Chapter 647 Dragon Slayer

One day after Bruno and the Manchester United team returned to Manchester from London, Manchester United had another game. They faced Derby County, the English Championship team led by Chelsea legend Lampard, at home.

This was the third round of the League Cup this season. Due to the limited strength of the opponent and the relatively tight schedule of Manchester United in the next period of time, Mourinho made a comprehensive rotation of Manchester United's starting lineup to give the main players a rest.

Even if they played with a pure substitute rotation lineup, Manchester United still had a considerable advantage over Derby County in strength. In addition, they played at home, so they took the advantage on the field shortly after the start of the game and took the lead.

In the third minute, Mahrez broke through the left and made a low pass, McTominay missed it, Lingard passed it, and Mata shot into the lower left corner from 15 yards.

Derby County equalized the score in the 59th minute. Ashley Young fouled Nugent, and Harry Wilson shot a free kick from 30 yards and the leaf ball floated into the lower left corner.

Derby County overtook the score in the 85th minute. Grant barely saved Mount's powerful shot from the top of the penalty area, and Marriott, who successfully countered the offside, headed the ball and it was blocked and went into the net.

Six minutes of injury time, Manchester United equalized in the 95th minute. Dalot made a cross from the right, and McTominay headed the ball from close range and it was blocked by Carson and went into the net.

Since there was no overtime in the League Cup, the two sides went directly to the penalty shootout after the regular time. As a result, after both players scored in the first 7 rounds of the penalty shootout, Phil Jones missed the penalty in the 8th round, and the opponent's player scored. Manchester United eventually lost 8:7 in the penalty shootout and was eliminated from the League Cup.

This defeat also means that Manchester United cannot do this for the third consecutive year after winning all the domestic competitions in England for two consecutive years.

Not only that, it also means that Manchester United's record of 78 unbeaten games in all competitions has come to an end.

At the same time, this is also the first time that the Red Devils have lost at home since Mourinho took over Manchester United. Previously, they had remained unbeaten in 65 consecutive home games.

The most important thing is that Derby County proved to the world that Manchester United is not really invincible, and they are still likely to lose!

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Manchester United has no time to be sad about being eliminated from the League Cup, because they are about to usher in a new game.

At noon on September 29th, local time in the UK, the 7th round of the Premier League kicked off, and Manchester United visited the London Olympic Stadium to challenge the Hammers West Ham United.

Three days ago, the Championship team Derby County eliminated Manchester United in a penalty shootout at Old Trafford, ending Manchester United's 78-match unbeaten record in all competitions and 65-match unbeaten record at home, which greatly encouraged West Ham United and gave them hope of ending another unbeaten record of Manchester United, that is, Manchester United's 46-game unbeaten record in the Premier League.

At the beginning of the game, West Ham United took advantage of the home advantage to launch a fierce attack on Manchester United's goal. They won the right to kick off and took advantage of this opportunity to continuously attack Manchester United's goal.

At a time when Manchester United had just shone at the FIFA Awards Ceremony, and when the whole world was hyping up Manchester United's unbeaten record, truly defeating Manchester United would undoubtedly be something that attracted the world's attention.

After all, although Derby County defeated Manchester United, they only did it in a penalty shootout, and it was a somewhat tasteless League Cup, so the impact was not great.

If West Ham United could beat Manchester United in the Premier League, the impact would be incomparable.

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Felipe Anderson, the former Lazio midfielder who was introduced by West Ham United in the summer transfer window with a record-breaking team history, was particularly active in the game, frequently raising his hand to ask his teammates for the ball, and once he got the ball, he would use his sharp breakthrough to threaten Manchester United's goal.

Not long after the game started, Anderson received the ball on the left side. He did not pass the ball to anyone, but made a fake move to break through the bottom line, suddenly changed direction and dribbled horizontally, and then kicked a long shot outside the penalty area.

De Gea struggled to save the ball.

This shot won the cheers of tens of thousands of Hammers fans at the scene, and also made Anderson more spirited.

Bruno knew this Brazilian midfielder who had played against him many times in Serie A, and knew that he was a very emotional player. When he was in good shape, he definitely had the strength of a top player and was very difficult to deal with.

However, Bruno also knew that instead of trying to stop Anderson from playing, it was better to try to let Manchester United score first.

As the new World Footballer of the Year, Bruno's strength has long been recognized by coaches all over the Premier League and even the world, and his role in Manchester United is also obvious. In this game, Pellegrini asked West Ham United's midfielders to strictly guard Bruno and not let him move freely in the midfield.

When Bruno got the ball, he faced West Ham United's tight defense. West Ham United's captain Mark Noble is a midfielder with both offensive and defensive capabilities, but his main task in this game was to defend Bruno.

In this game, West Ham United fielded five midfielders, of which Noble, Obiang and Declan Rice formed three defensive midfielders. Noble will defend Bruno, and Obiang and young player Rice will also assist him.

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Bruno and Mark Noble compete with each other in midfield.

When Bruno got the ball, Mark Noble came up to press. Bruno turned around and protected the ball in front of him, and Mark Noble pressed him from behind to prevent him from turning easily.

Then Rice ran up from the front to complete a front-to-back attack with Mark Noble.

Bruno did not compete with these two people in footwork, but passed the ball horizontally to the side.

But Anderson had already guessed his intention of passing the ball. He moved in advance and intercepted the ball before Harry Kane who received the ball.

Harry Kane was a little surprised. He was still waiting for the ball in place, ready to turn around with the ball and then break forward. Who would have thought that Anderson would be so quick and intercept the ball first.

Bruno did not have time to complain to Harry Kane, so he turned around and ran back. His target was Anderson.

Anderson certainly knew what Bruno would do after losing the ball, and he would definitely chase back. The two had three seasons of experience in Serie A and knew each other's habits very well. So Anderson didn't show off his skills in front of Bruno, and passed the ball before Bruno caught up.

Then West Ham United launched an attack, and finally Arnautovic's shot was held in De Gea's arms.