Chapter 306: Manchester Derby and the Afterglow of the Sun! Part

In the second half, neither side made any substitutions.

On the Manchester United side, Li Qi knew that during the half-time break, Sir Alex Ferguson not only demonstrated the power of a hair dryer that blew out fragrant air, but also showed off his ability to predict the opponent's moves.

The problems that Li Qi discovered in the first half were naturally also noticed by the battle-hardened Sir Alex.

Although he could not openly say that his pre-match deployment and tactical choices were wrong due to face reasons, he could directly put the blame on the two veterans whom he had always trusted and relied on. After all, they had been taking the blame for many years and had experience and tacit understanding. It was also a necessary quality for a player to step out and take the blame at a critical moment.

Of course, the two veterans worked hard and fought hard in the first half, but time is indeed unforgiving. The steady style of Scholes and Giggs became the key to slowing down the team's rhythm in the first half.

Perhaps it would be just right for only one person to act as a metronome. For example, when Scholes was injured before, Manchester United was advancing triumphantly, killing Buddhas and gods, and being invincible; but when two people are on the field together, the midfield rhythm seems too slow.

However, after Sir Alex used the two veterans to beat the whole team, he did not mention replacing the two because Sir Alex made the following prediction:

1. The harassment by Li Qi and Tevez in the second half of the first half was very effective. Coupled with Manchester City's high-tempo full-court pressing in the first half, Manchester City's three lines were somewhat disconnected at the end of the first half;

2. Although Petrov was attacking happily, he couldn't get back and basically didn't return to defense at the end of the first half;

3. The same goes for Hamann. Although he seemed to be omnipotent in the midfield in the first half and completely suppressed Manchester United's midfield breakthroughs and passes, he basically did not leave the center circle at the end of the first half and he was about to reach his destination;

4. Eriksson will definitely arrange for Petrov and Hamann to attack again in the first 15 minutes of the second half, and then replace them after they have exhausted their energy;

5. Manchester City had two goals in hand and their physical strength was declining rapidly, so after a fierce attack at the beginning of the second half, they would definitely withdraw their formation, shrink their defense, and hold on to the two-goal advantage.

Therefore, the two veterans could not be replaced. In the first half of the second half, they used their experience and skills to stabilize the formation and resist Manchester City's three-pronged attack;

If Manchester United cannot equalize the score early, they will need the skills and experience of the two veterans to break through the dense defense, especially Giggs's set-pieces and Scholes' long shots...

However, Sir Alex still made some adjustments and corrections in the midfield. After all, Li Qi was the best player in Manchester United in the first half. Although he might not be able to run faster than Park Sanfei, it all depended on Li Qi to create threats.

Therefore, Sir Alex let Tevez, whose strength was also declining rapidly, go to the front. Anyway, it was estimated that Tevez's strength would not be able to support his frequent retreats in the second half, so he let Li Qi retreat half a square and play the more familiar organizing shadow striker position to be responsible for connecting the diagonal streets!

Moreover, Sir Alex Ferguson asked Manchester United to give priority to Li Qi in attack. First, he wanted to take advantage of Li Qi's calm and decisive ability to handle the ball in front of the penalty area, and second, he wanted to pull Dunn, who was obviously too excited today, out of the penalty area.

Dunne is the kind of player who is fierce in frontal defense. However, outside the penalty area, apart from occupying a lot of position, he has weaknesses, especially his slow turning and poor flexibility. The space left after he leaves the penalty area can be fully utilized by Tevez.

However, this is the first time that Li Qi has enjoyed the status of a tactical core in Manchester United...

@

Just 48 seconds into the second half, Haman received Petrov's cross and volleyed the ball from 30 yards in front of the goal!

However, the ball was shot too straight and was caught steadily by Van der Sar.

But just looking at this attack, you can tell that Sir Alex Ferguson's prediction in the midfield was almost right.

Li Qi also agreed. It is estimated that Hamann and Petrov will set off another wave of craze. After about 15 minutes, they will retreat and be replaced by several substitutes who are warming up in the midfield. Then Manchester City will start to defend the goal...

Since Sir Alex Ferguson's prediction was correct, the adjustments made during the half-time break were naturally appropriate.

Giggs and Scholes remained calm in the face of Manchester City's crazy pressing and did not show any panic at all. In addition, Li Qi, who was freed up by Tevez taking over the center position, retreated significantly to provide support. Apart from the one attacking opportunity at the beginning of the second half, Manchester City did not cause much trouble.

Five minutes later, Manchester City's running speed began to drop drastically, which was earlier than Sir Alex Ferguson and Li Qi expected. So Manchester United began to take over the game...

In the 52nd minute, Li Qi retreated again and made a two-pass to help Scholes break through Hamann's defense.

Then Li Qi cleverly missed the ball again and ran diagonally back to shake off Elland who was trying to defend;

And when Li Qi rushed to the front of Manchester City's penalty area and received a straight pass from Giggs, Dunn really pressed forward and tried to intercept!

Li Qi didn't stop the ball, but aimed at Dunn's small goal and hit the ball past him.

Facing Dunn's forward pressure, Li Qi didn't need any explosive moment. He just needed to think with his knees. He knew that as long as the strength was controlled well and the ball didn't get too close to the goalkeeper, it would definitely be a golden opportunity!

Sure enough, Tevez, who was lying in ambush in the middle of the penalty area, reacted first before the defender and goalkeeper, and took the lead to get into position diagonally. 14 yards in front of the goal, he turned half way and shot the ball into the far corner of Manchester City's goal!

Ditch oh! Ditch oh oh oh! Ditch oh oh oh! Oh! No oh oh oh!

The linesman raised the flag, indicating that Tevez was offside and the goal was invalid!

But the slow motion shows that Tevez should be parallel to the Manchester City central defender Richards who is lagging behind! Unfortunately, there is no Var...

Obviously, Li Qi's large-scale activities were very effective, which immediately activated Manchester United's offense and defense, and the space behind Dunn could indeed be utilized.

However, Eriksen also knew his own weaknesses. After seeing Manchester United gaining momentum, he immediately waved his hand and ordered the entire team to retreat and start defending, even giving up the counterattack, after all, they were leading by two goals.

However, under the leadership of the two elders, Manchester United was not in a hurry and began to gradually press forward, surrounding Manchester City's defensive third zone, and did not give Manchester City the opportunity to fish in troubled waters or counterattack...

Then a 10-minute beating began!

In the 57th minute, Li Qi set up a cannon, and Scholes' long shot from the top of the penalty area was blocked by Dunn and went out of the baseline...

In the 58th minute, Giggs took a corner kick from the right side, and Vidic headed the ball over the crossbar from the corner of the small penalty area.

In the 62nd minute, Li Qi faked a pass, turned around and took a low shot from the edge of the penalty area, but it hit the post and went wide of the near corner!

In the 65th minute, Li Qi broke through on the right and created a set piece. Then Park Ji-sung received the ball from Scholes and sent a cross. Ferdinand headed the ball in the middle of the penalty area but Hart flew over the bottom line.

Manchester United still had the upper hand but couldn't score, so when the game was about to enter the last 20 minutes, both sides made substitutions at the same time.

On the Manchester United side, Sir Alex Ferguson replaced Anderson, who was almost invisible in the second half, with Hargreaves, and replaced O'Shea, who had a cramp, with Carrick. He let Park Ji-sung play as the left back, Hargreaves was responsible for protecting the front of the defense, and Scholes, Giggs and Carrick pressed forward to attack!

On the Manchester City side, Eriksen followed the previous plan and replaced Petrov and Hamann, who were almost exhausted. The two had been missing for almost 10 minutes. The one who replaced Petrov was the Spanish left-back Javier Garrido, and the one who replaced Hamann was the pride of China that Li Qi had been thinking about, Sun Jihai!

Li Qi looked at the yellow-skinned, black-spectacled, black-haired player wearing the No. 17 jersey with the word Sun on his back, and was stunned for a moment:

This is the last Premier League season for Hua Guo Taiyang. If nothing unexpected happens, Sun Jihai, who will gradually lose his main position next season, will move to the English Championship and will soon return to play in China due to injury.

Li Qi was looking forward to it very much, but he did not expect that he would be able to encounter the peak moments of the Chinese players on the court and compete on the same field. It was really... I don't know how to feel!

However, Sun Jihai was positioned as right winger, and Gerson Fernandez, who had originally played as a guest, returned to his familiar defensive midfielder position to replace Hamann.

Eriksen replaced two players in a row, but he used players who were originally full-backs with stronger defensive abilities to play as wing forwards. It can be seen that his tactical purpose is very clear: to do his best to maintain the two-goal advantage!

On the contrary, the substitutions made by Sir Alex Ferguson were a little confusing, but Li Qi knew that he was helpless because there were really no attackers to replace them on the bench. The two most useful players were suspended, and Saha and Dong Yuanchao were both directly on the injury list.

Anderson and O'Shea really can't help in breaking the dense defense...

Therefore, it is better to put two midfielders on the field to strengthen control, surround the team and eventually break through.

As for the chisel, Sir Alex Ferguson still continues to use the Li Qi brand electric drill after the substitution, and his position as the core of the attack continues!

Soon, Sir Alex's trust was rewarded. Not long after the substitution, the cunning Li Qi took advantage of the fact that the substitute players had not yet entered the form after the substitution and Manchester City's unclear division of labor in defending set pieces, and seized the opportunity!

In the 69th minute, after the substitution, Scholes took a free kick from the front court near the right side and spun towards Manchester City's penalty area.

Based on previous communication and gestures, Li Qi knew that Scholes would look for the front point.

The one marking Li Qi was the right back Onuoha. As for the three tall players in Manchester City's defense, Dunne, Richards and Ball faced off against the three tall players in Manchester United's defense, namely Ferdinand, Vidic and Wes Brown.

Li Qi naturally would not disturb the melee among the tall aerial masters, but he targeted Javier Garrido, who had just come on as a substitute to defend Tevez.

The Spanish left-back is 1 meters tall, which is just right for marking Tevez who is 78 meters tall.

But Li Qi had secretly conspired with Tevez to exchange dance partners, oh no, they switched positions and helped each other to screen and roll the defending player.

Li Qi just wanted to give it a try to see if he could create a dislocation, but he didn't expect it to actually work.

Originally, the 1-meter-tall German veteran Hamann was responsible for marking the 87-meter-tall Li Qi during set pieces and corner kicks; but Hamann had just gone off, so the new player Onuoha, who was originally responsible for marking Tevez, came in to fight with Li Qi.

In addition, Garrido, who came on as a new substitute, obviously had not found his form in the game yet. He was stunned by a simple pick-and-roll: should he continue to bypass and defend Tevez, or switch players to defend Li Qi?

At the same time, Onuoha, who was already full of enthusiasm, followed inertia and entangled Tevez who was in his arms...

So, when Li Qi went around to the front point, for a moment, no one was guarding him!

@

Because the atmosphere in the stadium was too fanatical and Sarafina, who had no best friend to accompany her, chose to stay in Li Qi's apartment today. She tried to learn how to make dumplings while watching the Manchester derby broadcast on TV.

However, Sarafina stopped what she was doing when she heard the live commentary on TV shouting "Jidong".

"Both teams replaced two players at the same time. This means eight players were replaced..."

"Oh! This is the long-lost Chinese Sun Ji Hai! He came on as a substitute and stood at the right winger position. Manchester City obviously intends to defend to the death!"

"The referee blew the whistle, signaling that the game could resume."

"Giggs and Scholes are both standing in front of the ball. Who will be responsible for handling this set-piece near the right sideline..."