Five minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to start the match.
Upon hearing the whistle, Adebayor, who was standing in the center circle to kick off, immediately passed the ball back to Sneijder behind him.
Without stopping the ball, Sneijder passed it to Caldwell on the right before the Reading players could get close to him.
However, the first attack after the start of the game ended when Caldwell's advance to Reading's baseline was intercepted.
For the next 20 minutes or so, Leeds United did not adopt their usual high-pressing strategy in defense, so they were basically pinned down in their own half by the aggressive Reading.
Reading manager Coppel, who had been directing the team from the sidelines, observed this closely. As he predicted, Leeds United were experiencing serious fitness issues.
Koper glanced at Li Shiguang, who was writing and drawing on the board with his head down, and couldn't help but sneer.
They're still young, and their tactical reserves are lacking. How can they cope with the long league season?
At the same time, in a villa in London, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was also discussing his thoughts on the match with his assistant coach.
Last week, an Arsenal scout sent him a scouting report, the subject of which was none other than Adebayor, who is currently on television.
Just now, the assistant coach raised a question to Wenger: "Professor, so far in the game, Leeds United haven't organized a single threatening attack. Could it be that Sir Alex Ferguson was right, and Leeds United's physical condition is causing problems?"
Wenger frowned slightly, but did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked at Li Shiguang, who was calm and composed on the screen.
Actually, ever since he saw the scouting report last week, he has taken the time to watch Leeds United's matches.
Of course, the main reason was to see Adebayor, who was highly regarded by their own scouts.
But after watching a few matches...
From a certain perspective, he also quite admired Li Shiguang.
On the one hand, he felt that Li Shiguang, like himself, was a coach who was good at discovering and using young players.
Furthermore, the tactics he employs are the attacking style of football he prefers, unlike Mourinho, that manic-depressive player, who just starts by parking the bus.
As for the rest, he didn't feel anything. After all, in Wenger's mind, he only had one rival, Ferguson.
However, he also saw Ferguson's comments about Leeds United this morning.
Those familiar with Wenger know that he dislikes whatever Ferguson likes, and he always likes what Ferguson dislikes.
So after a moment's thought, Wenger slowly said, "He's talking complete nonsense! Since Lee can come up with a tactical system that's different from the mainstream in British football right now, he must have a backup plan!"
Seeing that Wenger directly refuted Ferguson's statement, the assistant coach stopped discussing the topic and instead turned his attention back to the game.
The match had reached the 39th minute, and the first half was about to end.
This round is Reading's attacking phase. Perhaps accustomed to the relentless bombardment of the past 30-odd minutes, Reading's players have now all pushed into Leeds United's half, with even the two center-backs crossing the center circle.
Kopper was yelling wildly on the sidelines, directing his players to press forward. In his mind, Leeds United, who had been holding on for almost 40 minutes, were about to give up. He needed to push harder and make sure they went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
On the other side, Li Shiguang had already quietly walked to the sidelines, and with his left hand at his waist, he subtly pointed towards Reading's half of the field.
Standing outside the penalty area, Sneijder saw Li Shiguang's gesture and immediately understood, giving Milner a knowing look.
Reading striker Kevin Doyle is waving for the ball as he runs into an open space.
The bald guy who had been harassing him for almost the entire first half was now at least 6 or 7 meters away from him.
His teammate saw his position and passed the ball across without hesitation.
Seeing his teammate pass the ball, Doyle immediately prepared to run forward two steps to receive it.
Suddenly, a white figure wearing a number 15 jersey appeared in his eyes, and then the ball being passed to him was intercepted.
The moment Milner intercepted the ball, Leeds United players simultaneously heard a roar.
"Press forward! Quick counterattack! Fast! Fast! Fast!" On the big screen, Li Shiguang, who had just been as quiet as a stone statue, was now frantically waving his hands toward Reading's half of the court!
As Li Shiguang roared, the players who had just been in defensive positions simultaneously ran towards Reading's half.
Milner, who intercepted the ball, did not hesitate at all and passed it directly to McNair on the left wing.
Before the Reading defenders could close in, McNair passed the ball to Sneijder, who had already run to the center circle.
It only took two seconds from Milner intercepting the ball to Sneijder receiving it.
When they saw Sneijder receive the ball, Reading's players realized they had switched from being on the offensive to being on the defensive, and began sprinting desperately back to their own half.
Sneijder, having received the ball, had already dribbled it across the halfway line.
Directly in front of him were Adebayor and Tevez.
On the left and right are McClain and Caldwell.
Milner followed behind him.
Reading only had three players left in their own half, including the goalkeeper.
In just 2 or 3 seconds, the situation on the field completely changed, and Leeds United now had a 6-on-3 advantage.
The final shot was taken by Adebayor.
Fearing he would pass the ball to Adebayor and Tevez, the two Reading defenders did not press him.
As Sneijder continued his advance, the defender closely following Tevez finally couldn't resist and rushed over to try to intercept Sneijder. However, before he could even reach the defensive distance, Sneijder easily passed the ball to the unmarked Tevez.
The other defender, seeing Tevez receive the ball, had no choice but to rush up to defend, while the goalkeeper also came out to try and block Tevez's shooting angle.
But Tevez didn't try to score; instead, he passed the ball across to Adebayor on the other side.
Facing an open goal, Adebayor, in top form, converted with ease.
1-0, Leeds United take the lead at home against Reading!
From Milner's interception to Adebayor's shot, the entire counter-attack took a terrifying 6.3 seconds.
They showed the media and fans at the stadium and in front of their televisions what a textbook example of a fast counterattack looks like.
Li Shiguang, standing on the sidelines, excitedly ran with his arms outstretched, then unleashed his signature "Farmer's Three Punches," which had become his trademark move, to which the fans in the stands responded enthusiastically.
In the London villa, watching Li Shiguang celebrate wildly, Wenger winked at his assistant coach beside him, then said sarcastically, "See? What did I just say? Ferguson called this 'not being able to run anymore'?"
Hearing Wenger ask that question.
The assistant coach just smiled and didn't say anything, thinking to himself, "Damn it, you guys are having a battle of the gods, don't drag me into it."
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