137: The reputation of being a relegation expert is not in vain.
December 26, 2016, Vicarage Road Stadium, Watford, England.
What is happening here today is the 18th round of the 2016-2017 Premier League season. The two sides are the home team Watford and the visiting team Crystal Palace.
Today, the starting lineups of both sides are as follows
Home team Watford, head coach Mazzarri, formation 3421
goalkeeper gomez
Back three from left to right Bristol, Proudl and Kaboul
The four midfielders from left to right are Holebas, Behrami, Guediola and Janmaat.
Double attacking midfielder Amrabat and Capoue.??.
Lone striker Ighalo
Visiting team Crystal Palace, head coach Tong Yi, formation 4213
goalkeeper Maignan
The back four from left to right Theo, Ruben Dias, Van Dijk and Achraf
Double defensive midfielder Witsel and Kante
Single attacking midfielder De Bruyne
The front three from left to right Salah, Jimenez and Mbappe
beep!
As soon as the whistle blows, the game begins.
Obviously, Watford's formation is a 541 defensive formation. Holebas and Janmat in the midfield are both full-backs and have played as full-backs, so today they have a wing-back. Fall back when defending and push forward when attacking. This game has very high requirements for the two of them.
However, these two are still very good, with speed and impact.
Of course, Tong Yi is very familiar with Hollebas.
Because this was once his disciple.
When he was at 1860 Munich, Hollebas was his player. Unexpectedly, after many changes, Hollebas also came to the Premier League and performed well.
Tong Yi is quite satisfied.
To be honest, looking at Watford's lineup, their strength is indeed good. The players in this lineup are names that everyone often hears. There is a chance to hit the middle of the Premier League or even qualify for the European competition. of.
No wonder, their results this season are pretty good so far.
Tong Yi did not underestimate this team, but Crystal Palace still focused on high-position pressure and fierce attacks from the beginning.
After all, if you don't attack, others won't come either.
For Watford, a draw is acceptable, but that may not be the case for Crystal Palace.
Because if Crystal Palace only gets one point in this round, it is very likely that they will be overtaken by Chelsea behind them. So at this time, we still have to be proactive and try to get three points.
In order to stay at the top of the Premier League.
The Crystal Palace players were still very active and very committed, which made the Walford people feel very uncomfortable as soon as they started. The media reporters in the stands also frowned slightly. This was different from what they imagined.
Didn’t I say that there are music and singing every night here at the Crystal Palace, crazy vacations and celebrations?
Why doesn't it look like this?
All the media reporters turned to look at Webster, whose face was gloomy. He finally discovered that as long as they faced this guy Tong Yi, they would not have a good life.
Should
Damn Tong Yi!
As the game progressed, Watford's defense was quite tight, even though they were overwhelmed. But the defense was relatively safe and did not give Crystal Palace too many opportunities.
This is what Mazzarri taught the people of Waterford.
His reputation as a relegation expert is not in vain.
He also has a deep understanding of defense, otherwise how could he successfully avoid relegation again and again?
Crystal Palace faced a monolithic situation. They sped up the ball and often stepped up their long-range shots.
In the 17th minute of the first half, after Crystal Palace's side passed the ball continuously and tore up the opponent's defense, Mbappe on the wing suddenly received the diagonal pass from Witsel and drove the ball into Watford's goal at high speed. restricted area.
This time, Mbappe relies on speed.
The speed was so fast that Hollebas, who had retreated to the defensive line, did not catch up. Mbappe, who entered the penalty area, directly pulled the ball horizontally, passed defender Bristol, and then shot directly. The football was soaring. After shooting out, seeing the football about to fly into the goal, the opponent's Brazilian national goalkeeper Gomez immediately fell to the ground and dove sideways, firmly holding the football under his body.
Don't look at Gomez getting old, he is getting stronger with age.
The reaction was very quick and he firmly held the football under his body.
Bang bang bang!
The home fans gave Gomez applause. This time the defense was very good. But there are loopholes on the sidelines, so we must be vigilant. Mazzarri immediately stood up and quickly came to the sidelines, reminding Holebas to pay attention to Mbappe's defense and not to hand over the inside line to Mbappe easily and keep Mbappe away from the goal.
Now, no one dares to underestimate Mbappe.
Now Mbappe is an unspeakable pain in Webster's heart. No matter where he goes, someone will bring Mbappe up and slap Webster hard in the face.
Webster really hates this damn Mbappe.
Now that he saw Mbappe's outstanding performance, he felt that his colleagues around him were mocking him crazily with strange eyes, and his face looked ugly.
Damn Mbappe, damn Chinese bastard.
Holebas immediately raised his hands to express that he understood and would not give Mbappe any chance again.
Holebas is confident, but Mbappe is even more confident.
Watford tried to launch an attack here, but unfortunately midfielder Amrabat's through ball was directly intercepted by Kanter. Then Kanter made a direct diagonal pass and quickly passed the football to Mbappe on the wing. After holding the ball, Mbappe accelerated towards Watford's penalty area.
Holebas stared at Mbappe as if facing a formidable enemy.
No, this guy wants the ball to pass!
Holebas immediately defended, and then...then Mbappe and the football rushed past his body and rushed into Watford's penalty area.
Hollebas was shocked!
It's not that he doesn't defend seriously, he has judged Mbappe's plan in advance. But this guy Mbappe is too fast, he hasn’t
Action, Mbappe has already passed the ball and completed the pass.
Holebas was shocked, immediately turned around and quickly chased Mbappe!
Fortunately, the teammate Bristol behind him was in place to cover up and directly blocked Mbappe's forward path. This prevented Mbappe from entering the penalty area immediately and threatening the goal.
It would be really dangerous if this guy was allowed to kill him. ??
Hollebas immediately rushed forward, preparing to attack Mbappe from both front and back.
However, at this time, Ashraf on the wing had already moved up. Holebas's attention immediately went to the wing, and he thought about whether to go up and interfere with Ashraf.
At this moment, Mbappe suddenly made an inverted triangle and passed the football to the front of the penalty area.
Danger, it's really dangerous now.
Because Crystal Palace's attacking midfielder De Bruyne rushed up quickly, without stopping the ball, directly swung his legs and volleyed hard!
De Bruyne's long-range shooting ability is super strong. Seeing this, the faces of the Walford people changed, their faces were very ugly, and they were very worried.
Ruined!
Boom!
There was a loud noise and the football flew towards Watford's goal like lightning.
The ball speed is really fast, and the defensive players in the penalty area look down on it. With a bang, the football hit Prodel who was sideways in the penalty area, and then immediately changed direction.
Danger, all the people in Watford turned pale with fear, this ball is over!
clang!
The football hit the post on the right side of the goal hard and bounced off the baseline.
It's a pity, it's really such a pity.
This ball should be a must-goal opportunity, but unfortunately the ball was blocked first by the opponent's defender and then by the goalpost. The Crystal Palace people are not very lucky, otherwise, this goal will definitely be scored.
Bang bang bang!
The Crystal Palace fans who came from afar were very excited and gave applause to the Crystal Palace players. Now Crystal Palace has an absolute advantage. If they continue to play like this, Crystal Palace will definitely win. Crystal Palace fans are full of confidence in Tong Yi's tactical arrangements.
Crystal Palace will definitely win this game.
However, Tong Yi is not so confident. He feels that the team still has some problems.
Crystal Palace was a little anxious and wanted to kill their opponent with one shot, which seemed a bit radical. Tong Yi immediately came to the sidelines and reminded the Crystal Palace players to pay attention to the rhythm of the game and not to let the rhythm fly. Moreover, you have to be more patient and create more absolute opportunities, so that you can score goals.
At this time, Watford launched their first threatening attack of the game.
Seizing the gap created by Crystal Palace's high-speed pressure, Bristol and Prodel were waiting on the court to make consecutive kicks. Prodel directly kicked the ball and passed the football diagonally. The football just rolled to the feet of the advancing Hollebas. After Hollebas received the ball, the opponent's full-back Ashraf immediately rushed forward.
Holebas quickly passed the football across the ball, and the football rolled towards center Ighalo.
And Holebas continued to advance forward with the ball.
, quickly rushed towards the penalty area of the Crystal Palace. Ighalo in the middle did not stop the ball, but directly knocked the ball back to the forward Holebas.
One-two, the two played a wall-kicking one-two and passed Achraf.
Sure enough, the Crystal Palace players still underestimated their opponents and were a bit reckless.
This allowed the opponent to pass easily, and then Holebas received the football and immediately ran into the Crystal Palace penalty area with the ball.
The Crystal Palace fans were extremely nervous in an instant. It was dangerous, very dangerous!
None of them expected that Watford would get an opportunity to attack so easily. It was very dangerous, very dangerous.
Mazzarri on the sidelines was also very excited. For Watford, such an opportunity is very precious. He hopes that the team can seize such opportunities as much as possible. After all, for Watford, they do not get such opportunities many times in a game.
At this time, you must seize the opportunity.
Mazzarri was very nervous on the court, staring at Holebas who was holding the ball!
Tong Yi also stared closely at Hollebas. He hadn't seen Hollebas play for a long time. How strong is this guy now? Will it threaten our Crystal Palace goal?
Danger, the Crystal Palace is a bit dangerous!
However, it was Van Dijk who stepped forward, and Crystal Palace fans had full confidence in Van Dijk.
Van Dijk is very good at one-on-one defense, and even one-on-two. They naturally have full confidence in Van Dijk.
Of course, Holebas also knew very well that the guy in front of him was the number one central defender in the Premier League, and he also felt a lot of pressure.
Just when Van Dijk came up, Holebas suddenly passed the ball back in an inverted triangle and passed the football to Ighalo, who was following. After Ighalo received the ball, he immediately ran into the Crystal Palace penalty area with the ball.
I'm allowed to be scared when facing Van Dijk, but facing a young man like you, what do I have to be afraid of?
Ighalo made a fake move directly in front of Dias, then quickly moved sideways, directly opening up the space. Without saying a word, he just kicked out and fired with a heavy kick!
Beautiful, the Watford fans at the scene were very excited and jumped up excitedly.
The ball is there!
They have full confidence in Ighalo!
A loud bang was heard, and the faces of all Watford fans changed drastically. They were very confused, how could this happen?
From a distance, Ighalo's heavy long-range shot was actually blocked by Dias who fell to the ground and slid sideways with his legs stretched out, directly blocking the football from the baseline.
From a distance, Dias was not completely thrown away by Ighalo, and then when Ighalo shot, he fell to the ground and blocked the football from the baseline.
It's a pity that the people of Watford missed a great opportunity!
Ighalo also regretted it very much. If he had known this, he would not have shot a low ball. If he came with a high ball, Dias would not be able to block it.
Alas, what a pity!
Mazzarri on the sidelines was also very disappointed. If he failed to seize such an opportunity, it would be difficult later.
Corner kick, Watford got a corner kick opportunity.
