Chapter 938 On the Edge of the Cliff

Gao Xiaodong's goal allowed Manchester United to take the initiative to advance into their own hands, but Inter Milan's hope of advancement is no less than Manchester United.

The current score of this game is 2:2, and the total score is 4:3. As long as Inter Milan scores another goal, they can eliminate Manchester United with the advantage of away goals.

In other words, Gao Xiaodong's goal brought Manchester United closer to promotion, but it did not cause too much trouble for Inter Milan's promotion. If Gao Xiaodong did not score, Inter Milan would have to score a goal if Gao Xiaodong scored. If Inter Milan wants to advance, they must score 1 goal.

There was not much time and he still had to score goals. Leonardo did not dare to continue playing with his Christmas tree formation. He made substitution adjustments. Stankovic came off the field and young player Coutinho came on. The formation also changed. It became 4231.

Where there is hope, there is fighting spirit. After the game started again, Inter Milan, which needed goals to advance, became more aggressive in running and pressed more forward.

Although Manchester United leads the total score, this lead is too small, not even a goal. As long as Inter Milan scores, they will be eliminated, so Manchester United cannot defend, they must also attack and score more goals. ball to ensure advancement.

Both teams wanted to attack, and the rhythm of the game immediately changed. If it was Andante before, it now becomes Allegro.

The first team to create a shooting opportunity was the Manchester United team playing at home.

In the 61st minute of the game, Gao Xiaodong dribbled the ball forward, passed Cambiaso and then split the ball to the side. Valencia broke through Chivu on the side and passed the ball. Hernandez missed the ball when he grabbed the point. Rooney shot from a small angle from behind and the ball slid out.

Then Inter goalkeeper Cesar made a mistake with his big kick, but Gao Xiaodong and Rooney cooperated on the right side of the penalty area. Then Rooney made a cross, but Hernandez's push was too weak and was saved by goalkeeper Cesar. Defender Lucio made a big clearance.

However, now Inter Milan is no longer passively beaten. After replacing Coutinho, the number of attackers in Inter Milan's frontcourt has reached four. Their high press makes it difficult for Manchester United to play the ball.

In the 67th minute of the game, Maicon made a pass from the right. Smalling made a mistake in the clearance and kicked it directly to Coutinho. Coutinho passed Fletcher with the ball and shot a direct arc shot, which bypassed the area. Desa's fingers flew out of the bottom line as they scraped against the post.

Coutinho's shot is not a small threat, but his status in Inter Milan is very low. Both Eto'o and Sneijder were a little dissatisfied with him not passing the ball and shooting directly. Eto'o just spread his hands and signaled for the goal. I'm better, and Sneijder said directly to Coutinho's face, "Just shoot blindly! You can't see anyone!"

After being criticized by the team’s boss,

Next, Coutinho would not dare to shoot easily when he took the ball to break through.

In the 70th minute of the game, Sneijder sent an overhead pass. Pandev stopped the ball in the middle and turned around to volley. The ball was punched by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. Scholes and Sneijder fought for the spot and the ball flew. Goes to the side and is grabbed by Coutinho.

Coutinho took two steps forward and did not dare to continue to break forward. When he saw Eto'o asking for the ball, he passed it directly to Eto'o.

Eto'o took advantage of the chaos in the Manchester United penalty area and lobbed the ball to the right side of the goal to find Maicon. Maicon entered the penalty area and volleyed hard, but the ball flew over the crossbar.

The game lasted until the 75th minute, and the score of 2:2 still remained unchanged. However, the players of Manchester United and Inter Milan became cautious and did not dare to attack as fiercely as before.

This time point is too sensitive. At this time, no matter who scores the goal, it is possible to become the final winner, but the party that loses the ball may also become the final loser. It can be said that this is the time when no one can afford to lose the ball. .

At the beginning of the second half, Ferguson and Leonardo were relatively calm, but now they are getting nervous. They both came to the sidelines to point fingers and shout loudly. Every mistake made by the players will cause them to roar loudly. Every foul committed by the opponent will be called by the referee. If not, they will also complain with exaggerated body postures.

It’s no wonder that Ferguson and Leonardo are nervous. For giants like Inter Milan and Manchester United, the league is just a guarantee, and the Champions League is the key. Whoever falls in the top 16, even if they win the league, cannot be considered a success.

Maybe it was because the first round at Meazza was too easy. In the second round at Old Trafford, the Manchester United players were somewhat prepared for the difficulty of the game. They didn't expect that the victory had not been sealed until the 75th minute. , the situation is even more dangerous than after the first round.

Not only the coach was nervous, but the players on both sides were also nervous. This was the reunion of last season's final opponents. Manchester United wanted revenge and was very eager to score another goal to seal the victory, but they were afraid of being counterattacked by Inter Milan.

This mentality of wanting to win and being afraid of losing makes some Inter Milan players timid when playing football, especially defenders. They don’t dare to get in when attacking. Even if they do, they don’t dare to get too deep. Once they lose the ball, they don’t Dare to surround and grab on the spot, just let the forwards harass you, and the defenders will immediately run back to defend.

Some people want to attack and others want to defend. This situation is the most dangerous because if the players are not unified in thinking, they cannot cooperate and form a tacit understanding. This is very detrimental to both offense and defense.

Ferguson has a lot of coaching experience, and he quickly saw the problem. Looking at the time, it was close to 80 minutes. Ferguson asked O'Shea to warm up and prepare to play, and then waved the players to shrink, strengthen their defense, and prepare for Inter Milan's counterattack. .

This is the brilliance of Ferguson. In fact, at this time, choosing to attack and choosing to defend are the same, both have risks, but the biggest risk is to do nothing. There is nothing wrong with Ferguson choosing to defend and counterattack when he is leading.

However, the charm of football games is that they are full of surprises.

In the 80th minute of the game, Sneijder sent a long pass near the center circle, looking for striker Eto'o.

Eto'o's header ability is average, but Smallin boldly stepped forward and headed the ball to his teammate Fletcher.

Fletcher stopped the ball with his chest and wanted to control the ball, but he did not expect that Inter Milan youngster Coutinho ran very actively after coming on the court. He stretched out his feet to steal the ball before Fletcher could stop it. Then it was passed to Eto'o.

Eto'o didn't expect the ball to come back again, and after Smalling finished fighting for the top, his body rushed forward and was not by his side.

Eto'o pulled and pushed the ball and quickly broke into the penalty area from the ribs.

However, Manchester United defender Brown is experienced. He quickly blocked Eto'o and did not give Eto'o a chance to shoot. Eto'o could only dribble the ball laterally, past Brown, and then look for a chance to shoot.

Manchester United's defense is not isolated, it is a system. Brown was passed by Eto'o, and full-back Evra made up for it.

This is what is called the more people you hit, the more people you hit. Eto'o is experienced. He moved the ball again, dodged Evra, and passed a cross to Pandev on the right before Smallin came back to defend.

Eto'o's kick passed right to Pandev's left foot.

Pandev is a player with extremely uneven skills in his left and right feet. In Serie A, defenders don't need to pay attention to Pandev's right foot when guarding him, they just keep an eye on his left foot. Pandev himself said that he gave his left foot 9 points and his right foot only 0 points.

Faced with a powerful pass from this angle, Pandev used his "golden left foot" to skillfully push the ball. The ball flew into the upper left corner of the goal. Inter Milan led Manchester United 3-2, and the total score was tied at 4-4. flat.

A goal was scored by the opponent at an extremely dangerous time. Whether it was in the stands, on the court, or in the box, whether it was a live fan or a TV fan, all Manchester United people were stunned, because this score meant that Manchester United would lose without scoring. will be eliminated.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Manchester United has been pushed to the edge of the cliff.