Chapter 247: The Premier League season is halfway through and we are at the top of the scorer list!

"In the 27th minute of the game, Manchester United scored the first goal!"

"Chu scored a beautiful goal from 26 meters away from the goal!"

"Carragher, do you have anything to say?"

Neville teased with a sly expression.

"Yeah, beautiful, not bad, congratulations."

Carragher looked as if he had been up for three days and nights, and he felt exhausted.

After the Red Devils derby a few days ago, he wanted to sneak away and was ready to default on his debt.

But who knew that Neville would call for help in advance and block him directly in the commentary booth.

He even started live streaming on his personal account.

The number of people online at the same time reached more than 900,000. Carragher felt very sad at that time, knowing that he could not escape this disaster.

Besides, in their line of work, one must keep one's word. After all, it's a bet signed by two people in public. If you say you won't fulfill it, then you don't have to. Who will dare to play with you in the future?

Even if Neville voluntarily gave up the bet, those spectators who were looking for trouble would not agree.

Carragher could only delay time as long as possible and wait until the sun went down before leaving the stadium and putting on the hated No. 7 Manchester United jersey.

He seemed to have found his playing feel.

The speed was so fast that it couldn't be any faster. He ran most of the lap while panting heavily.

As for why you didn’t run a full lap?

Because Carragher has retired for so many years, his physical fitness is no longer as good as it used to be. By the end of the run, his throat was almost rusty and he almost vomited blood.

Neville didn't take it too seriously.

After all, he and Carragher have been partners for so many years, and they have some feelings for each other.

The matter was eventually left unresolved.

It's just that Carragher lost all face and became a laughing stock in English football, and even Liverpool fans were ridiculed.

"Ahem!" Neville cleared his throat and said excitedly: "After scoring this goal, Chu surpassed Aubameyang to second place in the Premier League scorer list and tied with Liverpool's Mane."

"The league is currently in its 19th round. I wonder if Chu has a chance to top the league's scorer list before the halfway point of the league ends?"

"I think he has a great chance because Huddersfield is not very strong and Manchester United have an absolute advantage at home. It will only be a matter of time before they score!"

Accompanied by loud cheers from Old Trafford and flames rising from the stands.

Manchester United launched a violent offensive!

Pogba's precise distribution of the ball in the midfield and Kovacic's rapid advancement continuously compressed Huddersfield's formation.

Rashford's speed on both wings and Mahrez's skills, the two used different ways of breaking through to tear apart Huddersfield's defense.

Manchester United's No. 7 in the middle made the defensive players extremely nervous and they dared not let him out of their sight.

When the game came to the 38th minute.

Wan Bissaka made a tough sliding tackle to intercept the ball and passed it along the sideline to find Mahrez, who lowered his shoulders and changed direction to complete a beautiful dribble, then quickly dribbled the ball to the front of the penalty area.

But just as he was cutting inside.

Chu Feng suddenly accelerated and cut diagonally to the right side of the penalty area, and his powerful explosive power directly shook off the defending player.

Mahrez kicked the ball straight at him! Chu Feng looked back at the ball rolling towards him, and adjusted his steps before shooting in the shortest possible time. Then, in the surprised eyes of the Huddersfield goalkeeper, he fired a heavy shot from a very close distance with his right foot!

The football hit the goalkeeper's forearm and bounced into the goal! 2-0!!!

Huddersfield players looked at the young man jumping high and punching the air, and couldn't help but recall the scene when the two teams met last season.

Chu Feng was obviously still quite immature at that time.

I didn't expect that it would grow to this extent in just a year and a half.

The rest of the game was uneventful. Chu Feng was substituted in the 53rd minute. After all, he had just played in the Red Derby a few days ago and his overall condition had not yet recovered to its best.

In the end, Manchester United defeated Huddersfield 3-0. In addition to Chu Feng's two goals, Mahrez also scored a goal.

"Chu, where are you going to spend Christmas?"

After the game, Maguire asked in the locker room, Chu Feng has no relatives or friends in England, if he watches others celebrate Christmas while he is alone and has nowhere to go.

That's really pitiful.

So Maguire planned to invite Chu Feng to his house.

"Thank you, but I already have plans. I'll go directly to Maria's house later."

Chu Feng declined Maguire's invitation.

In fact, he had wanted to take Maria to London to celebrate the holiday, but Guardiola said he wanted to celebrate it at home. Chu Feng had no objection to this.

After all, he had attended Guardiola's family dinner before.

"Oh, okay!" Maguire shrugged and whispered, "I heard that Manchester City was almost tied by Leicester City. Guardiola was very angry after the game and even cancelled the Christmas vacation for Manchester City players. You must be careful."

"Don't worry." Chu Feng nodded. He really didn't notice this. It would be better not to mention the competition later.

Finally, he waved to his Manchester United teammates and Mourinho, "Merry Christmas! I'm leaving first! See you the day after tomorrow!"

Drove to Manchester University to hand in homework, and picked up Maria and returned to Hale.

Dinner was still mainly Catalan cuisine, and Cristina also made some Chinese dishes.

It's just that the taste is a little sweet. But Chu Feng still praised it without changing his expression. After all, he still has to please his future mother-in-law.

"January 1st is Chinese New Year's Day. Are your parents coming to England?"

Guardiola ate a piece of mapo tofu and smacked his lips pretentiously. "You and Maria have been dating for almost half a year. It's time for our two families to get together."

"Okay, I'll arrange it." Chu Feng nodded.

He had just thought about this matter a few days ago and was planning to talk about it over dinner today, but he didn't expect Guardiola to bring it up first.

"What do your parents like? We can prepare in advance."

Christina opened the notes on her phone.

"Well, my dad likes watching football, and my mom likes reading books, the kind about drama and literature."

Chu Feng answered without hesitation.

"Oh, I remember Maria has a copy of The Great Matchmaker, signed by Echegaray. You can ask her to give it to your mother." Christina said with a smile, "As for the gift for your father, let Pep prepare it."

"Then I have to think about it carefully?"

Guardiola frowned, thinking about the more suitable gift.

“We want that too!”

Marius and Valentina raised their hands eagerly when they heard there were gifts.

"Don't worry, it has been prepared for you. It is in your room."

Chu Feng smiled gently.

The two little guys didn’t even eat their meal and ran upstairs noisily.

"Cool! Signed jerseys of the entire Manchester United team, and unreleased Puma shoes!"

"Disney dolls!"

Hearing the surprised voices of the two little ones, Maria pretended not to care and asked, "Where's my gift?"

"Yes." Chu Feng handed over a box.

Maria looked at the earrings in the box and couldn't help but smile with narrowed eyes. She also took out a box from her pocket and said, "I also prepared a gift for you. It's a watch that I asked a friend to buy for you."

“Yo, a TAG Heuer watch?”

Chu Feng asked in surprise.

"It's not my father's money. The fashion designs I made were recently acquired." Maria raised her head proudly.

"sharp!"

Chu Feng gave a thumbs up.

Guardiola said in a resentful tone: "Maria, don't I have a gift?"

"Well, all the money is gone." Maria laughed awkwardly, "But I bought you a tie that I designed."

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Guardiola glanced at Chu Feng angrily and helplessly, and sat on the sofa to review the game. ——Manchester United's last game in 2018 was held at Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium.

When facing the devilish Christmas schedule, most teams will rotate their lineups to avoid player injuries as much as possible.

Manchester United and Bournemouth are no exception.

Today, Chu Feng was placed on the bench by Mourinho, in order to allow Chu Feng to relax and rest, and also to conserve his energy for the next game.

In fact, entering the first month of 2019, Manchester United's schedule is no easier than in December.

In four Premier League games, the strongest opponent is Tottenham.

Although Tottenham is currently ranked fourth in the standings, it should be noted that Manchester United's only defeat this season was the game against Tottenham at the beginning of the season.

Therefore, Mourinho needs to make adequate preparations.

There are also two FA Cup games and two Carabao Cup games, the former opponents are Reading and Arsenal, and the latter two rounds of opponents are Chelsea.

To put it simply, Manchester United will play 8 games in 31 days, which means one game every 4 days on average. Not only Mourinho, but all the head coaches of the Premier League teams are secretly cursing the FA and are eager to unite and report the FA.

However, I heard that Infantino is making reforms recently and is preparing to adjust the number of substitutions in a game from 3 to 5.

The purpose is to reduce the risk of player injuries caused by the high-density schedule.

But that is all in the future. Now the coaches of Premier League teams can only adjust their lineups carefully and try their best to prevent the team's overall strength from declining too much.

When both teams were rotating their lineups, Manchester United's veterans played a key role. Their experience and command allowed the young players to quickly get into the game.

Not long after the game started, Lingard scored a goal, giving Manchester United a dream start.

Ashley Young and Valencia also made decisive runs forward to create a numerical advantage and help Manchester United change the score to 0-3.

In the second half, Mourinho followed the old rules and played the game in the most energy-saving way.

Parking the bus. Although most people in the football world look down on this tactic, you cannot deny that it is indeed very useful.

When a weak team beats a strong team, it creates miracles; when a strong team beats a weak team, it controls the victory.

However, in the 77th minute of the game, a scene occurred on the field that made Mourinho crazy.

Bournemouth midfielder Fraser received the ball and tried to break through, but was tackled by the overly excited Bailly. The key point is that Bailly didn't touch the ball at all.

The referee directly showed the red card and sent Bailly off!

It would be fine if this guy just lay in bed all day, but he did some fancy moves when he finally got a chance to play, and not only did he get a red card, he was also banned for three games by the English FA.

Mourinho even suspected that Bailly did it on purpose.

"Eric makes money so easily!" Lindelof couldn't help but complain, "I remember that he joined Manchester United for two and a half years, suffered 9 injuries, missed a total of 216 days, and only started 25% of the league games!"

"How do you remember it so clearly?" Chu Feng asked curiously.

“Because I rarely get injured!”

Lindelof's tone was full of pride.

Chu Feng said a few perfunctorily and looked back at the green field.

Manchester United, who played with 10 men, was not able to adapt and was suppressed by Bournemouth. If it were not for Maguire's excellent performance and blocking several threatening shots of the opponent, I am afraid that Manchester United's fans would have been defeated.

Mourinho quickly replaced Lukaku with David Luiz.

Only then did Manchester United stabilize its defensive rhythm.

It was just Lukaku who was injured. He had been sitting on the bench for too long and finally got a chance to play.

As a result, he was substituted off without scoring any goal, and no one could be happy about it.

Lukaku has made up his mind to leave Manchester United in the summer window of next season. As for why not in the winter window? Because he thinks Chu Feng can lead him to win a few more championships.

He is still very calm in this regard. Throughout the history of football, there have been many brilliant players who have never won a championship in their entire lives.

There is a saying that goes: "Football is fucking cruel!"

For example, Harry Kane of Tottenham has ranked in the top three in the scorer list for three seasons.

Until now, there is still no honor list. I will rely on him for another half a season, and then go out and venture into the football world.

Lukaku thought his decision was wise, so he took out a bottle of water from the water tank and handed it over, saying attentively: “Chu, don’t get tired, drink some water!”

Chu Feng looked at Lukaku as if he was an idiot, thinking, why should I drink water when I haven’t even played yet?

Then he picked up his thermos cup and said, "I am more used to drinking hot water, and I suggest you drink more hot water."

In the end, the game ended with 1-3.

Manchester United still failed to hold on to the score and Bournemouth equalized with a corner kick.

In the match between Manchester City and Southampton held at the same time, Aguero and David Silva scored a goal each, and a Southampton player also scored an own goal, ending the game with the same score.

The 2018 Premier League has come to an end.

Manchester City and Manchester United are ranked first and second with 55 points each, and third is Liverpool, which defeated Arsenal 5-1 in this round of the league.

Fourth is Tottenham, fifth is Chelsea, sixth is Arsenal, and seventh is Wolves.

Manchester City fans set off fireworks happily. Although Manchester United now has the same points as them, they at least have retained their top spot in the league.

Much better than last season.

After rushing back to Manchester late at night, Chu Feng did not go out to celebrate New Year's Eve, but had a good sleep at home.

After waking up the next day, he watched a Tottenham game before driving to the airport to pick up Chu Changzheng and Yan Lanxia, ​​and took them directly to Uncle Wen's restaurant, Tianwaitian.

The meeting between the two elderly people was not as awkward as imagined.

The English that Chu Changzheng specially learned finally came in handy. He held a glass of wine and talked with Guardiola about the 3-4-3 formation, which is the advantages and disadvantages of Cruyff's all-out attack and defense.

Yan Lanxia and Christina discuss future plans for their two children.

Chu Feng and Maria took the two little ones to the nearby Catholic church to watch the fireworks.

Warm times are always short, because the Premier League has no winter break.

Two days later.

Chu Feng came to Newcastle, ready to face the 21st round of the Premier League.

(End of this chapter)