Chapter 253: League Cup semi-final defeat, Xiao Chu league hat trick, FA Cup fourth round begins

In the magnificent and beautiful Wembley Stadium, only the Manchester United fans were singing the "Wembley Song". They jumped and danced shoulder to shoulder, enjoying the joy brought by the victory.

Although the score was not very satisfactory, Manchester United only scored two goals.

But they also know that replicating last season's 7-happy performance would be harder than climbing to the sky. After all, Manchester United's January schedule is devilish, and Mourinho will definitely choose the method that consumes the least amount of energy.

So in the second half of the game Manchester United focused on defense, leaving only Chu Feng in the frontcourt as a counterattack point.

Moreover, even without strong signings, Tottenham's strength has improved a lot compared to last season.

Currently in the top five leagues, it is estimated that no team can score seven goals against Tottenham.

Therefore, Manchester United fans were quite satisfied with the result of today's game and gave warm applause to the players on the field.

Kane took the initiative to find Chu Feng and stretched out his right hand, "Congratulations! Your performance today deserves this victory."

The British star's character, sportsmanship, and fighting spirit are rare in the world of football. He also puts the team first in everything, and the word "selfless" is the most appropriate way to describe him.

Sometimes, if you put too much emphasis on friendship, you will end up getting hurt.

Chu Feng held Kane's hand tightly and said with a smile: "You played well too."

As for why he only said "you", it was because Tottenham's midfield and backcourt players made a lot of mistakes in this game.

For example, Winks's knife-edge ball.

To be honest, he thinks Tottenham is a bit of a burden to Kane. Otherwise, with Kane's strength, he won the Golden Boot in the 15-16 and 16-17 seasons and was third in the scorer list in the 17-18 season. How could he not win even one championship? But then again, Kane is indeed lucky.

In the 2015-16 season, Tottenham Hotspur was only one step away from winning the Premier League title, but what happened? Leicester City created a miracle!

In the third-to-last round against Chelsea, Kane and Son Heung-min took the lead in helping Tottenham score two goals, but Cahill and Hazard soon equalized the score for Chelsea.

In the end, Kane could only watch Leicester City win the championship ahead of schedule.

Chu Feng swallowed some words that were on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't persuade Kane to leave the team early.

“Looking forward to seeing you next time.”

After Chu Feng finished speaking, he turned and left, leaving Kane full of doubts.

See you next time?

I guess we have to wait until next season's league, unless Tottenham and Manchester United can qualify for the Champions League.

"It's better not to see him!" Kane shuddered inexplicably.

He actually had a very difficult time playing today. Kante was in front of him and cut off his connection with his teammates. With the tall Maguire behind him, it was difficult for him to grab any high balls.

Moreover, Manchester United's tactical arrangement restrained him greatly.

Son Heung-min next to him patted Kane on the shoulder and said, "Let's keep working hard and strive to stay in the top four so that we can play in the Champions League next season." - In the post-match press interview, Pochettino admitted the tactical mistakes, but one sentence caused heated discussion.

"Now the top three in the standings, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, they can buy whoever they want. This is the financial strength of the big teams."

Pochettino's meaning is very clear, mocking others for spending money to get results.

You have to know that the head coaches of the top three teams are all very harsh in their words.

Guardiola responded directly: "You can't do big things without big-name players. This is the current situation in football. If you can't learn to accept it, you must have the ability to change it!"

Klopp and Mourinho were also not idle, and they refuted with their own opinions.

In short, the point is that our spending money can bring results, but for some teams, spending money is just like wasting money.

Sarri, who was studying tactics at home, was suddenly hit by 10,000 points of critical strike.

He took two puffs of his cigarette fiercely, "In the Carabao Cup semi-final the day after tomorrow, I will show Manchester United how powerful I am!"

But soon he scratched his head worriedly again. Chelsea had just finished the 22nd round of the league yesterday and defeated Newcastle United 2-1 with difficulty.

Logically speaking, with one day more rest than Manchester United, the players would be in better condition.

But he still had no idea.

After all, the strength shown by Manchester United today, whether in offense or defense, gives people a very strong feeling.

"If all else fails, let Kovacic start as right midfielder. His ability to advance will greatly enhance the team's offense." Sarri was worried that the players were not in sync in the last game, so he put Kovacic on the bench.

But now he has no time to waste and must find an immediate combat capability to improve his strength.

And Kovacic is the best candidate.

Two hours after the match between Tottenham and Manchester United ended, the last game of the 22nd round of the Premier League began.

Manchester City vs Wolves!

There is no doubt that the whole field was crushed.

In the 10th minute of the first half, Sane assisted Jesus to score.

Near the end of the first half, Sterling fell to the ground and Jesus took the penalty and scored.

The genius from Brazil is no longer confused and is gradually realizing his talent.

"Manchester City's front three can only make the opponent's defense at a loss by constantly changing positions." Chu Feng replayed the process of scoring the goal. It turned out that Manchester United had a hard time dealing with this tactic, because both Maguire and Matic were strong and slow men, and they would definitely be at a disadvantage against the small and agile ones.

But now with Kante sweeping in front of the back line, Manchester United's defensive pressure will be greatly reduced.

However, the second match between Manchester United and Manchester City will have to wait until the 31st round of the Premier League on April 25, when Guardiola may have a new life.

When the game reached the 79th minute, De Bruyne's classic low arc ball made Wolves center back Coady unable to clear the ball and sent the ball directly into his own goal.

Chu Feng didn't continue reading because he knew the outcome was already decided.

At the same time, the number of spectators was reduced by more than half, and they were probably all Manchester United fans.

They are always expecting Manchester City to fail.

But Manchester City was so stable that it was sickening, as if they had lost something.

After the end of this round of the league, the Premier League standings have not changed much, and the competition for the first tier of championship is still very close.

In order to compete for a place in the Champions League, the second-tier teams are also doing their best to score points.

All major media outlets also did not miss out on the hot news and reported extensively on the outstanding matches and players.

《Manchester City's two giants lead the standings! 》

"Chu Feng scored twice, continuing his hot form in the first half of the league. He is currently two goals ahead of the second place in the scorer list, Mane!"

"It is reported that Pochettino has a conflict with club chairman Levy and is likely to leave the team after the end of this season. His potential next clubs include Chelsea, Bayern, Juventus, Argentina, etc."

"The Champions League quarter-finals will begin next month. If Real Madrid coach Solari fails to lead the team to advance, he will be fired early according to the contract. "

《.》

Fans of each team also left comments under the report. - [The competition in the Premier League has been too fierce in recent years, right? I always feel that this season will be a 100% failure to win the championship! ] - [After all, the commercialization is very good, and it is truly the first in the five major leagues! ] - [La Liga only has Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A are all dominated by one team. The viewing experience does not look as good as the Premier League. ] - [Does Manchester United have a chance to win six championships this year? Now it has won the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. ] - [Modern football is not like it was ten years ago. The competition is too fierce and it is difficult to do it. Otherwise, why has only the Dream Three Barcelona achieved it so far? ] - [If Mourinho is given another two years to build Manchester United into a real cosmic team, I think there is still hope. ] - [Brothers, if Xiaochu can win the Champions League and the league again, can he win the Golden Ball Award? ] - [Of course! ] - [.]

Not to mention other fans, even Manchester United fans themselves don’t dare to think about winning six championships.

After all, Manchester United, led by Sir Alex Ferguson, failed to do it at its peak, and now the difficulty will only become greater and greater.

Some even believe that Manchester United may not win any other trophies this season except the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. After all, the opponents they have to face are too strong.

Teams such as Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid in the Champions League, and Liverpool and Manchester City in the league.

Manchester United has no absolute certainty of defeating them.

Amid the outside world's doubts, the time came to January 16th, and the first leg of the League Cup semi-final started! Stamford Bridge.

The game was already in the 28th minute, and the LED screen on the side of the pitch showed 1-0, with Chelsea temporarily taking the lead.

Mourinho rubbed his eyebrows and looked at the field worriedly.

Since Manchester United had just finished a high-intensity game two days ago, Chu Feng, Pogba, Matic and others played the whole game, and it is impossible for their physical fitness and condition to recover to their best.

If he insists on playing, he might get injured and affect the subsequent schedule, which would be a waste of time.

So Mourinho deployed a semi-rotation, 4-2-3-1 formation.

Luke Shaw, Phil Jones, Bailly and Valencia lined up on the back line.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Kante partners with McTominay in the defensive midfield.

The central midfielders are Rashford, Lingard and Mahrez.

Lukaku plays as the lone striker.

The game started off steadily and without any problems. Mourinho's original intention was to pursue a draw and then go all out when he returns to Old Trafford.

But he underestimated Sarri's desire to win.

Not only did Chelsea field all their main players, but they also launched a violent offensive 20 minutes into the game!

The ball was snatched away from McTominay's feet in the midfield.

Kovacic passed the ball diagonally to Azpiquet, who was on the sideline. APZ made two fake moves to create space, ran with the ball near the baseline and knocked it across the middle! Hazard followed up and shot into the goal! Chelsea played at home and scored the first goal! Although the media always say that Sarri only has one set of tactics, he is still good at coaching offense.

From the siege on McTominay to the smooth and fluid attacking tactics on the wing, it would be impossible to play well without some real talent.

Chelsea's morale soared after the goal and they continued to launch fierce attacks.

Fortunately, Mourinho adjusted in time, relying on Kante's wide coverage area and McTominay's mad dog spirit, he blocked Chelsea's advancement in the middle.

The first half passed in this situation.

After the two teams changed sides in the second half, Chelsea suddenly became sluggish and several attacks were unsuccessful.

Because Mourinho moved Kante to the left to limit Kovacic's advancement.

"Chelsea's midfield and frontcourt are out of touch again. This has been a problem since the beginning of the season. It seems that Sarri has not solved it yet!"

"Alonso loses the ball too many times on the wing, the key is that he doesn't chase back to defend!"

"And Ross Barkley, who came from Everton for €15 million, has passed the ball to Manchester United players several times."

"After Kovacic was restricted by Kante, Jorginho did not take on the responsibility of organizing the game, and basically passed the ball horizontally to the left and right."

“.”

Sky Sports commentator Marco was blunt in his criticism.

But Manchester United's attack was ineffective. After all, letting Lingard play as a central midfielder was equivalent to giving up organization in the frontcourt.

Your Lin Huang does not have sufficient dribbling skills, and long passes, short passes and through passes are not his strong points.

He is just willing to do the dirty and tiring work, and has the attribute of being able to run endlessly, just like Park Ji-sung during Sir Alex Ferguson's time.

Even if the ball is occasionally passed to Lukaku, the Belgian guy with a flat head and beer belly is so incompetent in seizing opportunities that it makes people anxious.

68th minute of the game.

Mahrez, who was not wearing gloves, tried his best to pass Barkley and Alonso in succession and made a precise long pass from the right side of the penalty area.

Lukaku made a forward run and headed the ball, but it went out of bounds.

Wasted a good chance to score!

Chu Feng covered his face with his hands. Mr. Lu really has the habit of failing at critical moments!

Manchester United fans also couldn't hold back and posted comments on the platform. - [King Zhuang of Chu is a benevolent ruler! ] - [Small flat head, beer belly, Lukaku missed an empty goal! ] - [The train of time slowly passed through Stamford Bridge. The 20-year-old Chu sat there, looking at Lukaku, and his eyes were full of his own shadow at 35. ] - [It's so funny, Chu shouldn't be that bad at 35, right? I think 45 should be about right! ] - [No more spreading his hands, he's holding his head instead! ] - [.]

As the saying goes, "There is a penalty for wasting opportunities."

In the 76th minute of the second half, Hazard played his best form of the season, bursting out with his little universe to get rid of McTominay, Phil Jones and Bailly in succession.

He shot from the right side of the penalty area and scored! 2-0!

The scent of pear blossoms seemed to resound at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea fans waved their arms and cheered wildly. They had finally waited for the king of dribbling in the top five leagues who could not be stopped by anyone except by fouls.

Hazard! Hazard vented all the frustration in his heart, and he roared at the blue ocean in the stands.

In the end, Chelsea defended the dignity of Stamford Bridge and won the first leg with a two-goal advantage.

After the game, Mourinho did not hold back and said to the reporters: "We didn't perform well enough in today's game, but we are confident that we can overtake the score at home!"

As for the semi-rotation lineup, he didn't even mention it. If he did, people would think he was making excuses.

It would be better to wait until the second round on the 27th and shut the media up with facts.

It’s just that the public opinion after the game was a bit fierce, and fans from all walks of life joined in the criticism. People who didn’t know thought that Manchester United was relegated.

This made Manchester United fans very unhappy.

They didn't even have any of their strongest central players on the field, so is it strange that they lost to Chelsea?

No matter what, Chelsea is first in the Eastern Conference. It would be abnormal if the full main lineup couldn't beat half of the rotation lineup, right?

So, three days later in the 23rd round of the Premier League, Manchester United's opponent Brighton became the tragic victim.

Just 20 minutes into the game, Chu Feng scored two goals by header and foot.

However, this is not the end. In the first half stoppage time, Mahrez entered the penalty area from the side and was tripped by a defender. The referee awarded a penalty kick.

Chu Feng took the penalty and scored!

The long-awaited hat-trick made him excited. After returning from the half-time break, he received the ball on the left side of the penalty area, swung continuously to daze the defender and shot into the far corner.

Unfortunately, he tried to focus on the angle and hit the crossbar.

But Mahrez immediately copied Chu Feng's action and shot from the right side of the penalty area. The ball brushed the goalkeeper's fingertips and went into the goal.

Manchester United declared their form with a 4-0 victory.

Four days later, Arsenal, feeling uneasy, welcomed Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

The fourth round of the FA Cup is about to begin! (End of this chapter)