Liverpool's home game against Manchester United was the England National Derby, also known as the England First Derby. The entire first half of the match was played at a high tempo and with intense physical battles.

Except for the lack of goals, it completely lived up to the name of "England's First Derby."

Because of Chen Hero’s pre-match comments, Manchester United considered him arrogant and disrespectful.

Liverpool fans cheered for Chen Hero, believing that this newcomer had grasped the true essence of the hatred between Manchester United and Liverpool, and that he said those words to provoke and stimulate Manchester United.

However, both sides clearly lacked a deeper understanding of Chen Hero—Chen Hero was definitely not deliberately provoking Manchester United, nor was he trying to please Liverpool fans by stimulating Manchester United.

He was telling the truth.

He just has that kind of personality. Sometimes it makes people think he's deliberately provoking, but in reality, he's just arrogant, flamboyant, and confident from the bottom of his heart...

What he said wasn't wrong either—that's how it should be. No matter who the opponent is, you have to strive for victory. Should he raise his hands in surrender just because the opponent is Manchester United?

His only problem was that he spoke too definitively. If he had said, "No matter who the opponent is, I will strive to defeat them," there would have been no problem. But he insisted on saying, "Anyway, I will defeat them"...

That changed the meaning, making it seem as if victory was already in Chen Hero's pocket.

Therefore, Liverpool fans cheered loudly for Chen Hero during the match, while Manchester United fans booed him relentlessly.

Manchester United and Chen Hero also had a grudge—just in last season's Champions League semi-final, Chen Hero's Napoli eliminated Manchester United to advance to the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, and ultimately lifted the Champions League trophy.

Chen Hero performed brilliantly in the Champions League final, scoring a hat-trick. However, Manchester United fans wouldn't think that this gave Chen Hero the qualifications and ability to eliminate Manchester United.

They would only remember Chen Hero as the culprit who prevented Manchester United from winning the Champions League. In the two legs of the semi-final, he scored one goal and provided one key assist, helping Napoli eliminate Manchester United.

As Napoli's number one star, while enjoying the glory that such a reputation brought him, he also had to bear the corresponding responsibility—the wronged have their avengers, and Manchester United fans' anger naturally vented on Chen Hero.

Not only did he lead Napoli to eliminate Manchester United, but he also joined Manchester United's arch-rivals, Liverpool. Added to Chen Hero's pre-match comment, this truly cemented his status as an enemy of Manchester United...

Although playing away from home, Manchester United fans relentlessly offered their boos to Chen Hero.

"Chen Hero is completely unaffected by the booing... Manchester United fans want to use this method to express their hatred for Chen Hero, but this method is completely ineffective for Hero! Because in Napoli, he had already been tempered by the home fans' crazy booing!" the Italian commentator laughed. "I think anyone who has been relentlessly booed for a season at the Stadio San Paolo probably won't be afraid of any booing or so-called hell stadiums anymore..."

He was right, but what else could those angry fans do besides booing and cursing him?

They couldn't possibly jump down from the stands and rush onto the field to beat Chen Hero up, could they? Leaving aside whether anyone among them would even think of doing that, the question of whether they could even beat Chen Hero is doubtful...

Besides the Manchester United fans' hatred for Chen Hero, on the Liverpool side, there was also someone they particularly disliked, and that was... Wayne Rooney.

This player, who once played for Everton, had now transformed into a Manchester United player. He was once Liverpool's cross-town rival, and now he was a lifelong enemy of Liverpool, a double hatred. Liverpool fans naturally wouldn't be polite to Rooney.

In the stands at Anfield, there were flags, slogans, and cartoon portraits everywhere that insulted and attacked Manchester United, and most of them were about Rooney.

Someone drew a cartoon of Rooney as a clown counting money, mocking Rooney for becoming a Judas for money when he transferred from Everton to Manchester United.

When Rooney got the ball, he received even louder boos than Chen Hero—this was Liverpool's home ground, after all, and the home fans would definitely be louder than the away fans...

Rooney remained unafraid in the face of these boos. He was used to it. It wasn't the first time he had represented Manchester United against Liverpool, nor was it the first time he had come to Anfield as an enemy.

He knew that the way to shut these people up, and to make them even more crazed and hate him even more, was the same: to score goals!

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After Chen Hero transferred to Liverpool, the English media cheered for a while. Because Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer to Real Madrid had caused the English media to lament for a long time, saying that the current Premier League, apart from Rooney, had no other outstanding young talents to speak of, and the Premier League's star power had been greatly reduced.

The Spanish were always using the fact that they had Messi, Ronaldo, and Kaka, three of the most famous players in football today, to show that their league had surpassed the Premier League and become the number one league in Europe.

Now that Chen Hero had joined Liverpool, as the second most expensive player in the world, and having just defeated Messi and Barcelona in the Champions League final, he was riding high. His arrival was considered to have increased the star power of the Premier League.

So Rooney and Chen Hero were inevitably brought together by the media for hype and promotion. In fact, the stories surrounding these two people were indeed suitable for such hype—first of all, one played for Manchester United and the other played for Liverpool, and these two teams were arch-rivals.

Secondly, they were both very talented. Rooney was the number one idol in English football and was considered by the European media to be the only mid-generation player who could be compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. And Chen Hero? He had risen rapidly, was unstoppable, and had swept across European football in just one season, defeating Messi and Barcelona, and leading Napoli, who no one had expected, to lift the European Champions Cup. He already had the faint air of being on par with Messi, Ronaldo, and others.

Thirdly, neither of them were "good guys." Rooney was a "bad boy" kind of troublemaker in English football. The controversies and news surrounding him were countless. He frequented prostitutes, even older ones, he was an alcoholic, he hit people in bars, he committed malicious fouls on the pitch, he had a bad temper... Similarly, Chen Hero also had some of Rooney's qualities. The various legends about him were enough to show what kind of person he was. The troubles Rooney had were all present in Chen Hero, except for the malicious fouls...

Since Spanish football has the endless rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, why can't we establish such a pair of rivals in England as well?

And this England derby between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield was simply the best opportunity.

So everyone's cameras and focus were aimed at Liverpool's number nine and Manchester United's number ten.

Whether it was intentional cooperation with the media's hype or an unintentional coincidence,

Chen Hero and Rooney both worked very hard and desperately in the match, as if they knew their positions in English football and neither was willing to lose to the other.

Five minutes into the game, Rooney had a long shot, but it went wide.

Three minutes later, Chen Hero responded with a powerful shot in the penalty area, but it was a bit too straight and was firmly caught by goalkeeper De Gea, who had transferred from Atletico Madrid.

In the twenty-eighth minute, Liverpool midfielder Lucas tripped Rooney in midfield and received a yellow card. If this were a normal match, Rooney would probably have sat on the ground with his hands spread out to protest and express his helplessness. Seeing the referee show a yellow card to the opponent, he would have gotten up from the ground and accepted it.

But this was a derby, a match between Manchester United and Liverpool. So Rooney flipped over and jumped up from the ground, butted heads with Lucas!

Lucas was not to be outdone and locked foreheads with Rooney. Both of them were talking trash, glaring at each other with wide eyes.

And the players on both sides seemed to have been waiting for this signal all along. Seeing the two men butting heads on the pitch, they quickly joined in, pushing and shoving, trying to break them up, and of course, there was no shortage of mutual cursing and accusations. Liverpool players accused Rooney of exaggerating his fall, while Manchester United players believed that Lucas had committed a malicious foul.

In short, they themselves were always right, and the other side was always wrong.

The referee was already accustomed to this scene—every Englishman knew about the hatred between Liverpool and Manchester United. He didn't take it too seriously. Such a conflict might have been a big deal in other matches, but in the Manchester United-Liverpool National Derby, it was just a normal little interlude.

He didn't even give each side fifty lashes. He only showed a yellow card to Lucas for the foul and gave all the players a warning—even if this was a derby, such fouls were still not allowed!

As for the players involved in the conflict, no one was punished. He simply called the two captains, Carragher and Giggs, together and reminded them to pay attention to controlling their teammates' emotions and to put the game first. Otherwise, he wouldn't mind taking drastic measures.

This was the difference between English football and other European football.

English referees are relatively lenient in their judgments of many physical contacts and intense scenes on the football field. Their first task is not to maintain the fairness of the game, but to ensure that the game proceeds smoothly and fluently. Some actions that would warrant a yellow card in La Liga are often met with the referee in England waving his index finger, signaling the fallen player to get up quickly and continue the game.

This is why the pace of the Premier League is always fast, the tackling is fierce, and the use of the body is very frequent. Those thin, technically skilled players who come to play football in England are often very uncomfortable. If they don't increase their physical strength and weight, they may not even have a chance to play in a Premier League team.

This is also why everyone says that if someone like Messi came to England, he would have been crippled long ago... In England, football is a sport for real men, and physical clashes, even broken arms and legs, are revered as a sign of passion. In earlier years, those traditional English coaches would even shout to their players on the sidelines during the match: "Chop his legs!" "Kick his ankles! Get that damn bastard down!" and the like...

In this game, physical contact was even more frequent...

Chen Hero realized this—near the end of the first half, he got the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and then Rio Ferdinand, with a combination of pulling and tripping from behind, knocked him to the ground, and naturally lost possession.

Based on his experience of playing in the Italian league, he spread his arms to indicate that the opponent had fouled and wanted to win a free kick for his team.

As a result, the referee waved his hand at him and beckoned him to get up...

Dalglish didn't raise his arms on the sidelines to signal the referee to give Liverpool a free kick, but instead roared at Chen Hero, "Hero! You get the hell up! Run back!"

Liverpool's players on the pitch didn't raise their hands to the referee to indicate that Chen Hero had been fouled, they were desperately retreating.

Rio Ferdinand glanced back at Chen Hero, his eyes full of disdain: Kid, don't think this is the sissy place like the Champions League! This is the Premier League! The ones playing here are men! Men, understand?!

He was still brooding over the fact that he had knocked Chen Hero down in the semi-final, which resulted in a penalty for the team, and ultimately cost them the game, and he himself was sent off with a red card...

Feeling Ferdinand's contemptuous gaze, Chen Hero jumped up from the ground and ran back.

His actions were applauded by many Liverpool fans, and Dalglish was also pleased with his performance, no longer shouting at him and waving his arms to get him up from the ground.

The first half of the match ended with frequent physical contact between the players on both sides, although there were no goals. But the English television viewers, commentators, and fans of both sides thought the first half was wonderful—this was England's First Derby, and the match between Liverpool and Manchester United should be like this!

"Worthy of being England's First Derby!" the commentator for Sky Sports England exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.