Chapter 867 God’s Will

During the halftime break, Ferguson gave the players some psychological counseling. With more than 40 years of professional experience, he told the players that it is useless to complain when the referee is biased and the opponent is rough. They must play more calmly and calmly. Smart wins.

After the start of the second half, Manchester United reduced the passing and cutting cooperation in the midfield. Gao Xiaodong acted more as a transfer station in the middle, distributing the ball to the wings, passing the ball from the wings, and then going to the goal.

This tactic is simpler, but the effect is not bad. Manchester United created consecutive shooting opportunities at the beginning.

In the 2nd minute of the second half, Giggs passed a cross from the wing and Rooney grabbed the spot, but he reluctantly headed the ball high under the interference of the opponent's defender, and the ball flew high over the crossbar.

In the 55th minute, Hernandez crossed the ball from the wing to the front of the penalty area. Gao Xiaodong volleyed against the defender, but unfortunately the ball hit the left post and bounced out of the baseline.

This was the second time Manchester United hit the post. Although there was no goal, Gao Xiaodong's kick directly changed Birmingham's style of play. He did not dare to press so urgently in the midfield, and the lineup shrank slightly to suppress Manchester United. For attacks from the wing, the 2.02-meter-tall Serbian and Montenegrin center Zikic was used as the bridgehead, and the tactic of long passes and lobs was used for quick counterattacks.

Birmingham head coach Mike Reese's adjustment was very effective, especially when the referee favored the home team. Birmingham's simple and crude counterattacks were a great threat to Manchester United. Often after Manchester United's attack failed, Birmingham immediately drove forward with a big kick. , find his forward Zigic, and then Zigic returns the header to form a counterattack.

Although Birmingham does not invest many troops in a counterattack like this, and the threat it may pose is not great, Manchester United must return from the opponent's penalty area to its own penalty area, which consumes a lot of physical energy. If the fight continues like this, physical fitness will be reduced in the last 15 minutes. problem appear.

In this situation, it is best for Manchester United to score first. After scoring the goal, shrink the formation and wait for Birmingham to attack. At that time, the initiative will be in Manchester United's hands.

After 65 minutes of the game, Ferguson took the initiative to change the formation, replacing Hernandez and replacing him with Berbatov to strengthen the striker's ability to handle the ball and improve the quality of his shots.

Ferguson's substitutions worked very well. After Berbatov came on the field, he used his skills and awareness to constantly play ball for Gao Xiaodong and Carrick in the midfield, giving full play to Manchester United's offensive power.

In the 68th minute of the game, Berbatov heeled a pass from the center. Gao Xiaodong took the ball and knocked it horizontally. Berbatov stopped the ball with his left foot and shot low with his right foot into the near corner from 15 meters away.

Although Birmingham's former Manchester United goalkeeper Foster was in excellent condition, he was still powerless against such a shot. However, Berbatov's shot was once again rejected by the goal post.

Counting this goalpost, Manchester United has hit three goalposts today, which made all the Manchester United fans who came to watch the game sigh and curse the Birmingham goalposts for their incredible performance.

After Berbatov hit this goalpost, Manchester United players and fans had a bad feeling. In football matches, if you get consecutive opportunities but fail to score, in such a situation, the opponent will often counterattack. Scored a goal.

The Manchester United people's premonition was not bad. In the 71st minute of the game, Roger Johnson passed a diagonal pass from the right to the middle. Substitute Zikic jumped up and headed the ball. Bowyer suddenly rushed into the penalty area from outside the penalty area and flew to grab the shot.

When Birmingham attacked, Gao Xiaodong had already returned to the front of his penalty area. When Bowyer advanced, Gao Xiaodong was also chasing after him. When Bowyer shot, Gao Xiaodong ignored it and directly blocked Bao. Yay shot.

Manchester United's luck also came home. Bowyer's shot was deflected by Gao Xiaodong's foot, and the ball deflected and flew into the blind spot of the goal.

The distance was too close and the direction changed. Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had no time to react and could only watch the ball fly into the goal.

1:0

The St. Andrews Stadium erupted instantly after the goal, with nearly 30,000 fans cheering and cheering to celebrate their overwhelming lead over Manchester United.

"Sky Sports" commentator Martin sighed: "Football is round.

Anything can happen. Who would have thought that Birmingham, third from the bottom, could break Manchester United's goal at home. If they are lucky enough and the players work hard enough, Birmingham may be able to create an even bigger miracle. "

Birmingham boss Yang Ka-shing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that if Manchester United scored first, Birmingham would be in danger. Now that Birmingham has scored a goal, the initiative is in control. Yang Ka-shing believes that McRees will find a way to preserve the victory.

Seeing Birmingham's goal, Ferguson immediately made substitution adjustments. Veteran Scholes came on, replaced midfielder Anderson, added midfield passers and ball handlers, and freed Gao Xiaodong to attack.

Ferguson's substitution had an immediate effect. Five minutes later, Manchester United passed a cross from the wing. Scholes missed the ball. Gao Xiaodong then volleyed with a kick. The ball flew to the upper right corner of the goal like lightning. , goalkeeper Foster couldn't react in time and could only watch the ball go into the net.

1:1

Gao Xiaodong made up for it and equalized the score for Manchester United.

In the VIP box, Yang Jiacheng's secretary said dissatisfiedly: "Boss, Gao Xiaodong really doesn't give you any face."

Yang Ka-shing looked calm and said: "This is Manchester United, and one point is a good result."

The secretary said: "But if Gao Xiaodong doesn't score, we can hope to get three points."

Yang Jiacheng said coldly: "Guotian Lixia, if you were Gao Xiaodong, would you show mercy?"

The secretary stopped talking.

After Manchester United equalized the score, their morale was high and they launched a fierce counterattack against Birmingham. At this moment, Birmingham was obviously satisfied with one point. Head coach Mike Reese gave the order to shrink the defense. Birmingham began to retreat to the half-court, just High center Zikic stayed in the frontcourt to suppress Manchester United's defenders.

Facing a dense defense, especially when the referee was biased and they did not have a strong center, it was very difficult to break Birmingham's goal. Manchester United could only constantly use long shots to threaten Birmingham's goal.

In the 85th minute of the game, Dahn deliberately blocked Gao Xiaodong's wing breakthrough and received a yellow card. Rooney hit a quick free kick, and Scholes' shot from the top of the penalty area missed.

In the 88th minute, Gao Xiaodong fired from 30 meters away. The ball hit the defender and bounced off the baseline. Manchester United got a corner kick. Facing a dense defense, the set kick was a good chance to score. Vidic and Ferdinand came to the penalty area to compete for the top. Scholes passed the ball near the penalty spot. Vidic shook his head and hit the goal but was punched by Foster. Gao Xiaodong hit the goal with another heavy kick from the outside of the penalty area. Foster pushed the ball to the goal with both hands. .

In the first minute of stoppage time, Manchester United continued to take corner kicks. Scholes directly hit the ball to the outside of the penalty area to find Gao Xiaodong. Birmingham players quickly came out to press. Gao Xiaodong took advantage of the situation and distributed the ball to the wing to Giggs, who quickly Into the restricted area.

Giggs is cunning and cunning. When receiving the ball, he will pass the ball quickly and flatly, looking for Gao Xiaodong to penetrate forward.

Gao Xiaodong moved forward very fast. No one in Birmingham could keep up. They could only watch Gao Xiaodong rush into the penalty area and header the goal.

This was a chance to win. With such a close header, the goalkeeper had no time to react, but Gao Xiaodong headed the ball to the post.

Gao Xiaodong watched the ball bounce out of the baseline and felt like crying. He really had no intention of being merciful, but luck favored Birmingham. Now it seemed like he was merciful.

This header scared the Birmingham people so much that their hearts almost jumped out of their chests. Then the entire Birmingham team shrank to a 30-meter area, formed a barrel formation, and held on for one point.

Facing Birmingham's iron-barrel formation, Manchester United could no longer create a scoring opportunity and could only shake hands with Birmingham away from home.