Chapter 057: Two consecutive league wins (3)

Just over twenty minutes into the game, Blackburn had one player sent off. Babel's impulsiveness also caused the situation to change instantly, and the balance of victory gradually tilted towards Wolverhampton.

After the referee Barry showed the red card, Wang Li stood up from the ground intact, jumped twice, and signaled to his worried teammates that he was fine. The referee Barry was unhappy with his behavior. Although it was an obvious red card, he hated the players' pretense. They pretended to be uncomfortable even though they were fine. He was more or less annoyed with the black-haired boy.

The most angry person now was the Blackburn manager Lem Sonis. After just 20 minutes, the team had to play with only 10 players. They were already being suppressed by Wolverhampton at the beginning, and now they were one player short. How could they play like this? Before the referee signaled the kick-off, he immediately walked to the sidelines, called the captain Frycroft, and told him to defend with all his strength for the rest of the first half! He had no hope for this game. It was impossible for Blackburn to win at Molineux with 10 players, not to mention that Wolverhampton's attack today was surprisingly fierce, which was completely different from the first half of the season!

Wolverhampton got a free kick, which was on the right sideline, more than 40 meters away from the goal. The angle was very bad, so Kennedy just made a low pass to Wang Li who was jumping around next to him.

Wang Li took two steps after receiving the ball, and when he saw a Blackburn player coming up to grab the ball, he immediately kicked it to Newton on the left. Newton ran forward two steps, caught Emedon next to him and stopped the ball with his chest, and controlled the ball under his feet. Emedon behind him obviously would not let him pass the ball so easily, and kept stretching his foot to hook the ball beside him, just sticking to Newton to make it difficult for him to pass the ball, and signaled Taylor in front of him to come over and double-team him with his eyes.

However, Newton was experienced. He would not give the opponent a chance to double-team him. He glanced at the situation in the frontcourt and directly pushed the ball to Cradorick who was cutting in from the middle. Now even Blackburn striker Gallaher had returned to defend, so Cradorick in the backcourt was not willing to be lonely and cut directly into the middle, ready to attack with the team.

Seeing the ball rolling towards him, Cradorick did not stop the ball, but directly kicked it to Butler on the right. After Butler got the ball, he ran directly to the baseline. Although his speed was not as fast as Wang Li, he was still the best in the team. Neil, who was fighting for the ball nearby, had no choice but to follow Butler to the baseline. At this time, Blackburn midfielder Gresco also ran over.

Near the corner kick on the right side, Butler protected the ball with his body, and glanced at a person in a white uniform following behind him. He didn't see who it was at all, and directly kicked the ball past Neil's butt.

That person was Wang Li. He followed Butler as soon as he saw he was in trouble. After getting the ball, before the Blackburn players could make up their defense, he rolled the ball to the middle.

The first reaction of the nearest Blackburn player was to stretch his legs to reach the ball, but the speed of the ball was too fast. The ball passed through the narrow gap between several players and reached the front of Blackburn's small penalty area. Miller saw Wang Li pass the ball, immediately shook off the defensive player next to him, and followed up with a low shot.

However, the ball was blocked by Tugai in the penalty area and bounced to the left. At this time, Harrison, who was about to disappear from the front court, suddenly appeared in front of the ball and shot the flying ball again! Unfortunately, the ball flew out of the bottom line along the goal post, causing the cheers of the fans in the stadium to suddenly get stuck in their throats, and then there were shouts of relief from Blackburn fans.

Harrison knocked his head in annoyance and walked to the backcourt with his head lowered. In fact, the goalkeeper would not be able to react if the ball was kicked. He was a little excited just now, so he did not control the strength of the shot well. He secretly regretted that he wasted another good opportunity.

Although the ball did not go in, Dave was very satisfied with the performance of young player Harrison.

Harrison rarely participated in tactical coordination and his personal ability was not outstanding, but he always appeared in the key position at important moments. This was not something that could be explained by luck. It could only be said that Harrison's forward sense of smell was very sensitive and he could always find the most suitable position. If he continued to develop like this, as Leeds United coach Reid commented, Harrison might very well become the second Montella.

The following game made Wolverhampton fans cheer louder and louder. Blackburn, who were one man down, had no way of really attacking. The three defenders could not possibly stop Wolverhampton's attack. They just wanted to play a defensive counterattack occasionally, but this simple wish was difficult to achieve. The ball could not get across the center line and Andy Cole in the frontcourt received almost no support.

At this time, Wolverhampton goalkeeper Oaks was obviously the most idle person on the field. He hadn't touched the ball for more than 20 minutes. Bored Oaks even squatted in the middle of the goal and waved to the audience in a funny way, which drew a burst of good-natured laughter from the fans.

However, the fact that all the players of the Blackburn team returned to defense seriously hindered Wolverhampton's attack. The penalty area was full of people and the team could not get through at all. Even those top teams would have a headache facing such tight defense, let alone Wolverhampton.

Wang Li had no good solution to this problem. He, Newton and Kennedy could only continuously deliver high-altitude artillery shells to the penalty area, hoping that the team's forwards could get a better chance. As long as they could score a goal first, the game would be much easier.

However, Miller, Harrison and Cameron, who was already playing as a center forward, were not very tall, and they were not good at heading. After the ball was passed into the penalty area, it was often cleared directly by Blackburn's defenders. Therefore, Wolverhampton's attack was almost ineffective. Lem Sounis on the Blackburn bench also breathed a sigh of relief. If they continued to play like this, Wolverhampton's morale would be worn out bit by bit, and then, perhaps it would be an opportunity for a counterattack!

In such a dull game, time passed slowly and the first half was coming to an end. Although Wolverhampton played at home and failed to score a goal despite having one more player than the opponent in the first half, Dave in the coaching booth was very calm. He was very satisfied with the team's performance in the first half, and he had already thought of the tactics for the second half, so he was not worried about it.

The first half of the game was over and Blackburn players breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't experienced such a disappointing game for a long time. Even against Manchester United and Arsenal, they would not be so passive. Fortunately, they defended the goal and the score was still 0:0. They still have a chance, don't they?

Wolverhampton's players were obviously very dissatisfied with the score. In the 45 minutes of the first half, they controlled the ball, controlled the situation, and created many threatening opportunities, while the opponent was more exhausted, using their bodies to fill the gaps in their own penalty area, but the final result was completely inconsistent with the scene. But this is how it is on the football field. As long as you don't score, no matter how good the scene is, no matter how exaggerated the performance is, it is completely meaningless.

In the Wolverhampton dressing room, the players were somewhat silent, they were ready to accept Dave's saliva. Unexpectedly, Dave did not blame them, but walked into the dressing room with a satisfied smile on his face.

Dave cleared his throat and waited for all the players to look at him. He then said, "We played very well in the first half. We didn't embarrass the team in front of tens of thousands of fans at our home stadium. It's a pity that we didn't score a goal, but it doesn't matter. There's still half the time left in the game. If we can score a goal, we can defeat Blackburn directly."

"In the second half, Peter and Cadoc, you two will replace Miller and Cameron. You should always stand in Blackburn's penalty area and shoot whenever you have a chance. Allen, Newton and Butler, when you get the ball, you three should go directly to the small penalty area. We will use continuous high-altitude balls to break their iron bucket formation!";