Chapter 1052: Lost the Ball
Xavi's pass was in space, but he knew that Pedro would definitely insert into this position.
Sure enough, when Harvey's ball was passed, Pedro also arrived immediately. He led the ball forward and reached the edge of the penalty area. Before Vidic could defend in place, he launched a curved ball from the arch of his foot. Towards the far corner of the goal.
Pedro's shot was quite tricky. When he saw Van der Sar moving towards his own goal post, he hit it in the opposite direction.
Van der Sar is 41 years old and will retire at the end of this season. At this age, he uses his experience and awareness more to play football, and his physical functions have seriously declined.
Pedro was playing in the opposite direction. If Van der Sar was more than ten years younger, he might be able to turn around and save the ball with his strong waist and abdominal strength, but now, he can't even make a save and can only turn back. Watching the ball fly into his own door.
1:0
Barcelona broke the deadlock with a quick counterattack.
After scoring the goal, Pedro was extremely excited. He raised his hands and ran towards the stands frantically.
The Barcelona fans in the stands were even more excited than Pedro. They all jumped up when the goal was scored and shouted at Pedro on the court.
The Barcelona players also rushed towards Pedro and surrounded him. The big guys touched his head, patted his back and praised him together.
Guardiola on the sidelines also jumped half a meter high and shook his fist fiercely. For a ball-controlling team like Barcelona, the biggest fear is not being able to score. As long as they take the lead, they will He can wear down his opponents with his wretched ball control.
The on-site commentator also applauded Barcelona's wonderful counterattack, "Beautiful! This counterattack is so beautiful! Iniesta's escape, Xavi's pass, Pedro's fatal blow! This counterattack is like a textbook. Simple and effective! Barcelona has always had the advantage on the field before, and now they have turned their advantage into goals. With Barcelona's control, it is not easy for Manchester United to equalize the score."
China's commentator He Hui was also very disappointed, "Barcelona scored first. For Manchester United, this is the worst situation, because Manchester United tried to attack after the opening, but they couldn't beat Barcelona and couldn't press and win. Barcelona's ball, now Barcelona is leading, will definitely use the ball to attract Manchester United's players, consume the Manchester United players' physical strength, and then use the opponent's physical decline to counterattack to end the game. Now let's see how Manchester United and Ferguson deal with this situation. Bar."
Of course, the Manchester United players were very depressed and disappointed, but they had to admit that Barcelona's counterattack was indeed wonderful. Manchester United's only chance to avoid this counterattack was to foul Iniesta in advance. Once Iniesta started passing the ball, ,
Manchester United has no chance, and it depends on the opponent whether they will concede the goal in the end.
Ferguson's face was as heavy as water. Manchester United did not take any advantage in the first half of the 30 minutes and even conceded a goal. He, the head coach, could only bear the blame.
Ferguson is a very rational and decisive person. There was something wrong with the pre-match arrangement. He made a change ten minutes later, asking the forwards to give up the high-position press and pull Rooney back. This indeed curbed Barcelona's midfield pass. arrived, but failed to prevent Barcelona's counterattack.
There was definitely no way to make substitutions and adjustments now, so Ferguson called Gao Xiaodong and Rooney over and asked them to tighten the pressure on the ball-carrying player during the opponent's counterattack, prevent the opponent from quickly releasing the ball, and give the defender time to defend.
In the VIP box, Glazer's youngest son Edward had already exploded. He sneered and said to his eldest brother Ephraim: "Look, I lost the ball. I'm probably going to lose! What did that Gao Xiaodong play? It has no effect at all." Come on, even if it’s like this, you still have the nerve to invite us to watch the game.”
Ephraim also looked ugly. In order to support the team and also consider winning the championship, everyone would have the opportunity to show their faces. Unexpectedly, Manchester United played so poorly in the first half, which made Ephram regret it. He felt that it was better to show his face. He should just let his brother Joel do it, and he should not join in the fun.
Joel may have seen his elder brother's dissatisfaction. He quickly explained: "Barcelona is a super strong team. It is not easy for Manchester United to beat them. It is also not easy to prevent them from scoring. However, there is still a long time. I I think Manchester United still have another chance to score..."
"Goal? When will it be scored? Manchester United can score, but Barcelona can't score again?" Edward interrupted Joel.
Joel was speechless, because no one could say this, and Joel didn't want to argue with his little brother Edward about this, because it was obvious that Edward wanted to show off to the beautiful woman.
Emma, who was sitting with Darcy, was also in a bad mood. Today, as a Chelsea fan, she supported Manchester United. To be precise, she came to support Gao Xiaodong because Gao Xiaodong invited her before the game. Unfortunately, Gao Xiaodong is not available now. Scored a goal and his team was still lagging behind.
Darcy rarely watches football because it is not a popular sport in the United States, but she is very concerned about her family business and asked Emma: "Emma, I don't know much about football, do you think we can still win?" ?”
Emma whispered: "There is hope, Manchester United's coach Ferguson is very good."
Darcy smiled and leaned into Emma's ear and said, "Is Gao Xiaodong awesome?"
Emma's face felt hot, but she was an actress and could hide it very well. She smiled and said: "Awesome, he is the core of Manchester United and the top scorer in the league and the Champions League."
Darcy smiled and said: "Are we familiar? How are you doing now? Is my brother still acting?"
Emma glanced at Edward quickly and said, "What's the matter? I regard Edward as a friend."
Darcy sighed: "Then it looks like my brother is out of luck."
While Manchester United fans were disappointed and Barcelona fans were celebrating, the game started again.
Manchester United kicked off the ball from the center circle and immediately attacked Barcelona from the wing.
Manchester United's offense is very simple. Valencia and Park Ji-sung use their speed to attack from both sides. If they can break through, they will cross the ball. If they can't break through, they will pass across the middle, or directly hit the penalty area at a 45-degree angle. .
Manchester United's first offensive attempt was successful. Valencia and Gao Xiaodong played a long one-two. Valencia successfully attacked Abidal and knocked the ball horizontally into the penalty area from the bottom line.
However, Valencia's speed was too fast. When he passed the cross, neither Rooney nor Hernandez was able to outflank him. Neither forward was able to get into position. Gao Xiaodong's midfielders were definitely not in place either. They could only Watch the ball fly out of the sideline.
Although Manchester United's attack was successful, Barcelona subsequently strengthened its defense on the wing. Manchester United's wing attack was immediately curbed. First, after Valencia passed Abidal, the ball was quickly covered by Masche. Rano snatched it.
Barcelona made a mistake in the counterattack. Fletcher in the center of Manchester United stole the ball and then launched a counterattack. Gao Xiaodong went directly behind the full-back Alves. Park Ji-sung advanced at high speed, but Pedro quickly returned to defense. Park Ji-sung got the ball and passed it. Pedro blocked the ball from the baseline and Manchester United got a corner kick.