Chapter 904: One shot to fame
The Manchester United vs Crowley match was an earth-shattering event for everyone in Crowley Town, but for Manchester United, it wasn't even a dessert before the knockout rounds of the Champions League.
With almost all of United's main players not in the squad, the FA Cup match was less appealing, with less than half of the 70,000-strong Old Trafford stadium attending.
Many fans come to watch the game not even to enjoy the game, but to see what the teams in the fifth tier will look like against the top teams, after all, this is not the case once in many years.
Although most of Manchester United's main players are not in the squad, it was a 16-8 game, and the main players still came to the stadium to cheer for their teammates and little brothers.
I have to say that fame is the guarantee of the box office, and when Gao Xiaodong, Rooney and other main players walked into the stands, they even received more applause than the starters on the field.
Although Ferguson fielded young players on the bench and second team in this game, even so, Manchester United is far from being comparable to a team in the fifth tier.
After the start of the game, the United players played very relaxed, thinking that they would be able to beat the amateur team by a big score without breaking a sweat.
However, the game was not as easy as the United players thought, and the Crowley players were very excited, and they set up a bucket formation, pressing at the expense of physical strength in the half, and did not allow United to play an effective combination.
The United players were not in a hurry, they were unhurried with the ball, they didn't believe in how tight an amateur team could be, maybe a free kick or corner kick could be enough to break through the opposition's goal.
Crowley's players' skills and tactics are incomparable with Manchester United players, but they compress the space to the extreme, and use running to make up for the lack of skills and tactics, while Manchester United's players are a little underestimated, many players are reluctant to cooperate with teammates after getting the ball, and more use individual breakthroughs to tear apart Crowley's defense.
It seems that Manchester United's individual breakthrough effect is good, and the defenders can break through one or two Crowley players with the ball, but Crowley is almost 10 people defending, and the personnel are too dense.
Ten minutes into the game, United played almost 10 minutes, but with Crowley's excellent defence, they didn't even get a chance to shoot on goal.
This made the United players a little anxious, who had imagined that they should have scored a goal in ten minutes, but now they didn't even have a shot on goal.
The first shot of the game came in the 11th minute, and it was not Manchester United, but Crawley.
Manchester United was a little anxious, and the midfielder Gibson did not cooperate patiently with his teammates, and hung directly into the penalty area to find Bebe on the side.
Babe is 1.9 meters tall and is a typical high school striker, but he didn't get the ball under the tight defense of the Crowley players, and the ball was headed out by a Crowley defender.
The player on the edge of the Crowley box then headed the ball in front of their striker, Toubus.
The 26-year-old is a key player for Crawley, scoring 25 goals in 27 appearances and three in this season's FA Cup.
Seeing that there was a lot of space in United's back, Tubbs swung his header into the open space and then ran wildly towards United's half.
Manchester United defenders Alexis Lindegaard and Fabio chased after them desperately, and apart from them, only Pogba caught up.
The trio managed to catch up with Toubbs on the edge of the box, but Toobbs also made a quick shot, but the ball flew off the line under Pogba's interference.
An amateur team was the first to shoot on goal, which angered the United players and they launched a fierce attack on Crawley.
However, Crowley's bucket formation is really good, their manager Milner obviously has studied Manchester United very thoroughly, the iron bucket formation and half-time pressing, Manchester United have no temper, their attack can only be carried out near Crowley's 30-meter area, just can't get into Crowley's penalty area.
United's first shot came in the 28th minute when Gibson headed in a corner and Pogba in the middle suddenly headed in from the box.
Pogba was fast and tall, and he burst into the box undefended, and Pogba headed a header into the right side of the goal.
Pogba was very excited when he grabbed the landing point, thinking that this was the time, but he didn't expect the ball to hit the post and bounce out.
Pogba didn't score, but his shot caught the attention of fans and journalists alike, and it was only then that the black midfielder did a really good job, with a ubiquitous attack and a long-range shot.
Before the fans found Pogba, Ferguson had been watching Pogba for a long time, and he was very satisfied with Pogba's performance today, when the rest of Manchester United's players were playing lightly, Pogba was very calm and positive, he kept running, playing his role at both ends of the pitch, although Manchester United has not scored, but Pogba's performance is not bad.
After 30 minutes of intense defending, Crawley's men showed confidence as they held the Reds attacking wave after wave to draw 0-0 in the first half.
At half-time, Ferguson made a substitution, bringing on substitute striker Hernandez and midfielder Michael Carrick to continue to strengthen the attack.
In the second half, Crowley continued to play a dense defensive strategy, leaving only one striker in front of him, Toubbs, looking for opportunities to counter-attack.
While the draw against United is also shocking news, Crowley manager James Milner still has a heart set for goals, as no team in the fifth tier has reached the sixth round in FA Cup history so far, and if Crowley can beat Manchester United in an upset, they will make history.
After Ferguson replaced Hernandez and Carrick, Manchester United had more chances to shoot, but Crawley's defense was really good, Manchester United kicked overhead, penetrated from a distance, and no matter how he shot, he couldn't break through Crawley's door.
Seeing Crowley playing so tenaciously, Ferguson was a little anxious, but the main players were all on vacation by him, and there was no better player on the bench than on the field, and in the end Ferguson was helpless, he sent Park Ji-sung to strengthen the cross on the side, and wanted to kill Crowley with a header.
However, Park Ji-sung's arrival did not change the situation on the field, and Manchester United was still scoreless.
It's an amateur team, and Manchester United's substitutes and youth teams are at the same level as the Championship, and it's a shame that they can't beat Crowley.
The Manchester United fans in the stands couldn't stand it anymore, and couldn't help but boo the players on the field, and when the camera lens showed Gao Xiaodong in the stands, the fans on the field shouted for Gao Xiaodong.
When the game entered the 80th minute, Ferguson also regretted it a little, he felt that he should still put one or two players like Gao Xiaodong, Rooney or Scholes and Ryan Giggs on the bench, in case he really couldn't get Crowley today, it would be a shame to throw it to his grandmother's house.
In the 88th minute, Crowley won the second corner of the game, the defender drove a corner from the left, Toubbs did not get it, but their midfielder Brody grabbed the second lob with a header from six yards out, the ball went past Lindegaard and looked like it was about to fly into the empty net, but it ended up hitting the crossbar and bounced off the crossbar.
This crossbar made the Crowley fans in the stands beat their chests in regret, and also scared the United fans into a cold sweat.
Andy, the on-site commentator, said with a smile: "This is probably the most thrilling goalpost in Manchester United's history, and if the goal goes in, Manchester United will become the biggest joke in the FA Cup of the Centennial." ”
The crossbar left Crowley's players in a frustrated mood and the players were infocused, and in the 90th minute, Manchester United defender Rafael took a tactical corner from the left, Gibson crossed from the left, Brown headed back from eight yards, and Pogba met the ball at the edge of the box, and the ball flew into the top right corner like lightning.
After the goal, Pogba excitedly took off his shirt and waved it and ran to the stands.
The goal was an instant blow up and the 30,000 United fans in the stands jumped up to cheer for Pogba.
Head coach Alex Ferguson also rushed to the pitch excitedly, shouting victory at the pitch.
Andy, the on-site commentator, said excitedly: "The ball is in! Pogba! The 18-year-old boy saved Manchester United! Let Manchester United avoid a shocking upset, Pogba became famous with a goal, it is estimated that his name will appear in the headlines of major media tomorrow, and he also said that he will become the object of competition for major brokerage companies." ”
Gao Xiaodong also showed a happy smile in the stands, as soon as the goal was scored, he knew that Pogba was famous, and with Pogba's strength, it should not be a problem to enter the first team of Manchester United.
Crowley held hard for 90 minutes, but was finally broken by Pogba, although Crowley wanted to get back the score, but they simply did not have the ability to break through the Manchester United defence, and finally after three minutes of stoppage time, Crowley unfortunately lost 0:1 away to Manchester United and stopped in the FA Cup round of 16.