, the Southampton people will be like a big enemy.

As time passed, the Southampton people attacked almost desperately, which seemed quite tragic. But it did not threaten Manchester United's goal, but exposed their own defensive weaknesses.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Manchester United again intercepted the ball in their own half.

Then, after Bruno got the ball, he sent a long pass directly.

"It was too long." Lineker shook his head and said.

The Southampton people also thought so. Their central defender Hott signaled his teammates to press forward. He would take the ball and then continue to attack.

Then, Hott's eyes widened. What did he see?

It seemed like a black lightning!

"Mbappe! This kid is so fast, God!"

………………

When Hott, who was obviously a little careless, saw Mbappe rushing over, he immediately realized that the other party was closer to the football than him.

Never let this guy pass!

Almost as a subconscious reaction, Hott reached out and pulled down Mbappe who had just got the ball and was about to break through. Then, the Southampton central defender knew that it was not good: he had received a yellow card in the first half of the game.

The whistle sounded as expected, and the referee Craig Pawson ran over and reached into his pocket for a card.

Yellow.

Pawson first showed Holt a yellow card, and then took out another card: a red one!

"Two yellows turned into one red, and Holt was sent off."

"Hot had no choice but to commit a foul, but he got a red card for it, which was a major blow to Southampton."

Mourinho smiled on the sidelines and applauded. In Mourinho's view, this red card was a bigger blow to Southampton than the goal.

After Southampton captain Davis was substituted, Hot was the captain of Southampton and the mainstay of the team's defense.

And most importantly, Pellegrino had used up his three substitutions.

Pellegrino rubbed his cheeks hard with a painful expression. Although there was still time left in the game, he had a premonition that he was going to lose the game.

"We're going to win," Faria said.

Mourinho nodded, but the game wasn't over yet, and he had to add another lock to the victory.

Mourinho motioned Fellaini, who had been warming up for a while, to come over.

Mourinho made the third substitution adjustment, Rashford was substituted, and Fellaini came on as a substitute.

………………

After Fellaini came on the pitch, he did not appear in the defensive midfielder position, but appeared on the front line. He and Harry Kane formed a double tower, suppressing Southampton's defense line.

Coupled with the fast Mbappe, Manchester United successfully messed up Southampton's broken defense line.

In fact, if it weren't for the referee Pawson's mercy, maybe Southampton's players would have received a red card and been sent off.

Southampton defender Maya Yoshida made an irrational foul, and the referee only gave him a verbal warning and did not show him a second yellow card.

This also caused Mourinho's strong protest.

Finally, when the referee blew the whistle to end the game, St. Mary's Stadium was filled with boos.

"The game is over. With goals from Harry Kane and Bruno, they won the game."

"After three consecutive games with a six-goal advantage over their opponents, Manchester United finally stopped their crazy scoring trend, but they are still winning. In the new season, they have won ten consecutive games in all competitions!"

"Compared with the narrow victory against Chelsea in the Community Shield in the first game, Mourinho's team is performing better and better. This is inseparable from the rapid recovery of Bruno, the core of Manchester United's midfield. In addition, the Red Devils spent a huge amount of money to sign three generals, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Riyad Mahrez, before the summer transfer window closed. They also quickly integrated into the team and showed good form."

Andy Gray, who had been criticizing Mourinho when commenting on the Community Shield against Chelsea, praised Mourinho and Manchester United fairly.

Andy Gray is just like this, not against people.

The sad Southampton fans have already left the field, and only the Manchester United fans in the away stands are celebrating excitedly.

………………

The next day, the sports edition of Manchester local media The Guardian used a big headline: Invincible!

After 6 rounds of league matches, Manchester United won all 6 games and got 18 points, making it the only team among the 20 Premier League teams to win all 6 games.

What is even more shocking is that Manchester United scored 28 goals in 6 games, while not losing a single goal on the defensive end.

Such a performance is indeed worthy of the word "invincible"!

However, The Sun sneered at Manchester United's performance in this game, and they even described this game as an "ugly victory".

Compared with Manchester City and Chelsea's hearty wins, Manchester United won this round very hard. With Harry Kane and Bruno's goals, the Red Devils defeated Southampton 2:0. But looking back at the whole game, Manchester United has always been the suppressed party. Especially in the second half, Mourinho even set up the bus again to help the team defend the victory.

Objectively speaking, Manchester United's performance in the first half was quite satisfactory. Harry Kane and Bruno scored early goals for the Red Devils with their strong personal abilities.

But no one expected that the situation would change suddenly in the second half. Southampton suddenly exerted its strength and formed waves of attacks as if it had changed into a different team. Manchester United's defense line was very tight, and almost only had the remaining defense strength, and it became completely passive.

Even if Southampton had not been sent off in the second half, it would be unknown whether Manchester United could escape unscathed at St. Mary's Stadium.

Seeing that the situation was passive, Mourinho also made adjustments. But the madman's substitutions in this game also seemed very conservative. Offensive players such as McTominay and Lingard on the bench failed to get a chance to play, and Mourinho's intention to strengthen defense by substitution was very obvious.

Seeing that Manchester United was determined to defend, Southampton also really fought hard. Pellegrino sent two center forwards Gabiadini and Austin successively, and the game immediately became a scene of Southampton attacking and Manchester United defending.

The most interesting scene was that when Southampton made substitutions, Mourinho intentionally or unintentionally blocked in front of the staff and delayed for a while.