I am the king of football

Chapter 244: Embarrassing End
When the score was tied, Manchester United's offense could not break through. When the home team, who had been playing defense, scored a goal, the outcome was predictable.

Although the Red Devils' core players cheered after the team lost the ball, with Qin Hu and Scholes asking their teammates not to lose heart, unfortunately their opponents' mental strength was no weaker than theirs.

When Norwich team united and started to find ways to stop their opponents at all costs, time passed quietly as Manchester United's attack fell into an endless quagmire.

In the 93rd minute of the game, which was also the last minute of injury time, Qin Hu once again made a powerful shot in the penalty area.

However, this time, luck was still not on Manchester United's side.

"The shot hit defender Johnson who flew over to block it and was refracted. The ball still headed towards the goal. Is the defender going to score an own goal???"

Zhan Jun's voice was trembling with excitement, and the Manchester United fans at the scene and even the countless fans watching the game in front of the TV had their hearts in their throats.

Will it be a draw?
"Boom!"

A flying fist destroyed all hope. Rudy, a name deeply remembered by countless people who watched this match, Norwich's goalkeeper, once again appeared between the ball and the goal line.

"Ball, ball... the ball was blocked again... it's Rudy again."

"Shhh!!!"

The final whistle sounded the next moment, leaving no time for Manchester United. 1-0, the home team Norwich defeated the mighty Red Devils Manchester United at their home ground, ending the opponent's -game unbeaten streak in all competitions since the start of the season.

"..."

While the fans of the home team Norwich celebrated excitedly together, silence was the rule for the Manchester United players tonight. From striker Qin Hu to the goalkeeper Lindegaard, everyone kept their heads down and said nothing.

Even Ferguson on the side opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He wanted to scold his players madly, but the data comparison in this game was really huge.

"The two teams had 19-3 shots and 14-1 shots on target. The chances of threatening the opponent's goal were very different, but the score was 0-1. This was a surprising outcome. Norwich won the game at home with their tenacity. This was a victory of extreme defense!"

This is also the only game in which Manchester United has not scored a goal so far this season. Their forwards Qin Hu, Van Persie and Rooney, who came on later, failed to score against the opponent. This even raised the value of Norwich goalkeeper Rudy.

The goalkeepers of those powerful teams were asked by their training coaches to watch carefully all of Rudy's saves in this game, and everyone wanted to learn from Rudy.

As the Manchester United players lowered their heads and followed Ferguson on the journey home, Ferguson let out a breath and opened his mouth only after everyone was on the bus.

"An ugly match."

The first sentence made the players' hearts rise to their throats. They were all prepared to scold their own boss directly. After all, this was a normal operation in the past.

"But, fortunately, we didn't give points to our title rivals. Losing is a matter of time. No one can win all the time, although it's embarrassing."

Since the start of the new season, Giggs, Scholes and other veterans have noticed Ferguson's changes. Now they are completely sure that as he gets older, Ferguson is no longer the irritable boss who was very prone to losing his temper. He even started to comfort the players, although the new players couldn't hear it.

"In short, it's embarrassing. Take a day off when you go back. We will face our arch-rivals at Old Trafford next week. I don't want to see you guys so dejected then!!!"

"Understood, Boss!"

In the twelfth round of the league, Manchester United will return to their home ground, where they will face the challenging Gunners Arsenal.

The Gunners vs. the Red Devils is one of the hottest rivalries in the entire league every season. Due to the fact that Ferguson and Wenger have been sworn enemies for more than a decade, the popularity of this rivalry was once regarded as the most unmissable game in the Premier League every season.

The two teams have created many famous games in their confrontations over the years. Sometimes the elegant Gunners would defeat the Red Devils, and sometimes the red devils led by Ferguson would directly swallow up the Gunners.

最近两年，最最令人难以忘怀甚至在英超历史上都是浓厚一笔的还得是2011年8月28日，曼联主场8-2血洗阿森纳队的比赛。

In that game, a total of five Manchester United players scored goals, and Rooney even scored a hat-trick. Both goals of their opponent Arsenal were scored by Van Persie.

Now, as luck would have it, Van Persie, who was the captain of Arsenal last year, has appeared in the Arsenal lineup. From this point of view, Manchester United is now naturally in an advantageous position against Arsenal.

After this unexpected upset, as expected, major media began to report Manchester United's 0-1 loss to the defensive counterattack Norwich team. Since then, the last team in the top five leagues that had not lost a game since the start of the season has also suffered an end.

Many commentators and celebrities who had previously been pessimistic about Manchester United's ability to remain undefeated once again came out to give their opinions from their own perspectives, but the final result was the same - Manchester United's top-heavy lineup was bound to fall.

In their view, either Manchester United will lose one day because of its poor defense, which results in less goals than goals conceded, or the forwards will be in poor form and fail to score, and the defense will not be able to hold on and will lose the game.

This loss against Norwich was like this. Qin Hu, whose goal tally had been steadily increasing, failed to score despite nearly ten shots. Van Persie and Rooney, two long-established forwards with their own unique characteristics, also failed to break through Rudy's goal.

Their defense found it difficult to keep a clean sheet, and facing the opponent's sudden counterattack, De Gea was not on the field, and a goal conceded killed the game.

Although it seems a bit like hindsight, with the results coming out first and the solution process coming later, these things seem to make sense.

Many fans of other top teams have begun to like this statement. Top clubs are natural competitors, and everyone is eager to see each other fail.

As a result, when a few days passed quietly and the upcoming derby between Manchester United and Arsenal became a topic of discussion, many people believed that Manchester United did not have much advantage against Arsenal.

Because in the last round of the league, unlike Manchester United who lost 0-1, Arsenal swept their North London derby opponents Tottenham Hotspur with a score of 5-2.

The first chapter is here! Thank you all for your support, and I wish you all a happy new year in 2024~ (PS: In the previous chapter, Manchester United's starting goalkeeper was Lindegaard, but I mistakenly wrote De Gea. I have corrected it, so please forgive me!)

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(End of this chapter)