Chapter 298: Super-huge, huge mistake
On the field, Liverpool began to shrink their formation.
Their frontcourt no longer pressed hard, but retreated as much as possible, and at the same time the back line moved forward, with the front, middle and back three lines pressed more tightly to deal with Roma's long pass and backcourt play.
Klopp also replaced Thiago with veteran Milner. His role on the field was certainly not to compete with Cesco for high balls, but to mark Chen Xiaoliang together with Bajicetic.
The advantage of a compact formation is that when Liverpool deal with high balls, nearby players have enough time to provide support and grab the second landing point.
But the disadvantage is that Roma's backcourt can control the ball comfortably and launch positional attacks at the right time.
This caused the game between the two sides to fall into a battle in the midfield. Whenever Roma tried to pass the ball forward, they would face Liverpool's pursuit and interception.
Once Liverpool gets the ball, they will launch a counterattack as quickly as possible.
In the 55th minute, Cristante wanted to pass the ball directly to Chen Xiaoliang to beat the offside, but the ball was intercepted by Firmino, and the Brazilian immediately launched a counterattack with the ball.
Facing Cristante's close defense, Firmino dribbled the ball diagonally, completely taking Cristante out of his defense area, and then made a diagonal pass to Nunez who ran into the gap.
Smalling turned sideways, bent over, took small steps with his legs, and stared at Nunes' movements intently.
Salah crossed into the penalty area from the right and pretended to receive the ball, but Gvardiol completely blocked the space behind him.
Nunez moved to the right and pushed the ball forward. Salah received the ball and knocked it back. The two of them made a horizontal wall kick. Nunez met the ball and shot it with the inside of his foot!
Smalling stretched out his legs to block the ball, which hit his legs and bounced upwards, then flew up in a strange parabola and slowly fell down. Not only did it change in height, it also refracted in direction .
Patricio, who was ready to save the ball at the far post, immediately adjusted his center of gravity, leaped forward, and used his left hand to lift the ball over the edge of the crossbar and out of the bottom line!
Liverpool corner kick!
Chen Xiaoliang, who was turning around and observing in front, could see the ball clearly.
He ran back to his own penalty area to participate in the corner kick defense, and then whispered to Smalling: "Brother, if he wants to shoot, you block his near corner, and be careful not to let him shoot through the crotch. As for the far corner, you can let it go."
Smalling nodded, because he himself realized that when the ball was shot to the far corner, Patricio had made full preparations, but he blocked it and turned it into a lob shot, which almost flew into his own goal.
Among various offensive tactics, corner kicks are one of the most proficient ones in Liverpool.
There are many tall points in the team, and the central defenders are also good at grabbing points, and they are also capable of launching another attack after grabbing the second point.
Therefore, in the pre-match arrangements, Mourinho responded with layers of defense in a targeted manner, and even Cesco was required to return to the penalty area to participate in the corner kick defense.
Smalling kept a close eye on Nunez, while Guevadiol stared at Van Dijk.
They had already conceded a corner kick and Patricio couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Shooting is the second most common way of social death among goalkeepers.
The number one option is of course to pass the ball directly to the opponent and then let the opponent score.
With Stiller's whistle, Milner took a tactical corner kick and passed it to Salah nearby, who kicked the cross!
The ball is flat and fast , it's the front point!
Van Dijk suddenly rushed forward and then jumped high!
"Good shot! Great defense!"
Ferdinand shouted in the live broadcast room.
"Gvardiol has the potential to become one of the best central defenders in European football in the next decade!"
In this ball, Gvardiol overpowered Van Dijk and headed the ball out of the penalty area first.
Several players in Roma's frontcourt rushed forward as if they heard a charge, while Kva on the left was chasing the ball closest to him.
But Salah was faster. He realized that he couldn't control the ball before Kvarr caught up with it, so he made a clean sliding tackle and knocked the ball out of bounds.
In just a few seconds, Chen Xiaoliang, who had rushed from the penalty area to near the center circle, had to stop.
The four people in the live broadcast room looked at Chen Xiaoliang in surprise.
Some people shook their heads, some said "WOW" involuntarily, and some looked at others, wanting to know if they were as surprised as they were.
But there was no way, Chen Xiaoliang's sprint speed from defense to offense was too fast. Even Gerrard, who had played with him for a season, couldn't believe that this kid was so fast now.
If Salah hadn't blocked the ball just now, Kvart would have passed the ball to the front court, and Chen Xiaoliang, who had already accelerated, would have immediately run behind Arnold and Milner who were left behind, and then it would have been a one-on-one game with Alisson.
Malaysia threw the ball out of bounds to Enzo, and Salah pressed forward.
Enzo passed the ball to Cristante, who passed it forward to Cesco.
Cesco did the same thing and headed the ball backwards, and the ball fell at Chen Xiaoliang's feet, but Bajicetic and Milner immediately double-teamed Chen Xiaoliang!
Not only that, Fabinho did not seem to focus his energy on the aerial battle with Cesco, but instead made a symbolic defense and immediately turned around to form a three-person double team on Chen Xiaoliang with the other two!
Although Milner is 37 years old, he was able to play for Manchester City in the golden age for five years, and then wore the second captain's armband in the revived Liverpool, which is enough to show that he is quite capable.
Putting aside other things, Klopp had to send him on the field just for his attitude towards the game.
Chen Xiaoliang did not dare to be careless. He pulled the ball back and avoided Bayicetic's steal. Then he quickly passed the ball to Dybala on the right before the other two made any defensive moves.
When Milner came on the court, he knew that the attack was definitely aimed at him, but he, as well as Mourinho on the sidelines, did not expect that Klopp would be crazy enough to use a three-person double team to target Chen Xiaoliang!
This means using the entire midfield configuration to restrict Chen Xiaoliang alone. Once Chen Xiaoliang's activities are strangled, even if Cesco can head the ball again, his threat will be greatly reduced.
After the ball was passed, Fabinho retreated to the penalty area, Milner roamed around on the side with the ball to assist in defense, and Bačetic remained close to Chen Xiaoliang.
Although the three men dispersed, they did not move too far away from Chen Xiaoliang, which meant that once the ball was passed back, the three men could immediately form a double-team.
The double-team in the middle made it impossible for the defensive midfielder to take care of the wing defense. Salah and Firmino retreated significantly to help the full-backs defend Kva and Dybala on both sides.
In this formation, only Nunes was on standby in defense, looking for an opportunity to counterattack, while everyone else was on defense.
Dybala was facing the marking of Tsimikas and Firmino in front and behind him. Lacking the speed advantage, he could only pass the ball back to Enzo.
Enzo was rather delighted. As he was tightly double-teamed in the frontcourt, he was relieved of the defensive pressure. This would definitely greatly increase his chances of getting the ball, and he would also be able to display his ability in advancing and organizing.
The three midfielders were all staring at Chen Xiaoliang, and Enzo dribbled the ball forward without being blocked.
In an instant, he saw Kvart and Dybala attacking from both sides at the same time!
The time is now!
Enzo immediately swung his leg to pass the ball, rubbed the bottom of the ball hard with the instep, and the ball immediately flew towards Kwa's running path!
Because it is rubbed at the bottom of the ball, the ball keeps spinning backwards while flying in the air. When it lands in front of Kva, the distance the ball bounces forward is shorter than that of the same long pass!
This is also one of the favorite ways for offensive players to receive long passes from behind!
But even though Kva ran quickly and got rid of Arnold, Konate judged the flight trajectory of the ball in advance and rushed over to stretch his legs to try to destroy the ball.
Seeing that the attacking opportunity was about to be lost, Kva stretched out his right foot forward and gently pad the bottom of the ball. The ball immediately flew backwards over Konate's head!
Kva continued to run and passed Konate who turned around and tried to chase back with all his strength!
Catch the ball that you kicked up!
Face Alisson!
Alisson blocked the near corner, the shooting angle was too small!
Kva passed the ball back, wanting to pass it to Dybala again!
Van Dijk stretched out his leg and touched the rolling ball, causing the ball to change direction slightly!
The ball landed right in front of Chen Xiaoliang!
One step inside the front penalty area line!
Bajicetic and Milner, one on the left and one on the right, stretched out their legs to tackle at the same time, trying to destroy the ball!
Chen Xiaoliang didn't make any adjustments, he immediately swung his right foot and shot!
Hit the outside of the foot!
The ball flew to the upper right side of the goal!
Alisson flew to the left side of the goal to save the ball, and his left fingertips touched the ball!
The ball changed direction and hit the post!
Cesco, Cristante and others who were watching everything from behind couldn't help but hold their heads in regret for a moment!
Many Liverpool fans subconsciously raised their hands, and the cheers in their throats had already gathered on their vocal cords and were about to burst out.
The next moment, something dramatic happened again. The ball bounced off the post, hit Alisson's head, and bounced upwards!
Alisson’s first reaction after falling to the ground was to stand up and hug the ball that bounced up and floated down!
The players in the penalty area of both teams raised their hands at the same time, but the meanings they expressed were completely opposite.
Roma naturally complained that the ball had already crossed the goal line, but Liverpool had the exact opposite opinion.
Stiller cursed in his heart, why was there so much chaos in this game? Couldn't he just referee a simple game in peace?
He looked at the bracelet on his left hand and found that it was not vibrating. He then asked the video referee team through the headset and received the feedback that it was being confirmed.
For this reason, he had no choice but to stop the game.
Soon, the video referee team gave feedback and displayed the marking results on the court and the live broadcast screen.
1 cm!
The vertical projection of the ball overlaps with the goal line by the last 1 cm of shadow!
This means that the ball did not go in.
Faced with this penalty result determined by modern technology, the players on both sides had nothing to say. Chen Xiaoliang smiled and walked slowly back.
Alisson escaped and breathed a sigh of relief.
The home team was 2-3, already 1 goal behind the visiting team Roma. If they lost another goal, it would be another miserable night.
It was drizzling in the stadium at this time. The changeable weather in the UK made rainy games a common occurrence.
Fortunately, it was just a drizzle, which could help professional players sweat and lower their body temperature.
Alisson threw the ball to the ground. The referee Stiller had just blew the whistle, so he had to take a goal kick.
He took a few steps back and looked at the distant front field, where the teammates represented by red dots were running.
After selecting Nunes' position, he started to run.
One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, looking up at the sky...
But just at the moment of kicking the ball, I saw a figure in a white jersey blocking my way!
Alisson is completely mechanical, or in other words, he is completely in a state of mechanical movement.
He subconsciously followed the instructions from his brain and kicked the ball out again, but he subconsciously felt that something was wrong and that something bad would happen if he did so, so he retracted his force at the moment of kicking the ball, trying to adjust the direction to avoid the intruder.
But it was too late. The ball hit the leg of Chen Xiaoliang who rushed up to block it, and then bounced high!
At that moment, Alisson's mind was blank, Klopp's breathing was suspended, and the air at Anfield was frozen.
The ball drew a rainbow in the air, and then flew into Liverpool's goal under Alisson's gaze and the gazes of everyone in the stadium from different angles!
There was no need to wait for Zhan Jun to speak, countless Red Country fans typed barrages of comments in the live broadcast room saying "Super super huge huge mistake"!
2 to 4!
Chen Xiaoliang didn't expect that his previous shot was bravely saved by Alisson, but his interception at this moment luckily resulted in a goal!
This goal was a huge mental blow to Liverpool, whether it was the coaching staff, players or fans.
Alisson walked back to the goal in frustration, kicked the ball out of the net, then put his hands on his hips, endured the gazes of countless people at the scene and through the screen, frowned helplessly, and shook his head.
His performance is like a microcosm of Liverpool this season.
He can often give amazing performances and still possesses tremendous strength, but he always fails at some inadvertent moments, ruining a good situation and turning victory into defeat.
Forti laughed and clapped excitedly on the sidelines: "Jose, this move of yours is really amazing. I didn't expect that Chen, who was pushed to the attacking midfielder position, also has this function."
Mourinho was in a good mood and asked casually: "What function?"
Forti: "Benzema, just like what people say online, has a special aura that reduces the intelligence of the opposing goalkeeper."
The referee Stiller also silently said "Wow" several times in his mind to express his surprise, and then blew the whistle to continue the game.
Liverpool did not give up and continued to attack hard after kicking off from the center circle.
This is the quality and persistence that a veteran giant should have, not to mention that they are at their home ground. Even if defeat seems inevitable, they will never surrender in front of their diehard fans.
Bayicetic, who had been defending for most of the court, also joined the attack, although he still kept a relatively close distance from Chen Xiaoliang.
Milner passed the ball to him, but he was suppressed by Chen Xiaoliang for most of the court. He defended hard but still failed to prevent the ball from being lost. The depressed Bayicetic shot from long range with great force.
“Woo!”
Chen Xiaoliang let out a muffled cry, and the ball hit him and bounced back.
Bayicetic received the ball and shot again in the air, but Chen Xiaoliang stretched out his legs to block it again!
“Woo!”
Chen Xiaoliang let out another muffled cry.
This time the ball bounced to Milner's feet.
Seeing that he couldn't break through Chen Xiaoliang's defense, Milner wanted to make a lob pass into the penalty area.
But after landing, Chen Xiaoliang's counterattack was faster than he expected. As soon as he kicked the ball up, Chen Xiaoliang jumped up and stretched his legs to block the ball again!
"Woo!" Another muffled cry.
This time the ball rolled straight out of the sideline.
Three consecutive interceptions caused Liverpool fans to boo loudly, which was directed at their own players, expressing their dissatisfaction with their poor performance.
The 3,000 Roma fans who travelled to Liverpool cheered for Chen Xiaoliang in unison.
But just as Tsimikas on the left was about to throw the ball out of bounds, referee Stiller blew the whistle to stop the game.
Chen Xiaoliang squatted down, his eyes closed, his hands not knowing where to put them, and his expression in pain.
Slow motion is coming soon.
The four celebrities in front of the screen and in the live broadcast room, as well as countless fans watching the live broadcast, were stunned, and then a considerable percentage of them couldn't help laughing!
It turned out that the three goals just now, Bayicetic's two long shots and Milner's cross, all hit Chen Xiaoliang's crotch!
Referee Stiller was very close and saw it clearly.
Although the ball did not hit him, he felt as if he was there and felt a dull pain in that place.
Roma team doctor Manara ran in and asked Chen Xiaoliang how he was.
Chen Xiaoliang said nothing, or rather, he didn't want to say anything.
This place hurts, and with so many people around the world watching, he can't reach out and rub it...
He used luck, deep breathing, muscle strength, and everything else he could to relieve the pain "elegantly" and without making a sound.
In the live broadcast room, many people felt distressed and laughed at the same time, and typed a comment:
【Second brother hat trick】
