Listening to the shouts from the Leeds City fans in the visiting team's stands and watching Hulay's celebration, many London Bridge fans stood in a daze.
They really didn't expect that their team would overturn at home!
It was like watching a boxing match. Facing the stormy fist attack from London Bridge, Leeds City could only dodge and defend passively.
It looks like London Bridge will win on points.
Who would have thought that Leeds City would seize the gap between London Bridge's punches to take a breath, open up the space, and then hit a clean... straight punch!
The fist hit the London Bridge gate!
There was a bang.
London Bridge fell to the ground in response, and was directly knocked out by Leeds City!
Anyone who supports London Bridge will be shocked to see this scene.
London Bridge head coach Stoddard did not kick the air to vent his anger and dissatisfaction after losing the ball this time. He just raised his head, looked at the sky and choked speechlessly...
He knows that pressing forward with all his strength will risk being counterattacked by the opponent.
But he never imagined that the same thing would happen in this game...three times!
The first goal conceded was also because London Bridge pressed the attack after taking the lead, but was counterattacked by Leeds City...
Isn't this Leeds City's counterattack efficiency too high?
Especially their main striker Hu Lai... his sense of smell in front of the goal is simply top-notch!
For the ball just played, most players would not be willing to run forward until the last moment of the game. Anyway, their teammates had already won the one-on-one ball... If the ball didn't go in, it didn't matter to him. He pushed the football over and it was considered a goal.
If he does what he can to the best of his ability, no one will blame him.
But Hu Lai immediately turned around and rushed forward after landing, without any hesitation.
That's why when Laski missed a single shot, Hulay was able to appear at the most critical place, like a god descending from the earth, to put the football into the goal.
If he had been half a second later, the ball might have been cleared by Tim Martin...
Facing such an opponent, Stodd was helpless.
In fact, he has already seen Hulay's efficiency once in the league - in the eleventh round of the league, London Bridge faced Leeds City at home. In that game, London Bridge defeated the opponent 3:2, and Hulay scored a goal in the game.
At that time, Hu Lai didn't actually have many opportunities. He was under the focus of the London Bridge defense throughout the game.
Stoddard still attaches great importance to this World Cup Golden Boot and the last Premier League Golden Boot.
As a result, under such tight defense, Hu Lai still scored a goal.
That was one of the few shooting opportunities he had in the entire game.
However, the second time the two teams met, Hu Lai's performance was not so outstanding.
The whole game was in mediocre form and no goals were scored.
At that time, Stodd thought it was normal and that everyone was in poor condition during the game, so he didn't need to pay too much attention to it.
But now Stoddard understands - that kid saved all his form for the League Cup!
Because in the eleventh round of the league, Leeds City was still playing in the Champions League and had not completely given up on the league, so Leeds City still had room to cope with the league.
However, in the second half of the league, after Leeds City obviously shifted their focus to the Europa League, the league became more and more perfunctory - it seemed that they only needed to avoid being relegated.
Now that Leeds City has reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, all fools know that they are definitely aiming for the final championship.
Thinking about it now, maybe Leeds City had already made up its mind to win the Europa League at that time. That's why they behaved so casually in the league...
If Leeds City carries their Europa League form into the league, it's hard to say whether London Bridge can survive away from home in that league game.
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While London Bridge coach Stoddard was speechless, Leeds City coach Clark and his colleagues on the coaching staff hugged each other excitedly.
"Clark and his coaches hugged each other, they were very excited! Before the game, few people could have imagined that Leeds City could win away from home! Although the game is not over yet, Leeds City is indeed getting closer and closer to victory.
Yeah!" said Matthew Cox.
He is a British commentator, and his attitude towards this civil war is strictly neutral. Whoever reaches the finals represents British football.
The only pity is that the two teams met too early. If they could meet again in the final, his mentality would be more peaceful.
Cox thought Clark and the others were simply happy to be ahead.
But this is not the case.
Taking the lead is certainly gratifying, but more importantly it validates the feasibility of their plan to transform the team in the future.
Defensive counterattacks are possible!
The outside world always thinks that Clark is a madman, as if he has no reason and all his activities only follow his own instinct. Every thought comes out.
But in fact, he is a very cautious person, especially when choosing a direction.
Last season, when it came to whether he wanted to win the league title, he first tested it with Stan Park Rangers. He found out that Leeds City could beat Stan Park Rangers away from home, and then he gained the confidence and determination to win the league.
champion.
When they were eliminated from the Champions League this season, they decided to complete the strategy of "saving the country through curves" through the Europa League. They also tested it on Catalan United first. They found that this team can beat Catalan United in an away game and is capable.
, he decided to reveal his ambitions to the entire team.
So in fact, every step he takes is a decision he makes after careful consideration, and he definitely doesn't do it just by slapping his forehead on his head.
He now uses the game against London Bridge as an opportunity to verify his tactical thinking for the new season.
Hu Lai's goal gave him hope.
Because there is an efficient shooter like Hu Lai, the pressure on Leeds City's defense is actually much less than people think - they do not need to defend until the 89th minute, and finally let the forward sneak in and score a goal.
This is Hu Lai's greatest tactical role.
Because the ultimate goal of all football games is to score goals.
In order to score goals, countless coaches throughout history have exhausted their brains to think of various tactics.
And Clark's possession of Hu Lai means that he has strategic-level nuclear weapons.
From this perspective, those critics are right. Hu Lai has no tactical role, he only has a strategic role...
After the celebration, Clark pulled away from the excitement and began to tell assistant coach Randyll: "Next, defend, but we must give London Bridge the impression that we are still capable of counterattacking them..."
Randhir nodded to show that he understood, and then ran to the sidelines to whistle and make gestures to the Leeds City players who had finished celebrating.
In front of the coaching bench next door, Stoddard also made a last-ditch effort. He replaced the exhausted Park Soon-tae with 18-year-old William Sutton.
This was the last substitution. He originally planned to use it to delay time after taking the lead...
Now it has become a desperate struggle.
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After the game restarted, London Bridge launched a crazy offensive towards Leeds City's goal from the kick-off.
Leeds City retreated across the board, and even Hu Lai returned to participate in the defense.
The London Bridge fans booed them in the stands: "Where is the 'attack or die' that was promised?! Where is the 'offensive madman' that was promised?!"
In the end, London Bridge could only lob the football from the wing into the penalty area again and again, or simply shoot from long range.
The high ball was lobbed into the penalty area and was basically pushed out by Leeds City high school defender Ben Grist.
There were almost no long-range shots that could hit the goal frame. They either hit high and missed, or were blocked by the Leeds City players desperately.
There was even a long-range shot that hit their own teammate Aiken and deflected out of the baseline - not even a corner kick was given to them.
Five minutes later, the score was still 3:2, and the fourth official held up a sign indicating four minutes of injury time on the sidelines.
These are the last four minutes of London Bridge.
But in fact, even if they equalized the score in these four minutes, they had already missed the best opportunity - they failed to take advantage of their home court to win Leeds City, which laid a landmine for the second round.
Originally, in the plan of the London Bridge fans, the opponent had one win and one draw in the league this season and had never lost at home. The small chance of winning this game by one goal was a pass, and winning by two goals would be satisfactory.
As a result, not only did I fail, but I also overturned.
2:3 and 3:3 are actually not too different...
The four minutes of injury time passed quickly.
London Bridge failed to score against Leeds City.
"The game is over -!!" Cox announced loudly as the whistle sounded, "In the two rounds of the Europa League semi-finals, Leeds City, who played away from home, defeated London Bridge 3:2, advancing them.
The final laid a solid foundation! It is also worth mentioning that this is the first time in the history of Leeds City that they have defeated their opponents at Southfield Stadium, the home ground of London Bridge!"
The Leeds City players off the field rushed onto the field, while the Leeds City players on the field raised their arms and shouted to celebrate the victory.
Although the semi-finals are two-legged, they are all confident about returning to their home court in the second round.
The most difficult level has already been stepped on by them!