The rhythm of the game is simple and the situation on the field is clear at a glance.
Wimbledon, wearing blue home jerseys, were completely suppressed by Chelsea, wearing yellow away jerseys, in their own half, and even Akinfenwa had to retreat to participate in the defense.
The first half hour after the start of the game almost became an offensive exercise for Mourinho's team.
They created 13 shooting opportunities in 30 minutes, as well as 6 corner kicks and 5 free kicks in the frontcourt. The frequent bombardment made the defenders and goalkeeper of the Crazy Gang the busiest people.
Although the score on the big screen is still 0:0 so far, neither Mourinho nor the players on the field seem to be worried.
The magic bird, who is good at parking buses, is always very patient.
[As a team from the English League Two, can they last the entire game under such a high-intensity game rhythm? ]
[Even if the game remains tied in the first half, they will completely collapse in the second half due to physical problems! ]
…
Cesc Fabregas was sitting in the stands, watching the final quietly.
He was temporarily replaced from the starting lineup, an outcome that surprised and displeased him.
But he had no choice. At the beginning of this season, due to the lack of sufficient playing time at Barcelona, ​​he decided to transfer to Chelsea. This decision made Arsenal fans, who were already gnashing their teeth at him, further regard him as a traitor.
After the start of the new season, he became the core brain of Chelsea for a time, providing 11 league assists in half a season, far surpassing any passer in the top five leagues!
He thought he had found spring, but he didn't expect that after going through the devil's schedule in December, he quickly ushered in the cold winter. From January to February, he only participated in one goal of the team. Such data is really unworthy of the title of "core".
But objectively speaking, Fabregas' passing awareness and ability are still world-class. Chelsea was able to take the lead in the early stages of this season, and the "Fabregas connection" between him and Costa contributed greatly to this. However, Mourinho still replaced him after hesitation, which only proved that he is really not the most important one.
He watched Hazard, William and Oscar moving around on the court, and a mixture of emotions surged in his heart.
The question he had asked himself countless times over the years suddenly flashed through his mind again:
[If I hadn't left Arsenal, what would I be like now? 】
…
Li Polo has a headache now.
As a defender who likes to provoke his opponents, he met a tough opponent today.
Diego Costa is definitely the football player who talks the most trash.
From the start of the game until now, which has lasted more than 30 minutes, the Blues striker has hardly stopped talking.
Li Boluo originally thought that he could shut up the opponent through successful interceptions and steals, but Costa became even more aggressive and tried to disrupt his rhythm!
Fortunately, Costa's English is only slightly more proficient than Kane's, and he has not yet fully mastered many swear words, otherwise Li Polo really cannot guarantee that he can control his anger!
But Costa's tricks are not just a little "trash talk". He will frequently use "small moves" in places where the referee can't see to stimulate his opponents, thus gradually unbalancing their mentality!
However, Li Polo is also very familiar with this trick, because... he has always done this!
When masters fight, it's not just about who has better skills, but also about who has a healthier mentality!
In a blink of an eye, Costa opened up a new topic:
“By the way, I heard that when you played against Liverpool, you were beaten by their vice-captain Jordan Henderson?”
That was a rare "black history" of Li Polo, and he immediately retorted:
"I also heard that you were frightened to the point of your legs going limp by his look?"
The game between Chelsea and Liverpool took place on January 5 in the FA Cup. Just two weeks later, Chelsea and Liverpool faced off in the League Cup semi-finals, where the famous scene took place:
After Fabregas was knocked down by Henderson, Costa rushed up to argue, but the Liverpool vice-captain just stood there and glared at him. The notorious Costa actually took three steps back!
Although Chelsea eliminated Liverpool in two rounds, Costa, who was humiliated, became more and more angry. He even went to Henderson to argue again after the game, but unfortunately he failed because there were too many security personnel...
Costa was not angry when his past was exposed, but laughed:
"See, we have something in common now, don't we... Hey!"
Just as he was about to continue "deepening friendship", he suddenly let out a low shout and leaned against Li Polo!
Li Polo was stunned for a moment, and immediately tried to push, but he felt that he had hit a stone!
Not only that, the stone also stretched out a tentacle and wrapped itself tightly!
At this moment, Hazard, the "Premier League's No. 1 dribbler", single-handedly broke through the two lines of defense of Fuller and Phillips and rushed towards them.
【? ! 】
Li Polo broke out in a cold sweat.
Whether it is Hazard or Costa, no matter who the ball ends up in the hands of, it will pose a huge threat to Wimbledon's goal!
Even though he has always been confident, there is no way he can fight two people alone!
Especially... he had just used [Eagle Eye] once three minutes ago, and the cooldown time was far from over!
Francon, who stayed at the front of the penalty area, was the last line of defense, but Hazard only needed a straight pass to penetrate his legs!
Costa, who was as steady as an old dog, received the ball with Li Polo's back. He knew that he could not turn around successfully, so he was willing to act a mentor and pushed the ball sideways again!
Hazard happened to bypass Francon and broke into the penalty area from the right side of Li Polo!
The only thing Li Polo could do with his arm being pulled by Costa was to stretch out his right foot towards Hazard, but nothing touched him...
"Belgian Messi" shot the ball from only 15 meters away from the goal. Xie A guessed the direction correctly, but still failed to prevent the goal!
1:0!
Chelsea broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute!
…
"It's a goal! Chelsea takes the lead!"
Zhan Jun's voice was a little excited:
"Hazard almost got past Wimbledon's entire defense by himself. He deserves to be the MVP of the Premier League this season!"
Zhang Lu shook his head with some regret:
"Li Polo has already blocked Diego Costa tightly, but he is no match for four hands after all. He really couldn't do anything about this goal. It was a complete technical defeat!"
Zhan Jun also came back to his senses from Hazard's graceful steps:
"For Mourinho's team, taking the lead almost means they are invincible. After all, with Wimbledon's lineup, it is difficult to break through the Blues' city. But if the Crazy Gang can equalize the score before halftime, there will still be suspense in the second half!"
Zhang Lu continued to shake his head:
“That’s too difficult!”
…
The commentator's expectations were ultimately not realized. When the referee Mike Keane blew the halftime whistle, the score was still 1:0.
Until the last second of the first half, Wimbledon failed to create a successful shooting opportunity, let alone equalize the score.
The ball possession rates of both sides reached 71%:29%. The Crazy Gang, who dominated the English League Two, had no power to fight back against the Premier League leader.
Looking at the frustrated players, head coach Adre didn't have much to do.
He has talked about many classic examples of the weak defeating the strong, and the biggest opportunity to achieve this goal is to make the opponent underestimate him.
But Mourinho, who looks arrogant and conceited, is essentially a stubborn old man. He is more conservative and stable than any other famous coach.
When he was at Real Madrid, he was able to arrange a lineup of three defensive midfielders for the Galacticos, and now he is able to press the entire court against a League Two team!
A very obvious statistic is that when both sides had a 70:30 possession rate, Chelsea even committed one more foul than Wimbledon...
But none of these fouls occurred in our own half, all of them were committed during the pressure in the frontcourt!
Akinfenwa, who barely touched the ball in the first half, stood out:
"Guys, we played... so politely!"
Fuller and Boorman, who were in charge of the right side of the defense, were already showing signs of fatigue. Although they had only played for 45 minutes, their jerseys were completely soaked and they had to change into another set:
"That Hazard... was in great form today!"
Li Polo also wiped the sweat off his head:
"We have to let him know how powerful the Crazy Gang is, Captain."
Fuller nodded silently.
He understood what his teammates meant.
[Even if you can't stop his ball, you can at least stop him, right? ]
This is the most commonly used method by low-level teams!