Chapter 934: Heaven rewards diligence
Conceding the goal was in United's plan, Inter Milan are the defending champions after all, and they have the ability to find the back of the net.
But now they conceded less than three minutes into the game, and the original advantage of one and a half goals suddenly became a half-goal, and if they conceded another goal, they would be eliminated, which broke Manchester United's plan.
Manchester United could not have imagined conceding a goal in the opening game when they were preparing for the game.
It would have been a normal goal, but it was still an offside goal.
It's so frustrating and infuriating to score like that.
Once the game started again, the United players could not remain calm and with the current scoreline, United could no longer continue to defend and counter-attack, and they had to keep scoring goals if they were to secure progress.
Although at the beginning of the game, in order to make up for the shortcomings of the central defenders, Ferguson sent a Fletcher, Carrick two back defenses, Gao Xiaodong and Scholes also have defensive tasks, but now the situation has changed, Inter Milan scored, Gao Xiaodong's comprehensive technical advantage was immediately revealed, originally in the pre-game training, he was both offensive and defensive, and now Gao Xiaodong's energy is immediately focused on attacking.
Carrick is also an attacking midfielder, although the current situation does not require him to participate in the attack, but Carrick was also a little annoyed by Inter Milan's offside goal, he spoke to Fletcher, and he pressed for the assist.
Fletcher also wanted to attack, but he was helpless, today he was the captain on the field, he needs to show the temperament and sacrifice of the captain, the team is still ahead, you can't defend alone, everyone rushes up, he can only stay behind and watch the family.
Don't look at today's Manchester United without fullbacks and wingers, but Gao Xiaodong and Rooney can pull the side, and the two fullbacks Evra and Rafael are also more offensive than defensive, the four of them attack from the side, Scholes and Carrick move forward in the middle, and the pressure on Inter Milan is still very great.
Although Leonardo made an arrangement of attacking and scoring early goals in terms of tactical arrangements today, even Leonardo did not expect his players to be so competitive and lucky, and scored in less than three minutes after the opening.
Leonardo is still young in the end, he doesn't have much game experience, and after scoring a goal, he didn't adjust the team's tactical play, and he can still play according to the original tactics.
Inter Milan are a counter-attacking team, and the midfielders are not very good at controlling the ball, and it is Sneijder, Pandev and Eto'o who can dribble the ball. Manchester United's quick rush quickly made the veterans of Inter Milan scramble, and they had to frequently make big moves.
In the 7th minute, Gao Xiaodong suddenly ran from the side to the midfield to steal Cambiaso, who was holding the ball, and then crossed diagonally to Rooney.
Gao Xiaodong knows Inter Milan very well, he didn't dribble the ball, he just wanted to play fast and drag down Inter Milan with fast attack.
Wayne Rooney received the ball and shook it past Zivo and cut across to the box, where Lucio quickly pounced to make up for it.
Rooney was not greedy, and he played a pass back to the edge of the box to find his team-mate Hernandez.
Hernandez shoots a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
But Inter centre-back Ranocchia arrived just in time to reach out and block Hernandez's shot.
At this moment, Manchester United needed to score, and the midfielder stepped forward very resolutely, and the ball flew out and landed right at the feet of Carrick, who could shoot himself or pass to Gao Xiaodong and Scholes.
Carrick had been out of action for a long time and was not confident in his long-range shot, so he selected Scholes from two passing spots, and a curling cross went around the defender and found Scholes accurately.
Scholes didn't expect Carrick to give himself, he has an excellent long-range shot, but he is old and lacks explosiveness, and he hopes that this goal will allow Gao Xiaodong to shoot the best.
But the ball has already passed, Scholes can't pass it again, and it's too complicated to pass it again, that's Barcelona's Arsenal style of play, Manchester United is simple and rude, Scholes meets the ball and shoots from a distance.
Scholes had a good shot and a half-high shot flew straight to the left side of the goal.
Inter goalkeeper Cesar was brave enough to make a leap of action and swoop the ball down the wing.
At this time, full-back Zivo appeared in the right position, and seeing Rooney pressing at great speed, Zivo drove the ball directly to the front with a big kick.
Zivo's kick was too powerful and the ball went straight to the touchline, but his clearance was also given to his team-mates
Although Zivo's kick was a bit outrageous, it finally bought his teammates a little breathing time.
Manchester United sent the ball, the ball passed to the feet of Scholes, and now the players of Inter Milan are under the pressure of Manchester United, except for the forwards, everyone else has gone back to defend, and no one has come to force Scholes, giving Scholes enough time to observe and think.
Scholes spotted Hernandez's movement and he slotted straight down the middle, Hernandez burst into the box and fired a shot from the right wing, but the ball was blocked by Ranocchia.
Manchester United were awarded a corner.
Scholes is an old goblin, he knows that Inter Milan has a lot of veterans in the lineup, and he deliberately wants to speed up the game, and immediately signaled Gao Xiaodong to send a corner kick.
Gao Xiaodong also knew very well what his old club's weaknesses were, he understood it, trotted away, came to the corner flag area, and quickly drove the ball to the penalty area.
The ball failed to get past Lucio, who was pushed out of the box.
At this moment, Manchester United's soldiers pressed the situation, and the back Fletcher grabbed the landing point and gave the ball to Gao Xiaodong on the left side.
Gao Xiaodong used his speed to take five steps past Maikong, went down to the bottom line, and swept the ball into the penalty area with a vigorous kick.
Gao Xiaodong couldn't pass the ball with his feet anymore, almost the same footwork as a shot, Mota wanted to intercept the ball, but he was a step too slow, and the ball flew from under his feet into the penalty area.
Rooney and Hernandez still didn't touch the ball in the middle, Lucio and Ranocchia didn't dare to touch the ball again, and the ball flew in front of the goal and came to the right side of the small penalty area.
At this point, Manchester United's right-back Rafael had already hit the penalty area, and he pushed the empty net from a tight angle unmarked, but the ball was too fast for Rafael to hit the ball into the sky in a few moments.
In the eyes of outsiders, this is already a good opportunity, Inter Milan fans dare not watch it anymore, and Manchester United fans are ready to celebrate.
No one could have imagined that such a good opportunity would be kicked by Raphael.
Andy Gray, the on-site commentator, was very disappointed and said: "It's really a defender's footwork! Such a close distance, it actually flew and was higher than the crossbar, if it was an Inter defender to play, it would be a difficult clearance." ”
Rafael himself was also frustrated, and he made an apologetic gesture at Gao Xiaodong on the other side of the court, indicating that it was his fault.
Gao Xiaodong waved his hand back at him, signaling him to hurry back to defend, and the opponent was about to serve a goal kick.
The average age of the 11 players who started Inter Milan has reached 30 years old, although they need to score, they do not want to play the rhythm very fast, goalkeeper Cesar did not rush when he opened the goal, nor did he open a big foot, but passed the ball to full-back McCone, slowly organized the attack, let Manchester United come up to steal.
With the exception of Paul Scholes, Patrice Evra and Patten van der Sar, the rest of the players are all young, athletic and physical, and they are not afraid of only Samuel Eto'o, a point of counter-attack with speed, who boldly went up to press and forced long balls when Inter Milan had the ball.
Inter Milan's ability to reverse the ball at the back was not bad, and Manchester United concentrated five talents in front to force Inter Milan to kick wide, but Motta's big kick was very good, and the ball found Eto'o in the front.
Samuel Eto'o swung the ball wide as soon as he received the ball and tried to use his speed to break down United's right flank.
However, Eto'o is 30 years old and is not a cheetah from Barcelona, and Rafael has not been broken by him.
Samuel Eto'o was technically good and although he didn't make a breakthrough, the ball was firmly at his feet, and he pulled the ball back and spotted Sneijder's sudden cut into the box.
Samuel Eto'o immediately picked up the ball and made a quick pass to the box to find Sneijder.
Inter Milan's pass and run were very tacit and secretive, and United's two centre-backs, Smaling and Brown, had not yet reacted, and Sneijder had already cut into the box from Smarin's side.
Seeing that Sneijder was about to grab the landing point, at this time, Gao Xiaodong suddenly plugged in from behind and took the lead with a header to the side.
Gao Xiaodong played at Inter Milan for a year, and knew Eto and Sneijder very well, and when he saw Sneijder start, he quickly followed, and then destroyed the ball in a few shots.
Although Gao Xiaodong's clearance was not small, Patrice Evra still saved the ball near the touchline, and he quickly moved forward along the wing and straight into Inter's half.
It wasn't until Patrice Evra half-time that Inter mobilized their defence, with Stankovic blocking down the left to prevent Patrice from continuing to dribble.
Patrice Evra used his dexterity to get past Stankovic, who didn't continue to dribble and then crossed to Scholes.
Now Inter Milan's defender in the middle has returned, and when he saw Scholes receiving the ball, he immediately surrounded Scholes.
It's bullying Scholes without speed.
Scholes lost his pace, but his vision and experience were there, and he found a link between him and Hernandez in the crowd and quickly passed the ball to Hernandez.
Hernandez received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, quickly made a feint to cut forward, and then passed the ball to Gao Xiaodong, who quickly cut in from behind Scholes.
Gao Xiaodong adjusted his step point during the run, and followed the wheel and rounded his thighs.
Gao Xiaodong's shot is not a cold shot, and the angle is not tricky, but his preparation posture for shooting is also exaggerated, but the strength is great and the speed is extremely fast, goalkeeper Cesar fell to the ground and swooped, trying to block the ball from the bottom line, but the ball speed was too fast, and before Cesar could make a move after he fell, the ball hit his hand and bounced out.
This time is very bad, because when the goalkeeper pounces on the ball, he pounces the ball to the side or the bottom line to prevent the opponent from making up shots, but this time it is passively popped up, and the ball bounces directly to the middle.
Hernandez quickly inserted into the penalty area after passing the ball to Gao Xiaodong, even if Gao Xiaodong shot, Hernandez did not stop, he was very clever and looking for opportunities to make up for the shot.
Heaven rewarded him for his hard work, and Hernandez's aggressive running finally paid off handsomely, as the ball bounced right in front of Hernandez, who pushed the ball into the empty net with a push of his foot.
1:1
Hernandez scored a goal at a very dangerous time for United to equalise and extend the aggregate score to 3-2.