Chapter 65: Within Reach
1:0!
The Fulham players in the penalty area looked at Ibrahimovic, who stood in place and stretched out his right fist towards the sky domineeringly after scoring the goal, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Ibrahimovic was beyond their strength. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info
Ibrahimovic's opener was his 20th league goal of the season and sealed the Premier League's best newcomer of the season!
Ibrahimovic's 33rd-minute goal gave Blackburn Rovers a good start.
Blackburn need a win and a draw would be a defeat for them. Even if Blackburn's strength completely crushes Fulham, many of the circumstances of this kind of crucial game that decides the league title are very unpredictable.
So Ibrahimovic's goal can be said to be a reassurance for Blackburn supporters.
Blackburn don't need 2:0, 3:0, as long as the current score is maintained until the end, they will be able to get the most satisfactory result!
As the game continued, Fulham's players seemed to be discouraged by Ibrahimovic's goal and their form dropped significantly.
In the 35th minute, Gyuli was fouled by a Fulham defender on a breakaway, who received a yellow card. Ibrahimovic then fired a free-kick straight wide of the left.
In the 36th minute, Duff took a corner kick and David Dunn scrambled to shoot high.
In the 37th minute, Blackburn had another good chance to extend the lead when Alonso fed Ibrahimovic's long pass, but the latter actually touched the ball above his arm when he stopped the ball in the penalty area and missed the chance to seal the win in the first half.
In the 38th minute, Finnan broke through successfully, but the Fulham goalkeeper attacked in time to confiscate the ball, 1 minute later, Ibrahimovic fell in the opponent's penalty area with a physical confrontation with the Fulham defender, but the referee did not give a penalty, which caused great dissatisfaction among Ibrahimovic and other Blackburn teammates, but apparently the referee saw that Ibrahimovic's strong body should not fall down in the penalty area, and insisted on his decision.
In the 42nd minute, Ibrahimovic played the ball to captain Jeff Kenner, who fired a shot from the edge of the box, but the Fulham centre-back defused Blackburn's attack with a suspected handball on the goal line.
In the final moments of the first half, the Fulham defender was shown a yellow card for a deliberate handball foul in order to block Alonso's pass into the box, and then Duff's free-kick went over the crossbar again.
The referee blew the final whistle for the first half and Fulham were lucky enough to fend off Blackburn's stormy attack and not widen the gap.
Fulham were finally satisfied to keep the back of the net and after nearly 20 minutes of frantic attack, they knew they might not have the energy to continue to defend themselves in the second half.
In fact, as expected by the Fulham side.
Just two minutes into the second half, Blackburn had a chance to double the lead, but Ibrahimovic's shot from six yards out was miraculously denied by the Fulham goalkeeper.
In the 50th minute, Duff's long-range shot bounced off a Fulham defender, and one minute later, Gyuli's long-range shot from 21 yards out hit the opposition defender again and deflected wide.
In the midst of all the suffering, Fulham finally felt a little exhausted, and Mourinho on the sidelines waved his hand and asked the team to continue to suppress Fulham.
In the 12th minute of the second half, Alonso led Blackburn Rovers to attack, he passed the ball to Cambiaso next to him, dodged the opponent's midfielder's tackle, and then quickly cut forward.
Alonso and Cambiaso's one-two combination completely tore apart Fulham's backline, Alonso faced the Fulham defender's forward defense, he just feigned a shot, deceived the opponent to raise his leg to block the angle, but he buckled with his right foot and successfully found Ibrahimovic in the crowd.
Ibrahimovic met the ball without hesitation and immediately got up and shot at goal.
This time, Ibrahimovic deliberately drew a big arc and deliberately went around the goalkeeper to hang a far corner.
The ball is shot very skillfully, and it is important for the goalkeeper to make a quick judgment in a tense game, but if you don't grasp the timing and strength of the jump, it is difficult to lift the ball.
Fulham's young goalkeeper took a rare breath to watch the trajectory of the ball's flight, suddenly rose to his feet, and began to fall after the ball passed the highest point, and when he was about to enter the goal, he beautifully lifted the ball out of the bottom line with a hand knife.
Then Gyuli's corner kick was taken, and the Fulham goalkeeper easily got the ball, and then quickly sent the ball out, it was a difficult counter-attacking opportunity, fleeting, to be able to take the lead early, it was a good situation.
Saha rushed forward quickly, and with a beautiful hook of the outside of his right foot, the ball was brought to Saha, and without the entanglement of the Blackburn defenders, Saha was like a wild horse, moving forward quickly.
Cambiaso immediately leaned on the ball when he saw the situation, trying to break the ball.
Saha was depressed for almost a whole game, and at this time, he finally had a chance to go wild, how could he let it go so easily?
Cambiaso was seen cutting through Saha's left side, trying to break the ball or get stuck.
Saha didn't fight him, he flicked his right foot out to avoid Cambiaso's momentum, and when he adjusted his pace, Cambiaso's momentum had weakened, Saha slammed his right foot inward again, and the ball slipped away from Cambiaso's side, and Saha ran back in reverse to avoid Cambiaso's menacing card position.
Saha quickly dribbled to the edge of the penalty area, and suddenly pulled his foot in the middle of the run, and the ball blasted into the top corner of the goal with a thunderous momentum, and Friedel reacted quickly and almost touched the ball in time, but unfortunately the ball grazed the top edge of the crossbar and flew off the bottom line, startling a burst of exclamations in the stands.
"I'll go, it turns out that Saha is so fierce! No wonder Ferguson took a fancy to him, I thought he had always been a parallel import! Arthur thought about it in fear, he had always thought that Saha was not to be feared, but now he knew that none of the players who could join the big clubs could be underestimated.
Blackburn's players were beaten into a cold sweat by this counterattack, and at Mourinho's signal, Carvalho hurriedly followed Saha, for fear that Saha would make another long-distance attack.
Blackburn's players were also emotionally aroused by the ball, running more aggressively, pressing forward more and more violently, and slowly showing the situation of pressing Fulham back into the half.
Mourinho frowned and gritted his teeth, thinking in his heart whether to let the team retreat from defense, after all, with the current strength of Fulham, as long as Blackburn is dedicated to defense, it is really difficult for the opponent to break through Blackburn's impregnable defense.
Mourinho can't be blamed for his utilitarianism, because with the lure of the league trophy, winning the game is too important, even if the strength of the opponent in front of him is really not worth mentioning.
Blackburn quickly organized two attacks, both of which were the final blows completed by Duff, but unfortunately Duff was a little out of shape today, a kick was flying, and a chance to face the goalkeeper directly in the penalty area was also wasted, and the substitutes on the field also hugged their heads and sighed regretfully.
However, Fulham's defensive line of substitute rotation players was really limited, and Blackburn Rovers soon had another chance to score!
Saha was cut off by Cambiaso in midfield, Alonso, who was about to grab it, quickly stepped forward, Cambiaso sent a through pass, Alonso split the ball in time before the opponent's midfielder stepped forward to mark, Duff suddenly flashed from the left and comfortably received the pass.
The Fulham right-back did not dare to be careless and turned to keep up with Duff, only to be blocked by the centre-backs at the back.
The Fulham centre-back took a step forward to stabilize his center of gravity, Duff adjusted the angle of the ball during the run, looked at Ibrahimovic on the forward line, and pushed out with his right foot without a trace, but the speed was amazing.
The Fulham defender only had time to subconsciously throw a kick to block, but he didn't touch anything as expected, and he didn't have the strength to block Duff who continued to move forward.
Ibrahimovic suddenly dropped back to play the ball, and Fulham's other centre-back was clever enough not to mark Ibrahimovic, but to block Duff from behind. Duff saw that the other party had seen through the cooperation between himself and Eevee, but he did not panic.
Duff was about to shoot with his feet, but it was just a false shot. But at this critical moment, how could the Fulham defenders think so much, they just subconsciously poked forward to block the angle, and the center of gravity was also deceived by Duff to move forward.
At this moment, Duff suddenly stopped the forward gesture, stopped the ball in front of him as soon as he withdrew with his right foot, and at the same time flashed the block of the Fulham defender, and the front was suddenly open.
Duff dodged the last defender of Fulham and then stopped the ball, the Fulham goalkeeper had already rushed over, watching the angle of the shot getting smaller and smaller, the Fulham goalkeeper was getting closer and closer to him, Duff was not in a hurry at all, just rubbed his feet lightly.
The Fulham goalkeeper was running, and suddenly he felt something fly over his head, and he was shocked, he already knew what was happening.
The ball is in!
By this time, the football was already bouncing and rolling in the net, and Duff rushed all the way to the stands of the Blackburn fans, and the Blackburn players behind him pounced one by one.
2:0!
Duff's goal came in the 72nd minute of the game and was almost the game-winning goal.
In the next second of Duff's goal, it was as if there was an earthquake at Ewood Park, and all the Blackburn fans who were there were jumping, jumping and cheering!
They were shouting the names of every Blackburn Rovers player, they were singing Blackburn's anthem loudly!
Blackburn Rovers are just 20 minutes away from the Premier League trophy for the first time in seven years!
Barclays Cup, within reach!