At the start of the second half, both sides engaged in a fierce battle in midfield.
In particular, Ronaldo, who received praise from Ferguson at halftime, wanted to better showcase his abilities.
Unlike the first half, in Manchester United's last two attacks from the right flank, Ronaldo did not choose to cross from the byline. Instead, he forced his way inside without getting past Lahm. Moreover, after cutting inside, facing Kompany who came up to defend, Ronaldo did not pass the ball to his teammates who were waving for it. Instead, he forced his way to shoot, but none of his shots hit the target.
Li Shiguang noticed this situation immediately. Normally, if a teammate is in a good position, but the person with the ball doesn't choose to pass and instead takes a wild shot, the player who asked for the ball after the attack usually complains a bit.
It's strange that Ronaldo's two wasteful shots didn't elicit any complaints from his teammates.
Moreover, given Li Shiguang's understanding of Ferguson, he would have already started criticizing Ronaldo for wasting chances like this in the past, but he hasn't said a word, which is not like the old man's character...
Just as Li Shiguang had thought, Ferguson on the sidelines had seen Ronaldo's behavior. Under normal circumstances, Ferguson would have already started yelling, but with Manchester United leading by four goals, it was understandable that his protégé wanted to show off.
Gradually, Li Shiguang began to have some guesses, but he did not take any action immediately.
After observing for a few more minutes, he noticed that Manchester United's laxity wasn't limited to attack; defensively, the players weren't running as actively as in the first half, except for Park Ji-sung, who always obeyed Ferguson's every word...
After confirming the situation, Li Shiguang whispered a few words in Simeone's ear, and a short while later, after a dead ball, the fourth official raised the LED board for substitution.
“Oh! Lee is going to make the first adjustments. Let’s take a look. These are two like-for-like substitutions: Modric for Mascherano and Ribery for Camoranesi. It seems that Lee has not given up and wants to fight to the death!” Lineker explained.
Seeing Modric come on, Neuer, who was about to take a goal kick, gave up on kicking the ball long and passed it to Modric instead. Because Modric received the ball in a relatively deep position, no one rushed up to press him. Modric then carried the ball towards the midfield until he was close to the center circle when Saha came over, trying to put pressure on Modric.
But as soon as he moved closer, Modric passed the ball to Alonso, who was standing nearby. Because Park Ji-sung was marking him too closely, Alonso didn't stop the ball and passed it back to Modric. The two then played a passing game in midfield. Occasionally, when Saha pressed too hard, Modric would pass the ball to Toure, who had dropped back to the center circle. However, Toure's drop back did not attract the help of Ronaldo and Rooney. Instead, Ferdinand, the defender on Manchester United's back line, moved his position forward a distance, leaving only Vidic to closely mark Falcao, who was wandering near the penalty area.
When Toure, with his back to the Manchester United goal, passed the ball back to Modric once again, Saha, who had been interfering with Modric, finally relaxed. This time, he did not immediately close in, but hesitated for a moment, because in his opinion, Modric would pass the ball to Alonso next to him anyway.
But in those two seconds of hesitation, Modric made a completely different choice. Seeing that Saha had given him space to pass, Modric swung his right leg and used the instep of his foot to launch a powerful, low through ball that rolled accurately towards Falcao!
Vidic reacted quickly. Seeing Modric suddenly change his move and the ball flying towards him again, he immediately rushed up and stuck close to Falcao's back to prevent Falcao from easily turning around after receiving the ball. But to his surprise, Falcao did not turn around. Instead, he gently flicked the ball with his toe, and it flew over the heads of the two of them.
Seeing the ball had already passed him, Vidic's first reaction was to increase his physical strength to prevent Falcao from turning to chase it. However, as soon as he moved closer, he realized that Falcao had no intention of turning. A moment later, out of the corner of Vidic's eye, he caught a glimpse of a white figure darting past him like lightning from his left!
"Modric suddenly changed his move, passing to Falcao, but Vidic was already closing in, making it difficult for Falcao to turn! My God!!! What did I just see! An incredibly imaginative lobbed assist!!!" Lineker's voice suddenly rose. "Ribery! He received the lobbed pass from Falcao and calmly slotted it home, Van der Sar had no chance! Leeds United pulled one back!!!"
"A miraculous substitution! Modric launches an attack, Ribery scores the winning goal! The two players who just came on have sounded the horn for Leeds United's counterattack!!" On TV, Eddie Gray cheered, his voice almost as loud as Lineker's in the stadium.
Leeds United did not celebrate after scoring. Ribery quickly ran into the goal, picked up the ball and ran towards the center circle. Eight minutes into the second half, they only had about 30 minutes left.
Seeing that Manchester United had pulled one back, Li Shiguang unconsciously clenched his fist in his pocket. Then he glanced to the side and saw that Ferguson's face remained as still as a meditating monk after Manchester United conceded the goal, showing no emotion. However, he also did not seem to have any intention of adjusting the lineup. This calmed Li Shiguang down a bit, and he thought to himself, "Maybe the old man hasn't realized that the Manchester United players seem to have relaxed a bit!"
However, it's hard to tell much from that last play. Saha is, after all, a striker, so it's understandable that he might not be marking his man tightly enough. Moreover, after Modric passed the ball, Vidic immediately went up to interfere with Falcao. It's just unexpected that Falcao would make such a pass that is very characteristic of South American players. As for Ribery's one-on-one chance at the end, it can't be blamed on Van der Sar at all!
Soon, the game restarted. The goal conceded did not affect the mentality of the Manchester United players. They continued to organize their attack in an orderly manner. At the same time, the goal conceded did not make them feel that they were not focused enough in defense.
Until the 59th minute of the match.
Milner delivered a simple cross from the left flank!
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