Rebirth 1994: Football Situation

Chapter 618 Europe Chapter 2003
The victory over Wolves narrowed the gap between Newcastle and the top team to four points. After Arsenal created the best start and beat Inter Milan in the away game, they seemed to have fired all the bullets in the arsenal. They were defeated at home. Fulham's tenacious force became zero to zero. Arsenal's offensive players created many chances in the game, but this time, they did not manage to score a single goal.

In another strong dialogue, Chelsea beat Manchester United [-]-[-] at home with a penalty kick from Lampard in the first half. With this victory, they surpassed Manchester United by one point and jumped to second place in the league. There is only one point away from Arsenal, but in the middle of the season, when strangling together like now, there will often be a big change after a game, and Ranieri will not because of this You will be elated.

After the end of this round and before the start of the next round of the league, there was also a fourth round of the League Cup in the middle. Newcastle played against Southampton at home in this round. If they win this game, then Newcastle will be able to enter the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

Before the semi-finals, the League Cup games are all a tiebreaker. If there is a tie, it will go to overtime and penalty kicks, and there will be no second game, so it is very important to draw lots in this kind of game Yes, if the home team is drawn, in addition to getting a ticket income, it can also take advantage of all aspects.

Mourinho will naturally not let go of this advantage. In this game, he continued to use a lineup of half main force and half substitute. Goalkeeper Given, defenders Trabelsi, Woodgate, Taylor and Hart, midfielder Makelay Lai, Speed, Viana and Dyer, the striker is Ibrahimovic and Viduka partner.

Southampton has sent all their main players. Since the start of the league this year, Southampton has performed well. It has won six consecutive rounds with three wins and three draws at the beginning. The gap between the top four is a bit big, but it will not easily slip into the relegation zone.

A mid-range team like this will often take the League Cup and the FA Cup as a breakthrough direction. After all, the champions of these two cups in England can participate in the UEFA Cup. No matter what, it is an opportunity to increase income and fame. .

So apart from the injury and absence of chief striker Beatty, Gordon Strachan has sent the strongest lineup he can send, hoping to pull Newcastle off the horse in the away game and enter the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

However, facing an opponent who had won [-]-[-] at home, Newcastle did not want them to get what they wanted.

Especially Ibrahimovic-he scored his first official game goal for Newcastle against Southampton, so in this game, he performed particularly well, constantly using his skills and strength Create trouble for Southampton's defensive line, and when Southampton's defenders focus on him, he will pass the ball accurately to his teammates.

With Ibrahimovic's outstanding performance, Newcastle easily defeated their opponents [-]-[-] at home and broke into the quarter-finals of the League Cup. Both goals were assisted by Ibrahimovic. He first used a beautiful through ball to help Dyer succeed alone. Then he created a direct free kick through his own breakthrough, and Hart made the penalty.

After this game, Newcastle can finally wait for Liverpool to come to their home court. In this intensive game, being able to win two consecutive home games means that they have a certain advantage over the visiting team in terms of physical fitness, not to mention Their main force also took turns to rest in the previous game.

Compared with the home team, which is strong and ready to work, the visiting team Liverpool is much unlucky. Since the beginning of this year's league, they have been very unlucky. The main players have been injured in turn. After 21 rounds, they only ranked eighth with 40 points. Yes, in the League Cup match three days ago, as the defending champions, they lost [-]-[-] at home to Bolton and were eliminated. The last time Bolton triumphed at Anfield was [-] years ago.

The head coach French Houllier couldn't stand the team's poor defensive performance and criticized the players after the game. No wonder he was so disappointed. The first championship he won since he coached Liverpool was the League Cup. Moreover, he won the cup twice, and it was so embarrassing to lose such a game that he valued, no wonder he was furious.

Poor results, unstable morale, and absence of the main team...one bad news after another made everyone think that it would be difficult for Liverpool to beat Newcastle, which has performed well in the away game and has been unbeaten in nine rounds.

Just look at the players, Owen is absent, Kewell is absent, defender Finnan is also absent due to injury, and Liverpool are present at St. Scan, Hyypia, Riise, midfielders Murphy, Harman, Gerrard, forwards Diouf, Pangele and Heskey.

Newcastle is all the main players, goalkeeper Given, defenders Trabelsi, Woodgate, Lucio and Bernard, midfielders Makelele, Janus, Robert and Nie Fei, forwards Ibrahimovic, Shearer .

"I really admire Houllier's courage. Under such a disorganized situation, he dared to form a three-forward lineup in an away game... Isn't he afraid of being sieved by Newcastle's quick counterattack?" William James said with a grin.

There are many people who think like him. Apart from Newcastle fans, even many Newcastle players think this way.

Mourinho noticed these signs in the players' hearts, but he didn't remind them aloud. It wasn't that he wanted to pretend to be mysterious to increase his prestige among the players, but he knew that at this time, he reminded the players He may not be able to listen to it, and now Newcastle's results are quite good, and the recent games have also been very smooth. He wants to cool down the players' arrogance that has begun to swell.

Liverpool is undoubtedly the giants in the Premier League. Although they have not won a league championship since the establishment of the Premier League, their heritage lies there. The team has never lacked stars and local cores. , nor can it be underestimated.

Newcastle launched a fierce attack at the beginning of the game. Ibrahimovic dribbled the ball past Harman's defense, and then shot vigorously at the front of the penalty area. The ball was saved by goalkeeper Dudek and Hyypia made a big clearance.

After 1 minute, Robert beautifully got rid of the young defender Ottesembe, who was playing in the Premier League for the first time, on the left, and then passed the ball into the penalty area. Shearer shook his head under the cover of Ibrahimovic. Dirk's wonderful performance, he flew to save Shearer's header, and then pressed the ball tightly under his body, without giving Ibrahimovic a chance to make up the shot.

Although there were no goals, Newcastle's series of performances made Newcastle fans believe that it was very easy to beat Liverpool. They cheered loudly, and basically every fan had a smile on their faces.

But after 6 minutes they couldn't laugh anymore. Riise made a long pass from midfield, Pongler headed the ball, and Woodgate collided with Lucio when he took off. The ball fell and was controlled by Murphy. The famous midfielder calmly shot in the penalty area and broke Shay's ten-finger pass. It was [-]-[-] and Liverpool took the lead away from home.

This goal gave the Newcastle players a resounding slap in the face. Although Owen and Kewell are missing, their other players are also famous players in the Premier League, and they are not roles that they can guard casually!

The Newcastle players who felt humiliated continued to launch a fierce attack, but the Liverpool people continued to pester them in the midfield without fear, using a wide range of running and aggressive fighting to make Newcastle's offense fall into a quagmire. Just like what Newcastle did against Real Madrid.

Newcastle's players began to understand how Real Madrid's superstars felt in the first half of that game. Almost as soon as they got rid of one player, another Liverpool player would appear in front of them again, endlessly.

At the same time, Liverpool's forwards are always waiting for the opening of their defense. Fortunately, Owen, the speed forward, is not there. It is difficult for centers like Heskey and Pangler to make a quick counterattack. Otherwise, Newcastle's defense will still be in trouble. to increase.

Even if they are down and out, Liverpool is definitely a giant!It's not so easy to deal with a down-and-out wealthy family.

It was not until the end of the first half that Newcastle got an excellent chance to score. After a series of short passes in the midfield, Newcastle finally tore through Liverpool's solid defense line. Nie Fei passed Murphy in the middle and passed With a wonderful through pass, Ibrahimovic, under the cover of Shearer, got rid of Hyypia's defense and rushed into the penalty area, receiving a pass from Nie Fei-single-handed!

Almost all the Newcastle fans stood up, hoping to see Ibrahimovic put the one-handed goal in, but...

"Oh...damn! Dudek's strike is so good! Ibrahimovic was a bit hesitant to handle this one-handed ball, Dudek threw the ball from under him...Robert followed up and hit the goal, the ball was high! Newcastle lost A decisive opportunity!"

There was undisguised disappointment in Williams' voice, and a collective sigh from the Newcastle fans.

As soon as Dudek took the goal kick, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. The Liverpool people used their tenacity and unyielding spirit to make them lead Newcastle, which has been enjoying a lot of glory recently. Tell them that even if we are down and out, we are still rich!

Thousands of Liverpool fans who came to St. James' Park sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" in neat voices. Liverpool's performance in the first half is definitely worthy of their pride!

(End of this chapter)