After conceding two goals in a row, Levante coach Lucas finally came to his senses and quickly increased the number of players in the midfield to cut off the connection between the Spaniard's midfield and forwards.
Lucas's response was correct. The weakness of 433 is in the midfield. If the connection between the midfielder and the forward is cut off, then it will be useless no matter how powerful the forward is.
It’s just that Lucas reacted too slowly. After Espanyol took the lead, they no longer needed goals urgently. After Levante cut off the connection between the Spanish midfielder and forwards, the Spanish quickly shrunk their formation and began to play defensive counterattack.
The 433 formation makes counterattacks sharper and more difficult to guard against.
In the 60th minute of the game, Levante's cross from the wing was too close to the goal and was picked up by Spanish goalkeeper Lopez.
Lopez launched a counterattack with a quick hand throw.
Perez took the ball in the middle, and in front of the Spaniard, Zhao Yang, Caicedo, and Moreno fired three arrows, which penetrated Levante's half like lightning.
Perez passed the ball directly to Zhao Yang in the middle. Zhao Yang took a few steps and quickly separated the ball to Caicedo.
Caicedo made full use of the black man's advantage of being fast and explosive, pushing forward at high speed on the wing, leaving the defensive players far behind.
After Caicedo advanced to the side of the penalty area, a favorable three-on-two situation was formed in the frontcourt.
Both central defenders are in the middle, staring at Zhao Yang in the middle.
The two wingers were ignored.
Caicedo saw the situation clearly and quickly cut inside, preparing to bring out a defender.
Levante's defender knew that this was an attempt to divert the enemy away from home, but there was no other way. No one was there to intercept, so Caicedo shot directly.
Caicedo saw central defender Fedal finally come out. He didn't choose to pass the ball and passed the ball to Zhao Yang very steadily.
Zhao Yang didn't want to take risks, so after stopping the ball, he quickly transferred it to Moreno on the other wing.
Moreno was already very smart and did not stay on the wing. In fact, when he entered Levante's half, Moreno started to walk towards the inside line.
Zhao Yang passed the ball to Moreno, and Moreno passed the ball and entered the penalty area.
With the first goal, Moreno became more confident. After entering the penalty area, his mind went blank except for shooting.
Moreno saw goalkeeper Martinez coming to block the ball. He pushed the ball with the arch of his foot and pushed it to the far corner of the goal.
However, in order to avoid the goalkeeper's interception, Moreno's shot was a bit too angle-oriented.
The ball was about to miss the far post and fly out of the baseline. At this moment, a black figure passed by and shoveled the ball into the goal before it went out of bounds.
3:1
The goal was scored by Caicedo who had just passed the ball.
The on-site commentator He Wei shouted: "Goal! The third goal! The third goal in the second half! The Spaniard sealed the victory. Caicedo! The change of formation in the second half is the key to victory. This time, Sergio finally won tactically.
Lucas. After losing this game, Lucas’ position is in danger. I don’t know if he will have a chance to lead Levante into the second round of the Copa del Rey.”
After Zhao Yang scored, the only one among the three forwards who failed to score was Caicedo.
Caicedo was in a bad mood because Moreno scored.
Caicedo understood that he could not compete with Zhao Yang for favor. He was a compatriot of the boss. No matter how good he performed, it was useless.
It is more than enough to be the main force without being the boss of the team. Caicedo thought so at first, but he did not expect that Moreno would appear out of nowhere and directly threaten Caicedo's main position.
After scoring the goal, Caicedo felt much more relaxed. He raised his arms and shouted, and hugged his teammates who came to congratulate him.
This was a goal that sealed the victory. The Spanish fans in the stands were happy.
They all stood up and started playing Mexican.
Head coach Sergio was in a good mood. He turned around and high-fived his assistant coach. He had already made up his mind to continue using the 4-3-3 formation for the next period of time until Asensio recovered from his injury.
Levante head coach Lucas looked ashen. He knew his team's situation and would definitely collapse now. The Spaniard would definitely score more goals later.
There is no need to think about victory or equalization, now Lucas just hopes that the team will not collapse.
Levante scored 10 points in 13 rounds, scored 10 goals, and conceded 24, ranking last in the standings. It is a miracle that Lucas can still be in charge.
This game is Lucas's final redemption. Victory or draw, he will stay temporarily. If he loses, he will be dismissed with a decent reason. If he loses by a big score, he will just get out.
With the score behind, Lucas still asked the players to hold on to the midfield and not press forward across the board.
But at this time, no one listened to Lucas. Almost everyone in Levante's players moved forward, desperately trying to get a goal back.
Levante's unorganized hard work is what the Spaniards like best, so that their counterattack will be easier.
Sure enough, in the 68th minute, the Spaniard once again got a chance to counterattack.
This was a long pass from the old captain Xavi Lopez. Caicedo took the ball from the wing and passed it down. Zhao Yang outflanked him in the middle and shot down, changing the score to 4:1.
Zhao Yang scored twice and scored his 13th goal in La Liga.
At this moment, Levante's entire team's mentality has collapsed, and their offense and defense are like headless flies.
Head coach Lucas has long lost his authority. Many players know that Lucas will be fired after this game, so no one is willing to listen to his words.
In the 73rd minute of the game, Diop stole the ball and passed it to Zhao Yang. Zhao Yang was too lazy to run anymore and made a long pass to Caicedo.
Caicedo succeeded in countering offside, took the ball to the meeting alone, and entered the penalty area. Facing the goalkeeper, Caicedo had a chance to cross to Moreno and hit the empty goal. However, Caicedo did not pass the ball and hit the goal post with his own kick.
superior.
The Spaniards had been restrained by Levante for so long. When the opportunity for revenge came, they would not let it go. Entering the 80th minute, the Spaniards continued to attack fiercely.
In the 84th minute of the game, the Spaniards counterattacked again. Moreno and Perez cooperated on the wing. Finally, Perez volleyed from the front of the penalty area and scored, rewriting the score to 5:1.
At this time, the Spaniards relaxed and patiently controlled the ball, consuming time and the opponent's will.
At this time, Levante did not have the energy or physical strength to press, and the two sides made no achievements in the last five minutes. The Spaniard scored 5 goals in a row in the second half, and finally beat Levante 5:1.
After losing the game by a huge score and the players not obeying the instructions, head coach Lucas was disheartened. At the post-game press conference, after briefly talking about the game process, he directly announced his resignation.
This news surprised Espanyol head coach Sergio who also attended the press conference.
Sergio even regretted that he had struck too hard and directly fired his colleague from his job.
As the saying goes, changing coaches is like changing swords. If Levante changes coaches, the variables will be huge. It is better to just stick with this coach.
However, the opponent's pain is his own happiness. Since fifth-place Celta Vigo was defeated by Betis, this big victory made the Spaniard more stable in fourth place.