"Don't stop! Keep running!! Increase the pace even more!!!"
Despite having taken the lead, Li Shiguang showed no intention of slowing down the pace after the restart. He could see that Leeds United's relentless attacks over the past ten minutes had left Liverpool's players somewhat disoriented, and only Alonso and Gerrard remained capable of handling the ball calmly.
Riise, who had just been outmaneuvered and led to Liverpool conceding a goal, became Li Shiguang's target on the left flank. In the previous attacks, he noticed that Riise seemed to be getting a little too hot, especially when defending Lahm. Riise was very aggressive and would rush up to block Lahm with his strong body. Lahm had already been knocked to the ground several times.
Li Shiguang knew a little about this strongman from Norway. Although he was a little lacking in defense, it was not a big problem. Moreover, he was a versatile player who could play as a left-back and a midfielder. However, he had a fatal flaw: he was a bit emotional. Before his rebirth, Li Shiguang had seen him make several flying tackles on opponents on TV and then be sent off with a straight red card by the referee.
So, taking advantage of Leeds United's inbound pass opportunity, Li Shiguang pulled Lahm, who was coming over to serve, and whispered a few words to him.
He instructed Lahm to tell Mascherano to pay attention to covering the left flank, because he wanted Lahm to go up and participate in the attack more, specifically targeting Riise's side!
Time ticked by, and Leeds United's rapid-fire attack kept Liverpool pinned in their own half, unable to move. Liverpool's few chances to break through the half came from long passes after intercepting the ball near the penalty area. This left the Liverpool fans in the stadium completely dumbfounded. They never expected that Liverpool would be dominated in their own half by a team that had only been promoted to the Premier League this season, and even trail by one goal. But this one goal was just the beginning of their nightmare.
In the 39th minute of the match, the tactics that Li Shiguang had just arranged finally began to take effect.
Lahm dribbled down the wing, and Riise, just like a few minutes before, charged forward aggressively.
Riise was furious that Lahm had nutmegged him before, but fortunately he had the upper hand in their recent direct confrontations. He had figured out the little guy's tactics and knew that as soon as he got physical, Riise would be done for. Just as he was thinking about using the same trick to rush up and knock Lahm away, Lahm suddenly passed the ball to the right.
Seeing Lahm pass the ball, Riise subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the ball, but as soon as his eyes fell on the ball, he saw a white figure kick the ball back, but the direction it was kicked back was behind him.
Riise is quite emotional on the field, but he's not stupid. When he saw the ball being kicked back, he immediately realized that Lahm had played a one-two with his teammate, so he immediately turned around and started to run. Sure enough, when he turned around, he saw that Lahm had already run in front of him.
"FxxK, that despicable little dwarf, he can't win a head-on fight so he resorts to dirty tricks!" Riise's face turned bright red, but his foot speed was not slow. Just as Lahm received the ball and broke into the penalty area, Riise had already caught up with Lahm.
At this moment, Lahm had already observed the movements of his teammates in the penalty area. So he raised his left foot, preparing to cross the ball. But while his left foot was still in the air, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right foot, which he was using for support, and then he lost his balance and fell in the penalty area.
"Foul!!! Penalty!!! Red card!!! That was a shameful tackle from behind!!!" Seeing Lahm rolling around frantically in the Liverpool penalty area clutching his right leg, before the referee could even signal, Li Shiguang immediately called the team doctor onto the field. Then, with an exaggerated expression, he rushed to the fourth official and unleashed a barrage of high-quality tackles. His relentless manner terrified even Benitez, who was watching coldly from the sidelines.
Why did Benitez remain so calm? Because the instant he saw Riise's tackle fail to touch the ball, Benitez knew it was over; a red card and penalty were inevitable. Therefore, he was remarkably calm, even displaying a kind of resigned calm...
Of course, the referee's decision confirmed Benitez's wishes: a red card and a penalty. Riise paid the price for his impulsiveness.
Deisler, who already had a goal, converted the penalty, giving Leeds United a two-goal lead before halftime. Most importantly, they had a man advantage for the entire 45 minutes of the second half.
Back in the locker room, after treatment by the team doctor, Lahm was found to be fine, which relieved Li Shiguang. However, for safety reasons, he still substituted Lahm with Milner.
Meanwhile, Benitez was relaxed. For a full 15 minutes, the atmosphere in the Liverpool dressing room was terribly oppressive. Benitez spoke in a calm tone, but it was precisely this calmness that made the players even more uneasy.
After making tactical arrangements and substitutions for the second half, Benitez glanced at Riise, who was sitting to the side, too ashamed to look up, and thought to himself with a sigh: "Sigh, maybe the only gain from this match is that I confirmed on the spot that Deisler is indeed in good form and his style of play is very suitable for the current Liverpool. Trading Alonso for him shouldn't be too bad..."
After a short break, both sides returned to the field. In order not to lose too badly, Benitez substituted Morientes with substitute left-back Traore.
However, this completely eliminated Liverpool's aerial threat, which they could have used to threaten Leeds United's goal in the first half. Already trailing by two goals, they also had to take off a striker, which, in Li Shiguang's view, was already a signal of surrender.
So in the second half, he stayed on the bench thinking about the remaining signings and never stood up.
But Deisler, who was in high spirits today, seemed to want to fully demonstrate his strength in front of his future club. With Li Shiguang giving him free rein, he not only scored another direct free kick to complete his hat-trick, but also assisted Falcao to score a goal.
In the end, Leeds United secured a resounding 4-0 victory away from home.
After the post-match interview, Morse approached Li Shiguang and informed him that Liverpool had agreed to his proposal to exchange Alonso for €1.5 million of Gadesle.
This news made Li Shiguang even happier. A trip to Liverpool—wow, double happiness!!!
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