"Manchester City passed the ball skillfully and continuously, and Manchester United couldn't intercept the ball in the midfield."
"The pass went back to the back line and was handed to David Luiz."
"Manchester City's central defender has already pressed forward, stopped the ball, and transferred it with a long diagonal pass."
"Beautiful! The right side is empty!"
Lichtsteiner had already rushed into the 30-meter area of Manchester United, stayed close to the right sideline, glanced at David Luiz's long pass, stood in position, stopped the ball with his chest, and quickly took control with his feet.
.
Park Ji-sung immediately rushed towards Lichtsteiner, but the Swiss full-back did not wait for him to rush over and rushed straight to the bottom line, deceiving Park Ji-sung to rush to the bottom line immediately.
Lichtsteiner made an emergency stop and spiked the ball, passing the ball across the ball to Robben's feet at the edge of the penalty area.
Suarez also rushed over to respond and wanted to have a one-two with Robben in the penalty area. As a result, when Suarez passed back, Carrick, who caught up in time, blocked the penalty area.
Rakitic caught up and was about to shoot, but Lass Diarra fell to the ground and tackled the ball, blocking it, but the ball was still in the penalty area.
Manchester United's penalty area was now in chaos.
Robben got the ball first, but was forced to take it to the outside. At the front of Manchester United's penalty area, when he didn't get close to him at the first time, the Dutch winger turned around, but at this time, Vidic was already close to him.
.
"This way!" Lichtsteiner raised his hand for the ball on the right side of the penalty area.
Robben immediately passed the ball over.
Lichtsteiner stopped the ball and moved forward, glanced at the penalty area, and noticed Suarez's movement. After a moment's pause, he caught up with him and made a direct half-high pass.
The ball passed Evra and landed in the middle of the small penalty area, just behind Manchester United's defense.
I saw Suarez jump out from the dense crowd, get ahead of Ferdinand, and push Lichtsteiner's pass.
The ball turned in one direction, and at a speed that was difficult to discern with the naked eye, it went straight to the right side of the Manchester United goal.
Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was standing in front of the goal, but he had no time to react to the shot that was so close.
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!"
"In the 24th minute, Manchester City took the lead in scoring!"
"Luis Suarez scored the first goal for Manchester City!"
The whole Etihad Stadium was in a state of excitement!
All Manchester City fans rushed out of their seats and cheered wildly for Suarez.
After the Uruguayan forward scored, he turned around and rushed to the sidelines, ran all the way to the sidelines, and finally knelt down in front of the fans' stands, causing countless Manchester City fans to scream crazily for him.
Other Manchester City players also swarmed up and surrounded him to celebrate this crucial goal for him.
"This is the first time Manchester City has scored in Manchester United's penalty area in this game!"
"This was also Manchester City's first attack of the game, and they scored directly!"
"This is the strength of a star!"
"They can be contained, frozen, defended, and even violated, but once they are given a chance, they can immediately show their most deadly murderous intent!"
"It may be just an inconspicuous loophole, but it is enough to be fatal!"
"This group of players at Manchester City are undoubtedly becoming, or have already become, top stars."
…
The entire stadium was filled with a tsunami of cheers from Manchester City fans.
Ferguson stood in front of the visiting team's coach's bench, his face very stern and ugly.
He expected to lose the ball first, but it was hard to accept.
Because the reason why he attacked desperately was to avoid conceding the ball first.
But it finally came.
Skills are inferior to humans!
Ferguson really had nothing to say.
Manchester United almost suppressed Manchester City in the half, even sacrificing their own physical fitness in the second half. The effect was indeed very good, but they failed to create a threat on the offensive end.
Javi Martinez, this Spanish midfielder is really strong and outstanding.
Ferguson once wanted to bring him in, but Manchester City got the better of him. Now he really regrets it.
"We didn't do enough close-quarters pressing. Like just now, Robben was able to turn around at the edge of the penalty area. This is incomprehensible." Mike Phelan was not very satisfied with the player's execution.
Ferguson glanced at his assistant, shook his head, and sighed inwardly: He was just a little bit worse than Queiroz.
Queiroz not only has outstanding training ability, but also has a unique vision and strong tactical attainments. He can become Ferguson's arm in all aspects, but now that his duties are divided into two, he is not as good as him alone.
But what can be done?
The Portuguese flies solo!
"It's not difficult to press closely, but once you get close to someone, what should you do if you get rid of it?" Ferguson asked in a stiff tone.
Mike Phelan was suddenly speechless.
David Silva, Robben, Rakitic, Suarez...
Among Manchester City's midfielders and frontcourt players, who doesn't have excellent footwork skills and escape ability?
It's easy to stay close to your body, but it's very dangerous to get rid of it.
So how do you weigh whether to have a close fit or not?
Many times, players have to make choices in an instant. It is impossible to ask them to always make the best decision. This is unreasonable because players are not machines and cannot always make the optimal solution.
If a coach does not give enough room for error when arranging tactics and always requires his players to make optimal solutions, then the team is destined to be doomed.
"Is there really no other way?" Mike Phelan knew that he was wrong and quickly made up for it.
"How could there be no way?" Ferguson laughed, "If our overall strength is better than Manchester City, then we can suppress our opponents in turn. For example, our passing and ball control are better than theirs, and our physical fitness is better than theirs.
They were outstanding, and our overall pressing was even better than theirs..."
But in fact, in all of these, Manchester United is inferior to Manchester City.
Even physical fitness is the same.
Some people have calculated that in this season's Premier League and Champions League, Manchester City is the best running team, even better than Barcelona.
Those two physical trainers at Gao Shen are treasures!
It's a pity that Ferguson can't dig it out.
There is no need for this.
…
After conceding a goal, Manchester United finally chose to retreat.
In fact, Ferguson knew very well that if he really continued to grab the ball, as the physical strength of Manchester United players was exhausted, they would concede more and more goals, and by that time, they might even be beaten by a big score.
Since we lost the ball first, there's nothing to say. Let's stabilize our position and then counterattack.
This is the wisest choice for Manchester United when facing Manchester City.
Although many people are unwilling to accept it, they must admit that Manchester City is currently stronger than Manchester United.
When the Red Devils stabilize their position and defend well, especially when the overall defense is in position, Manchester City does not dare to advance too easily.
Gao Shen has experienced the threat of Valencia and Rooney in counterattacks.
As a result, the style of painting in the stadium began to change again.
Manchester City began to control the ball and rhythm steadily, playing in a leisurely manner; Manchester United stayed patient and waited for the opportunity to counterattack.
Both sides started playing very cautiously and did not leave too many opportunities for the other side.
This is also the most common scene in the Champions League knockout rounds.
There is no name for the finals, and the same goes for the knockout rounds.
It must also be said that Manchester United's current lineup configuration is indeed not very strong on the offensive end, but the defense in the midfield and the backcourt, as well as the ball during counterattacks, are still quite good.
The arrival of Lars Diarra has improved Manchester United's midfield defense, and Sneijder also performed well both offensively and defensively.
As a result, the situation fell into a stalemate.
In the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, the most threatening attack from both sides came from Gareth Bale's direct free kick, which slightly missed the crossbar and flew out. It can be said that Manchester United was shocked.
Covered in cold sweat.
The Welshman not only has super stable scoring ability in Bell's area, as well as amazing speed and explosive power, but his free kicks are also quite good.
…
The first half ended in a score of 1-0, with Manchester City's goal temporarily taking the lead.
During the halftime break, Gao Shen still praised the team's performance and encouraged the players to keep up their efforts, especially in the second half.
"In the first 20 minutes of the first half, they attacked too hard and the energy consumption would be very high."
"We started the second half with a rush to increase the rhythm, but we had to pay attention behind us to avoid being counterattacked by our opponents. If we stole the tower, it would be a waste of money."
In fact, the players cannot fully understand the profound Chinese proverbs, but they always feel that they are particularly good at it.
The meaning must be clear.
"In the second half, we fought hard against our opponents and exhausted their energy. Time was very beneficial to us."
"Unless there is an injury, I will not make substitutions before the 85th minute, because I believe that you will give our opponent the most fatal blow when the opponent's physical energy is almost exhausted!"
That deep level of trust was echoed by the players.
When the team has already won the Premier League title in advance, if they win the Champions League, it will be a double crown. If they can defeat Manchester United and then win the FA Cup, it will be a triple crown!
Over the years, isn't what Ferguson is most proud of, and what Manchester United is most proud of in Premier League football, is the Triple Crown in 1999?
If Manchester City can win these three championships this season, it will definitely be the most powerful counterattack against their rivals in the same city.
"Everyone!" Gao Shen clapped vigorously, causing all the players to stand up and gather around him.
"A score of 1-0 is not safe and is not enough to ensure that we advance further in the semi-finals, so I hope you can continue your efforts and we will try to score another goal in the second half."
"I know this is difficult, but I believe you can do it!"
The affirmation and encouragement from Gao Shen made every Manchester City player feel refreshed.
Especially when Gao Shen stood at the door of the locker room, hugged them one by one, and sent them out of the locker room, the expressions on everyone's faces were full of determination.
"Boss, don't worry, leave it to us!"
"We won't let you down, boss!"
"Believe us, we will definitely reach the finals!"
"Get ready to celebrate, boss!"
"Boss, let's get a Triple Crown as a gift to celebrate your wedding!"
…
The players walked out one after another and said a variety of things when hugging Gao Shen.
But from their words and their expressions, I deeply felt the respect and love.
