Chapter 125: Silent Old Trafford

The fifteen-minute halftime break passed quickly. Manchester United, who were two goals behind at home, made the first substitution before the start of the second half. Mata replaced Damian, who played little in the first half.

"Mourinho's substitution adjustment was very targeted. Manchester United relied too much on Pogba in the first half. Mata's appearance will greatly relieve Pogba's organizational pressure, but..."

Said Jin Xiangkai, the commentator of New England Sports, and then changed the subject: "The defensive pressure brought by the withdrawal of Damian will increase in a straight line. Whether it is Mata or Rashford, their role on the defensive end is not as good as Damian."

Klopp stood in the visiting team coach command area, with his hands behind his back, and leisurely watched Manchester United's first adjustment in the second half, with the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, revealing a confident smile.

During the halftime break, I thought that Manchester United would strengthen their offense in the second half, and the targeted deployment had been explained. Mata had a set of offensive organization, but defense was...

"Beep~"

As the referee Oliver blew his whistle, Ibrahimovic kicked the ball from the kick-off point to Rashford, who passed the ball to Pogba outside the center circle.

Manchester United's attack was gradual, and Liverpool players did not retreat, directly pressing high, not giving Manchester United's midfield and backcourt defensive players a chance to control the ball calmly.

In addition to Pogba and Mata's excellent footwork, Herrera seemed a little lacking. He quickly passed the ball back to Pogba after receiving the ball.

Li Qing and Firmino rushed over from the left and right. Pogba was blown by Mourinho with a hair dryer for several minutes during the halftime break. He was angry. Facing two people rushing to grab him, he chose to dribble past them in an extremely dangerous place.

Seeing this, other Manchester United players opened up space to receive the ball and waited for Pogba to pass the ball.

"Use [Iron Wall Card]!"

Li Qing, who was robbing the ball, silently thought in his heart. The moment the card was used, he had rich defensive experience. He deliberately slowed down the pace of the robbing, giving Pogba the illusion that he could take the ball and break through.

Sure enough!

Pogba used the change in rhythm to easily pass Firmino. He could have taken the opportunity to pass the ball to Mata or Herrera to speed up the attack.

But he suddenly thought of Li Qing's dancing with flowers and butterflies at the beginning of the first half, and was also ready to dribble in the middle and backcourt.

Facing Li Qing's defense, Pogba used the same trick again. In his opinion, the offensive players' defense was amateur and there was no threat. Seeing Li Qing's early dribble, he used the inside of his right foot to dribble the ball to the left front.

At the same time, he also found that Rashford and Ibrahimovic ran out of space. As long as he passed Li Qing, he could complete a fatal pass and help the team narrow the score.

Pogba's mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a smile. He even thought about the celebration of the goal.

But he seemed to feel an obstruction when he dribbled the ball with the inside of his right foot. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly lowered his head to see a foot blocking the left front of him.

This...

NO!

Pogba is tall and has long legs. The center of gravity of his upper body has sunk with his left shoulder. His obstructed right foot still maintains its original range of motion, but his upper body continues to fall to the left front due to inertia.

"aoaoaooaoooo——"

A cry of surprise from Manchester United fans instantly rang out over Old Trafford.

As fans with rich experience in watching football, they knew the danger of Pogba losing the ball in this position.

Mata and Smalling, who are experienced in the game, subconsciously raised their hands to signal to the referee Oliver that Li Qing had committed a foul.

Oliver, 32 years old, is not very old, but has a rich coaching resume. He started to referee the Premier League at the age of 25 and became an international referee five years ago. With Clattenburg, the head of the Premier League's four blind referees, announcing that he would not renew his contract after the end of this season, the English Football Association's referee committee has listed him as the top referee for training, which is enough to show the importance the English Football Association attaches to him.

For such a rising star in the refereeing world, can he easily make mistakes?

Besides, his position selection is very good, and Li Qing's movements are no problem. He shook his head while running to indicate that there was no foul.

Manchester United's defense line became tense at this time when the formation changed in the second half. Pogba took the ball, and the two central defenders Smalling and Phil Jones both opened the angle to receive the ball, standing in a triangle with Pogba. The distance between the two was nearly ten meters, which meant that there was a blank area in front of Li Qing who had completed the interception.

Firmino and Mane saw Li Qing intercept Pogba's ball, and ran forward one on the left and one on the right, trying to take away Manchester United's defensive players as much as possible, so that Li Qing could get a one-on-one opportunity.

Mourinho, who was sitting in the coaching booth of the home team, heard the exclamation from the stands. He ended his communication with his assistant Faria and looked up at the court.

You don't know until you see it, and you will be shocked.

It turned out that Pogba, who was dribbling the ball, fell to the ground, and Li Qing was rushing towards the almost deserted area with the ball.

"Damn it!"

"Paul Pogba was careless!"

Andy Gray, the commentator of Sky TV, shouted: "Liverpool counterattacked on the spot, and Li rushed to Manchester United's defensive half with the ball."

"What a great opportunity to expand the score!"

Leshi Sports commentator Zhan Jun raised his voice.

In less than two seconds, Li Qing increased his speed to the extreme, dribbling the ball to the huge gap exposed between Phil Jones and Smalling.

Phil Jones and Smalling are not the kind of central defenders with fast chasing speed. Their diagonal straight sprint is completely inferior to Li Qing's straight sprint speed. In the end, they could only stare at the Arabic number '55' raised on Li Qing's back during the high-speed defense.

"Single-handed!"

New England Sports commentator Jin Xiangkai's tone was full of excitement.

Li Qing dribbled the ball to the top of the penalty area at high speed without slowing down. He used his lightning speed to forcefully break through De Gea's defense in front of the goal.

The next thing was very simple for Li Qing. He gently pushed the ball with his left foot arch, and the football quickly pressed across the goal line along the grass and hit the snow-white net.

The score on the scoreboard changed instantly, from 0:2 to 0:3.

Old Trafford became silent in the blink of an eye. Li Qing, who scored a goal, opened his arms and ran all the way to the right corner kick area of ​​the attack. Facing the Liverpool fans in the east stand, he closed his eyes and stood there intoxicated.

Klopp's signature combination punch in the visiting team's coaching seat, the assistant coach and the substitute players high-fived each other, and the Liverpool players on the court rushed madly towards Li Qing, the hero of the goal.

"Leeeeeeeee——"

The Liverpool fans in the east stand responded to Li Qing excitedly, dancing and making a huge cheer like a tsunami.

The live broadcast director's close-up shots continued to show Li Qing's handsome face, and New England Sports commentator Jin Xiangkai was ecstatic: "Liverpool leads Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford. Although there are still 45 minutes left in the game, I want to say that the rest of the game will become garbage time!"