Chapter 32: Manchester United's Counterattack
At halftime, the two commentators, He Wei and Xu Yang, were commenting on the performance of the two teams in the first half. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
"On the football field, sometimes the score does not reflect the difference in strength between the two teams, and this game is the best way to illustrate this sentence." He Wei said with a little feeling, "Who would have thought that Manchester United would fall behind Dortmund by three goals at the end of the first half? Anyway, I didn't expect that, in my opinion, Manchester United's overall strength is stronger than Dortmund, but strength is not the whole of the game, and the on-the-spot play is sometimes more critical. But this is only the result of the first half, Manchester United still have a chance in the second half, looking forward to the wonderful performance of both teams in the second half!
'It was a game due to the weather, and both teams didn't have a very fast pace in the first half, but they still played well. Xu Yang commented, "Manchester United's defensive counterattack tactics played very successfully, but the striker's ability to seize the opportunity was too poor, and a lot of opportunities were wasted. Although Dortmund plays more fluently, they create no more absolute chances than Manchester United, but their ability to grasp opportunities is very strong, especially the play of Chinese player Pang Hao, which is eye-catching, Dortmund's three goals are closely related to Pang Hao, Pang Hao should be the best player of both teams in the first half! ”
"Xu Yang, did you ever think before the game that Pang Hao would have such a good performance?" He Wei asked with a smile.
"No, I really didn't think about it." Xu Yang replied truthfully, "I watched the two national team games that Pang Hao participated in, I really didn't think Pang Hao's strength was so strong at the time, maybe it was related to the opponent at that time, this game made me really see Pang Hao's strength." ”
"That's true, the key to being strong or not depends on your opponent." He Wei echoed, "Pang Hao's opponents in this game are Bailly, Jones and Luke Shaw, although these people cannot be said to be the world's top defenders, but at least they are also first-class defenders. ”
"I feel that Pang Hao has been improving, which is really rare." Xu Yang thought thoughtfully, "I still suggest that if Chinese players have the conditions, it is best to go to the high-level European league to train themselves, so that they can make greater progress." ”
By the time the two commentators commented on the first half of the game, the fat man had already returned to the locker room with his teammates. The fat man gasped for air, picked up a bottle of mineral water and drank it all, the fat man's physical exertion in this game was too great. Although he only played one first half, the fat man who inspired the three hot streams felt like he had played a ninety-point game. Fortunately, the fat man is young and in good health, but it will be a difficult challenge for the fat man to keep playing for another forty-five minutes.
Despite Dortmund's three-goal lead in the first half, Tuchel was still not very satisfied with the team's performance in midfield, especially the midfielder's unfavourable restrictions on Manchester United's counter-attack were criticized by Tuchel; The next criticism was the backline, Dortmund central defender Socoradis made many saves in the first half, reflecting the poor return of other defenders; The Fat Man, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Socoradis were praised by Tuchel's coach, with three men in front and one behind, two attacking and one defending, and were the biggest contributors to Dortmund's three-goal lead in the first half.
However, the fat man knows that Dortmund's midfield problems are difficult to solve in a short period of time, as Rita said, Dortmund will need at least one or two seasons to return to the level of last season, and Dortmund has too few players in his senior years. Although Gotze and Schurrle have just been introduced, it will take time for the two to integrate into the team, so whether Dortmund's strength will decline or rise in the new season, the fat man has no bottom in his heart.
Manchester United's dressing room is not at the same time at the moment, Manchester United's frontline players have been criticized by Mourinho, Mourinho has a reason to do so, because Manchester United fell behind in the first half because of the poor attack of the striker; And, of course, at the back, Jones also bowed his head to accept Mourinho's fury.
At the beginning of the second half, both teams made personnel changes. On Manchester United's side, goalkeeper Sergio Romero, centre-back Marcos Rojo, winger Ashley Young and striker Marcus Rashford came on to replace Johnstone, Jones, Jesse Lingard and Depay respectively. Dortmund's side replaced Paslak with Larsson, and Baltra replaced Bender, Paslak and Bender were not in good form and were slow to defend, which became the main reason for them to be replaced.
"Xu Yang, what do you think about the midfielder adjustment of the two teams?" He Wei asked.
'The managers of both teams have been very targeted with the changes and the players brought on by Manchester United were all players who did not play well in the first half, and the same was true for Borussia Dortmund. Xu Yang replied, "The attitude of the head coaches of the two teams in this game is very clear, you will go up if you are in good shape, and you will go down if you are not in good shape." ”
With the referee's whistle, the second half begins. After a fifteen-minute break at halftime, the fat man regained some strength, but he still felt very tired. The fat man had to try to persevere, but he knew it would not be long before he would be replaced by Tuchel.
However, the two teams invariably strengthened their defense in the second half, Manchester United was to prevent conceding another goal, they had already conceded three goals in the first half, and it would really hurt if they conceded another goal in the second half; Dortmund was to limit Manchester United's counterattack, and Dortmund also took the initiative to slow down the pace of the game and play control, after all, Dortmund is the leading side and has the initiative.
The fat man wandered around Manchester United's penalty area, the new Manchester United central defender Rojo is like a big enemy, he will be responsible for marking the fat man in the second half, Bailly did not relax his attention to the fat man, and the left wing-back Luke Shaw did not assist as often as in the first half, obviously he also has the task of helping Rojo.
The two teams resumed their tug-of-war, slowly looking for holes in their opponents' defenses, and the game returned to the way it started at the beginning of the first half.
"After the start of the second half, how did both teams strengthen their defense?" He Wei said with a smile, "This game is interesting, it is completely the rhythm at the beginning of the first half......"
"Manchester United conceded a bit more goals in the first half, so at the beginning of the second half, you definitely need to stabilize the back first, and look for opportunities to attack; Borussia Dortmund actually had a lot of holes in the first half, and coach Tuchel didn't seem to be very happy with his team's defense in the first half. Xu Yang analyzed.
It was only after five minutes of the second half that the two teams began to gradually intensify their attack. Manchester United still focus on Dortmund's middle, relying on the through ball of midfielder Juan Mata and others in the first half, Manchester United got a number of scoring opportunities. However, in the second half, Dortmund had already noticed this defensive hole, and the two new defenders, Bartra and Larsson, attacked with little strength to prevent United from playing the ribs of the Dortmund backline.
After Rashford came on the pitch, he was active in the middle, while Ashley Young and Juan Mata sent a number of passes to Rashford, but unfortunately they were all disrupted by Borussia Dortmund.
"I feel like Rashford is a little late" Xu Yang shook his head, "Dortmund now has a lot of defenders in the middle, and it is more difficult for Rashford to break through in the middle...... In the first half, Dortmund had a lot of chances in the middle......"
The fat man also knows Rashford, although the two have not officially met, but the fat man has been friends with Rashford for a long time, the reason is that the fat man first became famous in the Championship, that is, through the light of Rashford, that time Emma compared the fat man and Rashford in the newspaper, which directly made the fat man a household name in the Championship.
Marcus Rashford is slender and looks skinny, but he has excellent speed and explosiveness, and he is particularly capable of running. Manchester United's attacking midfield began to flourish under the leadership of Marcus Rashford.
In the 50th minute of the game, Juan Mata passed the ball to winger Ashley Young, who cut inside and passed diagonally to Rashford on the wing, who easily wiped out the defense of Dortmund full-back Larsson with the ball and hit the Dortmund goal, but the linesman raised the flag and Rashford was offside.
'Marcus Rashford is so fast, if the goal is not offside, Manchester United will have a good attacking opportunity.' Xu Yang was a little regretful, "If only Manchester United had played like this earlier, Manchester United lacked such a fast assault player in the first half......"
With 55 minutes played, United finally had their chance. Back Blind suddenly plugged, the target was Rashford, Dortmund's new central defender Baltra followed Rashford closely, ready to break the ball at any time, but the smart Rashford did not receive the ball, but leaked, Dortmund's ribs appeared empty again, and Mata on the back easily took the ball to get a single chance, but he did not choose to shoot in the face of Weidenfeller, but chose to cross, and Mcitaryan, who followed up in the middle, pushed the empty goal into the net.
"The ball is in! Mitaryan's goal, Manchester United pulled a goal back, rewriting the score to 1-3! He Wei said excitedly, "Msitaryan hit back, and while scoring the goal of his old club Dortmund, he also scored his first goal for Manchester United. ”
"This goal Mata is really selfless, directly facing the goalkeeper did not choose to shoot, but chose to pass, it is really not easy." Xu Yang had an admiring expression, "It seems that Mata intends to help Mcitaryan score his first goal after joining Manchester United!" ”
"This goal is actually also due to Marcus Rashford, his leak just now was so beautiful that it completely confused Baltra." He Wei commented, "It seems that this game is going to make waves again, and Manchester United still has time to equalize!" ”
"The two major highlights of this game are there, one is the performance of Chinese player Pang Hao, and the other is Missitaryan's counterattack, both of which have been realized, and this game is really interesting." Xu Yang, who was in a good mood, made a joke.
Seeing Mitaryan score, the Manchester United fans in the stadium finally broke out into a loud noise, and the Manchester United team they supported finally scored a goal.
"I didn't expect it to be Mitaryan who scored the first goal for Manchester United." A fan sighed, "But this Mata is really bad, he doesn't shoot with a single knife, but he wants to assist Mcitaryan to fight back!" ”
"My big Red Devils finally scored, it's great! Come on! Come on! A die-hard Manchester United fan shouted.
"Marcus Rashford is also very good, his leak is equivalent to an assist!" A Manchester United fan is venting his joy.
On the side of the pitch, Mourinho, whose face has always been gloomy, rarely smiled. His team finally got on the scoresheet, which gave him confidence for the rest of the game.
Some people are happy and some are worried, Manchester United is elated, Dortmund is cloudy, although the score is still ahead, but Tuchel coach is still quite depressed, the team's back line has always been Tuchel's heart disease, and now it seems that Dortmund's defense is still a big problem.
The fat man didn't expect Manchester United to pull a goal back so quickly, Manchester United is really a skinny camel bigger than a horse, despite the poor performance of the strikers in the first half, Manchester United has a deep heritage, and players quickly stepped up in the second half to help Manchester United score.
Mitaryan's goal seemed to activate his team-mates, and United played more aggressively. Ashley Young, who frequently broke through from the wings and constantly sent crosses to his teammates, suddenly faced great pressure on Dortmund's backline.
With 55 minutes played, United had another chance, this time with the Dortmund backline. Schmelzer, who had been defending steadily, made a mistake in passing, and the ball was cut off by Manchester United winger Ashley Young, who took the ball and crossed the middle, and Rashford, who was outflanked in the middle, got past Socoradis and shot directly from distance, but goalkeeper Weidenfeller was in a good position and managed to save the ball.
"Manchester United are getting momentum." He Wei commented, "After Msitaryan's goal, Manchester United seemed to have suddenly regained their form, they fought more aggressively, they shot more decisively, and they saw hope of equalising. ”
'Borussia Dortmund played a little loose in the second half, trying to control the game, but they were slowly handing over the initiative to Manchester United. Xu Yang commented, "Dortmund must suppress Manchester United through attack, blindly controlling the game, but disrupting their own offensive rhythm and giving Manchester United the opportunity to counterattack......"
As if to confirm the comments of the two commentators, Dortmund made another mistake in the midfield pass, and after Blind broke the ball, he quickly handed the ball to Mata, who accurately found winger Ashley Young with a pass, and Ashley Young relied on his speed to break through Schmelzer's defense at the moment of taking the ball, successfully brought the ball to the bottom line, and then inverted the triangle pass to the middle of the penalty area, Rashford seized the opportunity to shoot low into the goal.
'Marcus Rashford, youngster Marcus Rashford also got on the scoresheet.' He Wei was excited again, "Manchester United once again relied on the counterattack after the break, broke through Dortmund's goal, and successfully tied the score at 2-3, and Manchester United only fell behind by one goal." ”
"Sure enough, it's a substitution, and the two new players at Manchester United are obviously in better shape." Xu Yang sighed, "Dortmund must attack, and if you continue to play so slowly, the advantage you saved in the first half will be lost, and the offense is the best defense." ”
"The reason why Dortmund took the lead in the first half was because they successfully played the right side where Pang Hao was, and it was thanks to Pang Hao's breakthrough that Dortmund scored a goal, and they should continue to play like this in the second half." He Wei suggested.
"After Dortmund dominated possession in the second half, the role of Pang Hao and Aubameyang was not obvious." Xu Yang commented, "The two are the core of Dortmund's attack, if these two can't play, Dortmund's game will be difficult to play." ”
The fat man was quite depressed after seeing Manchester United's two goals in the second half. The fat man's game is here to brush his face, if the final score is tied or overtaken by Manchester United, the fat man's face brushing effect will be greatly reduced. But the fat man is not in a rut, and when coach Tuchel asked the team to focus on control at half-time, but in terms of results, it was not satisfactory. In the face of Manchester United's frantic counterattack, Dortmund's control seemed a little inadequate.
In the dugout, Thomas Tuchel saw his side concede another goal and finally realised that the tactics he had laid out at half-time had failed. 'Dortmund's midfield is no longer the strength of the last game, Dortmund's most advantageous weapon at this stage is attack, once they give up attacking, the team's defense will be full of holes. Tuchel thought silently. (To be continued.) )