Chapter 153: The Runaway Game (Part II)

[800โ™‚ small รท say โ—Ž net .], wonderful free reading without pop-ups!

Torino and Atalanta, the two teams have roughly similar quality levels, and if you look at the overall ability of the players on the field, the away team is stronger. However, they have the advantage of being at home, coupled with a higher level of tacit understanding and Alejandro Gomez's super individual ability, so in general, the home team has some slight advantages. However, this gap is too insignificant when Torino have a one-goal lead and are determined to fight back. Although many fans were shouting to cheer for the players, in fact, at the moment when Falke scored, most professionals and even the coach of the visiting team had already decided in their own hearts that the Red Bulls were basically about to usher in a winning streak.

After replacing the powerful high school striker Pinilla, Atalanta really had a bit of a headache for Torino's dense defence, with people in the box and in the area of 10 meters in front of them, and it was difficult to find good opportunities to shoot on the ground. And they didn't dare to invest too much in the attack, and the two fullbacks who were not slow did not dare to press through the half easily, after all, the threat of the opposing winger forward was too great, and the Brazilian central defender Toloi could barely fight, counting on Sukarnovic, who was only 10 speeds, to chase Hesse? It seems that even if you want to put a shovel behind your back, you may not be able to kick someone.

Although it is difficult for Gasperini to accept this result, he also has to accept the fact that his team has one foot on the edge of the cliff, and if they can't equalize as soon as possible, then when the morale and fitness of the players are exhausted, there will be no chance at all. So he instructed the assistant coach to call four or five players at the same time to warm up, and at the same time summoned the Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler, who was closest to him at this time, to his side, and instructed the team to further strengthen the long-range shooting, after all, the conventional weapons have basically failed, and the only way to make up his mind is Joe Hart, the "World Wave Witness".

But no one thought that the England international would give the coach such a face, and then gave a big gift to the home team.

In the 56th minute, just two minutes after the score was rewritten, Kurtic's forced cross from the wing was blocked by Bruno Perez. Fruller whipped in a high-curling corner from the right side of the visitors' flank and headed straight for the back post, where Joe Hart burst out with a single punch when his own defenders had almost killed all of the home team's attacking players. However, he made a major mistake in judging the landing point, and kept his eyes on the ball flying high in the air, not paying attention to the situation on the ground. As a result, after he took off, he found that his right hand was a little out of reach, so he could only barely hold the ball, and then hit the back of the team's central defender Rossettini, who had been entangled with Paloski, and fell directly to the ground, and then brought down another teammate Avilar. The ball was touched by the England international and reached the feet of Atalanta right-back Andrea Masiello, who was unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, who slotted the ball comfortably into the face of an empty net and the home side quickly equalised after conceding.

What the hell is this? When he saw the Atlanta players on the field celebrating excitedly, Li Mudi's mind was a little insufficient, and he didn't even react when the broadcast camera turned to his face, still with an expression of disbelief, adding new material to his emoji. The Torino coach thought to himself: "Although Joe Hart has always had inexplicable world waves before, which is directly related to his poor positioning and judgment skills, the factor of luck is also extremely crucial. And his goal-line skills and reflexes are indeed excellent, although it is difficult to be regarded as the top goalkeeper in the world in general, but it is undoubted to be in the top few in the ranks of the next level, and Valentino Cairo is also very optimistic about his ability to save dangerous balls and improve the team's defensive resilience in a short period of time. But who would have thought that this guy is also world-class when he makes low-level mistakes, and there is no one who will give a big gift to his opponent in his debut! โ€

Gasperini, on the other hand, was unusually happy, even happier than normal, because the opponent made such a serious mistake is absolutely unavoidable, although the odds of being able to meet are much higher than buying a lottery ticket to win, but three or four times in a season is considered super lucky, not to mention appearing at such an important moment of life and death, it is definitely the favor of Lady Luck.

As for the 1-1 scoreline, Atalanta also felt that it was acceptable to take a point after experiencing this short few minutes of thrilling. They gave up the previous strategic deployment of heavy attack and light defense, and instead played steadily, slowing down the pace of the game in an attempt to find long-range opportunities through possession, with a beacon like Joe Hart to show them the way, maybe which shot on goal could become the best goal, and even have a chance to win the "Puskas Award" awarded by FIFA. Of course, if there is really no good opportunity, it will not be easy to show the flaws to the opponent, and it is most important to ensure that the first points of the new season are received.

Li Mudi felt very aggrieved and helpless, the team's winning streak was almost over, but it was destroyed by such a super low-level mistake, and it was really difficult to score again in the hands of Atalanta, who was heavily defended. It's not that they can't attack strongly, but once the team presses too high, Alejandro Gomez will get space to make waves, and the Torino backline is not confident that it can hold on. So for the time being, I had to restore the opening tactics while consolidating the defense, and put Belotti in front again to see if I could catch some opportunities in the defensive transition. It's just that after rearranging the tactics, Li Mudi returned to the coach's seat, although his eyes were looking at the situation on the field, but he had to admit in his heart that this game was out of his control, and the choice of a draw or a winner had been completely handed over to Gasperini.

In the following ten minutes, both teams used up their remaining substitutions. On the home side, 35-year-old veteran Rajmondi and Napoli loanee midfielder Grassi replaced two starting central midfielders, Fruhler and Kurtic, respectively; In the 60th minute, Torino replaced the yellow-carded Aku and the physically exhausted Jesse with both Vives and Silvestri, with Silvestri occupying the right wing-back position and Brazilian Bruno Perez being brought up in midfield to take on the role of right winger.

In the next game, the home team frequently used long-range shots to "try their luck", and did not invest too many troops in the attack; The away team because they couldn't play a decent counterattack, each broke through and encountered the opponent's strict defense, so they had to make a fuss on the crosses from the two wings, Belotti repeatedly relied on excellent prediction and header ability to complete the goal, but Atalanta goalkeeper Sportiello was like a god today, and repeatedly saved Red Bebe's very threatening shots to ensure that the home team's goal was not attacked again.

Unconsciously, the time came to the 80th minute, and the situation on the field was still very stalemate, and no one could rewrite the score. And as time progresses, Li Mudi also wants to open, aside from Atalanta's poor results now, and the coach is also in a crisis of resignation, but in reality, he has beaten Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina, and won the fourth place in Serie A this season. Today is in someone's home field, the location is right and the nature is needless to say, Joe Hart's inexplicable mistake just now can also be seen as the time to occupy the home team's side, these three elements are not good for the Torino team, so getting a draw does not seem too unacceptable. After all, the league has only started three rounds, Li Mudi believes that as the team runs in better and better, the combat power and results will naturally improve, and this regret can be left at the Olympic Stadium in January to make up for it, and then he must let Gasperini know that he knows how good he is.

Just as the Torino boss had already put his mind on the second meeting between the two sides in four months, the pitch, which had been relatively dull, suddenly made waves. Marsiello, who had equalised the score, found that there was no ideal exit point after an assist, and under the interference of Benasi, he came directly from a long shot 35 meters away from the goal, but unfortunately the footwork was too rough and almost missed the touchline. Joe Hart then showed the world why he was sent by Pep Guardiola, only to see that his kick-off was neither accurate nor powerful, and was easily intercepted by the home team's defender Kessie in the middle of the field. The Ivorian played the ball to the left before Belotti could sneak up behind him, and substitute Grassi stopped the ball and stepped into the ball before sending an imaginative long-range through ball forward with his right foot. The ball slipped past the toes of two Torino players and landed firmly in front of left-winger Gomez, who used his excellent stopping skills to lead into the visitors' box.

Seeing that the opponent broke through his defense line so easily, Li Mudi was naturally extremely angry and disappointed, but before his emotions could be further vented, a major incident occurred in front of the Torino goal. Gomez first shook off Rossettini's center of gravity with a disguised pass, then flicked the ball to the middle and made a direct kick to the goal, which drew Vallejo from the defense to make a tackle. Unfortunately, this was another feint, and the Argentine immediately put down his slightly raised right foot and prepared to go straight to the away goal. It is not known whether Vallejo's tackle was too big or whether it was the Atalanta winger's deliberate action, whose left foot landed on the shoulder of the Spanish centre-back as he stepped over the Spanish centre-back, and he screamed and fell forward in pain. Although the referee was not very close to the scene of the incident, his vision was not disturbed, so he quickly blew the whistle to indicate that it was a defensive foul in the penalty area, awarded a penalty, but did not show Vallejo a yellow card.

Several players in Torino disagreed with this decision, believing that the opponent deliberately kicked the Spanish central defender and faked a fall. However, Li Mudi on the sidelines saw very clearly that Gomez must have a deliberate element, but the young Vallejo also opened his right hand to maintain balance when he slid the tackle, and did not completely withdraw his arm at the moment of the physical collision between the two sides, so there was also a certain fault. In such a situation where both sides are in trouble, it is understandable that the referee will favor the home team, so the argument is doomed to be fruitless. Fortunately, the players on the field were very measured, and after a few words of protest, they turned around and left, without taking the initiative to apply for a yellow card.

Ivory Coast defender Frank Kessie then came up and pulled out with a violent kick, Joe Hart misjudged the direction to make it 2-1, and the home team took the lead with ten minutes to go.

Gasperini immediately instructed his players to retreat, leaving only Gomez and Palowski in front of them, and the home side played the counter-attacking tactics that Torino had used before. The helpless Torino coach had to signal his players to attack with all their might, after all, there is not much difference between losing one goal and losing two, and if you can equalize before the end, you can still get a point. Looking at the Torino players who kept running on the field, looking for shooting opportunities, but always had to watch out for the opponent's sneak attack, Li Mudi's mood was completely low, this game was a good situation, but because of someone's two mistakes and lost the victory, it was too demoralizing. If he could win this opponent, combined with the weakness of the next two league opponents, the Torino boss is very confident that he will improve the team's position to the top four after five league games, which will be a strong boost to the club's support for him and the overall morale of the team. However, Atalanta only had three shots on goal in the whole game, except for one that was too positive and did not threaten much, and the remaining two caused goals, and both were related to the England goal. He inevitably thought to himself: if the starting goalkeeper for this game was Padelli, would the outcome be different? It's a pity that there are no ifs in this world, unless he is allowed to re-cross again......

In the end, Torino's desperate fight did not pay off, and Atalanta finally got their first points and first win in Serie A this season after two consecutive league defeats, which also allowed the local coach who had just joined the team to avoid the danger of resignation for the time being. Torino, on the other hand, missed out on a two-game winning streak and slipped to 15th place in the table, six points clear of the Old Lady who had won all three games.