Crystal Palace was thrown into chaos after Mane opened the scoring for Liverpool and took a 1-0 lead. Because they were only one goal behind, Crystal Palace's midfielders still wanted to counterattack to see if they could score an equalizer.
But for Crystal Palace's midfielders and backfielders, this game is basically a sure win. Villard hasn't even shown off yet, but Liverpool is already in the lead. With Velarde's state during this period, it would be a miracle if they could guard him and prevent him from scoring. And once Willard scores, even just one, they have to score two to even the score.
Based on this calculation, is there any point in counterattacking? Once they press forward to counterattack, Liverpool gets a chance to counterattack and there is more space in the backcourt. It is easier for Velard to score because his shooting range is too long and his shooting ability is too strong.
This lack of unity of thought caused Crystal Palace to become somewhat disjointed in the next few minutes. Taking advantage of the kick-off in the center circle or the occasional opportunity to get the ball, Crystal Palace's midfielders, wingers, forwards, etc. are still passing and cutting to cooperate with Liverpool's half-court attack, but the midfielders, defenders, etc. in the midfield and backfield are not. He didn't move at all. He didn't follow the forward's pressure and kept his distance to respond.
This means that once Liverpool gets the ball, they can easily pass through the midfield and directly go outside the Crystal Palace penalty area, threatening the Crystal Palace goal.
In the 25th minute, Liverpool captain Henderson intercepted the ball in the backcourt from center Benteke, a former teammate who had just transferred from Liverpool to Crystal Palace before the start of this season, and then passed the ball to Velarde, who was advancing at high speed. .
There was a huge gap in the midfield. Willard didn't even pass the ball. He passed the ball directly and passed it far away. He used his speed to beat the Crystal Palace midfielder MacArthur who was trying to counterattack. He chased the ball in the Crystal Palace half court. Take the ball and bring it close to the 30-meter area of the Crystal Palace goal.
Although Crystal Palace's defensive midfielder began to block Velarde's path, Velarde just passed the ball to Coutinho, then went around and hit the wall with Coutinho. Only 27 meters away from the goal, he received a good pass from Coutinho and hit the goal without stopping.
Although Willard was pushed and interfered by Crystal Palace defender Tomkins when shooting, Willard used his strong physique to stabilize his body and then completed a high-quality long shot.
The ball soared into the air like a cannonball, avoiding center back Dann who flew to block the hole of the gun. Then it escaped goalkeeper Mandanda's save, and then flew into the net as more than 20,000 Crystal Palace fans watched in despair.
For Willard, this is just one of the more ordinary goals among his many recent long-range shots. But for history, this is not an ordinary goal. Because with this goal, Willard has scored 91 goals in the adult team's professional games in 2016 (excluding Olympic U23 goals), tying Messi's annual record of 91 goals set in 2012.
This is a great moment.
Therefore, countless TV commentators who had been prepared, whether they were on site or in their own TV studios, suddenly shouted excitedly:
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Villad's recent iconic long shot from outside the penalty area!"
"Heavy artillery blast!"
"91 goals of the year!"
"This is Willard's first goal of the game, but it is his 91st career goal for the senior team in 2016."
"Thus, Velarde tied Leo Messi's annual record of 91 goals set in 2012, and together with Messi became the player with the most goals in a single year in football history."
"Of course, this game has just begun. With Velarde's recent hot form, it is basically a high probability that he will continue to score goals and surpass Messi."
"When Messi set the annual record of 91 goals, everyone thought it was a miracle and no one would surpass it."
"Unexpectedly, just 4 years later, Messi's record has been tied, and will even be surpassed by Velarde."
"The key is that Velarde is not a pure forward. He was born as a defensive midfielder in Argentina. Even in Liverpool, he is not a forward, but a free agent. He even assumes more defensive tasks in the midfield and backfield. Many times, only when attacking, he goes outside the penalty area and shoots."
"So most of his goals are long-range shots."
"Such a player with a defensive midfield background has scored 91 goals in a single year. This game may even surpass this record, and then slowly reach the unprecedented 100-goal mark for the year."
"With such a terrifying ability, Liverpool has really made a lot of money."
On the sidelines, even Klopp does feel that he has made a lot of money.
As for the Liverpool fans at the scene and in front of the TV, they naturally felt very happy. Such a powerful goal-scoring machine actually played for their Red Army. All opponents could only be bombarded by Willard. Shivering, it was so good.
The Liverpool players on the court were also very happy, and they all came forward to hug and congratulate Velarde for scoring the goal, and congratulate him on tying Messi's annual record of 91 goals.
After all, for such a meaningful goal, Willard and his teammates celebrated for a little long, almost a minute, before returning to their own half and waiting for Crystal Palace to kick the ball in and restart the game.
Of course, the reason was that the Crystal Palace players did not complain about Liverpool's excessive celebration time, and the referee was happy to see the result and did not intervene.
For the Crystal Palace players, the score became 0-2, two goals behind, and the game was basically over. Facing the Red Army's defense line led by Willard and the Red Army's offensive line led by Willard, they were unable to play any role on both offense and defense.
An equalizer is basically a luxury, as long as the goal can be defended and Willard is not allowed to score more goals, and a big defeat is not turned into a disastrous defeat, or even a massacre or murder, then it will be good.
Therefore, after the game restarted, Crystal Palace, which was two goals behind, unified its thinking. Even the forwards, midfielders and others no longer insisted on attacking. Most of the time, they honestly retreated to their own half and participated in defense.
Even if you are not deeply involved, you still have to follow Velarde from the outside to cause interference or even damage to Velarde's long-range shots.
When Willard is not holding the ball, there are usually two or three people following him at any time. Once he showed signs of taking the ball and shooting, as many as four or five people surrounded him. Even if you cannot break the ball at his feet, you must prevent him from shooting, or interfere or block the moment he shoots.
Under such circumstances, even Velarde could not quickly regain the second goal and truly break Messi's record.
