After 15 minutes of intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. The Hurricanes continued to maintain a 352 formation and attacked Mendoza independently.
This is the formation and style of play that the Hurricanes are good at. Unless they lead by more than two goals or encounter a too strong A-level team in the cup, Mario Binco will not change easily.
Especially now that Alan Willard, a defensive general who can be called the best defensive midfielder in the second division, is guarding the backcourt. There is no need to worry about defensive issues. The offensive players in the midfield and frontcourt can attack more boldly. Lucas Bi Liarruel has directly become a long-term starting central midfielder, giving full play to his ability to organize offense and rarely playing as a defensive midfielder.
Under the crazy attack of the Hurricanes, Mendoza Independiente not only failed to break through the defense led by Velarde to equalize the score, but instead lost the ball again in the 72nd minute of the second half.
This time the ball was conceded, it was due to Velarde's accurate prediction that he broke in and intercepted the ball. The opponent's midfielder Aizejo Perrejo tried to pass the ball to forward C. Villajojojo, and then passed the ball halfway. Lucas Villaruel, who returned to defense, launched a quick counterattack. In the end, Toranso cut in from the right and passed the ball in an inverted triangle. Gonzano Martinez received the ball near the penalty spot in the penalty area. The ball was shot hard. Although it did not directly score a goal, it also caused goalkeeper Ayala to make a save.
Center Thomson Mira, who was already in the small penalty area, had quick eyes and quick feet. He rushed forward in two steps, fell to the ground before the defender could clear the ball, and shot the ball. He stretched out his long legs and poked the ball into the empty goal.
Hurricane Athletics expanded their lead and led Mendoza Independence 2-0 away from home, basically sealing the victory.
In football matches, a two-goal lead is indeed difficult to reverse. Every time a game can be equalized or reversed after falling behind by two goals, it is a miracle.
Therefore, at this time, Mendoza had no choice but to substitute three offensive players in a row and press the offense like crazy.
At this time, Mario Binco no longer insisted on his 352 offensive formation, but decisively removed a forward, replaced it with a defender, and asked Lucas Villaruel to retreat and compete with Wei. Ladd partnered with double midfielders and changed to a 4231 formation to strengthen defense.
Mendoza Independiente has gone a little crazy, because not only are they lagging behind, but they are also ranked 6th in the standings. If we lose this game, we may not even be able to secure sixth place, and we may not even be able to play in the play-offs.
Anyway, we are already 0-2 behind, so we might as well go all out to attack and see if we can perform a miracle.
At this time, the value of Velarde's physique, consciousness, and defensive ability become even more highlighted.
At the same time, the speed that has reached 69 also makes Villard faster and faster when running, attacking and returning to defense, and the defensive success rate is getting higher and higher.
In the 79th minute, Diego Casodo, who came on as a substitute for the opponent, tried to knock down Velarde on a bicycle and form a breakthrough. However, Velarde not only was not deceived, but instead decisively grabbed the ball and directly stole the ball. Fight back.
Unfortunately, the Hurricanes' counterattack failed to work this time and wasted one of Willard's steals.
In the 84th minute, Mendoza made a breakthrough from the left and made a pass. Velard, who was back on defense, grabbed the first point and pushed the ball out of the penalty area to clear the ball.
In the 89th minute, Mendoza got a corner kick independently. After the kicker took the ball, it did not fly into the penalty area, but flew outside the top of the penalty area.
This is a tactical corner kick.
Mendoza independent defender Aguirre, who was waiting outside the top of the penalty area of the Hurricanes, bent his bow and arrow, and hit the ball with a volley, sending the ball flying towards the upper right corner of the goal.
If the ball really crosses the penalty area and hits the goal frame, the threat is really big and it will be difficult for the goalkeeper to save it.
Just when Aguirre was about to celebrate his goal, a figure jumped up high in the penalty area and blocked the ball.
And the ball hit the Hurricanes player hard in the face.
This Hurricanes player is No. 33 Alan Willard.
Villard, who was in a hurry to block the ball, didn't think so much just now. He just jumped up with all his strength and blocked the ball with his head. As a result, he was hit directly in the face by the powerful and heavy volley, and almost fainted on the spot. .
After letting out a cry of pain, Willard was hit so dizzy that he fell to the ground, covering his face and unable to get up.
Fortunately, I didn't get a nosebleed, otherwise it would have been a joke.
It had always been him who made other people bleed, and it would be embarrassing if he bleed too.
However, although Velarde was not hit with a nosebleed, considering that the power of this ball was indeed extraordinary, Mario Binco did not let him continue the game, but replaced him with Federico Bismara .
Bismara, who was the main defensive midfielder at the beginning of the season, has now become Velarde's substitute. Sometimes he even has to play as a central defender to have games to play.
When Velarde left the field, a small number of Hurricanes away fans in a corner of the stands gave Velarde a round of applause. It is not only a tribute to him this time when he was blocked by a ball in the face, but also a recognition of his outstanding performance throughout the game.
After Velarde came off the field, Mendoza's independent offensive became even more fierce. In the end, even the center back crossed the center line, penetrated to the front of the Hurricanes penalty area, and laid siege to the Hurricanes Athletic penalty area.
Finally, in the 92nd minute of injury time, Mendoza's independent offensive midfielder Leandro Velasquez, who came on as a substitute, hit the Hurricanes defender in the penalty area with a powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty area. Eramspey's foot formed a change of line, avoided the save of goalkeeper Marcos Dias, and flew into the goal from behind Dias.
Mendoza Independiente, playing at home, finally scored and tied the score at 1-2.
But it doesn't have much effect anymore.
If it's still early, maybe we can try again and try to equalize the score. But now, there is no time left for Mendoza to become independent.
Although Mendoza did not celebrate the goal and waste time, the Hurricanes began to use the ball in the circle to delay time. First, they kicked the ball in the backcourt. After the opponent pressed forward, the goalkeeper made a big goal. He drove the ball to the front wing with his foot, allowing Mendoza to independently serve the backcourt throw-in.
After the foul ball came out, before the ball passed the midfield, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. The Hurricanes beat Independiente Mendoza 2-1 away from home and won the last game of the first half of the league. victory.
Willard continued to be elected the best of the game and received a game experience reward of 10,000 starting points + 10,000 winning prizes + 50,000 A-level ratings = 70,000. The total experience increased to level 14, 71,000/600,000.
This game is also the last game of this round, so after the first half of the game, the final standings are also clear. The first place is Cruzeiro Norte with 19 points. Atletico Hurricanes and Atletico Tucumán are tied with 18 points, but Atletico Hurricanes have a better goal difference than Atletico Tucumán.
As a result, Atlético Huracán relied on the advantage of goal difference to overtake Atletico Tucumán and ranked second. Atletico Tucumán could only be ranked third. In fourth place was CA Tamboli with 17 points.
As for fifth-placed Santa Fe United, the points gap is a bit wide, only 13 points.
The Hurricanes are now firmly in the first group of the top four. As long as they don't fall out of the top four, they can be directly promoted to the A-League after the season without having to play the play-offs like the fifth and sixth places.
In the media reports the next day, the performance of the Hurricanes Athletic Team this season was quite optimistic:
“In the 11th round of the Albanian Second Division that ended yesterday, it was also the last round of the first half of the Albanian League this season. The Hurricanes Athletics opened the scoring in the 17th minute with midfielder Gonzano Martinez and center Tom Sen Mira added a shot in front of the goal in the 72nd minute, beating Independiente Mendoza 2-1 in the away game and taking all three points."
"With this victory in the last game of the first half of the league, Hurricanes Athletics ranked second in the Albanian Second Division standings with a record of 5 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, accumulating 18 points and a goal difference advantage."
"Not only that, Atletico Hurricanes also defeated Boca Juniors and Banfield in the Argentine Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Argentine Cup."
"Such a strong record is related to their match against the newly emerging defensive midfielder Alan Willard."
"Alan Willard came from the Hurricanes' own youth academy. He only got two substitute appearances last season, which totaled less than 20 minutes."
"But after the start of this season, Velarde began to have a completely different performance."
"It is worth mentioning that before the start of this season, Willard's parents unfortunately passed away in a car accident, leaving Willard and his sister to depend on each other."
"There is a saying that the sudden death of his parents made Willard become quite mature mentally and very hard-working. Not only did he run around on the court and dare to fight, but he also trained the hardest every day. He also worked hard. Practice more in the morning and evening.”
"Such an attitude has allowed Velarde to improve by leaps and bounds since entering the new season, and you can see changes almost every week."
"In the 9 games Velard has played this season, including the Argentine Cup, Atletico Hurricanes has achieved a super high winning rate of 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. However, he did not play in the three games due to red card suspension and additional suspension. In the game, Hurricane Athletics had 2 draws and 1 loss, without a win.”
"This fully demonstrates Velarde's great role in the team."
"It can be said that Willard single-handedly supports the Hurricanes' defense, which can be called an iron gate."
"Not only is his defensive strength strong, but Willard's court style is also extremely tough."
"Once someone dares to provoke him, he will be seriously injured and even be carried off on a stretcher. He can be called a butcher."
"But if no one deliberately provokes him, Velarde behaves very calmly, defends cleanly, and will not maliciously hurt others easily."
"This is also the reason why he has not aroused the resentment of fans and referees so far."
"As long as Willard is there in the second half of the season, the Hurricanes will be worthy of our expectations in both league and cup competitions."
"Even Boca Juniors can eliminate them."
"Perhaps we can look forward to the scene when Atletico Hurricanes wins the Albania B championship and the Argentine Cup double this season!"
