Chapter 84: An Unexpected Draw
Seeing that the end of the first half was getting closer and closer, and their own goal was still broken by the opponent, the Rotherheim players, who had worked hard to defend for more than half an hour, were still a little disappointed. However, they had already corrected their position before the game, and they quickly got out of the state of loss, and still insisted on defensive counterattack tactics under the instructions of the head coach. On the other side, the Leeds United players, who had been attacking for half an hour, began to slowly relax as their running began to relax as the end was approaching.
In the 43rd minute, Rotherheim suddenly broke the ball in the midfield. Before the Leeds players could counter-attack, the ball had already raced across the entire half-court and straight behind the Leeds defenders. In the face of Rotherheim's best chance since the opening, the team's goalscorer Wang Hoskins successfully countered offside, and Heath, who started this game, could not drag it and could only sigh. In the face of the last line of defense, Hoskins, who was in a calm state of mind, fired a lob shot, and the ball crossed the attacking David Lucas and fell into the goal in a beautiful arc.
1:1, the hard work paid off, and Rotherheim, who insisted on defending and counterattacking, seized the best opportunity to successfully equalize.
In the end, with the referee's whistle, the Leeds United players on the pitch could only watch their opponents laugh and walk into the tunnel with laughter.
After a short half-time break, both teams were back on the pitch again. At the start of the second half, the situation on the pitch was still Leeds United attacking Rotherheim.
After the halftime break, after Wise emphasized tactics and running many times, the Leeds United players on the field played more efficiently, and threatened the door of Rotherheim many times after tacit passing and cooperation, but unfortunately they were blocked one by one in front of the morale-boosting Rotherheim players, and returned in vain. For a while, the situation on the field began to stalemate.
In the 62nd minute, David Plutton, who broke out on the left side, suddenly passed the ball into the penalty area after successive passes, and the center forward Thereso Candor successfully leaned on the opponent to push the ball to the front of the penalty area, and Hughes, who inserted the attack, volleyed the ball into the ball, but unfortunately it was not suppressed, and the ball flew out of the field against the crossbar.
But the attack was a clear morale boost to their team-mates, and Leeds came back five minutes later. This time, Hughes, who was at the peak of his career, managed to play the marker, and once again made a subtle pass with a fake shot. And Kandor in the penalty area, who had been saving up for half a season, finally broke out, perfectly stopping the ball in the most appropriate position and then turning and shooting in a standard and fast way. Although the Rotherheim goalkeeper made the first flying save, unfortunately due to the position, the ball still escaped between the goalkeeper's hand and the post and into the goal.
2:1, Leeds United, who were superior, once again exceeded the score.
After the goal, Wise on the sidelines began to signal the players to slow down the attack and pay attention to conserving energy. As the clock reached 80 minutes, Wise used the last substitution, replacing the right-back Richardson with a youngster from the second team, but what he never expected was that it was this substitution that changed the situation on the field.
In the 87th minute, seeing that the game was about to end, Rotherheim's players played more and more urgently, and in the face of Leeds United players who retreated, it obviously had no effect, but sometimes it was really a miracle.
Rotherheim went down the left flank again, and in the face of the aggressively defending Leeds youngster, Ricky Partridge was ready to cross as always. Just as his right foot was about to hit the ball, Partridge felt a sudden tilt of his supporting foot, and his body immediately fell backwards, but the ball was still passed.
Watching the ball fly closer and closer, the players of both teams in the penalty area kept making small movements in their hands, you pushed me and prepared to occupy a favorable position, but as the ball fell, the two jumps of the front and middle players did not reach the ball, but attracted the attention of the goalkeeper.
Flying and flying, in the desperate eyes of the Leeds United players and the hopeful eyes of the Rotherheim players, the ball actually grazed the connection between the crossbar and the post and bounced into the net on the inside.
Looking at all the personnel of the ecstatic Rotherheim, Leeds United had a speechless expression from top to bottom, and in the face of such a bullish world wave, Leeds United could only swallow the bitter fruit. In the end, Leeds United were unexpectedly held to a draw at home by an in-form Rotherheim.
After the game, the local media reported the game in detail, focusing on the world wave before the end of the game, and predicting that Rotherheim had come out of the predicament after this game and would be relegated this season. But the fact is that Rotherheim was still relegated at the end of the season, and the head coach was directly dismissed. So, just listen to some words, and if you take it seriously, you will become a ****.
Not to mention Rotherheim, who had a windfall, with the frustration of the previous game, Leeds United continued to welcome their next league opponent, the mid-table Crewe team three days later. In order not to have an accident in the last game, the head coach of this game was to let Tang Fei start the game, and his partner was Huntington; In midfield, Wise replaced Kyro, who had a medily performance in the previous game, with Westlake on Westleck.
As soon as the game began, Leeds United, who were playing at home, launched an attack. As the game wore on, the midfielders, led by Hughes, slowly gained the upper hand and had a couple of attempted shots. In the 22nd minute, Leeds United got a chance with a personal breakthrough.
Maybe it was because he had been holding back for too long, but Hughes once again played at his strongest level in this game. With the ball in the middle, he faced the three-sided encirclement of Crewe's three players, turned his head to look at Pluton on the left, and immediately made a pass with his right foot. And in order to block Hughes's passing lane, Crewe's players also moved to the left.
Seeing that the originally tightly knit three-person encirclement suddenly passively appeared a gap, Hughes, who smiled slightly at the corner of his mouth, changed his feet and suddenly took the ball forward. In the face of Hughes's unexpected behavior, the three defenders who wanted to plug the hole couldn't help but be half a step slower, and could only watch Hughes leave him behind and walk away.
Seeing this perfect combination of skill and courage, ......the Leeds United fans in the stands burst into thunderous applause.
After quickly getting out of the encirclement, Hughes strode forward and headed straight for the edge of the penalty area, at which time Crewe's two central defenders had been pulled away by Flo and Candor, and a one-on-one situation was immediately formed on the field.
While dribbling the ball and paying attention to the position of the opposing goalkeeper, Hughes, who was not in a hurry, had already entered the big penalty area. Seeing that the goalkeeper Crewe was still hovering between attacking and defending, Hughes resolutely picked up his right leg and hit the goal directly.
"Huh!" The powerful ball flew against the white net for a few seconds before falling to the ground, and the Elland Road Stadium was once again a sea of celebration.
Once again the opening lead, this time Leeds United became solid. Tang Fei directly incarnated as the patron saint of the forbidden area, facing Crewe's attack, he used superb defense again and again to make the opponent desperate, quite a posture of being a man and a man. Tang Fei's perfect performance on the pitch also made his teammates on the field feel more secure and more willing to give him their backs, which also further improved the concentration of Leeds United players when attacking.
Unfortunately, the shameful and courageous Crewe goalkeeper repeatedly showed his goalkeeping ability, coupled with the active defense of the defenders, Leeds United were unable to extend the score at the end of the first half, and finally temporarily led the opponent by one goal.