Chapter 601 Forty Balls
"Liccardo Goallllll! He scored his 40th league goal this season! QPR scored a valuable goal away from home, and now QPR is ahead!"
"In the standings, QPR has temporarily surpassed Manchester United and ranked first! Can Mourinho come up with any countermeasures? The Red Devils are never willing to lose to their opponents at home. This is not only a matter of championship, but also a matter of glory. If they They also lost here, and they will be beaten twice by QPR this season, and the proud Mourinho will never allow this to happen."
Mourinho looked stern, but he didn't yell in anger. He was mentally prepared for being scored by Ricardo.
After Manchester United restarted the game, he waited and observed the situation on the court and began to direct the team to strengthen the offense from the sidelines.
Simeone is also stubborn. He requires the team to push forward, press high and never retreat.
In this way, both sides get some opportunities. If Manchester United passes successfully, they can penetrate QPR's defense; if QPR succeeds in stealing the ball in the frontcourt, they will get an excellent counterattack opportunity.
In the 35th minute, Manchester United organized an attack and reached the front of the penalty area. Scholes sent a wonderful pass. Rooney's rub shot was saved by Handanovic.
2 minutes later, QPR counterattacked. Liccardo dribbled the ball down and then hit the ball in an inverted triangle. Arda Turan shot near the penalty spot, but De Gea saved the ball.
In the 38th minute, Manchester United attacked from the right. Valencia and Rafael played a two-two, passing Liccardo and Maicon. Valencia passed the ball to the penalty area, and Welbeck passed Alderweirer. In the double-team between Germany and Van Dijk, he grabbed a header and hit the goal, slightly over the crossbar.
In the 42nd minute, Scholes once again sent a wonderful pass. Evra inserted into the penalty area and fired a low shot. The ball missed the far corner.
In the 45th minute, QPR successfully intercepted the ball in the frontcourt and Modric sent the ball to Liccardo's feet.
Seeing that De Gea was standing relatively far forward, Ricardo suddenly took a lob 40 meters away from the goal. De Gea retreated in panic and barely jumped up while retreating, but still failed to reach the ball. He also fell. Fall to the ground.
However, it was God's will. After the football fell quickly, it hit the crossbar hard and bounced right in front of De Gea.
As if De Gea had found a treasure, he immediately stood up and pressed on the football. If he had been slower for a moment, Ronaldo would have arrived to make up the shot.
In stoppage time, Rooney dribbled the ball into QPR's penalty area, then knocked the ball with his heel. Scholes followed up with a powerful shot, and the football hit the post and bounced out.
In just two minutes, both sides hit the goal post once!
Fortunately, at this time, the referee stopped the game and entered the halftime break, otherwise it is very likely that another team's goal would be broken.
When he walked into the players' tunnel, Ricardo chatted with several acquaintances from Manchester United, talking and laughing. The Manchester United players were not frustrated. Despite being behind, they looked confident and in the mood to joke around with Liccardo.
In the visiting team's locker room, Simeone spent a lot of time arranging tactics.
How to play if the team scores another goal, how to play if Manchester United pulls back a goal, what tactics to use if the score remains the same... He explained everything in detail so that the players can face various situations. .
The general tactical idea is still to focus on high-position pressing and on-the-spot counterattacks, which places high demands on the team's physical fitness. He repeatedly confirmed the physical condition of core players such as Ronaldo and Ricardo in order to make substitution adjustments at the most appropriate time.
"You'd better help the team score another goal," Simeone pulled Liccardo and whispered as he walked towards the tunnel. "A one-goal lead is not safe. You also saw what happened in the first half. , Manchester United were in very good shape today, and they almost scored several goals. This was even when they did not invest many people in the attack.
If they increase their investment in offense in the second half, it will be difficult for us to withstand it. "
"I'll do my best!" Licardo nodded with a smile.
Simeone gave advice: "Switch positions with Arda Turan. You can try to attack from the right. Evra did not perform well on the defensive end today and seems to be a little injured."
"Okay, I'll try my best."
No one expected that just after entering the second half, the situation would suddenly change.
In the 47th minute of the game, Manchester United once again attacked from the right. Valencia made a cross from 45 degrees. Welbeck responded with a header. Rooney rounded his leg and shot hard. The football hit Van Dijk and popped out of the penalty area. Scholes met the ball outside the penalty area and fired an angry shot. Handanovic had already moved before Rooney shot and was helpless against Scholes' shot and could only watch.
"Scholes Goallll!" the commentator shouted excitedly, "This is a great goal! Scholes is getting stronger as he gets older!"
QPR players surrounded the referee to protest because they believed Welbeck was offside when the ball was headed.
But the referee still insisted that the goal was valid.
Slow motion from the big screen above the pitch showed that Welbeck was indeed offside at the moment Valencia passed the ball.
The QPR players did not expect to lose the ball right after the start, and the ball was thrown so painfully that they could not recover for a while and made frequent mistakes on the field.
Manchester United took the opportunity to launch several waves of extremely threatening attacks.
In the 49th minute, Ashley Young broke through Kyle Walker's defense and sent the ball into the penalty area. Welbeck shot with his left foot, but he pursued the angle too much, and the football went towards the blind corner, but it slipped out.
In the 52nd minute, after a one-two with Rooney, Scholes fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area, which was hit by Handanovic.
Two minutes later, Valencia received Carrick's long pass and took the ball to the right edge of the penalty area and passed it back. Rooney volleyed and slid out.
In the 57th minute, Scholes sent a scalpel-like through ball. Rafael's shot was blocked by Handanovic with his leg and bounced off the crossbar and missed the baseline.
Simeone got angry on the sidelines: "What are you all doing? It's still a draw. Do you want to lose the game and go back? Cheer up!"
However, he also signaled the team to take it back and no longer press high. On the one hand, the physical fitness of the players has declined, and the effect of high-position pressing is not good. On the other hand, Manchester United is getting smoother and smoother, and cannot leave too much space for Manchester United to pass through.
Ricardo worked hard and followed Simeone's instructions and kept changing positions with Alda Turan. However, although Evra was injured, he was too familiar with him and made him very uncomfortable.
He could only go back to the left.
Modric was out of form today and made frequent mistakes, failing to provide him with much support. Ricardo could only get the ball and do it alone.
In the 61st minute, Liccardo dribbled the ball from the left. Carrick and Rafael came up to double-team him. Liccardo suddenly spiked the ball and tried to get rid of the two, but there was a sharp pain on the outside of his right thigh. He could only force it. The ball kicked out of the sideline and he fell to the ground.