Chapter 1,123 Meeting the Former Goalkeeper

Hawthorn Stadium

The last English stadium built in the 19th century, it is also the highest-ranked home ground for all 92 league teams in England.

The stadium is small and can only accommodate more than 26,000 people. Due to West Bromwich Albion's poor record, except for a few key battles to avoid relegation, it is rarely full. But all the tickets were sold out at The Hawthorns in the first game of the season.

The popularity of the football market is mainly due to the upsets in the previous games, which gave West Bromwich Albion fans undue illusions. They felt that their team could also defeat or draw with Manchester United.

Of course, the players and coaches of West Bromwich Albion also had this idea, but Hodgson was cunning and did not show his intentions. He very low-key arranged a 451 formation at home, defended steadily, and waited for Manchester United to make mistakes.

West Brom's starting list is: 1-Foster; 12-Reid, 30-Tamas, 3-Olson, 20-Shaughley; 11-Brent, 33-Scharner, 21 -Mulumba, 7-Morrison, 5-Tejoy; 9-Longe

Ferguson did not rely on West Brom in this game, nor did he take West Brom too seriously. He arranged a 4-4-2 formation: 1-De Gea; 12-Smarin, 5-Ferdinand, 15- Vidic, 20-Fabio; 17-Nani, 16-Carrick, 8-Andersen, 10-Gao Xiaodong; 10-Rooney, 9-Berbatov.

Manchester United has achieved 7 wins and 2 draws in the past 9 meetings between the two sides and remains unbeaten. It has achieved 12 wins and 2 draws in the past 14 league encounters between the two sides and remains unbeaten. Among them, Manchester United has achieved 8 wins and 2 draws in 10 Premier League games and remains unbeaten. The last time West Brom defeated Manchester United was in the third round of the League Cup in 2003, and the last time they won the league was in 1984.

Faced with such an opponent, Manchester United was full of confidence. After the opening game, they turned away and put full pressure on West Brom.

In the 2nd minute, Gao Xiaodong received the ball from the center and suddenly dribbled the ball to the left. Gao Xiaodong had previously received the ball and passed it, but suddenly switched to single-player mode. West Brom's players did not react in time, and both players came to intercept. After being passed by Gao Xiaodong, Sharna came over and grabbed Gao Xiaodong from behind.

The referee immediately blew the whistle, verbally warned Sharna, and awarded Manchester United a free kick.

After Scholes retired, Gao Xiaodong basically took the free kicks.

This free kick on the left was not far from the penalty area, but the angle was too far away for a direct shot. Manchester United's two central defenders Ferdinand and Vidic came to the penalty area to prepare for a header.

Gao Xiaodong stood in front of the free kick and observed the wall and the goalkeeper.

West Brom goalkeeper Foster is a former Manchester United goalkeeper and is very familiar with Manchester United players and tactics. Gao Xiaodong decided to shoot directly.

During the Community Shield match, Gao Xiaodong used up the consumable skill "Skill Bonus" rewarded in the red envelope, but after winning the Community Shield championship, the system rewarded him with a "Level 3 Falling Leaf Slash" skill. Gao Xiaodong thought Try how powerful this fallen leaf slashing skill is.

After the referee's whistle blew, Gao Xiaodong took a small run-up, exerted force on his right calf, and jerked the center of the ball. The moment he touched the ball, he quickly pulled his leg upwards.

If the ball is hit hard, it spins forward and upward violently, flying erratically towards the upper right corner of the goal.

If it were any other goalkeeper, Gao Xiaodong would definitely fly towards the upper right corner when he took off his foot, but West Brom's goalkeeper was Foster.

Foster has been playing for Manchester United since 2007 and is very familiar with former Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He is often his training opponent. Foster is very familiar with the kicking style and flight path of the fallen ball. He did not pounce on the upper right corner, but pounced on the lower right corner.

Foster's judgment was very accurate. The ball that seemed to fly to the upper corner suddenly dropped and went straight to the lower right corner of the goal, where Foster pounced.

Although Foster pounced, Gao Xiaodong's strength was no less than that of Ronaldo. Foster did not hold on and the ball came out of his hand.

Berbatov was near the ball, but his speed was too slow. As soon as he took a step forward, Foster quickly got up and dived again to catch the ball.

Gao Xiaodong was very surprised. He had already used the third-level leaf-cutting skill, and was saved by Foster. It seemed that Manchester United's substitute goalkeeper was also very good.

Gao Xiaodong gave Foster a thumbs up to express his appreciation.

West Brom's players were also startled by Gao Xiaodong's free kick, and several players came over to touch Foster's head.

West Brom's head coach Hodgson touched his forehead and secretly exclaimed, "Gao Xiaodong is really strong, and his skills are constantly improving. If this continues, there will be no suspense about being the number one player in the world."

Ferguson secretly cried out that it was a pity. He understood Foster's ability. If he hadn't been familiar with this kind of kicking style, the goal would have been scored. It can only be said that Gao Xiaodong had poor ball luck and met the goalkeeper who was most familiar with Manchester United.

Although the beautiful shot was saved, Gao Xiaodong didn't care. He just gave Foster a thumbs up, turned around and applauded his teammates easily, encouraging them not to be anxious and continue attacking.

Although Gao Xiaodong's approach was a bit deliberate, it still won the favor of the fans. They believed that this was the captain's style.

Gao Xiaodong failed to score a free kick, but Manchester United's offense did not stop. They continued to besiege West Brom and pressed West Brom almost beyond half-time.

It wasn't until the 8th minute that West Brom got its first shot.

West Brom counterattacked quickly. Right back Reid dribbled the ball along the wing to Manchester United's 30-meter area and passed it across. West Brom midfielder Sharna was a little greedy and received the ball directly from 30 meters away. A long shot, the ball missed the post by more than five meters and flew into the stands.

Although it did not hit the goal frame, West Brom's offense improved. Two minutes later, West Brom's cross from the wing was blocked by Smalling and West Brom got a corner kick opportunity.

Mulumba took a corner kick, and Trejoy took a shot from the left side of the penalty area during the melee, but Ferdinand blocked the bottom line with his body.

West Brom continues to take corner kicks.

After getting consecutive offensive opportunities, West Brom was a little careless. After Mulumba took a corner kick, the ball was pushed out by Ferdinand. Gao Xiaodong, who was waiting outside the penalty area, quickly rushed out and grabbed the ball before his opponent got it.

At this moment, West Brom's players are both inside and outside the penalty area. As long as they break through West Brom's first defensive circle on the outside of Manchester United's penalty area, there will be an open area behind where they can gallop.

Gao Xiaodong stood on the front line of the counterattack. There was no one in front of him to pass to, so he could only fight alone, dribbling the ball towards West Brom's half.

West Brom's two late players, Xiao Li and Brent, chased Gao Xiaodong desperately and drove Gao Xiaodong to the side to prevent Gao Xiaodong from shooting directly after reaching the 30-meter area.

Under the pressing pressure of West Brom players, Gao Xiaodong did not have the time and energy to observe the situation behind and around him, because he might be intercepted if he was distracted at the slightest moment.

But this did not prevent Gao Xiaodong from understanding the surrounding situation through super glasses. When Gao Xiaodong rushed to the 40-meter area, Gao Xiaodong discovered that Rooney was chasing him. Gao Xiaodong was overjoyed. He suddenly knocked the ball horizontally while dribbling. Passed to Rooney who came in at high speed in the middle.