Chapter 621 English League Cup Champion

After the start of the second half, the highlights of the game were significantly reduced. The two teams struggled in the midfield and fouls were committed frequently. And most of these fouls are far away from the penalty area, and they don't want to give their opponents free kicks that are too well positioned.

In the 47th minute, Ashley Young made a pass and Nani's header was confiscated by Courtois.

Five minutes later, QPR had their first shot of the second half. This was a long shot attempted by Liccardo about 28 meters from the goal, which was slightly off.

In the 56th minute, Nani passed the ball and Hernandez took a curved ball from the left side of the penalty area, but Courtois moved quickly and held the ball firmly.

In the 62nd minute, Mourinho finally made a move and replaced Hernandez with Rooney.

In the 64th minute, QPR almost changed the score. Neymar cut in from the right and sent a diagonal pass. The football passed the defender and came to the left side of the penalty area. Ricardo raised his leg and removed the ball beautifully without making any adjustments. He shot directly with his left foot, but the shot was bravely saved by De Gea.

Alex Sandro took a corner kick, and Miranda beat Vidic with a header from the edge of the far penalty area, which went slightly wide.

Judging from the situation, QPR still has the slight upper hand. Their passing and receiving are more skillful, and they can often reach Manchester United's penalty area through smooth cooperation. Although Modric, a master of passing fatal balls, is missing, Ricardo, Neymar, Nainggolan, Pogba, De Bruyne, etc. also have good passing skills, and Manchester United is in a state of chaos in front of the goal.

After all, Ferdinand and Vidic are older. Although they have more experience and have enhanced frontal defensive capabilities, their turning speed is much slower, and QPR's two speedy wingers Ricardo and Neymar frequently intervene. , hitting them in the back, making them very embarrassed.

Mourinho once again made substitution adjustments, replacing Ashley Young with Valencia, who has better defensive capabilities, in order to strengthen the protection of the defense line.

In the 69th minute, Pogba once again sent a long pass over the top. Ferdinand turned a little slower. Liccardo inserted into the middle from the side and rushed to the landing spot before Ferdinand and Rafael.

With a flick of his ankle, he stopped the football steadily like magic, and then made a spin in Marseille, passing Vidic who rushed to cover the position, leaving a brief gap in front of Manchester United's goal.

Liccardo did not waste this opportunity and immediately passed the ball to the center. However, Vardy seemed to be too excited. After stopping the ball, he volleyed hard and knocked the ball away.

Ricardo shook his head. Vardy's psychological quality needs to be improved. Could it be that he really won’t wake up until 15 years?

In the 76th minute, Evra broke into the left side of the penalty area and passed back. Rooney's close shot was blocked by the defender.

2 minutes later, Rooney passed the ball and Welbeck's shot from the left side of the penalty area hit the defender again.

QPR quickly retaliated. In the 80th minute, De Bruyne sent a direct pass, and Ricardo, who successfully countered offside, shot with his left foot into the far corner from the left side of the penalty area. De Gea failed to touch the ball, but the ball bounced off the post. A shocked Evra returned to defend and ended the ball with a big kick.

Simone sighed heavily.

In the 82nd minute, Ricardo received a direct pass from Alex Sandro, passed Rafael and Ferdinand like a magic trick, broke into the penalty area, and tried to shoot.

De Gea immediately moved to prepare for the save, but Liccardo flicked his ankle and passed the ball to the right side of the penalty area.

De Bruyne received a pass from Liccardo and shot a lob. De Gea did not touch the ball. The football hit the crossbar and bounced out. Vardy headed the ball outside the small penalty area and shot into the empty goal, but the football went above the crossbar. , flew out of the bottom line.

Simeone shook his head. Maybe there was really no luck in winning the game. Two goals in two minutes, and Vardy wasted two golden opportunities. What else can be said? For now let's just focus on keeping the tie. He started to make substitutions, with Fernandinho replacing De Bruyne and Coutinho replacing Liccardo.

Ricardo was slightly injured. In order to ensure that Ricardo could still play in the next game, Simeone did not dare to overstress Ricardo's physical fitness.

After these two substitutions,

QPR focused more on possession of the ball and failed to play a threatening offense.

Mourinho's team seemed to be content with getting 1 point on the road, and the two sides had a tacit understanding to maintain the 1:1 score until the end.

After this round, Manchester United and QPR have 67 points together, ranking first and second in the standings. QPR is only worse than Manchester United by 2 goal differences.

For QPR, not only must they win in future games, they must also win more goals and get more goal differentials.

With only 3 days of rest, QPR ushered in the EFL Cup final again.

The opponent in the final was not a strong opponent, it was Swansea. Swansea has a mediocre record this season and has no strong stars. It can reach the EFL Cup final only because most teams have no interest in this award.

If you win the FA Cup, you can at least advance to the Europa League; if you win the EFL Cup, it will be of little use except for a pitiful bonus of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This amount of money may be a bit tempting for semi-professional teams, but Premier League teams really don't take it seriously.

Simeone asked Ricardo to discuss whether to give up the game strategically.

Licardo thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Let's try our best. The other main players can rest, and I will lead the young players."

Simeone was a little worried: "Your body is also very tired. If you get injured at this time, it will affect the subsequent league and Champions League games."

Liccardo smiled and said: "I will try to use half time to establish the victory. "

"It's not about fighting for it, it's about determination," Simeone said. "I will take your place after the first half."

"Okay." Liccardo agreed to the condition.

So in this game, Simeone sent a mix of substitute players + young players + Liccardo.

Goalkeeper Courtois, defenders Luke Shaw, Gary Cahill, Stones and Carvajal, midfielder 16-year-old Dele Alli, 18-year-old Eric Dier, attacking midfielder Dele Alli and 18-year-old Eric Dier. Browne, left winger Coutinho, right winger 18-year-old Sterling, and lone forward Ricardo.

Today he serves as a single arrow, which is to give full play to his offensive power.

With a lineup with an average age of less than 20 years old playing in the EFL Cup final, the media is not optimistic about QPR's prospects.

However, when the game reached the 7th minute...

"Sterling Goallllll! This goal must be attributed to Ricardo. Ricardo attracted 4 Swansea defenders alone, and then accurately sent the ball to the unmarked feet of Sterling. All Sterling has to do is push the ball into the empty net. Ricardo continues his terrifying form!"

In the 38th minute, the commentator's shout echoed again: "Liccardo Goalllll! This is an exquisite elevator ball. He expanded QPR's lead! In this final, QPR already leads 2:0!"

Simeone also gently applauded Ricardo.

At halftime, he followed his instructions and replaced Ricardo and replaced him with Icardi, who had just turned 20 years old. The teenagers still firmly controlled the situation on the field. In the 72nd minute, Icardi finally got the better of him. He succeeded in countering offside from De Bruyne's through ball, locking the score at 3:0 for QPR.

QPR won the second EFL Cup title in team history!