Chapter 229: Killer Star! The first hat trick!
While the Roma players were celebrating, Inzaghi replaced Dumfries with Chilean veteran Sanchez, ready for a final fight.
Inter Milan launched a desperate attack.
For them, 1 point is the bottom line to stay in the Champions League zone. If they lose, they will be completely controlled by the performance of Juventus and Napoli in the last four games and will give up the initiative.
Neither the club chairman Zhang Kangyang, the head coach Inzaghi, nor the players can accept such an outcome.
What's more, they are the defending champions.
Lukaku and Ashraf are gone, and they have earned nearly 180 million euros, but their goal is still to defend the title. Even if it is hopeless, the Champions League is the bottom line of the bottom line.
In the 86th minute, Correa got the ball in the midfield , shook off Volpato and rushed forward. Gosens, Sanchez, Gagliardini and Lautaro ran forward desperately to support him.
Barella followed closely behind. Although he was in a very tired state, the Italian midfielder was an absolute fighter on the green field.
Behind his aggressive playing style lies his never-give-up personality.
Except for Malacia and Ibanez, almost all the players in Roma's backcourt have been replaced.
Spinazzola, Cristante and others, who were full of energy, knew that there were less than 10 minutes left before the final victory, and they also retreated to defend desperately.
Correa dodged left and right, but soon after he ran out, he was caught up by Volpato whom he had dribbled away before. Helplessly, he could only pass the ball to Sanchez on the right.
As a star who once had outstanding performances in Barcelona and Arsenal, although the 33-year-old Sanchez still wears the No. 7 jersey, he is no longer as brave as he used to be.
He tried it on the wing and found that he had no good way to deal with Malaysia, so he could only call Lautaro to help.
Lautaro ran over immediately, Sanchez passed the ball to him, and then he ran forward immediately.
However, Malaysia saw through the two's intention to play the ball against the wall, and stuck close to Sanchez, leaving him no room to receive the ball.
Lautaro dribbled a few times to protect the ball, and saw someone coming up at high speed in the midfield!
The eyes are determined and the momentum is fierce!
He subconsciously passed the ball back!
It's Barrera!
Chen Xiaoliang has already caught up with him!
Barrera caught the ball and without any intention of avoiding Chen Xiaoliang, he rushed towards the penalty area like a tank running at full speed.
Feeling Chen Xiaoliang approaching, Barrera raised his elbow, tried to distance himself from Chen Xiaoliang, and continued to dribble the ball forward.
Chen Xiaoliang's [Close Defense] skill obviously made Barrera's dribbling posture a little difficult, but he still did not give in and pushed Chen Xiaoliang in.
At the edge of the penalty area, seeing that he was unable to complete a normal shot due to Chen Xiaoliang's push, Barrera pushed the ball to Lautaro who had just been pulled out to support Sanchez, then pushed Chen Xiaoliang away with his elbow and turned to move towards the top of the penalty area.
Lautaro suddenly started and dribbled the ball to the bottom line. Ibanez hurriedly chased after him, but was still a beat too late.
Lautaro broke through to the end line and swept his right foot towards the goal!
Barrera and Correa both rushed up!
Chen Xiaoliang has been sticking to Barrera since Barrera passed the ball to Lautaro and then pushed him away. Now that he saw Barrera was about to rush to the front of the goal, he immediately rushed towards the direction where the ball came from.
Chen Xiaoliang is in the inside and Barrera is on the outside. One wants to clear the ball to the outside, while the other wants to kick it into the goal!
The speed and impact of the two blocked Correa and Smalling on the side! Patricio was also stunned for a moment, just guarding the near post and not choosing to attack!
The ball came! In an instant, they both stretched out their feet at the same time!
Chen Xiaoliang’s left foot meets Barrera’s right foot!
"Bang!"
The two kicked the ball from the left and right sides almost at the same time. The ball neither rolled into the goal nor flew to the sideline. Instead, under the combined force of the two impact forces, it flew straight up!
Everyone in the penalty area was eyeing the ball bouncing upwards.
Chen Xiaoliang and Barrera were the first to feel a sharp pain in the foot that had just kicked the ball. Taking advantage of the time the ball bounced, they quickly stood up and, in the process, lightly stepped on the grass with that foot.
As a professional player, this action is enough to help you judge whether the stressed part has suffered obvious injuries. If it is a serious injury such as a fracture or bone crack, you can know it about it by observing the pain reaction after stepping on it.
After confirming that there were no injuries, the two men collided again. Barrera tried desperately to grab the falling ball, but Chen Xiaoliang blocked him just to prevent him from jumping up to compete for the header.
Seeing this, Patricio immediately rushed out and jumped up to grab the ball. Barrera refused to give up and jumped up desperately, but ended up bumping into Patricio and also dragging Chen Xiaoliang beside him with him.
In an instant, everyone was thrown to the ground in the corner of the small penalty area!
In order to prevent a conflict, the referee Osato blew the whistle immediately, stopped the game, and then ran over to look at the three people on the ground from close range.
When Patricio heard the whistle, he loosened his hands that were holding the ball tightly and got up.
Unexpectedly, when Chen Xiaoliang and Barrera stood up, the former's legs fell on the latter's body when he fell, so Barrera pushed Chen Xiaoliang's legs away in the process of getting up, which caused Chen Xiaoliang to fall again when he was halfway up.
Seeing this scene, Ibanez on the side immediately rushed up and hit Barrera with his chest!
“Beep beep beep!!!”
Seeing that the opportunity had come, Osatu blew the whistle like a machine gun, and teammates from both teams rushed forward at the same time to pull the two men apart.
In the end, Barrera and Ibanez each received a yellow card.
Inzaghi on the sidelines was furious and asked Faria to stop Barrera's stupid behavior.
It is Inter Milan that is behind now and they are also the ones who are short of time. They should be thankful to get 5 minutes of injury time. Creating friction at this time is tantamount to helping Roma kill time.
Sure enough, this attack, conflict, and Osatu's card play consumed 2 minutes before the game could continue.
The clock has jumped to the 89th minute, and the fourth official raised the card, indicating 4 minutes of extra time.
Inter Milan also tried their best and they adopted a high pressing position.
To be on the safe side, Patricio did not use short passes, but kicked the ball directly towards the front court.
While Barrera was still running slowly back in the frontcourt, Chen Xiaoliang had already rushed towards where the ball landed.
Faria: "15,000 meters."
Inzaghi: "Who are you talking about?"
Faria: "I mean, that weirdo from the Red Country, he's already run 15 kilometers today! He's way ahead of everyone else!"
Inzaghi frowned. He was once a professional player and knew what running distance meant on the court. "What about the whole team running?"
Faria: "We ran 111 kilometers, and Roma ran 106 kilometers. In other words, if this guy ran at an average of about 10 kilometers like everyone else, then we would have run one more person than them."
Inter Milan's current average running distance per game of 111.74 kilometers ranks first in Serie A, while Roma's average running distance of 107.23 kilometers per game can only rank 12th. Although this is related to the style of play, Roma, which frequently uses counterattacks, does not have so much running back and forth to control the ball in the ball stage, but running still means that the team can cover more areas in offense and defense and create more space.
The reason why Roma was able to fight back and forth despite falling behind today was because Chen Xiaoliang's endless running not only made a lot of contributions to Roma on both offense and defense, but also made Inter Milan's midfield to defend him.
As one side gained while the other lost, one side advanced while the other retreated, it was equivalent to the two sides being tied in terms of running distance.
On the field, Roma was still organizing attacks on the wing, while Inter Milan's players continued to squeeze out their last bit of energy and pressed on desperately.
Chen Xiaoliang made a long pass to the right, and Spinazzola stretched out his foot lightly and controlled the ball as if it was sucked to his foot.
Inter Milan's left midfielder Gosens was in front, and Spinazzola did not choose to break through because behind Gosens, his teammates were reaching for the ball.
Spinazzola kicked the ball with his right foot, and the ball went over Gosens' head and landed at Abraham's feet.
Although Chen Xiaoliang's reversal goal just now was exciting, Abraham still felt it was a pity that he did not score the goal directly.
As soon as he received the ball, he rushed into the penalty area!
Brozovic moved sideways, trying to help Bastoni defend Abraham, but Chen Xiaoliang had already run from the left to the front of the penalty area.
As soon as Brozovic hesitated, Abraham and Bastoni had already taken sides!
Bastoni moved sideways to prevent Abraham from cutting inside, and his position was closer to Abraham's left foot.
Abraham simply accelerated and passed from the right, preparing to shoot at a small angle!
There was no feinting or tricks, he just went straight for it, using his physical advantage and physical fitness to pass Bastoni in one step!
In the middle, Cesco quickly moved towards the penalty spot, ready to meet Abraham, but De Vrij, who was defending him, was blocked behind him.
Brozovic saw that the situation was not good. If the ball was passed in an inverted triangle, Cesco would have shot directly!
He could only retreat into the penalty area at full speed!
Seeing that the angle was too small, Abraham adjusted his step and swung his right foot to make a small-angle shot!
Handanovic had already reached the near post, and Bastoni fell directly to the ground and slid, blocking Abraham's shooting path with his body!
Abraham dribbled the ball and adjusted it to his left foot!
At that moment, he glanced and saw Handanovic who was half-crouching near the goal post ready to save the ball, Cesco who had already run to the penalty spot to prepare for the response, De Vrij who was chasing after Cesco, and Brozovic who was about to rush behind Cesco.
He also saw someone.
At that moment, he gave up the idea of shooting from a small angle with his left foot, which he was not very sure about, and made the best pass he had made so far this season!
But this pass still requires Cesco's help to complete it!
Abraham is indeed eager to score goals, eager to prove himself, and eager to become a regular starter.
However, compared to standing on the highest podium, these are nothing!
He aimed at Cesco and pushed the ball hard with the arch of his left foot!
Cesco took a step towards the ball and raised his right foot to prepare for a shot!
De Vrij had already put his hands on Cesco from behind, ready to use a slight push to affect his balance.
Brozovic has already tackled the ball, and it doesn't matter whether it's a yellow card or not. If the team falls here and he remains indifferent, what's the point?
Goalkeeper Handanovic rushed out and threw himself towards Cesco with open arms!
Cesco raised his right foot and swung it out, but it didn't touch the ball!
Abraham's pass was very fast and rolled between Cesco's legs!
Lou Yichen: "Cesco missed the ball!"
"The ball is outside the penalty area!"
"It's Chen Xiaoliang!"
"Direct long shot!!!"
"pretty!!!"
“So beautiful!!!”
"There was no suspense at all. Roma scored another goal in the 90th minute! Abraham made a back pass, Cesco missed the ball at the front point, and Chen Xiaoliang made a furious shot with the outside of his foot outside the penalty area. Handanovic, who rushed towards Cesco, had no time to get up and save the ball. The ball flew into the empty goal, changing the score to 3 to 5!"
On the field, Chen Xiaoliang rushed to the corner flag area! He took off his shirt and threw it into the air, then grabbed the corner flagpole with his left hand, put his right hand on his waist, and looked up at the Roma fans who came to the away field and shouted at the top of their lungs!
Everyone in the coaching booth rushed over! Including Mourinho!!!
They surrounded Chen Xiaoliang and hugged each other tightly!
Everyone knew that this goal completely killed the game! At the same time, the team tied the score with AC Milan!
The referee Osato was very intelligent and followed the rules. He showed Chen Xiaoliang a yellow card only after everyone had finished celebrating, but it was no big deal.
Chen Xiaoliang specifically thanked Abraham for the assist and Cesco for the missed opportunity in the middle.
Although there is no trace of Cesco in the statistics, his contribution to this goal is no less than that of himself and Abraham.
Lou Yichen: “We heard applause from the Meazza!”
“Incredible!”
"In this proud home stadium, the fans unanimously applauded the visiting team's players."
"Hat trick! In the most crucial match of the league, Chen Xiaoliang conquered everyone with his almost impeccable performance on both offense and defense!"
"At this time, we saw the director pointed the camera at Zhang Kangyang in the stands. Suddenly, boos broke out in the stadium! The fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the club management without reservation."
"Before Xiaoliang, Xie Hui in German 2. Aachen, Shao Jiayi in German 2. 1860 Munich and Energie Cottbus, Dong Fangzhuo in Belgian 2. Antwerp, and Zhang Chengdong in Portuguese 2. Malafe had all performed hat tricks."
"But! This is the first and only time in the top five leagues! And we are facing a European giant, Inter Milan, the defending champion of Serie A!"
In the stands, Dutch head coach Louis van Gaal asked assistant coach Edgar Davids, who was sitting next to him. The latter's nickname was "Bulldog" and the Red Country fans also gave him the nickname "Wild Boar".
Obviously, the Dutch coach was also impressed by Chen Xiaoliang's performance: "I thought the transfer market was crazy. A 17-year-old Asian midfielder was priced at 68 million euros. It was probably some trick to expand the Asian market. Later, the technical team gave me a video clip of him, but I threw it aside without even watching it."
"But when the Kopa Trophy results came out, I found that things seemed to be different from what I thought."
"The fact that those arrogant Ballon d'Or winners voted for him shows that his performance has impressed many people."
"Today, it seems that he is a player with great prospects. If he is trained by me for three years, he will definitely become a great midfielder!"
"What do you think?"
Davis pushed up his signature black sunglasses with his hand: "Louis, I've seen quite a few of his games, and I'd say he's very close to being a great player, but he's still a little short of that."
Van Gaal: "What's the difference? I think if he lets me coach, I will definitely improve his dribbling and technique, so that he can dribble more easily in the midfield and frontcourt and help the team firmly control the ball. Do you think so too?"
Davis pouted his lips and shook his head slightly: "No one's skills are perfect. Me, Rijkaard, Matthäus, and the best midfielders of our time all had shortcomings of one kind or another."
Van Gaal: "So where do you think he's lacking?"
Davis: "He met a good coach, but lacked a group of teammates who could fully bring out his abilities. The striker was pretty good, but it's a pity for the Slovenian. His future career can only strive for club honors."
On the field, Inter Milan tried to attack twice more, but both times failed, and they lost the ball before even getting a chance to shoot. After that, they seemed to have given up.
As soon as the 93rd minute was up, the referee Osato blew the final whistle on time.
Inter Milan's players walked towards the player tunnel dejectedly, but before that, although they were a little reluctant, they still shook hands with the Roma players one by one in a very graceful manner, except for the depressed Barella, who went straight to the locker room without looking back.
Chen Xiaoliang took the initiative to find Brozovic and exchanged jerseys with him.
The Croatian midfielder was stunned at first, but accepted the proposal in a friendly manner.
"I wish you all the best in the World Cup!" Chen Xiaoliang did not forget to send his blessings.
Brozovic laughed: "That will be in the winter. Before that, we will play against each other next season."
Reporters who entered the field after the game took pictures of this scene in time.
Finally, Chen Xiaoliang took away the match ball. This football is worth keeping forever to commemorate the first hat trick of his career.
After returning to the locker room, Mourinho went to attend the press conference, and he did not choose to ask Chen Xiaoliang to go with him.
In such an occasion, he knew that everyone would keep a close eye on Chen Xiaoliang's hat trick.
But whether it is a flattering interview or a trap-style question, it is not the right time yet.
Roma only won the most crucial game in the last five rounds, overcame the toughest challenge, and caught up with AC Milan in points with one more game, but it does not mean that the championship has been won.
After the club members returned to the hotel on the outskirts of Milan, they did not go to sleep. Instead, they turned on the TV or their mobile phones to watch the game between Lazio and AC Milan at home.
At this moment, all the fans of Rome stood together with their city rivals, hoping that Lazio could stop the Rossoneri's progress and add another long-lost league championship to this thousand-year-old city.
