Chapter 253 Pogba, the scapegoat

Pogba's wonderful man-ball breakthrough over Firmino made the visiting Manchester United fans ecstatic. When they saw Pogba trying to break through Li Qing, they even waved their arms arrogantly, signaling Pogba to give Li Qing a taste of his own medicine.

As a result, Li Qing did not get fooled, and even used a fake move to confuse Pogba.

Li Qing stretched out his foot to intercept the ball at Pogba's feet. Without any extra adjustments, he directly passed the ball to the right rib of the attack with his left foot. Salah, who turned forward, dribbled the ball to the top of the penalty area.

Facing the attacking De Gea, he chose to accelerate and change direction to break through very safely. The last thing was very simple for Salah. He gently pushed with the arch of his left foot, and the football quickly crossed the goal line along the grass and hit the snow-white net.

Salah, who scored the goal, turned and ran to Li Qing, who had made the assist, and was ecstatic. If it weren't for Li Qing's timely pass, he would not have had the opportunity to score, so he had to thank Li Qing well.

Mourinho was very angry in front of the visiting team's coaching booth. Before the game, he emphasized countless times that the ball should be played decisively, especially in the midfield and backcourt, not to stick to the ball too much. Pogba, who thought he had excellent footwork, just didn't listen and tried Liverpool's efficient high-risk pressure.

Now, the game is two goals behind half an hour into the game. How to play the next game?

Attack with all your strength?

Judging from the offensive attributes of the players in Manchester United's current lineup, the strong attack effect is completely impossible.

What can really threaten Liverpool is to stabilize the defense first and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.

But with the score two goals behind, it is definitely useless to continue defending.

In sharp contrast, Liverpool head coach Klopp, who is two goals ahead, basically means that this game can be won in advance, and his iconic combination punch is once again displayed at Anfield.

"aoaooaooaoooooo——"

The Liverpool fans in the audience seemed to be inspired by Klopp, and the fanatical atmosphere that broke out went up a level and reached the extreme.

Through slow-motion playback, Juli TV commentator Zhan Jun found that Li Qing intercepted Pogba's pass by making a defensive feint in advance. He smiled and said: "Li Qing is not only proficient in offensive feints, but also in defensive feints. Pogba deserves to lose the ball this time..."

Tianchao 5 commentator He Wei changed the subject and said with a smile: "I really don't know whether Li Qing's defense this time was a blind cat catching a dead mouse or deliberate, but no matter what, Pogba is a taboo in the backcourt. Once the ball is lost, Manchester United's incomplete defense will be directly exposed to Liverpool's offensive players!"

Pogba, who was directly related to the loss of the ball, looked very ugly. The head coach Mourinho had emphasized this before the game. He saw that Li Qing failed to control himself in the end, so he felt ashamed to face his teammates.

The experienced Herrera patted Pogba on the right shoulder and comforted him: "Paul, you don't need to blame yourself too much. Dribbling is your advantage. Everyone makes mistakes in the game. You are the tactical core of the team. You should cheer up as soon as possible. The game is not over yet. You have plenty of opportunities to lead us to win the game..." Listening to Herrera's words, Pogba quickly cheered up. His style of play is like this. It's not like he hasn't lost the ball in the game. The important thing is to stand up again in the next game! Li Qing, who celebrated the goal with his teammates, noticed someone looking at him while walking back. He turned his head in confusion and met Pogba's provocative eyes. He raised his eyebrows and then raised his mouth slightly, and smiled disdainfully. Pogba thought that the young Li Qing would be affected, but... he never expected that he would be affected... However, he was bound to take the blame. When Pogba looked at Li Qing again, Li Qing had returned to his own half, waiting for the kick-off. "aoaooaoaooooooo——"

Half an hour into the game, Liverpool led Manchester United by two goals at home. The home team fans in the audience were excited, creating waves of cheers, and even played the Mexican wave.

Manchester United, which was two goals behind, had no extra choice but to strengthen the offense while ensuring that the defense was not a problem.

The attacking line composed of Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Martial and Lukaku tested Liverpool's midfield and backcourt defense. Unfortunately, as Van Dijk adapted to Liverpool's defensive system, he played a crucial role and was often able to stand up and turn danger into safety when the team was in the most dangerous moment.

After Manchester United's three offensive axes, Liverpool slowly organized an effective attack and threatened De Gea to guard the goal.

A few minutes later, the game came to the 40th minute of the first half. Liverpool, who was at home, began to slow down the offensive rhythm. As the first half of the game came to the end, the initiative actually fell into the hands of the visiting team Manchester United.

Juli TV commentator Zhan Jun frowned and said: "Liverpool seems to not want to attack at the end of the first half, and gave up the initiative."

In fact, Klopp hopes that Manchester United players will strengthen their offense at the end of the first half, thereby increasing Li Qing's chance of scoring in the process of quick counterattack.

However, this approach is somewhat dangerous. If the defense is not done well, it is very likely that the team will lose the ball first.

Until the end of the first half, Li Qing did not find a chance to counterattack with the ball, and Manchester United did not narrow the score. The home team Liverpool entered the locker room with a two-goal lead.

The Liverpool players, who were leading by two goals, looked obviously better than the Manchester United players. Many Manchester United players had straight faces, especially Pogba, who performed poorly in the first half.

From the perspective of conceding goals, without Pogba's fouls and dribbling errors in this game, Manchester United would not have conceded goals.

Players from both sides entered their respective locker rooms, and major TV stations with broadcast rights for the 2017-2018 Premier League season reviewed the ending of the first half.

The fifteen-minute intermission passed quickly, and players from both sides returned to the court one after another.

Before the start of the second half, Manchester United took the lead in making adjustments. Jesse Lingard replaced Mkhitaryan, who had done nothing in the first half, to increase the speed of the wing attack.

Klopp doesn't care much about Manchester United's adjustments. Lingard's technical ability is not as good as Mkhitaryan's, and his passing skills are even worse. He can only contribute a world-wide kick when he is in good condition.

As long as Wijnaldum and Henderson hold their positions on the defensive end, it will be difficult for Lingard, Pogba, Martial, Matic and Herrera to complete high-quality long-range shots.

Pogba, who became Manchester United's sinner in the first half, realized that passing the ball could not pose an actual threat to Liverpool's goal, so he began to try long-range shots.

However, Klopp made targeted arrangements during the halftime break, and his long-range shots either missed the goal post or were blocked.

For this, Matic also received a yellow card.

During the transition from defense to offense, Li Qing was kicked to the ground by Matic. The referee Oliver decisively blew the whistle and received a yellow card.