Chapter 463 Christmas Head Dish

In the Christmas war, the fans finally ushered in the return of the Red Devil! After beating Bolton 5-0 away at the beginning of the season, Manchester United finally swept Fulham at home with the same score at Craven Farm, making a good start for the arrival of the "Christmas Campaign".

Bunlikely, Manchester United has achieved an unbeaten record of 7 wins and 2 draws so far in the away game of the Premier League this season. Recently, they have achieved 5 consecutive away victories with perfect performance - scoring 10 goals and not losing a goal! Don't forget that Manchester United, the 10-11 league champion, only won five away games last season. It seems that after the early exit of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester United can be described as "shameful and brave" and proved with practical actions that they are still the most powerful contender for the league championship.

After losing 1-2 away to Basel in Switzerland, a huge sense of crisis shrouded over Old Trafford and lingered for a long time.

Under such circumstances, it is not easy for Manchester United to defeat their opponents with big scores such as 4-1, 2-0 and 5-0 in the last three games. You know, before that, Manchester United scored three goals in a single game, which was completed in the away game against the weak team Aldershot in League Two two months ago. The timely return of the midfield attack power led by Li Yu, Nani, Valencia and others also provided sufficient confidence for the team's later journey.

Manchester United, which scored three goals in the first half of this game, has not made the fans feel so "assured" for a long time.

It is worth noting that Fulham eventually tied the league leader when he was two goals behind Manchester City at home. Manchester United has scored three goals in the first 45 minutes four times in the league this season, which is the most frequent in the Premier League. The opponents are Bolton, Arsenal, Chelsea and Fulham in this game.

In this game as a guest of Craven Farm, Manchester United showed extremely strong dominance and attracted praise from the British media. A British journalist said on Twitter after the game: "This is like a training match for Manchester United." Former Arsenal legend Martin Keon, as a BBC commentator, also expressed his opinion: "Fulham can't stop Manchester United. Most home fans may want to go home or make some preparations for Christmas shopping in advance.

For Manchester United, taking a few more goals will help to catch up with Manchester City. It's a great night. The injured Manchester United young player Cleverley also tweeted for the first time after the first half: "Everyone gave a great first half, but Dempsey's foul on Phil Jones was disappointing."

Some pre-match data prove that the team is on the right track.

Just last season, Manchester United remained unbeaten in the first 16 rounds of the league until February. In terms of the record points of the same period, Manchester United's performance this season is even better - 39 points in 16 rounds, 5 more points and 3 wins than last season, and one more goal. Before this game, 79% of Manchester United's goals occurred in the second half, accounting for the largest proportion of the top teams.

He scored three goals in the first half of this game and announced to the world that Manchester United in the first 45 minutes was also terrible! Young player Smarlin has issued a counterattack declaration: "Manchester City may feel comfortable at the top of the table, but if we can regain the top position in the next few weeks, it will be difficult to be knocked down, because we will become stronger with the deepening of the season."

Smarin's confidence is by no means unfounded. Historical data will tell people very clearly that Manchester United is a team that is good at playing in the second half of the league, especially around Christmas - even if other teams can top the table when Christmas comes. But the final league championship is likely to still fall into the hands of Manchester United.

Since the 92-93 Premier League, Manchester United has won 12 championship trophies in 19 years of competition. Of these 12 championship seasons, Manchester United finally reversed eight times when other teams won the "Christmas championship".

On the other hand, from the later schedule, Manchester United is likely to overtake Manchester City and return to the top of the table before the arrival of the FA Cup derby: home against Wigan Athletic, Blackburn, and away to Newcastle are the last three games of Manchester United, during which Manchester City will play away against West Bromway. Qi, Sunderland, and then returned home to play against "hard bones" Liverpool.

Therefore, for Manchester United, the next three league games are crucial, and the result will determine whether the team can have a "double advantage" in points and psychology before meeting a sworn enemy in the same city. I believe that with the recent recovery of Manchester United, nothing is impossible.

From past experience, Manchester United's ability to fight at home is far better than playing away. It is very important to find your home ability as soon as possible. Now Manchester United have broken the most difficult "window paper" to become the "already road dragon". The Red Devils' strong away fighting ability this season seems to have made Manchester City feel threatened, and even tampered with ticket sales.

In the face of the upcoming FA Cup focus battle, the game has not yet begun. The "Manchester City Heroes" have competed outside the court: in the upcoming FA Cup, there were 7,000 tickets to be sold to away Manchester United fans, but in the end, there were only 5,700 tickets, much less than scheduled. It is said that this is because Manchester City believes that the security issue will face a severe test. The voice from Manchester United is quite dissatisfied with Manchester City's approach: "We have informed the FA about this matter. This is just something we can do."

On the field, compared with Manchester City after 3-0, Manchester United continues to strengthen their attack when they lead by 3 goals, which shows the urgency of winning the goal. I believe that such a positive and excited mentality will further promote the team to catch up with its sworn enemies in the scoreboard and get the long-lost top position. The final ownership of the champion and runner-up is likely to be like a 100-meter dash, and the gap is only a millimeter.

A hearty victory put Manchester United back on the right track, winning four consecutive victories in the league, and continuing to chase the leader Manchester City. It is still in a relatively favorable position in the table when the "Christmas Campaign" comes.

In response to this game, Manchester United coach Ancelotti was very satisfied with the performance of the players after the game and revealed some information about the team's injuries.

An Shuai said: "Objectively speaking, we performed very well in the first half, just like the whole season. Maybe you will think that the third goal will win Fulham and kill the game, but they showed great aggression in the second half. They changed their style of playing football, but on the contrary, we are not afraid of the threat of our opponents. We already have some injured players. Phil Jones' jaw was elbowed by Dempsey, but I don't think it was a deliberate foul. We will have an X-ray examination for Jones tomorrow. This doesn't look good." According to The Sun and the Daily Mail, Phil Jones is likely to have a broken cheekbone and may be absent for up to six weeks.

Phil Jones is not the only injured Manchester United player in this game. Ashley Young, who replaced Jones in the 20th minute, limped off the field after a fight in the second half. Ancelotti said: "Fulham played very aggressively, and Mata paid the price for it. He will be absent for two to three weeks." Unfortunately, this is the second time that the new Manchester United player has suffered an unpleasant injury this season. If he is absent for three weeks, Mata will not be able to play in the third round of the FA Cup against Manchester City on January 8.

On the other hand, the defensive player Ferdinand may continue to miss the next game against Wigan. Ancelotti said: "Rio injured his foot against the Queen's Park Rangers last Sunday. I think he should be able to play against Blackburn on New Year's Eve, not against Wigan Athletic.

After losing two players again in this game, Manchester United's injury situation has further deteriorated. Players including Phil Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Anderson, Mata, Fletcher, Cleverley and Owen have suffered different degrees of injuries and still need treatment and observation in the near future.

After being knocked down by Dempsey's elbow, the British media worried that Phil Jones would be absent for five or six weeks, but now it seems that this worry is superfluous. According to the Daily Mail, Phil Jones is relatively optimistic about his injury and may even make a comeback against Wigan on Festival Day (December 26).

It is reported that Phil Jones is not training with the team, but observing alone in Manchester United's rehabilitation center.

Phil Jones has gone to the hospital for an X-ray examination, and the results will be announced by Ferguson at his weekly press conference, but from now on the moment, there will be no problem.

According to The Sun, Phil Jones was only a facial soft tissue contusion, not a previously expected cheekbone fracture. If he comes back against Wigan, he is likely to wear a mask and become a mask man on the feast day. As for Ashley Young, who was also injured in the game against Fulham, he doesn't seem to be so lucky. It is initially estimated that his injury will take two weeks to recover.

Cleverley needs to recover, but Manchester United doesn't seem to worry about the central avant-back, because Giggs shows his dancing steps again.

The Manchester Evening News said that Giggs was very happy after the goal, and he thought Manchester United was on the right track. Giggs said, "These weeks have been good. Look at our game with Fulham, which is completely at our pace, similar to the game against the Queen's Park Rangers. At Craven Stadium, we are back to the top. Giggs pointed out in particular that Manchester United's current midfield is very good: "Carrick and I are in the midfield, and the forward is very bright. Obviously, the defense is also very good.

Li Yu, who scored a shocking goal against Fulham, also praised the team's away performance this season. Li Yu said, "This is really an amazing change. We only lost 2 points at home last season, but we have lost 5 points this season, but our away record has come up. Li Yu is a little proud of her goal: "This is a great victory. We played very well. We seized the opportunity and was glad that I also scored a goal. He believes that today's Manchester United are already waiting for Manchester City to make a mistake: "We must keep moving forward and push Manchester City. If they will slip, we will raid them."

After Van der Sar's retirement, many people are worried that Manchester United will cause a big decline due to the position of the goalkeeper, but the former coach Ferguson not only filled the vacancy after van der Sar's leaving, but even the goalkeeper will be worry-free in the next 15 years. However, when there are two top configurations in the same position, people will sigh that "Yi Sheng Yu, He Sheng Liang".

De Gea, known as "the most talented young goalkeeper in Europe", quickly adapted to Manchester United after joining Atletico Madrid this summer and had an excellent performance. He has just been selected as the best player in November selected by Manchester United's official website.

Another unknown Danish goalkeeper Lindegaard, who came to Manchester United, also had a satisfactory answer in his limited playing time. He has conceded only one goal in six appearances for Manchester United this season.

However, in the view of the new coach Ancelotti, having two top goalkeepers is not a problem: "This is not a problem, because I think Lindgaard is more experienced. I think we can let him play at the right time. For De Gea, we will do the same." Ancelotti believes that De Gea and Lindegaard have their own strengths: "De Gea is only 20 years old, and he will become a dream goalkeeper. There is no doubt that Lindgaard as a substitute can let him rest at the right time. Lindgard is also a good goalkeeper, and he is more experienced.

Although An Shuai has some "pish preferences" for De Gea, the Dane Lindgaard is not jealous: "We have two world-class players in each position, and the head coach is not afraid to use the whole lineup." After a 5-0 victory over Fulham, Lindgaard has reached five games this season. Lindgaard said, "I haven't conceded five games. This is a beautiful data, and I'm very satisfied with it. We played some wonderful games and we didn't lose too many goals. As I said before, no one will remember any saves before 10 games. They will only remember the data.

Lindgaard is full of confidence in Manchester United's trend this season: "After losing to Manchester City, we performed very well. We are very unlucky to be out of the Champions League. We can only blame ourselves, but other than that, we have performed very well, especially in the near future. Lindgard believes that his team must put enough pressure on Manchester City: "I think Manchester City is already under pressure. I know that Manchester United have a tradition of performing better in winter, so this will be a critical period to determine the ownership of the championship.

It is worth noting that in this game, Manchester United's performance on the offensive side is needless to say, and on the defensive side, the team's performance is equally excellent, which is the fifth consecutive time they have kept a clean sheet in the league away. Danish goalkeeper Lindeard unexpectedly rotated De Gea to start before the game. His performance did not disappoint Ancelotti. In the face of Fulham's fierce attack in the second half, Lindgard took high and low blocks to protect the city goal and helped the team welcome the arrival of Christmas with a perfect victory.

This game is Lindgard's fourth appearance in the league for Manchester United this season. Before the start of the game, captain Evra deliberately shook hands with Lindgard behind him in the player channel to cheer him up.

In the first half, Fulham was very abnormal. They did not pose any threat to Lindgaard in the attack. They only made their first shot in half-time, but Andrew Johnson's low shot in the penalty area was easily obtained by Lindgaard. I'm afraid Andrew Johnson didn't expect that the Manchester United substitute goalkeeper would become his nightmare in this game.

In the second half, Fulham, who was behind, launched a crazy counterattack. Manchester United was once dangerous in the penalty area and could only rely on sporadic counterattacks to launch an offensive. In the 56th minute, Brian Ruiz made a corner kick. Dempsey's header was confiscated by Lindegaard in front of the goal line. Evra, who was guarding the post, broke out in a cold sweat. He patted Lindegaard to encourage him.

In the 79th minute, Dempsey passed Andrew Johnson on the right side of the penalty area, who shot vigorously in the penalty area, and Lindgaard saved the ball out of the crossbar with his fingertips. In the 82nd minute, Murphy found Andrew Johnson in front of the penalty area. The latter chose a low shot against Lindegaard one-on-one, and the Danish goalkeeper reacted very much. Quickly, a side jump pressed the ball firmly under his body. Andrew Johnson could only hold his head and sigh, and Lindgard also waved his fist to cheer for his performance.

In the 88th minute, the unbelieving Andrew Johnson tried to make a strong long shot outside the penalty area, but was still saved by Lindgaard. In the 89th minute, Zamora's possession of the ball caused chaos in the Manchester United penalty area. Captain Evra made a mistake, and Andrew Johnson got a direct conversation with Lindgaard. Perhaps influenced by the aura shown by Lindegaard's previous saves, Andrew Johnson's push shot missed the post, and Fulham finally failed to score a face-saving goal.

Perhaps this night is destined not to belong to the unlucky Andrew Johnson, but to Manchester United's lucky star Lindegaard. In the post-match scoring of Sky Sports, Lindgaard also got a high score of 7 points.

Although the outside world defines the Dane as a substitute for De Gea, and although Schmeichel looks down on this little brother, as long as he is given a chance to play, he will definitely contribute to a stable performance and bring good luck to Manchester United. Lindegaard has played four league games and two Champions League games for Manchester United this season. Manchester United has maintained an unbeaten record of 5 wins and 1 draw. More importantly, in these six games, the opponent shot a total of 78 goals and 19 times. Lindegaard only lost one goal in the Champions League group stage against Benfica.

This is simply a big miracle! Of course, you can attribute this magical data to luck or the lack of strength of the opponent, but everyone who has watched the game knows that Lindgaard has played very well in these games, made almost no mistakes, and has contributed world-class saves many times. His performance is enough to reassure Ancelotti and Manchester United fans.

BBC football consultant and former Arsenal star Martin Keon specially praised Lindegaard when commenting on this game, and believes that Lindegaard has the strength to compete with De Gea for the main goalkeeper position of Manchester United. Kion said: "Manchester United seems to be the No. 1 goal for De Gea and Lindegaard. I'm not sure that both of them have performed well, but I don't think they have enough dominance, so I think Manchester United will continue to rotate in the position of goalkeeper in the next season.

Although Lindgaard's value and fame are not as good as that of De Gea, it is obvious that he is underestimated, and his strength is not inferior to the Spanish goalkeeper.

Lindegaard's existence is also a good good competition for De Gea. Both of them can learn from each other and grow together in this confrontation, which is also what Ferguson, who is good at training young people, wants to see. Lindegaard's excellent performance has also made Kuzzzak, the former Van der Sar's successor, desperate. Poland is likely to transfer to Olympiakos of Greece after the winter transfer window opens.

But Kuzzzak's leaving has little impact on the team. Lindgaard's performance is worthy of the position of the second goalkeeper, and he can even hit the main force. The low-key and calmness of the Danish goalkeeper makes people expect more from him. Van der Sar's retirement has made countless fans worry about Manchester United's goalkeeper position, but I believe that De Gea and Lindgaard, who are gradually growing up, can one day truly take over Van der Sar's gloves with convincing performance and become a new generation of goalkeepers of Manchester United!