After Bobadilla was helped off the field by the team doctor, Augsburg completed the substitution with substitute forward Kayoubi, and the game continued.
Augsburg did not back down due to Bobadilla's injury and continued their onslaught in an attempt to break through Liverpool's goal. After all, they play home first and then away, are at a disadvantage in the schedule, and their results in the league are quite poor, so they just want to fight in the Europa League and extend their life.
But their offense is really not a big threat to Liverpool. Although Kayubi is 184cm tall, has a good physique, and has a certain ability to fight for the top in the air, he still cannot shake Liverpool's advantage in the penalty area.
The defense of Sakho and Kolo Toure alone made Kayubi quite uncomfortable, not to mention Velarde who occasionally returned to defense.
From the time he came on as a substitute in the 23rd minute until the end of the first half, Kayubi only succeeded once in taking advantage of the advantage of seizing the target, and he was unable to form an attack, and was blocked by Velarde. , he could only header the ball and pass it to his teammates, but in the end it was intercepted by Liverpool.
Of course, in addition to Kayoubi as the fulcrum center, Augsburg also has other midfielders and wingers joining the attack, and the midfielders will also advance to participate in the attack.
But it's still useless. When Willard participates in defense, Liverpool's defensive configuration is four defenders and three midfielders. Especially Willard's physical fitness and speed, as well as the flexibility of the free agent, he can chase the ball wherever it is. Where to go.
He also has super awareness and can judge the loopholes in his own defense faster and more accurately than others, or the opponent's passing, breakthrough intentions, and the landing point of the ball in the air, etc., and then carry out targeted movement interceptions. , block, destroy.
Augsburg's offense is not yet able to break through the defenses of Willard and Liverpool: they lack breakthrough masters like Messi or Willard who can tear apart the defense.
In turn, while Augsburg is aggressively attacking, huge gaps and holes will naturally appear in the backcourt. Even though they worked very hard and lost the ball, almost all of them fought back to defend, trying to make up for their technical flaws with their numerical advantage and generous running.
But Liverpool's overall strength is indeed stronger than Augsburg. Even in an away game abroad, the state is not as good as the last game, but it is still difficult for Augsburg's defense to completely resist.
In the 38th minute, Willard took the ball in the backcourt and made an exquisite long pass, directly tearing apart Augsburg's defense.
Centers Sturridge and Firmino both stood on the opponent's back line and did not move, confusing the opponent. As a result, Coutinho penetrated the front of the penalty area from the left side and completed the anti-offside. After receiving the pass from Velarde, he rubbed the ball without stopping and hit an arcing shot, successfully avoiding the attack. Goalkeeper Schitz sent the ball into the right side of Augsburg's gate.
This was also the only goal in the first half. In the end, the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 0-1. Liverpool, playing away, took the lead by one goal thanks to Willard's assist to Coutinho.
This score made Augsburg feel very uncomfortable. Not only were they one goal behind, but they also allowed Liverpool to score an away goal. In the schedule disadvantage of playing home first and then away, this score puts considerable pressure on the home team.
Therefore, after the second half of the game started, Augsburg had no choice but to continue to attack. If it failed, it would be a failure and try to make a last ditch effort.
However, Augsburg was already tired in the first half, and after playing hard for another 20 to 30 minutes in the second half, their physical disadvantage became even more prominent. Even if the head coach Wei Yinqier made two substitutions in a row, used up the last two substitutions, and sent in two new players, it would be useless.
After all, they are at a disadvantage and are passive in both offense and defense.
Liverpool, on the other hand, not only firmly defended its defense, but also threatened Augsburg's goal with many counterattacks.
The most regrettable goal was that in the 79th minute, Velarde suddenly rushed into the penalty area, received Firmino's pass from the right, jumped high in the penalty area, and hit the goal with a powerful header. Hit a very threatening header.
Velarde, who was in the air, thought the ball was going to come. Unexpectedly, goalkeeper Hitz showed his extraordinary skills and predicted the direction of Velarde's header in advance. He first moved a step sideways and then jumped out. He successfully deflected Willard's header off the post and out of the baseline with his palm.
The commentators in England were excited for a moment:
"Villade header!!!"
"Ouch, the ball didn't go in!"
"Augsburg's goalkeeper made a wonderful save to save Willard's header, which was quite threatening."
“Augsburg escaped with a bang.”
"However, it's not a big problem for Liverpool. Even though Willard didn't score the header, overall Liverpool still has an advantage."
"Although Augsburg is taking the initiative to attack, in fact they are just making a last-ditch effort. The real situation is that Augsburg's ball possession rate is still slightly lower than Liverpool, and Liverpool has the advantage of ball possession rate. It’s almost always a very threatening counterattack.”
"Had it not been for Liverpool's poor luck in scoring, I'm afraid Augsburg would have conceded more than two goals."
"Even so, I don't think Augsburg can equalize in this game. Moreover, the game is not over yet, and Liverpool may still score another goal to end the game."
The commentator was right. Liverpool put too much pressure on the home team. Augsburg had limited abilities and could only make up for it by running without hesitation. But in the last ten minutes or so, the players' physical fitness reached the limit and they couldn't even run.
However, Willard's physical fitness of 92 allowed him to still have enough physical fitness to break through with the ball even in the last ten minutes.
In the 89th minute, it was Willard who started dribbling the ball from the midfield, passed two people and then rushed to the front of the penalty area, attracting four people from behind and behind Augsburg, and then passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area.
Forward Sturridge leaned on the opponent's center back Klavan in the penalty area, pushed the ball steadily without stopping, and successfully scored the ball into the lower left corner.
Goalkeeper Hitz failed to save the team this time because the angle of Sturridge's shot was too tight. Hitz could only watch the ball and sigh as the ball hit the net.
Liverpool led 2-0 away from home, with Willard assisting and scoring twice. Speaking of which, this is the first time Willard has assisted and scored twice in the club!
He previously had a record of assisting and scoring twice in a single game, but that was in the Copa America final. In a club game, today's game is the first time he has assisted and scored twice in a single game.
He has never had a record of assisting or scoring twice in the Hurricanes Athletic Team, which proves that in addition to defense and scoring goals, Velarde is also contributing more and more to organizing offense.
He is truly evolving into an almighty free man!
