Chapter 709: Isn’t this too cowardly?

Beads of sweat slid down Hazard's forehead, down his cheeks, to his chin, and dripped onto the jersey on his chest.

It was already soaked there, and if I took it off and wrung it out, I would definitely wring out a lot of sweat.

But the Belgian still stubbornly raised his head forward, observing the situation on the court.

Galatasaray's defense was indeed very well organized, and Mancini's ability to build a defensive system was still very strong, especially in restricting the Southampton trident, which was quite targeted.

Therefore, whether it was Hazard, Ibrahimovic or Suarez, they all played very hard in this game.

But does it mean that Galatasaray’s defense has no loopholes?

I'm afraid no one will believe this!

Because there is no impenetrable wall and no unbreakable line of defense in this world!

In order to break through Galatasaray's defense, Bielsa made adjustments in the 20th minute, asking Hazard and Suarez to move to the wing as much as possible and be active in the ribs area at the two corners of the penalty area.

But Mancini responded quickly and made adjustments immediately. Swedish center forward Ibrahimovic had to choose to move out of the penalty area to provide support, because James Rodriguez did not play in this game and was replaced by Pogba.

Therefore, the Swedish center forward retreats to effectively receive the pass from the midfield, while also creating space in the penalty area, giving Hazard and Suarez the opportunity to cut in from the flank.

But Galatasaray obviously also has a way to deal with it, because they have a total of six players in the midfield and backcourt.

Even if Southampton's full-backs move forward, they can have as many as eight defensive players, leaving only two players in front waiting to counterattack.

But will anyone blame Galatasaray for this?

I'm afraid not!

If Southampton fails to beat the opponent away from home, everyone will only say that Southampton's attack is weak and Galatasaray's defense is successful, because this is determined by the strength of both sides.

The game is still going on. Southampton is still unwilling to give up and is still fighting and looking for opportunities.

But the two defensive midfielders in the backcourt clearly realized that the team was pressing too close, so they gestured, signaling the team to retreat as a whole.

Toni Kroos, Modric and Pogba also retreated to the center line. Toni Kroos, who was at the back, even returned to the center circle area of ​​his own half, and the pace slowed down.

Everyone knew that this was a signal to look for another opportunity to fight!

Seeing Southampton retreat again, Galatasaray players seemed relieved.

Are you kidding? The players they are facing are all super players whose personal abilities are among the top in Europe. If other teams have one, they will focus on defending him, but Southampton has three at once. Isn't it terrifying?

Hazard was a little annoyed because he knew that this meant the team's attack had failed again.

"Damn it!" The Belgian cursed indignantly, but there was nothing he could do.

He took another deep breath and muttered to himself: "Be patient, calm, calm, you must be calm!"

After letting out another long breath, Hazard looked forward.

Eboue, Galatasaray's right back and former Arsenal player, was grinning at this moment, with a dazzling white tooth showing on his dark face, smiling at him.

Galatasaray's right central defender is Xie Zhu, who once played for Lille in Ligue 1. He has been teammates with Hazard for many years, but the relationship between the two is relatively weak. At best, they hug each other before the game and say hello after meeting during the game.

Xie Zhu is a very strong player. He is not particularly tall, but very strong, has very good physical fitness and is not lacking in flexibility. He is a typical African player with the perfect central defender physique.

But this player's strengths and weaknesses are equally serious.

That's laziness!

Lille's coaching staff has criticized Xie Zhu more than once, asking him to be more proactive, run more and not be stingy with his energy. As a central defender, he should be more aggressive and not be so lazy!

They even asserted that if Xie Zhu was not so lazy, he could at least become a European-level central defender, and might even become a top central defender.

He is still like this now!

Hazard paid attention and found that Xie Zhu's character had not changed at all.

As long as he was still in Eboue's defense zone, he refused to move, stayed far away, and watched with a bit of cold eyes.

Of course, he is fast and strong. As long as he crosses Eboue's defense zone, he will be able to get to the point in the first time. But once he gets close to him, Hazard will only be slaughtered given his physical fitness.

But is this possible?

Xie Zhu is still the Xie Zhu in Lille, but Hazard is no longer the Hazard in Lille!

Thinking of this, Hazard had an idea in his mind.

The team's pre-match report mentioned that Eboue's problem was that he was easily distracted during the game.

In fact, Hazard also paid attention and observed it. It was true, because his eyes often left Hazard, or looked at the stands, or looked elsewhere, and occasionally even turned back to say a few words to his African brother Sheju, and then hurriedly turned back to lock onto Hazard again.

This is the opportunity!

After Hazard figured it out, he turned around and gestured to his teammates, indicating that he had found the opponent's weak spot and wanted to give it a try.

However, this kind of thing also requires a lot of luck, so Hazard can only wait.

After waiting for three minutes, Hazard finally got a chance!

Ibrahimovic retreated to support the midfield, taking away another central defender, while Suarez moved to the right.

Galatasaray's entire defense line was stretched wide open.

But the ball was still firmly controlled by Southampton's double defensive midfielders and backcourt players.

At this time, Hazard slowly approached Eboue, turned his back to the goal, and looked at his teammates in the midfield.

When the ball was passed back and forth and reached Toni Kroos' feet, there was a gap around him, and there was no one defending. The German midfielder kept his head up and looked at Hazard from a distance, and found that the Belgian had approached Eboue, while Xie Ju was a little far away from them.

Opportunity!

Toni Kroos swung his right foot and made a long diagonal pass over the top. The ball passed in an elegant arc and quickly fell to the front of Galatasaray's penalty area.

Hazard also understood what he meant, and the moment Toni Kroos raised his foot, he quickly turned around and sprinted forward.

Eboue's body is also quite flexible, but his back was facing the goal, and at the moment Hazard turned and sprinted, his attention was on the midfield. By the time he reacted, Hazard had already turned and started.

Although Eboue reacted immediately and caught up quickly, he was left behind by Hazard.

The Belgian's movement was very smart. He kept Eboue behind him, predicted the landing point of the ball, and occupied the most powerful position. The other central defender Xie Zhu was a little hesitant. He wanted to get close to Hazard as soon as possible, but he knew very well that Hazard was short and agile and very flexible. If he rushed forward rashly, he would probably be thrown off by him.

Therefore, Xie Zhu's choice was to let Hazard receive the ball and move himself between Hazard and the goal, keeping a certain distance. As long as Hazard stopped the ball a little too far, Xie Zhu would be able to clear the ball as soon as it landed.

Toni Kroos's long pass over the top had a large arc and was a bit slow, but the landing point was quite accurate.

After Hazard came to the Premier League, his physical fitness has improved a lot, and he has no problem holding off Eboue. What's more, Galatasaray is also afraid of fouls in front of the penalty area, so as soon as the ball landed, he used his left foot to meet the long pass from the right side, and with a wonderful move, he actually stopped the ball directly to the left side of Xie Zhu.

Xie Zhu is a right-footed player. If Hazard's kick had stopped the ball to his left side, which is Xie Zhu's right side, then there would have been no hope for the ball.

But when he stopped to the left of Xie Zhu, the situation was completely different, because Xie Zhu's left foot was completely useless, he couldn't even make a tackle, and he was in the penalty area, so he didn't dare to commit a foul.

The unlucky Xie Zhu could only watch all this happen, being powerless and secretly regretting it in his heart!

Hazard's stop was very delicate and just right. The ball bounced after landing on the left side of Xie Zhu, and he quickly caught up and kicked the ball with his right foot!

The ball went almost in a straight line, brushing Galatasaray's left post and going into the bottom of the goal net!

At the sound of the goal from the TV commentator and the exclamations of the Turkish fans at the scene, Hazard excitedly turned around and rushed out of Galatasaray's penalty area, rushing excitedly all the way to the corner flagpole, while not forgetting to point at Toni Kroos.

The long pass from the German midfielder was of extremely high quality, it landed very accurately and was quite easy to stop.

If Hazard's goal is to be counted as a contribution, Toni Kroos's pass should be given at least four points!

Southampton players rushed up and surrounded Hazard.

In an instant, the entire Telecom Stadium was boiling!

Countless fans stood up from their seats, roaring angrily and venting their anger.

It seemed that in their opinion, conceding a goal to Southampton was an unforgivable sin!

Hazard's goal was simple and unpretentious, but it was a great test of the player's ability and was also worth a fortune.

In the Champions League knockout stage, the importance of an away goal is self-evident.

More importantly, this goal completely changed the situation.

With a goal in hand, Southampton could have played more patiently and handed the initiative to decide the outcome of the game to Galatasaray.

If the Turks want to continue to defend tightly, fine, you can continue to defend, anyway I have an away goal!

But if you want to equalize, or even reverse the situation, then I will focus on your counterattack and see who of us has better offensive capabilities!

Mancini covered his face in despair, shook his head, and walked back to the home team's coaching bench.

He should have been mentally prepared for this, but when reality arrived, he was still extremely disappointed!

However, in the chairman's stand, Yang Huan let out a long breath, stood up from his seat excitedly, and applauded and cheered for Hazard's goal.

Afterwards, he did not forget to turn around and look at Galatasaray's chairman, Unar Esar, grinning and laughing.

"Mr. Aysar, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys come out and fight. Come on!"

Unar Esar was depressed, because he knew very well that facing Southampton, which had such excellent offensive power, Galatasaray might not be able to score a goal by pressing forward, but his weak defense might be shot into a sieve by the opponent at any time and anywhere.

But what if we don’t press it out and fight?

Look at the excited fans in the stands of Telecom Stadium. Can they accept that their team is conservatively giving up the game early?

Looking at Yang Huan's smug look, Unar Issar became even more depressed.

There's nothing I can do. It's my own fault for boasting too early.

It’s all Mancini’s fault. They conceded a goal to Southampton at home. Isn’t that too pathetic?