When Stoke City continued to attack and launch aerial bombardments, Liverpool would naturally not forget to counterattack.
However, because Willard stayed in the backcourt most of the time to guard against Crouch's aerial challenge, he rarely participated in the attack. Therefore, Liverpool's counterattack was not efficient and they were unable to score.
But Velarde, who is very balanced in all aspects, in addition to directly participating in the offense, can also help his teammates create counterattack opportunities by passing the ball. Even if he can't directly assist, he can still penetrate the opponent's defense.
Although such opportunities are rare, they always occur.
No, in the 38th minute of the first half, Willard intercepted the ball from Stoke City's right midfielder Walters on the left side of the backcourt. He looked up at the situation in the midfield and frontcourt and found that both sides' formations were attracted. When he and Walters reached the wing, a large gap formed on the right side of the frontcourt, and No. 7 Milner was waving to him from a distance.
Although Stoke City's full-back Peters turned his head and glanced at Milner, he was aware of the danger and immediately moved to Milner's position on the wing, but Willard had already decisively passed the ball with a big foot. Bigfoot drove to the right side of the frontcourt.
Although Velarde uses his left foot, Velarde's inverse foot has reached 89, and his passing ability with his left foot is no worse than that with his right foot. In addition, the powerful force allowed his long pass to go quite far, spanning the entire midfield and backfield, reaching a distance of 60 meters on the right side of the frontcourt, and falling directly behind Stoke City's back line.
If it only reaches the place where Milner waved just now, the opponent's full-back may approach and press him. But Willard passed the ball ahead of time, and Milner chased the ball in a straight line, forming an anti-offside position on the wing. However, the opponent chased the ball diagonally, so it was naturally impossible to catch up. They could only block the inside line to guard against Milner. Cut inside after receiving the ball.
Milner had no idea of cutting inside. He rushed to the landing point about 10 meters away from the baseline. After unloading the ball, he glanced at the running position of his teammates in the middle. Milner did not wait for Peters to block the passing route. He immediately made a pass and passed the ball into the penalty area.
This pass without interference was quite comfortable, and center Benteke who rushed into the penalty area from the middle was also quite comfortable.
Benteke got stuck in his position, stuck central defender Muniesa behind him, and then flew to the top. He completed a standard diving dive about 12 meters away from the goal, and successfully headed the ball to the back of the goal. .
The distance was too close, and goalkeeper Butland had no choice but to fly and pounce, but he was beyond his reach and could only watch the ball fly into the net.
The entire Anfield stadium boiled instantly, and all the Red Army fans stood up one by one, applauding and cheering wildly.
The commentators also shouted loudly:
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Benteke made a standard diving dive and headed Milner's cross into the goal."
"Liverpool expanded the total score to 3-0, basically sealing the victory. Stoke City was powerless and unlikely to stage a miracle comeback."
"You know, this is Anfield."
"There is still a slight possibility of one goal or two goals, but if you are three goals behind, it will be difficult to reverse Liverpool at Anfield."
Indeed, reversals have always been Liverpool's specialty. They are experts at reversals and are naturally rarely reversed by their opponents. Especially with a three-goal lead, they personally created the miracle in Istanbul in the 2005 Champions League final. How could they allow their opponents to reverse themselves and become the background, especially at home at Anfield.
After the game restarted, Stoke City, who were cornered, went crazy with high balls and bombed them in the air. However, they were unlucky. Although Crouch hit the ball twice, he failed to pose a threat within the goal frame. .
After 1 minute of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half. The two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 1-0. Liverpool led the two rounds with a total score of 3-0.
After a 15-minute rest, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. At the beginning of the second half, Stoke City, who was forced into a desperate situation, substituted two forwards and switched from 4231 to 433, attacking like crazy.
Such a desperate move, coupled with a bit of luck, allowed Stoke City to actually make a pass from Bojan, who had switched to the wing, in the 58th minute of the second half. He passed a good ball and was missed by Anauto. Vic beat Kolo Toure to head the ball into the Liverpool goal.
Willard went to closely mark Crouch, but the 192cm-tall Anautovic caught a chance and got a goal back.
The score in this game became 1-1, and the total score became 3-1, still two goals behind. With more than half an hour left before the end of the game, Stoke City saw a glimmer of hope.
After the game restarted, Stoke City continued to attack fiercely, trying to build on their efforts, continue to score goals, and try to perform a miracle.
As long as they can score two more goals and tie the total score to 3-3, Stoke City will be able to eliminate Liverpool and advance to the final with the advantage of more away goals.
But Klopp didn't give them a chance.
In the minds of ordinary fans, it is very easy to counterattack Stoke City at this time, just like Willard's big foot transfer of more than 60 meters in the first half, which can penetrate the opponent's defense in an instant.
As a result, Klopp did not do this. Instead, he removed two forwards, Firmino and Milner, and replaced them with Emre Can and center back Lovren, who returned from injury, and switched to a 541 defensive formation. , began to defend.
The scene is naturally very unsightly, but doing so is undoubtedly the most energy-saving. Liverpool, which has accumulated a large number of defenders, is like a turtle shell, leaving Stoke City with nothing to do. Even if it is an aerial attack, as long as the ball cannot be passed to Crouch's head, Stoke City will not be able to successfully compete for the top.
Even if the challenge for the top is successful, with Crouch's thin physique and header skills, it will be difficult to form a truly threatening header due to the collision and interference of Willard and others.
As time passed, Stoke City became more and more impatient. In the end, they tried both crosses from the wing and long shots from outside the penalty area, but still failed to score a goal.
Instead, Liverpool made a quick counterattack in the 87th minute. However, striker Benteke was unlucky. In a semi-one-on-one opportunity, he faced goalkeeper Butland's attack and picked out the ball with a kick. The beam is picked too big.
However, although they failed to score the game-winner, the total score of 3-1 was still firmly maintained by Liverpool until the end.
The 541 formation is indeed difficult to break for Stoke City, which is not very offensive.
In the end, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Liverpool defeated Stoke City and advanced with a total score of 2-0 in the first leg away, 1-1 in the second leg at home, and 3-1 in both legs. The EFL Cup final of the 2015/2016 season.
The Red Army's opponent in the EFL Cup final will be the winner of Manchester City VS Everton. The second round of the match between these two will be played tomorrow, and we don’t know who will advance to the final.
But no matter who it is, at least Liverpool has advanced to the final and is one step closer to the championship. It is still worthy of everyone's crazy celebration.
