Chapter 604: Lost Hope
While Manchester City beat Barnsley to reach the FA Cup final, Chelsea struggled in the Champions League, with their opponents Fenerbahce not a particularly good team, but they suffered a defeat on the road, a 2-1 draw, but a 2-1 defeat that made them a must-win when they returned to their home stadium to progress to the last four of the Champions League......
With Manchester City back in the weekend, Grant will need to think about whether to focus on the Champions League or continue to struggle in the league.
After all, they are now a full nine points less than Manchester City, five points less than Manchester United, with six rounds left in the league, it is almost impossible to expect both opponents to be surpassed by them, and now for Chelsea, the Champions Cup is more important, Chelsea is now such a champion, and Grant also wants to win this championship that Mourinho has never won to prove his strength.
The second leg of the Champions League is next week and Manchester City is away again...... Grant made the difficult decision to leave most of his squad and midweek players in London and instead arrived in Manchester with a mix of substitutes and young players......
His approach has upset Manchester United's supporters, who see them as completely depraved and unpromising, but Grant doesn't care about that anymore, all he thinks about now is the Champions Cup.
Luckily enough, Dick was not going to give up such a victory, he sent all his main force to defeat Chelsea 2-0 at home, this round of the league was undoubtedly a turning point, and Manchester United, who also had a Champions League game in midweek, could not extend their winning streak, they were beaten 2-2 away at Middlesbrough, and the gap between them and Manchester City was extended to six points!
With only five rounds left, a six-point lead! Such an advantage is almost unshakable, not to mention that Manchester United has to be distracted to play the Champions League - in this case, I am afraid that even Ferguson can only choose to give up the league and concentrate on playing the Champions Cup.
"Dick's luck is so good...... All kinds of times and places gathered together, so that his opponents had no way to fight him to the end in the league with all their might...... Of course, Manchester City's results this season have been excellent, they have now lost just two games, the fewest in the entire Premier League like Arsenal, but Arsenal have drawn too much, a full eleven draws have left them 12 points behind Manchester City with only five draws, and United have lost two more...... In this way, there is basically no suspense about Manchester City winning the league this season, and they are likely to become the first team ever to win three of the most important competitions in England at the same time! Dick's first Premier League season was perfect from now on! β
Now what everyone can see is that as long as Manchester City does not have any problems with itself, there will be no big problem in winning the league, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Fulham are not strong teams, they have no pursuit, there will be no problem to beat them with Manchester City's overall strength, as long as they win three games, Manchester City is basically no problem, even if their goal difference is only two more than Manchester United, but in the remaining two rounds of games against Liverpool and Middlesbrough to get a point, the problem will not be too big, What's more, Manchester United may not be able to win all of them, after all, they still have the Champions League to play......
Manchester City rested quietly and watched the other teams go to play in the Champions League - in midweek, Manchester United beat Roma 1-0 at home to reach the last four of the Champions League, and Chelsea's waiver in midweek also had an effect, they beat Fenerbahce 2-0 at home, successfully reversed their opponents, and also reached the last four of the Champions League!
The semi-finals are also the best results in Chelsea's Champions League history, and Ranieri and Mourinho have both achieved such results, but they have never been able to go further......
And this time in the semi-finals, their opponent is Liverpool, who has spoiled their good things several times! Manchester United's opponent is Barcelona.
When Manchester United also reached the last four, Dick knew that probably no team would have the ability to stop Manchester City from winning the league title, now Manchester United is Manchester City's biggest resistance, but now their semi-final opponent is Barcelona, which is an opponent that they need to give their best to beat, in this situation, how long can Manchester United hold on? You must know that Manchester United's bench depth is not very good at the moment.
However, in the next round of games, Manchester United will still play in the league, their next opponent is Arsenal, and there is no game in the next week, Manchester United has not yet given up immediately, they will try to beat Arsenal, and then see how Manchester City goes, if Manchester City continues to win, then in the next round, they may have to turn their attention to the Champions League in midweek, for Manchester City, they have enough initiative.
On April 12, in the 34th round of the league, Manchester United hosted Arsenal and Manchester City hosted Sunderland.
For the Manchester United fans who watched the game, they were busy, and in addition to cheering for Manchester United, they also had to pay attention to the timely score on another field......
The score was 0-0 in the first half, and the news from the other field was also 0-0, Manchester City was met with stubborn resistance from Sunderland at home, which also gave Manchester United fans a glimmer of hope, Manchester City still has not as good as Manchester United have a good experience in winning the title, and it does not seem too impossible to drop the chain at the last moment......
Ten minutes into the second half, the United fans erupted in a huge cheer as they were awarded a penalty in the game, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted to score his 28th league goal of the season, which put him ahead of Di Natale with 27 goals and moved him to the top of the scorers' charts!
And what made Manchester United fans even happier was the news coming from another stadium that Sunderland was ahead on the road! Manchester City are now 1-0 down!
If this score is maintained until the end, then Manchester United will only have three points gap between Manchester City and have a chance to challenge for the double!
In the 72nd minute, Michael Carrick's goal extended United's lead to two goals, sending the United fans cheering again, while on the other pitch, the news of a goalless goal came out, meaning City were still behind Sunderland β and there was hope for the United fans!
Now the attention of Manchester United fans is no longer on the game, but on the other field, and as the minutes go by, they seem to have seen the scene of chasing only three points and the scene of Manchester City starting to panic!
Ferguson also clenched his fists in the coach's box, although he had made up the idea of giving up the league, but for Ferguson, he didn't want to give up so easily, if Dick won the league championship this season, then next season's Manchester City, I'm afraid it will be unstoppable!
Seventy-five minutes have passed and City have yet to score.
Seventy-eight minutes have passed and City have yet to score.
Just as United fans were expecting the news of a goalless goalless viewing, the news on the radio silenced them.
"Ribery bursts into the box! Oh! Fouled! Penalty kick! The referee decisively awarded a penalty! The penalty was undisputed, and the Sunderland defender tackled him from the flank! The penalty was taken by Fernando Torres...... Can the Spanish golden boy withstand such pressure? The ball is in! Clean penalty goal! It was Torres' twentieth league goal of the season! Despite a goal drought, Torres still scored his most league goals in a single season! You know, his best year at Atletico was only eighteen league goals, and after the transfer he started to do better! Manchester City equalised! In the seventy-ninth minute! Now they still have a chance to win! β
This kind of news made Manchester United fans a little silent, but they quickly cheered up, even if it was a draw, it was good news, the gap of four points is obviously more difficult to catch up with than the gap of six points!
Chasing four points in four rounds is not a very difficult thing to do.
Ferguson chewed gum, his face expressionless, but his hands were clenched tightly, and his muscles were exposed, but he didn't feel the slightest feeling.
At this time, Ferguson also felt nervous, it is strange not to be nervous, the league champion Ferguson also values it, there are not enough league titles, how can Liverpool be pulled off the "fucking throne" without enough league titles......
"Man City pressed up front! They played fiercely and didn't seem to be satisfied with a draw, but needed a win! β
The sound on the radio was still ringing, and countless United fans were holding the radio to their ears and listening intently to the sound of the voice, hoping to hear the news that Sunderland had scored again, and it would be great if Sunderland scored again......
"Ribery breaks down the wing! Cut inside to shoot! It's a pity, sliding the door out! β
This Frenchman is so annoying...... Why don't you get him down? If you get it, the game will be even better......
"Torres catches the ball and forces a turn and shoot! The ball was blocked by the goalkeeper and the defender immediately cleared the ball with a big foot! β
The same annoying Spaniards...... There's no way to match our Rooney!
The clock ticked to the eighty-fifth minute, and at this moment, in the anticipation of Manchester United fans, the last thing they wanted to hear came on the radio!
'Richards got the assist forward and he passed to Di Natale at the edge of the box! Di Natale takes the ball with his back to the goal, Yaya Toure comes up to answer, will he pass the ball? Oh! It's a breakthrough! Di Natale forced his way around and broke through! It's a rare sight of him breaking through and breaking into the restricted area! Torres and Ribery are both receiving, will he pass the ball? No, he shot! The ball is in! The ball is in! GOOOOOALοΌ Di Natale! Di Natale! Goal after a beautiful individual breakaway! Di Natale, who has not scored in two consecutive rounds, announced his return with this goal! It was his twenty-eighth league goal of the season! The Italian is truly the most astonishing player in the Premier League this season! Manchester City are ahead! Two to one! Reversion! Lore! β
In the shouts on the radio, countless Manchester United fans scolded angrily, and at the same time, at the city stadium, it was in a state of boiling like a volcanic eruption!
Di Natale rushed out of the encirclement of his teammates, then rushed straight to the field and jumped on Dick's body, waving his fist at the stands, where Rulin's arms were waving at him, celebrating the beautiful goal!