Mourinho looked up at the time. In the 42nd minute of the first half, he lowered his head and said to Chen Xiaoliang: "Go get treatment quickly. I'll wait for you!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Hearing Mourinho say this, Forti hurriedly urged the stretcher bearers and the team doctor to carry Chen Xiaoliang into the stadium's infirmary.
The fourth official also assigned a staff member from the refereeing team to follow the group.
This is part of the game requirements to prevent the team doctor from using some banned drugs during treatment, or forcing the injured player to play without any fear of being able to play, which may cause greater secondary injuries.
Volpato, who is half a year older than Chen Xiaoliang, had never seen such a scene before. He was warming up and looking forward to playing, but after seeing Chen Xiaoliang's ferocious face, he no longer had any thoughts about playing or not. He just hoped that Chen Xiaoliang would come back soon.
Roma, with one man less on the field, burst out with endless fighting spirit.
It’s so infuriating, this is too much!
The dirty football that no professional player would tolerate was actually happening right before our eyes!
The players of Fiorentina did not feel very satisfied when they finally "got" Chen Xiaoliang off the field as they had hoped before the game.
Any professional player would be unable to help but associate this with himself when seeing such a scene.
Everyone knows that injuries are the biggest enemy of athletes, not to mention that what they are doing today is deliberately causing injuries.
However, what has been done has been done, and they have to go all out, they must take away the victory today.
Taking advantage of the fact that they had one more player and Roma was missing its key player, Fiorentina launched a fierce attack.
"Are you still not giving up?"
Italiano muttered to himself as he watched Cristante and Volpato warming up on the sidelines but not coming on the field.
After dealing with the injury, the referee checked the VAR and confirmed that Torreira's shot just now hit Veretout's arm which was pressed against his chest, then he made a gesture for Roma to take a goal kick.
But as for Castrovilli's foul, since he looked like he was shrugging and holding his head to protect himself in the camera, the referee did not give him a card but just gave him a verbal warning.
This also caused huge boos in the audience.
At this time, the time had reached the 44th minute, and the fourth official raised the scoreboard, and 6 minutes of stoppage time was added to the first half.
In the 45th minute, Torreira made a long shot after receiving a cross from Saponara, but Smalling blocked it with his body. Then Piatek made a follow-up shot, but Ibanez blocked it and it went over the crossbar.
In the 46th minute, right-back Venuti pressed forward and made a cross from the right side. Duncan volleyed in the penalty area and hit Veretout's stomach. Although the latter was in pain, he still got up and continued to defend. It was not until Duncan's cross flew out of the sideline due to excessive force that he squatted on the ground and rested for a while.
The subsequent sideline ball was thrown by Malaysia to Pellegrini, who was left alone with Cesco in the frontcourt, but the ball was quickly intercepted by Torreira and Castrovilli.
In the 47th minute, Saponar made a cross from the left, but Mancini cleared the ball out of the penalty area.
Mourinho frowned, his heart was in turmoil. He wanted to rush over and grab Italiano by the collar and punch him so that his face was covered in blood.
"Go and see what's going on!" Seeing that Forti had not come back yet, he called Lapeti to go to the stadium's infirmary.
Lapeti quickly ran into the infirmary and saw the team doctor Manara gluing Chen Xiaoliang's wound.
Lapeti walked closer and saw that both of Chen Xiaoliang's nostrils were stuffed with cotton balls, which were soaked red with blood.
There was a cut of about 2 centimeters on his right cheek, which was obviously the wound caused by the collision with Castrovilli's shoulder bone just now.
Since it is on the face, whether it is a wound stapler like a stapler or a traditional curved needle suture, it is very likely to leave permanent scars on the face, so medical gel becomes the best choice.
Although the gel is less likely to form scars after healing, its disadvantage is that its ability to adhere to wounds is not as strong as that of catgut sutures. If it encounters impact again, it may break.
At this time, Futi ran in from outside with a bag in his hand.
He took out a new jersey, shorts, socks, towel, drinks, and a black thing from his bag. One end of the thing looked like an X, and the other side had an elastic strap.
At this time, the first half of the game was over and the players returned to the locker room one after another. During the process of leaving the field, some players from both sides had another quarrel. Veretout and Castrovilli almost came to blows and both received a yellow card.
Even the good-tempered Wu Lei couldn't help but rush forward to help Chen Xiaoliang beat up Castrovilli.
The Roma players were in a very bad mood when they returned to the locker room. They were hopeful that Chen Xiaoliang was safe and sound, but they didn't know what had happened to Chen Xiaoliang.
Mourinho asked the players to calm down. After all, they had already scored a goal and were two goals away from winning. Even if they scored one more goal, they could drag the game into a penalty shootout.
He kept talking about tactical arrangements, the counterattack style that the players were familiar with, but much of the content was discussed after he came on the court with Volpato, Zaniolo and Cristante.
But now no one knows whether they can play.
At this point, the players were extremely united. They always hoped that captain No. 33 could return to the court and lead everyone to a big victory, to get complete revenge, and to spit out all the depression and unhappiness accumulated in their chests.
Finally, with only three minutes left in the break, the players had to return to the field. Mourinho threw down his marker and stopped talking about tactics:
“I want you to calm down, but I can’t calm down myself.
Damn it, I didn't expect that I would have to face such a brutal and dirty opponent when I am almost 60 years old.
I once told Chen that the rough stuff in Scotland would never appear in a top league like Serie A. Now it seems that I was naive.
But guys, I know that you are just like me, with a lot of anger in your heart that you want to vent, and you all want to teach those guys on the other side how to be a professional player and how to win honestly.
So, I allow you to make bigger moves in the second half, but! But! For the final victory, we must stay on the field and never let anger take away your reason.
If you don't know what to do, think about what Chen did. If the other party still wants to play dirty tricks, let them suffer the consequences of their own dirty tricks!"
Mancini and Pellegrini stood in the middle, leading all the players to stretch out their hands and shout in unison.
Everyone walked out of the locker room and returned to the court.
Seeing that Roma still had ten players on the field, the referee walked to the sidelines to confirm the situation with Mourinho.
While Mourinho was hesitating, he suddenly saw the Roma players on the field turning around and raising their hands excitedly facing the player tunnel. Soon, the Roma fans who occupied most of the seats in the stadium also stood up and shouted loudly!
Everyone looked towards the player tunnel, and the camera on the big screen also cut over there!
"Hey, what the hell! This guy!"
Zaniolo, who continued to warm up on the sidelines, shouted excitedly!
Player No. 33 was seen walking out of the player tunnel slowly. All his clothes had been changed into new ones, except for a few drops of blood on the pair of Conquest I sneakers that were customized for him.
The face has been cleaned, and the short hair has obviously been rinsed.
But what excited everyone the most was the black X-shaped mask on his face!
The upper part of the mask covers the brow bone, and the lower part covers the facial bones. You can vaguely see a piece of gauze under the mask on the right cheek, where the wound is glued with gel.
The on-site announcer didn't care about the rules and just picked up the microphone and shouted:
"ladies and gentlemen!"
"Let us welcome back the new prince of this city, the supreme warrior of the Colosseum!"
"Please shout out his name with me!"
"List!"
"Small!!"
"Bright!!!"
Faced with the shouts of nearly 70,000 Roma fans that seemed to be able to break through the dome of the sky, the Fiorentina players and their head coach Italiano were completely disappointed.
After doing so many shameful things and trying every possible way to bring him to justice, he ended up making a comeback as a king, completely igniting morale and passion.
Although the referee's ability to control the game was a little weak today, after communicating with the referee team members during the half-time break, he also realized that if he continued like this, not only would the game end in an unmanageable situation, but his own refereeing career might also be nailed to the pillar of shame.
He first made it clear to Mourinho that he would not make any substitutions and would let Chen Xiaoliang continue to play, then he confirmed with the fourth official and the staff who followed them to the infirmary that Chen Xiaoliang was indeed able to play. Finally, he ran to Italiano and sternly stated that if there was any further harm in the second half, he would definitely use a red card to defend sports ethics.
Even without the referee's emphasis, everyone in Fiorentina understood that such a thing would never happen again. If it really happened again, they would become the public enemy of all of Italy. Not only would they be criticized in the media and on the Internet, but they would also become the public enemy of all Serie A teams.
No professional club or professional player can tolerate such things being openly exposed.
Chen Xiaoliang ran into the field from the sidelines and returned to his defensive midfielder position. The fans applauded and cheered again.
What he was wearing on his face at the moment was the carbon fiber facial protector that the club had previously given to Pellegrini and Zaniolo, who had broken noses.
This mask weighs only 20 grams, and apart from the fact that the straps are a little tight, there is almost no feeling when you wear it on your face.
Later, because it received good reviews, I used it as an emergency item and put it in my item bag for every game in case of emergency.
When the careful Forti heard the team doctor Manara say that using gel alone would likely cause the wound to burst again, he immediately thought of the almost forgotten mask and rushed back to the locker room to get it out.
Fortunately, the size is suitable in all aspects.
“Beep!”
The referee blew the whistle and the second half officially began!
If Roma's players were still a little confused in the last few minutes of the first half after Chen Xiaoliang was injured, the captain's return at this moment made them free of all worries, and each of them seemed to have a fire of revenge in their eyes, wanting to vent it in every physical confrontation and shot.
In the 46th minute, Veretout and Malacia double-teamed Fiorentina's right winger Ikone. Veretout knocked Ikone down while trying to grab the ball, and the referee awarded a free kick on the inside of the sideline.
Castrovilli took a free kick, Smalling headed it directly from the center, and the ball was controlled by Chen Xiaoliang who ran out of the penalty area!
"oh!!!"
“Fuck them!!!”
"Let those cazzos know how powerful we are!!!"
Seeing Chen Xiaoliang holding the ball, all the Roma fans in the stadium kept roaring!
Chen Xiaoliang raised his right arm high, which was both a response to the fans' shouts and a way to tell his teammates to prepare for the attack.
Piatek instinctively ran over to steal the ball. After Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball to Cesco in front, he turned around and glared at Piatek.
At that moment, the anger emitted from the two pupils under the black mask made Piatek stop unconsciously.
Cesco leaned on Milenkovic, and the two had been fighting for a full 50 minutes in this game.
Cesco knew that Milenkovic, who was behind him, had the advantage of position and vision, as well as weight. It would be a thankless task if he tried to catch the ball by force.
But why is it that now, except for central defenders and a few stationary center forwards and defensive midfielders who need frequent physical confrontations and therefore have a relatively high weight, the weight of players in other positions is generally maintained below 75 or even 70 kilograms?
This is to meet the requirements of modern football that increasingly emphasizes transfer, running and speed!
I'm not as good as you in confrontation and air superiority, but what about speed?
Cesco pushed Milenkovic back hard, and Milenkovic pushed him forward even harder.
The ball fell, and Cesco suddenly exerted force and arched back. His hips seemed to be sitting on Milenkovic's waist and hips. In addition, due to the close confrontation between them, it was difficult for both of them to jump up at this time.
Milenkovic saw that his position was blocked by Cesco and he couldn't reach the falling ball, so he tried to push forward again.
At the moment when the ball bounced slightly after falling, Cesco used the instep of his right foot to pick the ball behind him, then immediately withdrew the strength from his body, and using the huge thrust of Milenkovic forward, he made a back turn like a basketball center and went around Milenkovic's right side!
Milenkovic never expected that Cesco would withdraw his strength and turn around. He lost his support point just after he exerted force, and stumbled forward!
At this time, Cesco had already shaken him off and ran towards the ball he had picked up!
After getting rid of the central defender, there was no other defensive player in front of him except the goalkeeper!
The players from both teams who were originally running around in support immediately realized that the balance between offense and defense had been broken at this moment! Here comes the opportunity!
On the Fiorentina side, another central defender Igor and right-back Venuti ran towards Sesco diagonally from the left and right, trying their best to stop him.
On the Roma side, Pellegrini, Veretout, Malacia and Bigna advanced from the left, center and right together, both to attract the attention of the defense and to be ready to provide support at any time!
Milenkovic knew that he was passed by Cesco using the "floor flow". He turned around and tried to catch up, but if Cesco was running at full speed, he might be able to catch up with him if he was replaced by an agile central defender, but how could a tall central defender like him catch up? !
Fiorentina goalkeeper Terraciano, who had not been challenged in this game, saw Sesco in a one-on-one situation, with one foot already in the penalty area, and his teammates clearly could not catch up with him. The other players of Roma were not too close to him, so the possibility of Sesco passing the ball was not high. He immediately chose to abandon the goal and attack!
Cesco took two more steps, adjusted his pace, and swung his right foot backwards!
At this time, right in front of him, Terraciano opened his arms, expanded his body, bent his left leg outward and his right leg inward, used his inward-bent right leg to protect the small door under his crotch, and rushed towards the ball with his whole body baring his teeth and claws;
On the left was Venuti, who was still three meters away and had already slid in. On the right was Igor, who was still about five meters away. Seeing Cesco was about to shoot, he was about to turn and run towards the goal, trying to intercept the ball.
Cesco did not hesitate at all. For this big boy who came to Italy alone, football is everything to him!
Morning, noon and night, he is either training or watching tactical videos and football news. Even the games he plays are Football Manager and Illegal 22.
His mind is always thinking about football. When he is fully focused on football, almost nothing can disturb him!
Just like now!
Sesco pushed with his left foot, and the metatarsal above the big toe of his right foot accurately hit the bottom of the ball. The ball flew up instantly, passed over Terraciano's head, and flew towards the goal!
Igor ran towards the goal desperately, and even jumped up in front of the goal line for a last-ditch effort!
But the ball still flew into the goal from under the crossbar before him!
He Wei: "This is a wonderful lob shot! Facing three people double-teaming, Cesco decisively chose to lob the ball!"
"Not long after the second half started, in the 47th minute, Roma scored another goal and is now leading Fiorentina 2-0. The total score of the two rounds has also been tied at 2-2!"
Zhu Xiaoyu: "It was a very simple attack. Smalling cleared the ball to Xiaoliang, who then made a long pass to Cesco. Cesco used his brain to play the ball, from turning his back to dribbling past the opponent to picking the ball out when facing the goalkeeper. Everything showed his cleverness."
He Wei: "Indeed! As a center forward, he can not only play the role of a fulcrum in the penalty area, creating space for other players, but also score with his personal ability. Including this goal, Cesco has scored 21 goals for Roma in all competitions this season! For an 18-year-old player in his first season in Serie A, this achievement is really dazzling!"
Zhu Xiaoyu: "The subtitles were shown, and the assist for this goal was still credited to Xiaoliang! This was his first assist in the Italian Cup, and it seems that the officials also wanted to use this to encourage Xiaoliang's performance."
After scoring the goal, Cesco just yelled a few times and still did not celebrate. He did not stop, but rushed into the net again to pick up the ball, ran back to the center circle, bent down and placed the ball on the kick-off spot, then high-fived and hugged Chen Xiaoliang who was waiting for him.
The players of Fiorentina were clearly dejected. With half the time left in the game, their two-goal advantage had already disappeared. Moreover, they were playing at the opponent's home ground. The atmosphere of the opponent, from the players to the fans, was ruined by a series of spectacular performances by their side in the first half.
I always feel like I have planned everything out, but in the end I ended up shooting myself in the foot.
Italiano didn't want to admit defeat, so he shouted loudly on the sidelines, reminding the players to pay attention to assisting defense and urging them to press forward and attack.
Biraghi is also encouraging his teammates.
No matter what happened before, we have reached the second game of the semi-finals. Even if the score is tied, we are still back to the starting line.
Can't give up, absolutely not.
Although they were clearly at a disadvantage in terms of momentum, they still breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter if you have a yellow card or not, you don’t have to think about those dirty things anymore, and you can finally play football again.
Piatek kicked off from the center circle and the game continued. Fiorentina began to patiently organize the attack and look for opportunities.
Chen Xiaoliang felt somewhat uncomfortable wearing the mask at first, and he kept fiddling with and adjusting the straps at the back. But once the game got going, he completely forgot about himself and focused on the situation on the field.
In the 51st minute, Pellegrini, Veretout and Sesco played a wonderful combination in the middle. Pellegrini moved to the right, received a long pass from Chen Xiaoliang, and passed the ball to Veretout in the middle against Duncan's defense. Veretout passed the ball to Sesco in front, and Sesco received the ball and passed it back to Pellegrini who was running without the ball and bypassing Duncan.
At this time, Veretout had also advanced to the penalty area. Pellegrini took two steps sideways and passed the ball directly to Veretout. Veretout attracted two defenders without stopping the ball. He kicked the ball with his heel and Cesco, who was running to the right, received the ball and shot!
Terraciano dived to the left and blocked the ball out of the baseline!
This wave of cooperation among the three once again ignited the passion of the scene.
The entire stadium looked like a surging ocean of red and yellow waves, and fans lit red fireworks.
In terms of team strength, Roma is not among the top in Europe, but in terms of home atmosphere, the Rome Olympic Stadium can definitely be called a devil's home ground.
It was in this atmosphere that frightened the opponents that Roma was able to make a stunning comeback by defeating Barcelona 3-0 and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
This season, Mourinho, who always pays attention to home performance, has led the team to remain unbeaten at home in the league. Except for two draws, all other games have been won.
It is thanks to Roma's outstanding performance at home that they have been able to keep up with AC Milan and rank second in the league despite losing points repeatedly on the road.
This is also the reason why Italiano would rather risk the world's condemnation and swallow his pride to give it a try.
It is really difficult to beat Roma in this stadium.
In the 52nd minute, Pellegrini took a corner kick from the right side.
He kicked the ball to Mancini at the back post again using his most familiar routine, but the ball was a little too wide. Mancini received the ball at a too small angle and did not choose to head the ball directly, but instead headed it back to the middle.
Fiorentina's aerial master Milenkovic overpowered Smalling and Cesco to head the ball out of the penalty area. Matic, who was lurking outside the penalty area, made a long shot which hit the back of his teammate Ibanez and bounced back, and was snatched away by Saponara.
Fiorentina immediately launched a quick counterattack, and Matic tried hard to chase back, but his speed was unfortunately not as fast as the young man in front of him.
Chen Xiaoliang, who stayed in the backcourt, immediately ordered Weletu to rush forward, while he and another Malaysian who stayed behind quickly retreated, temporarily acting as the last line of defense.
Saponara did not slow down at all under the defense of Veretout, and he made a breakthrough along the left. At the same time, Piatek in the middle knew that Chen Xiaoliang was not easy to deal with, so he kept running on the Malaysian side waiting for his teammates to pass the ball.
Behind them, Ikone, Castrovilli and Duncan also rushed up, and together with Bigna from Roma, they formed a five-on-four situation.
When Weletu retreated to the left side of the penalty area, he began to approach Saponara, preparing to use physical confrontation to further slow down his advancement.
Unexpectedly, Saponara hooked the ball with his left foot, pushed the ball with the outside of his right foot and passed it to Duncan who was following behind.
Veretout's attempt to pass the ball missed, and Saponara took advantage of the moment when Veretout was approaching him and immediately ran without the ball after passing it to leave Veretout behind.
After receiving the ball, Duncan made a straight pass and passed it back to Saponara who had already entered the penalty area.
Seeing that the right side was penetrated, Chen Xiaoliang had to move to the right to block Saponara, and at the same time stretched out his hand to direct Veretout who had already turned around to quickly retreat to the penalty area to defend.
When Saponara saw Chen Xiaoliang, wearing a mask, coming to defend him, his fighting spirit increased.
When Italiano arranged the targeted "injury" before the game, he also analyzed all aspects of Chen Xiaoliang's situation in detail.
Although all these professional players know that Chen Xiaoliang's performance in Serie A this season can be described as calling the wind and rain, and he "dominated" the four charts of assists, average running distance per game, interceptions and steals, and became a hot new midfield star in the whole of Europe, and many people in the team have played against him in the opening game of the league, but not every player will spend a lot of time studying football and analyzing opponents in their personal time after the game like Chen Xiaoliang and Cesco.
Saponara is such a person, so he was shocked when he saw the coaching team's detailed analysis of Chen Xiaoliang.
It's okay that he's strong in defense, but what about his accurate crosses, amazing long shots, strong will and unlimited physical strength? How could a 17-year-old player scare the head coach like this?
The whole team should take action against Chen Xiaoliang whenever they get the chance, is it that necessary?
The 30-year-old Saponara once played for AC Milan, and later moved to Empoli, Sampdoria, Lecce, Genoa and Spezia. This is his second time in Florence.
He considers himself a veteran who has been in Serie A for many years. He has played against Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo, Pirlo, De Rossi, and even Kaka who returned to AC Milan in the 2013-14 season.
A 17-year-old kid? Afraid of him?
Fuck him!
Therefore, this left winger, who is worth only 2 million euros and has played 10 times this season, 8 of which were as a substitute, may have made the worst decision in his career.
Even though Piatek and Ikone in the middle had already rushed into the penalty area waiting for the pass, Saponara still decided to pass Chen Xiaoliang.
He slowed down and took a few small steps. Seeing that the distance between him and Chen Xiaoliang was within the attack range, he gently moved the ball to the right with his left foot, and then suddenly changed direction with his right foot.
This step was done in a very professional manner and he really had some skills. Saponara was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a wide open space in front of him and Chen Xiaoliang had been left behind and was still on his left side.
“That’s it?!”
Saponara couldn't help but be excited. He had originally wanted to pass the ball after dribbling past the opponent, but now he had no intention of passing the ball at all.
In a flash, he had already thought about the front-page headlines of Italy's three major sports newspapers tonight, which would be printed with the highlight shot of him easily dribbling past the Copa Trophy winner and then blasting into the goal, leading the team into the Italian Cup final!
Saponara seemed to be using the greatest strength he had since he was born, concentrating all of it on his right leg and hips. He wanted to use a shocking shot to show the head coach and teammates that he was also capable of starting!
He Wei: "Saponara shoots!"
"Saponara is down!"
"Holding my knees in pain!"
"Xiao Liang kicked the ball out of the sideline, and the Fiorentina players quickly called the team doctor to come in!"
"This angle is not very good. Saponara had his back to us. We couldn't see what happened to him. Did he fight with Xiaoliang?"
Zhu Xiaoyu: "It seems like it kicked Xiaoliang's foot? That shouldn't be a knee injury."
"Slow motion replay is here!"
Afterwards, the two commentators shouted “Ouch” for an unknown number of times during this game.
He Wei: "He just made a shot, and Xiaoliang on the side stretched out his leg to kick the ball back! He kicked it straight into the air!"
Zhu Xiaoyu: "This shot may cause discomfort to the audience. If there are young fans watching the game, please ask the adults around to take good care of their children."
The uncomfortable shot that Zhu Xiaoyu mentioned was the moment when Saponara's leg was stretched straight after his all-out shot missed, and his calf and thigh showed a slight reverse bend at the knee.
He Wei: "Professional players have strong legs. Almost all ball training involves leg muscles. Shooting like this concentrates the whole body's strength on the legs. Normally, after the foot hits the ball, most of the force will be applied to the ball. According to the basic laws of physics, when a force is applied in one direction, a reaction force will be formed at the same time. The reaction force generated from the ball can help the player unload the force of the shot from his legs."
"A missed kick like this means that all the force has nowhere to be released, and in the end it can only be borne by the player's knees and joints. If it was a normal shot, the player's leg muscles and follow-up movements could completely resolve it, but it was obvious that Saponara just wanted to shoot."
Zhu Xiaoyu: "This goal reminded me of Mainz's Colombian player Elkin Soto. In a Bundesliga match in 2015, he stopped the ball in front of the penalty area and prepared to volley, but in the end he missed.
What was more serious was that Van der Vaart, who was defending him, did not retract his legs like Xiaoliang did. Soto's knee hit Van der Vaart's inner thigh muscle with the huge force that instantly bent his leg 90 degrees in the opposite direction. He was taken out on a stretcher and sent to the hospital. The diagnosis was that his left knee joint was completely dislocated, and the anterior cruciate ligament, medial ligament and meniscus inside the knee were completely torn. "
On the field, Chen Xiaoliang and other Roma players waited quietly, while Fiorentina players ran over to check on Saponara's injury.
Seeing that another offensive player was about to be injured, Italiano had to let the 35-year-old veteran Callejon come on as a substitute and play as left winger.
Although he was very unhappy, the most depressing thing was that everyone in this game could complain about injuries except him.
What's more, Chen Xiaoliang's action just now was clean and decisive, and it was Saponara himself who chose a wrong way to end the attack.
Having already been warned by the referee before the start of the second half, how could he have the nerve to complain to the fourth official about an action that did not involve any physical contact or foul?
If he really did that, it would only make the referee team hate him even more.
Saponara, who was slowly carried off the field on a stretcher, was filled with regret, thinking that he really did not listen to his coach and suffered the consequences. If he had passed the ball earlier, or had not thought about all those messy things about seeking attention and chose to push the ball into the far corner, nothing would have happened.
He just had to force his way past Chen Xiaoliang, and that guy's movement to grab the ball was unusually fast, and he just had to use all his strength, so now, not only did he make a big fool of himself, but he also had to be injured for at least a month.
Thinking of this, Saponara's eyes, which were covered by his raised right arm, actually shed tears.
This scene was also captured by the camera.
In any case, the Roma fans at the scene gave the injured players a round of encouraging applause.
Since the ball was kicked out of the sideline by Chen Xiaoliang, Callejon, who had just come on the field, chose to throw the hand-thrown ball directly towards the Roma goal.
Fuzato held on firmly, and it was considered an interaction of courtesy between the two sides, and the game was able to continue.
This accident made the already low morale of Fiorentina players even lower.
Only their captain Biraghi was still trying to encourage his teammates to cheer up.
In the 58th minute, Mourinho let Volpato and Zaniolo, who had been warming up for half a day, come on the field, replacing Veretout and Matic.
Zaniolo and Cesco played as double strikers, while Pellegrini and Volpato played as double central midfielders, and the formation was adjusted to 3-3-2-2.
Four minutes later, in the 62nd minute, after Fiorentina replaced Piatek and Castrovilli with Cabral and Joseph Mahler, Mourinho also replaced Malaysia and used Zalewski to play as a left wingback.
The Dutch full-back had already received a yellow card in the conflict between players from both sides in the first half. In addition, he plays aggressively and makes fierce interceptions. If he receives another card, not only will he be sent off from the game, affecting the situation that has already been reversed, but he will also be punished with a suspension and will not be able to play in the next Italian Cup match.
And according to the current situation, it is very likely that the next game will be the final.
But before that, all Roma had to do was score another goal.
But the goal came quickly.
In the 69th minute, Chen Xiaoliang helped Binia intercept Callejon's ball on the right, and he directly made a long pass to send the ball to the left as soon as possible.
Zalewski had barely touched the ball since he came on the pitch when he saw the team leader send a long, flat and steady pass specifically for him, so he spread his legs and ran forward to meet the ball.
Although Venuti's physical strength had not declined significantly after playing for most of the game, the team's low morale still affected him. He was obviously slow to react and did not step forward to disrupt Chen Xiaoliang's long pass. After Zalewski received the ball steadily, he could only block and retreat.
As a left-wing player with a good right foot, Zalewski did not choose to stick to the wing and force a breakthrough to the bottom, but he broke through directly to the middle.
Just as he was running and leading Venuti who was defending him into the defense area of ​​Fiorentina midfielder Mahler, Zalewski passed the ball back with the outside of his right foot to Chen Xiaoliang who had already moved forward to support him.
Chen Xiaoliang did not give Duncan, who was following him, any chance to defend him closely. Without stopping the ball, he raised his right foot and made a diagonal pass to the front left. Volpato, who had just quietly moved to the left, made a straight run to receive the ball. The positional cooperation between the three young Roma players directly broke through Fiorentina's defense on the right.
Venuti turned around and tried to chase him, but how could he catch up?
Zalewski, who played on the left side, was right-footed, while Volpato, who played in the midfield, was left-footed. He rushed into the penalty area, slowed down, and pretended to shoot.
Milenkovic was mainly defending Cesco. Another central defender, Igor, had just seen him pass Venuti and had been waiting on his path. When he saw Volpato was about to shoot, he immediately put his hands behind his back and pounced on him!
Volpato sweeps with his left foot!
Zaniolo's figure flashed past Cesco at high speed!
Because it started suddenly, Biraghi behind him didn't react at all!
The ball arrives and the person arrives!
Before Terraciano fell to the ground to save the ball, Zaniolo took advantage of the momentum and pushed the ball into the goal with his left foot!
70th minute! 3 to 0!
In the live broadcast room, the two commentators and fans were very excited: "In the 70th minute! Roma reversed the total score of the two rounds! Leading Fiorentina 3-2!"
"They have one foot in the Italian Cup final!"
"Mourinho! Chen Xiaoliang! And Patricio! Cesco! Malaysia! And of course our Wu Lei!"
"They will most likely win a major domestic tournament in their first season in Rome!"
Hearing He Wei say this, Zhu Xiaoyu quickly "reminded": "Teacher He, the fans asked you to pay attention to your character."
He Wei laughed a few times: "Our fans are very cute, but I absolutely understand your feelings! You are right! There are at least 23 minutes left in this game, and we can't easily determine the winner until the last minute!"
On the sidelines, Mourinho, who had been suppressed for a long time, finally celebrated loudly! He turned around and waved his hands at the stands, signaling the fans in the stands to make even louder noises and completely drown out the opponents in this new Colosseum.
Although Italiano tried to hide it, the expression on his face showed the world how disappointed and frustrated he was.
For a moment, he didn't seem to know where to put his hands. On one side were the lost players of his own team, and on the other side were the wildly celebrating Roma players. He touched his chin, pinched his nose, put his hands on his hips, and clenched his fists.
It seems that all the conspiracies, overt plots, legitimate and dishonest tactics have been tried, but there is still no way to defeat the opponent.
"Keep your heads up! The game isn't over yet!"
Biraghi's shouts floated into Italiano's ears amid the cheers of the audience.
Damn!
Yeah! The game isn't over yet!
It's already embarrassing enough, are you afraid of losing more?
He turned to the last striker on the bench, the 22-year-old Italian Sottil, and said:
"Go on the court! Fight for 20 minutes! If you perform well, you will be the starter in the future!"