Chapter 371 Spreading fear and overwhelming the whole place, as if the legendary No. 16 had returned
After returning to the field in the second half, referee Paul Tierney had to start drawing cards.
Originally, one side was generally stronger and the other side gave in a little, so there would not be a major conflict. As long as the penalty was called in time, there would not be any problem.
But in the second half, both teams became tougher and the atmosphere on the field was soon filled with gunpowder. At this time, the only way to suppress the situation was to draw cards.
In fact, many TV commentators were very dissatisfied with the penalty standards of today's referee Paul Tierney. They generally believed that if Leeds United could be restrained in time in the first half, the second half of the game would not be so fragmented and the game would not have been progressing slowly amid the whistle.
Once the conflict escalates and confrontational emotions take over, the effectiveness of playing any cards will be greatly reduced.
Allardyce and his players were stunned by Manchester United's tough moves at the start of the second half, but the difference between professional bullies and amateur thugs is that the latter bully the weak and fear the strong, while the former pay with blood for blood.
The situation might be better if a Spanish or French coach was in charge, but with a veteran English coach and a stadium full of fans of the team's sworn enemies, any Leeds United player who behaved a little "gentlemanly" on the field would be criticized after the game.
In such a situation, Chen Xiaoliang became the busiest person and a "scavenger" in the literal sense.
In the 46th minute, when Casemiro was defending Rodrigo who cut inside outside the penalty area, the two men's arms were entangled together. They exerted force on each other, one pushed hard and the other pulled hard, until both lost their balance and fell to the ground, but they did not let go.
Referee Paul Tierney called a foul on Rodrigo, which drew protests from Leeds United players.
Two minutes later, Chen Xiaoliang pulled to the right to receive the ball, attracted a three-man double-team, and then immediately passed the ball horizontally to the left.
Kva turned around on the left and was about to kick the ball, but he didn't notice that Leeds United's right-back and captain Ailin was rushing towards him on the left.
Ailin sprinted and jumped, heading the ball away, while his butt hit Kwa's head hard.
The Georgian fell to the ground, holding his head and lying motionless.
"Yeah! Kill them!!!"
Seeing the team captain's heavy "hip" attack, the Leeds United fans in the stands were excited, and sparks were also flying on the field and the sidelines.
Chen Xiaoliang rushed over immediately, and so did other Manchester United players.
B Fee bent down to check on Kva's condition, then looked back to see if the team doctor had entered the field. He then turned back to settle the score with Ailin, only to find that he and Chen Xiaoliang were already pointing their fingers at each other and swearing at each other.
Ten Hag on the sidelines was also arguing with the fourth official, but Allardyce put his hands on his hips and ignored him, but he had already instructed assistant coach Robbie Keane to replace Ayling if the conflict escalated and the signs were not right.
No matter how much you argue or make a fuss, don't joke with the red card.
But Paul Tierney really couldn't give a card for this ball, as he didn't raise his foot too high, his arms were tucked away, and he still headed the ball first.
To put it bluntly, it is to take advantage of the rules and "trick" the opponent within the permitted scope.
Chen Xiaoliang pointed at Ai Lin's nose and warned him that if he dared to do it again, he would break his legs. The 32-year-old Ai Lin retorted, saying, "Don't just talk. If you have the guts, come and see whose legs break first."
As soon as the two of them quarreled for a few words, teammates from both sides surrounded them, some tried to separate them, some tried to fan the flames. Left winger Jack Harrison even came up and pushed Chen Xiaoliang, but was immediately surrounded by B Fee and Cesco, who seemed to be ready to fight.
This guy came from Liverpool's youth training, but was bought by Manchester United's youth training. However, he did not develop after 7 years. He went around in low-level leagues and the Major League Soccer, and was finally bought by Manchester City. However, after consecutive loans, he still did not meet expectations, so he simply stayed at Leeds United.
My goodness! Of the four big teams he has played for in his career, Manchester United abandoned him, and the other three were sworn enemies of Manchester United. He was simply their destined nemesis, even more excited than the person involved, Ayling.
This push gave the referee Paul Tierney the opportunity to control the game. He immediately blew the whistle to drive away other people, gave Jack Harrison a yellow card, and then gave verbal warnings to the two captains.
Chen Xiaoliang just looked into his eyes and said, "If you don't blow it now, I will use the same method on him later, and you don't blow it either."
Liu Yue, the commentator of the match, said at this time: "Using the scope allowed by the rules to defend both the player and the ball, this can be said to be Xiaoliang's signature skill. If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have been able to become a starter and captain so quickly under Gerrard."
"But Xiaoliang's defense is always to intimidate the opponent, not to deliberately injure the opponent, so we rarely see players who are directly defended by him get injured and leave the field."
But things are different now.
Soon, Allardyce on the sidelines discovered that he seemed to see the old Manchester United captain from 20 years ago returning to the court.
For safety reasons, Kwa, who might have a concussion, was replaced by Ganacho. Before coming on the court, Ten Hag deliberately wished him to play hard and be sure to pay attention to self-protection.
But soon, everyone realized that the people who needed to pay attention to self-protection became Leeds United players.
Chen Xiaoliang did not break his promise. In the subsequent attacks, he began to frequently move to the left, letting Ganacho move inward, while he directly launched an attack from the left flank, aiming for Ailin.
The 32-year-old Leeds captain came from Arsenal's youth training system, but has no record of playing for the first team. He later played for Yeovil Town, Bristol City and Leeds United, winning the League One, the Championship and the English Championship, a cup competition exclusively for lower-level league teams.
Similar to Jack Harrison who just received a card, Ailin came out of the youth training camp of Manchester United's arch-rival and eventually became the captain of another arch-rival team with a deeper hatred. When he saw Chen Xiaoliang coming over, he was even more alert and wanted to turn what he had just said into reality.
But as satisfying as it is to curse, reality is also cruel. He soon discovered that with his own abilities, it was like trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm.
So he called on his teammate Forsao in front of him to come over and help defend, while at the same time thinking that if it didn't work, he would just "disable" Chen Xiaoliang.
But before he could even think of a trick, Chen Xiaoliang changed direction, lowered his shoulders and accelerated, and shook him off.
Chen Xiaoliang broke into the left side of the penalty area and faced the double-team of central defender Christensen and midfielder Koch. He pushed the ball with his right foot to Ganacho who had switched positions with him. The young Argentine player shot the ball, but it was saved by goalkeeper Joel.
Manchester United takes a corner kick from the right side.
B Fee went over to prepare for the kick-off, while the others chose their positions in the penalty area.
Chen Xiaoliang walked to the far side of the penalty area and waved to Tingbeier, who was originally responsible for attacking this route, to signal him to change positions. Tingbeier immediately understood the captain's intention and ran away on his own initiative.
The reason is simple, this is the area defended by Ailin.
Bruno Fernandes, who was preparing to kick off, immediately understood what Chen Xiaoliang, who raised his hand to mark his position, was going to do. He also wanted to see what this young captain, who had aroused everyone's strong emotions during the half-time break, was going to do, so he kicked the ball directly to the back point with his right foot.
Ailin, who is 183cm tall and weighs 72kg, and is almost the same size as Chen Xiaoliang, had many thoughts flashing through his mind when the ball flew over, but the word fear was not the one thing he had in mind.
When he really jumped up, he immediately raised his elbows and legs, pushing all the joints outwards, so that any part that Chen Xiaoliang, who was close to him, would be hurt when it hit.
But he still overestimated his body. Compared with his strong fighting spirit, his 32-year-old body was no longer that strong.
Chen Xiaoliang jumped higher than him, his speed was faster than him, and he also made a small leap forward, almost in the same way that Ailin had just treated Kva. While heading the ball towards the goal, he knocked Ailin over in the air.
"Bang!" The ball hit the top of the crossbar and bounced out of the bottom line, making the Leeds United players break out in a cold sweat.
But what was even more damaging to their morale than this goal was that their captain was getting up from the ground, wanting to go up and seek revenge on Chen Xiaoliang in anger.
His teammates quickly grabbed him and Ailin yelled at the referee.
Although the referee Paul Tierney doesn't like to give cards, he still has a normal mind. Both players had elbows and bent knees. If you can't hit others, you complain about their fouls. What kind of logic is this?
The old coach Allardyce on the sidelines was a little hesitant. If this continued, Ayling's mentality would definitely collapse. But if the captain was replaced now, it would be like when two cold weapon armies were fighting fiercely, the commander's flag was suddenly blown down by the wind, and the morale of the soldiers on the battlefield would definitely drop greatly.
Everyone held their breath. Whoever let go first would lose.
Although he did not score a goal, Chen Xiaoliang shouted loudly to his teammates to attack when he returned to his position, allowing Casemiro and B Fee to press forward more.
Leeds United took a goal kick and kicked the ball forward. Bamford retreated to receive the ball and just as he turned around to organize a move, Casemiro rushed over and slid to poke the ball out, knocking Bamford to the ground in the process .
It was a clean tackle, and Paul Tierney put his hands forward to signal that the game could go on as usual. Leeds United fans in the stands cursed the referee for the wrong whistle, but the referee with a bad character still adhered to the same standards.
Bruno Fernandes came over to receive the ball and then passed it directly to Chen Xiaoliang in front of him. Chen Xiaoliang leaned against Koch with his back, stopped Bruno Fernandes' pass with his foot and kept squeezing back. The 191cm tall German midfielder Koch was pushed back repeatedly by him and had no way out.
Just as Sam Greenwood came over to assist in defense, Chen Xiaoliang passed the ball to Anthony who had already moved inward on the right.
Anthony, who only knew how to cut inside and shoot, actually used this trick, but the ball hit the hands of left-back Firpo who was defending him. Referee Paul Tierney awarded Manchester United a free kick on the right side outside the penalty area, about 29 meters away from the goal.
Leeds United began to form a human wall. Captain Ailin directed his teammates' defensive positions while forming a three-person human wall with two other people.
Why are there three people at this position? Because they saw Chen Xiaoliang standing near the penalty spot.
"Beep!" As the whistle sounded, B Fee took a running start, then gently pushed the ball to the left, and the ball rolled in front of Chen Xiaoliang who was also taking a running start!
Standing on the far right side of the human wall, Ailin, who was well prepared, rushed forward and stretched out his right leg to block the bullet hole!
At this time, not only Riise, who was watching the game at his home in Cheshire, held his breath, but many older fans seemed to have guessed what would happen next.
It seems that the scene where Alan Smith broke his leg is about to be repeated!
Chen Xiaoliang's right leg fell!
Ailin, who was shoveled out, subconsciously raised his hands to protect his head!
Half a second later, Ailin didn't feel any pain.
He quickly stood up and saw that Chen Xiaoliang had dunked past him and was dribbling towards the top of the arc!
At that moment just now, the word "fear" popped up in Ailin's heart for the first time. As a player trained by Liverpool's youth training, how could he not know the painful scene when Riise broke Alan Smith's calf with a powerful shot.
But his identity and position did not allow fear to control his behavior. He got up and rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang for the second time, but at this time Chen Xiaoliang had already made another shot at the top of the penalty area!
Chen Xiaoliang also saw him coming.
He didn't shoot just now, he did it on purpose.
When can a gun and a person most frighten the opponent?
The most terrifying situation is when the gun is pointed at the opponent's head, your finger is on the trigger, and you don't know when the gun will be fired.
Therefore, when Chen Xiaoliang spiked the ball past the opponent, all those who had held their breath just now breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Ailin, who was blinded by bloodshed, hoped to overcome his inner fear with a stronger counterattack.
As the "sword wielder" at this moment, Chen Xiaoliang is the one who will pull the trigger when the time comes.
When Chen Xiaoliang adjusted his pace to shoot, Ailin slid over from the right again, but this time, his feet were not touching the grass and the studs on the soles of his feet were exposed.
It was aimed at both the ball and Chen Xiaoliang's right leg.
This is a dead end game of Revolver Roulette. Either you die or I die.
Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball out with his right foot, but as the ball flew out, Ailin's foot also stretched out.
Chen Xiaoliang did not retract his foot this time.
The ball flew to the left side of the goal in an outward arc. The Leeds United player who rushed out from the middle was several beats too slow and failed to block the ball at all. When the goalkeeper Joel behind him reacted and jumped sideways, he didn't even stretch out his hands before the ball hit the net behind him.
1 to 1!
Manchester United equalized the score!
The teammates ran over and wanted to celebrate with Chen Xiaoliang, but Chen Xiaoliang raised his left hand to signal them to stop, then turned around on the spot, lowered his head slightly, and looked down at Ailin who was still on the ground.
"Switch, switch, switch!" Allardyce on the sidelines quickly asked Robbie Keane to make a substitution.
Because he, the Leeds United players, and all the fans in the stadium saw that at the moment when the two men's feet were about to collide, Ailin retracted his legs, then subconsciously hugged his knees.
His legs were saved, but at that moment his desire to win was completely lost to fear.
Chen Xiaoliang just looked at him like that. Ai Lin, who had been angry and embarrassed before, now had only embarrassment and awkwardness in his eyes.
The stadium was completely silent for a while, with only the Manchester United fans in the two stands who came to cheer for the away game clapping and shouting slogans mocking Leeds United:
"Great Leeds belongs in the Champions League!"
"Great Leeds belongs in the Champions League!"
“Which Champions League?”
"It's the English Championship!"
Ailin slowly got up, saw the number plate for the substitutions on the sidelines, and walked over with his head down.
Chen Xiaoliang behind him was still looking at him, like a general riding on a war horse, watching the surrendered enemy soldiers retreating with their heads down among the pile of dead bodies on the battlefield.
He didn't celebrate until his replacement, American defender Tyler Adams, came on the pitch. He then turned his head and glanced at the Leeds United players standing around the penalty area.
He scanned them almost one by one.
He didn't say a word, but three words kept popping out of his eyes:
"Are you coming again?"
Most of the Leeds United players did not make eye contact with him, and the few who did immediately looked away after seeing him.
Chen Xiaoliang even glared at Taylor Adams who had just come on the court. Adams, who was running towards the penalty area, turned his feet involuntarily and changed direction to run somewhere else after being glared at by him.
After watching the whole lap, Chen Xiaoliang smiled at his teammates again. Cesco was the first to rush up and hug him: "Liangzi, you are awesome!"
Others also admired Chen Xiaoliang from the bottom of their hearts. Even the Manchester United players on the bench opened their mouths, while others could not help but exclaim and shake their heads.
On the way back, Casemiro, with a smile on his face, joked: "Chen, I've never seen anyone better than you in showing off."
Then he imitated Chen Xiaoliang's expression when he glared at all Leeds United players.
Chen Xiaoliang smiled and pushed his shoulder, and said with the same smile: "Who said I was pretending, haha."
"What would have happened if Ailin hadn't retracted his foot just now?" Mourinho, who was watching TV, asked Dybala next to him.
The game was at noon, which was exactly the lunch break for Paris Saint-Germain's training. When Dybala saw that Mourinho was missing, he knew that he must be watching Chen Xiaoliang's game in the conference room of the training base.
As an amateur former staff player, although Mourinho has seen a lot of things happening on the field as a coach, he is unable to experience the various situations faced by the players from an immersive perspective.
Dybala clicked his tongue and said: "Few people dare to do this kind of thing. It is a reasonable reaction for Ayling to retract his leg. Think about how Alan Smith broke his leg because there were very few players as brave as him."
"If both players had fought bravely to the end, there was a high probability that the outside of Chen's right ankle would have collided with the heel of Ailin's right foot. With the force of Chen's shot, both players' ankles would have been broken, and they would not be able to play for at least six months and at most eight months."
Mourinho certainly knows the consequences of an ankle fracture, whether it is a fracture of the medial malleolus, lateral malleolus, lateral process of the talus, or posterior process of the talus.
Any one of them would be a serious injury that would affect one's career.
Even though he had been through many battles and had won numerous honors, he remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he still looked at the screen, but asked Dybala beside him: "Have you ever seen anyone more suitable to be the captain than him?"
Dybala did not answer immediately. Obviously, Mourinho's question was meaningful and not as simple as it seemed.
Throughout Dybala's career, he has been surrounded by stars, including many top stars, who have served as his captain. He himself has also worn the captain's armband. Even the two players who have been at the top of today's football world for 15 years have been captains of his team.
"No."
This was Dybala's final answer.
But he did not say why he answered that way, and Mourinho did not ask.
Because both people actually have the same idea in their minds.
And at this moment, the game continues at Elland Road.
Leeds United assistant coach Robbie Keane was encouraging Ayling who was substituted on the bench.
Ailin, who had a towel hanging over his head and covering his face, seemed to have just come back to his senses from what had just happened. He kept shaking his head until he pulled the towel off and said with red eyes and an unwilling face, "That guy is a lunatic. No normal person can beat him!"
Robbie Keane nodded, patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to stop talking, calm down and have a good rest, then turned his head and looked at the court again.
Fear and timidity have been unstoppably reflected in the actions of Leeds United players. Although there are still physical collisions, they no longer dare to commit fouls at will.
Because they know that if they go too far, that person who is not even afraid of breaking his legs will definitely come after them to settle the score, and who knows what even more terrible things he will do.
The gun with the number 7 engraved on it was now pointed at the foreheads of all Leeds United players on the field.
But in Robbie Keane's eyes, the black-haired player with the armband was clearly the Manchester United No. 16 whose name was very similar to his own and who was even mistaken by the outside world as a brother. He returned to the court.
