Chapter 353: Victory and Glory

During the halftime break, Manchester United coach Ferguson asked the players to do their best to defend in the second half and try to keep the goal. As for the team's offense, he did not ask for anything, which seemed to be a signal that Manchester United would delay the game.

In fact, Ferguson also thought about having an offensive battle with Chelsea, but facing Chelsea's strong performance in offense, he gave up this idea. If that were the case, Manchester United might indeed have a chance to score an away goal at Stamford Bridge, but if Chelsea conceded a few goals, it would be a loss. There are two League Cup semi-finals. If Manchester United is eliminated in the first round, it will definitely become a laughing stock in the whole of Europe. This result is definitely not acceptable to Ferguson and Manchester United.

So, the old knight didn't dare to take the risk.

Of course, Manchester United players still have some resistance to this decision, especially C. Ronaldo, Rooney and Louis Saha, and these three are also the three players with the strongest offensive ability on the Manchester United field.

Originally, before the game started, Rooney kept telling the media that he wanted to have a real contest with Wang Li, but this "real contest" was completely empty talk. In the first half of the game, Rooney almost completely became a defensive player. Although he did very well in this regard, this was not the contest he wanted.

And Louis Saha felt humiliated.

"Although our results this season are not outstanding, the team is in good shape now. I think we will win a victory at Stamford Bridge to make the last defeat a thing of the past." Saha said in an interview with the media before the game. But now, the situation on the field is not under the control of Manchester United at all. Even the head coach Ferguson has given up the hope of winning and just wants to defend to leave suspense. This makes Saha, who started as the only center forward, feel incredible.

C. Ronaldo was more unwilling to admit defeat. Although the Portuguese boy also recognized that Wang Li was stronger than him, he felt that Manchester United's overall offense was not necessarily worse than Chelsea's. If they played against each other, they would still have a chance to win. As the most popular new star in Manchester, C. Ronaldo had a persistent pursuit of victory and could not accept a completely defensive game.

It is not surprising that the three had these thoughts. Manchester United's situation in the first half was indeed a bit torturous. Being able to hold on in the first half required not only strength but also some willpower. But just think about having to play another 45 minutes of the game under such circumstances. It does make people feel frustrated and it does make people resist.

But Ferguson has coached Manchester United for so many years, won countless championships, and accumulated great prestige. Even David Beckham was sold to Spain for disobeying him, let alone them. Therefore, even if they are somewhat dissatisfied, they dare not object. The same is true for C. Ronaldo and Rooney. After all, C. Ronaldo and Rooney are still new to Manchester United. Although Saha has been there for a long time, he is a glass man and often gets injured in the game. It is difficult for him to gain a stable position in the starting lineup of Manchester United. In this state, he dare not directly oppose Ferguson's opinion.

"The players of both teams finally returned to the field. I think Manchester United must have made some adjustments during the halftime break. Ferguson will never let the game go on like this." Before the game started, the commentator of the court TV station made another analysis: "Perhaps Manchester United will launch a fierce attack at the beginning. Chelsea should stabilize its defense first before looking for victory."

Coach Zhang disagreed with this opinion. He said bluntly: "If Manchester United really launches a massive attack, it will also be an opportunity for Chelsea. The gap between the two teams in attack is obvious. The game may be decided within 10 minutes of the second half. I think Manchester United should stabilize first. If they attack rashly, they will probably lose the game."

"But Coach Zhang, the gap between the two teams is not that big, so why can Chelsea completely suppress Manchester United?"

"But this is the situation now. Chelsea's offensive ability is stronger than Manchester United's. If Manchester United wants to advance to the final, the best way is to drag the score and leave the suspense to Old Trafford."

Amid the debate between the two players on the court stage and the anticipation of all the fans, the second half of the game finally began.

To the disappointment of all the Red Devils fans, the situation still did not develop in the direction they expected. The ball was still rolling around in Manchester United's half, which always worried them. Manchester United was almost defending. Because too few troops were invested in the offense, the offense was very unsmooth. After more than 10 minutes of the game, Manchester United's only long-range shot opportunity was hit by winger C. Ronaldo.

On the other hand, Chelsea remained strong. Under the guidance of Wang Li, the team's offense was very sharp. Although Manchester United performed very well in defense, Chelsea did not have many scoring opportunities, but at least in form, Chelsea took the absolute initiative.

In the 17th minute of the second half, seeing that Manchester United's situation was getting worse and worse and Chelsea's number of shots was gradually increasing, Ferguson had no choice but to replace the center forward Louis Saha, who performed poorly in defense, with the Cameroonian international Djemba, who was good at defense.

Everyone knows what this substitution means --- Manchester United completely gave up attacking

Because of this substitution, the entire Stamford Bridge stadium suddenly erupted in a fierce booing. The performances of Chelsea fans and Manchester United fans were surprisingly consistent at this moment, but their moods were different. The Blues fans booed with pride, while the Red Devils fans booed with dissatisfaction. They could not tolerate the 'great Manchester United' actually giving up the attack.

Indeed, Manchester United's performance in the last two games has disappointed these fans - first losing to an amateur team and then playing like this at the Stanford Stadium.

This seems to be announcing Manchester United's decline this season, but head coach Ferguson is even more helpless. He has no idea how to crack Chelsea's tactics and can only make such adjustments to strengthen the team's defense. No matter what, competitive games still focus on results. As long as Manchester United can get the score back at Old Trafford and advance to the League Cup final, everyone will forget about this game.

For the sake of results, Ferguson had to do this. Even if the process was bad, it was much better than being defeated by Chelsea by a large margin.

Louis Saha was in a very bad mood when he was substituted off the field. He ignored his teammate Djemba who was about to play. After taking the coat handed over by the assistant coach, he sat on the bench with a gloomy face, watching the game on the field. But Ferguson would not comfort him. Now the old Sir was troubled by how to crack Chelsea's tactics and was still worried about the situation on the field. How could he pay attention to him?

Djemba Djemba is a Cameroonian midfielder, but he has lived in France since he was a child. The French Ligue 1 team Nantes is the first stop of his career. From this point of view, his football career started much better than ordinary players. As a midfielder, Djemba has comprehensive abilities and can play well as a defensive midfielder or a front midfielder. Manchester United just needs an all-around substitute.

So, a year and a half ago, Djemba was brought to Manchester from France by Ferguson.

However, Djemba's performance on the court is far from satisfactory. His abilities are indeed comprehensive, but there is nothing outstanding about him. This has led to his playing time at Manchester United becoming less and less. This season, this is only his fourth appearance, which is a good example.

However, Djemba's intercepting ability in the midfield is much stronger than Saha's. After he came on the court, Wang Li's offensive pressure in the middle was even greater.

Unfortunately, as the players' physical and mental strength were exhausted, Manchester United's performance became increasingly weaker. Although the Chelsea players' physical strength also weakened, Wang Li, who had been attacking throughout the game, did not change at all. Both his speed and mental state were almost the same as at the beginning of the game, which made the Manchester United players who had been responsible for defending him call him "perverted" in their hearts.

But this kind of meaningless cursing is obviously useless. There will always be mistakes when defending. And for Wang Li who has already entered the game state, every small mistake of the opponent may be turned into a goal by him.

The game lasted for 74 minutes. Perhaps due to physical reasons, Scholes made a mistake in his defensive positioning. He unknowingly went to the left, leaving only Roy Keane and C. Ronaldo to defend Wang Li. At this time, although there were many people in the Manchester United penalty area, Wang Li still found a gap.

So, he accelerated without hesitation and got rid of Roy Keane. Before C. Ronaldo had time to chase him, he had already dribbled the ball to the front of the penalty area. At this time, he had many options. Lampard and Gallas on the left and right sides and behind him could give him effective support.

At this time, almost all TV broadcasts around the world gave the camera to Wang Li. These reporters seemed to realize that exciting shots were coming, and Ferguson on the sidelines also stood up suddenly. In this game, Wang Li did not have many real breakthroughs, and most of the time he was cooperating with his teammates. Although Manchester United's defense was very good, small-scale cooperation in Manchester United's half was not a good choice, but dribbling through was even less of a good choice. For example, after Wang Li broke through to the front line, the position in front of him was almost surrounded by Manchester United players, and he had no angle to shoot at all.

At this moment, Wang Li chose to suddenly change direction and dribble the ball to the left. This serious twist of the waist caused C. Ronaldo, who was following behind, to be thrown away.

After attracting the attention of most of the players, Wang Li passed the ball to Damien Duff who was on the right with a sideways heel, while he continued to run forward. This made many Manchester United players not notice where the ball went and their eyes were still on Wang Li.

So, Damien Duff got the chance, and the Irishman kicked the ball to the penalty area line without hesitation.

The Ivorian monster, who was only defended by Phil Neville, suddenly accelerated to shake off Neville and shot the ball directly.

However, this time goalkeeper Howard had a flash of inspiration and fell to the ground to save the ball, and the football was unexpectedly saved by him, causing all the fans in the stadium to exclaim in unison, and the sound of the Blues fans celebrating the goal was stuck in their throats.

However, this was not the end. At the moment Howard saved the ball, Wang Li had already run towards the goal with light steps. His purpose was naturally to prevent the ball from being saved, but this action gave him a good opportunity. After Howard bounced the ball with both hands, the football rolled right to Wang Li's feet.

At this moment, the big number "21" behind Wang Li even made the Manchester United players who were following closely behind him slow down. Yes, they had already thought of the ending. It was difficult for this black-haired boy No. 21 to make a mistake.

And goalkeeper Howard could only lie on the ground and watch the football fly into the net very lightly.

"Wang Li, Wang Li, Wang Li's follow-up shot scored the second goal for Chelsea. It was so beautiful. Wang Li was so outstanding. This shot almost pushed Manchester United into the abyss. The goal they had defended the whole game was pierced again. Now the score is 2:0. At Stamford Bridge, Manchester United is destined to return home empty-handed."

"Perhaps this is not the end. There are still more than 10 minutes left in the game. In this form, it is possible for Chelsea to score another goal. I hope they can perform better."

Wang Li didn't feel too excited when he scored this goal, but he felt very happy. Yes, very happy.

Facing the stubborn defense of a mid-level Premier League team is completely different from facing the stubborn defense of a top Premier League team. Throughout the game, he kept running, playing, and looking for opportunities, but failed to penetrate Manchester United's goal. Now he finally scored a goal, it was as if his own efforts had paid off. Maybe he is numb to scoring goals now, but he still feels very refreshed about this goal that was obtained through hard work.

On the field, Wang Li raised his fist high and gestured to the Blues fans. Almost all the fans in the audience responded loudly at the same time. They saw the confident black-haired boy on the field and felt a sense of confidence for no reason. They were confident that the Blues would definitely win various championships this season.

Although it felt good to score a goal, Chelsea didn't actually celebrate for long, because Mourinho's task was to score more goals. If they only scored two goals, they would still have to fight at Old Trafford, which was obviously not what the team wanted to see. You know, they still have to face Barcelona next month, so they don't have much energy to deal with such a useless game in the League Cup.

After Chelsea finished celebrating the goal, Ferguson also asked for a substitution. He replaced the exhausted Scholes with Gary Neville, whose performance had been mediocre, and replaced the defender with a forward. It was obvious that the old Sir still wanted to strengthen the defense. Perhaps a score of 2:0 was not the worst result for Manchester United, and they still had a chance to catch up at home.

In this situation, in order to avoid being blamed by Ferguson and fans after the game, Manchester United players tried their best to defend. So in the final stage of the game, although Chelsea tried very hard to attack, they still couldn't find any good opportunities. This made the game very intense, but not very interesting.

In the end, Chelsea defeated the visiting Manchester United 2-0 at their home ground, gaining some advantages in the League Cup semi-finals, and the score was roughly the same as what many media expected before the game.

However, anyone who has watched the game will feel that there is a big gap between the score and the process of the game. No one would have thought that Manchester United did not show the momentum of a European giant at all. Instead, they were on the defense throughout the game. This made the fans somewhat disdainful of Manchester United, and also allowed other European giants to see Chelsea's terrifying offensive ability. Perhaps after the game, many head coaches will have to think about how they should defend in the face of Chelsea's level of offense?

Everyone in the Chelsea team is still somewhat dissatisfied with the result, but no matter what, they have an absolute advantage. The mentality will definitely be different when facing Manchester United next time, so many players feel that the ticket to the League Cup final is firmly in Chelsea's hands.

This led to many players hugging each other and celebrating as soon as the game ended. Although they have won too many games this season, it still feels exciting to beat a team like Manchester United.

Chelsea is no longer what it used to be.

At this time, the sports channel of the ancient oriental court television station also cut to Wang Li. At this time, Wang Li was wiping the sweat off his face with his jersey, walking towards the player tunnel with a smile on his lips. The masculine temperament after the battle completely covered his slightly immature face, making people really feel that this is a brave and fearless warrior fighting in the arena.

"Although he only scored one goal in this game, Wang Li was the best player of the game. He performed really well. Who says Chinese people can't play football well? Look at Wang Li, he is undoubtedly the best player in the entire Premier League now, and has won the Premier League's best for several months in a row. This is the result of hard work. I hope to see our football players learn from these European players, train hard, put everything on football, and you will succeed."

On the Chaoting Sports Channel, Wang Li's face became the last picture, and Coach Zhang's comments became the soundtrack of this picture, leaving a deep impression on the lovely fans of the ancient oriental country.

The on-site commentator Creed was also not to be outdone. He praised Stamford Bridge outright: "In this home stadium, we have defeated Manchester United, Liverpool, Porto and other teams. In the future, we will also defeat Barcelona, ​​AC Milan and other top European giants. We will use victory to write Chelsea's glory. Now I am very much looking forward to the game against Barcelona."

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