Chapter 492: Harry Kane
Harry Kane helped Manchester United extend their lead to five goals, netting a brace in the process. With a 5-0 advantage, Mourinho began making substitutions.
McTominay replaced Kane, Mata came on for Bruno, and Herrera substituted Kante. It's common practice to give substitute players, especially young ones, more playing time to gain experience when leading by a large margin.
Despite the substitutions, United's attacking momentum didn't completely stall. In stoppage time, Mata delivered a perfect overhead pass to McTominay, who successfully broke the offside trap and scored a beautiful goal, sealing the score at 6-0.
In the end, Manchester United achieved a resounding 6-0 victory over Everton, marking their third consecutive match with a win margin of six or more goals.
What's even more terrifying is that United's streak of big wins continued. On the evening of September 20th, 2017-2018 EFL Cup third-round matches took place. At Old Trafford, a fully rotated squad of the reigning champions, Manchester United, defeated Championship side Burton Albion 4-0, advancing to the Round of 16. Mahrez scored twice and provided an assist, while Lingard and McTominay each recorded a goal and an assist.
...
Three days later, on the afternoon of September 23rd, in the sixth round of the Premier League, Manchester United traveled to St. Mary's Stadium to face Southampton.
Since their return to the Premier League in the summer of 2012, Southampton had consistently performed well. Except for their first season back when they finished 14th, they finished in the top half of the standings for the next four seasons, including a sixth-place finish in 2015-2016, just three points behind the Manchester clubs.
Last season, under French coach Claude Puel, Southampton finished eighth with a record of 12 wins, 10 draws, and 16 losses, totaling 46 points, with 41 goals scored and 48 conceded—an impressive performance.
Unlike other mid-table teams, Southampton maintained a balanced home and away record. Their home record was 6 wins, 6 draws, and 7 losses, while their away record was 6 wins, 4 draws, and 9 losses, which is quite rare for mid-table Premier League teams.
Despite an upcoming trip to Spain to face Atletico Madrid, Mourinho fielded his strongest lineup for this match, aiming for all three points.
Although United had been winning convincingly in the Premier League, they hadn't pulled away from the chasing pack. Guardiola's City, strengthened over the summer, also started the Premier League strongly, with 4 wins and 1 draw, scoring 16 goals and conceding just 2, closely following United.
In such circumstances, Mourinho did not want to slow down in the league and give their city rivals a chance to overtake them.
...
This season, Southampton changed their manager again, with Argentine Mauricio Pellegrino taking over at St. Mary's.
Pellegrino's team didn't excel in attack or defense, scoring and conceding four goals each in their early matches, indicating a lack of offensive firepower but decent defensive solidity.
Southampton played cautiously, wary of United's formidable attack. As the home team, they couldn't afford to solely defend without attempting to attack.
In the 20th minute, Southampton launched an attack. Romeu passed forward, and Shane Long flicked the ball with his head, aiming for Tadic, but Kante intercepted it. The ball rolled to Southampton's advancing left-back, Bertrand, who attempted a cross but was tightly marked by Valencia. Phil Jones joined Valencia in a pincer move to dispossess Bertrand.
Mourinho quickly moved to the sideline, intently watching the action unfold. This was United's opportunity for a counterattack.
Phil Jones, after winning the ball, looked up and made a forward pass to Bruno, who turned with the ball and surveyed the field. Rashford sprinted down the left, Mbappe charged down the right, and Kane advanced through the middle, though slower than Rashford and Mbappe.
Bertrand, formerly of Chelsea, showed his pace in trying to catch Bruno but was outmaneuvered by Bruno's sudden stop and turn. Bruno passed to Gundogan in the middle, then moved horizontally, while Rashford continued his central run, and Mbappe cut diagonally.
Kane almost paralleled Southampton's last defender, Yoshida, who tried to push Kane offside. United had five players advancing into Southampton's half.
...
"Defend!" Southampton's captain, Steven Davis, shouted to his teammates.
"United's counterattack is coming," Lineker exclaimed. "Mourinho's teams have always been deadly on the counter, be it Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, or Chelsea again. This United side is no different!"
Gundogan received the ball and quickly passed forward to avoid Lemina's challenge. Bruno, without pausing, passed the ball down the line, perfectly setting up Rashford to exploit his speed.
Rashford's sprint down the wing forced Southampton's defense to shift right. Rashford then crossed to Bruno, who had moved centrally. Gundogan and Rashford's movements pulled Southampton's defense further right.
Taking advantage of the gap, Bruno made a diagonal long pass to the left, finding Mbappe in acres of space.
...
"Mbappe is completely unmarked! Southampton's defense is stretched!" Andy Gray shouted.
Hoot abandoned Gundogan to cover Mbappe, forcing Yoshida to mark Gundogan. This left Kane open, and Mbappe's pass found him in the box.
"Beautiful combination! He's through!"
Southampton's defense scrambled to cover Kane, who coolly crossed the ball into the middle.
Mourinho cursed as Kane's pass was slightly off, but Bruno charged in, shooting despite the awkward angle. Foster blocked the shot, causing chaos in the box. Bertrand attempted to clear but was outpaced by Kane, who bundled the ball into the net.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!"
"United breaks the deadlock! Harry Kane scores! It's his sixth league goal since joining United!"
"1-0! Kane's alert follow-up gives United the lead."
Kane celebrated by running to Mbappe, the provider of the assist, and embraced him tightly.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Cortez10