When we were 2 goals behind, [Big Heart] was triggered, but our luck was not very good. We randomly got bounce and penalty. Bounce 18→20, penalty 15→17
The former is still useful, but if the latter cannot get a penalty kick opportunity, it is no different from not adding it.
Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball to Cesco who was standing behind him. Cesco then passed it back to Casemiro and Manchester United began to organize.
Benzema played for 120 minutes including a penalty kick just to give Cesco enough time to rest.
Even though he is the Ballon d'Or winner, he is old at the age of 36. At this moment, he is sitting on the sidelines with soreness all over his body. Even if he wants to come on as a substitute, he has to wait for a while.
Chen Xiaoliang just looked for Ten Hag in order to change to a strikerless formation, with himself as the attacking midfielder and Cesco playing as a false nine.
Being at the front, he can make full use of his advantages in physical strength and confrontation to run back and forth, involving Manchester City's entire defense, while Cesco, playing as a false nine and retreating appropriately, can also add a fulcrum for receiving high balls after losing Chen Xiaoliang's support in the midfield, simplifying the passing pattern and getting the ball to the front court as soon as possible.
After all, Cesco, who will be 21 years old next month, is already one of the team's best physically fit players after three days of rest. Although he has made rapid progress, in the duel with Ruben Dias, who is ranked first in the world's most valuable defender, he still seems to have few methods except in the aerial duel. Therefore, letting him retreat to serve as a fulcrum for Chen Xiaoliang who is advancing forward actually gives him more space.
But Guardiola, who was furious in the locker room after being beaten 2-0 in the previous game, had already taken almost all possibilities into account, including, of course, Manchester United's strategy of putting Chen Xiaoliang in the front or playing him as a right winger.
His response method still follows his football philosophy, that is, when single defense is extremely difficult, he uses an off-ball defensive position to cut off Manchester United's passing route. In short, try to prevent Chen Xiaoliang from getting the ball.
Facing Chen Xiaoliang who retreated in the midfield, it was extremely difficult for Manchester City to do this. Facing Chen Xiaoliang who was rushing forward at this moment, with the help of Rodri, Dias, Stones, and Bellingham who frequently retreated to make up for the defense, especially with the support of the 4-0 formation at home, the confident Manchester City players saw the dawn of the final already shining before their eyes, and they were desperately running according to Guardiola's tactical arrangements.
Everyone knows that Guardiola is the most terrifying when he is not doing anything. At this moment, it is like that.
Ten Hag is helpless as he only has these few cards in his hand. If he has Bruno Fernandes and Rashford, he would have more room for maneuvers, but the only players who can be replaced in the forward line are Gnacho and Benzema. The former is too young and the latter is too tired, and both of them played in the FA Cup against Brighton.
We can only hope that Kva and Anthony can do their best to engage and create opportunities for Chen Xiaoliang while retreating to the wing to defend.
In this contest between spear and shield, Chen Xiaoliang still got a few chances.
In the 69th minute, Milinkovic-Savic headed the ball outside the penalty area, and Casemiro, who was blocking the penalty area line, immediately kicked the ball forward. Cesco ran to the center circle, and together with Kyle Walker, he turned around and kicked the ball forward with the inside of his right foot after it fell to the ground and bounced high.
Diaz, who was behind the center circle, had been close to Chen Xiaoliang to prevent Manchester United from passing the ball directly from the backcourt, but the moment Cesco touched the ball with his right foot, Chen Xiaoliang still rushed forward like lightning.
【Good at countering offside】!
I originally planned to use it after the new rules are fully implemented next season, but I didn’t expect to use it in advance today.
But Cesco's mid-range pass was a bit crooked. It did not go straight towards the penalty area, but went to the left corner of the penalty area. This forced Chen Xiaoliang to run a diagonal line to chase the ball, and also gave Akanji and Diaz time to chase back in a straight line.
Although Chen Xiaoliang's physical strength has not yet reached 35% to trigger automatic recovery, with his current speed and overall physical condition, when he rushed forward at full speed, no teammates could support him at all, not to mention his position, which forced Kva and Anthony on the two wingers to retreat more frequently to help the wingers and the defensive midfielder with defense.
Chen Xiaoliang received the ball outside the left corner of the penalty area and wanted to change direction and cut into the penalty area, but Akanji, who was chasing back, had already blocked his inside line, Diaz in the middle also ran into the penalty area line, and Ake, who was also chasing back on the other side, was almost in place.
Chen Xiaoliang, who found that there were no teammates within a radius of 15 meters, knew that the longer he delayed, the more he would be double-teamed, so he accelerated again and rushed towards the baseline.
Akanji was bought by Dortmund from Basel, Switzerland for 21.5 million euros in the winter window of January 2018. Four years later, in the summer window of 2022, he was bought by Manchester City for 17.5 million euros.
As a well-known black shop in Europe, it is rare for a club to suffer losses in selling players. However, after arriving at Manchester City, the cost-effective Akanji directly replaced Kyle Walker from the right-back position and secured his position as the main player in important games.
Facing Chen Xiaoliang at this time, the Swiss defender had only one word - drag. He didn't rush to steal the ball or collide with it. He just stuck to him, blocked the inside line, and guarded his own little piece of land.
The further Chen Xiaoliang goes down the field, the smaller the angle of his shot. Akanji only needs to do his own job and wait for his teammates to help or pass the rest to goalkeeper Ederson.
It's rare to find such a calm defender, especially when facing Chen Xiaoliang.
Chen Xiaoliang also knew that if he continued to charge, Diaz and Ake would surround him.
So he faked a shot with his left foot, then stopped suddenly with a dunk. Akanji also stopped and still only blocked the ball without stealing it.
Seeing that his opponent was not fooled, Chen Xiaoliang forced his way towards the baseline again, and this time he swung his left foot and shot the ball towards the goal with great force.
Ederson was already blocking the near post, and with a "bang", the ball hit the outside of the post and bounced out of the bottom line.
"OH! NO!"
The Manchester United fans in the stands exclaimed, but no matter what, this threatening shot also gave them a glimpse of the team's offensive momentum regaining momentum.
The camera turned to Ten Hag, who looked regretful but was still applauding and cheering.
He was sent to the bench again, and Bruno Fernandes seemed to be silently saying "Only two goals! Kang Mang!"
Finally turning to the stands, Mourinho frowned, not sure whether he was regretful that the ball didn't go in or felt that the development of the situation was beyond his expectations.
In the 70th minute, both sides began to make substitutions.
Ten Hag replaced Anthony with Ganacho, but before going on the court, he repeatedly reminded Ganacho to retreat actively.
Whether or not we score a goal is another matter, but conceding another goal would be like the end of the world.
And replaced Casemiro with Timber.
Fat Tiger really can't run anymore, but Manchester United still needs to build a strong enough sweeping area outside the penalty area.
Manchester City replaced De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and B Silva with Alvarez, Kovacic and young player Rico Lewis.
Guardiola still felt unstable after Chen Xiaoliang's quick offside just now. Now he replaced the ball with Rico Lewis and asked him to focus on marking Chen Xiaoliang. Diaz fell back a little to prevent offside, and the midfield organization was handed over to Kovacic and Bellingham. The formation also became a 3-3-3-1 layout, with Alvarez behind Haaland and Bellingham and Kovacic on both sides.
With two goals in hand, both teams were getting tired. With the advantage of ball possession and playing at home, Guardiola was ready to steadily control the game, lock down Chen Xiaoliang and drag the game to the end.
His method really worked.
The injuries of B Fee and Eriksen have left Manchester United's backcourt without a player who can pass the ball long distance. Neither the defensive Timberland nor Milinkovic-Savic is good at making runs from behind, but Maguire made several good overhead passes to Chen Xiaoliang tonight.
However, under the high-pressure defense of the newly-appointed Alvarez, although Maguire had successfully lost weight, his dribbling ability was unlikely to improve, so he did not dare to stick to the ball at all, and he lost the opportunity to observe Chen Xiaoliang's position and pass the ball.
In the 81st minute, Ten Hag replaced Kva and Cesco with Dalot and Benzema . He had almost played all the cards in his hand.
However, the appearance of these two people did not relieve Chen Xiaoliang's pressure.
Due to the difficulty in passing the ball from the midfield, Benzema could only keep retreating to ask for the ball, help control the ball, and then pass the ball to both sides, trying his best to find a way to pass the ball to Chen Xiaoliang.
The long pass from the middle to the back was not effective either, because Chen Xiaoliang was not only entangled with Rico Lewis, but also with Rodri and Stones assisting in defense, and Diaz who was lagging behind and ready to make up for the deficit at any time, not to mention Akanji and Ake on both sides who were eyeing him covetously and never took their attention away from Chen Xiaoliang.
Time passed by minute by minute. Manchester City did not launch any offensive under Manchester United's defense. At this point, Haaland was actually tired. On the contrary, Alvarez was full of energy, flying up and down and pressing everywhere.
Manchester United's fatigue had reached a critical point. Even if they got the ball on the wing, it was difficult to break through and advance, let alone create a shot.
In the 85th minute, Dalot's cross was headed away by Stones...
In the 87th minute, Rico Lewis blocked Chen Xiaoliang and was shown a yellow card. Guardiola applauded and encouraged on the sidelines...
In the 89th minute, the fourth official raised a sign on the sidelines, and 4 minutes of injury time were stopped...
In the live broadcast room, Ferdinand seemed to have lost his spirit. After a series of sighs and shaking his head, he said: "We can't say that the FA Cup two days ago was wrong. It was for the great Edwin van der Sar, and not giving up is one of the connotations of the Red Devils spirit. We can't complain about the injuries of Bruno Fernand and Rashford, although with them, the team's rotation, physical fitness, and performance may indeed be better."
"But the fact is that Manchester City was better prepared and played better today. The 4-0 score proved that. We didn't have many good chances. Maybe the shot that hit the post was good, but it wasn't enough."
Having said that, he has already started to give suggestions on which positions Manchester United needs to strengthen and who needs to be bought in the summer.
And at this moment, Manchester United began to press forward on all fronts.
At this time, it doesn't matter what tactics or playing style. Just leave one Tinbel and one Lima behind, and the others all press forward, and pass the ball forward high when they get the ball.
To everyone, this was a life-and-death struggle, but one without any rules.
There are still many cards in Chen Xiaoliang's system card pack, but after the formation change in the second half, although he was alone in the front and held back Manchester City's midfield and backcourt, at least four people surrounded him and dared not press forward, such as Stones, and he almost never pressed forward again, which greatly reduced the defensive pressure on Manchester United's backcourt. However, under such siege, especially with all top players, he didn't even touch the ball a few times, so those cards naturally had no practical effect.
But as soon as the clock hand jumped over the 90th minute, he called out the system and used the [Peak Aguero 9320 Lore Card]. Instantly, all technical attributes related to direct scoring were increased by 2!
Penalties 17→19, Techniques 18→20, Shots 18→20, Free Kicks 15→17, Headers 15→17, Long Shots 18→20!
Coupled with his jumping ability which increased to 20 due to his [Big Heart], at this moment, he might be the strongest offensive killer of all time, and what he needs is his teammates to pass the ball to his feet!
De Gea kicked the ball to Timber, who kicked it directly to the left side of the penalty area.
Milinkovic-Savic made a forward run and held off Alvarez, then chested the ball to Luke Shaw. Luke Shaw made a cross from the bottom line, but the ball was not touched up and was blocked by Bellingham who was returning to defense. The ball slowed down but still rolled into the penalty area. Akanji was worried that Chen Xiaoliang behind him would rush over to receive the ball, so he directly touched the ball out of the baseline.
Manchester United takes a corner kick from the left side.
Both sides were tired. The camera randomly gave to a player, and except for the ones who played for 80 minutes, all they did were gasping with their mouths wide open, putting their hands on their hips, or even bending over with their hands on their knees.
Guardiola was very nervous, just like in last year's Champions League final, walking back and forth on the sidelines, shouting constantly, and not even knowing where to put his hands.
Luke Shaw walked towards the corner spot, and De Gea also ran up to the backcourt, leaving only the former Ajax defensive duo - Lima and Timber standing in the center circle.
At 90 minutes and 31 seconds, the referee Slavko Vinci blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game.
The Slovenian referee's calls tonight were so appropriate and measured that most people forgot about his existence.
As the saying goes, a good referee makes people feel that he is not on the court.
Luke Shaw kicked off, Manchester United players began to move forward in the penalty area, and Benzema rushed to the front point!
Zhan Jun: “The ball flew out!”
"Over the middle!"
“De Gea!” (Zhang Lu: “Ouch, I almost hit him…”)
"Maguire heads back from the back post!"
"Kovacic clears the ball!"
"It didn't go far!"
"Top of the arc! Dalot!"
"I didn't kick it right..."
Zhan Jun was commenting excitedly, but before he could finish what he said after he kicked the ball correctly, the four commentators in the live broadcast room immediately shouted at the same time!
Zhan Jun, Zhang Lu, Guan Zeyuan, and General Fan: "Xiao Liang!!!"
"Bang, bang, bang, bang"
"Pa pa pa pa"
There was a burst of fierce applause, slapping of the table and stomping of feet coming from the screen, while at the scene, Manchester City fans who had just been imagining witnessing another "Guardiola vs. Mourinho" match in the final and how passing and controlling football would crush bus football, now seemed to be blown by a gust of cold wind and calmed down a little.
Luke Shaw's corner kick was first sent to the middle. De Gea's scalp was hit after he jumped, but he failed to change the flight trajectory of the ball. When it flew to the back point, the height was not enough, so Maguire could only use his forehead to head it back to the middle to try to assist his teammates.
As a result, Kovacic jumped out first and stretched his legs, and the ball hit the outside of his foot and did not go far out of the penalty area. Dalot swung his right foot and wanted to hit it, but it hit his heel without any force, but he somehow passed through the extremely dense crowd. Chen Xiaoliang naturally activated [Good at counter-offside], took a step forward to shake off Diaz, and pushed the ball into the lower left corner of the goal with his right foot!
"Offside!"
"Offside!"
Manchester City players raised their hands at the same time. Guardiola, who was already kneeling on the ground in disappointment because of losing the ball, also reacted and quickly stood up and rushed towards the fourth official!
On the Manchester United side, the players on the field and the coaches on the sidelines fought back together. For a moment, two groups of people surrounded the referee and the fourth official at the same time and confronted each other from a distance.
“Beep, beep, beep!”
The referee Slavko Vinci was very decisive. He gestured to check the VAR, drove the players away, and jogged over alone.
Manchester United had no choice but to accept it.
It takes an average of 90-150 seconds to watch the VAR and communicate with the video referee team, and this time is consumed in injury time. It is questionable whether this time can be made up in full when the game continues.
Time ticked by again. Fans, coaches, players, and countless viewers in front of the screens all clenched their fists, rubbed their hands repeatedly, or bit their lips. In short, they were anxiously and nervously waiting for the final decision of the referee Slavko Vinci.
At 92 minutes and 55 seconds, he turned around, ran back to the sidelines, made a square gesture, and pointed to the center circle!
Zhan Jun: “The goal is valid!!!”
"The score is 4 to 1, the total score is 4 to 3!"
"Xiao Liang pushed the team back from the edge of the cliff a little bit, but they are still one goal away from a miracle happening!!!"
Mourinho in the stands was caught by the camera and couldn't help clapping and nodding, and he clearly said "Bravo!", which means wonderful.
He was applauding his former most trusted disciple !
He is waiting for the master and apprentice to meet in the Champions League final!
The two teams returned to their respective halves with different feelings and prepared to kick off again.
Although the two teams had different numbers of fans, they all shouted slogans in support of their teams at the top of their voices and with the greatest strength, as if they were about to bleed.
Guardiola kept shouting:
“Last 3 minutes!”
“Last 3 minutes!”
“Keep up the pressure!”
And Ten Hag was also shouting:
"Another ball!"
"Press forward!"
"Don't worry about the results! Just press on!"
The benches for both teams were empty, and all the substitutes stood on the grass below the benches.
They kept waving their hands, but one side was telling their teammates to press forward to attack, while the other side was telling their teammates to retreat to defend.
Manchester City kicked off and began to pass the ball back and forth in the backcourt, hoping to waste the final time.
Seeing the dawn of life, how could the Manchester United players miss it? They immediately rushed forward, desperately trying to grab the ball as if they were injected with chicken blood.
But Manchester City now has a very realistic problem. De Bruyne and B Silva have both been substituted, and the remaining midfielders with the ability to control the ball are Rodri and Kovacic.
But in Guardiola's ball control philosophy, how can two people form a dense short pass control chain in the midfield and backcourt?
Soon, under the back and forth pressing of Timber, Milinkovic-Savic, Chen Xiaoliang, and substitutes Ganacho and Dalot, Manchester City passed the ball further and further back until it was passed to goalkeeper Ederson. Ederson had no choice but to kick the ball to Haaland.
Haaland ran forward while looking up at the ball, but a huge figure rushed towards him and jumped up to meet him and headed the ball forward from above the landing point.
The ball fell at Kovacic's feet, but Timberl used his body to block him and intercept the ball, then passed it to Luke Shaw on the left before Kovacic could intercept it.
If he doesn't dare to stick to the ball, the most important thing now is time.
Chen Xiaoliang and Benzema, who were at the front, were waiting for the pass from their teammates.
Chen Xiaoliang kept looking at the large electronic screen above the Manchester City goal with his peripheral vision. The time had reached 94 minutes and 34 seconds!
Logically, the extra time allowed by the fourth official's card had already expired.
It was obvious that the referee Slavko Vinci was awarding extra time to make up for the time wasted by VAR.
Zhan Jun: "There is really not much time left for Manchester United. It depends on whether this attack can be successful."
General Fan: "This should be the last attack. Even if the referee adds extra time and the attack fails and Manchester City kicks off, they will definitely be able to waste time."
Manchester City's midfield and backcourt all gathered in the middle to defend.
Chen Xiaoliang and Benzema, these two names alone are enough to attract the attention of all defensive players.
Luke Shaw was not sure that his long pass would reach the two people, so seeing that the left side was relatively empty, he sent the ball forward.
Ganacchio received the ball and started to rush towards the baseline.
Alvarez defended.
Ganacho dribbled back and forth, but couldn't get rid of Alvarez, who also came on later, so he could only try to cross the ball with his left foot, but Alvarez blocked it again and it went out of bounds.
Zhan Jun: "Another corner kick!"
"The same left corner kick again!"
Guan Zeyuan: "Really? Is the last-second shot going to happen again today?"
Zhang Lu: "Hey, this is amazing!"
Dalot came over. Although the previous ball went in, the effect was not good, so this ball was changed to him, a right-footed player, to take the corner kick on the left side, so that he could use an inward-spinning ball to kick it back.
He picked up the ball, looked at it carefully, kissed it, and then solemnly placed it on the free throw arc.
Apart from him, the remaining 21 players on the field all gathered in Manchester City's penalty area, whether it was Haaland or De Gea.
Chen Xiaoliang, who had just scored a goal, was surrounded by Rico Lewis, Dias and Stones, the three "S"s sandwiched him like a hot dog.
In the entire Etihad Stadium, except for the VIP area, all the fans who bought tickets stood up.
Some of them held their heads, some prayed, some put their hands on their noses and mouths, and some trembled with excitement.
The substitute players on the sidelines of Manchester United hugged each other's shoulders as if they were watching a penalty shootout, standing in a row waiting for the last ten seconds.
“Beep!”
The whistle of the referee Slavko Vinci was like an order to extinguish all the noise in the sky over Manchester, making the entire stadium quiet in an instant!
Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the corner kick!
Dalot took a run-up and the Manchester United players in the penalty area began to rush towards the goal!
Chen Xiaoliang tried hard to break through the triple team, but the three men desperately used their bodies to block him!
Dalot kicks the ball!
The height of the ball is a mess!
When Guan Zeyuan in the broadcast room saw how high the ball rose, he couldn't help but exclaimed "Ouch" the first time.
Fly to the closer point!
Zhan Jun: "Ben..."
“Back point!!!”
General Fan and Guan Zeyuan shouted in unison: "Ah!!!" (General Fan also shouted at the side: "Ce Na!!!")
Zhan Jun: “This ball goes in!!!”
“Equalizer!!!”
“Countdown!!!”
“The countdown equalized!!!”
Instantly, wild roars like slaughtering pigs came from both the scene and the live broadcast room. Even countless fans in front of their TV and computer screens burst into uncontrollable roars!
After shouting for a while, General Fan probably realized that he was still in the live broadcast room: "I'm sorry, I'm not a professional commentator like Mr. Zhan, I just can't help it!"
Zhan Jun: “95 minutes and 11 seconds!”
"Manchester United took advantage of two corner kicks in extra time to equalize with Manchester City!"
"Xiao Liang also scored twice, bringing the score to 4-2. The total score of the two rounds is 4-4!"
"Let's watch the replay again!"
"Dalot took a corner kick, Benzema started ahead of time, shook off Ake and dived to head the ball, but the ball was rubbed to the back post!"
"The three people who were originally surrounding Xiaoliang were all attracted by Benzema's header. Xiaoliang seized the only opportunity and used a flying tackle to cushion the ball into the goal from the back post!"
"Haaland, who was standing by the back post witnessed the whole process!"
"He who is always cheerful couldn't help but lower his head at this moment!"
Zhang Lu: "Ouch, Guardiola is kneeling on the ground again..."
Guan Zeyuan: "Teng Hahe also knelt down... I want to kneel down to Xiaoliang too !"
Barrage: [My mom is asking me why I kneel down to watch the game]
On the court, Chen Xiaoliang and the players behind him rushed to the bench, hugged all the substitute players and shouted loudly!
Guardiola slowly stood up, closed his eyes and stroked his bald head with both hands.
Beckham in the stands ignored the fact that those sitting around him were football legends, business tycoons, or entertainment stars. He stood up and punched and shouted at Chen Xiaoliang who was celebrating in the stands. When the camera turned to him, it was even found that he had tears in his eyes.
Older Manchester United fans, like Beckham, know that this scene is so similar to the scene when Manchester United defeated Bayern in the 1999 Champions League final.
Even Mourinho in the stands was happy for Chen Xiaoliang and asked, "Is there really a destiny in this world?!"
Sir Alex Ferguson, who rarely appears at the Etihad Stadium, was once again photographed with his clenched fists shaking at the age of 82.
The referee Slavko Vinci looked at the time on his wristband and blew the whistle to end regular time.
This means that after only 5 minutes of rest, the game will enter 30 minutes of overtime!