May 14th, 2020.
Premier League Matchweek 36 brought West Ham United to Old Trafford.
The visitors had endured a difficult season and were sitting sixteenth, only five points clear of Bournemouth in the relegation zone.
They were in a relatively favorable position to survive, but with several matches still to play, David Moyes had no reason to take anything for granted.
West Ham therefore arrived with their strongest available lineup, hoping to secure another point toward safety while complicating Manchester United's pursuit of a third consecutive league title.
They approached the match accordingly.
Rather than trying to trade attacks with United, West Ham defended deep, kept their lines compact, and disrupted the rhythm whenever necessary with tactical fouls.
A draw at Old Trafford would have been an excellent result, and there was little reason for them to pretend otherwise.
United had faced this kind of setup too many times to become impatient.
With little room available through the center, Mourinho instructed his players to stretch the pitch and attack from the flanks.
The breakthrough arrived in the 21st minute.
Alex Sandro accelerated down the left and reached the byline before curling a cross toward the center.
Ling was surrounded by two defenders, but he held his position between them, timed his jump well, and powered a header beyond the goalkeeper.
1–0.
"A straightforward goal, but very difficult to defend," Gary Neville said. "Sandro provides the width, Ling attacks the delivery between two center-backs, and West Ham's defensive plan has been breached."
Once United were ahead, West Ham could no longer remain quite as passive.
Their defensive line moved a few yards higher, which created more room around the edge of the penalty area.
United initially continued sending crosses into the box, encouraging West Ham to protect the aerial spaces.
Then, once the visitors became accustomed to defending that way, the attack suddenly moved back onto the ground.
Havertz received outside the penalty area and combined quickly with Ling.
A short exchange pulled one defender forward and opened a narrow lane through the middle, allowing Ling to collect the return pass and drive a low shot into the corner.
2–0.
From there, United controlled the match comfortably.
West Ham had to push farther forward in search of something from the game, and the spaces behind them became increasingly difficult to protect.
United added two more goals in the second half.
Ling completed his hat-trick, while Havertz capped an excellent performance with a delicate chip over the goalkeeper.
Manchester United 4–0 West Ham United.
Another three points secured.
...
May 19th, 2020.
Premier League Matchweek 37.
Crystal Palace hosted Manchester United at Selhurst Park with considerably less pressure on their shoulders.
Roy Hodgson's side were already safe from relegation and had little reason to spend ninety minutes defending their penalty area.
They chose to play.
United still struck first.
Ling received outside the box, shifted away from his marker, and curled a controlled finish toward the far corner to make it 1–0.
Crystal Palace responded aggressively rather than retreating. Zaha repeatedly attacked the space around United's full-backs, and in the 34th minute he drove toward the penalty area before sweeping a low ball across goal.
Jordan Ayew arrived at the back post and slid in to finish.
1–1.
"Palace deserve that," Martin Tyler said. "They've been willing to attack United rather than simply protect their own box, and Zaha's delivery gives Ayew a relatively simple finish at the far post."
For a brief period, Selhurst Park sensed an opportunity.
United quickly removed it.
Ling found space outside the penalty area and struck before the defense could step out. The shot carried enough power to beat the goalkeeper and put United back in front.
2–1.
Only five minutes later, Ling was knocked down while competing for possession inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot.
The goalkeeper waited, expecting Ling to choose one of the corners.
Ling simply passed the penalty straight down the middle after he moved.
3–1.
The goal took Ling's league tally beyond fifty-two for the season, pushing the Premier League single-season record even farther out of reach.
"Another hat-trick for Ling," Tyler said. "With one league match remaining, he is no longer merely breaking the record; every goal is extending a mark that already belongs to him."
United added one more before the end and left Selhurst Park with a 4–1 victory.
Two matches in five days.
Seven goals scored.
Only one conceded.
Most importantly, six points collected.
The title would now be decided on the final day.
...
The last fixture could hardly have been more appropriate.
Manchester United against Manchester City.
A Manchester derby at Old Trafford to close the Premier League season.
Liverpool remained only two points behind United and therefore still had a realistic path to the championship.
Their own final match was the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park, and Klopp's side knew that victory there would place enormous pressure on United.
Manchester City were effectively out of the title race by this point.
Their points situation and significantly inferior goal difference meant that their realistic hopes of becoming champions had disappeared, but that did not make the derby meaningless.
If City could not win the league themselves, they could at least prevent United from winning it in front of them.
That possibility produced an inevitable wave of suspicion among Liverpool supporters.
Guardiola was, after all, Ling's father-in-law.
Would City really do everything possible to stop United?
Guardiola addressed the question publicly before it could become even more ridiculous.
"Everyone at Manchester City wants to win," he said. "That includes the coaches and every player."
"The fact that we cannot become champions does not change our professional responsibility."
Asked directly about Ling, Guardiola remained equally clear.
"He is family away from football. On the pitch, he is an opponent."
"I have never hidden my admiration for him as a player, but that also means I understand how dangerous he is. We will prepare specifically to stop him."
His answer did little to calm Liverpool supporters, who immediately pointed out the irony that their own final opponent was Everton, another club with plenty of reasons to dislike seeing Liverpool become champions.
The jokes became increasingly elaborate.
Some Liverpool fans wished for City to produce their own version of a famous title-deciding mistake: a defender slipping at the wrong moment, a careless back-pass, anything capable of giving them the opening they needed.
Ling found the entire discussion ridiculous enough that he avoided seeing Maria for several days before the derby.
Part of that was his own choice.
Part of it was Guardiola's.
"Your father thinks I'm going to steal his tactics from you," Ling told her over the phone.
Maria sounded offended.
"I barely understand your tactics."
"That's what I told him."
"You start talking about rotations and third-man runs and I stop listening after thirty seconds."
Ling laughed.
There was probably no safer person in Manchester to entrust with tactical secrets.
Still, avoiding unnecessary gossip was easier than explaining the obvious repeatedly.
...
May 23rd, 2020.
The final day of the Premier League season.
Manchester United against Manchester City.
Old Trafford was surrounded by supporters long before kickoff.
The recent history between the two clubs had given the derby an edge that went well beyond geography.
Manchester City had built some of the strongest teams in Premier League history under Guardiola.
In this timeline, they had even reached the extraordinary mark of one hundred points during the 2017–18 season and still failed to win the league because United finished above them.
They had collected domestic cups during the years that followed, but the two trophies City wanted most kept escaping them.
The Premier League repeatedly went to United.
So did the Champions League.
For all the quality of Guardiola's football, those defeats had gradually become a psychological burden.
This season had exposed more structural problems.
City had conceded forty-five league goals in thirty-seven matches—still a respectable defensive record compared with most of the division, but much worse than Guardiola wanted from a team challenging for every major trophy.
Injuries had forced him to use combinations such as Otamendi and Fernandinho in central defense, and while both possessed experience and technical ability, neither was ideally suited to defending huge spaces against elite pace.
That problem was connected directly to City's philosophy.
Guardiola wanted his team to press aggressively through midfield and attack with the defensive line pushed high.
Compressing the pitch allowed City to recover possession quickly and sustain attacks, but it inevitably left space behind the center-backs.
Against ordinary opponents, that risk was manageable.
Against Ling, it could be fatal.
City's defenders also carried unusual responsibilities in possession.
Guardiola valued center-backs who could initiate attacks and full-backs capable of stepping into midfield or advancing high up the pitch.
Players such as John Stones and Kyle Walker were expected to contribute far beyond traditional defensive duties.
The system was one of the reasons City could dominate possession so completely.
It also meant that individual defensive mistakes became painfully visible whenever an opponent escaped the press.
United had punished those spaces before.
City had spent the week trying to ensure it did not happen again.
...
At the pre-match press conference, a reporter from The Sun immediately tried to provoke Guardiola.
"When you joined Manchester City, you spoke about building a dynasty. Manchester United appear to be the club doing that instead. Do you consider your time here a failure?"
Guardiola's expression tightened.
"If your only definition of success is winning every title, then yes, you can say we have failed whenever we do not win."
He paused.
"But perhaps people expect something different from me. Maybe because of what my previous teams achieved, Manchester City are considered unsuccessful unless we win everything."
"Trophies are difficult."
"Every footballer and every coach knows that, especially when the opponent is a team as strong as Manchester United."
Guardiola had no interest in pretending the defeats did not hurt.
"Of course we want to win. We have worked for that every season, and there have been years when we came very close."
"But if we fail, the answer is not to stop. We improve and try again."
The 2017–18 campaign remained especially frustrating. City had come within touching distance of the championship, only for results in the Manchester derbies to prove decisive.
Then Ling had continued improving at a rate Guardiola found almost absurd.
Most young players fluctuated.
They learned, struggled, adapted, and occasionally regressed.
Ling had entered senior football looking immediately capable of deciding matches and somehow become better every season afterward.
Preparing against that was exhausting.
...
Mourinho faced the media in another room.
A reporter from The Guardian asked whether winning a third consecutive Premier League title would elevate the achievement of this United team.
"Of course," Mourinho replied.
"The Premier League is extremely competitive. We have Manchester City, who are capable of producing extraordinary football, and Liverpool under Klopp, who have pushed us every season."
"To win once is difficult."
"To keep winning is harder because everyone studies you, everyone wants to beat you, and your own players have to remain hungry."
Mourinho smiled.
"I've won eight league titles as a manager. Maybe this becomes number nine."
"And after nine?"
"I want ten."
The next question concerned Ling.
Mourinho's expression became more thoughtful.
"There was a time when I believed every player could be replaced."
"Different qualities, perhaps, but the team always adapts."
"Ling changed my opinion a little."
He leaned toward the microphone.
"If Manchester United lost him tomorrow, of course the club would continue. This is Manchester United."
"But replacing what he gives us directly? Impossible."
"He scores more than fifty league goals, creates chances, presses, holds the ball, attacks space, and accepts responsibility in the biggest matches."
"You cannot go into the transfer market and simply buy another version."
That was about as strong a compliment as Mourinho was likely to give.
...
The players met inside the tunnel shortly before kickoff.
There was no dramatic confrontation.
United and City had played one another too many times for that.
Several players exchanged small nods, but conversation was limited. Both teams understood what the match meant.
For United, victory would secure a third consecutive Premier League championship without requiring them to look at Liverpool's result.
For City, denying their rivals that celebration at Old Trafford provided motivation enough.
Ling stood near the front of United's line and listened to the noise coming through the tunnel.
For a moment, his thoughts drifted backward.
His entire football life had changed in only a few years.
He remembered the shock of finding himself with another opportunity after believing his dreams were long gone. He remembered fighting for minutes, becoming a regular, and gradually taking on more responsibility until Manchester United's attack began revolving around him.
Now he wore the captain's armband and the No. 7 shirt.
He had already won trophies he once considered unreachable.
There was no reason to stop.
The version of himself who had once allowed those dreams to disappear felt increasingly distant.
All he could do now was keep moving forward.
...
Peter Drury's voice came through the broadcast as the players prepared to walk out.
"The Premier League season reaches its final afternoon, and the championship remains undecided. Manchester United hold the advantage, Liverpool remain within reach, and one final Manchester derby may determine where the trophy goes."
Liverpool were preparing to face Everton at Goodison Park, but their fate was no longer entirely in their own hands. Even if Klopp's side won, United could secure the title by taking care of their own result.
"Manchester United are chasing a third consecutive Premier League championship," Beglin said. "They've been pushed all the way by Liverpool, and now their final obstacle is the neighbor that would enjoy stopping them more than anyone."
The teams emerged from the tunnel.
Mourinho had again selected the 4-3-1-2 that had become increasingly important during the final months of the season. It gave United three central midfielders to protect transitions and enough freedom for Bruno Fernandes to operate behind the forwards.
The system was not perfect. With so many players concentrated centrally, the attacking width depended heavily on the full-backs, and the front line could sometimes become isolated.
Ling's versatility solved much of that problem. He could drop toward midfield, play with his back to goal, move into either channel, carry the ball himself, or simply stay high and threaten the space behind the defense.
Few teams could build an entire attacking structure around one forward in that way.
United could.
City lined up in Guardiola's familiar 4-3-3 with a strong side.
Rodri provided the holding presence in midfield, Gündogan helped control possession, and De Bruyne supplied the passing range and creativity that could break a defensive line with one action.
Their attacking quality was not in question.
The concern remained what happened when possession was lost.
United had spent years learning exactly how to exploit that moment.
...
The online discussion was moving almost as quickly as the teams warming up.
📱 @PremierLeagueArchive
Only four clubs have ever won three consecutive English top-flight titles: Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United. United have already done it twice.
📱 @StretfordEndTom
One more win and this generation becomes the third United side to complete a league three-peat.
📱 @LiverpoolWatch
Stop celebrating before kickoff. Everton first, then pray City do us a favor.
📱 @CityTactics
Everyone talks about Guardiola's 4-3-3 as though it has one obvious weakness. The real battle is whether United can escape City's first press. If they do, the space behind it becomes dangerous.
📱 @NeutralFootball
That's basically the entire tactical question. City want to trap United before the counter begins; United want Ling running at the center-backs after the trap breaks.
📱 @RedDevilBeijing
Three straight Premier League titles and a third straight Champions League final. Finish the domestic job first.
📱 @LegacyFootball
No matter what happens in Lisbon later, today is already enormous. United control their own title race.
The referee checked both teams as Old Trafford rose around them.
The Premier League season had come down to one final match.
Manchester United against Manchester City, with Liverpool waiting for the slightest mistake.
---------
40 chapters more until the end of the novel.