A draw with underdog Utrecht in the first warm-up match was a good thing for Espanyol.
At the post-match press conference, Espanyol head coach Sergio said that the score should be taken lightly. The warm-up match is for the purpose of running the team in and discovering problems, and there is no need to care too much about the outcome.
Sergio pointed out the problems of the team. Players entered the state too slowly, cooperated too little, and the midfielder's interception was not strong enough. The opponent easily hit him near the penalty area.
It is normal for these problems to exist at the beginning of the season, and the warm-up matches are designed to discover and solve these problems.
Two days later, the Spaniards came to Almere, a small town near Amsterdam.
In this small town, the Espanyol team will face their second warm-up match opponent Almere City.
Almere City was founded in 2001 as a Dutch second division team.
With Espanyol's status and reputation, playing for an Eredivisie B team seems a bit cheap.
But the warm-up match does not mean that the stronger the opponent, the better.
Although the opponent can see its own defensive problems if it is too strong, it is difficult to see the offensive problems.
In order to compete with strong teams, the Espanyol team may not have many opportunities to attack at all.
Playing against a weak team like Almere City allowed the Spaniards to practice and find problems in their offense.
Almere has a population of 180,000. In the eyes of Chinese people, it is a small town.
In fact, Almere is the eighth largest city in the Netherlands.
There were not many fans to watch the game against an Eredivisie team like Utrecht, and for the game against Almere City, no fans came except for the fans of Alchen.
There are about four to five thousand fans in the stands at home, of which Zhao Yang's Chinese fans account for almost half of the total fans.
After the game started, the Spaniards, who took the first kick off, were still not excited.
As a team playing in the Champions League, it actually had a lot of fun going back and forth with the Dutch second division team.
The Chinese fans who came to watch were stunned.
In the eyes of these Chinese fans, the Espanyol team can compete with giants like Real Madrid and Barcelona, and it should be completely crushed against a team like Almere City.
Is this what is called not being strong when encountering weakness and not being weak when encountering strength?
Chinese fans thought to themselves.
Although Almere City and Espanyol were playing well on the scene, there was a big gap between the two sides in seizing opportunities.
Almere City can pass the ball in the midfield, organize and intercept, but once the ball reaches the frontcourt, the passing and cutting coordination cannot be achieved, and the only trick left is to pass the ball down the field.
The problems that occurred when Espanyol players played against Utrecht still exist, but there is a huge gap in the tactical ability of players in the Eredivisie B and Eredivisie, making it difficult for Almere City to limit Espanyol's breakthrough in the frontcourt.
Less than 5 minutes into the game, the Spanish team got a good chance to shoot.
Espanyol's starting forward Baptisto broke through and passed to Zhao Yang.
Zhao Yang caught the ball and dunked past the defender, then volleyed the ball.
Even if there is no time to accumulate power, Zhao Yang's kick is still a big threat, because the angle is very tricky.
Almere City's goalkeeper knew how powerful Zhao Yang was. He was very focused and jumped in to save the ball at the first opportunity, saving the ball beyond the baseline.
In the subsequent corner kick, Zhao Yang grabbed the spot again. However, due to the interference of the defensive player, Zhao Yang failed to hit the ball well and the ball went over the crossbar.
After two shots, Almere City finally matched up the Zhao Yang in front of them with the legendary Green Devil.
Therefore, it will be difficult for Zhao Yang to have a one-on-one opportunity. Once he gets the ball, Marseille players will come to help defend.
Almere City focuses on guarding Zhao Yang, which leaves more space for forward Baptisto and attacking midfielder Reyes.
In the 15th minute of the game, Reyes passed a diagonal pass to Baptista and then moved forward.
Baptistan dribbled the ball from the corner of the penalty area and wanted to shoot directly, but the defender followed closely and he couldn't find a chance to kick. As he approached the baseline, the shooting angle was already very small, and he barely managed to shoot.
It was also blocked from the bottom line by the defender.
Reyes, who followed up, has already reached the penalty area. If Baptistan passes back, he has a great chance of scoring.
Seeing Baptista's shot, Reyes spread his hands and looked very helpless.
Baptistan gave Reyes an apologetic thumbs up, indicating that he had not seen him.
The head coach Sergio on the sidelines couldn't help but shake his head, but there was nothing he could do. This was because the players were together for a short time and didn't know the movements of their teammates.
There is no other way but to let them train more and compete together.
Even if they don't cooperate tacitly, Zhao Yang, Reyes, and Baptistan are not something that Eredivisie defenders can restrain.
In the 27th minute of the game, the Espanyol team intercepted the ball in the midfield. Zhao Yang, Reyes, and Baptistan all fired three arrows and quickly headed towards the penalty area of Almere City.
The one holding the ball in the middle is new player Jurado.
Jurado doesn't have much desire to score goals. He has been observing the movement of the attacking trio in front.
The only open space is Reyes, but Reyes is right in front of Jurado, so it doesn't make much sense for Jurado to give him.
Baptisto's previous handling of the ball made Jurado worried about him, so Jurado passed the ball to Zhao Yang.
Jurado passed the ball diagonally, and Zhao Yang could directly hit the ball.
But Zhao Yang didn't do that. He smashed the ball, flicked it horizontally, and cut into the penalty area.
This action was unexpected by the defender who was following Zhao Yang. He quickly stopped and came to chase.
Zhao Yang's movements were so fast that the defender was left behind and had no choice but to catch up.
Seeing Zhao Yang reaching the edge of the penalty area, the Almere center defender quickly came over to cover and flank Zhao Yang.
There was an interception in front, a pursuer behind, and the goalkeeper was moving quickly to the near corner, preparing to block Zhao Yang's shot.
At this time, Zhao Yang seemed to have no choice but to force a shot or pass back to midfield.
However, Zhao Yang made the most unlikely choice and dunked the ball into the penalty area.
The defender who was chasing and blocking him was unexpected and was shaken so much that he almost fell to the ground.
The goalkeeper was taken aback and rushed to attack Zhao Yang's ball.
Zhao Yang didn't make any more fancy moves. He tilted his body, pushed the arch of his foot, and pushed the ball to the far corner.
The goalkeeper fell to the ground and it was too late. He subconsciously stretched out his foot to block it, but was unable to reach it. The ball flew into the lower right corner of the goal against his toes.
1:0
Espanyol leads Almere City.
Zhao Yang scored the second goal of the warm-up match.
Zhao Yang's goal was a bit unique.
The ball was originally a pass from the bottom of the court, but it was played so complicatedly by Zhao Yang.
but!
The ball went in!
Scoring is the last word!
No one can blame a scorer.
Newcomers such as Reyes, Baptisto and Jurado had complaints, but they had to admire Zhao Yang's extraordinary ability and shooting skills.
In that situation, being able to finish the shot calmly and accurately is really not something that ordinary people can do.