In the 73rd minute, seeing that he couldn't break the deadlock, Mourinho finally made a lineup adjustment. Since he couldn't get into Leeds United's penalty area with ground passes, he changed his approach.
Mourinho substituted Ballack for Shevchenko, whose performance in the second half was even worse than in the first half, hoping that Ballack and Lampard could try to break through Leeds United's goal with long-range shots from outside the penalty area.
It was indeed quite effective at first. Since Ballack came on, Chelsea's style of play has changed to playing long balls directly into the penalty area.
With his powerful physique, Drogba usually had the upper hand in direct confrontations with Silva. When he had the chance, he would shoot directly; when he didn't, he would pass the ball to Ballack or Lampard, who were always roaming around the edge of the Leeds United penalty area.
The two tough guys didn't waste any time; as soon as they received the ball, they unleashed a powerful shot without any reason. Even Essien would sometimes rush up and take a shot, leaving Schmeichel exhausted from making so many saves.
"Drogba has won the first ball again, but Cannavaro and Silva are marking him closely, so turning around might be a bit difficult!"
"Lampard has already rushed up to ask for the ball, but Mascherano is also right next to him. Even if Drogba passes it back to him, it probably won't be easy for him to shoot, right?"
"Beautiful! Lampard made the right judgment immediately. After receiving Drogba's pass back, he didn't force a shot, but passed the ball across to Makelele who was making a run. However, the Frenchman's foot seemed a bit weak. The ball didn't seem to hit the target. Schmeichel easily caught the ball and put it in his pocket!"
In the last few minutes, Chelsea's attack gradually picked up, and Jon's commentary voice also gradually grew louder.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the broadcast camera shifted from Kasper Schmeichel, who was clutching the ball in the penalty area, to the sidelines.
"Oh? Leeds United are making substitutions! Lee is replacing Torres with Javi Garcia and Alonso with De Bruyne." Lineker chimed in, "It looks like Leeds United are going to defend to the bitter end. Lee has changed formation again, with De Bruyne now playing as the most advanced of Leeds United's four midfielders, while Toure has dropped slightly deeper. It seems Lee has put Mascherano, Toure, and Garcia in a three-man midfield!"
Jon agreed with Lineker's assessment: "Indeed, Lee must have seen Mourinho's intention. Toure dropping back would increase Leeds United's solidity in the defensive midfield position. Moreover, De Bruyne's passing skills are quite solid; Lee has found him a good teacher. Under Rivaldo's guidance in recent months, De Bruyne has improved remarkably! Lee bringing him on in the final moments of the match definitely had a purpose..."
The two commentators' analysis was indeed spot on.
After Li Shiguang made adjustments, all three of Leeds United's defensive midfielders found their respective opponents.
Garcia marked Lampard closely, Mascherano targeted Ballack, and Toure stayed close to Essien. As for Makelele, remembering that previous shot, Li Shiguang decided to let him roam freely, and Makelele didn't dare to push too far forward, since Ibrahimovic and De Bruyne near the center circle were no pushovers either.
This tactic was indeed effective. Even though Drogba was still able to win the first ball, the interference from Leeds United players immediately reduced Chelsea's chances of shooting from the edge of the penalty area, and reduced the pressure on Schmeichel.
In this situation, the match reached the 81st minute, and Chelsea were organizing an attack.
After receiving a pass from Terry in midfield, Essien looked up to observe the situation in the attacking third and found that Leeds United's defense in the middle was indeed very tight. Helpless, he had no choice but to pass the ball to Robben, who had already dropped back to the left wing.
Leeds United's defense against Robben was very tight. As soon as he got the ball, Ribery immediately ran up to try to stop Robben from starting.
However, Robben didn't intend to go down the byline this time. Before Ribery could completely block the angle, he took a couple of steps and then launched a long ball towards the far post on the right side of the Leeds United penalty area!
Silva, positioned ahead of Drogba, jumped first, attempting to head the ball out of the penalty area. Surprisingly, however, Silva, usually a reliable header, failed to reach the ball!
"Silva misjudged the header! A fatal mistake! This is a great opportunity for Chelsea!" Lineker's calm commentary suddenly rose in pitch.
Behind Silva was Drogba, who was watching intently. In everyone's view, as the ball passed over Silva's head, Drogba had already taken his stance and was ready to shoot.
"Damn it!" Schmeichel, standing in front of the goal, only had time to utter a curse word before he immediately ran out from in front of the goal, raising his hands above his head, lowering his center of gravity, and lunging at Drogba at an angle.
Drogba caught a glimpse of Schmeichel charging towards him out of the corner of his eye, and saw that Schmeichel had already lowered his center of gravity. So he leaned to the side, letting the ball fly past him, and before it hit the ground, he raised his right foot and slammed it into the ball.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, the football flew over Schmeichel's body and headed straight for the top right corner of the Leeds United goal.
"Drogba! A volley!" Jon yelled hoarsely, drawing out the sound.
This was Chelsea's closest chance to score in the entire match. At that moment, there were no defenders in front of Leeds United's goal, leaving a huge open net!
The Leeds United fans behind the goal were no longer jubilant; their mood had turned to frustration and despair. If that goal had gone in, Leeds United's entire effort would likely have been in vain, and the gap between them and Manchester United would have widened further.
In this tense atmosphere, the football is getting closer and closer to the goal.
But Li Shiguang on the sidelines noticed a figure. A mere 0.5 seconds later, everyone in Elland Road Stadium, including all the viewers in front of their televisions, noticed this figure!
Seeing Silva misjudge the header and immediately sprint towards the goal, Cannavaro suddenly came into everyone's view. Then, he jumped up on the goal line towards the spectators behind the goal, raised his right foot high, and used a move often used by strikers to hook the ball out just as it was about to cross the goal line!
"WTF!?" Reinkel gripped his dwindling hair tightly with both hands, staring at the television in front of him with horrified eyes and yelling.
At Elland Road, Eddie Gray roared many times louder than Lineker!
"Fabio!!! Fabio Cannavaro!!! Spectacular bicycle kick!!!"
"He is absolutely Leeds United's savior today!!!"
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