From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 875 Open Competition

Guardiola stamped his feet in anger on the sidelines, and he shouted Rodri's name. Manchester City's goal was lost when Foden passed the ball to Rodri but it was intercepted.

Although the ball was passed back by Foden, the responsibility mainly lies with Rodri. He did not take the initiative to run up to receive the ball, but stood there waiting for the ball, which gave Manchester United the opportunity to intercept the ball.

Rodri moved to Manchester City for a high price of 2019 million euros in the summer of 7000, which created a record transfer in Manchester City's history. He was regarded as the successor to Fernandinho, and the Brazilian midfielder was considered one of the best defensive midfielders in Premier League history at the time.

Rodri's start in the Premier League was not smooth. Although he played 52 games in all competitions and was a key player for Manchester City, his performance was far behind Fernandinho. Many people thought it would be difficult for him to get out of Fernandinho's shadow. Rodri himself was not satisfied with his first season at Manchester City: "My first year at Manchester City can be described as a disaster. I didn't know what my teammates were saying to me at the time. I could only respond with actual actions on the field."

However, since the beginning of this season, Rodri has gradually found his role in the midfield and has become an important part of the team's central axis. He can make breakthroughs in the offense and become the team's metronome in the midfield.

However, what Guardiola found hard to accept was that Rodri made such a mistake in such an important game today, which was really disappointing.

………………

While the players were celebrating the goal, Mourinho called Kante to the sidelines and added to his previous adjustment: press Rodri!

Two minutes later, Manchester City midfielder and goal scorer De Bruyne sat on the ground after a stop and made a substitution gesture.

Manchester City was forced to make a substitution, De Bruyne was replaced by Aguero.

This substitution also allowed Guardiola to complete the formation adjustment, from the previous 442 to 433, with Aguero partnering with Foden and Jesus to form a trident, and Rashford, Nado Silva, Rodri and Pogba forming the three midfielders.

Mourinho was almost overjoyed on the sidelines.

Manchester City's midfielders are De Bruyne, Rodri, Pogba, Rashford and Nadal Silva. Rodri is the single defensive midfielder and is easily beaten. Pogba, Rashford and Nadal Silva focus on attack. After the start of today's game, the only one who is really diligent on the defensive end and has made certain defensive contributions is De Bruyne.

Now, De Bruyne has unexpectedly left the field due to injury. In Mourinho's eyes, Manchester City's midfield is almost defenseless.

However, at this moment, Manchester City scored again.

This is Jesus who just returned to the left winger position and made a low pass from the left. Pogba kicked the ball to the right side of the penalty area in time. Rodri, who had just made a mistake in defense, actively moved forward and completed the header.

He had just come on as a substitute and under Aguero's close defense, he made a high-quality half-turn volley, and the ball flew into the net between goalkeeper De Gea's hands.

"GOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

Aguero ran excitedly to celebrate and kept calling on his teammates to join in.

………………

Mourinho shook his head unhappily. There was nothing he could do about this ball. Maguire's defense was average and there was nothing wrong. It was really that Aguero's personal ability was too strong.

Aguero's goal helped Manchester City to lead the score again, 2:1!

Manchester City fans are happy again. This kind of game of chasing each other makes them feel relieved. It can even be said that even if Manchester City leads 2:0 or 3:0, they are actually nervous. Now this anxious state is quite good.

However, just five minutes later, Manchester United broke through Manchester City's defense again.

This is after Luke Shaw and Rashford made a wall-to-wall pass and dribbled the ball into the penalty area.

Stones came up to defend in an obviously flustered manner.

Luke Shaw pushed the ball to the outside and then forced an overtake.

In such a simple and direct way, Luke Shaw passed Stones and then dribbled into the penalty area.

After attracting Kyle Walker to fill the position, Luke Shaw knocked the ball to Harry Kane, who passed it back to Rashford.

"Marcus Rashford! Shoot!"

Stones was passed by Luke Shaw and was still a little dazed. Kyle Walker was attracted by Luke Shaw, Ruben Dias was defending Mbappe, Zinchenko was restrained by Bruno, Rodri was also restrained by Gundogan, Rashford was unguarded at the top of the penalty area, and he kicked the ball directly. The football drew an arc, passed over the left hand of Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, and flew into the net along the post.

2:2, Manchester United equalized the score again.

………………

On the sidelines, Guardiola grabbed the bald head hard.

Manchester United is always able to quickly equalize the score after Manchester City takes the lead. This deadlocked situation makes Guardiola anxious and even a little scared, as if he is being stared at by a wild beast, which may bite him down at any time after the stalemate.

Objectively speaking, Manchester City's performance in today's game was not that bad. On the contrary, it could be said to be remarkable.

In the 41st minute of the game, Manchester City created another scoring opportunity. This time Foden dribbled the ball and Van Dijk came up to defend.

Foden pulled the ball with his left foot, pretending to break through, but he flicked the ball beautifully with his ankle and passed it to Rodri who was making a run.

Manchester United's defensive players swarmed towards Rodri.

The Spanish midfielder showed his football talent to the public. He did not stop the ball, but passed the ball with an unconventional move.

Pogba followed up and shot the ball!

De Gea saved the powerful shot.

Foden rushed forward and wanted to follow up with a shot, but Maguire held his position tightly and kicked the ball out of the sideline, thus clearing the situation.

"Beautiful, Manchester City played a beautiful offensive combination, it was really pleasing to the eye."

"Although the score is 2:2, which is not favorable for Manchester City, the Blue Moon Army did play well today."

………………

Guardiola clenched his fists excitedly when he saw Pogba's long shot. When he saw the ball being blocked, he waved his hands regretfully. Then he saw Foden rushing up for a follow-up shot and he was so nervous that he almost jumped up. Then he saw the ball being cleared and his whole body leaned back, jumping with regret.

"The attack has been launched, but we were just unlucky," Rodolfo Borrelli consoled.

"No matter how beautiful the attack is, it's useless if we don't score any goals," Guardiola said angrily.

Rodolfo Borelli shook his head and said nothing. He knew that Manchester City was still 5 points behind Manchester United even though they had played one more game in the league, and there were only 5 games left in the league. This put Guardiola under great pressure. The Champions League had become Manchester City's lifeline. If they couldn't win this game at home, it would be very difficult to turn the tables away from home.

At the same time, Mourinho was frightened by Manchester City's attack. He gritted his teeth and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw De Gea save Pogba's shot. His teeth were chattering.

Mourinho was not satisfied with goalkeeper De Gea's previous performance, especially the first goal conceded. De Gea's attack was very rash, which gave De Bruyne the opportunity to shoot into the empty goal from the center circle.

In fact, De Gea's condition this season has declined a lot compared to last season. Although Manchester United is the league leader, they have conceded 3 more goals than Manchester City with one game less.

There are certain reasons why we concede many goals and the goalkeeper’s performance is average.

………………

The best thing about a football match is that you never know what will happen in the next second.

Manchester City played a very beautiful offensive combination, which boosted the morale of the home team. Then Manchester City sent a sideline ball, Jesus received the ball and turned around, trying to pass Cancelo, but the Portuguese defender stably and ruthlessly intercepted the ball.

After completing this beautiful steal, Cancelo took a step forward, made a slight adjustment, then looked ahead and passed the ball with a big foot.

"Clearance - no! It's a pass! It's Manchester United's counterattack!"

The Portuguese right-back's passing skills were demonstrated in this pass, as the ball crossed most of the field and flew from Manchester United's penalty area to the front court.

Manchester City's attack this time was very high, with Stones being the only defender in the penalty area.

Mbappe was sprinting after the ball, and Stones seemed a little hesitant, not knowing whether to attack.

"Go ahead!" Goalkeeper Ederson shouted anxiously.

Stones rushed out.

Outside the penalty area, the ball was falling in the air. Stones rushed towards the ball, and Mbappe did not slow down at all. He rushed forward without fear. The two men collided with each other, and the ball hit them and bounced out.

Stones fell to the ground and Mbappe's body also fell forward, looking like he was about to fall flat on his face.

At this point, Mbappe's amazing physical agility came into play. He did not fall down, but instead crawled up using his hands and feet.

At this time, Stones was still lying on the ground.

………………

"Foul!" Guardiola raised his hands and jumped and shouted on the sidelines.

The Manchester City players on the bench were also shouting: Foul!

Mourinho was anxious and yelled: "Reasonable collision!"

Faced with such a situation, people on both sides must have different views. After all, the butt determines the head.

At this time, it depends on how the referee whistle is made.

Everyone's eyes turned to the German referee Frank Brüch who was officiating the game.

The whistle didn't blow, and Brüch was running, which meant: no foul! The game continued!

Fortunately, this game was a closed game, otherwise there would definitely be boos from the stands of the Etihad Stadium.

On the field, Mbappe caught up with the ball and broke into the penalty area.

Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson left the goal.

Mbappe swung his right foot.

Ederson was on full alert, lowering his center of gravity, ready to make a save at any time.