907: FA Cup Final City Derby
May 20, 2018, London, England, New Wembley Stadium, sunny weather!
What is happening here today is the 2017-2018 English FA Cup final, against Crystal Palace and Chelsea!
The scene was packed with people, loud gongs and drums, red flags waving, and firecrackers blasting!
In addition to fans of both teams, there are also many neutral fans! !
Yes, there are still many neutral fans in the stadium today. I don’t know who they are here to support, or whether they are ready to watch the Crystal Palace joke!
Now some fans really feel that whoever's offense is going to lose in this game, and they are all here to watch the fun.
The live camera footage also captured many football legends, as well as some celebrities in politics, business and entertainment. This shows that the influence of this game is really huge. There were even some beauties and celebrities from the entertainment industry from China sitting in the stands. They had come all the way to watch this game.
Moreover, the on-site cameraman also spotted Nian Donglai and Chairman Hua Changqing of the Chinese Football Association in the stands, and even the two current owners of the Milan duo.
This shows how attractive this game is.
Of course, when many media reporters at the scene saw the chairman of the Chinese Football Association and the owners of the Milan duo, they had a lot of thoughts in their minds. Wouldn't these come to poach Tong Yi again? Otherwise, why would they all be in the stands for this game?
The competition seems to be very fierce. Where will Tong Yi go after the season ends?
It is also a question that countless fans are thinking about now.
"Hello everyone, viewers and fans! This is BBC Sports, and I am Mortensen!" BBC Sports naturally broadcast this game live, and Mortensen is now sitting in the new Wembley Stadium. In the stadium commentary box.
"Hello fans and friends, I am the Shearer you are familiar with!" Shearer immediately introduced himself.
Then Henry next to him also introduced himself!
Yes, the BBC has a three-person commentary team for this game. It can be seen that the BBC attaches great importance to this game.
"What do you two think of today's game??" Mortensen immediately turned sideways and looked at the two football legends beside him, who were once the top strikers in football! !
Hiller said nothing and turned to look at Henry.
Henry smiled bitterly, you two are really digging a hole for me. Is it true that I am a newcomer and I am easy to cheat?
However, Henry did not hesitate and said directly: "For this game, it is obvious that most people are optimistic about Crystal Palace. This season's Crystal Palace is really too strong, it can be called a top team, even in the Premier League." Winning a complete victory, this season has been super crazy!”
Shearer and Mortensen also kept nodding. Henry was so right.
The Crystal Palace this season is indeed very manic, which makes everyone feel very shocked!
Players such as Shearer and Henry, who were once kings of strikers, were dumbfounded when they saw this result and expressed disbelief. After all, they have never seen such abnormal results before!
If you say that other teams in the Premier League this season are parallel imports, it is understandable that Crystal Palace won a complete season. But other teams in the Premier League this season are not all parallel imports. Manchester City's results this season are also explosive! !
Didn't you see, Manchester City has only lost two games and drawn one this season, and won all other games.
Although the other BIG6 teams in the Premier League are a bit weak this season, Crystal Palace's complete victory this season is also very valuable.
This is really shocking.
Henry continued: "Chelsea's results this season are really bad. Last season they were runner-up in the league, and they struggled with Crystal Palace until the last round before completely falling behind. It shows that last season's performance Chelsea are very good, so why they suddenly faltered this season is something I don’t know.”
Not to mention Henry, neither Mortensen nor Shearer understands!
Before the game started, almost everyone did not expect that Chelsea's season would be so bad!
Before the season, many media and celebrities believed that Chelsea was the strongest contender for the Premier League championship this season. Unexpectedly, Chelsea directly achieved sixth place in the league, which was shocking!
No wonder Chelsea fans are frantically calling for Conte to be sacked.
Henry said: "Although Conte made a lot of noise before the game, I think there is really no big problem with Crystal Palace in this game. Chelsea is really not as good as Crystal Palace in terms of strength. And Crystal Palace is in really good shape recently, I think Chelsea’s chances are slim!”
Mortensen and Hiller nodded slightly in agreement.
Shearer also said: "I have learned so far that Crystal Palace is in really good shape, and the players are also very eager for this game. They really want to defend this Grand Slam. , so in this game, the Crystal Palace people will definitely show their strong strength, and it will be very difficult for Chelsea to defeat them!"
Mortensen and Henry looked at each other. You actually went to know the status of the Crystal Palace players in private. Why didn't we know?
Shearer saw the intentions of the two people, and he immediately said: "I also had a brief chat with David privately, and I can feel that the Crystal Palace side is indeed very confident now. This game , I think it will be very difficult for Chelsea to win."
Mortensen and Henry nodded again in agreement.
Mortensen immediately said at this time: "Okay, the players from both sides have entered the stadium, now let's see how this game will develop? Is it like what you two said, Crystal Palace will get What about victory in this game?”
The fans from both sides cheered instantly, and the waves of sound became louder and louder!
All the fans were screaming with excitement, and some were even singing and dancing.
The Crystal Palace fans even raised the inflatable FA Cup championship trophy they had prepared. They couldn't wait to win the cup when the game started!
At this time, the players from both sides followed the referee Atkinson into the stadium.
Yes, the refereeing of such an important game was left in the hands of the magical quadruple-blind Reverse Hawkeye Atkinson.
The Crystal Palace fans were actually very unhappy and very angry. They all felt that Atkinson was a bit targeted at them. In many games in the past, Crystal Palace has been very uncomfortable, and many of them were misjudgments.
Crystal Palace fans were furious when they saw that Atkinson was the referee today.
To be honest, at this time, the Crystal Palace fans were ready to start spraying, and they were spraying you Atkinson. If you still dare to make random penalties today, let's see how we deal with you!
"Today's referee is Atkinson. I think many fans are ready to laugh now!" Shearer couldn't help but say something at this time. It can be seen that he still has some opinions about Atkinson. of.
However, Henry and Mortensen have no contact.
Mortensen even said directly: "Now the players from both sides have entered the stadium, and the game is about to start. We use this time to introduce to you the starting lineups of both sides today!"
Today’s starting lineups for both sides are as follows:
Home team: Crystal Palace, head coach: Tong Yi, formation: 4-2-1-3
Goalkeeper: Maignan
Back four [from left to right]: Cancelo, Rudiger, Van Dijk and Carvajal
Double defensive midfielder: Casemiro and Kante
Single attacking midfielder: De Bruyne
Three forwards [from left to right]: Salah, Ronaldo and Mbappe
Away team: Chelsea, head coach: Conte, formation: 3-5-1-1
Goalkeeper: Courtois
Three central defenders [from left to right]: Azpilicueta, Christensen and Cahill
Five midfielders [from left to right]: Moses, Fabregas, Gueye, Bakayoko and Alonso
Single attacking midfielder: Bell
Single striker: Lukaku
This is the starting list for both sides in this game. Judging from this list, both sides are full of elites.
From here we can also see the determination of both parties.
Of course, we can also see that Conte's three central defenders are becoming more and more proficient. After a long period of experimentation, he chose the three-midfield system that is more popular nowadays and that he is relatively good at.
After seeing Chelsea's lineup, to be honest, Tong Yi felt that this game should be safe.
There is no problem with the three-centre-back system, but the three-centre-back has very high requirements for the ability of the centre-back.
As far as Chelsea's three central defenders are concerned, their abilities are still a bit insufficient.
Of course, when they face non-BIG6 teams in the Premier League, such a three-centre defender can still be quite strong. But as long as they face strong teams, their three central defenders are slightly insufficient. This is especially true when facing a strong team like Crystal Palace. Cahill is old and Christensen's turning speed and tracking speed are not fast. Azpilicueta was not an orthodox central defender before. Born, his height is also a problem.
Therefore, this three central defenders are still full of problems for strong teams like Crystal Palace.
In this game, Tong Yi is very confident, as long as Atkinson doesn't mess around.
If Atkinson really wants to create some difficulty for them, Crystal Palace will still say that this game is a bit difficult.
At this time, the referee of the half-time game blew the whistle to officially start the game.
The first to kick off was Chelsea on the visiting team's position!
Yes, this game does not have a home and away game in the traditional sense, because this game is played in a neutral stadium, and the number of tickets received by fans from both sides is almost the same. They just divided a home team position and an away team position!
At the beginning of the game, Chelsea was not conservative at all.
Chelsea tried to attack as soon as they came up, putting pressure on the Crystal Palace goal.
After the football was passed continuously, it came to the feet of Alonso who was advancing from the wing. Alonso was not particularly fast, but he still rushed very rhythmically. And he is also relatively familiar with the Crystal Palace players, so he is quite comfortable holding the ball here.
Seeing this, Chelsea fans were very excited and cheered him on.
With a bang, Alonso suddenly kicked a pass from the wing. Cancelo stretched his legs a little slower, and the football flew past his legs quickly, and then flew directly into the Crystal Palace penalty area.
Chelsea fans who were worried about their longevity stretched their necks and stared at the stadium.
In the penalty area, Lukaku, who rushed forward quickly, jumped up high, preparing to overpower him. The Qilxi fans at the scene also stood up one after another, ready to applaud and celebrate.
However, at this time, Van Dijk jumped up high in the penalty area of Crystal Palace, directly overwhelmed the rushing Lukaku, and pushed the football out hard, and the football flew out of the penalty area quickly.
Crystal Palace fans immediately clapped excitedly and gave their applause to Van Dijk, the core of their defense.
Van Dijk is currently the strongest central defender in the world. Even Lukaku cannot take advantage of Van Dijk's head.
After Lukaku landed, he turned around and glared at Van Dijk, feeling very unhappy!
He was very energetic in today's game. They just wanted to teach the damn Crystal Palace and Tong Yi a lesson and make Tong Yi regret it!
But Tong Yi and the others no longer have him Lukaku in their eyes, only she, Lukaku, has always been worried about him.
Now he still wants to prove that Tong Yi was wrong to give up on him.
But to be honest, from the past few seasons, Crystal Palace's results have been very good, so giving up Lukaku is really not a mistake.
Perhaps it is also because of this that even so far, whenever he meets Crystal Palace, Lukaku is holding back his energy and wants to fight with Crystal Palace.
Today, he was working hard and was ready to give the Crystal Palace people a blow as soon as he came up.
Who knew that this guy Van Dijk ruined his good deeds? It's strange that his face looks good.
However, Crystal Palace ignored this guy Lukaku at all. His attention had long followed the football to the midfield. The pushed football flew directly towards Kanter. Kanter immediately used his body to hold Cesc Fabregas rushing up behind him, and then he kept The ball was passed directly to Casemiro.
Casemiro didn't stop the ball at all and passed the football directly. The football quickly flew to the frontcourt. Because Chelsea is facing three central defenders, and they were still attacking before, with the wing-backs pressing up, the wing is slightly empty.
Casemiro's goal directly created Chelsea's weakness, and the Chelsea fans at the scene instantly became nervous.
Chelsea's Azpilicueta immediately moved over quickly, trying to destroy the football before Mbappe could catch the ball. Unexpectedly, Mbappe moved much faster than him. Before he could rush forward, Mbappe had already stretched his legs to stop the football. Just when he rushed in front of Mbappe, Mbappe immediately stretched his legs and lifted the football upward. The football went directly over Azpilicueta's head and flew to the center of the penalty area.
Of course, this arc is not very big. Mbappe aims to pass people rather than pass the ball.
So after picking up the football, he immediately dodged to avoid Azpilicueta who was rushing towards him, then quickly turned around and rushed into Chelsea's penalty area.
At this time, even if Gueye came back to defend immediately, he still failed to get the football before Mbappe!
Mbappé stretched his legs and gently pushed the football forward, and the football immediately rolled out.
Mbappe rushed over quickly, got rid of Gueye, and directly faced Courtois who blocked the near corner!
The Chelsea fans at the scene suddenly became tense and stared at the stadium.
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