Chapter 1016: Tie at Halftime

Ferguson pushed Vidic into the Stoke City penalty area, quite like beating the old master to death with random punches.

Stoke City's players had been preparing for a month, but they never expected that center back Vidic would be used as a forward.

Although Vidic is not a forward, he has height and header. After causing trouble in the middle, Stoke City's defense became a bit messy.

In the 40th minute, Evra made a pass from the left. When Stoke City defender Shawcross was competing with Vidic for the top, the ball flew out of the post and almost scored an own goal.

After Stoke City took the goal kick, the ball changed hands to Manchester United in the blink of an eye. After Ferdinand grabbed the ball, he didn't bother to hand it over to Scholes for organization. All the previous methods were exhausted and no goal was scored. , he simply drove towards Stoke City's penalty area with a big kick.

Long passes are a traditional part of the Premier League, and the effect is basically left to chance.

However, Manchester United was lucky this time. Vidic actually grabbed the header. He was unable to header the ball, but he rubbed the back of the ball to the front of the penalty area.

This area is Gao Xiaodong's position, and he is also the first choice for long-range shots.

Stoke City guarded Gao Xiaodong's long-range shot very hard. When Gao Xiaodong rushed over to prepare for the shot, there were already Stoke City players coming to block the line.

Gao Xiaodong did not force the shot. He moved the ball horizontally and passed it to Scholes who joined him.

Scholes was slower than Gao Xiaodong. Gao Xiaodong made a move, but his step was just right. Scholes raised his foot to face the ball and shot.

The ball flew straight to the upper right corner of the goal like a sharp arrow.

This time Scholes was very lucky. The ball did not hit any defensive player, and a defender did not hit it when he jumped. The ball hit the dead corner.

Stoke City goalkeeper Sorensen is a very good goalkeeper, and his condition today was also very good. If it weren't for his outstanding performance in front of him, Stoke City would have been difficult to keep the goal.

When Scholes shot, Sorensen reacted immediately, but Scholes' shot was very fast and powerful. Sorensen flew around and barely touched the ball.

The angle of the ball was very tricky, almost touching the goal post, but because of this, although Sorensen only touched the ball, the ball still hit the post and bounced out.

This was Manchester United's best chance after the opening. When the ball went to the blind corner,

The anxious Manchester United fans had already begun to applaud, and their arms that were not applauding were also raised, but they did not expect that they hit the post.

"What a pity!"

"It's so easy to pry open a hole in the turtle's shell!"

"What bad luck!"

…

Manchester United fans all sighed.

But the game was not over. After the ball hit the goal post and bounced out, Rooney arrived immediately. He took another shot, but the ball hit the defender and bounced out.

This time the ball fell to the feet of a Stoke City player. Pennant tried to clear the ball but made a mistake. He kicked the ball onto his teammate Huth and bounced towards the goal.

Sorensen had just saved Scholes' shot. He was still shocked when his teammate's clearance ball bounced towards the goal. He almost subconsciously fell to the ground and pounced. Fortunately, the ball rebounded and slowed down, and was caught by Sorensen. His hand blocked the bottom line.

After blocking the ball, Sorensen was so angry that he got up and yelled at his teammate who made the mistake.

There were screams of surprise in the stands.

Those who made these calls were Stoke City fans. They were so nervous that they almost suffocated just now. Unexpectedly, Sorensen saved the team again.

"pretty!"

"Sorensen! I love you!"

"Sorensen! Well done!"

…

Stoke City fans in the stands excitedly chanted Sorensen's name.

It's no wonder that Stoke City fans are happy. Sorensen performed so well in the game. If it can really be delayed to a penalty shootout, maybe Sorensen can really help Stoke realize its championship dream. Manchester United gets a corner kick. Ferdinand also came to Stoke City's penalty area to fight for the top.

After Ferdinand reached the penalty area, Manchester United was more capable of competing for high balls in the penalty area. In the 44th minute, Scholes took a penalty kick. Rooney's header hit the back point, and Hernandez hit the back point. Then play the ball to the edge of the penalty area to find Gao Xiaodong.

This patient and unexpected cooperation finally disrupted Stoke City's defense. Gao Xiaodong also shook off the marker and hit a curve ball. The ball flew over all the players in the penalty area and flew to the upper corner of the goal.

Manchester United's cooperation this time was patient enough, but it was not hidden from Sorensen's eyes. His attention was always on Gao Xiaodong.

Seeing the ball flying over, Sorensen jumped up and held the ball up with one hand, and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out.

In less than five minutes, Manchester United had hit two goal posts and had a very threatening rebound ball.

It can be said that the luck is very bad, because the goal post is only a hair away from the goal.

Now not only the fans sighed, but the Manchester United players were also anxious.

The on-site commentator opened his eyes wide and said: "Two goalposts! Goalkeeper Sorensen was amazing today! There were only two goalposts in the first half, will there be more in the second half? Today's game is really a bit weird, I'll see you soon." Ah, one side started to set up an iron barrel formation from the first minute, with a defender pushing forward as a forward. Only Ferguson and Pulis can use this tactic."

There is only one minute of stoppage time left before the end of the first half. Manchester United's players failed to score consecutive shots. The players were a little anxious and had no patience to organize an attack and lobbed the ball into the penalty area for the first time.

Well prepared and with an obvious height advantage, it would be too difficult for Manchester United to break through Stoke City's gate just by relying on long passes.

As Gao Xiaodong's header hit the stands, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

Although the score was 0:0, the feelings for Manchester United and Stoke City were different. Manchester United shot almost 30 times in the first half, but failed to score a single goal. In the eyes of Manchester United players and fans, This is almost like a failure, because Stoke City will definitely copy the style of play in the first half in the second half. Without luck, it will be too difficult for Manchester United to score.

Stoke City defended the half regardless of the first half. Although it was a bit embarrassing, it completed the task perfectly. As long as they continue to defend like this in the second half, it is not impossible to defend for 120 minutes.

Therefore, during the first half of the game, Manchester United players and fans were very disappointed, and everyone returned to the locker room with frustrated faces.

But Stoke City were jumping up and down with excitement, as if they had already won.

The performance of the head coaches of both sides is also different.

Pulis was in high spirits. He took the initiative to shake hands with Ferguson, and then interacted with his teammates and fans before returning to the dressing room to assign tasks.

Ferguson was in a bad mood and had a serious expression. After shaking hands with Pulis, he returned to the locker room with a cold face. A reporter at the mixed tunnel wanted to interview him, but Ferguson pushed him away and strode back to the locker room. .