Ibrahimovic's goal that can be called a solo breakthrough in Longtan ignited the enthusiasm of Manchester United fans, and the morale of Manchester United players was also boosted.
In the remainder of the first half, Manchester United launched a wave of attacks in turn, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity they had just scored and their morale to rise to score consecutive goals and reverse the score.
However, Liverpool did not give them such an opportunity. The defense led by Willard was an iron wall, which was difficult to break under normal circumstances. Even Ibrahimović was in such a rare and unattainable state. Hard to kick out for the second time in the same game.
Usually when Ibrahimovic takes the ball and faces Velarde, he ends up with the ball intercepted or destroyed by Velarde.
If it weren't for bad luck, or if De Gea played too well, Liverpool would have scored before the end of the first half and regained the lead.
In the 45th minute of the first half, Mane hit a threatening shot that hit the door frame, but was saved by De Gea and failed to score.
After the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the two sides entered the halftime break with a 1-1 draw.
This score made Liverpool fans a little nervous.
Since Willard joined Liverpool, the Red Army has mostly taken the lead in the first half, widened the point difference in the second half, and then ended the suspense of the game early.
As a result, it is still a draw after the first half. Will it also be a draw after the second half? Being dragged into overtime or a penalty shootout?
The Red Army has been winning so smoothly recently, and a draw at the end of the first half made everyone feel a little less confident.
But it turns out that both Ibrahimovic and De Gea's performance in the first half was extraordinary. After a 15-minute break, when the second half started, Ibrahimovic and De Gea never played like this again.
Offensively, Manchester United failed to score a second goal. In defense, De Gea also failed to resolve most of Liverpool's threatening shots like he did in the first half.
Although De Gea's performance in the second half was actually not bad, facing most of Willard's precise shots that went straight to the dead corner, it would be really difficult to save them if he just had an average goalkeeping performance.
In the 64th minute, Coutinho was tripped by defender Antonio Valencia while dribbling the ball to the left of the penalty area. The referee whistled for a foul on Valencia and gave Liverpool a free kick in the frontcourt. Chance.
The position of this free kick is not very good, but for Velard, who now has a full "shot" value and a skill of 97, it is still within his shooting range. Therefore, it was up to Willard to directly take the free kick, which was about 35 meters away from the goal.
Goalkeeper De Gea directed his teammates to block the near corner as much as possible. He stood at the far end of the goal line just enough to see the ball, waiting for Willard's free throw.
After the referee blew the whistle for a free throw, Willard took the ball away after a long run-up.
The ball went straight towards the far goal, causing De Gea, who was about to pounce on the near corner, to pause subconsciously.
But the next second, the ball drew a huge arc in the air and headed towards the near corner.
When De Gea tried to restart and pounced on the near corner, it was already too late.
Velarde's penalty shot not only had a large arc, but was also powerful and fast. De Gea was deceived by the initial flight direction of the ball and made him pause slightly, thus missing the best chance to save.
In the end, under the desperate gaze of De Gea, who flew to save, the ball flew past his palm and into the goal.
In the 64th minute of the second half, Willard took a direct free kick and scored twice, helping Liverpool rewrite the score to 2-1 and regain the lead.
At this moment, Manchester United's defensive counterattack could no longer continue, because Liverpool, who was leading the score, began to retreat, attracting Manchester United to take the initiative to attack. If Manchester United doesn't attack, Liverpool will fall back and stop attacking.
This is a final that determines the outcome, and it is impossible for Manchester United to follow in the backcourt. Therefore, even though they knew what Liverpool was planning, Manchester United had no choice but to press forward and intensify their attack.
At the same time, Mourinho also replaced the poor performance of Mata in the 68th minute and replaced him with the new force Rashford to strengthen the offense.
As time went by, there was less and less time left for Manchester United. The Red Devils' formation began to press higher and higher, leaving more and more gaps in the backcourt.
When the time came to the 82nd minute, when Rashford tried to dribble past Liverpool full-back Milner, Milner made a decisive tackle and stopped the ball.
Rashford's foot got caught on Milner's leg and he lost his center of gravity and fell. The Manchester United players raised their hands to signal that Milner had committed a tackle and wanted a free kick.
But the referee did not blow the whistle.
Milner didn't care so much. Before Manchester United's counterattack, he lay on the ground and swept the ball to Wijnaldum who was close to the receiving end.
Then, Willard, Firmino, Coutinho, and Mane fired four arrows together, and Liverpool launched a successful collective quick counterattack.
Although Manchester United's players also quickly returned to defense after losing the ball, there was too much space in the backcourt. Liverpool's counterattack was not only resolute and fast, but also made no mistakes in passing, cutting and running. The ball was sent to Coutinho on the left.
After Coutinho took the ball one step forward, he passed the ball across the goal near the left line of the penalty area.
The ball was passed quite well, just avoiding the center back Bailly who was returning to defend. Bailly tried his best to chase back but failed to catch the ball. In the end, he even risked an own goal and even fell to the ground to tackle. Couldn't touch the ball.
And Willard, who came in behind Bailly, just caught up with the ball. Without stopping the ball, he pushed the ball into the far corner.
The distance was so close that goalkeeper De Gea could only subconsciously open his arms and legs and pounce, but he couldn't touch anything and just watched the ball fly into the net.
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"Hat-trick from Willard!"
"Liverpool leads Manchester United 3-1 and completely seals the victory."
"With a two-goal disadvantage, it is unlikely that Manchester United can come back within ten minutes."
"Liverpool, which won the EFL Cup last season, is about to successfully defend its title."
Indeed, at this point in time and this score, Liverpool players and fans can finally celebrate with confidence and boldness. All the Red Army fans at the scene and in front of the TV cheered enthusiastically to celebrate the team's first championship this season.
In the stadium, Villard, who scored the goal, also celebrated with his teammates and coaches for a long time. It was not until the anxious Manchester United protested to the referee that the referee stopped the celebration of Villard and others, and everyone returned to their own half. field, allowing Manchester United to kick the ball in the circle.
After the game restarted, Manchester United replaced two more offensive players, Rooney and Fellaini, and began to attack fiercely, trying to reverse the comeback in the last ten minutes.
But on Liverpool's side, Klopp also made targeted substitution adjustments, replacing Coutinho and Firmino, and replacing them with two defensive players to strengthen defense.
Coupled with Willard's checking and filling of vacancies, Manchester United still failed to break through Liverpool's city even with full firepower. Instead, in the 91st minute, Willard almost extended the score with a midfielder lob.
If De Gea hadn't reacted quickly and immediately returned to defense at full speed when he saw Willard's shot, and finally caught the ball in front of the goal and lifted the ball over the crossbar, Manchester United would have conceded another goal.
Even so, a score of 3-1 was enough for Liverpool to win the championship.
As time passed, everyone knew that Manchester United had no hope.
After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. With Willard's hat-trick, Liverpool defeated their arch-enemy Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley Stadium and won the 2016/2017 English League Championship. Cup champion, winning this championship for the second consecutive year and successfully defending the title.
And Willard was undoubtedly the best player in the final.
"Congratulations to Liverpool, congratulations to Klopp, congratulations to Velarde, they won the first title of the season!"
"In this final, there is no doubt that Willard is the best player."
"Not only did he score a hat-trick and single-handedly beat Manchester United, but he also made a lot of key defensive contributions."
"Even Ibrahimovic, who was in good form today, only scored one goal."
"Without Willard, Manchester United would have scored more than one goal."
"It can be said that in today's final, Willard led the Red Army to defeat their mortal enemy and reach the top of the podium."
As the final whistle sounded, Klopp, Coutinho, Firmino and other players and coaches who had been waiting on the sidelines happily rushed into the field to celebrate the victory and championship with the players on the field.
Although everyone already won this championship last year, no one will object to having too many championships, especially the championship they won after defeating their arch-rival Manchester United.
The Red Army fans at the scene and in front of the TV also cheered.
Willard and others also interacted with the Red Army fans at the scene to celebrate the victory together.
After celebrating for a while, the podium was set up, and captain Henderson won the 2016/2017 EFL Cup championship trophy on behalf of Liverpool amidst the warm applause of the fans.
And Willard, with an astonishing efficiency of scoring 17 goals in 7 games, undoubtedly won the top scorer and best player awards in the English League Cup this season.
The total experience that this final brought to Velarde is: 1 million for starting a game + 3 million for three goals + 2 million for winning prizes + 5 million for A-level performance + 20 million for top scorer + 50 million for best player + championship 100 million = 1.81.
It seems like a lot, but unfortunately it's still too little for the 6 billion experience required for Willard's upgrade now. Therefore, what Villard needs most to upgrade now is the Ballon d'Or, World Player of the Year, Laureus World Sports Award, World Cup championship and other events.
Ordinary leagues, even European games, can no longer provide him with much experience to upgrade.
