"The reigning Champions League champions, Liverpool's home game against Manchester United presented a situation that surprised us. Manchester United has always been characterized by a fast-paced game, but today, they chose a more conservative stance in the face of Liverpool's powerful offensive firepower.
Liverpool's side is a world-famous passionate team, but they have also become cautious in the face of the Champions League semi-finals.
In the confrontation between offense and defense, both teams did not create excellent offensive opportunities. At this time, it is more like a competition of endurance. Whoever can persevere and perform their offensive and defensive battle perfectly will have the opportunity to catch the opponent's mistakes.
Perhaps this will be a match where whoever makes a mistake will lose. "
Seeing that the first half was over in less than 10 minutes, Liverpool and Manchester United had pitifully few chances to shoot, Qin Xiong decided to change his approach.
In terms of overall offense and defense, both teams did well. Manchester United's defense was really watertight.
It was unlikely that they would gain the upper hand in the overall confrontation and defeat Manchester United.
At least at this stage, there were no signs of such a thing.
So now they could only use the strategy of breaking through one point to deal with Manchester United!
In the 38th minute of the game, Hernández failed to receive Rooney's long pass in the front field. Mascherano intercepted the ball and passed the ball to Baines on the flank, who passed the ball straight to the front from the flank.
Meireles dribbled the ball two steps horizontally in front of Valencia, then swung out at an angle and turned half before passing the ball diagonally to Qin Xiong in front of the penalty area.
The moment Qin Xiong took the ball, he kicked the ball to the end line and then quickly started. His start caught Fábio a little off guard.
Because Qin Xiong had already tried to pass from the flank, the effect was not good.
Raúl could not find a chance between Ferdinand and Vidic.
But this time, Qin Xiong seemed to want to dribble the ball into the penalty area himself.
Fabio immediately went back to defend to block Qin Xiong's possible dribbling route. He directly fell to the ground and slid in front of Qin Xiong. He did not expect Qin Xiong to step on the ball and pull the ball in one go. He was just about to dribble the ball into the penalty area again, but he did not expect Valencia to have already returned to defend.
Even though Manchester United's general idea was to defend against each other, Qin Xiong was bound to be the most valued player under the marking of key players.
Qin Xiong saw that Park Ji-sung had also retreated to the edge of the forbidden zone. If Qin Xiong went to break through Valencia, even if he succeeded, he would still have to face Park Ji-sung. The difficulty of breaking through consecutively would definitely increase by a lot. Furthermore, if he wanted to break through Park Ji-sung, he would be very close to Ferdinand!
As a result, Qin Xiong did not have many choices left.
He dribbled the ball back two steps and then made a straight cross pass. The ball was going to be sent to Gerard.
When Gerard was about to make a long shot, Carrick went forward and knocked Gerard away. It was obviously a blocking foul.
The referee's whistle sounded.
Carrick fouled.
Liverpool's side was ready to attack with a set piece.
Qin Xiong walked to Gerard's side and suddenly whispered to him, "You take this ball."
Since Qin Xiong joined and Comain took over, the team's first player and free kick was always Qin Xiong.
Gerard was the second.
In today's situation, they had to create more unexpected offensive effects to tear apart Manchester United's defense.
Qin Xiong and Gerard stood in front of the ball together. After the referee's whistle, Qin Xiong ran up and the Manchester United players became nervous.
Especially the goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar. He watched as Qin Xiong ran to the front of the football and swung his leg to shoot!
But Qin Xiong missed his kick!
Of course, Qin Xiong did it on purpose. After the kick missed, Qin Xiong moved two steps to the side to make room. After he moved, Gerard had already run to the front of the football and took advantage of the opportunity to shoot!
The Manchester United players did not expect Qin Xiong to miss the shot!
It was like Barcelona's Messi and Real Madrid's Ronaldo.
They would definitely be the ones to take the free kick. They would not be blamed whether the kick missed or hit.
But Qin Xiong, who had a transcendent status in Liverpool, actually gave up the free kick!
And it was to provide cover for his teammates.
This was a situation that could not be seen at Camp Nou and Bernabéu.
The Manchester United players had been tense. They had planned to wait for Qin Xiong's stunning strike. They did not expect Qin Xiong to feint and Gerard to be the real operator.
The football shot by Gerard curved around the human wall because Manchester United's human wall was completely stunned.
Only one or two people took off, and they were not determined.
The football bypassed the top of the human wall. They only reacted when the football flew over their heads!
In the process of taking off, they looked back in the direction of the goal.
The Reds fans in the stands were also paying close attention to the free kick. They felt that there was a lot of hope for the goal!
Even Ferguson could not help but stand up in the technical area on the sidelines with a trace of fear in his eyes.
He saw the football that was about to fall into the goal was blocked by a wide palm!
Edwin van der Sar!
"Liverpool's combination of a free kick finally made a threat that frightened Manchester United. Unfortunately, the Dutch goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, played bravely and still reacted quickly to block the ball after being shaken at the first time! This save is worth a lot! "
The Red Army fans sighed in disappointment in the stands.
This goal was the most threatening attack by Liverpool since the start of the game.
There was still some chaos in front of Manchester United's penalty area. Edwin van der Sar blocked the football and two Liverpool players rushed up to prepare for a rebound shot.
Meireles and Raúl!
But at the crucial moment, Edwin van der Sar directly punched the ball forward in the penalty area, which gave Evra the opportunity to take the lead.
Evra kicked the ball out of the sideline.
The danger in Manchester United's penalty area was finally resolved!
Seeing that the first half was coming to an end, Ferguson stood up and made a gesture.
Obviously, as long as they could hold on to a 0: 0 draw in the first half, then the Red Devils and Manchester United could accept it.
And it would also be a blow to Liverpool's morale, because Liverpool's season had been too smooth!
Whether it was the Premier League or the Champions League, they were unstoppable and almost did not encounter any difficulties.
And the first half of this game poured a bucket of cold water on Liverpool!
Liverpool had the advantage but did not score, and the positional play they were so proud of did not pose a threat and created excellent opportunities.
After Ferguson's tactical instructions, Manchester United immediately began to shrink their formation and defend more resolutely. At the same time, they slowed down the pace of the game when they had the ball and did not give Liverpool a chance to attack. At the same time, they also slowed down the pace of Liverpool.
Qin Xiong had intended to concentrate on attacking Fabio again, but after Manchester United changed their game posture and tactical strategy, Liverpool struggled to get an opportunity to attack. Even if there was an opportunity to attack, it was difficult for the ball to reach Qin Xiong's feet, because the Red Devils knew that in such a situation, the one most likely to inflict a heavy blow on the Red Devils was Qin Xiong!
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