Chapter 172 Set-piece tactics (please vote for me)
This foul also caused some disputes.
Casemiro ran to the referee and complained that Xhaka was the last defensive player, and if Vardy had not been fouled and went in, it would have been a one-man goal.
The implication is that Xhaka should be given a red card.
This thoughtful move is to allow the Card Master to leave the game in 2 minutes, so that he doesn't even have to take a shower when he returns to the locker room.
But Xhaka pointed to Dominguez, Strongz and other central defender teammates on the side, saying that they were beside him, and even if he was passed by, it would not be an absolute one-on-one opportunity.
The two sides argued for a while, but the referee upheld the original decision.
There is no VAR replay yet, but from Pan Yi's perspective on the sidelines, it is true that this foul is not enough to warrant a red card.
Xhaka's best choice is to cooperate with his teammates to intercept the ball instead of making reckless tackles.
But Pan Yi also let Casemiro put pressure on the referee, which is a good thing after all.
This will make the referee more impressed by Xhaka's foul, and when the card master takes action next time, he can take out a brighter color card.
Hamburg thus got a free kick opportunity from the right side of the frontcourt.
Although the position is average, judging from the forces invested by both sides, both Hamburg and Borussia attach great importance to this set piece.
On Hamburg's side, except for goalkeeper Navas standing in the backcourt and two full-backs Ogo and Carvajal standing at the top of the center arc, all players are ready to participate in the attack.
Borussia Monchengladbach even formed a three-man wall, and then all the players crowded into the penalty area and prepared to defend.
Why do both sides value it?
From Borussia's perspective, their retro style of play relies heavily on the quality of crosses to the two centers from both sides in positional battles, but head coach Favre obviously knows that this style of play can also be easily targeted.
So he put a lot of energy into set-piece drills and designed many offensive routines for corner kicks and free kicks.
Especially for corner kicks, due to the presence of double centers and two 190cm tall center backs, they pose a great threat in the penalty area.
In fact, in the past four rounds of the Bundesliga, Borussia Monchengladbach has scored a total of 6 goals, 4 of which were scored through set kicks!
While attaching great importance to set-piece offense, Borussia Mönchengladbach will naturally guard against the opponent's set-pieces and have a systematic set of tactics.
After all, this kind of offensive and defensive training is integrated within the team. When practicing offense, the defense on the other side is also practiced.
From Hamburg's point of view, Pan Yi has always attached great importance to set-piece tactics, and there will be some sudden ideas during training for the players to try.
When he was still in Milan last season, he used the set-piece method he came up with to score the opponent's goal several times.
This time, De Bruyne and Son Heung-min were already standing at the penalty spot on the right side of the penalty area.
De Bruyne mainly uses his right foot, while Son Heung-min can use either left or right foot. They are also standing a bit parallel to the goal at this time, making it unclear who will take the penalty.
And in front, all the high points of Hamburg have been entered.
Rudiger, Kjaer, Vardy...
Their positions are also hierarchical, some are in the front, some are in the middle, and some are close to the penalty spot.
Outside the penalty area, Wu Lei, Makoto Hasebe and others stood around the top of the arc.
In this way, if you have the ball, you can rush forward into the penalty area and shoot. If you lose the ball, you can retreat in time to defend.
And Gladbach is even more prepared.
In addition to the three-man wall, they passed in a straight line at the front of the small penalty area and lined up a defensive line of six players.
Near the top of the penalty area, there is another player fighting on the move, ready to save from the front of the penalty area to intercept the follow-up shots from Hamburg's rear players. At the same time, he is wary of Hamburg's penalty taker who will hand the ball directly to the player at the top of the key.
Come and shoot directly.
The nervousness of the players on the field also spread to the audience and the sidelines.
All the fans, coaches, substitute players, and staff looked at De Bruyne, the taker of the free kick, in silence and with bated breath.
With a crisp and short whistle, De Bruyne took four or five steps back, then looked up into the penalty area.
When De Bruyne ran forward and seemed to be preparing to hit the ball, the Hamburg players in the penalty area also started to move.
Rudiger, Kjaer, and Vardy started running backwards.
Obviously, this is to use the curved ball made by De Bruyne's right foot to directly hit the back post of Borussia Mönchengladbach!
If you grab the three high points together, you will definitely get something.
Borussia's defensive players did not dare to neglect, and the players who were originally lined up in a line also began to move back behind the three Hamburg players, trying to block their positions and prevent their opponents from having space to head the ball.
But at this moment, an accident happened.
When De Bruyne ran to the ball, he did not stretch his feet. Instead, he went around the ball and rushed forward quickly!
In just an instant, he had already rushed behind the three-man wall of Borussia Monchengladbach.
Almost at the same moment, Son Heung-min pushed a low ball with his left foot and handed the ball to De Bruyne.
Because the movement of the Hamburg player in the penalty area attracted the attention of all Borussia Monchengladbach players, there was no defensive player in front of De Bruyne at this time!
Borussia's players woke up from a dream: This is a well-designed free kick tactical coordination!
Xhaka reacted fastest in the wall. He flew over and made a flying tackle, trying to block De Bruyne's shot.
But it's too late.
De Bruyne fired hard and the ball went straight to the upper right corner of the goal!
Because the distance was too close and the ball was too fast, Borussia's young goalkeeper Ter Stegen just subconsciously raised his right hand, but was unable to prevent the ball from entering the net.
"The ball is in!!!!"
"It was Kevin De Bruyne who scored the goal!"
"Only two minutes into the game, Hamburg relied on a clever free kick, and De Bruyne took the lead in breaking through Monchengladbach's goal, one to zero!"
"This Hamburg midfielder didn't make pancakes this time. Instead, he cooked and ate one himself!"
"This free kick tactic was obviously designed and rehearsed. It reminds me of the scene when Zanetti scored against England for Argentina in the 1998 World Cup."
"Of course, before this, in the 1994 American World Cup, the Swedish team's goal scored by forward Brolin against Romania was also a similar tactic!"
"This is Hamburg's 11th goal in five rounds, and it is also De Bruyne's first goal in the Bundesliga!..."
The moment Son Heung-min passed the ball, Pan Yi already had a premonition that the ball was coming and he stood up.
When the referee's whistle came to confirm that the goal was valid, he even cheered and raised his arms high.
There couldn't be a better start than this!
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