The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

"Manchester City is the Red Devils' sworn enemy. They have a rubbish player named Rosler in their team who is despised by the Red Devils fans. This guy who humiliated the Red Devils with the Munich air crash even scored a goal with a lob at Old Trafford. Faced with such rubbish, the Red Devils team united in hatred and responded to the opponent's provocation with a classic reversal and a powerful beating."

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The Red Devils are chasing Newcastle, what is Newcastle doing?

Newcastle was very stable until the halfway point of the season. They took every step carefully and steadily, did not miss any opportunities, and firmly held the points advantage in their hands.

Even in the winter transfer window, Newcastle continued to spend big money to buy players and continuously strengthen the team. Kevin Keegan used his connections in Serie A to bring in the powerful striker Asprilla from Parma in Serie A. The news of this strong reinforcement caused a sensation in the British football world and made Ferguson feel like he was facing a formidable enemy. Asprilla played for the Serie A giants and was a famous star striker. Compared with many Premier League strikers, Keegan was very happy to buy this black striker who had ended AC Milan's unbeaten record in Serie A. He was very aware of Asprilla's strong strength and it was most appropriate to use him to strengthen the lineup. At that time, some media even said that Asprilla was likely to become the "Cantona" of Newcastle, using his excellent goal-scoring ability to escort the team and let the team go smoothly on the road to the championship.

Asprilla's first game was amazing. He came on as a substitute in the northeast derby between Newcastle and Middlesbrough. He first assisted Watson to help Newcastle equalize the score, and then assisted Ferdinand to score a lucky goal at the end of the game, allowing Newcastle to overtake. Although the Colombian did not score, he easily made two assists and brought the team victory. Ferdinand's goal was full of comedy. Asprilla took advantage of the low-level mistake made by the Middlesbrough goalkeeper to easily feed the ball. Ferdinand picked up a victory for nothing. The on-site commentator Martin Taylor said: "Newcastle is really blessed by God. They can score such a goal and reverse such a game. You must think that the championship is theirs!"

Asprilla's joining made Newcastle fans happy, but Manchester United fans were hit again. They bought a striker, and he immediately provided assists and helped win the game, while Manchester United did not even sign a central defender. The comparison between the two made the Manchester United lineup look ridiculously thin and hard to match.

After Newcastle reversed Middlesbrough, they once again led the Red Devils by 12 points, and the pressure was back on the Red Devils.

In this round, the Red Devils' opponent is the defending champion Blackburn Rovers.

The Red Devils, who were determined to win, attacked fiercely at the start and quickly took the lead. In the 15th minute, Cole received a wonderful pass from Cantona and broke into the penalty area, creating a great single-handed opportunity, but his shot somehow hit the post, which was a pity. Fortunately, the Red Devils' attacking players had a strong desire, and Lee Sharp arrived in time and pushed the ball into the empty goal, 1-0!

In the subsequent games, both sides attacked and defended, but neither scored a goal, and the Red Devils finally won a small victory.

Lee Sharp was praised by Ferguson after the game. "Lee Sharp overcame his injury and recovered, which is what we really wanted to see. Sharp's performance was excellent, he was very confident, and his game experience was getting richer, which made him more powerful."

Lee Sharpe's recovery and center back David May's full recovery have eased the Red Devils' short manpower situation. Ferguson no longer has to worry about watching his center backs being abused by opponents. Pallister and David May were able to successfully freeze the Premier League's top striker Alan Shearer, which allowed Ferguson to build a slightly more reliable defense when Bruce was frequently absent due to injuries.

The Red Devils' next game is in the FA Cup, against Manchester City.

The Manchester derby at Old Trafford sparked huge controversy, and Manchester City had to apologize. The cause of the incident was that Manchester City's German striker Rosler behaved too badly and inappropriately. He was the enemy of the entire Red Devils camp at the time. The Red Devils, from the coach to the players, from the fans to the media, were particularly angry with him. Rosler was a complete scumbag, with very bad behavior. Not only was he often known for his small movements to harass others, but he also often used words to provoke his opponents.

Rosler's hatred for the Red Devils is long-standing. When he joined Manchester City, he announced that he loved Manchester City and hated the Red Devils the most. He also appeared in public wearing a T-shirt insulting the Munich air crash and posted the photo on the Internet.

"Rosler's anti-human and anti-football behavior must be punished and must be stopped!" This was also the common position of the BBC and the Times at the time.

This incident attracted the attention of the English Football Association and also aroused the anger of the Red Devils fans. In the end, Rosler had to admit his mistake, but his attitude was very hypocritical and everyone could see that his arrogance had not subsided at all.

After being condemned and punished by the English Football Association, Manchester City Club also punished him and made a public apology on his behalf.

Even so, the stubborn Rosler later reiterated that England must protect freedom of speech, implying that he did not want to retract his remarks, which made him even more notorious.

This battle between the two cities unfolded in such an atmosphere.

Whether it was Rosler or anyone else, the entire Manchester City team did not seem to be planning to play the game properly, they were more like playing a game of rugby. Not only did the entire Manchester City team play rough and commit fouls, they also seemed to have arranged special tactics specifically targeting Keane, using different players to perform various small actions to harass Keane. Under the opponent's unbridled provocation, Keane was soon enraged and received a yellow card in the third minute.

After receiving the yellow card, Keane calmed down quickly and decided to take revenge on his opponent in another way.

After luring Keane into a trap, Manchester City continued to intensify their style of rough fouls in the game, creating sparks with the Red Devils.

The Red Devils, who were playing at home, were not afraid of provocations from their opponents, but the young Red Devils lacked experience and often lost control when confronting each other. The veterans in Manchester City were much worse. Their Michael Brown fouled the Red Devils' Butt. Not only did he not apologize, he even humiliated Nicky Butt after getting up from the ground, deliberately provoking the young player. Butt was pulled away in time, and Keane rushed up to beat up his opponent. At the moment when he was yelling and preparing to attack, Cantona and Giggs quickly hugged him, and the referee almost took out a second yellow card.

The Red Devils were a little irritated, and they were more eager to attack, but they were ambushed by the opponent when they were pressing hard. Georgian international Kinkradze from Manchester City sent a straight pass, and Rosler successfully beat the offside and faced the goalkeeper directly. Facing the attacking Schmeichel, he directly shot the ball into the goal.

The Red Devils are trailing 0-1.

Rosler's goal further angered the Red Devils fans, who were booed and cursed in the stadium. The Red Devils fans will never forget the enemy who insulted the Munich air crash and provoked them with a goal.

The Red Devils players, feeling humiliated, stepped up their offensive, but the shots they created were saved by the opponent's goalkeeper Imer, even the shot in the small penalty area was incredibly blocked by him. The Red Devils' fierce attack always failed to open the situation, but the strong attacks again and again also made the opponent's psychology tense to the extreme. The Red Devils shot continuously and got corner kicks continuously. The opponent's goalkeeper Imer bravely saved Bruce's powerful header, and when the whole Manchester City team was still in shock, the Red Devils took another corner kick. When there was chaos in the penalty area, the referee blew the whistle and determined that the Manchester City player in the penalty area fouled Cantona, a penalty kick!

Manchester City surrounded the referee. They were extremely dissatisfied. They thought that Cantona was only hugged from behind and didn't even fall down. This kind of physical contact was not even a foul. Why was a penalty awarded? The commentator was also puzzled. The ball flew high and far into the penalty area. It was obvious that Cantona could not get the ball. Why did the referee Alan Wilkie so firmly determine that it was a penalty?

Cantona took the penalty kick and scored it successfully after deceiving Imer.

At this time, the media reporters suddenly dug up the history. The referee was Wilkie, the referee of the match between the Red Devils and Crystal Palace a year ago when Cantona kicked the fan. It was he who judged that Cantona had committed a foul without the ball and retaliated against the opponent. After showing the yellow card, Cantona was expelled from the game.

“Is this compensation?”

Sky Sports cut out the details of Cantona being violated. "No, that's his style. He focuses on the hand movements and the process of the behavior itself, rather than the cause and other factors. In the red card back then and the penalty kick now, he doesn't care about the ball possession, he only looks at whether the physical contact is illegal."

After the second half, the weather suddenly changed. It started to rain heavily, and then it turned into sleet. In the rain and snow, the Red Devils players in red shirts continued to fight bravely under the encouragement of the fans' singing, while Manchester City became depressed and exhausted. The Red Devils continued to attack after the second half, completely suppressing their opponents on the field. But even with the unremitting efforts of the Red Devils, Manchester City's resistance collapsed at the last moment. The Red Devils launched a quick attack on the left side. Lee Sharpe rushed to the edge of the small penalty area and shot hard, but the opponent saved it. Then the Red Devils took a corner kick. Pallister jumped high at the back post and headed the ball, but it was higher than the crossbar. Before the end of the game, the Red Devils continued to attack on the left. Giggs attracted two defensive players and then split the sides. Phil Neville inserted from the bottom and made a cross. Lee Sharpe followed up with a volley shot in the middle, breaking through Imer's ten fingers in one fell swoop. The Red Devils reversed their opponents 2-1!

The Red Devils achieved their fifth consecutive win in all competitions and advanced to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Back in the league, the Red Devils faced Everton at Old Trafford.

Kanchelskis received a lot of attention before the game because he played very well this season and was often questioned by the media as to why Ferguson let go of such an excellent striker. As the biggest player in Everton, he has also become the team's thigh this season, leading the team to make good progress.

Everton, playing away, started the game aggressively, trying to give the Red Devils a head start, but the Red Devils quickly fought back, took advantage of the situation, and began to dominate the game. Cantona retreated to the midfield to receive the ball and then pushed forward. He then played a one-two with Butt, easily broke through the defense and dribbled the ball all the way. When attracting the opponent's central defender to steal the ball, he passed it to Keane diagonally, and Keane went straight into the penalty area and easily scored with a push shot.

The Red Devils lead 1-0.

The Red Devils withstood the opponent's attack in the second half. Schmeichel returned to form and made two wonderful saves to prevent the opponent from scoring. Then the Red Devils strengthened the midfield's steals and gradually controlled the situation. In the 81st minute, the Red Devils immediately launched a quick counterattack after stealing the ball in the backcourt on the right. Lee Sharp passed the ball to Cantona, who passed it to Cole on the side. Cole quickly advanced on the left side and sent a wonderful cross with the outside of his foot after reaching the edge of the penalty area. Giggs followed up in the middle and shot with his left foot, easily scoring.

The Red Devils won 2-0!

Kanchelskis said in an interview after the game: "I have mixed feelings. It feels special to play here as a visiting player. My performance? I don't think it's good, and that's what I feel sorry for. I felt hostility from Manchester United fans? And also from the Red Devils players. They should have regarded me as a traitor. Their hostility towards me is understandable, but I have not been maliciously violated. They seem to want to retaliate against me with a victory."

Ferguson said after the game: "I don't care about Kanchelskis' performance anymore. We wish him good luck in his work. What we care about most now is victory. We played a fast and concise style. We have a strong attacking group and various effective attacking means."

"We are the Red Devils, the championship is our only goal, we must win!"

This victory marks the Red Devils’ seventh consecutive victory!

The Red Devils' seven consecutive wins brought great pressure to their title rivals Newcastle. At the same time as the Red Devils were playing, Newcastle stumbled when visiting West Ham United's Upton Park, conceding a goal in the opening stage and before the end of the game, and tasted its fourth defeat of the season.

The gap went from 12 points to 9 points, and then from 9 points to 6 points. The Red Devils began to catch up step by step with increasing confidence.