Neighbors living at Stamford Bridge came with great momentum, and Craven Farm was ready. In the middle of the week, head coach Coleman hid many main players and led his team to be eliminated by Wycombe Wanderers 2:1 in the first round of the League Cup. League Cup Of course it's not a big deal. It's not uncommon for Premier League teams to overturn, but you can't lose to a team in the fourth tier. It's too embarrassing.
So Coleman has received a lot of criticism, but people also understand that what really matters to this west London team is not the victory or defeat against the bottom team in the league, but the difference between them and their neighbors. The best thing is to win. Even if you win, you still have to show your momentum, otherwise the fans won't be able to retain them. The two clubs are really too close.
Therefore, when Jose was interviewed by reporters the day before, he complained: "Now other teams play against us as hard as the World Cup finals."
When the match day came and Fulham announced their starting lineup, the reporters saw that it was indeed the case. There were 11 starting players and 8 defensive players, not counting the goalkeeper! It was as if they were going to fight to the death with Chelsea, who are good at defensive counterattacks. Meaning: It doesn't matter if you don't score a goal, it's what matters if you don't score a goal.
But just like this, Fulham is also beating the drum in their hearts. It can be seen from the boos that were louder than in previous years when Chelsea entered the field. Fulham faced Drogba, Shevchenko, Lampard, Wang Ai, With an attacking system like Robben's, 8 people don't seem to be enough...
At ten o'clock in the evening Beijing time and three o'clock in the afternoon British time, the game officially started. Fulham gave up the midfield and the frontcourt and defended the backcourt. The dense lineup was numb. After Chelsea took control of the midfield and backcourt, they had no choice but to play. Don't send troops to attack the country.
In the 6th minute of the game, Robben created a direct free kick 30 meters away from the goal in the left front field. Captain Lampard took the kick. The ball was slightly higher than the goal post, which caused the Fulham fans to scream.
One minute later, Fulham launched a sharp counterattack. Rosario made a precise pass, but Collins, who was outflanking him, was just one step away. Two minutes later, Wang Ai made a pass from the bottom, and Drogba outflanked him in front of the goal to complete the shot. Unfortunately, it was slightly missed. 2 minutes later, Routledge made a pass from the bottom and was blocked by Ferreira. Routledge followed up and shot, but was blocked by Carvalho. Another Fulham player Kudru shot a supplementary shot. , and was caught by Cech again.
This is the case in a derby. Both sides are working hard, and it is fierce from the beginning. Facing the strong rise of Chelsea in recent years, Fulham has shown more and more hostility, not only to show that it is incompatible with Chelsea, but also to maintain its basic base. , also want to take advantage of multiple TV stations to broadcast the event and expand their influence, so they are particularly enthusiastic during the game.
However, this did not scare Chelsea. Since Jose anticipated Fulham's attitude, he certainly had ways to deal with it. After Fulham threatened Chelsea's goal three times in a row, Chelsea's counterattack was immediately launched. In the 14th minute of the game, Robben led The ball was tried to be cut in for a shot, but unfortunately the old man's footwork was not good enough yet. After trying to no avail, he passed it to the left wing. Ashley Cole, who came in to assist, swung a few times and then widened the shooting angle. A kick seemed to be passed and shot to the goal. In front of the goal, Fulham defender Pierce lowered his head, knocked the football out, and met Wang Ai who was wandering in the corner of the penalty area.
Before the ball hit the ground, Wang Ai took a shot. He shot the ball inside the instep of his right foot. Pierce wanted to stretch his head to block the shot, but he didn't touch it. Of course, it could also be that he realized that using his head to block the shot from the front was more dangerous, so he acted hesitantly.
. So the ball flew past his head. When the goalkeeper first saw the ball, he thought it landed in the middle, so he squatted down. When the football flew halfway and started to change direction and headed towards the near corner, it was too late for him to make any further moves.
Already.
Craven Farm was as quiet as a wheat field in the early morning, with only a few annoying sparrows chirping. After scoring, Wang Ai did not go to his own fans. There were too few, and his eyes were full of stiff expressions, so he went to celebrate with his teammates.
In the 14th minute of the game, Chelsea led 1:0.
Fulham served and the football was passed to the right front court. Michael Brown completely ignored Chelsea No. 13 in front of him and looked at Routledge not far behind him. Unexpectedly, he accidentally missed Jingzhou. Wang Ai did not know how to defend and rarely defended.
Doesn't mean he can't defend!
Therefore, when Michael Brown was performing a fake move in front of Wang Ai to show off his skills, Wang Ai kicked the ball regardless, and actually kicked the ball away. Ashley Cole, who was standing near the sideline, grabbed the ball before Diop.
Previously, I took the football and rushed forward along the sideline.
At this time, Wang Ai, who was knocked to the ground by Michael Brown, got up and ran forward with his legs spread. This was just the kick-off and Fulham's expected attack rhythm, so most people were in front of the halfway line.
, the extremely fast Ashley Cole crossed the center line in just a few steps after starting.
Wang Ai greeted while running, and after attracting many people to approach, Wang Ai became silent and started to run through the door to see who could run faster! There were several defenders who could outrun the forwards, so they waited until Wang Ai reached the penalty area.
When we are at the frontier, there is only one goalkeeper in front of us.
Damn it! It's too fast. How do you ask Ashley Cole to pass the ball? No wonder he has a bitter look on his face. While Ashley Cole was still entangled with his opponent in the corner flag area, Wang Ai hurried back,
Just when Zach Wright stepped on Wang Ai's offside line, Ashley Cole sent the ball.
Wang Ai stopped suddenly and turned around again, pressing Zach Wright next to him, and before the goalkeeper Niemi could reach his position, he hit the ball with his head, and the football missed the near post and entered the net.
Jose, who was sitting on the sidelines, laughed out loud next to his assistant Clark. Wang Ai's dash - back - dash fully demonstrated his physical advantage. This was really the winger he dreamed of!
Fulham players surrounded the referee Halsey, complaining that it was offside. Halsey looked at the linesman, who shook his head to indicate that the goal was valid. Halsey chose to trust his assistant, 2:0!
While Wang Ai was high-fiving Ashley Cole, he also heard his teammates teasing: "You run slower next time, I almost can't pass the ball."
The game restarted again after a minute, and this time no one showed off their skills in front of Wang Ai. On the contrary, Fulham's left back never made it past halftime. But in this way, the offense was short of manpower, and Chelsea became
More calm. Faced with Wang Ai's huge threat, Fulham could not defend, could not attack, and was unable to advance or retreat.
However, Fulham's defense against Wang Ai was still effective. Wang Ai "disappeared" for more than 20 minutes. Until the end of the first half, in order to get rid of the opponent's dog-skin plaster-like defense, Wang Ai ran to the left
He went to find Robben. As soon as the two of them ran, Fulham's overall defense exposed a gap in the left backfield, and had to use manpower to plug the leak. This made the center weak again.
As a result, Gremi made a diagonal pass from behind, allowing Lampard to seize the opportunity and hit a long shot from outside the penalty kick, turning the score into 3:0.
