Chapter 1004 The Key Rescue

The goal was disallowed in the 27th minute, which had a great impact on the young Hernandez. Then Hernandez became a little suspicious when running, always worried that he was offside. As a result, he started late and lost Got the chance.

In fact, it not only has an impact on Hernandez, but also on passing players such as Gao Xiaodong and Carrick. After a successful cooperation was called for offside, the midfielder's choice of passing timing has also become more difficult. of caution.

But offense is not the most important thing for Manchester United now. They lead the total score. Even if the score is 0:0 until the end, they can definitely advance to the finals. Therefore, even if Manchester United cannot play a sharp offensive, Manchester United fans will Won't care.

Manchester United's invalid goal allowed Chelsea to escape, but Chelsea could not stop attacking and must increase their offensive intensity because there was less and less time left for them. They could not score a goal in the first half and in the second half. Their goal-scoring task will only become heavier.

In order to prevent Manchester United from hitting the space behind them, Chelsea's offense relies more on long passes and diagonal passes. They wait for Drogba and Torres in front to catch the ball, and then attack aggressively.

This kind of offensive efficiency is not high, but it is safer and can reduce the chance of Manchester United playing behind.

However, Manchester United worked very hard on the defense of Drogba and Torres. Ferdinand and Vidic were guarding, and Fletcher and Carrick were guarding. Under such defense, even if Drogba and Torres' personal ability is super strong, but it is also difficult for him to hold the ball stably or pass it to his teammates.

Thirty-five minutes after the first half, Chelsea could not continue to use this inefficient offensive method. They finally began to take risks. The three lines pressed forward together, pushing the battlefield into Manchester United's half, and the defense line was placed in the center circle. nearby.

It's a risk, but Chelsea have no other choice.

With the increase in offensive strength, Chelsea's offensive threat has also become greater. This is mainly because when Drogba and Manchester United defenders compete for the top, Chelsea has more opportunities to get the ball. They directly attack in the frontcourt and have more opportunities to shoot. .

In the 37th minute of the game, when Ferdinand was fighting for a high ball, he pushed the ball to the feet of Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. Lampard raised his foot and hit it. Gao Xiaodong stretched his foot to intercept, and the ball hit Gao Xiaodong's leg and flew away. Toward the goal.

Fortunately, the direction of the ball did not change much, and Van der Sar barely hit the ball out of the baseline with one palm.

Chelsea gets a corner kick.

Gao Xiaodong came over to pat Van der Sar and apologize to him. If Van der Sar couldn't save the ball, Gao Xiaodong would certainly have to bear half of the blame.

Van der Sar’s clean sheet bonus is gone too.

Van der Sar didn't pay attention. He pushed Gao Xiaodong and said, "It's nothing. Go and defend."

Gao Xiaodong's corner kick defense mainly involves standing at the edge of the penalty area to mark Essien, who is preparing for a long shot. He also takes into account the task of grabbing the landing point to counterattack.

Chelsea's first few corner kicks went directly into the penalty area to find Drogba and Torres. However, because Manchester United defended Drogba tightly, Chelsea's corner kicks did not pose much of a threat.

This time Lampard kicked towards the edge of the penalty area, looking for Essien to shoot from a long distance.

Chelsea's corner kick tactics have been practiced. As soon as Lampard took the kick, Essien immediately understood that it was for him, so he quickly rushed to the landing point.

Gao Xiaodong is on the defensive side, and defense is always passive and lagging behind. He was a step slower and reached out to pull Essien, but he was afraid that he would not be able to pull him. Essien was as strong as a cow, so he hooked his feet, but he was afraid of getting a yellow card. , today he is not a purely offensive player, but also has defensive tasks. He will have scruples after receiving a yellow card, which will be detrimental to the subsequent games.

Gao Xiaodong was so cunning. He did not take a direct foul tactic, but accelerated to catch up. When Essien was about to take a shot, he reached out and pushed Essien in the back, and then slammed his body into Essien.

Essien almost hit the ball when he was first pushed by Gao Xiaodong, then hit again, staggering and falling to the ground.

Beep!

The referee Ben Kuelenka's whistle sounded and he sentenced Gao Xiaodong for a foul and gave Chelsea a well-positioned free kick. However, Ben Kuelenka felt that Gao Xiaodong did not control his center of gravity and knocked down Essien, so he did not give Gao Xiaodong a yellow card.

Gao Xiaodong was very happy. He was not afraid of fouls. In that case, it was impossible to stop Essien from shooting without fouling. He would be lucky if he didn't get a card.

Free kicks in front of the penalty area are usually taken by Lampard and Drogba.

Drogba felt that this free kick suited him very well. He discussed it with Lampard and stood in front of the ball.

Drogba's free kicks are powerful and fast. Once the crosshair is adjusted, he poses a great threat to the goal.

Now there is not much time left before the end of the first half. Van der Sar is on full alert and must not let Drogba score.

When Drogba was running for a shot, Gao Xiaodong was different from the others. He was also on full alert. He knew that Drogba had strong feet and was afraid that Van der Sar would miss the ball and be missed by others. He had to do it Good preparation for the rescue.

Bang!

Drogba volleyed hard!

Almost at the same time, Gao Xiaodong rushed towards the goal. He ran towards the right side of the goal. Gao Xiaodong felt that Van der Sar would pounce in this direction.

Not only did Gao Xiaodong have this awareness, when Drogba shot, Torres also rushed towards the goal immediately, and ran in the same direction as Gao Xiaodong.

Sure enough, Van der Sar threw the ball to the right side of the goal. He wanted to throw the ball towards the sideline. However, due to the great power of Drogba's free kick, Van der Sar barely had time to hit the ball and it bounced. go out.

Gao Xiaodong was faster than Torres. He kicked the ball out of the baseline first.

The Manchester United fans in the stands were worried. After Van der Sar saved the ball, they were just about to feel relieved when they saw Torres rushing over. Their hearts were in their throats again until Gao Xiaodong kicked the ball out. The Manchester United fans were relieved and applauded Gao Xiaodong vigorously for his key save.

The situation for Manchester United is still very tense, and Chelsea will continue to take corner kicks.

This time Manchester United returned to defense across the board, pulling Rooney and Hernandez back, determined not to let Chelsea score in the first half.

Lampard's corner kick changed a little this time. He and Ashley Cole made a tactical corner kick, disrupting the order in the penalty area, and Ashley Cole passed the ball to the penalty area.

This tactical corner kick was very effective. The defensive players in the penalty area could not find the target to mark, so they could only defend nearby. As a result, it was Fletcher who defended Drogba.

Fletcher is undoubtedly brave, but it would be a joke to compete with Drogba for a header. Fletcher saw Drogba preparing to jump, and he desperately grabbed Drogba's jersey and pulled it down.

"Stab!" Drogba's jersey was torn, but Fletcher still didn't catch Drogba, and Drogba jumped up to grab the landing spot.

However, Fletcher's pull still had an effect. Drogba did not jump so high, and his position was slightly off, and the ball flew out against the crossbar.

When Drogba saw that the ball did not hit the net, he immediately grabbed his jersey and went to the referee, saying that Fletcher had fouled and asked for a penalty kick.

After finishing the shot, he even asked for a penalty kick. Of course, the referee Benguirenka would not agree. He ignored Drogba and waved his hand to let Van der Sar take the goal kick.

These three set-piece attacks consumed a lot of Chelsea's energy. In the last three minutes, Manchester United defended with all their strength and did not give Chelsea an opportunity to take advantage of it. They successfully kept Chelsea in the first half.