4.041 Manchester City
Maybe the new stadium can indeed increase the team's combat effectiveness, Li Chengfeng, who has gained a humiliating draw, can't help but think. I wonder when Leeds United's new stadium will start construction? It should be soon.
Due to the results of Leeds United in recent seasons, the only professional team in Leeds City has become more and more influential in the city, and it is more sought after by fans than before, which has made Leeds United's new stadium plan much smoother, and maybe the new stadium can start construction next year. The team will expand the area on the site of the current Elland Road Stadium and build a larger, more modern stadium. The new stadium will have a larger honor room and tens of thousands of square meters of commercial area. Li Chengfeng hopes that when the new stadium is completed, it will bring hundreds of millions of pounds of matchday revenue to Leeds United every year.
Well, thinking too much, Leeds still need to accumulate more accolades and disappointments, and their strongest rival is Manchester City, who have oil capital and Pep Guardiola. Now, it's time for them to go head-to-head and decide the fate of the season.
Leeds United lost the first FA Cup semi-final match against Manchester City over four legs, and in the FA Cup, the rotating Leeds United lost 1-0 away to Manchester City and were knocked out of the competition. However, the price was worth it, as Leeds United won 1-0 at home to Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League just days later.
Perhaps it was Leeds United's 3-0 slaughter at home in last season's Champions League knockout tie between the two teams, and Guardiola was fresh in his memory, as he chose to compromise and play defensively away from home, something he rarely saw in his managerial career.
Now that Guardiola has begun to be obscene, Li Chengfeng will naturally not be polite, and Leeds United began to take the initiative to attack at the beginning. In the 8th minute of the game, Milner sent an inverted triangle return pass after going down from the left side of the penalty area, and Ali in front of the goal volleyed the ball high.
However, Manchester City's counterattack was also sharp, in the 10th minute, Gundogan split the ball, Sterling on the left side of the ball all the way to the inside of the penalty area, and then a volley was blocked by De Ligt. The referee then ruled that De Ligt had cleared the ball for handball after watching the VAR video replay, and blew for a penalty and showed De Ligt a yellow card for warning.
However, Aguero's penalty was saved by Ederson, who judged to be in the right direction! Manchester City missed a great chance to score!
However, it was Leeds United who dominated the game, who took the game more seriously and prepared better.
In the 24th minute, Ali made a clever move on the left side of the ball, and Fernandes on the left side of the penalty area sent an inverted triangle pass, and Mbappe in front of the goal turned and volleyed after getting the ball and was saved by Cillessen.
In the 27th minute, Laporte made consecutive fouls to bring down Ali, who was dribbling forward, and the referee showed him a yellow card to warn him.
In the 28th minute, Kimmich sent the ball away with a powerful volley from in front of the penalty area.
In the 41st minute, Fernandinho pressed Mbappe down with a header in the midfield, and after falling to the ground, Fernandinho pressed Mbappe's head with his hand, and then a skirmish broke out between the two sides.
In the 42nd minute, Leeds United got a well-placed set-piece on the right side of the penalty area, and Fernandes' free-kick went through the wall and was firmly held by Cillessen.
Leeds United dominated the first half, but failed to take the lead, which made Li Chengfeng a little uneasy. City have done a good job defensively, especially in the area of early fouls, where they always foul Leeds before they become an actual threat, which can both interrupt Leeds and reduce the risk of winning cards, which Barcelona teams always like to play tricks on.
At half-time, Li Chengfeng praised the performance of the players and asked them to speed up the pace and speed up in the second half.
Yibian fought again, and Leeds United remained firmly in control. In the 48th minute, Salah cut inside with the ball on the right side of the front field and shot from a long distance to slightly deflect the ball.
In the 50th minute, Mbappe sent a diagonal kick in front, and Salah, who quickly advanced on the right side of the penalty area, fired a low shot that was firmly held by Cillessen.
In the 59th minute, Mahrez brought down Fernandes, who was dribbling forward, from behind, and the referee warned Mahrez for showing a yellow card.
With the decline in the physical strength of Leeds United players, Manchester City's offense began to improve, and Li Chengfeng also began to deploy troops to maintain Leeds United's offensive, especially Alai's play, like a bridgehead, firmly nailing Manchester City's defenders to the backfield, so that their counterattacks could not form a layer, of course, this is also because Manchester City did not send the strongest lineup, and the attack power was not so strong.
In the 73rd minute, David Silva turned the ball back on the right side of the penalty area, and Delph's long-range shot missed the right post of the goal and went too far off the bottom line.
In the 75th minute, David Silva and Raheem Sterling played a wall-to-wall link-up, and then David Silva, who cut inside to the middle, volleyed a volley that was blocked by a defender.
In the 78th minute, De Jong sent a pick pass to transfer, Salah on the right side of the penalty area grabbed the ball before the ball went out of the bottom line, and then dribbled away from the defense of Delph cut a few steps and scored with a calm low shot! 1-0!
Leeds still had a chance to extend the score, and in the 87th minute, De Jong sent a diagonal long pass forward, and Salah on the right side of the penalty area volleyed the ball away.
Leeds won 1-0 at home to Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola paid the price for his greed, but it's no surprise that he has often done so in knockout rounds and has paid the price on more than one occasion.
In fact, Li Chengfeng wanted to win more at home, but Guardiola uncharacteristically chose to take the initiative to defend, so that his idea could not be fully realized, but it was not satisfactory to be able to keep a clean sheet against the opponent. With just one away goal in the next leg, City will need to score at least three goals to progress.
Of course, there is still a league game between the two sides before the second leg, the home of Leeds United. In this game, Li Chengfeng almost changed a whole lineup, in addition to goalkeeper Ederson, even the teenager Rice also took the place of Kante, and Torreira joined the back. In this game, Li Chengfeng chose to defend and gave up the high position, mainly because Sancho and Christian Pulisic on the two wings did not have such a strong press, but they were fast enough to counterattack.
Pep Guardiola fielded his strongest squad in this game, perhaps hoping to beat Leeds United away and regain the initiative in the league. He has always attached importance to winning the Champions League in the league, of course, it may also be that he has no confidence in the Champions League, and after leaving Barcelona, Guardiola has not been able to qualify for the Champions League for several years.
However, in this game, although the players of Leeds United played a little bit behind Manchester City's strongest squad in terms of overall ability, they have better physical strength, and they can also play back and forth with their opponents through unremitting efforts, and this is Leeds United's home stadium.
Manchester City, who played with the strongest squad, were indeed much stronger, and they soon threatened Leeds United's goal.
In the 10th minute, after receiving a pass from D-Silva, Raheem Sterling fired a left-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area, but the ball grazed the right post and went wide. In the 15th minute, Manchester City sent a quick free-kick, De Bruyne provided the assist through ball, and Sterling fired a right-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area, and the ball flew into the Leeds United goal, 1-0.
In the 28th minute, after receiving a pass from D-Silva, Aguero fired a left-footed shot from the center of the penalty area, and the ball flew out of the top left corner of the goal.
City continued to dominate the second half, as they doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Alexis Sanchez provided the assist and Raheem Sterling fired a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the Leeds goal in the centre of the box.
Li Chengfeng didn't want to give up easily, he replaced Alai, focusing on high points and set-pieces, and wanted to use a simple and rough way to score goals.
Li Chengfeng's adjustment quickly paid off in the 72nd minute, Leeds United took a corner kick, and after receiving a cross from Pulisic from the side, Alli headed in the middle of the penalty area, 1-2, Leeds United pulled a goal back.
In the 75th minute, Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus replaced Sergio Aguero. In the 77th minute, Gundogan fired a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball went high into the top left corner of the goal. Crystal Palace's Meyer replaces Townsend. In the 79th minute, De Bruyne fired a right-footed shot from 35 yards out, but the ball grazed the right post.
In the 81st minute, Fernandes took a direct free kick with his right foot, and the ball flew into the bottom left corner of the opponent's goal. Leeds equalised.
Leeds United, who equalized the score, began to recycle their defense, and now it is Leeds United who are leading in the Premier League, and Li Chengfeng is not confident to use the second team to defeat Manchester City, so it is better to hold on to the draw. As for counter-attacks, having set-piece master Fernandes and strong point Alai up front is enough to create a huge threat. Manchester City, like Barcelona, have always had problems defending golf.
Manchester City also know their problems, and they are nowhere near as physically fit as Leeds United, who are fully rotated, and are already exhausted by this time of the game. Their attack is difficult to play in front of Leeds United's pressing, and with a threat like Alli behind them, they don't dare to attack unscrupulously.
Such a Manchester City will find it difficult to break down Leeds' goal, especially after Li Chengfeng replaced Rice and N'Golo Kante to play a meat grinder in the back three, and their attack is even more unsustainable.
In the end, the two teams played to a draw, although they failed to end the suspense of the Premier League championship in advance, but they were able to maintain a 2-point advantage with a rotating lineup, and Li Chengfeng was satisfied enough. In the second leg of the Champions League knockout round between the two sides, Li Chengfeng will ruin Guardiola's pursuit of the Champions League this season.
But that's fine, who called Guardiola so greedy and wanted everything, if he can concentrate on a game, whether it is the league or the Champions League, Li Chengfeng feels a lot tricky, as for now, let Guardiola have a headache.