Chapter 1,201 Lightning Goal

After the half-time break, the game resumes.

Manchester United, which was leading by a big score, did not make any adjustments, while Chelsea replaced the core midfielder, Lampard, with Anelka.

Both Manchester United fans and Chelsea fans were a little surprised by this substitution.

Chelsea conceded three goals in the first half, and no one performed well. Lampard was just one of many average players.

As the core of the team, Lampard would never be satisfied with being substituted at halftime when trailing by three goals.

Fans all speculated whether something went wrong in Chelsea's dressing room during the halftime break.

Or, there is a conflict between Lampard and coach Villas-Boas.

When everyone was in shock and doubt, the second half started with a sudden change.

Chelsea kicked off from the center circle and passed the ball back to the midfield. Midfielder Ramirez passed it to Ivanovic. Ivanovic directly kicked the ball and passed it long to find Anelka who came on the bench.

With a big lead in the first half, Manchester United's players were a little relaxed mentally. After the start, everyone was not focused enough. The new Anelka was not marked by anyone, and the ball was easily unloaded by Anelka with his chest.

Anelka is an experienced veteran. He saw the movement of his teammates while receiving the ball. Torres was inserting towards the upper left corner of the penalty area.

As soon as the ball touched the ground, Anelka pulled the ball with his right foot, turned around, pushed the arch of his left foot, and passed the ball in front of Torres.

When Anelka turned the ball, Manchester United's defenders were aware of the danger, but Anderson was slow to pounce and the ball had already been passed by Anelka.

The two central defenders, Smalling and Evans, and full-back Phil Jones also ran quickly towards Torres, trying to prevent Torres from shooting or breaking through.

Torres took the ball into the penalty area with his left foot and quickly entered the penalty area.

Smalling, Evans and Phil Jones were all left behind.

Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea struck when Torres dribbled towards the penalty area.

In fact, De Gea was ready to attack when Torres received the ball.

Although there are many Manchester United players coming to defend, the water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby.

None of them could stop Torres, and De Gea could only intercept it by himself.

Torres wasted opportunities in the first half and did not show the style of a top killer at all, so much so that De Gea even looked down upon the former Spanish golden boy.

However, after Torres was criticized by coach Villas-Boas at halftime, he was full of anger and was ready to take it out on De Gea.

De Gea stretched out his arms and bent his knees forward, like an octopus, covering most of Torres' shooting angles.

Torres is indeed a world-class shooter. With De Gea blocking most of the shooting angles, he flicked the outside of his right foot and the ball flew from the defensive vacuum at De Gea's feet to the lower left corner of the goal.

De Gea hurriedly tried to block Torres' shot with his foot, but the angle of Torres' shot was too tricky and De Gea did not touch the ball.

Everything was irreversible. Like precise guidance, the ball flew past De Gea's feet and flew into the net against the goal post.

1:3

37 seconds into the second half, Torres got a point back for Chelsea.

After the goal, Torres jumped up, raised his arms and shouted, venting all the depression in the half.

All the Chelsea fans who came to support stood up and applauded Torres' goal.

Villas-Boas rushed to the court excitedly, wanting to hug Torres who scored the goal and Anelka who assisted.

It takes great courage to take down Lampard in the midfield. This is challenging the status and authority of the team's meritorious players. If there is no change in the second half, or even worse, the pressure on Villas-Boas will be extremely huge.

Fortunately, Anelka came on the field to live up to his expectations, and Torres lived up to his expectations. The two teamed up to save a glimmer of hope for Chelsea.

"A goal! A goal?" Manchester United's on-site commentator was shocked. "A lightning goal! It only took 37 seconds. Many people didn't even sit down in their seats, and Torres completed the goal! All we can say is, Manchester United had underestimated their opponent! With 3 goals in the lead, they felt that the overall situation was decided. They were not focused on the game. As a result, they were caught off guard by Chelsea. Now they are only two goals ahead. The suspense is back. We must hold on now and we must not let Chelsea do it again. Scored a goal..."

Ferguson is very experienced and knows very well that this is a very dangerous period. If he fails to deal with it correctly, the situation may completely change.

After Chelsea celebrated, Manchester United kicked off. Chelsea took advantage of the goal and moved forward to press Manchester United's penalty area.

Manchester United was hit by a goal at the beginning and was a little confused. The ball was quickly lost and Chelsea launched an attack after stealing it in the midfield.

Chelsea's confidence was greatly increased at this moment. After Meireles got the ball, he passed the two Manchester United midfielders and drove straight behind the two Manchester United central defenders.

Mata slanted in from the wing to steal Meireles' pass.

Manchester United's two defenders, Evans and Smalling, are tall and can suffer from high-altitude balls and confrontations, but turning is their biggest weakness. After Meireles passed the ball, the two of them hadn't turned around yet. Ta has already inserted himself behind the two of them.

Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea was also wise. When he saw his opponent passing through, he did not count on the two central defenders and quickly attacked himself to destroy Meireles' pass.

De Gea's attack was a bit risky, but the reward was great. He kicked the ball out of the sideline in front of Mata.

Although Chelsea's attack did not result in a shot, it was more dangerous than an ordinary shot.

Manchester United fans were shocked. They understood that if their opponents were to pull back two goals within two minutes, it would be too difficult for Manchester United to maintain a one-goal advantage.

Ferguson was wily and savvy. He saw that the situation was not good and the opponent was preparing to attack with a quick sideline ball. He immediately asked Valencia, who had just come off the bench to warm up, to come on and break the opponent's offensive rhythm.

Valencia came on directly before running a few dozen meters. He replaced Anderson, but instead of playing as a midfielder, he replaced Gao Xiaodong as a full-back, and Gao Xiaodong returned to the midfielder position.

Seeing Ferguson making substitutions at this time, Villas-Boas was annoyed and admired. This old guy has been able to dominate world football for decades, and he is indeed cunning. This substitution adjustment not only interrupted Chelsea's counterattack rhythm, but also consolidated the situation. Manchester United's central defense.

"Immortal!" Villas-Boas cursed bitterly and continued to wave his players to attack Manchester United.

Manchester United was able to score three goals in the first half, and Gao Xiaodong's attack from the wing was crucial.

Because Boas believed that Gao Xiaodong would play as a defensive midfielder or attacking midfielder and focus on defending in the middle, Gao Xiaodong was caught off guard.

Chelsea also created opportunities in the middle. Being so far behind was mainly because Chelsea failed to seize the shooting opportunity.

In the second half, Torres performed normally and Chelsea scored.

However, Gao Xiaodong returned to the midfielder position. After Valencia came on the scene, Manchester United's power on the wings did not decrease much, and the interception coverage and offensive and defensive transition capabilities of the center were greatly increased. It was not so easy for Chelsea to create shooting opportunities.