The foul also caused some controversy.

Casemiro ran up to the referee and complained that Xhaka was already the last defender and that if Vardy hadn't been fouled, it would have been a one-on-one shot.

The implication is that Xhaka should be given a red card.

This thoughtful gesture was to get Card Master to leave the game in 2 minutes, so that he would not even have to take a shower when he returned to the locker room.

However, Xhaka pointed to Dominguez, Stronz and other central defenders on the side, saying that they were right next to him, and even if he was shaken over, it was not an absolute one-man chance.

The two sides argued for a while, but the referee upheld the original verdict.

There is no VAR replay yet, but from Pan Yi's point of view on the sidelines, it is true that this foul is not enough to be a red card.

Xhaka's best bet is to work with his team-mates to break the ball rather than recklessly tackle it.

But Pan Yi also put pressure on the referee by Casemiro, which is a good thing after all.

This made the referee even more impressed by Xhaka's foul, and when the next card master made another move, he could pull out a more brightly colored card.

Hamburg were awarded a free-kick on the right side of the pitch.

Although the position is average, judging from the number of troops invested by both sides, Hamburg and Borussia Mönchenchen attach great importance to this set-piece.

On Hamburg's side, all the players were ready to attack, except for goalkeeper Keylor Navas at the back and two full-backs, Ogo and Carvajal, at the top of the halfway line.

And Borussia Mönchen even discharged a three-man wall, and then all the players were crowded in the big penalty area ready to defend.

Why do both sides value?

From Borussia Mönchen's point of view, their retro style of play relies heavily on the quality of crosses from both sides to the centre-forwards, but manager Favre clearly knows that this style of play can also be easily targeted.

So he put a lot of energy into set-piece drills, and designed a lot of attacking routines for corners and free kicks.

Corners, in particular, are a great threat in the box thanks to the presence of two centre-forwards and two 190cm tall centre-backs.

In fact, in the last four rounds of the Bundesliga, Borussia Mönchen have scored a total of 6 goals, and 4 of them have been scored from set-pieces!

While attaching importance to set-piece attack, Mönchen will naturally defend the opponent's set-piece and have a set of systematic tactics.

After all, this kind of offensive and defensive training is integrated within the team, and when practicing offense, it is also practicing the defense of the other side.

From Hamburg's point of view, Pan Yi has always attached great importance to set-piece tactics, and there will suddenly be some whimsical ideas for the players to experiment with in training.

When he was still in Milan last season, he scored from set-pieces that he came up with on several occasions.

This time, Kevin De Bruyne and Son Heung-min were already on the penalty spot on the right side of the penalty area.

De Bruyne is mainly right-footed, while Son Heung-min can be left-footed, and they are also standing a bit parallel to the goal at this time, making it difficult to see who will take the penalty.

And ahead, all the highs of Hamburg have already gone in.

Rudiger, Kjaer, Vardy......

There are also layers of positions between them, some in front, some in the middle, and some close to the penalty spot.

Outside the penalty area, Wu Lei, Makoto Hasebe and others are all standing around the top of the arc.

In this way, if there is a ball, you can rush forward into the penalty area to shoot, and if you lose the ball, you can retreat in time to defend.

And Menxing's side is even more vigilant.

With the exception of the three-man wall, they went straight at the edge of the six-man penalty area and lined up a six-player defence.

Near the top of the arc of the penalty area, there is also a player who is maneuvering, ready to save the follow-up shot of the man behind Hamburg at the edge of the penalty area, and at the same time beware of the penalty officer on the Hamburg side who will hand the ball directly to the player at the top of the arc to shoot directly.

The nervousness of the players on the field also spread to the audience and the sidelines.

All the fans and coaches, substitutes, staff watched with bated breath as De Bruyne – the penalty taker of the free-kick.

With a crisp, short whistle, De Bruyne took four or five steps back before looking up into the box.

As De Bruyne ran forward as if he was about to hit the ball, the Hamburg players in the box moved as well.

Rudiger, Kjaer and Jamie Vardy started running back the corner.

Obviously, this is to use De Bruyne's right foot to rub the curling ball directly into the back post of Menchenchen!

Grab the three highs together, and there will definitely be grabs.

Borussia Mönchen's defenders didn't dare to slack off, and the players who had been lining up in a line also began to move back with the Hamburg trio, trying to jam their positions and not give the opponent space to head the goal.

But at this moment, the unexpected happened.

De Bruyne didn't stretch his foot when he ran to the ball, but went straight around the ball and rushed forward!

In an instant, he had already rushed behind the three-man wall of Menxing.

Almost at the same moment, Son Heung-min threw a low ball with his left foot and fed it to Kevin De Bruyne.

Because the running position of the Hamburg players in the penalty area just now attracted the attention of all the Mönchen players, at this time, there were no defenders in front of De Bruyne!

Borussia Mönchenchen's players have just woken up from a dream: it's a well-designed free-kick tactical combination!

Xhaka, who was in the wall, reacted the quickest, flying in for a tackle to deny De Bruyne's shot.

But it was too late.

De Bruyne shoots hard and the ball goes straight to the top right corner of the goal!

Because the distance was too close and the ball speed was too fast, Borussia Mönchen's young goalkeeper Ter Stegen only subconsciously raised his right hand, but was powerless to prevent the ball from entering the net.

"The ball went to !!!"

"It was Kevin De Bruyne who scored the goal!"

"Just two minutes into the game, Hamburg took a clever free-kick and De Bruyne took the lead in scoring the goal of Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1-0!"

"This hamburger midfield commander is not making cakes this time, but eats one himself!"

"The free-kick tactic was clearly designed and rehearsed, and it reminds me of the 1998 World Cup when Zanetti opened the door for Argentina against England."

"Of course, before that, in the United States in 1994, Sweden's goal against Romania by striker Brolin was a similar tactic!"

It was Hamburg's 11th goal in five games and De Bruyne's first in the Bundesliga! ……”

At the moment when Sun Xingmin passed the ball, Pan Yi already had a premonition that the ball was there, and the whole person had already stood up.

When the referee's whistle sounded for the goal, he cheered and raised his arms high.

It doesn't get much better than that!

————

PS: At the beginning of the month, double the monthly pass!

(End of chapter)