Chapter 134: The second round of the decisive battle
Tottenham would never have thought that Messe would become like this in the second half:
Berbatov turned around and shot, but the football shot on defender Traore. When the football bounced out and landed at Robbie Keane's feet, he made a little adjustment and looked up and found that Chu Zhongtian and Yayiovi were surrounding him. After struggling for a few seconds, Keane lost possession.
Yayi Ovi stabbed the football, Chu Zhongtian turned around to chase, and Tottenham's Steed_malbranque also went to grab the ball. As a result, Chu Zhongtian used a flying tackle in advance to shovel the football away from Malbrank.
The football was tackled to the side by Chu Zhongtian. After Ribery received the ball, he and the full-back Ibrahimovic Sim who had inserted it to meet his full-back Ibrahim. Kabo cooperated. He passed the football back to Kabo, and then ran forward at high speed. Kabo passed another overhead shot, allowing Ribery to chase him.
After catching up with football, Ribe faced Lee Rong-pyo's defense inside, and did not choose to make a personal breakthrough, but suddenly passed the football across the road.
The football fell to Chu Zhongtian's feet, and he stopped the ball. Ibisekic saw that he received the ball and inserted it forward. At the same time, Menez was pulling to the side. Tottenham's defenders thought Chu Zhongtian would pass a straight pass, just like he used to do it before, so they retreated reflexively. Chu Zhongtian was not polite, and used such a little space and time to thrust his feet and shoot long shots!
The football roared towards the goal.
Fortunately, Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson (paul_robinson) has been very focused before. When he saw his defenders retreat, he knew that the opponent's players would probably shoot from a long shot - no one of the defenders stepped forward to press, but retreated instead. Isn't that obviously letting the opponent shoot?
So while seeing Chu Zhongtian shoot, he made a save and successfully hit the ball out of the bottom line.
"Oh! Beautiful offense! Although there was no goal, Chu's long shot was still very threatening!"
"From the five or six minutes of the second half, Chu and Metz's performance was completely different from the first half... Speaking of which, Metz's performance in the first half was really bad! This is the one Metz in the past!" The French commentator was weak throughout the first half, because as he said, "Metz's performance was really bad." He has always been worried that the French team will bid farewell to the European arena after this game - losing 0:2 at home, and still expecting to turn the tables on the road?
But now Chu Zhongtian's long shot was like a heart-strengthening needle, making him come back to life!
"It seems that there will be a chance in the second half of the 45 minutes!"
※※※ Seeing Chu Zhongtian's performance like this, head coach Fernandez smiled on the sidelines.
However, he gradually calmed down. He was indeed worried that the team would be eliminated early at home. If Metz's performance in the second half was not performed, then they would have to fight for the league this season and strive to qualify for the European Cup in the end. However, now, except for them Metz, the rest of the Ligue 1 teams have been freed from the European Cup. They can handle domestic games wholeheartedly, and it will become increasingly difficult to maintain good results in the league.
After smiling, Fernandez walked to the sidelines and shouted: "Chu! Chu!"
When Chu Zhongtian heard the head coach calling him, he turned his eyes to him.
Fernandez gestured to him, signaling to run more and continue to actively forward, and don't pay too much attention to defense. He saw that Tottenham did not react, and this was Metz's opportunity. At this time, Tottenham's counterattack could not be organized at all, so he had to take advantage of their failure to react and continue to put pressure on the final goal.
Chu Zhongtian nodded, saying that he understood what the head coach meant, and was to strike while the iron was hot. While Tottenham hadn't reacted to what was going on, launch a decisive attack!
※※※In the next game, Chu Zhongtian returned to normal. He actively ran, actively reached out to ask for the ball, and then passed the ball continuously to his teammates with better positions. He ran to the next position himself and prepared to pick up his teammates.
The French commentator sighed: "This is the Chu we are familiar with!"
The English commentator began to complain that Tottenham did not keep a close eye on Mets' midfield core: "How can that Chu get the ball so easily? He turned around, dribbled the ball, and passed the ball... For twenty seconds, no Tottenham player went up to defend! How did Martin_jol arrange it before the game? Has he never studied Mets' game video before, and didn't know that their No. 8 is Mets' brain?"
If Martin Yoll could hear the commentator, he would definitely be injustice for himself. He certainly arranged a defense strategy against Metz's core Chu Zhongtian before the game, but Chu Zhongtian's performance in the first half was very abnormal and completely self-destructive. The things he arranged were useless at all. The players themselves relaxed their vigilance. Now it is very difficult to suddenly get tight in the second half.
He also saw that Mes suddenly seemed to have changed his team in the second half, but if he wanted to find a way to stop them from performing more and more crazy, Yoll had no good idea.
Tottenham players were even more uncomfortable with the momentum that Mes showed - when pascal_chimbonda passed the ball back to goalkeeper Paul Robinson, Ibisevic still ran to chase, as if he wanted to cut the ball off Robinson's feet and then shoot in the empty goal.
Originally, Robinson planned to adjust and observe the positions of the players on both sides in front to decide how to deal with the ball. Should he pass it to Zimbonda, who was preparing to pick him up, or directly drive the ball to the front... Now that Ibissevic is forced, he doesn't care about any plans, and kicks the ball out with a big foot. As a result, he kicks it in a crooked manner and flies straight out of the sideline.
The stands at the Forian Stadium in Saint Mountain, the Mets fans laughed gloatingly. The team's performance in the second half made them regain their confidence, so they had the leisure to tease the opponent's goalkeeper.
This is a microcosm of Metz and Tottenham's role exchange in the second half. In the first half, Tottenham forced Metz to be so busy and at a loss.
※※※In the 55th minute, Metz's continuous offensive was finally broken through Tottenham's defense.
Chu Zhongtian made a long shot at the front of the penalty area. While the opponent's player Edgar Davids made a stance to block the gun, he distributed the football to Menez in the ribs. Menez did not shoot directly, but passed the ball again. This time it was Ibisek who followed up in the middle!
Ibisevic pushed the ball sideways, and the football rolled through Robinson's fingertips and drilled into the net... "Long live!!"
The Holy Mountain Forian Stadium was cheering like a rocking mountain. For this moment, the home team fans have been waiting for too long... "The ball has been scored! The ball has been scored! Ibisevic! Ibisevic scored again! This is his fifth goal in the League Cup this season! He is in good shape now-!!"
The French commentator shouted vigorously, Metz scored a goal and also regained the hope of continuing to stay in the League Cup.
The honor and dignity of French football are all placed on this team. If they also fall, then people outside will have more reason to mock the weak French football. "Look at your league breaking! Besides creating a record of Lianzhu for Lyon, what value does it have? You are almost like the Dutch league! What value does it have in addition to cultivating young people and being poached by the big clubs of the other four major leagues?!"
As a French footballer, who would like to hear such ridicule?
So Metz is the last hope for French football. No matter what, he cannot fall, at least he cannot fall in such a humiliating way.
Ibisevic, who scored the goal, had no intention of celebrating. He rushed into the net, picked up the football, waved to everyone, and ran to the middle circle.
Chu Zhongtian had no intention of celebrating, so he grabbed Ribery who was about to hug Ibisevic: "It's too early to celebrate now, and we're still missing at least one ball!"
Ibisevic smashed the football heavily at the kickoff point, kicking off the Metz counterattack.
In the subsequent games, Metz's series of offensives left Tottenham too exhausted to deal with. Later, Yoll replaced defensive midfielder Edgar Davis with a striking attacking midfielder Danny Murphy, hoping to strengthen the offensive and save the situation.
But it's useless.
He made a substitution. At this time, replacing an attacking midfielder may not really play a role in strengthening the offense. On the contrary, it is wise to replace a defensive midfielder and regain control of the midfield, but he made the opposite substitution.
So after Murphy came on the court, he occupied Malbrank's position. The French midfielder, who could have three attacking forwards on the left, center and right, could only run to the side, and no matter where he went, it would cause congestion there. He went to the right, squeezed into a group with Lennon, and went to the right, and squeezed Jenas (jermaine_jenas) into the middle. Jenas, who went to the middle, overlapped with Murphy's position... In short, this substitution not only did not make Tottenham's midfield run normally, but was chaotic because of the crowding.
This made Chu Zhongtian and other midfielders feel like fish in the midfield. After losing the only midfielder Davis who could defend, Tottenham's midfielder could no longer stop Chu Zhongtian and his teammates.
Finally, in the 79th minute, Metz scored their second goal and tied the total score 2:2!
At that time, he passed the ball to Ribery, who used his personal breakthrough and easily broke through the Korean Li Rongpyo. The Korean left-back was almost useless except for running. Ribery passed countless times in the second half, and this time it was finally fatal.
Ribery, who broke into the penalty area, was not very angled, with goalkeeper Robinson blocking in front, and defender Li Rongpyo pulled and chased him, stabbed the ball from Robinson's armpit into the goal before losing balance... "Frank Ribery! Ribery! Ribery - Ribery!!" The French commentator was crazy. Metz was able to tie the score when he was two goals behind, which was a miracle. "Beautiful goal! In front of his agile breakthrough, the Koreans were like a wooden stake!"
Ribery, who scored the goal, still did not celebrate. Like Ibissevic, he pushed away Michael Dawson who was blocking him from the goal, trying to steal the football from the hands of another central defender, ledley_king.
Ridley King is experienced and knows that he can't buy time for Metz, otherwise it is entirely possible to continue scoring before the end of the game as they are now. So he used his body to protect the football in his arms.
Ribery failed to make a comeback and grabbed Kim's jersey. The two sides tore and tangled together, and soon attracted the attention of others.
Both players rushed up, Metz wanted to win the ball, while Tottenham players couldn't let the opponent take the ball away so easily.
At this time, Chu Zhongtian rushed up. Without saying a word, he pushed Ridley and Jin down, the big black guy, and then snatched the football from him!
His actions aroused the dissatisfaction of Tottenham players, and the players on both sides became quarrel.
"Look at what he is doing?"
"This is pushing people!"
"Oh hey... he slapped me in the face, he slapped me in the head..." Ridley King lay on the ground rolling, moaning in pain, hoping to attract more people's attention. But his voice had long been drowned by the angry confrontation between the players on both sides.
"Do you have sports ethics? You are so obviously beating people!" Although they are Frenchmen, they are facing their own teams, but they each ask Marbrlank, the Frenchman, to condemn their own teams.
"Who is fucking unsportsy? We want to kick off quickly, so you can interfere with us in this way!" Ribery cursed angrily. "You guy who is stingy!"
Seeing that the war of words between the two sides was about to escalate into the entire martial arts, fortunately, the referee arrived in time at this time to prevent the conflict from further expanding.
"Okay, gentlemen! Stop arguing! Stop arguing!" The referee blew his whistle while comforting the emotional players. He has seen this scene a lot in Spain and is easy to deal with this scene.
Instead of playing cards wildly to suppress the emotions of both sides, he called the captains of both sides again. It was a coincidence that the two protagonists who led to the conflict - Chu Zhongtian and Laidley Jin.
When Chu Zhongtian was called over, he still had a football in his hand.
"I hope you two captains can set an example and set a good example for your teammates. Pay attention to controlling your emotions. I don't like using decks to resolve disputes, but if you have to force me to do this, I don't mind. Does anyone want to miss the next round? Just challenge my tolerance limit."
After the referee said these words with a majestic expression, he asked the two to shake hands and make peace.
"It's no big deal. Let's shake hands together and the game continues!"
Chu Zhongtian and Ridley Jin looked at each other, and then smiled on each other's faces. Then Chu Zhongtian stretched out his hand first, and Ridley Jin took it. After the two shook hands, they patted each other's shoulders or heads.
This is how football games are. The momentary impulse is because of the surge in adrenaline at that moment, but when the impulse passes, there is no need to keep holding on. There are enemies on the field, and friends off the field.
This conflict was a small episode of the game. In the subsequent games, both coaches made substitution adjustments. Fernandez naturally replaced the offensive player and strengthened the offensive. Yoll replaced the defensive player and planned to defend a draw. Now he finally realized that he scored two goals away from home and could still remain unbeaten. What a brilliant result... Why should he strengthen the offense?
The substitution adjustments between the two sides occurred when the game started again. Because of this conflict between the two sides, the injury stop time was a bit long. Including the injury stop time, there will be about fifteen minutes.
And within these fifteen minutes, Tottenham had only one goal, that is, to defend to the end. By the end of the game, as long as the referee blew three whistles, they would be liberated, otherwise they would not be able to relax for a second.
What a good result to be able to score two away goals and return to home with a score of 2:2... And for Metz, this score was a complete failure. Although they had worked very hard in the second half and scored two goals, creating an amazing achievement, if they could not score one more goal or score more goals, the efforts in the second half would be insignificant.
When playing Benfica, at least Benfica only scored one away goal, but Tottenham scored two away goals. All this was like Metz's away goal when he played Leverkusen, which made the whole team settle down. He played calmly in the home game, playing the Bundesliga team in the palm of his hands.
So if you want to continue to stay in the League Cup, you must try your best to seize the present, strive for another goal in the game, score more goals, and try to offset some of Tottenham's two away goal advantages.
But there are not so many "wishes come true" in football games.
When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the game, Mess was unable to break through Tottenham's goal again. Tottenham, who was determined to defend, was a bit like their team name - the hot thorn, which made Mess not know how to get his mouth down.
"The game ends...ah, Metz finally failed to accomplish the miracle..." The French commentator's tone was disappointed. In his opinion, Metz's next move would be difficult. "It's a pity. If Metz can perform like the second half in the first half, perhaps the one who loses hope of promotion will be Tottenham..."
Right next door to him, the English commentator loudly announced that Tottenham hoped to increase their promotion: "The game ends! The game ends! Tottenham scored two away goals and even tied with Mets. In addition to victory, this is the best result! This score greatly increases their chances of advancing!"
Tottenham players celebrated "victory" after the game, while Metz's players seemed very silent. They had wasted forty-five minutes, and now this is retribution.
Chu Zhongtian looked at the cheerful Englishman and shook his head. Then he walked towards his teammates.
"The League Cup is a two-round elimination system, and it's not over yet," he said to his teammates. "Let's go to their home court and give them some colors!"
Chapter completed!