Starting with saving Manchester United

"I've never seen Van Persie work so hard!"

In the VIP box, Ferguson couldn't help but feel surprised when he saw Van Persie cooperating with the team's pressing tactics in the attacking third.

This is a Van Persie that even he has never seen before!

Ferguson looked down at the young figure in front of the home team's coaching bench.

A novice has accomplished something that even he and Moyes couldn't do!

That vision, that skill, and that decisiveness...

The atmosphere at Old Trafford is getting hotter and hotter.

On the field, the players' performances exceeded the fans' expectations.

Facing the formidable Manchester City, everyone is giving it their all.

Most importantly, the team's fighting spirit!

Ferguson couldn't help but recall the phone call his old friend Allardyce had given him last Saturday night after the game at Upton Park.

"There was a moment during the match when I felt like your Manchester United team had returned!"

At this moment, Ferguson, sitting in the stands of his VIP box, had an even clearer view.

It's similar, yet not quite!

At least, he never plays with a three-man defense.

No one knew what Ferguson was thinking, but his words surprised the Glazer brothers and Woodward.

Is it really that hard to get Van Persie to work his hardest?

"What do you think of this match?" Avram Glazer asked with concern.

Ferguson replied without hesitation: "They started strong and the players played very hard. If they can maintain that momentum, they should be able to keep Manchester City in check for a while."

"how long?"

"It depends on their stamina, but their starting momentum is good. If they can score a goal during this period, this game will be quite competitive!"

In matches between teams of Manchester City and Manchester United's caliber, both sides know each other inside and out, and it's basically all out in the open.

Manchester United are at a disadvantage in terms of strength, but they are currently playing like they're on steroids.

If we fail to score a goal during this period, the consequences will be very serious.

Even worse, that momentum might dissipate.

Thinking of this, a hint of admiration flashed in Ferguson's eyes. "He's smart and perceptive; he seized the opportunity to win."

"But more importantly, the team's core players are all willing to give their all in the game for him, so the management is doing a good job."

The Glazer brothers and Woodward looked at each other in bewilderment.

Woodward, in particular, was puzzled: Sir, are you sure you're not talking about Moyes?

He was reading management books on the plane!

"Yang Fan studied economics in college, so he has some background in management," Woodward replied.

Just like that old geezer Wenger.

Ferguson muttered to himself, "There's a term in management called the alpha wolf effect. In football, if the two or three core players are willing to give their all in a match, they can often motivate their teammates to fight just as hard."

"I guess Pellegrini must have anticipated our strategy of seizing the opening opportunity and must have made corresponding contingency plans, but his strategy is to take advantage of this and devour us in one fell swoop."

"But judging from the start of the match, our determination far exceeded their expectations."

It even far exceeded everyone's expectations!

It's worth noting that Manchester United started rather conservatively against Olympiacos just a week ago.

Now it's very radical.

This is a high-stakes gamble.

If we can score a goal, that would certainly be a good thing.

But what if you can't get one?

They might not be able to hold on until the second half!

In fact, if we are not careful, the situation could get completely out of control and turn into a massacre!

……

Whether it's passing and teamwork or overall speed, everyone can see that Manchester United is inferior to Manchester City.

But from the start, Manchester United created a terrifying pressure at home, and with this fighting spirit, they managed to suppress their city rivals.

Manchester City, of course, is not to be underestimated.

They seized several opportunities to penetrate deep into Manchester United's territory, but were unable to create any truly threatening attacks.

5 minute, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, 13 minutes...

Manchester United are still fighting!

But mistakes are visibly increasing.

In the 14th minute, Rooney received the ball at the bottom of the center circle in Manchester City's half and dribbled forward.

Before Fernandinho could get close, he immediately passed the ball to Fellaini.

The Belgian received the ball with his back to the direction of attack, then turned to try and pass it behind Van Persie.

However, the intention to pass the ball was too obvious, and Kompany used his body to block Van Persie and intercepted the ball first.

After intercepting the ball, Kompany will dribble forward to launch a counter-attack.

Just then, Van Persie caught up from behind and made another sliding tackle, bringing Kompany and the ball to the ground.

The whistle suddenly blew.

Manchester City players shouted at the referee, demanding cards.

The Manchester United fans in the stadium booed loudly.

The referee quickly ran back without taking any further action.

Van Persie gave the referee a thumbs-up in appreciation.

He already has a yellow card; if he gets another one, it will be a red card.

Joe Hart quickly ran out of the penalty area and took a free kick from just outside the arc, passing it to Clichy.

Manchester City launch a quick counter-attack!

Klichy passed the ball to David Silva, who then passed it to Nasri.

A series of consecutive one-touch passes.

Phil Jones rushed out as Nasri received the ball near the left sideline of Manchester United's 30-meter zone.

But the Frenchman's footwork was very skillful. He first made a lateral pass, fooling Phil Jones, and then suddenly passed the ball to the baseline.

Dzeko made a diagonal run into the left side of the penalty area and successfully intercepted the ball.

At the crucial moment, Ferdinand acted like a formidable fortress, blocking Dzeko near the baseline in time. In addition, Phil Jones quickly returned to defend, forming a double attack that trapped Dzeko near the baseline.

Pochettino made a hasty cross, but Carrick cleared the ball out of the penalty area before David Silva could reach it.

Yaya Toure made a run forward and, under pressure from Fellaini, took a long-range shot without stopping the ball.

It went too high!

The game was extremely intense, with a very fast pace.

Manchester United took a goal kick, but Manchester City, who had been under pressure since the start of the game, began to increase their pressing in the midfield and attacking third.

Dzeko, David Silva, and Nasri simultaneously pressed Manchester United's defense.

Valencia immediately ran back and received a diagonal pass from Ferdinand.

But when he stopped the ball on the right side of the midfield line and tried to dribble forward, Fernandinho suddenly appeared and tackled him and the ball to the ground, and the ball went out of bounds.

Out of bounds!

That was intense!

Both sides fought extremely hard.

Everyone present was on tenterhooks.

……

When Valencia raised the ball with both hands just outside the right sideline of the halfway line, Carrick was the only one around him to receive it.

Further away is Phil Jones on the right flank, within 30 meters of our side.

But Dzeko, Nasri, and David Silva all beat them.

Manchester City are not to be trifled with!

Rooney first turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Van Persie and Fellaini's positions, and then slowly walked back.

Fernandinho remained positioned to his left, effectively blocking Valencia's throw-in route to him.

Valencia originally intended to quickly throw the ball out of bounds to Carrick.

But David Silva arrived so quickly that he changed his mind.

There were no better rendezvous points nearby.

Just as Valencia hesitated to throw the ball to Phil Jones, who was further away, Rooney ran back diagonally.

"Here!" Rooney raised his hand, calling for the ball.

Upon hearing this, Valencia was about to throw it over when Fernandinho quickly closed in on Rooney.

This led the Ecuadorian national team player to give up again.

Rooney reacted quickly, realizing the danger and immediately changing his strategy. He suddenly stopped, changed direction, and cut diagonally from behind Fernandinho to the right side of the line, pointing ahead.

"quick!"

Valencia reacted quickly, throwing the ball towards the inside of the right sideline.

This looks like it's going to be thrown to Krishnamurti.

But just as the ball landed, Rooney rushed over and blocked Clichy's position.

Lu Xiaopang used his body to block Clichy, and with two consecutive touches, successfully controlled the ball.

Before Fernandinho could double-team him, he immediately kicked the ball back.

The ball was passed back to Valencia along the right flank.

The Ecuadorian player was still outside the line, but he managed to stop the ball inside the line first, and then made a through pass back to Rooney.

At that moment, Rooney had just passed the ball and, taking advantage of Clichy's momentary lapse in concentration, immediately launched a challenge, forcibly creating some space.

When the ball came again, he turned around, took control, and dribbled the ball directly towards the baseline.

In terms of speed, Rooney is not as fast as Clichy.

However, the previous confrontation prevented the French left-back from getting into position in time.

Fernandinho is positioned further back.

This allowed Rooney to catch up with the ball, glance into the penalty area, and immediately unleash a low, diagonal pass behind the defense into the penalty area.

Demichelis desperately tracked back on the right side of the penalty area line, making a sliding tackle to try and intercept the ball.

But Rooney's pass was so fast that the Argentines didn't even touch it.

Van Persie arrived right behind Demichelis.

Behind him was Kompany, and in front of him, goalkeeper Joe Hart had also rushed out to the edge of the six-yard box, blocking most of the shooting angles.

Most importantly, the ball is extremely fast and very difficult to handle.

But who is Robin van Persie?

In that split second, a brilliant idea flashed through the Dutchman's mind, and he gently blocked the ball coming from the right with his left foot.

The ball hit the inside of Van Persie's left foot, bounced high, and slowed down considerably.

After clearing over Joe Hart's head, it quickly plummeted, landing just inside the left side of Manchester City's goal.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"16th minute, 16th minute of the first half!"

"Van Persie!"

"At the crucial moment, Van Persie opened the scoring for Manchester United with a very delicate chip shot!"

"That was an extremely difficult shot!"

"From Robin van Persie!"

The entire Old Trafford stadium erupted with unprecedented passion at that moment.

Almost all the fans couldn't help but rush out of their seats.

After scoring, Van Persie excitedly turned around and ran off the field, sprinting all the way to the sidelines to celebrate.

Rooney, Fellaini, and other teammates also chased after them.

"At a crucial moment, the connection between two star players created a spectacular goal!"

Manchester United are leading 1-0!

When Yang Fan saw Van Persie score, he jumped up in excitement.

His carefully prepared trump card, Fellaini, has so far failed to achieve the desired effect.

Thinking about it carefully, it's not surprising.

Pellegrini will definitely be a key player that Yang Fan relies on.

Yaya Toure likes to make runs forward, so Fellaini focuses his attacks on his side. Kompany has to keep a close eye on Fellaini, which gives Van Persie the opportunity to make flexible runs.

This led to the connection between Rooney and Van Persie, which helped the team break the deadlock first.

That's the magic of football!