Although only five minutes into the game, Leicester City penetrated the goal.
However, Red Army captain Gerrard did not blame Mignolet, but clapped loudly to encourage his teammates:
"Hey, cheer up!"
"The game has just begun!"
Wensheng looked at Gerrard standing in the midfield, at the man who would always be on their side and guide them on what to do.
The expressions of other Liverpool players could not help but become solemn, as if they had found a backbone. The helplessness and frustration of falling behind suddenly turned into a strong determination!
"Simon, throw the ball over here!"
Upon hearing this, Mignolet fished the ball out of the net and threw it to Gerrard.
I witnessed Gerrard holding the ball, then trotting to the kick-off point in the center circle, and then placing the ball.
The Red Army fans in the stands suddenly burst into uniform applause.
This man wearing the red No. 8 jersey has experienced the decisive victory at Wembley and the miracle in Istanbul.
As long as this man is here, they have the possibility of equalizing the score or even taking the lead!
As for the reason, it's very simple.
Just because this man's name is Steven Gerrard!
As the ball kicked off again, Liverpool's players played more relaxedly.
Because they already have a clear understanding of Leicester City's playing style.
Therefore, facing the Blue Fox's pressing again and again, the Red Army's midfielders and backfielders no longer risked passing the ball through short passes, but without hesitation made long passes to the frontcourt to find Lambert!
Of course, this tactic is very simple.
Whether it is Morgan or Wasilevskiy, Lambert is not weak at all in terms of physical confrontation.
As the regular central defender partner last season, the two had a perfect understanding.
One is responsible for marking Lambert to prevent him from getting the ball easily, and the other is responsible for defending behind.
Facing the double-team defense of men on top of men, Lambert, who also moves at an excruciatingly slow speed, finds it even more difficult to get the ball.
Therefore, most long passes have no chance of falling on Lambert's head and will be cleared.
Then the ball returned to Leicester City's side again.
Liverpool was unable to organize an effective attack in the frontcourt, so Leicester City could control the ball unscrupulously and then attack Liverpool's half.
Gradually, Leicester City mastered the rhythm of the game.
Anyway, the score was already leading, and they did not attack too hastily. Instead, they patiently moved and dispatched around the periphery of Liverpool's formation, patiently pulling the opponent's defensive formation to find openings.
Liverpool did not press rashly, but maintained a tight defensive formation and allowed Leicester City to attack.
They were mainly in the middle area of the midfield, guarding Ling Feng tightly.
Regardless of whether he appears on the left or right side of the midfield, Henderson and Lucas Leiva will stick to him immediately and prevent him from getting the ball easily.
As a teammate of the national team, Henderson knows Ling Feng better than many players.
For example, his dominant foot is his right foot, he likes to swing left and right when breaking through, and he likes to pull the ball back when holding the ball behind his back, etc.
It is precisely because of his understanding of him that when Ling Feng turned his back several times to prepare to catch the ball, Henderson would immediately use his strength from behind.
The hands were also secretly tugging at his jersey, preventing him from easily turning around or controlling the ball.
After Henderson stole the ball from his feet twice, Ling Feng reduced the number of ball passes behind his back and shot the ball with one kick as much as possible.
As other teams study him and learn more about him, his playing style and habits are no secret.
However, why can't other Premier League teams still find an effective way to limit his performance?
That's because of his playing style, he can switch seamlessly between with and without the ball at any time!
With the ball in hand, his scalpel-like precise passing and sudden soup-making are extremely threatening;
He is equally threatening without the ball!
His movement is very erratic, and he can often appear in space, and then receive the pass from his teammates to complete the final pass or finish the shot.
As the midfielder who has scored the most goals in the Premier League this season, almost all of his goals are the first touch of the ball after receiving a pass from his teammates!
It can be seen that his ability to run without the ball always allows him to appear in the most suitable position.
Seeing Ling Feng constantly running into open spaces, Henderson and Reva could only take turns leaving the defensive area of the midfield to follow him.
However, this defensive strategy had no impact on Leicester City's offense at all.
If Gerrard hadn't also retreated to the midfield position and increased the number of defenders, Ling Feng would have no pressure at all to pick up the ball in the middle.
However, because Liverpool has accumulated a lot of troops in the middle and the space is extremely narrow, Leicester City can only make some fuss about Liverpool's two wings.
In this game, Pearson made targeted tactical arrangements for Liverpool's starting lineup.
One of the very key points is to focus on the right side!
Because, compared to Glen Johnson at right back, Manquillo, who is originally a right back but plays as a left back, is definitely the weakest link in Liverpool's defense.
Therefore, Pearson told Mahrez on the right to increase his personal breakthroughs, and Ling Feng to come to the right to assist. The two took turns to attack Manquillo!
How to gain an advantage in the competition depends on three major factors:
Player strength, regional numerical advantage, and tactical position!
The latter two are achieved through tactics.
"Player strength" is more simple and crude.
Player strength is divided into three situations.
It is definitely best if players have the ability to join the football team and help the team win;
Players who are not strong but have potential can also be trained through a lot of playing time to become a capable player;
As for those players who are not strong enough and have no potential, they will only be ruthlessly eliminated!
In the world of football, there are not so many people and sophistication, only the survival of the fittest.
The strong are respected, strength is the only criterion to measure the strength of a player!
From the perspective of player strength, Leicester City's overall strength is not strong, at best it is at the mid-level level of the league.
However, if only the front four of Leicester City were taken out, they would definitely rank among the best among all frontcourt combinations in the Premier League!
Although Vardy, Mahrez, and Lingard have not reached their peak.
However, under Ling Feng's teamwork, the three of them are much stronger than themselves at the same time in history!
If you use the overall game rating to evaluate a player's personal strength, Vardy and Mahrez's current overall rating is around 80, which is roughly equal to the upper-middle level of the Premier League.
Lingard's overall rating is probably around 75, which is probably the lower level of the Premier League.
But with Ling Feng's blessing, the strength of the three of them is like adding a BUFF, and their strength will increase by two to three points!
And this is the true value of Ling Feng, the core of the frontcourt organization!
His presence can make the teammates around him better and stronger!
In contrast, Liverpool's team has many players with an overall rating of 80 or above.
Such as Gerrard, Sterling, Lallana, Henderson, Glen Johnson and so on.
But that definitely doesn’t include Manquillo!
The 20-year-old full-back on loan from Atletico Madrid only plays a substitute role in Liverpool.
In his short playing time, he left only two impressions on Liverpool fans and other Premier League teams:
Very hardworking and loves shoveling!
The opponent he will face in this game is Mahrez, who has the best foot skills in Leicester City!
In the 18th minute of the game, Mahrez broke through with the ball on the right side of the frontcourt.
Facing Mahrez's small steps, Manquillo turned slightly sideways, fought and retreated, and waited until Henderson in the midfield came to help defend.
However, Mahrez will not give him this chance!
He first slumped his shoulders and shook, trying to mobilize Manquillo's body center of gravity.
As his upper body swayed, Manquillo was deceived by his fake move and tilted his body slightly to the right.
At that moment, Mahrez just swung right and left very lightly, and then dribbled the ball past Manquillo's left side!
The whole thing is extraordinary and smooth!
"Wow!"
"Beautiful pass, Liverpool's left-back Manquillo is like a wooden stake, no reaction!"
As soon as the commentator finished speaking, Manquillo, as if waking up from a dream, immediately turned around and chased after him, and made a sideways tackle directly at Mahrez!
"ah!!!"
With a scream, Mahrez was tackled to the ground with the ball.
This scene immediately caused a deafening agitation in the blue of the stadium!
Mad, dare to shovel our people on our territory? !
With a bang, referee Oliver immediately blew the whistle in his hand.
Ling Feng, who was nearby, immediately opened his arms and protested to the referee:
"Hey! Referee!"
"This is a red card move!"
"Relax, I saw it!"
As he spoke, Oliver arrived at the crime scene.
Ling Feng, on the other hand, quickly walked to Mahrez's side to check his injury.
"Hey Riad, how are you feeling?"
Faced with Ling Feng's concern, Mahrez just held his calf muscles tightly with both hands and shook his head.
Seeing this, Ling Feng waved wildly to the bench on the sidelines:
"Hey! Team doctor!"
It stands to reason that this dangerous move of shoveling behind the back will constitute a red card regardless of whether the ball is shoveled or not.
However, Manquillo kept making circles with his hands, emphasizing that he scooped the ball first.
After Oliver thought for a moment, he took out a yellow card from his breast pocket.
This yellow card caused a burst of boos from the home team fans in the King Power Stadium.
Obviously, they were very dissatisfied with the referee's decision.
And Liverpool players are still fans, and even Manquillo himself breathed a sigh of relief.
If Manquillo directly receives a red card and ends the game, Liverpool, which is already at a disadvantage, can basically declare surrender with one less player.
Although they were very dissatisfied, the Blue Fox generals did not continue to put pressure on the referee.
The referee has already made a penalty and it cannot be changed!
Fortunately, after being examined by the team doctor, Mahrez was fine and can continue to play.
With this breakthrough from the wing, Mahrez won an opportunity for Leicester City to take a set kick on the right side of the frontcourt.
Ling Feng stood in front of the ball, and then after observing the positions of everyone in the penalty area, he decided to hit the ball to the front spot!
With a "bang" sound, the ball drew a beautiful arc in the air and flew into the penalty area.
Morgan, the captain of the Blue Foxes, who rushed to the front point, jumped up first, and then stepped back to meet the ball, just in time to change the trajectory of the ball and fly into the small penalty area.
Mignolet reacted a little slower, hesitated, and did not choose to attack.
Just as everyone was trying to grab the ball, a blue figure suddenly jumped out. Before Skrtel could make a clearance, he aimed the ball with his sole and kicked it hard!
The next second, the ball bounced off the ground and flew into the goal from Mignolet's side!
Immediately afterwards, the player who scored the goal opened his arms and rushed towards the corner flag area.
That distinctive mohawk hair style and strong body shape.
The person who scored the goal was none other than the team's top scorer - Vardy!
"The ball went in again!"
"Jamie~~~Vardy!"
"The England international scores his eighth Premier League goal!"
"Their performance this season has been amazing!"
As Vardy scored with a supplementary shot, the stands at the King Power Stadium suddenly turned into a blue ocean of joy.
Blue Fox fans kept waving scarves and flags in their hands to celebrate the team's lead.
Seeing his team lose the ball again, Rogers on the sidelines could no longer contain his inner anger.
He suddenly turned around, spread his hands, and complained to his assistant:
"What the hell!"
"That's it again!"
"He should have come out with this ball!"
This goal conceded fully reflects Liverpool's problems in defending set pieces.
In the past two seasons, they have ranked among the top in the league in the number of goals conceded from set pieces.
In addition to the problems with the defense, goalkeeper Mignolet's poor timing of attacks is also one of the important reasons for conceding too many goals.
Rogers could not help but swear in his heart that after this game, the current set-piece defensive tactics must be improved!
To the surprise of all the fans and viewers in front of the TV, only twenty minutes into this much-anticipated "Red-Blue Battle", the newly promoted Leicester City was already two goals ahead of last season's team at home. Premier League runner-up Liverpool!
It is worth mentioning that Leicester City's record at home this season can be said to be very strong.
Except for the draw with Arsenal in the third round of the league, Leicester City won all other home games!
In other words, so far, the Blue Fox has not lost at their home court!
The two-goal lead allowed Leicester City's players to play more relaxedly.
For the rest of the first half, Leicester City still firmly controlled the initiative on the field and continued to launch waves of attacks against Liverpool.
Liverpool also began to increase their pressing intensity in the frontcourt, trying to seize the ball.
The two sides fought fiercely in the midfield area, and time came to an end before they knew it.
Beep~beep~~~
With the referee's long whistle, the unsatisfactory first half of the game came to an end.
The Leicester City players walked into the tunnel with relaxed expressions.
The Liverpool players, led by Gerrard, frowned and looked solemn.
However, when he returned to the locker room and saw the relaxation and smiles on his teammates' faces, Ling Feng frowned.
Although already leading by two goals at home.
However, he doesn't think the team can just open the champagne at halftime.
Especially the opponent is the "miracle team" Liverpool!
You know, the scariest thing about the Liverpool team is their tenacity.
Whether it's 2-0 or 3-0, they will not give up until the last minute of the game!
(End of chapter)
