The sudden change in playing style allowed Chen Xiaoliang, who retreated to play the role of the organizing core, to make a long pass to assist Cesco to score a goal after offside.
The score was tied at 1-1, but this did not disrupt Eddie Howe's tactical deployment.
Unlike other coaches, he is not racking his brains to think about how to change the formation to deal with Manchester United. He only sticks to his own style of play, using strict tactics and the results of daily training to face every opponent.
On the other hand, after acquiring this old team, the current head of Saudi Arabia naturally wants to build a new giant.
Eddie Howe naturally understood this, so the first thing he did after taking office was to tell the players that under his coaching, the team would no longer park the bus.
Especially after successfully avoiding relegation in the first season, he used a "self-centered" tactical mentality last season to fully deal with the BIG6 teams, and finally successfully suppressed Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and other teams to advance to the Champions League.
The four words "put myself first" are the winning mentality that only truly strong teams have.
At this moment, Eddie Howe, who was standing on the sidelines in sportswear, was waving and shouting, urging the players to press harder.
Manchester United played more steadily after equalizing the score. Chen Xiaoliang and Casemiro kept running back and forth. When Chen Xiaoliang was pressed, he retreated to act as the core of the organization, and Casemiro would press forward to participate in the attack.
When Newcastle's midfield defensive force turns to other players, Chen Xiaoliang will press forward and transform into an attacking midfielder.
But neither side expected that in the next 20 minutes, the focus of the game would be taken away by someone no one expected.
In the 21st minute, Chen Xiaoliang pulled to the left and passed the ball to Cesco in the frontcourt . However, Cesco failed to hold off Dan Burn who was 201cm tall and the ball was destroyed by the latter.
Brazilian midfielder Guimarães controlled the ball and immediately passed it forward to the left.
Left midfielder Willock received the ball and pulled to the side, attracting the defensive attention of Fred and Wan Bissaka, before passing it inward to the inward-moving left winger Joelinton.
Fred, who was out of position, immediately ran back to defend Joelinton. At this time, Varane came up, and Joelinton protected the ball and dribbled towards the middle one step inside the penalty area line.
After taking four or five small steps, Joelinton seized the opportunity and suddenly shot low!
The ball went straight to the bottom right corner of the goal!
Livakovic fell to the ground instantly, stretched out his left hand along the grass to the left, and blocked the ball!
However, the ball came suddenly and he jumped in time, but he was unable to block the ball away.
Lou Yichen: "It jumped out! There's still a second one!"
"Hit again on the right side!"
"Beautiful! This time the ball went out of bounds!"
"All the Manchester United players in the penalty area came over to signal Livakovic who was given the task in this critical moment!"
“Look at the replay. It was Rafinha on the right who caught up with the ball and shot into the upper corner!”
"But Livakovic, who was lying on the ground, struggled hard and bounced up like a spring, raising his hands to block the ball out of the baseline!"
Liu Yue: "This was a sure-shot opportunity. The first shot was very sudden, and there were defenders in front of me that interfered with my vision."
Lou Yichen: "That's right! I don't know where De Gea is right now, but at least he can recover from his injury in peace!"
Liu Yue: "But if Livakovic keeps up this performance, De Gea will probably have to worry about his starting position after he returns from injury."
They both said: “Hahahaha.”
The subsequent corner kick flew to the penalty spot, and Livakovic punched it far out of the penalty area.
In the 31st minute, Manchester United passed the ball in the middle. When Chen Xiaoliang retreated to receive the ball, Caicedo followed him closely all the way. Chen Xiaoliang directly passed the ball back to Tinbell on the left behind him.
Timber took a few steps forward and passed the ball directly to Kva in front of him. Kva retreated to get the ball, but failed to get rid of Trippier who was trying to steal the ball. At the same time, the latter stabbed the ball first and he was knocked down from behind during the confrontation.
The referee Andy Medley did not make any comment, indicating that this was a reasonable collision with the ball touched first. Newcastle did not pause at all. Rafinha controlled the ball and immediately passed it to Isaac on the right side outside the penalty area. The Newcastle main striker, the Swedish international who transferred from Real Sociedad for 70 million euros last season, took a few steps and then fired a long-range shot before Casemiro approached him!
It was an obvious elevator shot, the ball flew up slightly in the air and then immediately fell towards the left side of the goal!
Livakovic, standing in the small penalty area, stretched out his hands to the right and forced the ball to the right side of the penalty area. Wan Bissaka, who returned to defense, kicked the ball directly to the front court to clear it!
Lou Yichen: "Livakovic! Facing a truly strong team in the league today, he has to make a splash or make a splash!"
Liu Yue: "In the three League Cup games this season, our opponents were all lower-level league teams. In the two Champions League games, PSV Eindhoven and Lazio did not pose much threat to Manchester United's goal. But today's attacks by Newcastle were really threatening."
"Isaac's shot was of very high quality. Although it did not have an arc of rotation in or out of the left or right direction, it showed a very obvious downward trend after flying halfway."
Eddie Howe also realized that Manchester United's second goalkeeper was "medicated" today, and after several difficult saves, the goalkeeper's excitement would be completely activated, and long-distance attacks would no longer be able to effectively threaten the goal.
He gestured twice, indicating to the players to pass the ball into the penalty area as much as possible after successfully counterattacking.
Is there any effect?
Of course there is.
In the 44th minute, Rafinha once again overpowered Timber, forcing Timber to rely on continuous retreat to ensure that he did not lose his position, use his position to restrict Rafinha's running direction, and wait for his teammates to come over to form a double team.
When Rafinha advanced to the corner of the penalty area, he again prepared to cut inside. At this time, Casemiro had already retreated to his position. Rafinha immediately kicked the ball with his left foot and passed it to the back post just like the previous time!
This time Isaac went straight to the back post, jumped outside the far post, and headed the ball back.
The ball flew in a small arc of more than three meters and landed in front of Willock on the left side of the penalty spot.
Varane is already in position to defend and is preparing to move forward.
Unexpectedly, Willock saw that a direct shot would most likely hit Varane, so he did a fancy move. He lightly lifted the falling ball with the instep of his left foot, trying to lift it to the right, and then created an opening and shot with his right foot.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the ball flew up, it hit Varane's left arm which was naturally opened because of his forward running!
"Why!!!"
From the Newcastle field to the sidelines, almost everyone raised their hands at the first moment and then shouted loudly to the nearest referee.
“Beep!”
The referee Andy Medley didn't hesitate and blew the whistle directly to the penalty spot!
Varane spread his hands and complained to the referee, but these experienced old players also knew that according to the current rules, as long as the hands are not close to the body and open outwards, whether intentional or not, there will be no problem in awarding a penalty.
Lou Yichen: "Varane, Varane, the old revolutionary encounters new problems!"
Liu Yue: "You can't blame him for this. Isaac controlled the strength of his header very well. Varane rushed to make up for the position immediately and turned around. He didn't have time to retract his arm, and Willock's lob arrived."
"It can only be said that the ball hit the hand, and it hit at the wrong time."
Lou Yichen: "I don't know what Livakovic is thinking at this moment. Maybe he is thinking, what do you guys mean by causing so much trouble for me after I came on the court."
They both said: “Hahahaha.”
The main striker Isaac picked up the ball and walked towards the penalty spot, while Chen Xiaoliang, who was standing outside the penalty area, gestured twice towards Livakovic's hand, as if his right hand was writing on the palm of his left hand, and then blinked his left eye at him.
Livakovic, who was a little nervous, immediately nodded in understanding, walked to the outside of the goal post, took out a piece of paper under the water bottle, and picked it up, turned to look at Isaac, then looked at the contents of the paper, and pointed left and right with his right hand.
This kind of paper-note recording trick is not uncommon in top-level competitions, especially in important competitions held every four years such as the European Cup and the World Cup. The coaching staff and analysis teams of various countries will collect detailed opponent data to help goalkeepers make judgments when saving penalties.
Although Isaac is young, he joined Dortmund from his hometown Swedish Super League team Solna for 8.6 million euros when he was 17 years old. Later, he moved to Eredivisie team Willem II, then made a name for himself in Real Sociedad, and finally transferred to Newcastle for 70 million euros. In just six years, he has experienced three of the five major leagues, as well as old leagues like the Eredivisie, so he has definitely seen more of the world than most players of the same age.
At this time, he saw Livakovic's "pretentiousness" and didn't care at all.
No matter what you're watching, I'll just kick my own ass.
Livakovic put the note back and walked back to the center of the goal.
“Beep!”
Referee Andy Medley blew the whistle and Isaac started his run!
Both feet | Alternate three times, and after a six-step run-up, it’s a powerful shot with the right foot!
The ball flew straight to the right side of the goal!
Lou Yichen: "Oh! What day is today! Livakovic became famous in Manchester United!"
Liu Yue: "It was a solid and steady dive. He predicted the direction correctly, had a good hand shape, and stretched his arms. There was no flaw at all."
Lou Yichen: "This goalkeeper, who is about to turn 29, is actually not young anymore! He was included in the 23-man squad of the Croatian national team for the 2018 World Cup. After the veteran goalkeeper Subasic gradually faded out, he took over the position of the national team's first goalkeeper. Especially in the Qatar World Cup, he helped the team beat the opponent in the penalty shootout twice in the knockout matches against Japan and Brazil."
"I never expected that today in the Premier League, he saved the opponent's penalty in his first appearance!"
Liu Yue: "In fact, given his current form, Ten Hag could consider using him more often in knockout cup matches."
After the ball was blocked, Isaac stood there with a complete breakdown.
He couldn't believe that his penalty kick, which was at a tricky angle and had quite a lot of power, was saved.
"Isn't this just a trick to bluff people? Did this guy really guess it right?"
Manchester United players surrounded Livakovic, patted him hard, and praised and encouraged him loudly.
Van der Sar in the VIP box was also extremely satisfied. As a legendary goalkeeper, he naturally had unparalleled professionalism in judging goalkeepers.
Although the deal was completed before he took office, Livakovic's performance in the World Cup showed that he has entered the best form period as he enters the golden age of his career.
He said to Mutaf who was celebrating beside him: "Let's stop contacting Porto for the time being. It seems that we don't need to rush to buy Diogo Costa."
The first half ended after Newcastle's corner kick was blocked by Manchester United and Kwa counterattacked and passed the ball to Rashford, who shot wide.
There was nothing special happening in the midfield locker room. For Manchester United, who made consecutive key saves, the morale of both the players and the fans had reached its peak.
It's just that one person experienced the "darkest moment" of his career.
When walking out of the locker room and preparing to return to the court, Ten Hag, who was waiting at the door, called out to Fred.
He patted the Brazilian midfielder on the back and said: "I will replace you around 55 minutes into the second half. Mutaf and his team and your agent have already agreed that this will be your last home ground for the team. Say goodbye to the fans. Old Trafford and Carrington will always be your home."
Although he still had a glimmer of hope, Fred, who was mentally prepared, was not surprised.
Transferring is a very normal thing for professional players, but he originally thought that this day would come a little later.
"Thank you." A smile, a word, Fred turned around and ran back to the court.
In the second half, knowing the ending of the story, he was free of psychological burden and played a very good performance. In the 48th minute, he and Joelinton refused to give in in the confrontation and a small-scale conflict occurred.
It was not until the 55th minute that Ten Hag replaced him with B Fee. Fred raised his hands high, clapped and waved to the Manchester United fans in the stands. He walked off the field with a smile on his face without letting his tears flow.
Coincidentally, the night before, in the league match between Lazio and Fiorentina, Milinkovic-Savic, who was substituted in the 89th minute, did the same thing to the Lazio fans at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
After B Fee came on the court, Chen Xiaoliang moved to the position of right defensive midfielder, forming an insurmountable iron wall with Casemiro, allowing B Fee to play as the attacking midfielder.
This is not a sign that the team wants to maintain a draw, but rather a sign that they must win the game.
Facing Newcastle's pressing team in the middle, Chen Xiaoliang's retreat gave B Fee plenty of space to move and pull in the frontcourt, while also making Caicedo and Willock dare not press forward at the same time.
Although Brother Big B is not as threatening as Chen Xiaoliang, no team will underestimate the presence of this Portuguese midfielder.
The retreating Chen Xiaoliang constantly used long-distance passes to deliver ammunition to his teammates who were out of position. At the same time, he was able to put pressure on the frontcourt and force the opponent's defense line to move back as a whole, and then he could make threatening long shots from behind.
In defense, facing Chen Xiaoliang, Joelinton immediately became ineffective and Willock also became weak. No matter in terms of physical strength, speed, or change of direction, none of the moves were useful against Chen Xiaoliang in a one-on-one situation.
In the 61st minute, after B Fee had fully warmed up, Manchester United's killer move came.
Joelinton cut in from the left and made a strong attack. Chen Xiaoliang didn't even try to avoid him. He just rushed forward and tackled him.
Although Joelinton saw Chen Xiaoliang tackling and made a change of direction with his right foot to push the ball outwards, everything seemed to be predicted by Chen Xiaoliang, and his left foot still swept the ball in the first time.
What followed was the classic scene of most of the people who were tackled by Chen Xiaoliang, with their other foot tripped by his high-speed sliding body and falling forward.
This happened very suddenly. Newcastle's left and center pressed forward to support the attack, but they never expected that the offense and defense would change in an instant.
Chen Xiaoliang stood up, took a step with the ball, and immediately made a long pass. The ball was passed with such great force that it seemed like a long shot.
The ball first flew straight towards Cesco in the middle, and then turned left after flying halfway, becoming an inward-spinning arc ball.
The ball not only had inward rotation, but the ball itself also had a strong backward rotation due to the rubbing of Chen Xiaoliang's feet.
Just like that, the ball flew from the right rear of the court to the left front of the court in less than 3 seconds and landed steadily in front of Kva.
As a good crosser and free kicker, Trippier looked back and chased, marveling at the accuracy of the pass and the leg strength required to kick such a fast, accurate and stable long pass.
Little did he know that Chen Xiaoliang, whose skills had improved to level 17, could already add some more technically demanding little moves or details to every action with the ball.
A long pass went through the entire pitch, leaving Scholes, who was sitting in the Sky Sports live studio, silent for a long while. Only Gary Neville on the sidelines cheered like an erotic gorilla, shouting: "Paul, you couldn't pass this kind of ball back then. You have his power but not his accuracy, and you have his accuracy but not his power."
After receiving the ball, Kva took advantage of the early start, shook off Trippier and rushed diagonally into the penalty area. Newcastle's defense chased back while retreating.
Right center back Schar didn't care whether he could catch up or not, he just chased after Kva with all his might, while Portman and Dan Byrne in the middle surrounded Cesco on the left and right to prevent Kva from passing the ball to him.
Kva rushed to the outside of the small penalty area on the left, and Shar, who was running in a straight line, had already caught up with him.
But facing the Swiss central defender who just turned 32 two days ago, Kva slowed down, pushed his right foot outward, and shook off the opponent.
Without waiting for Cesco to get in, he kicked the ball directly!
Seeing Schar being dribbled past, another central defender Botman also rushed up to block it!
Lou Yichen: "Change direction! Pull back! Shoot!"
"Ah! Nick Pope, who performed well today, seemed to have not expected that Kwa could fight his way out of such a crowd and hit a close corner unexpectedly."
"Manchester United reversed the score in the 62nd minute of the second half! Currently leading Newcastle United 2-1!"
Liu Yue: "Manchester United spent 300 million euros, almost 260 million pounds, on Roma. It's really worth it."
Lou Yichen: "Kwa for 80 million pounds, Cesco for 50 million pounds, plus Chen Xiaoliang who triggered a 150 million euro buyout clause, which is about 130 million pounds. This season, the three of them have contributed 33 goals and 20 assists in the league."
"It doesn't sound like much, but the problem is that Manchester United have only scored 51 goals and 36 assists so far."
"That means the data created by these three people accounts for about two-thirds of the team's total, which is quite terrifying."
The Red Country media here are expressing their feelings, and the British media there are also praising it.
Henry, who is relatively neutral, said: "They are different from other tridents and three arrows, like BBC, MSN, and Liverpool's Salah, Firmino and Mane, who are all pure front-court attack combinations."
"And these three players of Manchester United, a midfielder, a winger and a center forward, all have completely different playing styles and paths."
"I can't help but think of the Dutch Three Musketeers and the German Three Musketeers, which seem to be long gone from us. Their combination in that era was also made up of players in different positions."
"It's very rare in modern football but it's a real privilege to see it."
Scholes, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up: "I have decided, I have decided, as long as Chen is with this Manchester United, I will never criticize them again."
Ferdinand on the side laughed out loud: "Because you found that he is better than you, right?"
Scholes: "There is no doubt that there are many players who are mature in their minds but not in their bodies, and there are many players who are mature in their bodies but not in their minds. Obviously, at the age of 19, he is already at the top level in both aspects."
Ferdinand turned to Henry and asked: "If it was your peak moment, would you be able to beat him one-on-one?"
Henry pretended to be stupid, pointed at Scholes and said: "Him? Go past him? Oh my God, this is so easy! Really."
A group of retired celebrities in the broadcast room burst into laughter again.
Ferdinand: "I'm talking about Chen Xiaoliang!"
Henry cleared his throat, his voice was obviously lighter than before: "I think... I can..."
Ferdinand: "Are you sure? Can you?" The second half of the sentence "How can you be so shameless?" was not said.
Henry smiled a little: “Yes, I can…try.”
Everyone: “Hahahaha!”
On the field, the Manchester United players returned to the half court after celebrating to continue the game, and Newcastle made the first substitution.
Willock was replaced by 29-year-old Paraguayan player Almiron, who is a regular starter for Newcastle but did not start today in order to prepare for the attack.
After he came on the pitch, he played as an attacking midfielder, while Caicedo and Guimarães became double defensive midfielders.
At the same time, Targett came on to replace Dan Burn. Without Willock's retreat, Newcastle needed a full-time left-back.
The third substitution was to replace Joelinton, who was completely subdued by Chen Xiaoliang, with Ziyech, who was bought from Chelsea.
Manchester United's response is to not make any substitutions and continue playing like this.
There is an old saying that goes, "The first push is the best, the second is weaker, and the third is exhausted." Many Chinese people have heard this saying so many times, but foreigners do not understand the mystery behind it.
Livakovic's three key saves in the first half made Newcastle, who missed a penalty, lose their winning mentality in the game.
Players will naturally feel impatient and helpless.
Real football matches are never a simple intersection of data collisions and random judgment results in the game, nor are they a competition of strength on paper.
What, I have De Bruyne, whoever he sends to defend is unstoppable;
What? I have Haaland, but the opposing team has no defender who can defend against Haaland.
What if Cristiano Ronaldo has a jumping ability of 99? The opposing central defender with a jumping ability of 75 will definitely not be able to defend him in headers.
It is precisely because many fans have such simplistic judgment thinking that they have a subconscious idea in their hearts that it is natural for a strong team to defeat a weak team in a football match.
Then as long as this subconscious mind takes root, it will eventually go to the other extreme - the weak team defeating the strong team in the football match, which is all unreasonable scripts.
If that were the case, football would have no charm, and a team like Croatia would never be able to win the runner-up or third place in the World Cup.
A player is first and foremost a human being, and as long as he is a human being, he will have mood swings, ups and downs in form, selfish desires and distracting thoughts.
That's the case with Newcastle now.
The seemingly simple score of 2 to 1 made them extremely anxious.
This means that when the league reaches the 18th round, their hard-won unbeaten record will be broken.
And the match against Manchester United represents countless attention and traffic.
Those words that we saw in the past but could ignore will now become a lingering nightmare in the players' minds:
[Why is Isaac so expensive? If he doesn’t have data to support his performance against a strong team, he is just a fake]
[Is Newcastle worthy of being a top club? Look at Chelsea and Manchester City. Let’s wait 30 years and see]
[Eddie Howe is just a transitional coach. If Newcastle wants to win the championship, they must find a championship coach like Mourinho]
[Liverpool was in poor form last season. Once Liverpool and Chelsea come back, there will be no chance for Newcastle]
…
When Mourinho's second Chelsea team won the Premier League title, a female team doctor named Eva caused an uproar and ignited the fuse for Mourinho's dismissal. This shows the power of "suspicion" and "selfish desire".
Newcastle is on the brink of collapse.
After the players were replaced together, after 5 minutes, he lost his vitality, which made Chen Xiaoliang realize this.
He understood that this battle did not need to last 90 minutes. As long as he scored one more goal, the opponent would completely lose their fighting spirit.
This is what is called background.
For these Newcastle players, they have never experienced such an unbeaten streak. Even head coach Eddie Howe could not tell them what to do if they fell behind in such a crucial game and faced the end of their unbeaten streak.
In the 70th minute, B Fee's shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Botman and went out of the baseline, and Manchester United won a corner kick on the right side.
Chen Xiaoliang walked up and stood in the area to the right of the penalty spot.
But before that, he had secretly made a gesture to B Fee by making a fist and putting it against his chest.
As soon as Newcastle saw Chen Xiaoliang, Casemiro and others coming up, all the players immediately returned to defense, leaving only Isaac waiting near the center line.
“Beep!”
Referee Andy Medley blew the whistle and B Fee started his run-up!
Just as B Fee was about to kick the ball, Chen Xiaoliang, who was standing on the right side of the penalty spot, suddenly ran to the right side of the penalty area. B Fee exerted force with his feet and pushed a low pass towards Chen Xiaoliang.
When Chen Xiaoliang received the ball, he noticed that Taggart was chasing him and was very close to him.
As soon as he stopped, he immediately felt Taggart sticking to him, and when the ball rolled over, he pretended to lean to the left and acted as if he was going to turn around and touch the ball to the baseline, then he lightly tapped the ball under Taggart's crotch with the back of his left heel, and instantly turned to the right, passing Taggart, whose center of gravity was deceived to the left.
"oh!"
"Wow!"
This one pass immediately ignited cheers from the entire audience!
Chen Xiaoliang didn't pause at all. Facing the Newcastle players densely packed in the penalty area, he turned around, took a step with his left foot, met the ball he had just knocked over, and shot it directly with the inside of his left foot!
The ball immediately flew up, drew an arc in the air, passed over the heads of more than a dozen people from both sides in the penalty area, and flew into the upper left corner of the goal under their raised heads!
Lou Yichen: "Beautiful! Beautiful! All in one go! He stopped, dribbled and shot, and Taggart was shaken so hard that he couldn't recover until the final goal!"
"Xiao Liang did not run out to celebrate. Instead, he stood there and pointed at the number 7 jersey on his back, facing the fans in the Alex Ferguson stands and the Newcastle players in the penalty area!"
Liu Yue: "Two assists and one goal, one person created all three goals for the team."
"Over there, the entire midfield and backcourt of Manchester City took turns to pass the ball to Haaland, which made his goal data continue to rise. On this side, Xiaoliang seemed to have his own system. He could assist by falling back and score by getting in."
"Think about it the other way around. If Manchester United had the same strong midfield and backcourt control as Manchester City and kept feeding the ball forward, what kind of data could Xiaoliang create in a season?"
"Is it possible to score goals like crazy and provide assists to Haaland at the same time?"
Lou Yichen: "Haha, your question is like putting peak Cristiano Ronaldo into the six-time champion Barcelona team and Messi as a teammate."
"But it also indirectly proves that today's football has completely entered a new era of two heroes!"
Chen Xiaoliang's celebration made the nine Newcastle players who retreated to the penalty area to defend either lower their heads to breathe or sigh helplessly.
Nick Pope didn't make any save at all on that ball just now. From receiving the ball to getting rid of it to shooting, no step was within the normal prediction range that allowed him to prepare in advance.
The game isn’t over yet, but it’s over.
At Old Trafford, in front of this season's Manchester United, in front of such a player, Newcastle's players were defeated. The only consolation they could find was that the season was still long and they would have a chance for revenge next time at St. James' Park.
At this time in the Sky Sports live room, Ferdinand asked Henry again: "Can you play a ball like this?"
Henry nodded: "Peak moment? Without a doubt."
Ferdinand: "I meant with your left foot, your weak foot."
Henry shook his head and spread his hands.
Ferdinand smiled wickedly and asked again: "So let's talk about the same topic as before. Can you beat him in a one-on-one match at your peak?"
When the other people in the live broadcast room saw that Ferdinand insisted that Henry say something today, they couldn't help but laugh again.
As the greatest foreign player in the history of the Premier League, Henry was ranked second in the World Footballer of the Year twice, second in the Ballon d'Or once, and third in the Ballon d'Or once in his career. Although he was always one step away from the supreme glory, his greatness and legend could not be concealed.
It is very difficult to make such a striker admit that he is not good enough.
He thought about it, and finally said seriously: "Maybe we can think about it from another angle. If a one-on-one includes both offense and defense, who do you think can beat him?"
At this point, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Scholes, and even Carragher, who was accustomed to belittling Manchester United, were silent.