My Ultimate Gacha System

"Christian, you’re on. Demien, the middle is yours."

Eriksen pulled his training top over his head while Casemiro stayed seated, elbows on his knees, and Demien rose from the bench, took one last drink, and looked toward him before following Eriksen down the tunnel.

Casemiro gave him a short nod, nothing more than that, and the way he sat with his shoulders bowed said everything about why the change had been made without him needing to explain a word of it.

United’s second half took its new shape as they walked back out — Onana in goal, Dalot, Maguire, Evans, and Lindelöf across the back, Demien dropped to the base of midfield, Eriksen and Bruno ahead of him, Antony right, Rashford left, Højlund alone up top.

Brentford sent the restart long toward Mbeumo rather than let United press their buildup.

Maguire challenged him in the air, and the header dropped toward Jensen, already moving to collect the second ball.

Demien read where Maguire’s contact would send it before it arrived, stepped in front of Jensen, and killed it dead on his chest.

Nørgaard pressed into his back while Wissa cut the lane toward Evans, but Demien didn’t reach for the turn Casemiro had tried before the goal — he shielded the ball with his body, released it first time toward Eriksen, and moved away from Nørgaard to offer himself for the return.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Press Resistant」 「STATS ACTIVE」 「Ball Control: 99 | Balance: 99 | Strength: 99」

Eriksen found him again, and Demien took it facing forward, moving it on to Bruno before Brentford could close the trap a second time.

"United have moved Demien to the base of midfield," the commentator said, "and brought Eriksen on for Casemiro to speed up and secure their possession."

Brentford dropped straight back into their five, Roerslev and Hickey narrowing beside Ajer, Pinnock, and Collins, Nørgaard sitting in front to protect the space.

Demien had time now, room to face forward whenever the ball reached him, but nine Brentford shirts still stood between him and Strakosha’s goal — his deeper role had fixed United’s buildup, not their final third.

United built their first real attack of the half in the forty-eighth minute.

Maguire found Demien, Mbeumo closing from his right, and Demien shifted it to Dalot before the forward could arrive.

He kept moving after the pass, and once Mbeumo chased the ball out to the touchline, Dalot returned it inside, giving Demien room to drive a firm ball into Eriksen between Nørgaard and Janelt.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Line-Breaking Actions: 7/6」

Eriksen turned outside the box, Højlund occupying Pinnock, Bruno holding Ajer from stepping forward, and struck from twenty-five yards.

The shot threaded two defenders toward the bottom corner, and Strakosha, seeing it late, got both hands down and pushed it away.

Demien attacked the rebound, but Collins reached it first and cleared toward Mbeumo.

He stopped his own run immediately rather than appeal for anything, already sprinting back the other way.

Mbeumo controlled near halfway, looking for Wissa’s run behind Evans, but Demien had already closed the lane before he could release it, forcing Mbeumo toward the touchline where Dalot stepped in to block the ball out for a throw.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Defensive Recoveries: 3/3」

Demien clapped his hands together and shouted for the line to push up, refusing to let Brentford pen United back near their own box the moment they’d escaped it.

United circulated through him again in the fifty-second minute, Nørgaard refusing to leave the center, so Demien carried the ball forward until Janelt finally stepped out to meet him and released Rashford behind Roerslev before the wingback could retreat.

Rashford came in from the left, cut onto his right foot with Højlund moving across Pinnock inside the box, and chose to shoot across goal instead — the effort rising well over the far corner.

"Why not Højlund?" Demien asked, pointing at the run.

"The lane was open — the defender stopped following me," Rashford said.

"He stopped because Højlund pulled him away," Demien answered, and left it there with Brentford already restarting.

Demien read another transition in the fifty-fifth minute, Strakosha’s long kick toward Wissa, Evans winning the header but Jensen chasing the loose ball, and Demien got there first, cushioning it under his foot and taking the contact from behind without turning into it, laying it off to Eriksen and circling around Jensen for the return.

Bruno dropped closer to collect from him, Antony holding width on the right and pulling Hickey out of Brentford’s line, and Bruno found Antony, who attacked Hickey, cut inside, and looked for Højlund — only for Pinnock to read it and clear before the ball ever reached him.

"United are moving it more securely now," the commentator said, "but Brentford stay comfortable as long as every attack ends with Højlund surrounded by three center-backs."

Brentford nearly doubled their lead in the fifty-eighth minute, Mbeumo winning a corner off a deflection from Lindelöf, and Jensen’s delivery aimed for the near post, where Nørgaard flicked it across the six-yard box for Collins to arrive late and direct it toward the underside of the bar.

Dalot, still stationed at the far post, reacted before Onana could recover and hooked it clear from beneath the crossbar.

The clearance dropped to Hickey outside the box, and Demien charged out to reach him before the shot and blocked it out for a throw.

He turned on Eriksen the moment the danger passed. "Nørgaard can’t get a free run across the first man like that."

"I was blocked," Eriksen said.

"Then warn Maguire before the ball’s delivered," Demien told him.

Onana gripped Dalot’s shoulder and thanked him, still visibly unsettled from the first half but staying locked into the defense rather than retreating from it.

Demien built another attack in the sixty-first minute, receiving from Evans and drawing Mbeumo toward him before playing short to Eriksen and continuing forward for the return behind him.

Nørgaard stepped out to meet him, and Demien shaped as though he’d pass into Bruno, turning the midfielder’s attention toward the captain, before releasing Rashford behind Roerslev instead.

Rashford reached the edge of the box and drove a low cross toward Højlund, but Pinnock got there first and cleared it behind.

Ten Hag turned toward the bench, pointed at Garnacho, and told him to strip off his training top.

Garnacho came on for Rashford in the sixty-third minute, United’s shape holding at Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Evans, Lindelöf, Demien, Eriksen and Bruno, Antony and Garnacho wide, Højlund alone up top.

Rashford shook Ten Hag’s hand on the way off but kept glancing back at the pitch, aware how many good positions had ended without the right final pass.

"Stay outside Roerslev until Demien’s facing forward," Ten Hag told Garnacho as he crossed the line, "then attack the space before their five re-forms."

On his first touch, Demien won the ball off Jensen and released it left immediately, and Garnacho didn’t slow to face Roerslev, pushing it past him and driving for the byline instead.

Roerslev recovered enough to block the first cross, but Garnacho collected the rebound and cut it back to Bruno, whose shot from the edge of the box was thrown into by Ajer’s own body and blocked behind.

"Garnacho’s willingness to attack that outside is dragging one of their center-backs further from goal than they’d like," the commentator said.

Demien created another clear chance in the sixty-sixth minute, taking it from Eriksen with Nørgaard pressing from behind, using his shoulder to hold the midfielder off, and turning through the contact into open space.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Press Resistant」

Højlund began beside Collins, then broke for the gap between him and Pinnock, and Demien waited until Collins committed before sliding the ball through the opening behind him.

Højlund received inside the box with room for another touch, but shot immediately toward the near post instead, and the ball cracked into the side netting.

「MATCH MISSION PROGRESS」 「Clear Chances Created: 4/4」

"There was more room," Demien said, pointing toward the space he’d meant.

"Collins was recovering. I couldn’t wait," Højlund said.

"He was behind you, not beside you," Demien answered.

Højlund spread his hands as though the difference didn’t matter, and Eriksen stepped between them. "Move — they’re taking the goal kick."

Brentford made their first changes in the sixty-ninth minute, Onyeka on for Janelt, Maupay on for Wissa.

Maupay’s first touch came from a Pinnock clearance near halfway, and he backed into Evans, hooked one arm across him, and let the ball bounce toward the touchline before Evans reached around him and gave away the foul.

Maupay stayed down longer than the contact deserved, glanced at the stadium clock, then rose.

Demien walked toward the referee. "He checked the clock before deciding if he was hurt."

"Move away," the referee said.

Bruno pulled him back before it turned into anything worse.

Ten Hag made his next gamble in the seventy-first minute, sending Martial on for Lindelöf, United shifting into a back three of Evans, Maguire, and Dalot, Demien shielding the space ahead of them, Garnacho and Antony providing the width, Eriksen and Bruno working the pockets between Brentford’s lines, Martial joining Højlund up front.

Brentford answered by dropping Roerslev and Hickey slightly deeper against the two strikers, Mbeumo staying higher against Evans and Dalot to attack the gap Lindelöf’s removal had left behind.

"Stay out of the box unless the ball’s fully secure," Ten Hag told Demien as he came off the touchline briefly. "We have enough attackers now. Your job is protecting every clearance."

United created another chance in the seventy-third minute, Demien taking it from Maguire and moving it to Eriksen before Onyeka could close, Eriksen finding Bruno between the lines, Martial dropping off Ajer to receive and lay it back to Demien.

He shaped to shoot from twenty-five yards, and when Nørgaard rushed him, he slipped it into Bruno on the right side of the box instead.

Bruno took one touch and struck across goal, and Strakosha threw himself to full stretch to push it beyond the far post.

Bruno dropped to one knee after the save.

Demien clapped both hands together and shouted toward the stands, refusing to let the noise turn to frustration.

From the corner, Maguire won the first header, Pinnock blocking it before it reached Martial, and Demien collected the clearance outside the box with Mbeumo already sprinting toward him expecting another cross forced from a bad angle.

He took one touch away from him and sent it to Garnacho instead, restarting the attack rather than throwing the ball away.

Garnacho attacked Roerslev again in the seventy-sixth minute, cutting inside and striking from the edge of the box, the shot rising narrowly over the bar.

"Sorry — Martial and Højlund were both cutting inside," Garnacho said, turning to Demien.

"Keep attacking. Don’t second-guess every shot," Demien told him.

Antony curled one narrowly over from the opposite side in the seventy-eighth minute, Brentford pinned back now but their three center-backs still winning most of what came into the box.