Chapter 241 When the goalkeeper becomes the protagonist of the game
St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
At the beginning of the game, Newcastle's legendary striker Alan Shearer took advantage of a mistake by Chelsea's defender to give the team the lead. Newcastle was always in an advantageous position, but as the game progressed, Chelsea players slowly regained their form.
In order to show their strength in front of the head coach, almost everyone on the field ran tirelessly, and with this effort, the situation gradually began to favor Chelsea.
But this tendency is compared with the disadvantage just now. When the game reached the 20th minute of the first half, the two teams were evenly matched. It can be seen that Chelsea did not become anxious because of falling behind by one goal.
At this time, on the green field, the home team Newcastle United and Chelsea were engaged in a fierce offensive battle.
Mourinho doesn't care about the outcome of this game. In fact, in his mind, winning is good, but losing doesn't matter at all. This game is insignificant, and the League Cup is not the goal he has set for Chelsea now.
He really doesn't like this cup competition.
Therefore, in this game, Mourinho did not think too much and simply arranged a 442 balanced offensive and defensive formation. There were not many tactics to speak of, and more depended on the players' own performance.
In fact, in recent times, the Portuguese have been worrying about the game against Liverpool the day after tomorrow. How can he have the time to care about this meaningless confrontation?
Yes, the day after tomorrow, September 25th, Chelsea will face Liverpool at home. This game is the most important of all the recent games.
But in this situation, what this "madman" did not expect was that Chelsea's substitute lineup performed quite well.
The attacks of the two wingers Elvira and Scott were very threatening, and the offensive abilities of forwards Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole were unquestionable, which caused Newcastle United to miss the goal frequently. Several consecutive shots in the penalty area almost equalized the score for Chelsea.
On the other hand, Newcastle United's attack was still sharp. Young player Milner was very outstanding. He hid behind Alan Shearer and when he found an opportunity, he made a cold shot towards Chelsea's goal. Shearer was obviously given special attention by Chelsea's defenders, but this could not cover up his brilliance. As long as he found an opportunity, he would always find shooting space in the dense crowd to pose a threat to Chelsea's players.
In addition, Newcastle United's midfielders also have outstanding offensive capabilities. Overall, Newcastle United's offensive capabilities are better because their offense is very stable, while Chelsea's offense seems a bit immature and monotonous.
In the 26th minute of the game, Newcastle United found another very good scoring opportunity. Right winger Lauren Robert dribbled the ball quickly on the wing, and after two agile changes of direction to shake off the Chelsea defender, he made a very precise through pass and passed the ball to Milner near the penalty area line.
After Milner got the ball, he kept tapping his feet while protecting it on the spot. When he found an opportunity, he kicked the ball high and dropped it into the penalty area. Alan Shearer, who was double-teamed, received the pass. He skillfully moved forward at the moment the ball stopped, caught up with the ball, turned around, aimed at the goal, and shot directly before the defensive player could react.
At the moment of shooting, Alan Shearer knew in his heart that this ball would definitely go in.
Obviously, the opponent's goalkeeper was still on the left side of the player when he shot, but his shot went to the right side of the goal with great force. In his impression of his professional career, this kind of ball was basically a sure goal.
Even the Newcastle United fans in the stadium collectively shouted "Goal", but most people got their words stuck in their throats as soon as they opened their mouths. Look what they saw---
The opponent's tall goalkeeper unexpectedly turned sideways with one hand and blocked the ball out of the bottom line at lightning speed.
Oh my God, look, who is that?
"Beautiful My~~ Gad's second goalkeeper, Thomas Clarke, has done a great job for Chelsea. This time, he saved the ball with one hand. Let's take a look at the video replay. Oh, at the moment Shearer shot, the tall guy made a save. What a genius reaction speed."
"When this young player first came to Chelsea, many fans were not optimistic about him. Everyone felt that a striker in the English League One could only do so much. I have to admit that I thought so too. But now, this performance shows that since Mr. Mourinho specifically asked him to join the team, he must have something outstanding. Now, we can see his brilliance."
Seeing Thomas' performance, Mourinho on the sidelines also laughed happily. In the past, he always thought that only stable stars were the best choice, but Wang Li's performance made a crack in his thinking. Now the performance of the team's second goalkeeper also makes him have more expectations for the young new stars.
Yes, although the performances of these new stars are not stable (Wang Li has been excluded by him), it has to be admitted that when they perform well again, it is always unexpected.
At this time, he fixed his eyes on the No. 16 player James Milner on the field, and couldn't help thinking: "This kid is very capable, and it would be a good supplement to buy him as a substitute for Allen."
After spending some time together, assistant coach Clark has gotten to know the Portuguese a little. Seeing Mourinho's expression, he knew very well that this "madman" might be up to something again, and he couldn't help but feel sad for Newcastle United.
'In the match against Chelsea, don't let any one player perform too well, otherwise, maybe this player will disappear from the team lineup next season...' This is Clark's conclusion now.
Perhaps, after several years, this can also be regarded as a football theorem?
Great scientific imagination
Back to the game, Newcastle United took a corner kick. The team's midfielder Jamie Jenas ran to the corner flagpole to take the penalty. At this time, there was chaos in Chelsea's penalty area. Many Newcastle United players were scrambling to squeeze into the penalty area, looking for opportunities to score.
This time, facing the ball falling to the middle, Thomas Clark once again demonstrated another theorem for everyone - physical advantage is very important on the football field.
The tall Thomas squeezed through the crowd, jumped up and picked up the football from the air with both hands.
After getting the ball, Thomas reacted quickly. Before the opponent had time to react, he glanced at the situation in the frontcourt and with a big move, the ball flew to Joe Cole's feet a little behind the center line.
Chelsea's chance to fight back
Joe Cole did not waste the opportunity. He did not choose to break through. Instead, he made a straight pass, passing the ball diagonally to Edur Gudjohnsen, and then rushed to the frontcourt quickly.
"Opportunity" Wang Li couldn't help but stood up and shouted as he watched his two friends perform so well.
At this time, there were only three defensive players in the opponent's half. Mourinho couldn't help but glance at Wang Li, thinking that if this black-haired boy was on the court, the success rate of this attack would at least increase by half.
However, Gudjohnsen and Joe Cole, who started the game, did not disappoint the Portuguese.
Joe Cole is very fast. When Gudjohnsen dodged the interception of a defensive player, he had already run to the left corner of the penalty area. The latter's performance was also very good. After finding an opportunity to pass the ball, he took advantage of an offside opportunity and kicked the ball to Joe Cole's feet.
The opposing defender couldn't keep up with Joe Cole's speed, and when he got the ball, he was directly facing the goalkeeper.
A smooth volley that created a web of flowers, a simple shot that led to the score-tying goal.
Newcastle United 1:1 Chelsea
Newcastle United was obviously unwilling to accept the equalizer from Chelsea. Before the game, head coach Robson demanded that they must win this game. Moreover, Chelsea on the field now has only a substitute lineup. In this case, if Newcastle United, which has the home advantage, cannot win, then how can they face so many fans who support the team without regrets?
Therefore, Newcastle United's attack became more fierce.
In this situation, Chelsea's defensive players were a little panicked, which made the team's defense even more unstable, and the frequent loopholes became shooting opportunities for Newcastle United.
At the moment when Chelsea's goal was in crisis, the goalkeeper who had a flash of inspiration just now, the unknown second goalkeeper Thomas Clarke who was not even known to Newcastle United, stepped forward. He blocked the ball left and right, used both feet, and blocked the ball outside the goal again and again, with a momentum of "one man guarding the pass against ten thousand men"
If blocking Alan Shearer's shot just now was an extreme performance, but during this period of time, Thomas's basic goalkeeping skills were demonstrated. Although Newcastle United's shots did not have any threatening goals, it was not easy to do it for dozens of minutes without making any mistakes.
At this time, on the bench, the smile on the face of "madman" Mourinho also showed his satisfaction with Thomas' performance. Yes, with this tall man in, Chelsea will not have to worry about the selection of goalkeepers for at least a few years.
At this time, it was obvious that Thomas was the only protagonist of the entire stadium. The fans of Newcastle United hoped that the tall unknown goalkeeper could make a "mistake" to allow their team to take the lead, while the Blues fans watched Thomas' performance with great interest, and then discussed with each other how much they knew about this goalkeeper.
It is foreseeable that after this game, Thomas Clarke's name will be deeply remembered by the Blues fans present, and he has taken the first step on the road to fame.
………
With Thomas' performance and the stability of Chelsea's defense, Newcastle United tried their best to attack but still failed to break through Chelsea's goal. In this situation, Chelsea's counterattack was not smooth and the game was in a tense state for a time.
In the 41st minute, Robson replaced Alan Shearer, who had scored a goal, with Padraic Kluivert, which caused dissatisfaction among the fans...
At the start of the second half, Mourinho replaced Thiago Mendes, who had little performance, with Macarambi...
In the 73rd minute, Robson replaced a defender with forward Craig Bellamy...
Time passed slowly.
At the end of the game, the fourth official raised the substitution card for Chelsea again---
No. 19 Scott Parker leaves and No. 21 Alan Wang comes on.