novelhk Chapter 359
Chapter 359
After all the pre-match ceremonies, the game officially began.
Although Lineker, Jon and the fans watching the game all hoped that the two teams could present a wonderful goal battle.
But this was a crucial game for both sides after all, so in fact, after the game started, both sides did not immediately set up their formations to attack each other, but played very cautiously.
It was not until the thirteenth minute that some changes appeared on the field.
Originally, it was Leeds United's offensive opportunity.
After Kaka dribbled past Essien's steal, he passed the ball to De Bruyne who was approaching, but De Bruyne did not pass the ball immediately after receiving the ball and was intercepted by Mikel.
Chelsea launched a counterattack on the spot.
It must be said that Mourinho's understanding of defensive counterattacks is indeed deep.
Chelsea's counterattack took only 5 or 6 seconds from Mikel's interception to the ball being sent to Drogba's feet. Lampard and Phillips, who were in conjunction in the middle, both kicked the ball out.
After receiving the ball, Drogba made full use of his physical advantage and rushed into the penalty area with Thiago Silva on his back. The Ivorian "Monster" was about to dribble into the 30-meter danger zone.
In desperation, Silva could only pull the hem of Drogba's clothes with his hands, and stopped Chelsea's quick counterattack in this way!
But Silva's foul did not escape the eyes of the referee. After being stopped, Drogba turned around and faced Silva speechlessly, spread his hands, and complained to the referee.
The referee also ran over at the right time and showed Silva a yellow card.
"I told you... Silva committed a foul!" Lineker sighed, as if he had known about it for a long time. "He really couldn't stand Drogba's impact. It's only been ten minutes since the start of the game, and he got a yellow card! What will he do if Chelsea does it again?"
When Li Shiguang saw the referee showing Silva a yellow card, he waved his right hand upwards, and his expression looked very dissatisfied.
He was not dissatisfied with Silva's defensive behavior.
When he selected Silva as the starting player in this game, he had already thought of some possible consequences.
Just like the situation where Drogba carried Silva forward just now, if Silva didn't commit a foul, Kompany would have come up at most after running five meters.
Originally, in Li Shiguang's arrangement, Kompany, who was physically stronger, should have been the one to closely guard Drogba.
It's just that Chelsea's counterattack just now came too fast, and Silva was closer to Drogba, so he became the first to interfere with Drogba.
What Li Shiguang was dissatisfied with was Atkinson, the referee of this game.
He felt that the game had only started for more than ten minutes, and Silva was not the last defensive player of Leeds United except the goalkeeper. He did not kick the ball once, but just pulled the foul. Atkinson actually showed Silva a yellow card!
This is a bit too disrespectful to the home team.
In this case, shouldn't a verbal warning be given first?
If it weren't for the Leeds United song heard at the beginning, Li Shiguang would even think that he was standing on the sidelines of Stamford Bridge and directing the team to fight!
····
In any case, this yellow card that came a little too early still buried hidden dangers for Leeds United. At least in the later time, Silva's defensive actions became more cautious.
Chelsea seems to adapt to the pace of the game a few points faster than Leeds United.
Once Leeds United gets the ball.
Chelsea will press forward as a whole to siege and snatch the ball. The players are like a group of mad dogs. It seems that they don’t consider whether to properly regulate their physical strength. Even if Neuer only passes the ball to the back line through a short pass when he kicks the goal kick, Chelsea will have at least two players rush up to press immediately.
Especially Kaka, who is the link between Leeds United’s backcourt and forward line, is the focus of Chelsea’s attention. As long as he gets the ball, Essien and Mikel will come over immediately, and sometimes even Lampard will withdraw to double-team him.
This makes it difficult for Kaka to do things. He almost spends all his energy on controlling the football under his feet and considering how to send the football safely.
Li Shiguang has noticed this problem.
Seeing that Kaka had been trapped in a siege several times, causing Leeds United's attack to fail, Li Shiguang took advantage of the dead ball opportunity to call Modric to the sidelines and told him to tell his teammates to move the organization work back in the subsequent attacks and try to help Kaka attract some firepower.
It was indeed moved back.
But when Modric and Alonso wanted to pass the ball forward, they encountered difficulties again.
CutOnce Chelsea retreats to their own half, they will immediately enter the bus mode that has been engraved in their blood by Mourinho. The dense defensive formation makes it difficult for Modric and Alonso to directly penetrate the layers of defense set up by Chelsea through simple passes!
"........ Compared with Leeds United, Chelsea, who played away, entered the game state earlier today. Mourinho adopted the high-pressure tactics brought by Li Shiguang in the Premier League today. They surrounded and robbed every player of Leeds United who had the ball... To be honest, at least now it seems that Chelsea's tactics today are effective..." Lineker said worriedly.
On the contrary, Jon's tone was very cheerful when he was commenting: "Yes! In comparison, Chelsea's momentum now seems to be stronger than Leeds United. Although there is still no goal, if they continue to play like this, Leeds United's door will be knocked open sooner or later."
····
Jon's words are not alarmist.
The 21st minute of the game.
Chelsea's crazy siege finally paid off.
The ball that Xabi Alonso passed to the left in the midfield was intercepted by Essien halfway, and then he launched a quick counterattack.
Essien first passed the ball to Lampard, who then passed it to Malouda on the right rib.
Malouda did not stop the ball, but leaned on Lahm behind him, letting the ball roll in front of him, and then kicked it to the top of the arc of Leeds United's penalty area.
There.
Drogba has attracted the defense of Silva and Kompany.
The Ivorian, who has always given people a violent aesthetic impression, made a move that made everyone look at him with admiration. He did not choose to receive the ball, but saw that the two central defenders of Leeds United rushed towards him, and let the ball slip from his crotch!
Wright Phillips, who was inserted at high speed behind him, received Malouda's pass without being defended, and then stepped forward and shot before Neuer, who was attacking, touched him!
The ball flew over Neuer's outstretched left arm, headed for the far corner, hit the post and bounced into the net!!