Sitting at the very top of the court, Eddie Gray had a clearer view of the situation than anyone else. From the moment Alonso broke through, his mouth never stopped.

"Ogbetta is charging forward, trying to stop Alonso's advance from the front! George, who has been beaten, is also catching up and is very close to Alonso. Alonso, be careful!"

"Wow! What a beautiful pass! That's amazing! How did he manage to find his teammate's position so accurately while dribbling at high speed?"

No one could answer Eddie Gray's question, and even if they did, there was no time to answer it right now! Because everyone's attention was focused on that soccer ball flying through the air!

Just a second ago, when everyone thought the attack would come to an abrupt end under the double-team of Augbeta and George, Alonso, who was dribbling the ball at high speed, suddenly stopped and then deftly chipped the ball out. The ball wasn't going too fast, but the power was just right. It flew over Augbeta's head, and the ball landed exactly where the other defender, Santos, hadn't had time to cover after Augbeta rushed up. But now, Falcao, with no defenders around him, was waiting there!

After receiving the ball, Falcao dribbled it into the penalty area. Facing the onrushing Bolton goalkeeper Baxter, Falcao, who had already scored 11 goals in the league, remained calm. Just as Baxter fell to the ground, Falcao gently tapped him with his left foot, just like Alonso had done, easily getting past Baxter and then putting the ball into the empty net!

"Falcao---Garcia!! Our top scorer!! In the 11th minute, Leeds United took the lead!! What a wonderful start, ladies and gentlemen! Let's give a round of applause and cheers to Falcao who scored the goal and Alonso who provided the assist~~~~" Eddie Gray shouted excitedly.

Falcao, who scored the goal, was also very excited. Amid the cheers of the fans, he turned around, stretched out his hands, pointed to Alonso who had assisted him, then ran to Alonso, knelt down on one knee, and wiped Alonso's right foot on his knee. This funny celebration made Alonso laugh.

After the celebration, the two walked towards their own half of the field surrounded by their teammates. Still immersed in excitement, Alonso subconsciously looked towards the coaching bench on the sidelines, and what made him even happier was that Li Shiguang was looking at him with a big smile and giving him a thumbs up with both hands!

"It feels so good to be valued!" Alonso thought to himself.

After scoring, Leeds United's morale soared, and their attacks came wave after wave.

On Bolton's side, manager Allardyce immediately instructed his players to mark Alonso closely after conceding the goal, and Alonso would receive the same treatment as Modric as soon as he got the ball.

Bolton's changes did not escape Li Shiguang's notice, but he did not make any tactical changes.

In the past, if Modric was heavily marked, Li Shiguang would usually instruct his players to focus their attacks on the flanks, making full use of the width of the field to create opportunities. But now, he doesn't do that anymore.

It's important to know that Alonso's football IQ is exceptional. As soon as he realized he was the one being heavily marked, he immediately took on the responsibility of drawing the defense. Whenever he saw more than two Bolton players drawn to him, he would immediately pass the ball to Modric, letting Modric organize the attack.

So during this period, Leeds United's attack did not decrease at all; on the contrary, Bolton's players made frequent mistakes due to their excessive running!

In the 31st minute, Modric delivered a beautiful through ball from midfield. Ribery used his speed to get past Cogley and crossed from the byline. In the penalty area, Ogbeta had the upper hand in the aerial duel with Berbatov, but due to Berbatov's influence, Ogbeta didn't head the ball very far, just barely clearing the penalty area. While everyone's eyes were focused on the ball, Alonso, who had quietly moved to the edge of Bolton's penalty area, rushed forward.

Facing the defenders who were still trying to rush up to block him, Alonso swung his right leg and, before the ball hit the ground, struck it hard at the bottom. Then, the ball flew towards Bolton's goal like a rocket without any spin!

With no cover, Baxter was already prepared to make a save when Alonso took his shooting stance, but the power and speed of the shot greatly exceeded Baxter's expectations. Although he stretched his body to the maximum extent after taking off and even touched the ball with his fingers, he still could not change the direction of the ball's flight.

"Whoosh~~~"

The distinctive sound of the ball hitting the net after landing reminded Baxter that they were already two goals down!

Undeniably, it was a beautiful world-class goal. Li Shiguang felt his blood pumping just watching from the sidelines, not to mention the fans around him and Eddie Gray sitting in front of the microphone.

"That was beautiful!!! Leeds United are leading 2-0!!! The goal scorer was Xavi—Alonso!!!"

"If the lads can maintain their current form for the rest of the time, I can confidently say that Leeds United are very close to the League Cup semi-finals!"

After Leeds United's players finished celebrating, the game restarted. Bolton's players didn't seem to want to lose the game so easily. Despite being two goals down, they changed their previous performance and became more aggressive in attack.

Faced with Bolton's counterattack, Leeds United, who had just been launching a fierce offensive, chose to retreat and defend under Li Shiguang's command. Although Bolton seemed to have the advantage on the field, they only gained more possession time than before. When the team's attack advanced to about 30 meters from the Leeds United goal, the intensity of the defense they encountered would suddenly increase.

Modric and Alonso were constantly roaming around the edge of the penalty area, and once Leeds United won the ball, the two would immediately look for opportunities through long passes.

The two sides remained deadlocked for more than 10 minutes until the referee blew the whistle to end the first half after Pique cleared one of Bolton's attacks out of bounds.