1-1, both sides entered the half-time break with a tie.
On the way back to the locker room, Lukaku kept talking side by side with Lautaro. He felt that he was in good shape today and had good luck with the ball, and hoped to get more support from his teammates.
Lukaku: "Taro, pass me two more balls. Hehe, I'm in really good shape today."
Lautaro: "I think you are very lucky... I still want to score a goal."
Lukaku: "You have scored 17 goals this season and I have only scored 7. You have to help your brother..."
Lautaro: "Shh... I was in the national team at the end of March. I didn't score the empty goal that Messi passed to me. People on the Internet have been bashing me until now. I have to score a goal to clear myself."
Lukaku turned his head and looked around, then covered his mouth with his hands and said, "You said it was unfortunate. Last month against Fiorentina, Bastoni passed the ball to me, but I shot it out from one meter in front of the goal... Plus, those people can't seem to forget the game against Croatia in the World Cup. Taro, how about this, I'll pass a few balls to you and you pass a few balls to me..."
Lautaro: "I think the coach asked us to retreat and retreat. I didn't even touch the ball a few times in the first half."
When the two men walked to the entrance of the player tunnel, many Roma fans in the stands on both sides booed them. Lukaku put his index finger on his mouth, signaling those people to shut up.
The fans in the live broadcast room were instantly amused when they saw this scene, and immediately launched a campaign called "One sentence to prove that you have seen Lukaku". The most popular sentence was:
[If you doubt me, please shut up. If you appreciate me, please follow me.]
Chen Xiaoliang was walking just behind the two of them. The Roma fans who had been booing Lukaku immediately changed their tone to high-decibel cheers when they saw Chen Xiaoliang coming.
Fan A yelled, "Chen! Score another goal in the second half!"
Chen Xiaoliang waved his hand: "Okay, come in!"
Fan B yelled, "Chen! Kill them in the second half!"
Chen Xiaoliang waved in another direction: "Okay, let's do it!"
Fan C yelled, "Chen! Give us a big win and let us have some fun!"
Chen Xiaoliang raised both hands and waved: "Okay, cool!"
When Mourinho was in the midfield, he broke down the offensive tactics, asking the defensive midfielder and full-backs to make more forward runs, and even asking the defensive midfielder to rush directly into the penalty area to participate in the cross attack. At the same time, he was hesitating whether to increase the number of offensive players in the front, such as letting the defensive midfielder move to the midfield, or even replacing him with a forward.
The short period of less than fifteen minutes became an arena for his psychological struggle.
To advance you need goals, and to score goals you need offense, and with the home advantage, the success rate of the offense will naturally be higher. If you fail to attack today, it will be difficult to press forward again when you go away next week.
But today's defense was not very stable, including the game four days ago. If Inter Milan's "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix" hadn't wasted opportunities, the result might have been different.
Until the end, he was unable to make a final decision and had to wait and see what happened in the second half.
However, he did make one clear request, which was that he hoped Chen Xiaoliang would go directly into the penalty area more often, and when he entered the penalty area, the two defensive midfielders must be ready to prevent Inter Milan's counterattack at any time outside the penalty area.
He also told Gvardiol: "Run boldly. I know Romeu (Lukaku) better than anyone else. He definitely doesn't have the stamina to run for 90 minutes right now. Let him dribble the ball to the wing. The further he is away from the center, the lower his threat and the faster he will consume his stamina."
After saying that, he did not forget to make a finishing move and warned the two full-backs that if Lukaku was going to make a high cross, they should block it slightly and let him pass.
The second half started quickly and Lukaku became the most active person on the field.
Roma's midfield and backcourt carried out Mourinho's request. When they saw Lukaku got the ball, they blocked the inside line and let him go to the outside lines on both sides.
The Belgian "winger" was so happy, he made one explosive move after another. Seeing that Roma adopted a gentle defensive approach against Lukaku, Inter Milan's backcourt naturally passed the ball to him more often.
In the 49th minute, Lukaku got the ball on the right, and Wijnaldum kept his eyes on him, still blocking inside and letting outside. Lukaku made a direct move forward and sprinted out with an earth-shaking pace.
Kaku was running in front, Dumm was chasing behind, and there was also Malaysia in front who was also guarding the inside and constantly retreating, blocking Lukaku from rushing in.
Sure enough, when he ran to the right side of the penalty area, Lukaku found that he could not run anymore. He ran out of the baseline again. He lay sideways, crossed his legs, put the ball in the middle, faced the middle of the penalty area, and began to look left and right, trying to see what the two people defending him were going to do to him.
Wijnaldum stood in front of him on the left and Malaysia stood in front of him on the right.
In the penalty area, in addition to Lautaro who was already running and preparing to receive the cross, Barrera and Dimarco in the distance had also made their way in and were ready to rush into the penalty area and participate in the attack at any time.
Lukaku was stunned: "Oh my god, this is not right. Didn't I ask you to pass the ball to me more in the second half? How come I became the starting point for the attack from the wing?"
Seeing that there was no possibility of another breakout, he shook his left foot and right foot, right foot and left foot a few times like a buffalo dancing. After shaking, the ball did not move, he did not move, and the two defensive players did not move either.
In the stands, many fans were laughing, and in the live broadcast room, many fans were also laughing. Lukaku had no choice but to pass the ball to his left foot and then made a cross into the penalty area.
Young Inzaghi frowned immediately and began to support his cheek with his right hand again.
You say he is not good, his crosses are beyond the reach of the opposing players;
You say he's good, but his own players can't get past his crosses...
An arc pass bypassed everyone in the penalty area and went directly to the other side, at the feet of Roma right-back Binya, who made a long pass to Chen Xiaoliang in the center circle.
Chen Xiaoliang jumped, and Aslani behind him also jumped. When it was obvious that he could not beat Chen Xiaoliang, Aslani raised his hands and clearly pushed Chen Xiaoliang's back.
But he obviously misjudged the difference in power between himself and his opponent. He did use force with his hands, but only probably 50% of his strength. He was afraid that if he used too much force, he would push Chen Xiaoliang to the ground with his face, and the referee might directly give him a yellow card.
However, he was surprised to find in the air that these forces were pushed up, just like the employees in some companies asking their bosses if they could not work overtime, there was no abuse of power at all.
When he landed, he wanted to exert force, but Chen Xiaoliang had already dribbled the ball and turned around to pass by him.
Aslani pushed forward, stumbled, and fell to his knees.
Barrera and Damian immediately ran to the position, ready to block Chen Xiaoliang's head-on attack.
Compared to Dimarco on the left, Damian today was a winger through and through. When Calhanoglu was unable to effectively defend head-on, Barrera actually became the central midfielder, while Damian frequently moved inward to act as a winger covering the right half of the field.
Of course, they did this to guard against Chen Xiaoliang, and Chen Xiaoliang in turn wanted them to guard against him in this way.
He moved straight forward along a route slightly to the left of the center, and his teammates in front and behind him started running.
After entering the offensive third zone, Damian was already close to him. Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball to the front right and turned, then took a few steps and entered Barrera's defensive range again.
He quickly sent a straight pass to the front left with his right foot. The ball passed through the gap between Damian and Barrera and instantly rolled to the feet of Kwa who was cutting in from the left.
After passing the ball, Chen Xiaoliang went straight to the penalty spot in the front right, while Damian and Barrera retreated all the way.
After receiving the ball, Kva turned right and faced the penalty area, with Skriniar in front of him.
Not far behind him, Roma fans in the stands shouted: "Hervecha! Pass him! Pass him!"
Kva was not affected by external interference. He had been intercepted once by Skriniar in the first half.
This time he was not in a hurry. He took a few steps forward, swaying his upper body to observe Skriniar's center of gravity. After entering the breakthrough distance, he immediately started his signature dribbling move, passing the ball back and forth and changing direction.
The reason why Skriniar refused Inter Milan's contract renewal and chose to join Paris Saint-Germain is related to Inter Milan's current poor internal operations and lack of grand plans, as well as to increasing wages and going to a more competitive giant.
But the crucial point is that Paris Saint-Germain will not want him just because he wants to go.
What Skriniar really relies on is his strong defensive ability.
Kva kept changing the speed of his acceleration, but Skriniar was able to retreat while maintaining a reasonable defensive distance and keep up with his rhythm so as not to be overtaken by him after the distance was pulled away.
Kva was quite excited. This was one of the few central defenders he met in Serie A who could keep up with him. However, he had more than just dribbling in his arsenal. During extra training, he summed up the experience from top defenders like Chen Xiaoliang - if he wanted to improve his dribbling success rate, he had to use some methods other than dribbling.
For example, cross.
This is like a three-point shooter in basketball. If he can only shoot three-pointers, the opposing defenders will choose to defend closely and it will be easy to kill him.
But if this three-point shooter can not only shoot, but also has strong breakthrough ability, then the opponent will not dare to get too close to him when defending him, as he will be easily passed by if he gets too close.
At this time, whether the three-point shooter wants to shoot or break through, he only needs to consider it flexibly based on the actual position of the defensive players.
The same is true for Kva. It is precisely because he left Skriniar with the impression that he can only break through and make low crosses that he was able to confidently keep a certain distance and constantly force him into the narrow area of ​​the baseline.
Kva suddenly dribbled the ball to the right from near the baseline, then made a high cross from outside the penalty area!
Skriniar was startled and quickly stretched out his legs to block it, but the distance was too far and his legs couldn't reach it.
The reason why Kva moved to a position close to the baseline after shaking several steps before making a cross was, on the one hand, to create distance from Skriniar, and on the other hand, to wait for his teammates who were flanking the penalty area to arrive.
The Slovak central defender who was about to leave Inter Milan only realized at this moment that he had fallen into the trap of the Roma winger when he retreated to defend!
Crossing the ball from less than 2 meters away from the penalty area line is a skill that most technical wingers must master, and Kwa is no exception.
His cross went straight to the penalty spot, where Cesco and Acerbi were trying to block each other's position.
After the ball came over, Cesco suddenly exerted force and moved two steps to the right of the penalty spot. He kicked with his legs and jumped up diagonally to the right.
Skriniar turned his back and looked at the movement in the penalty area and felt a little relieved: It doesn't matter, he can't head the ball with this tilted and somewhat backward jumping posture.
But what Cesco wanted to do was not to head the ball. He pressed his forehead down and headed the ball towards the right post!
Dybala is lying in ambush there!
The Argentine took a step forward and shot the ball passed by Cesco towards the goal!
The shot was less than two meters away from the goal, and just as the ball was about to fly into the goal, it was blocked by Onana in the orange jersey on the goal line!
“Fuck!”
Countless people at the scene and in front of the screen exclaimed with similar meanings in various languages!
The ball bounced back, and Dybala rushed forward and shot it in the air with his left foot. In a hurry, he didn't care whether he hit the ball accurately or not, he just shot it into the goal!
Onana, who was lying on the ground, supported himself with his hands and tried his best to stand up like a carp. Then he raised his hands to increase the blocking area and actually blocked the ball on the goal line again!
"What the hell! What the hell!"
Countless people at the scene and in front of the screen stood up excitedly, shouting!
The ball bounced back again. This time Dimarco did not give Dybala any chance. He headed the ball away, but he did not use enough strength in his haste and the ball only flew to the penalty area line.
"not good!"
Perrone is right next to the ball!
Aslani, who was chasing Chen Xiaoliang all the way back, no longer cared about the priority of the target at this time. He turned around and rushed forward to sacrifice himself to block the shot.
Perrone was very, very calm, and when most of his shooting angles were blocked by Aslani, he used the inside of his left foot to make an arc-like and lob-like shot, which went straight into the upper left corner of the goal!
Onana struggled to his feet and rushed towards the other goal post.
At this time, not only Aslani turned his head to look at the ball, but hundreds of millions of people around the world held their breath in the penalty area, on the bench, in the stands, and in front of the screen!
"What the hell! What the hell! What the hell!"
As Onana's body flew in the air, he stretched his arm towards the upper right corner of the goal and almost touched the right post.
However, Perrone made the most satisfying shot in his career so far!
Zhan Jun: "This ball...goal!!!"
"20-year-old Argentine genius! Maximo Perrone!"
"A goal from a very tight angle hit the angle between the crossbar and the post. It couldn't be a perfect shot!"
"If some people may not know this young player who was loaned from Argentine Primera Division side Sarsfield before, and do not know that he is a talent spotted by both Guardiola and Mourinho, then this goal today will make his name known all over the world!"
"Don't worry about having no friends on the road ahead, everyone in the world knows you!"
The players on both sides of the field held their breath, and after watching the ball hit the dead corner and bounce into the net, they all opened their eyes wide and even opened their mouths!
The Roma players turned their heads and looked outside the penalty area, and saw Perrone with his arms outstretched rushing towards the coaching bench like crazy. They immediately chased after him, shouting, yelling and laughing.
Onana stood up, grabbed the ball in the net, and kicked the ball towards the center circle with a look of frustration.
Lautaro stood there with his hands on his hips, while Lukaku looked at the goal in surprise, thinking: "They all used their left foot, how did that kid kick a ball like that? Was he lucky?"
Barella spread his hands towards Skriniar, complaining that he let Kva pass the ball. Skriniar swung his right hand, cursing and telling Barella to shut up and stop talking.
Calhanoglu came over and hugged Barrera, asking him to calm down and stop talking.
It’s not that the relationship between the King of Football and Skriniar is very good, but both of them have been labeled as traitors, so they can empathize with each other at this moment...
Young Inzaghi sighed, complaining about his bad luck as he conceded a wonderful goal. At the same time, he had to admit that he was also lucky. Otherwise, not only would Lukaku's goal in the first half not have been scored, but his ball would have been shot into a sieve long ago.
But now is not the time to sigh. The game is only 52 minutes old and there is still plenty of time to play. Falling behind by one goal is acceptable. He must find a way to catch up, or at least ensure that he does not lose the ball again.
He asked Dimarco to call Damian and Aslani over, and whispered a lot to them, but they just nodded repeatedly.
On the other side, Peroni ran over and hugged Mourinho first. Although in his heart, because of the national idol Messi and Argentina's traditional style, he respected Guardiola's style of football more, but he was extremely grateful to Mourinho for giving him many opportunities to start in his first stop in Europe, and even in such a crucial game tonight, he beat Matic, Cristante and other famous players to start.
Mourinho also happily hugged his new disciple whom he had not known for long. He was also very glad that he made the right bet in such an important game. This kid had an assist and a goal today. His current market value is 15 million euros. I believe that in the next transfer update, his market value will definitely reach 30 million euros.
The other teammates ran over, surrounded Perrone and hugged him tightly.
After celebrating, Chen Xiaoliang turned around and slapped Kwa's butt hard: "Beautiful! Continue to fuck that guy later!"
Kwa's butt hurt a little, but at this moment of sweating profusely, he felt a different kind of excitement.
After all the players finished celebrating, they walked back to their own half from the sidelines to prepare for Inter Milan's kick-off. Chen Xiaoliang shouted, "Girls, one goal is not enough, let's try to finish the game tonight!"
Dybala laughed, walked up to him and said, "It's ok for you to tease your peers, but can you please not bring an old man like me into this?"
Chen Xiaoliang glanced at Dybala, pretended to be surprised, and said, "Your hair is sticking up." Then he pointed to the top of his head.
Dybala said "Oh" and quickly put both hands together to stroke his hair. After stroking, he asked: "What now?"
Chen Xiaoliang laughed, said "I'll call you old girl next time" and ran away. Only then did Dybala realize that he had been fooled.
This scene was captured entirely by the camera. Although we couldn't hear what the two people were saying specifically, it was easy to guess the general content from their actions and expressions.
Dong Fangzhuo in the live broadcast room couldn't help but sigh: "The relationship and atmosphere between the players in Roma now are really good, which is not common in the football circle."
"I am a professional player and have played for many clubs in Europe. For example, at Manchester United, there were two factions in the UK. One was the youth training class of 92, led by Giggs and Gary Neville. The Neville brothers were born in Manchester. There were also Scholes and Wes Brown."
"The rest were members of Ferdinand's group who joined later, including Carrick, Hargreaves and others. They had a good relationship with the Class of 92, but they did not agree on everything."
"Apart from these two groups, the rest are foreign players, which are also divided into two groups. One group is Vidic, Rooney, Van der Sar and others. These people are independent of each other, especially Rooney. He is from Everton and has a more direct and independent personality. When I was at Manchester United, he was like the foreign players in Europe. He didn't interact with other British players in personal relationships."
"The last group was mainly Latin American, led by assistant coach Queiroz, and also included Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson and others who had not yet fully emerged as the core of the team."
"But what I mean by this is that factions exist not only in a club, but also in any company, unit, or even larger organization. But under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, they are very peaceful with each other, and even if there are conflicts, they can be resolved smoothly."
"This is also an important factor in Manchester United's continued dominance in the Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson."
"But do you think this Roma team has factions? According to common sense, South American players are one faction, Italian players are another, and then there are small groups of Eastern Europeans and Southern Europeans in other places. But we have never seen such reports or performances in games, training and news."
Zhang Lu: "What Xiaodong said is absolutely right, and this should have little to do with Mourinho. The teams he leads rarely have peaceful locker rooms. Some people say that in Rome there are no superstars, so he can control the situation. I think this is at most a small part of the reason. Just look at the jokes between Dybala and Xiaoliang just now, which is enough to show how high Xiaoliang's status is in the locker room."
Zhan Jun: "Indeed, Dybala was not a completely good person when he was in Juventus. His final decision to leave the team was more or less related to the locker room. But after coming to Rome, you can't see any unhappiness on his face. Even if his starting lineup was sometimes rotated by Pellegrini and others, he would still congratulate his teammates wholeheartedly on the sidelines."
In the stands, watching Roma take the lead again, Zhang Kangyang felt mixed emotions.
He has recently been targeted by financial institutions and courts in the Red Country, the United States, and Europe. They have all sent him subpoenas and debt collection letters. Although he has used financial tools to process his personal income into "0" and has become a person with no fixed income, the large institutions that have lent him money will not be stupid enough to let him go because of this tax evasion and debt avoidance trick.
Skriniar will leave at the end of the season. Although this will save 6 million euros in annual salary, the club will still have to tighten its belt and find ways to recruit players to fill his position.
Lukaku was sold at a sky-high price and became a sucker for Chelsea. If he is sold back next season, they can save some money, but the striker cannot always rely on Dzeko, who will be 36 years old in a while...
There weren’t many people who could sell. Dumfries had originally held on to his shares and didn’t sell them, hoping that they would appreciate after the World Cup. However, the Netherlands played so mediocrely, and Dumfries’s value didn’t change at all…
Lautaro's price tag is quite high, but not many people are willing to spend a lot of money to buy him. This guy's performance is so inconsistent that even his own fans can't stand it, let alone other teams. Moreover, even though the fans can't stand it, if he is really sold, the die-hard fans will probably make a scene, and I, as the chairman, may not be able to endure it.
What to do?
Zhang Kangyang was so worried, he just hoped that Inzaghi could create a miracle for him, so that he could reach the Champions League final and even win the trophy.
"Beep!" The referee Anthony Taylor's whistle woke him up from his daydream, Lukaku kicked the ball with his left foot, and the game continued.
Inter Milan slightly increased the intensity of their attack, and it was obvious that they were hoping to score another goal to equalize the score.
Barrera, who seemed particularly quiet in these two games, ran a lot. Asllani is young after all, and he came up "with a mission", so the connection and coverage of the midfield basically fell on Barrera alone.
He ran back and forth, passing and transferring between the two flanks, trying to move Inter's entire midfield line forward. Finally, he reached a suitable position and passed the ball back to Calhanoglu who was following behind, and then the Turk made the final pass.
Of course, if there is a good opportunity, he will also deliver the shells directly forward.
But as a battle-hardened player who is one of the top midfielders in Italy, Barella was very annoyed. Every time he tried to pass the ball to the middle of the penalty area, he would find that Lautaro was the only one standing there alone.
The dark and tough Lukaku could obviously be a stationary center forward, but he always ran to the wing. He couldn't pass the ball or dribble past the defense.
However, you can't scold him. Every time you get angry and want to scold him, before you open your mouth, he will give you a thumbs up.
A generous gift of crab!
Barrera was at a loss. After looking around, he found no place to pass the ball. In addition, Chen Xiaoliang was not far in front of him, so he couldn't move forward any further. He chose to pass the ball back to Calhanoglu behind him.
Calhanoglu received the ball, adjusted it, and passed it to Lukaku on the right front.
Barrera couldn't help but look back at Calhanoglu, the light in his eyes seemed to be questioning: Did you do it on purpose?
Lukaku received the ball and Lautaro immediately moved into the penalty area.
But Lukaku did not rush to cross the ball. Facing Malaysia, who had a similar skin color but was obviously much smaller in size, he first used his 200-pound body to make a feint to the left. Seeing that Malaysia did not move, he simply pushed the ball to the bottom line and used his signature skill to dribble past the opponent.
Malaysia started immediately and positioned herself well, but despite this, Lukaku was too strong. The collision between the two was like a 1.6-liter car hitting a 15-ton dump truck. Malaysia was directly knocked back several steps.
Lukaku was so excited that he turned his head to look at Lautaro who was about to run towards the near post in the penalty area. Before the ball was about to go out of the baseline, he fell forward and swept the ball to the front point with his right foot!
"Tarot! I've got the ball for you, Tarot!"
Lukaku's eyes were full of hope, as if the scene of regaining his strength and fighting again would soon become a reality because of this ball.
But just as his body fell outside the penalty area, there was a "bang" sound, and then the people defending Lautaro heard a muffled "ooh" sound, and the ball went out of bounds...
Lautaro fell face up on the ground, covering his face with his hands, and a thousand Maha Gobi flashed through his mind...
Patricio smiled, and Chen Xiaoliang, who was looking at the penalty area from a distance, also smiled. But they were both well behaved. One pretended to check his gloves, and the other pretended to tie his shoelaces and adjust his socks, so that they could lower their heads and smile.
Guvardiol, Mancini and Malacia were not very kind. They turned their heads away and tried not to look at the Inter Milan forwards, and just laughed out loud.
We are all professionals and generally don't laugh unless we really can't help it.
Zhang Lu nearly died of laughter in the broadcast room. His devilish laughter of "Hehehe, hahahaha" was enough to force the hostess in the ghost animal area of ​​the site to use it as material for several months.
Dong Fangzhuo simply took off his headset and laughed. Only Zhan Jun maintained the quality of a professional commentator. He concentrated his energy and used his internal strength, still speaking in a calm tone:
"Let's review what just happened."
"Lukaku! He dribbled the ball to the side and got rid of Malaysia. He then swept the ball to the middle with great force before the ball went out of the baseline, trying to pass it to teammate Lautaro who was running in front!"
"As a result... ahem... the ball hit the goal post, and then... ahem... bounced back, hitting Lautaro in the face who was following him, and bounced out of the baseline!"
"The power of the ball seemed to be a bit too strong, and Lautaro was hit hard!"
The young Inzaghi on the sidelines was also speechless. He shouted to his assistant, the 52-year-old Faris, like firing a cannon: "Switch, switch, switch, switch, switch, switch! Hurry and replace him!"
The veteran Dzeko behind him had already taken off his jacket, revealing his jersey, and was turning his neck and twisting his waist on the sidelines, ready to go on the court.
Faris said to Dzeko: "Brother, go to the penalty area more often when you are on the field, create some space for Lautaro and attract the central defender to defend."
Dzeko nodded and thought to himself: I am a professional center forward.
The fourth official raised the sign, No. 90 off, No. 9 up.
Lukaku was giving a thumbs up to Calhanoglu who passed the ball to him. He didn't expect that his superb dribbling and precise cross would result in a substitution.
His eyes widened and he looked towards the coaching bench in surprise. Inzaghi Jr. crossed his hands on his chest and didn't even look at him. Assistant coach Faris waved at him several times, meaning that he should come down quickly and stop talking nonsense.
Lukaku knew it was useless to struggle, so he just raised his hands and clapped at the air, then walked off the field with his head down.
Chen Xiaoliang put away his smile and looked up at the clock on the LED screen: 61 minutes.
Looking at the sidelines again, Brozovic, Dumfries and De Vrij, who had been warming up for a long time, have not yet come on. He knows that the game is far from over. After Lukaku played a role in most of the game, he finally scored a goal. Maybe now is the time when the game really begins!
Dzeko runs onto the field, the game continues, Roma goal kick.
Despite his advanced age of 35, Dzeko has played the full game quite a few times in the league this season, and 30 minutes is more than enough for him.
This little time left for him will not only allow him to focus on offense and serve as a fulcrum in the frontcourt, but also increase the pressure on Roma's backcourt.
On the contrary, after he came on the court, Lautaro's movements became erratic.
This is how it should be. How can a 191cm tall, 200kg, dark and tough guy be seen wandering around on the wing, or a 174cm tall forward be seen engaging in close combat with a central defender in the penalty area?
Dzeko's appearance completely liberated the Argentine striker.
Aslani seemed to have received instructions from the sidelines and began to press Chen Xiaoliang from the center line, using all kinds of foul moves directly without any concealment.
Chen Xiaoliang did not use the stamina recovery card to replenish his stamina after 60 minutes as usual. Although most of his stamina had been consumed by playing forward and defensively, he would not use his trump card unless Inter Milan put on their final complete form.
He knew in his heart that the later those players came on the field, the greater the difference in physical strength between the two sides would be.
Unlike Inter Milan who kept their tricks aside, Roma fielded all their main players. Except for individual positions, such as a few full-backs and defensive midfielders who are good at their respective positions, the midfield and frontcourt are almost the best choices in their respective positions. Replacing any of them will result in a loss of strength or a change in playing style.
This is Inzaghi's conspiracy.
Therefore, if you want to reduce the physical gap, you have to force those people to go on the court earlier.
But then again, open strategies also have weaknesses, and the weakness at the moment is Aslani who is beside Chen Xiaoliang.
Although the young man has played more games this season and is very competitive, he still has some game experience.
In the 65th minute, Chen Xiaoliang leaned against him in the center circle of Inter Milan's half and took the ball with his back, then immediately dribbled the ball and turned around. While turning, he also put his left back on Aslani's back like a center in basketball, pushing him back, which not only prevented him from chasing him, but also relied on the reaction force to increase his starting speed.
However, Chen Xiaoliang's force was just right this time, and he deliberately left some room for acceleration, always keeping a distance that Aslani could not catch up with, but could catch up with.
He dribbled the ball to the left side of the center again , attracting Damian and Barrera to come over to defend, but this time Calhanoglu came up and Damian retreated behind Barrera and in front of Skriniar. It seemed that he wanted to defend Chen Xiaoliang when he was forward and attack Kvarner when he was backward.
Chen Xiaoliang didn't care about all this. Since he wasn't coming, he continued to carry out his plan. He moved forward and suddenly, about 3 meters in front of Barrera, he changed direction 45 degrees to the right. He dribbled the ball a little too far and paused deliberately.
Aslani chased for almost ten meters and finally "caught up". Seeing that Chen Xiaoliang dribbled the ball too far, he immediately kicked the ball.
Chen Xiaoliang suddenly started moving, and just as his right foot touched the ball, his left foot was "just" tackled by Aslani, and then he fell forward.
Aslani was anxious because this ball looked like a tackle from behind. He immediately stood up and turned back to shake his finger at the referee Anthony Taylor, saying "NO, NO, NO!"
Anthony Taylor is the kind of person who, if you hadn't told me something, I might have hesitated. But if you said "NO" to me, I would have given you a "YES" and directly took out a yellow card and gave him it.
The young and hot-tempered Aslani immediately became angry and wanted to go up to explain, but was pulled away by Dimarco who rushed over.
The veterans all saw that it was Chen Xiaoliang who took the initiative to provoke Aslani into committing a foul, and the referee did not give him any room for negotiation. If he had continued to make noises, the two yellow cards might have turned into one red card.
Young Inzaghi on the sidelines knew that Asllani had tried his best and that his plot had been seen through. He nodded to assistant coach Faris, who immediately asked the fourth official for a substitution.
Now, Dumfries, Brozovic and De Vrij come on, while Damian, Asllani and Acerbi leave.
However, it was not just Inter Milan that made substitutions. Forti had been waiting for a long time. Matic, Cristante and Smalling came on, while Wijnaldum, Perrone and Binya came off.
Pellegrini and Abraham are also warming up, and they may also be used in the next substitution window.
Before the game, Mourinho anticipated that Inzaghi would use the tactic of consuming the opponent's energy first and then engaging in a decisive battle, so how could he not hold back?
Zhan Jun: "We will fight back the enemy from both sides, we will block the water with earth, we will use our open strategy against open strategy, and our backhand against backhand!"
"The two head coaches are competing head-on, both wanting to use the substitutes to decide the outcome of the game!"
Zhang Lu: "Hehe, this game is going to be interesting. Inter Milan obviously kept their main players until the end, just like in the last game. They are definitely going to make a push. Dimarco has played on the left many times and his stamina has obviously declined. Now they have replaced Dzeko as the center forward and Dumfries is here. The attack on the right will definitely be the focus next time. Let's see how the two sides will play."
In the 71st minute, with Brozovic coming on, Calhanoglu was no longer in the center as a defensive midfielder, and was freed up to press forward. He passed the ball diagonally to Dumfries who was making a forward run on the right. The energetic Dumfries used his speed to eat Malaysia alive and made a cross from the bottom.
Although the quality of the pass was not high, Dzeko used his experience to get to the position and head the ball, then passed it back to Lautaro who was making a run.
Lautaro stopped the ball without adjusting, and fell to the ground and shot, and the ball went straight to the right side of the goal!
Patricio was highly concentrated, moved in advance according to the area blocked by his teammates, and blocked the ball with one hand!
Dzeko went forward to make a follow-up shot, but was cleared by Gvardiol.
Mourinho made another substitution, Mancini replaced by Ibanez.
At this point, Roma had four defenders and two defensive midfielders, a total of six people. Mourinho replaced four of them, which overall alleviated the physical difference between the defense line and Inter Milan's offense line to the greatest extent.
Chen Xiaoliang also used his stamina recovery card at this time (4→3)
An extremely comfortable and refreshing feeling, like being soaked by rain and cool breeze in the desert, came over me, along with a feeling of rebirth and abundant energy and stamina.
Inter Milan threw the ball out from the right side, Barrera stepped forward to get the ball, and just as he was about to turn around, Chen Xiaoliang ran behind Barrera like the wind.
Barrera had just turned around, and before he could understand what Dumfries was yelling at him, the ball was intercepted by Chen Xiaoliang.
Ever since the team was beaten badly by Roma at home in the first half of the league and witnessed Chen Xiaoliang score 4 goals in a single game, not only did the team lose but he was also completely defeated by the new Serie A MVP. Since then, Barella has been thinking about how to improve his comprehensiveness and how to regain the title of the most comprehensive midfielder in Serie A.
Therefore, he played particularly quietly today, not because he was in despair or lost his competitiveness, but because he wanted to stay with the team and wait until the last moment when all the main players were on the field to give it one more try.
After all, helping the team win and ultimately eliminating Roma is the best form of revenge.
But what about this sudden gust of wind? What about the accuracy of the interception? And what about the speed of the interception and the arrow-like dash?
Barella wanted to chase, but he couldn't catch up at all, not to mention Calhanoglu who was also pressing on the other side of the midfield.
However, Dumfries next to him chased back immediately, and tried his best to keep the same distance with Chen Xiaoliang. He was not left behind, but he could not get close to him either.
Chen Xiaoliang saw that his speed would inevitably be affected as he dribbled the ball forward through the middle. After all, his dribbling ability was not yet full and his ball control level was far from perfect. He cut in front of Kvane and made a straight pass.
As soon as Kva received the ball, De Vrij followed him. After he came on the court, he switched positions with Skriniar. The latter played the central defender position of Acerbi, and he played the right central defender position. When the attack started, he mainly defended Kva in the absence of a wing midfielder to make up for the defense.
The reason why Inzaghi dared to make such an arrangement is that he relied on the physical strength difference between the two players. If both of them started the game, De Vrij would most likely not be able to keep up with Kvadrat's fast and changeable pace.
Kva continued to cut inside for a few steps, and Brozovic, who had just come on the field, also pressed towards him in the defensive midfielder position. He had no choice but to pass the ball to Cesco who retreated into the penalty area.
Cesco received the ball with his back to the goal, and Skriniar followed him all the way out of the penalty area.
Cesco clearly felt that the pressure and restraint from Skriniar was much stronger than that from the old Archer.
In addition, with Brozovic on the side, he didn't dare to stick to the ball and passed it back to Chen Xiaoliang who had already quickly run into the attacking third zone.
Chen Xiaoliang received the ball at the left corner outside the penalty area.
Brozovic came over immediately.
The Croatian midfielder understood that the man in front of him was his real target that he had to defend against at all costs.
Chen Xiaoliang clearly felt that Dumfries, who was not far behind him, was about to catch up. He stepped on the ball and pretended to look at Cesco who was passing the ball back and then turned around and ran into the penalty area, attracting Brozovic to move his center of gravity to prevent himself from passing the ball to Cesco in the penalty area.
In just that instant, when Brozovic's center of gravity moved, Chen Xiaoliang suddenly cut inward to the right and started horizontally towards the top of the penalty area!
Brozovic quickly followed, his hand already stretched out, he would rather pull him to the ground and get a yellow card than let Chen Xiaoliang rush into the penalty area!
Unexpectedly, as soon as he raised his hand, Chen Xiaoliang jumped three or four meters away in two or three steps. His left hand had already drawn a semicircle and stretched to the left side of the body. The whole person leaned slightly to the left, and his right leg completed the process of swinging back and exerting force. He kicked the ball with the inner instep and made a powerful curved shot!
The ball was like a rainbow, drawing a breathtakingly beautiful arc in the air, accurately bypassing Onana's stretched-to-the-extreme left arm, and flew into the net along the right post of the goal!
In an instant, as if a mountain collapsed and the earth split, all the fans in the stadium jumped up from their seats and made the loudest shouts they could!
Zhan Jun: "This ball goes in!!! Cardinal! Tonight, we call him the King of Roma, and it is not an exaggeration at all!"
"Onana made an excellent save, his entire body almost stretched straight in the air, but the arc shot by Xiaoliang went around his fingertips and into the goal!"
"The flowers in the hall intoxicate three thousand guests, and the sword freezes fourteen states!!!"
Dong Fangzhuo: "I have long said on the Internet that Xiaoliang is definitely a king of football players. What else is there to say? Just enjoy watching him quietly."
Zhang Lu: "One-on-one, at least in Serie A, no one can defend him. I am really looking forward to it. When Roma reaches the Champions League final, whether it is Real Madrid or Manchester City, how Ancelotti and Guardiola will arrange their personnel to specifically defend Xiaoliang."
Zhan Jun: "Haha! Xiaoliang didn't run after scoring the goal. Just like before, he put his hands behind his ears and turned around."
"At this moment, all the fans in the stadium were shouting in unison, but the voices were mixed and for a moment I couldn't hear clearly what they were shouting!"
Soon, as the voices of the fans gradually became unified, a voice became clearer and louder, resounding through the sky:
"Habemus Papam!"
"Habemus Papam!"
"Habemus Papam!"
This is a Latin phrase. Whenever the Vatican elects a new Pope, the chief deacon will say this phrase to the thousands of believers waiting on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
What he meant was:
"We have a new pope!"
On the sidelines, Inzaghi shook his head helplessly, and generously applauded the young man who he had racked his brains to restrain but could not. He knew that even if such a performance happened in the Meazza, it would still conquer the picky Nerazzurri.
Because this is undoubtedly a victory in the purest form of football.