Chapter 293 The FA Cup is coming too... (Updated)

After Hargreaves came on the pitch, the defensive strength of Manchester United's midfield immediately improved to a higher level; because, the mad dog Owen, together with the black dog Anderson and the little wolf dog Li Qi, immediately combined to form the three dogs of Manchester United!

It's hard to say how effective Manchester United's three dogs were in attack, but their midfield sweeps were very effective, and both sides were thrown into disarray. The away team had a hard time making it through the half, not to mention creating a threat...

In the last twenty minutes of the melee, Li Qi still seized the opportunity to pass a few balls to his good friend, but Ronaldo's performance in this game was consistently stable, but he just couldn't shoot the ball into the opponent's goal.

With the last minute of the game, Ronaldo's free kick from 30 yards hit the wall directly in anger, and the score of the game was fixed at 2-0.

Manchester United has won 10 consecutive home league games and continues to closely follow Arsenal, who also won this round, in the standings, while Birmingham has suffered three consecutive away defeats...

At the press conference after the game, Sir Alex was still a little dissatisfied, thinking that he did not play with the momentum of the first game of the new year in front of the spectators, and felt ashamed of the support of the fans: "We should have won another 5-goal victory, but in the end we kept wasting opportunities in front of the goal..."

"Of course, luck wasn't on our side today. Tevez and Ronaldo seemed to be struggling with the away team's goalposts. Together they hit the post five times! It's hard to be happy, especially since Tevez was injured and may miss the FA Cup match against Villa this weekend..."

Yes, just three days after the end of this round of the league, Manchester United will face the last game of the devilishly intensive schedule during the Christmas and New Year holidays, the third round of the FA Cup, an away game against Aston Villa.

After this game, since Manchester United was eliminated early in the League Cup, the entire Manchester United team will have a rare week of rest, and will have plenty of time to prepare for the next round of the league.

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At 2007:1 on the evening of January 5, 17, there was a cold winter rain at Villa Park. Although the rain was not heavy, it was very uncomfortable in the cold winter and made the field even more slippery.

And in this bad environment which was only slightly better than heavy rain, in the third round of the 07/08 English FA Cup, Manchester United in white shirts and black pants attacked Aston Villa in red shirts and white pants away from home and started a fierce battle!

曼联在双方近11次交锋中取得全胜，近19次交锋取得17胜2平的不败战绩，阿斯顿维拉上次取胜曼联还是在1999年10月的联赛杯。

这是两队6年来第4次在足总杯第3轮相遇，此前3次曼联全部取胜。双方足总杯历史上11次交手，曼联9胜2负优势明显，其中维拉3个主场全遭败绩。

It is hard to explain why Manchester United has such an overwhelming record against Villa. Villa Park is a typical traditional British stadium with enthusiastic fans and a strong home atmosphere. In addition, Aston Villa has won the FA Cup seven times in history, although the most recent victory was in the 7/56 season of the last century...

In the UK, the FA Cup has a higher status than the League Cup:

First of all, the organizer of the FA Cup is the English Football Association, which is an official organization, while the organizer of the League Cup is the English Football League;

Secondly, the FA Cup, founded in 1863, is one of the oldest football competitions in the world, far from being comparable to the League Cup, which was founded in 1962;

The third is that the FA Cup has a higher prize money, and the winning team is also eligible to participate in the Champions League next season, as well as the English Community Shield.

Fourthly, the fans they cover are different. The League Cup only includes teams from the top four leagues in England, the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two. However, the FA Cup covers all teams from the top ten leagues in England, with more than 700 participating teams! It is a feast for all the people of England!

Therefore, Sir Alex Ferguson also attaches great importance to the FA Cup, at least to avoid repeating the embarrassing mistake of being eliminated in the first round of the League Cup.

So although Sir Alex made rotations in this game, he still mainly used first-team players. Rooney, who had recovered from a cold, also sat on the bench, and there was only one second-team player, Eagles, on the bench.

Manchester United's starting lineup is a 4-4-2 parallel formation:

The goalkeeper is No. 1 goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar who has returned from injury;

The defense line continues to use the main lineup, No. 6 Wes Brown, No. 15 Vidic, No. 5 Ferdinand and No. 3 Evra;

The midfield quartet also made a jump, which was the first starting combination of the season, No. 13 Park Ji-sung, No. 16 Carrick, No. 8 Anderson and No. 11 Giggs;

The two forwards are No. 7 Ronaldo and No. 9 Saha.

Li Qi and Lu Xiaopang started together and waited on the bench. It is estimated that Sir Alex wanted to test the midfield organization effect of Carrick and Anderson. In addition, Ronaldo continued to start as a striker...

Li Qi knew about this. After the last round of league games, it was Li Qi who accompanied his good friend Cristiano Ronaldo to secretly go to Sir Alex Ferguson to report on his work. Oh, no, it was Li Qi who took the initiative to ask for a fight, hoping that Sir Alex Ferguson would give him another chance to play as a striker and ensure that he could shoot through the opponent's net in the next game!

Sir Alex also agreed. He really wanted to take advantage of the fact that the opponent was not strong and cultivate Ronaldo's ability to play as a center forward, because he had all the qualities that an excellent center forward should have. Sir Alex also did not believe that Ronaldo would continue to be unlucky and continue to hit the goal post.

However, things went against one's wishes. There are many things in life that go against one's will. What made Ronaldo, who had made a pledge before the game, extremely embarrassed was not that he continued to hit the goal post today, but that the midfield organization was a bit slow in getting the ball forward today, and he didn't get many chances to shoot at all!

This made the little mule anxious, and he clapped his legs and wanted to call his good friends to provide support! But Ronaldo suddenly drew his sword and looked around in confusion: Huh? The magic sound quartet, one sprained and didn't come to the away game, and the remaining two stupid geese were sitting on the bench eating melons and chatting, and he was the only one on the court...

Damn! The little mule has to do it himself!

Manchester United, which had experienced disorganized chaos at the beginning, finally got their first chance to score in the 20th minute, but it was initiated by Ronaldo's retreat. Giggs, who finally moved into the penalty area, received Evra's cross from the left, got rid of Laursen's diving header from 10 places in front of the goal, but it flew away!

C Luo was also speechless for a while... and seemed to sense the depression of the pancake maker Li Qi.

It was not until the last minute of the first half that Ronaldo finally got his first shot of the game. However, the little mule cut in from the left edge of the penalty area, 25 yards away from the goal, and his right-footed shot was bravely saved by the home team's goalkeeper Carson!

Giggs's follow-up shot from 8 positions in front of the goal was unguarded, but it was deflected again...

It seems that Wang Laoji has had a lot of fun this holiday! Li Xiaoqi and Lu Xiaopang on the sidelines secretly covered their mouths and underestimated the big brother in the team, and they were still holding back their laughter and secretly happy...

The two were glared at by the lord who was about to return to the locker room. They quickly stood at attention with a sour face and obediently followed the old man back to the locker room to prepare to be scolded.

In the second half, Sir Alex did not make any substitutions immediately, but gave the starting lineup an extra 15 minutes to change the score, and asked Li Qi and Rooney to warm up on the sidelines at the same time.

The performance of the 11 Manchester United players who were severely beaten by Sir Alex Ferguson in the midfield did improve in the second half. It might have something to do with the fact that the drizzling winter rain stopped after a while. Manchester United began to threaten the home team's goal more in the second half.

In the 50th minute, Carrick passed the ball and Anderson's left-footed long shot from 30 yards was blocked.

In the 57th minute, Saha made a pass and Ronaldo's powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area was blocked by Lawrence. Then Giggs took a corner kick from the left and Vidic's header from 12 yards was blocked by Lawrence again.

In the 63rd minute, Giggs took a corner kick from the right side, and Ferdinand's header from 10 yards in front of the goal was slightly higher than the back corner...

Manchester United's starters launched wave after wave of attacks and efforts, but still couldn't break through the home team's dense defense.

So Sir Alex decided not to wait any longer and make substitutions immediately. Winning the game was the most important thing!

In the 66th minute, Manchester United made two substitutions at the same time, Rooney replaced Saha, keeping Ronaldo to continue to try in the front line, Li Qi came on to replace Park Ji-sung who performed mediocrely in this game - it was indeed the wrong occasion, and the situation of this game was not suitable for Park Ji-sung to perform.

As the saying goes, changing a coach is like changing a knife. Oh, no, changing people has an immediate effect!

Five minutes after Manchester United made the substitution, they finally broke the deadlock with two substitute players.

In the 71st minute, Li Qi, who came on as a substitute, received the ball from the right and cut inside. He made a wall-like pass with Rooney and came to the corner of the penalty area and passed the ball to Ronaldo who was lurking at the top of the penalty area.

The latter leaned his back against the defender and did not pass the ball back to Li Qi who broke into the penalty area. Instead, he took the ball, stepped on it, turned halfway and made a powerful shot!

The shot was so powerful that goalkeeper Carson didn't dare to take it head-on, so he could only punch the ball out with both fists. But the shot was not well-hit. Of course, such a powerful shot, or a slippery ball, was good enough to be blocked safely. Who would have thought that it would just hit Li Qi's forward line.

However, the slippery ball was not only fast but also had a strong rotation. It was too late to head the ball in the first place. Li Qi could only step forward, jump up and barely control the ball in front of him with his chest.

After Li Qi landed, he wanted to kick the ball with his left foot, but the ball was really hard to control. The strong rotation made the ball stop a little to the side and back of the body. It would be a bit awkward to force a shot, and it was difficult to hit the ball with the right strength and angle...

In an instant, it was as if time had stopped. Li Qi triggered the breaking point and could clearly observe the positions of the surrounding players. Carson had already attacked, trying to block his first shot. At the same time, Villa central defender Mellberg also blocked from the side, apparently trying to intercept his shot with a flying tackle. Behind him was Lawson who followed from the wing...

Got it!

After Li Qi landed, he did not choose to shoot with his left foot immediately. Instead, he made some adjustments to keep the ball steady on the grass, and then pretended to shoot with his left foot. This time, the home team's defensive players were knocked down: Carson had already knelt down to make a save, and Mellberg had already flown in to make a tackle...

Then Li Qi took a cross step, his right foot bypassed his left foot, and kicked the ball with his heel, finding Rooney who had just retreated to cooperate with Ronaldo on the outside of the gourd.

Rooney, who was unmarked, understood what he meant, because the goalkeeper had already attacked and most of the empty goal was unguarded, while the home team's defense was all focused on Ronaldo, who had just made a powerful shot, and Li Qi, who had the opportunity to make a follow-up shot.

Rooney then shot the ball in an arc, which went around the defensive crowd in the middle of the penalty area and went straight into the bottom of the Villa goal...

The cooperation of two substitute players scored the first goal, helping Manchester United, who had been unable to break through for a long time, to lead the home team Villa 1-0!

Although Tevez was not there, Rooney, who scored the goal, brought in Li Qi, who assisted, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was catching lemons, to the group of away fans, just in front of the corner flag area, so the Manchester United version of the 3R combination slid on their knees collectively on the slippery grass.

This time, the three of them had nine grass marks! It was obvious that they had extorted the secret of drawing the third line from Li Qi!

Although there was not much time left in the game, Manchester United, who had opened their scoring account, seemed to have come to their senses and scored two more goals at the end of the game...

Of course, first of all, the good friends who come on as substitutes have to help Ronaldo fulfill his military order, otherwise the friendship boat after the game may be blown over by Sir Alex Ferguson's hair dryer!

Ten minutes after the first goal, Manchester United once again found a good chance to score!

In the 81st minute, Aston Villa, who were pressing forward to equalize the score, were intercepted in the frontcourt and Manchester United launched a quick counterattack. Carrick immediately passed the ball to Li Qi, who was about to pass the ball to Ronaldo, who was advancing at high speed, but his ankle shook and the ball was passed to Rooney who was ambushing behind Ronaldo.