The angry backs of Southampton and Wang Xiaodong completely became the backdrop for the Red Devils.
Manchester United's twin stars showed off their power one after another, sobering up many hot-headed Saints.
What am I doing?
What on earth was I expecting?
It would be great for Southampton to reach the League Cup final.
Let's leave things like winning the championship to the wealthy families!
Our only goal this season is to advance to the Premier League, everything else can be put aside.
Our opponent is Manchester United!
That's the Red Devils!
The overlord of the Premier League!
Emotions of sadness and loss rippled through the stands.
Judging from the actual situation, Southampton's players have done a good job.
They played several beautiful attacks against Manchester United and even threatened Edwin van der Sar's goal several times.
However, the giant Manchester United has better control and grasp of opportunities.
They have the experience of playing in many finals. The more critical moments come, the more experience and psychological quality of these old players will become the magic weapon for victory.
On the contrary, looking at Southampton, the players, apart from running exhausted and pouring out all their blood, can only run around like a bull, aimlessly.
Manchester United's big net has begun to gradually close. In the eyes of Sir Alex, no matter how hard the Saints struggle, they are just catching a turtle in a jar.
In the last ten minutes of the first half, Southampton's players didn't seem to see the problem yet.
Under the stimulation of Xiao Luo and Lu Xiaopang, Wang Xiaodong did not get angry and fight like in the FA Cup, but anyone with a discerning eye could see at a glance that he was already anxious.
Many times, he overdrafts the physical strength of Bell and Dyer in search of long passes, always passing the ball when these two push their speed to the extreme.
But the green field is not a track and field track, and the two of them are not tireless machines. After several rounds of unsuccessful sprints, both Bell and Dyer bent over, holding their knees, panting.
"What are you doing?"
"What are you stopping for?"
"Just watch him take the ball right under your nose?"
"Grab, rob, rob!"
Although Wang Xiaodong is not the captain, he always relies on his loud voice to give orders to his teammates.
But who on this field has nearly infinite physical strength like him?
"Dong, slow down, slow down."
"Yes, Dong, let's slow down the pace. We still have time and a chance to equalize the score."
"Dong, I can't stand it anymore. I'm almost exhausted from sprinting back and forth. Let me take a rest."
Teammates complained.
If we play according to the tactics developed by Keegan, every sprint by the players will be meaningful, and there will be no wasted opportunities like just now.
And now, before the first half is over, many teammates are out of breath.
At this moment, the melee in front of Manchester United's penalty area came to fruition.
Ferdinand whipped the ball high into the crowd and kicked the ball forward.
A black and white meteor passed overhead, and most people raised their heads and paid attention.
"Ferdinand comes to the rescue..."
"Oh no, it's a long pass..."
"Rooney!!!"
As the on-site commentator exclaimed, the figure of Lu Xiaopang wearing the No. 8 jersey appeared in the center of the screen again.
There were only two defenders in Southampton's backcourt at the moment, and among them, Powell was still a little closer to the center line and was quickly left behind.
The ball landed at the top of the arc in the center circle. Lu Xiaopang, who was starting to speed up, used his strong body to get stuck in front of Darren Porter. After the ball hit the ground and bounced up again, he suddenly accelerated and ran forward.
"Rooney!"
"Rooney!"
As the commentator screamed, Lu Xiaopang blocked Darren Porter with his shoulders and twisted his butt, knocking Darren Porter away from behind him.
Taking this opportunity, Lu Xiaopang ran forward and chased the ball.
Only Southampton's goalkeeper Nimi was left in front of him, slowly retreating. All the saints couldn't help but sigh when they saw the situation.
We're going to lose the ball again!
The Red Devils in the stands held up Rooney's face and name and kept waving flags and cheering.
Lu Xiaopang, who has not scored a goal for two consecutive months, is he going to score twice in the League Cup today?
Thinking of what happened after the goal was scored, these fans felt like they were on steroids.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Lu Xiaopang, who was approaching the penalty area, gradually slowed down. The bouncing ball had lost most of its momentum and almost stopped in front of Rooney.
Looking at Nimi's panicked expression, Lu Xiaopang raised the corner of his mouth and suddenly raised his right leg.
Even if I am a single-handed goalkeeper, I still want to hit the target!
The thick right leg came roaring with a gust of wind, and in the blink of an eye, Lu Xiaopang's right foot hit hard right behind the ball.
Colleen in the stands opened her eyes wide and jumped up from her seat. Wasn't Lu Xiaopang's powerful shot the epitome of his unrelenting sprint the night before?
At this moment, the ball has entered the net in the thinking world of all fans.
Everyone expected the consequences, even if it was half a second different from the time in the real world.
It was only half a second.
So what?
Bang! ! !
There was a muffled sound on the penalty area line, causing the surrounding turf to scatter in all directions.
In this half second, a sneaker engraved with bright gold stripes appeared in front of the ball.
The main body of the sneakers looks worn out due to continuous conquests, but the bright golden stripes are flowing with golden light due to the injection of the user's energy.
At the critical moment, it blocked Rooney's devastating shot for Nimi, and at the last moment, it single-handedly turned all the kinetic energy into nothingness.
The ball, which had lost its forward momentum, flew up slightly and landed on the line of the small penalty area, where it was caught by Nimi.
Pooh!
After taking a look at the completely safe ball, Wang Xiaodong spat.
Get up and walk towards the opponent's half without looking back.
At this moment, Wang Xiaodong's turning back formed a sharp contrast with Lu Xiaopang, who was lying on the ground in protest.
Where do you think this is?
A high-world ball?
There is no elegant gentleman here, only a tough guy!
Put away your ridiculous face!
That just makes me feel sick.
Real man...
If you can do it, you won't make any noise!
The moment the ball was blocked, everyone was shocked.
Some fans even didn't realize how Wang Xiaodong rushed from outside the frame to the center of the screen.
Only when the replay was displayed on the big screen did everyone understand.
When everyone was paying attention to the ball, Wang Xiaodong, who was at the top of the arc in the other half, had already opened his legs and ran with all his strength.
Powell withdrew from the competition early, and Darren Porter was pushed aside by Lu Xiaopang.
Only Wang Xiaodong.
He ran to the tackle with a powerful, though not very fast, step.
Perhaps no one could have imagined that Southampton and its defensive staff could desperately chase it back from the frontcourt. Perhaps it was precisely because no one expected that Rooney missed the opportunity at the last moment.
"Damn guy!" Lu Xiaopang cursed and stood up, "He is just a bull in heat!"
There was nothing wrong with this tackle. Not only did the linesman have no reaction, but even the referee indicated that it was a good goal.
After Niemi controlled the ball for a while, he handed it to Powell who came back to assist, and Southampton resumed its attack.
On the edge of the court, Sir Alex also felt a little regretful.
If Rooney had been more energetic just now and used a small amount of energy to pay attention to what was behind him, he could easily shake Wang Xiaodong away with his ability.
When the time comes to face goalkeeper Nimi, it will all depend on his preference whether to rub or pinch him.
But it's too late to say that now.
Lu Xiaopang paid the price for his carelessness, and Wang Xiaodong got the reward he deserved for his perseverance.
"This kid would be great if he was at Manchester United."
Ferguson shook his head, he felt a little regretful at the moment.
Dong Fangzhuo's joining is entirely a commercial act.
Although Dong Fangzhuo performed well at home, he was a newcomer who had never gone abroad.
Following normal procedures, Ferguson brought him to Manchester United and then loaned him out directly.
After some training outside, choose whether to take back one team depending on the situation.
This approach is understandable, and Dong Fangzhuo was given an opportunity to study abroad.
But are Manchester United really short of strikers?
This issue is open to discussion.
Van Nistelrooy, Saha, Rooney, Cristiano, Giggs...
Which of these people is not more offensive than Dong Fangzhuo?
Even Park Ji-sung, who was bought from Eindhoven, plays a little more offensive role than Dong Fangzhuo.
If we had not signed a contract with Dong Fangzhuo, but directly acquired Wang Xiaodong...
Ferguson looked at Manchester United's aging midfielder, shook his head and sighed.
"If Dong were teammates of Wayne and Cristiano, would Manchester United be deprived of the championship by Chelsea?"
The Class of 92 back then has grown old, and some are leaving and some are retreating.
Sir Alex also wants to use his influence to train the younger generation of players before he retires and continue to carry the banner of Manchester United.
Because of this, although Manchester United has not won a championship in the past two years, fans can accept it calmly despite the team's change of dynasties.
But there is no league championship, so it's okay to have a "consolation prize", right?
If we can't even get a consolation prize, why should we believe that this young man from Manchester United can lead the team to glory?
"Wayne is still too young!"
At the end of his thoughts, the old gentleman let out a long sigh and sat back on the chair.
Seemingly inspired by Wang Xiaodong's pursuit of the sliding tackle, the Saints launched several threatening attacks during the remainder of the first half.
In the 38th minute, Dyer broke through the baseline from the right and passed forward. Kendi Jones, who rushed to the front point, won the ball and pushed with his right foot. Because the angle was not completely adjusted, the ball missed the post and flew out of the baseline.
Two minutes later, Wang Xiaodong successfully stole the ball at the end and found Bell on the left with a big kick.
Bell stopped the ball on his chest and dribbled the ball in the opposite direction before pulling it, using a change of rhythm to get rid of the two defenders in an instant.
But Bell, who rushed into the penalty area, was obviously anxious. Without observing the movement of his teammates, he twitched his left foot and the ball flew out of the baseline and hit the side netting.
Kevin Keegan on the sidelines slapped his thigh after watching it.
"Bell, Bell, why are you disobedient!"
"The angle is so small, if you still use your left foot, why don't you cross?"
"Since you want to hit the goal, why not use your right foot to hit it from a wider angle?"
"Learn from Arsenal's Thierry Henry and see how high his goal rate is when he shoots into the far corner!"
Keegan, Jack and others felt great regret, firstly because Bell did not score the goal, and secondly because the team wasted too many opportunities.
The first half is about to pass. If we enter the halftime period with a two-goal disadvantage, it will be a huge blow to the team.
On the contrary, if you can score a goal before midfield, your morale will be greatly improved.
The psychology of "being beaten without the ability to fight back" and "having the opportunity to fight back" are completely different.
So in the past few minutes, the Saints were attacking hard, and Keegan didn't say anything.
Anyway, we have already conceded two goals. If we don’t fight now, when will we wait?
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
The players were also panting and sweating profusely.
Many players were so dazzled just now that they thought the ball hit the side netting and thought it was a goal.
But just as he raised his arms to celebrate, he found that the teammates in front turned their heads and retreated towards their own half dejectedly.
After taking a closer look, the situation became clear.
boom!
Van der Sar's goal kick went far and fast, and there was a roar from the top of the arc in the Saints' half.
"mine!"
Without waiting for other teammates to react, Wang Xiaodong rushed forward and jumped up high.
Since he was rushing towards the ball sideways, Wang Xiaodong had no time to check the opponent's blind spot.
In the air, he tried his best to adjust his body shape, stretched his neck, and aimed at the ball.
TONG~~~
The two bodies in the air collided violently, and the two figures, one blue and one red, retreated in the direction they came from.
O'Shea, who is 1.92 meters tall, did not take any advantage in front of Wang Xiaodong, who is 1.85 meters tall. After being hit hard by Wang Xiaodong, the Irishman took even more steps back than Wang Xiaodong.
"mine!!"
Another roar.
Wang Xiaodong, who took two steps back, stopped his retreat abruptly, kicked off the turf with his left foot, stirred up a piece of soil, and rushed forward suddenly.
Giggs, who also came towards the ball, looked solemn.
Although the ball rolled toward him, the person chasing the ball made him uneasy.
This is a madman who ran wildly for nearly 45 minutes!
I really don’t know where Southampton found such a guy!
This kind of abundant physical strength cannot be acquired through acquired training at all.
Are all Southampton's young players so unique?
Damn it!
So what is our Manchester United youth training camp?
The thought flashed through his mind, and he had already rushed to the ball.
Just in case, it's better to turn around and protect the ball first.
Giggs scooped the ball with his right foot and turned around, trying to face Wang Xiaodong with his back.
But the next second, the Manchester United veteran felt that his feet were empty, and the ball that had been hooked by him just now disappeared.
Where is the ball?
Where is my ball?
Before he could react, with the push from his lower body, Giggs lost his center of gravity and fell backwards.
Plop! ! !
The surrounding players only noticed that for a moment, Giggs' body fell hard on Wang Xiaodong.
The players' eyes widened, and many Manchester United players looked at the referee.
foul?
But Mark just held the whistle in his mouth and delayed blowing it.
He could see clearly that Wang Xiaodong did not touch Giggs' feet after scooping the ball away.
As for Giggs leaning backward in the end, it was entirely because he was hit by Wang Xiaodong's body, which could not stop the car.
It was a clean tackle!
"mine!!!"
There was another familiar roar.
Fernandez, who was about to come over to catch the ball, stopped abruptly, like a hyena sneaking up on food but being drunk.
Wang Xiaodong's roar conveyed his determination to control the ball.
Fernandez hurriedly glanced left and right, looking for a direction where there was no one around, opened the angle, and retreated slowly.
After pushing away the pressing Giggs, Wang Xiaodong rolled up from the side and strode towards the ball again.
When the Falcon's right wing came into contact with the leather surface, the naughty ball was finally controlled by Wang Xiaodong's feet.
However, before the peaceful "young eagle" could enjoy its mother's warm wings, another blue figure had already rushed in front of Wang Xiaodong.
After repeated rushes, Wang Xiaodong dribbled the ball into Ronaldinho's defense zone.
Looking at Wang Xiaodong who was so close and panting, Xiao Luo tensed up his nerves without any carelessness.
He could clearly see beads of sweat seeping out from Wang Xiaodong's forehead, flowing across his forehead, part of it flowing down his eye sockets, and another drop dripping from his long eyelashes.
A boy has long eyelashes that countless girls envy. No wonder he can charm so many infatuated girls.
The rain was dripping, but it had evaporated before it fell on Wang Xiaodong. Xiao Luo could even clearly see the white smoke coming out of Wang Xiaodong's shoulders and head.
Continuous sprints made Wang Xiaodong in front of him panting.
The rising and falling chest showed that its owner was exhausted, but Wang Xiaodong's piercing eyes reminded Xiao Luo not to be careless.
"He's just a power player who can pass and shoot a little more accurately!"
"What's there to be afraid of?"
After figuring out the joints here, Ronaldinho did not hesitate and stretched out his left foot in the direction of Wang Xiaodong's ball.
"If you have the guts, just protect the ball in front of me!"
"See if I can't knock you away!"
Ronaldinho's idea is very clear, which is to block Southampton's rapid attack.
The fourth official on the sidelines had already raised the "2" sign high, but Wang Xiaodong could only see two figures running forward on the left and right in front of him.
Dyer and Bell.
Just pass the ball to any one of them!
"Dong, protect the ball first!"
"We've got two minutes, then look for another chance!"
"Pull to the side, hurry up and pick up the side!!!"
"Dong, here, here!!!"
Teammates and coaches rushed to shout and give Wang Xiaodong advice.
As long as the ball is controlled first, the last two minutes will belong to Southampton.
Even if it was just a backfoot in the end and did not give Manchester United a chance to attack, it was still an acceptable result.
What's more, Wang Xiaodong had already used up most of his energy by breaking and tackling again.
Even the Iron Man is at the end of his strength at this moment.
"Dong, you've done a good enough job!" Jack shouted anxiously from the sidelines, "Pass the ball out quickly!"
In the team, Wang Xiaodong's ability to protect the ball is also outstanding.
He has strength that is difficult for normal people to match, and has almost no weaknesses in his body. Even players who are much stronger than him will have a hard time grabbing the ball behind him.
However, Wang Xiaodong had just jumped and shoveled, and was severely pressed by Giggs once, so most of his tense tone had already been consumed.
At this moment, the pace has not been firm. If he uses his back to resist Ronaldinho's attack, the consequences will be disastrous.
Fans who knew Wang Xiaodong covered their faces and couldn't bear to see Wang Xiaodong's embarrassing appearance barely protecting the ball.
"This ball is mine!"
Seeing Wang Xiaodong push the ball with the outside of his right foot and steal the chicken, Xiao Luo felt happy.
Since you haven't chosen to protect the ball, don't blame me!
Just when Ronaldinho was thinking about which direction to counterattack after stealing the ball, he felt that his feet were empty, and the originally planned touch of the ball never came.
"Walter???"
Everyone's eyes widened.
Huang Jianxiang, who had been staring at the screen, his eyes almost bulging out, stretched his neck and looked towards the field.
Wang Xiaodong's right foot drew a virtual arc above the ball and then landed on the ground. His left foot followed suit, using his toes to move the ball one step ahead.
A beautiful false pedal, although it only went around in a circle, it just happened to get rid of this annoying guy in front of me!
"Why, how could..."
"How did he do that?"
After being shaken away, Xiao Luo was stunned on the spot. He never thought that he would be broken through by Wang Xiaodong in this way.
In the past 45 minutes, Wang Xiaodong finally chose to pass the ball to his teammates even if he controlled the ball briefly.
Whether it was a pass or a break, Wang Xiaodong never attempted to dribble past someone once.
"Everything he did before was all falsehood?"
"Or...is he a genius?"
Xiao Luo paid the price for his carelessness, and after the breakthrough, Wang Xiaodong's situation was smooth.
On the sidelines of the court, the moment Wang Xiaodong dribbled the ball away from Ronaldinho, Keegan and Jack were instantly petrified and stayed in place.
They all recalled Wang Xiaodong's poor cycling performance in the league.
He obviously only wants to amuse himself by stepping around a few times without anyone guarding him!
When did you learn to use it in actual combat?
There was no time to pay attention to the surprise of others. After breaking through Xiao Luo, Wang Xiaodong looked up and directly found Bell who was looking back.
"Great Sage, pick up..."
Before everyone could shout, Wang Xiaodong suddenly discovered that Ferdinand, who was trailing behind, had moved two steps forward.
If he kicked off at this time, Bell would be offside!
Farke!
These hateful guys!
With his legs up and down, he whipped the ball to the right side of the court and passed it to the slightly slower Dyer.
The moment Wang Xiaodong kicked off, the referee looked at the line judges on both sides, and no one stood still to raise the flag.
The linesman on the right followed Dyer closely, watching him leap forward and stretch out his right leg to intercept the ball.
"No offside, attack, attack!!!"
Jack, who woke up first, danced and shouted, as if this could put the players behind directly in the frontcourt.
After receiving the ball, Dyer glanced at Sylvester who was not far away, and began to run forward with the ball diagonally and purposefully.
He knew that as long as he broke into the penalty area, the attack would be successful.
I can't beat you, why can't I flop?
Watching Dyer dribbling the ball towards the penalty area, Sylvester ran with all his strength.
Even if I can't steal, I can't let you break in easily!
Recalling the previous scenes, Sylvester did not hesitate and used a flying tackle on Dyer from behind.
On wet turf, friction is minimized.
Seeing Sylvester's long legs hit the target, Dyer, who was dribbling the ball, suddenly had an idea and stepped on the ball as if he had noticed something.
Chi yo yo...
Sylvester glided across the turf, leaving a trail visible to the naked eye.
But at this moment, the Saints had no intention of laughing at their opponents and focused all their attention on Dyer.
After avoiding the sliding tackle from the opponent's full-back, Dyer glanced down the middle and his mind was temporarily settled.
He already has a passing target.
After clearing his mind, Dyer did not rush into the penalty area, but ran along the line of Manchester United's penalty area towards the bottom line.
Brown, who came to take over from the middle, saw this and followed Dyer to the bottom.
Sylvester, who had scooped up the air, didn't care about anything else. He hurriedly got up and ran towards his penalty area.
As Dyer ran deeper and deeper at the bottom, Kendi Jones and Belmadi in the middle had also rushed into the penalty area and outflanked the ball.
Dyer, who was just one step out of the baseline, flashed his eyes and shouted at the opponent's center: "Dong, catch the ball!!!"
With that said, Dyer swept the ball with his right leg and instead of pocketing the ball into the penalty area, he swept the ball towards the top of the arc in the penalty area.
Dyer's operation obviously goes against common sense.
We have already dribbled the ball deep here, why not drop the ball into the penalty area for the forward to rush over, instead of passing the ball diagonally outside the penalty area instead of getting closer.
But for a team with a long-range gunner like Wang Xiaodong, this operation will definitely confuse most teams.
Wang Xiaodong originally ran from the backcourt. With his position and speed, it was impossible for him to rush into the penalty area like Belmadi and others.
Correspondingly, the defensive intensity he encounters will naturally be smaller.
At this time, it would be perfect for him to fire from a little outside the penalty area.
But just after Dale swept the ball away, Sylvester subconsciously extended his kick as the ball slipped past him.
The speeding ball hit the ground and bounced off the toes of the Manchester United full-back, causing Wang Xiaodong, who was sprinting towards the top of the arc, to miss.
"Get the top, get the top!"
Looking at the ball that suddenly changed direction and flew towards the center of Manchester United's penalty area, Wang Xiaodong was not discouraged, but shouted to his two teammates in the penalty area.
But Kendi Jones rushed too quickly and was already in an offside position, and Belmadi, who was at the front, was watched to death by two defenders.
The three people jumped high, and no one touched the ball floating in the low altitude.
Just as everyone twisted their necks in the direction of the ball, a suona suddenly sounded in their ears.
Didi-di-di~~~di-di-di~~~kick! Didi, didi, didi~~~~kick! Didi, didi, didi~~~~kick!
Everyone turned around in surprise and saw a flash of golden light.
A guy holding a golden hoop in his hand, wearing a purple gold crown on his head, wearing gold armor, and wearing Buyun shoes jumped into the air, faced the ball in the air, and rubbed his forehead hard.
The ball suddenly turned into a ball of fire, spinning towards the Manchester United goal.
In front of the goal, Van der Sar was shocked. He stretched out his entire body in the shortest possible time and used all his strength to fly towards the blazing fireball.
The moment he palmed the ball in the wrong direction, the Dutch goalkeeper felt a pain in his fingertips, followed by the sound of his body falling on the turf.
There is a day when trees wither and die, and there is a time when people are exhausted.
Looking at the ball falling from the net, the 36-year-old veteran Edwin van der Sar sighed, picked up the ball from the net, and kicked it towards the midfielder from a distance.
