Chapter 221: It is not the strong who win, but the winners who become strong (Part 2)
Osmeen stood up and took two steps. After making sure everything was fine, he bent down and rubbed his legs.
It hurts. It really hurts...
After all, I am an African, strong and explosive, but I was tackled by an Asian kid without any foul involved.
This kid's tackle was still as accurate as before, and seemed to be even more ferocious.
Those who know think he is here to tackle, while those who don’t think he is here to kick the ball and cripple the opponent.
Thinking of this, Osmeen spat on the grass.
He knew that this night was not going to be easy.
Napoli right-back Sanoli throws the ball out on the right sideline.
Anguiza, Lozano and Lobotka came forward to support at the same time, but the Roma players kept a close eye on each of them.
Sanoli had no choice but to throw the ball hard to Osmeen who was a little further away.
Osimhen was pulled out of the penalty area and after confirming that there was no one around him, he received the ball and prepared to turn around, but as soon as he turned around, he found Chen Xiaoliang appeared 2 meters in front of him.
hiss……
As soon as he saw Chen Xiaoliang, Osmeen felt his legs aching again.
But the 22-year-old Nigerian international and Napoli's top attacker is also a young and energetic man. While he dribbled forward tentatively, slowly eroding the space and preparing to get into the attacking distance to launch a breakthrough, he was observing Chen Xiaoliang's movements.
We must get back the breath we just took!
If you are not passionate, can you still be called a young person?
Osimhen changed direction to the right as soon as he started and sprinted towards the baseline!
Since Osimhen's speed is recognized throughout Serie A, Chen Xiaoliang, who always maintained a safe distance of more than 2 meters and slowly retreated, could only rely on his man-marking attributes to vaguely see the vague movements and make predictions.
Although he roughly knew the direction, when Osmeyn started moving instantly, the speed still shocked him.
Osimhen made a strong move to the bottom line, and Chen Xiaoliang had no space to tackle and could only follow him step by step.
The two had already rushed into the penalty area at this time. Ibanez, who was originally responsible for defending this area, took the initiative to retreat to prevent other Napoli players from following up and outflanking the middle.
Seeing that he failed to shake Chen Xiaoliang off after taking three steps, Osmeen began to approach Chen Xiaoliang, trying to use his body and speed to push him away and create space.
However, as soon as their bodies touched each other, they both swayed slightly, and they immediately realized that in this kind of confrontation, neither of them could do anything to the other.
Seeing that he was very close to the baseline and there was no room to break through, Osimhen prepared to use an emergency stop and cut inside to create space, or shoot with his left foot or pass the ball to his teammates.
However, at this time he had already entered the range of Chen Xiaoliang's close defense. The closer he was, the more clearly his marking attribute could predict his subsequent actions under the effect of the skill [Excellent Close Defense].
Just when Osimen completed a series of extremely smooth steps, including stepping on the ball, pulling back, changing direction, changing feet, and cutting inside, he just started and crashed directly into Chen Xiaoliang!
The two fell backwards at the same time! The half-carried ball rolled out of the penalty area, and Ibanez cleared it with a big kick.
The Napoli players looked at the referee, but the referee did not say anything.
Osmeen was furious and slapped the grass twice in anger.
Why?!
As soon as I changed direction, the red countryman appeared in front of me.
It was like he was waiting for me to bump into him!
Did he see through all my intentions? !
Impossible! How many years has he been playing football?
Where does the experience of the veteran come from?
Osimhen slowly got up, muttering to himself that he had missed another attacking opportunity, not caring at all that Roma had already spread the war to their own backcourt.
The players of Naples did not expect Osimhen to choose to work alone, and they did not expect that he would dribble the ball directly into Chen Xiaoliang who was already in position.
Ibanez's clearance was caught by Veretout, but Malaysia on the left had already run up.
In order to attract the attention of the defense, Veretout deliberately dribbled the ball diagonally to the front right middle, and then when Anguisa was about to catch up with him, he made a straight pass to the front left. The Malaysian received the ball and prepared to rush into the penalty area with the ball.
Nosali, who was chasing all the way back, saw that he couldn't stop Malaysia, and the latter was about to enter the penalty area, so he had to commit a tactical foul and reached out to grab Malaysia's jersey.
The Roma left-back wanted to rush forward to see if he could break free, but the quality of his jersey was too good.
The referee gave Nosali a yellow card and awarded Roma a free kick about 2 meters outside the left side of the penalty area.
Nosali, who received a card, didn't say anything. As a young player, he could only admit defeat. But the central defender Koulibaly was very dissatisfied and scolded Anguisa and Lobotka who lost their position because of the attack.
This spray actually woke Osimhen up. Seeing that there was almost a fire in the backyard and Roma's central defenders pressed forward to compete for a header, he quickly jogged back to the penalty area to help defend.
Chen Xiaoliang did not go up. Just like the old routine, he, Veretout and Malacia stayed near the center line to defend, while the rest of the teammates basically pressed forward.
Pellegrini observed the penalty spot again and again, and when the referee blew the whistle, he immediately ran forward and kicked the ball out.
Zhan Jun: “It’s a direct attack!”
Zhang Lu: "Oops! It seems there is refraction!"
Zhan Jun: "Yes! I bumped into someone and changed direction!"
"Here's the replay! Goalkeeper Meret was ready to save the ball. When the ball was about 2 meters away from him, it was hit by a teammate's head, changed direction upwards, hit the crossbar and flew out of the bottom line!"
Zhang Lu: "It seems to be a black player, is it Koulibaly?"
After a while, the scene was played again from a different angle.
Zhan Jun: "It's Osimhen! He has been in the spotlight very frequently in the past few minutes! Could it be that when he was defending just now, he mistook his own goal for the opponent's goal and wanted to head the ball into the goal?"
Zhang Lu: “Hahahaha.”
On the field, Roma players held their heads in regret.
At this time, the clock had reached the 38th minute, and Pellegrini walked to the right corner flag area to take the corner kick.
His teammates changed direction and continued to prepare for the header in the penalty area.
Zhan Jun: "The corner kick will land at the junction of the front point and the middle!"
"Zaniolo heads the ball!"
"The space was created and the ball was passed, but the header was not accurate and it turned into an anti-aircraft gun."
Zhang Lu: "But Roma has been gaining momentum recently. Napoli failed to make any of their three tricks in the first 20 minutes. The penalty was more like Roma's own mistake."
“Later, he wanted to attack Osimhen and use his speed to attack Roma’s defense, but he didn’t expect that both one-on-one opportunities were ruined by Chen Xiaoliang.”
"In fact, Napoli's two wingers played well today. I don't know why after attacking a few times at the beginning, they didn't perform well afterwards, especially Insigne, who seemed to have no movement."
Zhan Jun: "The Napoli captain has been unable to reach an agreement on salary with the club and has confirmed that he will move to the MLS to join Toronto FC next season. It is rumored that the annual salary offered by the new club will be three times ."
Zhang Lu: "It's still a little early to join the MLB at 31, but professional players do have to consider their income at this age. After all, athletes rely on their youth, and the money they earn in just a dozen years of playing career must be enough to support themselves for a lifetime."
Zhan Jun: "According to the Turin Sports Daily, Napoli originally had their eyes on Georgian player Kvaratskhelia, but Roma intercepted him midway, and the player also preferred to play for Mourinho.
This made Insigne even more dissatisfied. He originally asked to renew his contract with the club and increase his annual salary to 8 million euros, but the club would rather spend 10 million euros in transfer fees to buy a Georgian player than renew the contract with him, the meritorious captain, which directly led to his decision to transfer to the Major League Soccer as a free agent.
According to well-known journalist Romano, his basic annual salary at Toronto FC is $11 million, plus an additional $4 million in floating bonuses.
Zhang Lu: "That's easy to understand."
Zhan Jun: "But now we can't keep the captain and we can't buy new players."
On the field, Roma was still fighting hard and counterattacking quickly, trying their best to equalize the score in the first half.
However, although Napoli seemed a little passive, they are ranked 4th in the league and are by no means ordinary teams. After the two crises just now, their defense was very organized and Roma was always just a millimeter away from scoring.
In the 44th minute, Zaniolo made a cross from the right, the ball was slightly low, and Cesco had no space to shoot after receiving the ball in the penalty area, so he chose to pass it back to Veretout outside the penalty area.
The Frenchman's long shot was too angled and went wide of the post.
In the 46th minute of the first half stoppage time, Malaysia again pressed forward to assist and passed the ball to Pellegrini in the middle of the penalty area. The latter shot directly, but Napoli goalkeeper Meret fell to the ground and held the ball steadily.
The first half of the game ended after this shot, with Napoli temporarily leading 1-0.
In the midfield, Mourinho returned to the locker room and began to make tactical arrangements without any hesitation.
He had already thought through all the things he needed to think about, and now he just had to carry them out unswervingly.
Especially for the head coach, any hesitation will have a significant impact on the mentality of the players on the field.
As he put the player number magnets on the tactical whiteboard, he said:
"You all know where we are now. Including the pre-season, we have played for 9 months! If we are still in 4th place and 6 points away from 5th place, then maybe we can take a break and tell ourselves that we can try to draw and fight for 1 point when we meet a strong team, and then get enough points against the mid- and lower-level teams to ensure that we can enter the Champions League."
"But we are in 2nd place now! If we win today, we will still be only 3 points away from 1st place!"
"If we can maintain this score difference, the pressure will be on them! As long as this pressure is there, they dare not make mistakes, and once they have this psychological pressure, I believe they will definitely lose points!"
"We can't say we played badly in the first half. We made a mistake and gave the opponent a penalty, but we have to make it back in the remaining 45 minutes!"
"Celik, you played very well today, but I need to strengthen the offense in the second half, so, Mkhitaryan, you go up in the second half."
Both men expressed their understanding of Mourinho's intentions and stood up and shook hands in the locker room.
Mourinho then went on to explain in detail how Zaniolo attacked around Cesco, as well as the routes taken by Pellegrini and Veretola.
But after all, it's all offensive tactics.
Moreover, the team put on a posture in which everyone except the goalkeeper and three central defenders had to participate in the attack.
Finally, with three minutes left, Mourinho mentioned defense:
"Run, run, run, everyone run!"
"Once the attack is over, the wingbacks will immediately run back, and everyone else in the frontcourt will start to counterattack on the spot to slow down the opponent's counterattack!"
"Use running to wear down the opponent! Their average age is older than ours, and their midfield running ability is weaker than ours!"
Mourinho did not say anything else, but instead tapped twice on the No. 33 tile that he had just placed on the wing to demonstrate the wing attack routine.
Chen Xiaoliang understood what Mourinho meant.
Running and defending.
Never stop running and defend with all your might.
He stood up and led everyone in shouting:
"Rome!"
"For the championship!"
"Rome!!!"
“For the championship!!!”
After returning to the field, Spalletti still sat firmly in the coaching seat.
He knew Mourinho would go all out to score a goal, and he would do the same if he were in his place.
Which coach would choose to be conservative and refuse when faced with the league championship so close?
So he was not idle in the midfield either. He replaced Sanoli, who had a yellow card, with the English defender Tuanzebe who was loaned from Manchester United.
Tuanzebe is about to turn 25. After a period of continuous playing time in the first team at Manchester United, he was gradually put on the bench and waited for opportunities until he started a loan career that he himself did not know whether it could change his career prospects.
First it was a season and a half at Aston Villa, then half a season at Napoli.
Compared with Sanoli, his offensive ability is a little worse and his feet are a little rougher, but as a central defender, his defensive ability and physical fitness are obviously better than the former.
When necessary, he can also retreat into the penalty area and act as a temporary central defender.
Obviously, with a ball in hand, Spalletti did not choose to fight against Mourinho. He wanted to hold on to the fruits of victory, and then use a counterattack to kill the game when Roma became impatient.
The overt plots of both sides are open and aboveboard, and the rest depends on the players' on-the-spot performance.
“Beep!”
The second half begins!
The first team to complete the shot was Napoli.
In the 48th minute, Lozano dribbled the ball from the right, broke through Veretout's defense and chose to cut inside the middle.
Chen Xiaoliang did not choose to stick close to him because he knew that once he got close, Lozano would definitely choose to pass the ball away.
Osimhen in the penalty area behind him has already started, Ibanez is following him, and Lozano can pass the ball at any time.
After taking two steps closer to Chen Xiaoliang, the Mexican winger pushed the ball with the outside of his right foot and passed it to Osimhen who had already run to the corner of the small penalty area.
Osimhen ran two steps outside, received the ball and shot, but the angle was too small and it hit the outside side net.
Zhan Jun: "It seems that Napoli was still targeting Osimhen in the second half. Lozano's pass was very sudden. Xiaoliang blocked the position but did not intercept the ball."
Zhang Lu: "The way he defended this ball was very correct. It can be said to be the standard answer."
"His position just now can prevent Lozano from cutting inside and shooting, and also block his route to pass the ball to Osimhen. So when we look at the ball passed, Osimhen, who has already run to the position, has to run two steps outside before he can receive the ball."
"Don't underestimate these two steps. They gave Ibanez plenty of time and space, and further reduced Osimhen's shooting angle, so it ended up hitting the side net."
Although it did not pose a threat, Chen Xiaoliang still gave a few reminders to Malaysia on the left, signaling him to return to defense faster. He also reminded Veretout that it would be better to let the ball go to the side rather than give the ball a chance to cut inside.
Napoli has no high point in the middle, so Osimhen has the advantage in speed, but in terms of height, he is isolated and helpless in the penalty area with a height of 186cm. Together with Lozano who is 175cm tall and Insigne who is 163cm tall, they have no advantage in heading the ball.
Roma also began to try to organize attacks on their right side.
In the 51st minute, Zaniolo received a long pass from the left by Chen Xiaoliang on the right side of the penalty area and cut inside to the middle. After being blocked by Lobotka, he turned around and passed the ball back to Zalewski who was already on the right.
The young Polish player made a lob pass to Pellegrini who was running diagonally into the penalty area. The latter volleyed the ball from a small angle, but Meret caught it in his arms.
In the 55th minute, Fabian Ruiz knocked down Zalewski in the middle, and Pellegrini took a long free kick from 10 meters in front of the center line and passed it into the penalty area. Mancini jumped high and headed the ball with great power, but it missed the right post!
On the sidelines, Mourinho kept pacing slowly back and forth as the ball moved between the two halves.
Knowing that he should speak more today, Forti whispered, "Jose, do you want to replace Cesco? I feel like he's not in good shape today and hasn't created many good opportunities."
Mourinho knew that this cautious assistant was trying to please himself today, and replied kindly: "Wait a little longer, maybe this kid is waiting too."
Mourinho was right, Cesco was indeed waiting.
As a bridgehead, he has only had one shot in this game so far. The rest of the time he was either competing for headers or passing the ball back to his teammates, or retreating to receive the ball and help transfer to the other side, and when there was no ball, he ran to attract the central defender's defense and create shooting space for his teammates in the midfield and frontcourt.
As Roma's top scorer, he was indeed too quiet. Compared to Pellegrini and Zaniolo who had several shooting opportunities, he was so quiet that he was even a little dim, making people vaguely forget that he was still on the court.
Mourinho had the same idea as Forti, and he stared at Cesco for a while.
But he found that the 18-year-old Slovenian did not have the slightest expression of impatience on his face, as if everything was well planned and going according to his plan.
Just for this calmness and confidence, Mourinho is willing to bet on him.
You know, this kind of gambling is bound to become a hot topic among fans and the media after the game.
If you win the game and bet right, that's called trusting your disciples and insisting on not changing players;
If you lose the game or make a wrong bet, you will immediately become stubborn and refuse to change to a better state.
After all, for the media and fans, only two lips and ten fingers are needed to make the final judgment, while those involved on the field bear the pressure of the process and the post-match results.
But soon, Mourinho's trust was rewarded.
In the 63rd minute, Lobotka twisted his ankle and could not continue, so Spalletti replaced him with Zielinski.
After Lobotka was injured, Chen Xiaoliang took the initiative to kick the ball out of the sideline, so after Zielinski came on the court, Napoli kicked the ball gently to Fuzato.
Fuzatto threw the ball to Chen Xiaoliang, who kicked it directly to Welertu in front of him.
The Frenchman took a few steps, attracted a double-team from Anguisa and Zielinski, and passed the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang who was following far behind him. Chen Xiaoliang rubbed the bottom of the ball with the inside of his foot and passed it to Cesco.
The one guarding him at this time was Kosovo center back Ramani, and Koulibaly was responsible for filling in the gaps and clearing the ball.
It was a great pleasure for Cesco to receive the ball from Chen Xiaoliang. He headed the ball to Pellegrini who was coming from behind.
Koulibaly immediately rushed to the penalty area line, and Zielinski also rushed forward a few steps to surround him.
Anguisa was still keeping his eye on Veretout, and Pellegrini did not have a strong ability to get rid of the ball in a small area, so he had to pass the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang again.
Chen Xiaoliang realized that he couldn't break through from the front, so he immediately moved to the left.
After receiving the ball, Malaysia confronted Tuanzebe for a while, but failed to create a breakthrough route after several attempts. At this time, Pellegrini stretched out his right hand, Malaysia understood and kicked with his left foot, and the two made a diagonal pass and Pellegrini, who was offside, appeared in the penalty area!
Ramani and Koulibaly immediately rushed towards Pellegrini who was about to take a single shot at a small angle!
Koulibaly filled the position very quickly, and Pellegrini found that he was blocking him before he could adjust.
On the penalty area line, Anguissa and Zielinski immediately retreated into the penalty area.
Pellegrini did not choose to force a kick, but passed the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang who was outside the penalty area!
There was no one in front of Chen Xiaoliang at this moment!
He kicked up immediately!
Anguissa and Zielinski, who had just retreated to the penalty area, rushed up desperately!
Chen Xiaoliang rubbed the ball with the outside of his right foot and it flew towards the far post!
A figure flashed forward. At this time, there was only another midfielder Fabian Ruiz who was returning to defense by his side, and this flash completely threw him away!
Meret knew that something was wrong and attacked immediately to destroy it in advance!
But the forward wearing the No. 20 jersey didn't even need to jump. He just shook his head while running forward, and the ball bounced into the inside of the far post!
