Being able to score the first goal and take the lead, both Willard himself, his teammates, and the fans in the stands are obviously very happy.
However, as the commentators said, Liverpool will obviously not be satisfied with the 1-0 score. Naturally, they will continue to attack and strive to expand their lead.
The schedule disadvantage of playing home first and then away means that Liverpool must attack aggressively in this game.
Manchester United is naturally not far behind. Although they have a schedule disadvantage, it would be great if they can win away from home in the first round. Even if you can't win, you should try your best to score away goals.
Therefore, Manchester United will not back down. Coupled with the identity of the mortal enemy, the atmosphere, as well as the factors of the stadium and weather environment, the two sides will continue to run rampant and overturn in the next game.
However, not many people dared to directly confront Willard. His physique and injury resistance are so good that no one in Manchester United can beat him.
In the 29th minute, Rashford, who served as the center of Manchester United, was severely knocked away by Willard during a competition with Willard. He fell from the air to the ground, splashing mud and water, and could not get up for a long time. .
However, this time the two sides had a 50-50 chance of grabbing the ball. Velarde did not commit any obvious fouls. It was just that Rashford was knocked over by Velarde because of his poor physical fitness. Therefore, the referee Carlos Velasco did not show Velarde a yellow card, but just whistled for a foul.
Although Manchester United has poor results in the league, it is still very exciting to beat a mortal enemy like Liverpool. In the 34th minute, it created a murderous opportunity. Martial went down from the right and passed the ball in an inverted triangle, passing the ball to the penalty area. Near the ball point.
Mata, who was inserted in the back row, rushed into the penalty area and won the ball with a furious shot, which was of extremely high quality.
When the ball was about to avoid flying into the goal, fortunately goalkeeper Mignolet was very focused and made a prediction in advance, shifted his position in advance, made a sideways dive, and successfully saved the ball from the baseline.
Although he threw himself into the muddy water and splashed muddy water on his face, Mignolet, who successfully saved the dangerous shot, was still very excited. He got up and yelled, then wiped the water on his face and talked to Sal Coe, Lovren and others embraced and celebrated, and the fans in the stands also applauded Mignolet's world-class save.
Manchester United failed to grab the first point from the subsequent corner kick and was saved by center back Sakho from the penalty area.
The attack between the two sides continued.
When the weather is bad and the field is slippery, the offenses of both sides rely more on aerial passes, which requires higher technical levels on both sides and leads to more mistakes, so the ball changes hands faster.
However, there are not many opportunities to seize the opportunity to counterattack. After all, it is easy for the opponent to make mistakes, and it is equally easy for one's own side to make mistakes during the counterattack.
In the 39th minute, Willard sent a wonderful long pass in the counterattack. Sturridge's movement attracted Manchester United defender Smalling. Firmino had already completed the anti-offside move. If the ball was not If something unexpected happens, he will be able to receive a through ball from Willard and create a shooting opportunity.
Unexpectedly, after the ball rolled past center back Blind, it got stuck in a small puddle, decelerated suddenly, and stopped before it could reach the predetermined position.
Firmino had to brake urgently and tried to turn around to grab the ball, but before he had time, Manchester United center back Blind, who was turned back to defend, touched the ball first and passed the ball to goalkeeper De Gea, relieving the crisis. .
However, Willard's technical ability is not only able to pass the ball on the ground, but also can pass the ball in the air.
Seeing that it was easy to make mistakes when passing on the ground, Velard also increased his efforts to pass the ball in the air, just to see if his teammates could grasp it.
A few minutes later, just as the first half was about to end, in the 44th minute, Manchester United made a passing error, and Liverpool stole the ball and launched a quick counterattack.
After Willard ran out of the gap to receive the pass from Emre Can, he looked up at the running position of his teammates in front, then adjusted, and without waiting for the opponent's midfielder to counterattack, he passed the ball with a long pass. The ball was moved to Coutinho's position on the left.
Manchester United full-back Guillermo Varela stepped forward to compete with Coutinho for the top. However, he was unable to match Coutinho in height. Coutinho grabbed the spot and passed the ball with a header. Sturridge follows up in the middle.
This opportunity was actually not a very good one, but while Sturridge was struggling with the Manchester United center back Smalling who was returning to defense, he did not stop the ball to adjust. He directly leaned on Smalling and swung the ball while running. With his left foot, he hit a volley of extremely high quality.
Sturridge's usual left foot is his natural choice, and with good luck, he hit the ball firmly and hit a ground-breaking volley that went straight to the goal.
The shot was taken outside the penalty area about 25 meters away from the goal, but the ball hit the upper right corner of the goal like a cannonball.
Because Coutinho received a pass from Velarde on the left, goalkeeper De Gea's position was slightly to the left. As a result, Sturridge's volleying kick not only went straight to the upper right corner, but was also powerful and fast.
Although De Gea is a goalkeeper who reacts quickly, he was still helpless against Sturridge's volley. He could only watch the ball fly into the net against the right post.
Before the end of the first half, Liverpool scored another goal with Sturridge's volley, changing the score to 2-0.
This score made the fans cheer enthusiastically, and Villard and other players on the field were able to enter the halftime break with a relatively relaxed mood.
On the other hand, Manchester United on the other side was naturally dejected and unhappy. After all, seeing the first half coming to an end and conceding another goal, no one would be happy.
During the halftime break, Klopp reminded everyone that they must cheer up in the second half and not be attacked by Manchester United.
Manchester United is known as the Red Devils, and they are the ones who never give up until the last minute. In the 1999 Champions League final, Manchester United was trailing 0-1 until the final stoppage time. By scoring two goals in the final stoppage time, Manchester United completed the Camp Nou miracle and won the Champions League that year. And won the Triple Crown.
Therefore, facing a sworn enemy and die-hard like Manchester United, we must not give up until the last moment of the game.
The reality was just as Klopp expected. After a 15-minute break, after the second half officially started, Manchester United pressed forward with all its players and launched a fierce attack for several minutes. At one point, they almost pushed Liverpool's forwards back into their own penalty area.
Fortunately, Liverpool is not a vegetarian. After two dangerous counterattack threats from Velarde, Sturridge, Firmino, and Coutinho, Manchester United's defenders finally did not dare to press too close. .
It is still a bit difficult for Manchester United's midfielders to break through Liverpool's high-pressing lineup at Anfield.
Liverpool held a two-goal lead, but they took their time and stabilized their defense first, and then waited for opportunities to counterattack.
First of all, the goal is not to concede goals, not to allow Manchester United to score away goals, and then strive to score goals to kill the suspense of the game.
