Not long after the score became 0-2, the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half. Liverpool, playing away games, temporarily led by two goals.
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. Crystal Palace attacked for a while, trying to regain a point and created two good shooting opportunities, but failed to actually score.
Once Liverpool gets the ball and forms a counterattack, the threat is huge.
Even if every counterattack is not successful, it can still frighten the home fans of Crystal Palace. Moreover, it can also consume the physical energy of Crystal Palace.
Back and forth to attack and defend, but they are not as strong as Liverpool, and they want to score goals but not lose the ball, so they can only put more effort into running.
However, this kind of total attack and total defense strategy will not be very effective if it is not trained much.
On the other hand, Liverpool have been training and competing for several months since Klopp took charge of the team, and everyone is used to it. When defending, even if the ball is at the feet of the opponent's defender, Origi, Milner and others must press high.
Once they get the ball and form a counterattack, the number of people involved in the attack is not one or two, but five or six at every turn. The attack points are quite scattered, making it difficult for the opponent to completely stop them even if they fight back to defend.
In the 60th minute, Liverpool used a collective attack in a counterattack to break up Crystal Palace's defense, allowing Milner to receive a pass from Emre Can in the gap. A man ball passed and almost broke through the center back Martin. Kelly formed a semi-single chance.
When Milner was about to pass the ball past him, Martin Kelly reached out in desperation and grabbed Milner's clothes, causing Milner to lose his center of gravity and fall to the ground.
There is no doubt about this ball. It must be a foul and a yellow card. Even Martin Kelly did not make any protest and accepted the referee's yellow card and free kick equally.
But just when Martin Kelly and his teammates were preparing to line up against the wall according to the goalkeeper's instructions and wait for Liverpool's free kick, Willard, who stepped forward to take the free kick, suddenly made a diagonal pass without even taking a run-up. , sending the ball diagonally into the space outside the other corner of the penalty area.
While passing the ball, Willard also shouted: "Lalana, shoot!"
Quick free kick.
When Willard saw the referee, he directly awarded Martin Kelly a foul and gave him a yellow card. Then he filled in the yellow card information there, without saying that he had to wait for his whistle to blow before kicking off, and no one from Crystal Palace came up to stop him from taking the kick. ball.
Why don't you seize the opportunity?
Therefore, Willard decisively took a quick free kick. It's a bit difficult to shoot from the spot, but passing the ball is still possible. Moreover, while passing the ball, Willard also called Lallana's name to remind him to shoot.
Lallana, who was not mentally prepared, heard Willard's shout and subconsciously kicked the ball towards the lower left corner of the goal without stopping.
The players and fans of Crystal Palace looked on in stunned silence.
Goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who was directing his teammates to line up against the wall, suddenly changed his face and made a hasty save. However, he was caught off guard after all. His response to the save was much slower. In the end, he was beyond reach and could not reach the ball at all. The ball fell from his palm. The striker flew into the goal from far away.
"Wow, the ball went in!"
"Hurry up and take the free kick!"
"Villad didn't wait for Crystal Palace to line up the wall, and suddenly made a diagonal pass and sent the ball into the gap outside the left corner of the penalty area. Lallana did not stop the ball and directly volleyed the ball into the goal. "
"The referee Andre Marriner indicated that the goal was valid and Liverpool led 3-0."
"The Crystal Palace players were quite dissatisfied and gathered around the referee to demand an explanation."
"But the referee did not say that we must wait until he blows the whistle before kicking off, so Willard's quick free kick is in compliance with the rules."
"It can only be said that Willard reacted too quickly and seized the opportunity in time."
"And Crystal Palace was undoubtedly careless."
"Now Crystal is three goals behind Liverpool, and the game is basically lost."
Indeed, this score made everyone at Crystal Palace desperate. The fans in the stands were all very angry and yelled at Velarde for his lack of martial ethics, and this goal did not count.
Some people also called the referee a black whistle, and the Crystal Palace players also surrounded the referee, but the referee had no intention of changing the decision.
This ball was originally within the rules. If the referee did not specifically ask him to blow the whistle before kicking off, the free kick could be taken quickly at any time.
It's just that this situation is relatively rare. Willard seized this opportunity, but the people in Crystal Palace were careless.
This goal not only extended the score to 3-0, but also dealt a heavy blow to the morale of Crystal Palace.
Even though Crystal Palace was playing at home, when the score gap widened to 3 goals, they knew they would lose. The previous desire to attack and equalize the score has undoubtedly dissipated for the most part. Even if they got the ball in the following time, the attack was weak or inconsistent, posing no threat to Liverpool's defense at all.
Seeing this, Klopp also started to make continuous substitutions. Among them, Willard was also replaced.
On the one hand, Willard's physical fitness is not at full 100 after all. He has played too many games, not to mention he is still a free agent. He runs all over the field. Every game consumes a lot of physical energy. He needs to take a good rest to play the next Europa League 1/4. A double red in the final would be even better.
On the other hand, you are worried that your opponent will become angry and maliciously hurt others. After all, Willard's quick free kick caught Crystal Palace off guard and made people feel uncomfortable.
As for Willard, no matter how good his physique is, he is still not at 100 full points and may still be injured. Besides, Klopp can't see Willard's injury resistance data.
Therefore, it is safer to replace Velarde, as there is no need to worry that Velarde will not miss the next Europa League game against Manchester United.
After Willard left the field, Liverpool's offensive and defensive quality dropped a lot, and they failed to seize several good offensive opportunities. Fortunately, Crystal Palace failed to seize the opportunity and score a face-saving goal.
Until the end of the game, the score was 0-3. Crystal Palace, playing at home, was defeated by Liverpool by a big score.
Liverpool, on the other hand, took all three points and continued to hold on to Leicester City in the standings without being thrown away. They continued to wait for the Blue Fox to make mistakes so that the Red Army could reverse their ranking in the standings.
After the game, Liverpool won 3-0 away from home and continued to put pressure on Leicester City at the top of the table. Willard completed a quick free kick in the game to assist Lallana to score, etc., which became a hot topic among everyone. .
Liverpool's good overall competitive state makes Leicester City, which has never won the English top league championship, nervous.
And Willard's idea of taking a quick free kick during the game also became a point of praise for everyone.
This proves that Willard is flexible enough and not rigid, which is also an important advantage on the court. With this advantage, he can sometimes make genius moves and passes that catch people off guard on the court, which helps Liverpool increase their offensive threat.
Just like this time, a quick free kick assisted his teammates to score.
