Chapter 284: The Reds vs. Reds meeting at the end of the year! Part

In fact, Li Qi played very depressingly in this game. Although he was able to gain some advantages when the explosive point was triggered and could probably beat any one of the opponents, he still had to rely on Hargreaves to suppress the two of them.

However, although the burst point moment occurs approximately once every four or five minutes, this is already considered a high frequency. Most of the time, it is the cooling time after the burst point moment is triggered. During the cooling time, Li Qi is often taught a lesson by the two.

During the game, Li Qi couldn't say anything specifically, he just felt that his way of playing was figured out by the opponent, who could always block his turning route and catch his passing line. If it weren't for the escort at the breaking point, Li Qi's pass success rate would have dropped by another 20 to 30 percentage points!

But Li Qi is also a smart guy. After all, he is a highly educated and intelligent science and engineering talent. He is not dull. He will not do things in a straight line. That is not passion, that is stupidity. So Li Qi made a decision quickly. When there is no explosive moment, he will not rush to grab, turn blindly, or take risks to pass the ball. He will be a tool man honestly, just kick the ball out, pass to a safe position, and defend mainly by standing and pressing, forcing Gerrard to pass horizontally, long or back. As for Xiao Ma Ge, if he dares to break through with the ball or pass the ball, Li Qi will definitely kill him. He has no idea of ​​​​the big and small kings?

Li Qi also had his own ideas for choosing the pass. Li Qi knew that in this game the home team, the Red Army, would focus on the four members of the Magic Quartet, and at the same time let Hargreaves organize the game. So Li Qi followed the home team's idea, wanting to make the home team think that their defensive strategy had succeeded, and then deliberately ignore a hero, waiting for him to suddenly hit them with a club and give them a hard blow!

So facing Li Qi's sneaky counterattack style, Liverpool's Plancy has not been effective, but the ignored hero on Manchester United's side has shown his power and directly changed the situation!

In fact, this was not the first time Giggs made a key pass in the first half. Including the precise through ball he received from Lizzie in the 30th minute, Giggs had made five key passes in the first half. The problem was that Manchester United didn't seize any of them. Lizzie's pass was blocked by Mascherano in the last shot. The other four times were missed by Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo, with Ronaldo missing two of them.

Liverpool did not fail to notice this about Giggs, but firstly, the focus of defense was not on him, and the threat posed by the other four people was more direct. For example, Giggs' five key passes in the first half were given to these four people, not by himself. Secondly, Manchester United consciously hid Giggs and only used him for the key pass. If Liverpool wasted a special person to defend, it would be a waste, as they might be found opportunities by the other four dangerous players.

Moreover, Wang Laoji is an old and cunning man, so it is not easy to keep an eye on him, especially under the deliberate cover of a group of young people. However, the way Giggs broke the deadlock was a bit unexpected but reasonable, because he did not use a counterattack or a positional battle, but a corner kick tactic...

Manchester United took the lead in breaking the deadlock in the 43rd minute. When a bunch of tall players such as Li Qi, Ferdinand, Vidic, Wes Brown and Ronaldo were entangled in Liverpool's penalty area, Giggs chose to sweep the corner kick from the right side to the outside of the penalty area! This ball caught Liverpool off guard, because in the Red Army's mindset, Manchester United had a height advantage in the penalty area!

When the players were in a state of confusion in the penalty area just now, Rooney had already gotten rid of the defense of Marko with the help of Lizzie's single block. It is estimated that the latter also had some cognitive confusion due to the overall tactical arrangement. He did not have much idea about his own height and actually wanted to defeat Lizzie together with Gerrard...

So Rooney, who was not marked, retreated to the edge of the penalty area and hit the corner kick from Giggs! The ball drew an arc along the grass and went straight to the far corner of the goal... Mascherano found that he had missed Rooney and rushed out to block it, but it was too late.

However, Rooney's powerful shot did not penetrate the dense crowd in the penalty area! Fortunately, after several refractions, the ball was finally intercepted by Tevez who was ambushing in the small penalty area and was originally only responsible for interfering with the goalkeeper!

So, under the angry gaze of Liverpool goalkeeper Reina, Tevez lightly pushed the ball in front of him and into the net from beside his feet!

Reina immediately turned his head to look at the linesman and wanted to raise his hand to complain that the Argentine beast was offside, but he was met with the questioning eyes of hardworking Kuyt who was still guarding the goal post: Why didn't you stretch your foot to block the ball?

Reina: Damn! You still want to say that? Why are you still in this position?

The referee decisively ruled that the goal was valid! This was the Argentine striker's seventh league goal this season. Manchester United once again used a set-piece to penetrate Liverpool's goal!

However, Li Qi, who had been confused by Gerrard and Mascherano, actually forgot to organize the four swans to perform the Magic Quartet. It was Tevez, who scored the goal, who remembered this and called on the stupid geese to complete a round of non-physical guitar performances!

The first half ended shortly after Manchester United's celebration attracted booing from the home team fans. Although the competition was fierce and there were many fouls in the first half, the referee obviously did not want to give more extra time. Maybe he would save it for the second half?

In the second half, Liverpool fought even harder, while Manchester United, under Sir Alex Ferguson's tactical arrangement, also retreated to a defensive formation and waited for a counterattack.

However, Liverpool's center has no way to deal with the combination of Leeds and Hargreaves. Leeds completed the task of pairing with Gerrard very well in this game, while Marco is similar to Hargreaves and his offensive ability is not strong; so Liverpool can only look for opportunities from the two flanks. After all, Giggs and Ronaldo's eye defense is also famously strong.

In the 50th minute, Rooney's counterattack was fruitless, Wes Brown's forward run was intercepted, and Liverpool immediately launched a counterattack. After Li Qi was transferred from the middle to the wing to assist in the defense and fill the gap left by Wes Brown's forward run, he retreated to meet Gerrard and immediately turned around and sent a long pass to the other side.

After Benayoun broke through Giggs' defense, he sent a diagonal pass to the middle. Riise, who came in at high speed, intercepted the ball in the middle and shot a heavy long shot from 25 yards in front of the goal! The final shot made by Riise was indeed beyond the expectations of the Manchester United defense. There was no one guarding him, so he could shoot easily.

However, Riise focused too much on exerting force in this shot, so it lacked angle and was saved by Van der Sar who was waiting in the middle of the goal!

Is this Liverpool's backup plan? But it doesn't seem to be aimed at Li Qi... Sir Alex saw through Benitez's tactical arrangement, but he didn't take it too seriously, because if this plan was used once, Manchester United would be prepared for the second time.

Although the ball was not scored, this long shot seemed to ignite Riise's condition. In the next 10 minutes, Riise was very active.

In the 54th minute, Riise relied on Ronaldo to break through on the left and made a cross. Benayoun made a diagonal cut to the front point and headed the ball from 8 yards in front of the goal, but it went wide.

In the 60th minute, Hargreaves committed a handball foul, and Riise's powerful free kick from 25 yards hit the wall... Li Qi: Fortunately, I used my hand to protect little Li Qi!

In the 63rd minute, Riise tackled Ronaldo from the side, who tried to take advantage of the loopholes after Riise frequently made large-scale forward runs; Riise's tackle was a dangerous foul, but the referee showed a yellow card warning to Mascherano who kept talking, allowing Riise to escape a yellow card, but after that Riise calmed down and became quiet...

In the 66th minute, Liverpool made the first personnel adjustment, sending on Babel, who will be 3 in three days, to replace Kewell who was almost invisible throughout the game. Babel is also an old acquaintance of Li Qi who had played against him in the World Youth Championship.

After that, both sides attacked and defended each other, and Li Qi finally discovered what Benítez's plan was targeting him! Unfortunately, with Liverpool's lag and Manchester United's recovery, the effect of this plan was greatly reduced.

In fact, Liverpool had used Plansi in the first half, but Li Qi recalled that he had avoided it several times in a row when he triggered the burst point, especially the ball in the 30th minute. In fact, Li Qi dribbled past two people. Li Qi, who was observing the situation in bullet time at that time, was still a little puzzled. Why was Kuyt's position not right? It turned out that he wanted to take advantage of Gerrard's positioning to attract his attention and take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. After all, due to the inertia of thinking, Li Qi must have been guarding against another midfielder Mascherano, and he didn't expect that the real killer would be the striker Kuyt.

But Li Qi was also lucky, he should have taken advantage of the explosive moments in the first half to dodge several times. After Manchester United's formation was retracted in the second half, Li Qi basically didn't let the ball touch his feet, he just kicked it out, so Kuyt's sneak attack plan was basically stillborn.

How did Li Qi find out? In the 71st minute, Li Qi, who switched positions with Giggs and moved to the wing to meet Evra, triggered the breaking point again. Li Qi calmly observed the situation around him and found that in addition to Gerrard, who was originally running after him, there was another person who was running in the wrong position, obviously away from the middle or front court where he should be. After all, without Gerrard in the middle, Mascherano could not follow him and had to help defend the middle. And the person who followed him to hit him from behind was actually Kuyt!

Damn, this is outrageous. You are a striker, but you are back to defend near the midfield! What do you want to do? So the double-team that was warned in advance was easily broken by Li Qi. Li Qi passed the ball diagonally to Giggs in the middle, then went around the outside to pass Gerrard, leaving the latter's position for Kuyt who rushed over...

Unfortunately, after receiving the pass from Giggs, Li Qi broke through to the edge and knocked the ball horizontally, allowing Hargreaves who was following up to shoot directly into the corner flag area on the other side! It was also outrageous...

So Kuyt, who had been fruitless for most of the game, was replaced by the tall Crouch in the 73rd minute. Liverpool was going to give it a try and hit the high ball!

Facing Liverpool's all-out pressure, Manchester United only left Ronaldo in the front, and Rooney retreated to the right midfielder position to assist in defense.

However, Manchester United, who were in a defensive position, left a large open space in the frontcourt for sprinting, so the quick counterattack was even more sharp than before!

In the 78th minute, Li Qi stole the ball and launched a quick counterattack. Rooney sprinted at high speed on the wing, but unfortunately his last cross in front of the goal was spotted and intercepted by the experienced Hyypia. Sir Alex Ferguson slapped his thigh hard on the sidelines. If the roles of these two people were reversed, the goal would probably have been scored.

But Sir Alex Ferguson did not feel upset for long. One minute later, the two switched positions again and launched a quick counterattack.

This time, Li Qi sent a direct pass to counterattack after grabbing Liverpool's second penalty kick. This time, Li Qi first looked for Ronaldo. Ronaldo broke through at high speed on the left, as if he was in an empty space, and then passed the ball to Rooney on the other side near the corner of the penalty area. However, the unmarked Rooney actually shot a single shot from 10 yards on the right side of the penalty area, but it missed the near corner!

Manchester United missed the chance to kill the game again! Fortunately, there was not much time left for the home team.

In the 80th minute, Benítez replaced Riise, who was a little unable to run, with Aurelio to continue to strengthen the attack.

Sir Alex Ferguson made substitutions one after another, strengthening the defense while constantly interrupting Liverpool's offensive rhythm. In the 84th minute, Carrick replaced Tevez; in the 87th minute, Anderson replaced Giggs; and in the 92nd minute, O'Shea replaced Ronaldo...

In the end, with Gerrard's 95-yard free kick in the 30th minute, Manchester United successfully held on to a 1-goal lead and beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield! The Reds suffered two consecutive league defeats, while Manchester United won three consecutive league games.

Liverpool's 3-match unbeaten streak at home in the league since March 3 this year was ended again by the Red Devils. Last season, Manchester United also ended Liverpool's 11-game unbeaten streak at Anfield...

@

After losing this game, the Reds' gap with Manchester United has widened to 9 points. According to past practice, the gap will only widen. In the press conference after the game, Liverpool coach Benitez also admitted that the situation is not good: "We all know that if we want to get closer, we must win. After this game, the situation is more difficult, but we must work harder..."

In addition, Benítez was still a little indignant about the loss of this game, thinking that Liverpool only lost because of luck: "We had chances, but unfortunately we didn't seize them. Manchester United only had one chance in the first half, but that's the difference! After they took the lead in the second half, they retreated to defense and tried to counterattack. Breaking through dense defense is a world problem, but we had two or three good chances in the second half alone, but we just couldn't seize them..."

Unexpectedly, Benítez also specifically named Li Qi, who did not perform well in this game: "When you play against a team like Manchester United, you won't have many chances. What's wrong with us? It seems that they always get the second spot! Li Qi played very smartly. He was not at all inferior to Gerrard and Mascherano in the confrontation. Other Premier League teams should be careful. This Italian midfielder is a tough guy with close to double-doubles in goals and assists..."

Well, it turns out that Belotti wanted to praise Li Qi to death. This is also the expected meaning in the Premier League: If I can't beat you, I will expose your weak points and let other teams stop you!

In this game, Liverpool's restriction on Li Qi and Manchester United were both very successful, which will surely provide a strong reference for other Premier League teams... In fact, Benítez almost said directly: Play like this against Manchester United! Lose one at most and you may still win!

Finally, Benítez quickly saved his face and left the press conference early, leaving the scene to Sir Alex Ferguson, who was full of himself and would definitely mock and ridicule the home team: "It's too early to say that we are out of the championship race! After all, there is still a long way to go in the league!"

Seeing the host hurried away in a rage, Sir Alex took over the scene with a smile, but it was obvious that Sir Alex did not want to follow Benítez's speech. He avoided talking about the players' performance at the micro level, but talked about the macro level, mentioning the difficulty and significance of this game: "This is a typical match between Liverpool and Manchester United. The fans at the scene made a lot of noise, which made it difficult for the referee to make a penalty... It doesn't matter whether we play smooth football, what matters is to win the game. I said before the game that the clash between the top teams in the standings is very important, and winning this game means a lot to us."

Manchester United was able to successfully win 3 points against their arch-rivals. As Arsenal lost points in recent league rounds, Manchester United has temporarily caught up with the Gunners and temporarily surpassed Arsenal to rank first in the standings. Therefore, Sir Alex Ferguson expressed some happy thoughts about the fight for the league title: "The whole season will be a long competition and struggle. Although the competition for the top spot in the Premier League is getting more and more intense, if we can reach the top around New Year's Day, then we will have a good chance to stay at the top."

It is also at the macro level. Although it is not easy, we have to try to divert the topic and attention. We just hope that the media will continue to let Manchester United go and not reveal too many tactical details. Everyone will continue to see nothing and continue to lose to Manchester United...

……