Generally speaking, both sides tend to be more cautious at the start of important matches.
But once the match started, both teams switched their offensive and defensive rhythms very quickly, making it impossible to tell that this was a match that would decide the league champion.
In the fifth minute of the match, the situation on the field changed.
Sunderland's players were positioned very tightly and did not reveal any weaknesses, so Leeds United were passing the ball around in their own half, patiently looking for an opportunity to pass forward.
Suddenly, Sneijder, standing behind the center circle, waved for the ball, and Chiellini promptly made a through pass to him.
Upon receiving the ball, Sneijder didn't even look around before launching a long ball towards Sunderland's right backfield, where Caldwell on the right wing was already sprinting towards Sunderland's byline.
Despite Leeds United's sudden change of tactics, Sunderland remained calm, and their defenders quickly covered the ball, eventually clearing it out of bounds.
Leeds United are awarded a corner kick!
Sneijder then took the corner kick, and Kompany, lurking at the far post, leaped high and smashed the ball into the Sunderland goal with his bald head.
"Vincent Kompany! Vincent Kompany! He finally scored his first goal since joining Leeds United before the end of the season, and in such a crucial game! Leeds United opened the scoring in just 5 minutes! It's a fantastic start!" Since Leeds United were playing away this round, Ere Geddy, Leeds United's regular commentator, could only commentate on the game from the television in the studio. After Kompany scored, he jumped up excitedly and shouted wildly at the audience in front of the television.
In stark contrast to his excitement were the home fans at the Stadium of Light.
The moment the ball slammed into the net, the previously noisy stadium fell silent for two seconds, before a deafening chorus of warm greetings to the Leeds United players echoed through the stadium once more.
At this moment, many Leeds United fans had already started celebrating in front of their TVs, because this season, Leeds United had never scored an early goal only to be overturned by their opponents!
But the world of football is just that mysterious.
In the 27th minute, Sunderland won a free kick in the attacking third, and midfielder McMahon converted the penalty to level the score at 1-1.
In the 41st minute, a poor mistake by Chiellini in the penalty area earned Sunderland a penalty. McMahon then scored his second goal, giving Sunderland a 2-1 lead going into halftime.
In the away game locker room.
Li Shiguang stared at his players with a gloomy expression.
He was furious about the two goals scored from outside open play. In his view, the winning streak and the strong desire to win the championship had caused his players to lose their composure. They started to become anxious and indecisive, and the penalty conceded by Chiellini was the best example of this.
He could have blocked the ball and let the opponent bring it to the byline before dealing with it, but his anxious state of mind led him to choose to shoot inside the penalty area, resulting in the current situation.
The Leeds United players, sitting in their seats, seemed unable to believe that they had fallen behind, looking at Li Shiguang with bewildered expressions.
Li Shiguang slammed the splint in his hand to the ground and roared, "Wake up! Wake up! We haven't won the championship yet! We have no right to underestimate our opponents! We've only accomplished a trivial task of pushing for the Premier League! I want the final league title! Don't you want it?"
"Don't look at me like a coward. Look at yourselves! You played like a pile of crap for the last 40 minutes, do you know that? If we lose this game and lose the championship we've worked so hard for all year, believe me, from the moment we get back to Leeds, we'll be torn to shreds by countless fans and media outlets."
"Now, put away that childish, confused look on your faces, pull yourselves together, get a good 10-minute rest, and then go out and run, go out and fight, like men! Okay?"
By the time he finished shouting the last sentence, Li Shiguang's throat was hoarse.
"Okay! Boss, we won't let you down!" Seeing Li Shiguang shouting so desperately, Milner, as the captain, also took the lead in responding to him.
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After halftime, the two sides switched sides and resumed the game.
At the start of the second half, Leeds United once again implemented their high-pressing tactics. Whenever a Sunderland player got the ball, two or three white figures would immediately rush up to them.
In the 69th minute, during Leeds United's attacking run, Milner passed the ball in midfield to Tevez, who was positioned on the wing. Facing two Sunderland players closing in on him, Tevez suddenly accelerated and broke through the defense with the ball before the goal could close.
Then he sprinted all the way, dribbling the ball close to Sunderland's penalty area.
Seeing that Tevez had entered his shooting range, Sunderland did not dare to be careless. A center-back immediately came up to block his shooting route, but Tevez made a sudden stop and then, before the defender could rush over, lobbed the ball to the left far post of Sunderland.
Adebayor was already waiting there. While the ball was still in the air, he jumped high and headed it. Sunderland's goalkeeper quickly moved towards him, trying to block Adebayor's shot.
Just when everyone thought Adebayor was going for a header, he made an unexpected decision and headed the ball towards the edge of the six-yard box.
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