As time passed and there was less and less time left in the first half, Manchester City's offense became stronger and stronger. It seemed that they wanted to score before the end of the first half, equalize the score, and go into the halftime break with a tie.
But Liverpool's high-position press is not so easy to deal with, especially the presence of Willard, which has greatly improved Liverpool's defensive ability.
Not only does he have great personal defensive ability, flexible positioning, and uses his physical strength to rush around to fill positions, but he also has superb awareness.
As he spends more time in Liverpool, his contributions become more and more important, and his prestige becomes higher and higher. Even if his teammates in the backcourt are more senior than him, they are more and more willing to listen to his instructions to defend.
In the 44th minute, Manchester City's Yaya Toure, who was still struggling to score a goal, played a wall-to-wall collaboration with David Silva, successfully breaking through Emre Can's defense and dribbling the ball to the penalty area line. superior.
Velard blocked Yaya Toure's path. He was sure not to let Yaya Toure break through him, but he had to prevent the opponent from passing the ball. Therefore, the gesture behind him pointed at Aguero in the penalty area, signaling Sakho on the back line to keep an eye on Aguero.
Seeing Velarde's gesture, Sakho, who originally thought that Kolo Toure would be able to follow Aguero alone, did not hesitate and immediately moved in the direction of Aguero, preparing to join Kolo Toure. Mark Aguero.
As a result, Yaya Toure really didn't wait for Villard to get closer, and he made a decisive pass, passing the ball past Villard, who was unable to react, and flew into the penalty area. The ball was too close. Even with Velarde's reaction ability, he was unable to stop Yaya Toure's pass. He could only watch the ball soar into the air and fly past.
If Sakho had not moved in time, the ball would have also flown past Sakho behind Velard, landed near the right corner of the small penalty area, and then been received by Aguero who suddenly started to shake off Kolo Toure. , it is possible to complete a high-quality volley.
But Sakho shifted his position in time under the command of Velarde, just in time to catch Yaya Toure's pass, and before Aguero could catch the ball, he made a leaping dive to clear the ball, and pushed the ball out of the side of the penalty area. Outside, full-back Alberto Moreno then got the ball, moved forward along the wing, and launched a counterattack.
When the Manchester City players and fans were still lamenting that Yaya Toure's pass was not received by Aguero and resulted in a shot, Velarde had already bypassed Yaya Toure in front of him and shot towards the center. The frontcourt rushed over.
There are also Henderson, Coutinho, Sturridge, Firmino, etc., as many as five or six players participated in this counterattack. As soon as they encountered an obstruction, they passed the ball to their teammates, and then they themselves Go around the defensive player and run into the gap.
Although many Manchester City players realized something was wrong after losing the ball and tried their best to defend, Liverpool had too many players participating in the counterattack and the attack points were too scattered. Manchester City simply could not organize an effective defense to keep an eye on all Liverpool players.
The result was that Willard ran all the way and rushed into the penalty area with Sturridge, leading Manchester City's Otamendi, Kompany, Fernandinho and others to nervously return to the penalty area. .
As a result, Coutinho, who was dribbling the ball forward from the wing, did not choose to cross the ball. Instead, he tricked Manchester City full-back Sagna into taking two steps back toward the baseline, then suddenly braked, cut inside, and then made a pass from the left side of the penalty area. He dribbled horizontally near the corner to get out of the way and then shot.
Robben-style breakthrough from the wing and inside shot.
However, Robben usually plays on the right, while Coutinho plays on the left this time, but the principle is the same.
Moreover, Coutinho played a high-level arc shot this time, successfully bypassing the players on both sides in the penalty area, as well as the goalkeeper Caballero who was making a save in front of the goal, and drew a wonderful arc in the air. He hit the far post and flew into the goal.
"Goooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Beautiful cuts from the wing and arcing shots."
"Before the end of the first half, Coutinho scored a long shot on the counterattack and once again penetrated Manchester City's goal."
"Liverpool leads 2-0 and has a huge advantage."
"Manchester City originally wanted to attack aggressively before the end of the first half, trying to score and equalize the score. Unexpectedly, not only did they not score, but Liverpool intercepted the ball and launched a successful quick counterattack."
"There was a detail just now that most people may not have noticed. When Velarde intercepted Yaya Toure, he made a gesture with his left hand trailing behind him, signaling center back Sakho to move in the direction of Aguero. Move and defend Aguero with Kolo Toure."
"This not only shows Velarde's confidence in being able to stop Yaya Toure and prevent him from forming a breakthrough from him, but also proves Velarde's superb awareness and his ability to direct his teammates to fill holes in his own defense in a timely manner. Defense.”
"It was Sakho's timely lateral movement that caught up with Yaya Toure's pass. He pushed the ball outside the penalty area to clear the ball. His teammate got the ball and launched a counterattack. Finally, Couti Neo scored with a kick."
"Furthermore, during the counterattack, Willard was also heavily marked by Manchester City defenders. He pushed forward without hesitation, attracting Manchester City defenders into the penalty area, giving Coutinho space to calmly shoot from outside the penalty area. .”
"So although Villard didn't touch the ball during the whole defense and attack, it was very important. It was Villard's command that allowed Sakho to successfully steal the ball. It was also the forward penetration of him and Sturridge in the middle. , attracted most of Manchester City’s defensive attention and gave Coutinho space to shoot.”
"The presence of Willard has indeed improved Liverpool's strength on both offense and defense."
"Before Willard joined Liverpool, Liverpool were still struggling for European places."
"And now, Liverpool has not only rushed into the Champions League qualification zone, but has even become extremely qualified to compete for the Premier League title."
"This game opened the scoring, and now it helps Liverpool expand the score. If the Red Army wins this final, the possibility of winning the first championship this season is getting bigger and bigger!"
After being reminded by the commentator, the fans in front of the TV realized how much role Villard, who did not touch the ball in the whole process, played in Liverpool's offensive and defensive reversal.
Without Willard's command, Sakho still stands behind Willard to prevent Yaya Toure from making a breakthrough. If Yaya Toure passes the ball, Sakho will not be able to clear the siege, and he may be beaten by Aqui. Luo received the ball and volleyed it, and it was entirely possible to score directly.
That is, it is not that Liverpool extended the lead to two goals, but that the score was equalized and forced to return to the same starting line, then the second half would have to be fought hard.
How can it be like now, leading by two goals and most of the championship has been lifted by Liverpool.
