Chapter 348: FA Cup Promotion
The day after returning to Liverpool, Tang Wu and the rest of his teammates did not relax.
With Liverpool's current situation on three fronts, the schedule is tightly arranged.
The most terrible thing is that the Reds do not have enough depth on the bench, and there is no suitable substitute for Ben.
If it was good that the League Cup and FA Cup were eliminated at the beginning, and now that the FA Cup has also reached the semi-finals, even Bei Bald will feel distressed if he gives up at this time.
What's more, with Chelsea's current form, there is little hope of winning the league title. The Carabao Cup title could not satisfy the fans' tricky appetites, so the FA Cup title was precious.
On 16 April, Liverpool return to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to face the Magpies Newcastle for a place in the FA Cup final.
Newcastle are Liverpool's current contenders for top four, and although they are not as threatening as Everton, the Premier League giants still have the ability to squeeze out Liverpool and Everton in the final minute of the league.
In this game, Newcastle faced the helplessness of injury attrition, Dyer and Bowyer were sidelined due to suspension, while Brambo and Jenas were sidelined due to injury. After being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday, Sporting Lisbon, Robert was recalled by Souness and replaced by 18-year-old N'Zogbia in the starting line-up.
The team that qualified for the Champions League semi-finals played an FA Cup semi-final against a team that had been eliminated from the Europa League semi-finals, a game that was thrown out before the gimmick even began.
It was also the first time he had led the team to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. In order to earn four and the Champions League, Bei Bald tried his best to put out a set of semi-main lineups, which can be pieced together, and this set of "semi-main lineups" is almost the same as the main lineup.
Both sides are old acquaintances, and the game starts against each other.
In the 19th minute, the Reds were the first to break the deadlock.
Babayaro made a mistake in the tackle on the left and Garcia crossed low into the box. Magpies defender Bomsson slipped when he tried to intercept the ball, and Cisse certainly didn't miss such a good opportunity to fire home from eight yards in front of goal. It was the Frenchman's first goal since returning from injury last year.
Cisse's goal sent Liverpool by surprise, with everyone, including Reds fans, stunned and then delighted. If Cisse can return to the way he was at the beginning of the season, what else will Liverpool play on the counter-attack?
As last season's Ligue 1 top scorer, Cisse has had a lot of luck when he arrived at Liverpool this season.
The early stage of the league did not live up to expectations, and as he settled into the Premier League, he was tackled and broke his leg.
That said, so far Cisse has not even had a chance to prove himself.
The KOPs don't demand as much of Cisse as Owen anymore, and they just want the French striker to be like he was at the start of the season, and although he hasn't proven himself yet, he's been on his way.
After taking a one-goal lead, the Reds began to play attacking football, and poor Magpies found that the Reds' opening three-board axe did not stop over time.
Looking at the long passes that kept being kicked from the backfield, the Newcastle players were frightened one by one, for fear that one would accidentally be attacked by the Red Army.
Especially Tang Wu, as if he was crazy, Tang Wu's performance was a little unusual after returning from Turin.
Not only did the amount of training increase on weekdays, but the amount of food also began to skyrocket.
According to Alonso's grapevine, Tang Wu has been looking at cheats on increasing endurance lately.
For this reason, the rest of the Reds players also fell ill.
Not only will he be caught by Tang Wu as a running companion on weekdays, but he will even accept Tang Wu's invitation after training and be happy again in the gym.
Now, these Red Army members who were tortured by Tang Wu are once again stubborn and running back and forth on the field.
However, compared to the magpies, who have never been "trained" like this, they are still much happier.
As long as the ball was confiscated by Tang Wu's hands, he would stand up as soon as possible and look for Cisse at the forefront.
Cisse, who has just returned, is also full of vitality, and he has not run on the football field for too long, and he is like a beast in heat every time, running with the ball.
In the final moments of the first half, Liverpool extended their lead.
Cisse's rampage disrupted the Newcastle defence, and Reiser took the opportunity to outflank the back post and pick up Cisse's cross and head home.
With a two-goal lead, Liverpool returned to the dressing room.
In the second half, Souness replaced Faye, who suffered an ankle injury, with N'Zogbia at half-time, to strengthen the attack, while Barbayaro, who exposed his defensive weakness on the left, was also replaced by O'Brien due to a thigh injury, and Steven Taylor moved to left-back.
But the leading Reds still did not stop, and in the 58th minute, they continued to expand the score. Alonso burst in front of Newcastle and was about to shoot when Bomsson was tackled and the ball rolled to Finnan's feet. The latter played a through ball to Cisse and the Frenchman slotted home the second goal of the game from 16 yards.
Cisse, who scored twice, became more and more courageous, and Bei Bald also hoped that Cisse's spirit would continue.
A young and energetic Cisse can not only bring goals and victories to Liverpool, but also disrupt the entire Newcastle team and make them abandon the race for a top-four finish sooner rather than later.
It seemed that the offensive was going too well, and the Reds were a little fluttering.
After Newcastle restarted, Shearer made a long pass on the right, Ameobi received the ball and shot from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area, the ball hit Tang Wu's instep and bounced a little too big, and fell to the feet of Shearer who rushed forward again. The England centre-forward certainly didn't miss out on such an opportunity, flying straight with his right foot and volleying the ball into the empty net.
3-1, Souness switched to Kluivert in the 63rd minute and changed the formation to 433, intending to let go.
However, the "aging" Dutch striker did not save the team like his peer Ruud van Nistelrooy, and in the 75th minute, Cisse wanted to play a one-two with Garcia in front of the penalty area. But the Spanish winger deceived not only his team-mates, but also his opponents.
Facing Newcastle goalkeeper Given, whose center of gravity had shifted, Garcia nudged and sealed the win with the simplest of blows.
4-1, this is the 12th time in Liverpool's history that they have reached the FA Cup final.
On the other side of the pitch, Arsenal and Manchester United staged a "life-and-death battle".
For the Gunners, Ice Prince Bergkamp started in place of Thierry Henry, who was out injured, and teenager Reyes, with centre-back Campbell eventually on the bench and Toure and Swiss teenager Senderos starting in central defence.
Manchester United's Heinze was replaced by O'Shea, Brown replaced the injured Gary Neville, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney started up front, and Ronaldo, the best player in last year's FA Cup final, also started.
The two sides were unable to achieve anything in a 120-minute battle, and in the end they could only rely on penalties to decide the winner.
In the first round, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a penalty kick in one fell swoop, and Lauren also scored a penalty; In the second round, Scholes's penalty was saved by Lehmann, and Ljungberg fired the spot-kick into the spot, giving Arsenal a 2-1 lead; In the third round, Ronaldo and Robin van Persie both scored penalties; In the fourth round, Rooney and Ashley Cole both scored penalties; In the fifth round, Roy Keane converted a penalty, but Gunners captain Patrick Vieira scored a crucial penalty to make it 5-4 for Arsenal to help them advance to the final.
The Manchester United players who had performed well after the game looked frustrated, with Rio Ferdinand weeping bitterly. Scholes, who missed the penalty, also crouched to the side alone, crying.
The old gentleman was chewing gum on the sidelines, looking thoughtful.
Everyone knows that although the season is not over yet, Manchester United has already ushered in an end to the end of the big four.
And Liverpool, the arch's sworn enemy, has not only won the League Cup, but also reached the Champions League semi-finals and the FA Cup final.
For the old man who has devoted his life to "pulling Liverpool off the throne", this season is undoubtedly a sad and painful season.
Xiao Xiao Luo stood on the sidelines, looking at the Arsenal players celebrating wantonly in the field, and a trace of bitterness welled up in his heart.
A few days ago, he also received a small gift that Tang Wu bought for him, which was a plane ticket from Manchester to Turin; And now, he can't meet Tang Wu in the FA Cup final and say thank you in person.
This is something that Xiao Xiaoluo, who has a strong sense of self-esteem, can't let go.
In reality, how can manpower turn back time?
Xiao Xiao Luo clenched his fists, and he vowed that next season, he must make his name resound all over the world.