“Old fella, it looks like we'll have to train the team's counter-attacking ability next.”
Huang Hao, who had just celebrated his team's goal and hadn't even warmed his seat, saw the opponent equalize, which was truly a bit depressing.
Wigan Athletic's retracted defense indeed caused some resistance for Cambridge United's offense. May, finding no passing lanes forward, directly kicked the ball to Pantilimon, letting him restart the attack.
Pantilimon kicked the ball to Lovren beside him, and Lovren directly passed it to O'Connor in the midfield.
This time, O'Connor didn't insist on a central breakthrough but passed the ball to Mahrez on the left.
Facing Melchiot, who was constantly retreating, Mahrez flicked his calf, and the ball was directly lofted by him towards the edge of the penalty area!
Although Gohouri had anticipated this pass, Mahrez's pass was extremely precise, flying directly towards Jordan Ayew's head!
Due to his forward positioning, Gohouri was still a head shorter than Ayew, and Ayew won the aerial battle!
And just as Gohouri and Ayew jumped, Lewandowski decisively circled behind the two, then changed direction to shake off Boyes's marking, and slipped into the penalty area!
Ayew in the air immediately headed the ball to Lewandowski!
At this moment, Gohouri and Ayew became the best barrier to prevent Boyes from coming over to press! In a flash, Lewandowski rushed directly to the edge of the six-yard box!
Although Kirkland blocked the near post, Lewandowski still pulled back and shot powerfully into the top left corner of the goal!
The ball, in the gap between Kirkland and the left post, squeezed into Wigan Athletic's goal!
1:2!
Cambridge United and Wigan Athletic scored three goals in just 5 minutes!!!
Rodallega and Gohouri almost simultaneously kicked the turf in anger! Venting their dissatisfaction!
Huang Hao's celebration this time was significantly more restrained, as the previous scene was too much of a slap in the face.
Fortunately, after Cambridge United took the lead this time, the scene of a lightning-fast equalizer did not repeat.
Although Watson's free-kick was only a little short of a goal, it was fortunately just a false alarm, and the ball ultimately flew over the crossbar and out of bounds.
And after Rodallega scored, he received even more attention from Cambridge United players, often suffering the special treatment of being double-teamed by two Cambridge United players!
It wasn't until Head Referee Scott blew the whistle for the end of the first half that Wigan Athletic found no way to equalize, returning to the locker room dejectedly with a 1:2 score.
After changing sides, the stalemate from the latter part of the first half remained unchanged.
Although both teams could create some scoring opportunities, most of the time, the main confrontations took place near the midfield.
In the 67th minute of the second half, Figueroa took a free-kick from the backfield, passing the ball directly to Watson. Watson, eyeing Rodallega's position, sent a precise through ball, accurately delivering the ball to Rodallega's feet.
As soon as Rodallega received the pass, three Cambridge United players surrounded him!
This time, Rodallega did not break through rashly but chose to pass the ball to the right wing, to Enzobia, who had come up to support!
Enzobia entered the penalty area, attempting a horizontal pass to the center, but the ball was directly blocked by Van Dijk!
O'Connor, at the edge of the penalty area, took a flying kick, and the ball soared into the air, landing directly in front of Lewandowski in midfield! Lewandowski brought the ball down, and facing the rapidly approaching Gohouri, tried to loft the ball to Ayu at the edge of the penalty area!
Diame's positioning this time was very precise, successfully clearing the ball in front of the penalty area!
Subsequently, Watson and Gomes continuously headed the ball, and it finally fell to the retreating Enzobia's feet.
Enzobia controlled the ball, and after Gomes crossed midfield, he passed the ball back to Gomes.
Gomes, seeing Melchiot accelerating forward on the left, decisively kicked the ball out!
And after receiving the ball, Melchiot quickly transferred it to the right wing through Diame!
After a wide-ranging transfer, Watson finally found a gap in Cambridge United's defense, dribbling directly from the right wing into the penalty area!
Just as Watson's cross was cleared by May, Head Referee Scott blew his whistle!
Huang Hao, who initially thought a Wigan Athletic player was offside, immediately jumped up from his seat when he saw Scott point to the penalty spot! And the reason for this penalty was that Lovren had fouled Scotland during the defense!
Huang Hao gave a bitter smile! In this level of confrontation, at least a dozen such incidents could be found in a single match!
Yet, this collision in the penalty area created a very far-fetched penalty!
Seeing that talking more was useless, Huang Hao returned to the coaching bench under Darren's persuasion, refocusing his gaze on the field.
Pantilimon clapped his hands hard, leaning slightly forward, his eyes fixed on Gomes. Captain Melchiot trustingly gave this penalty opportunity to Gomes, hoping that this direct subordinate of the Head Coach would take care of himself in the future.
Gomes stood in front of the ball, trying to calm his somewhat rapid breathing.
The whistle blew, Gomes exhaled softly, took a run-up, and shot directly towards the left side of the goal!
The moment the ball flew out, Gomes's heart sank!
Just as the ball was about to cross the goal line, Pantilimon forcefully stretched out his palm!
Under the action of his fingertips, the ball changed its trajectory, flying directly towards the goalpost!
With a bang! The ball, hitting the post, rebounded into the six-yard box!
Suxi was the first to rush over, kicking the ball out of bounds!
Gomes's beautiful wish was once again ruthlessly shattered by Pantilimon!
This penalty, like a stone thrown into a lake, stirred up some ripples, then quickly subsided into silence.
The match between the two sides, after the penalty, once again became a stalemate.
In the 81st minute of the second half, Wigan Athletic won a corner kick on the right.
Although he saw Head Coach Martinez signal to substitute him, Watson still waved his hand towards the sideline, insisting on taking this corner kick.
Martinez, seeing this, could only tacitly agree. After all, Watson was the second captain, and he didn't want to have a dispute with Watson right after joining the team.
Watson directly sent the ball to the far post. In the crowd, Boyes successfully won the first header, passing the ball directly to Gohouri in front of the goal!
Pantilimon, seeing this, quickly moved to the left side of the goal. May and Van Dijk, next to Gohouri, quickly closed in, attempting to trap Gohouri!
Just when everyone thought Gohouri would shoot directly, he poked the ball with his toe, tapping it to Enzobia at the far post!
Facing an open goal, Enzobia easily tapped it in!
2:2!
The DW Stadium, which had been suppressed throughout the second half, finally erupted in a huge cheer, shaking the ground for a moment!
After a round of celebrations, Martinez also let out a long sigh of relief.
After a calm 10 minutes, Cambridge United ultimately drew 2:2 with Wigan Athletic away from home. In the Premier League, they had gone four rounds without a win.
The pressure on Huang Hao's shoulders seemed to have increased.
When Head Referee Marriner blew the final whistle, Huang Hao's expression was clearly much more relaxed.
At Britannia Stadium, Cambridge United, playing away, easily defeated Stoke City 2:0, successfully advancing to the fourth round of the English League Cup.
Huang Hao stood up and quickly walked towards Stoke City's coaching bench. After a brief greeting, Huang Hao returned to the team to congratulate the victorious players.
This match was the first time Cambridge United used rotated players this season. This was an unprecedented phenomenon in previous seasons.
Cambridge United was facing immense pressure in the League, which made Huang Hao hesitant to easily field substitute players.
This match was not exciting, with the total number of shots from both sides adding up to only 11.
Cambridge United utilized two corner kick opportunities, with Ayew and Gotze scoring successively, securing the victory in this match.
If there was anything to be happy about, it was that Cambridge United did not concede a goal in this match. Or rather, they did not concede a goal in the final moments.
Currently, the 80th minute seems to have become a nightmare for Cambridge United.
Whether it was Leicester City, Liverpool, or Wigan Athletic, they always managed to break through Barnet's goal after the 80th minute.
Conceding goals in the final moments, physical fitness is naturally one of the main reasons. When physical fitness problems arise, attention cannot keep up, and dangerous situations cannot be resolved in time.
Although it seems like a very simple principle, it is very difficult to cure. Like a famous quote once said by Rafa Benítez: If the game ended at 80 minutes, it would solve the problem of conceding late goals.
And the charm of football often lies precisely in this. Cambridge United, in their clashes with other opponents, often staged last-minute decisive plays.
Even so, after the match against Sunderland, this issue still became a major problem for Huang Hao to solve recently.
On October 17th, after three consecutive away matches, Cambridge United finally returned to Selhurst Park.
Sunderland is also one of the famous 'yo-yo' teams in the Premier League. Nicknamed the 'Black Cats,' their top-flight League title in 1936 was their last glory, and their continuous 68 years without relegation is another honor they can boast.
Although Sunderland does not have much box office appeal, this match still attracted 26,100 fans to the stadium.
Cambridge United's midfield was still the fixed combination of O'Connor and Kante.
Sunderland, playing away, lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation for this match. Head Coach Bruce seemed to be wary of Cambridge United's attacking power.
Although Sunderland was currently ranked eighth in the Premier League, they still put considerable pressure on Cambridge United after the match began.
They even came close to scoring in the 31st minute, when striker Darren Bent nearly opened Cambridge United's goal with a header.
Fortunately, amidst the cheers of over 20,000 fans, Cambridge United gradually stabilized their position. In the 35th minute of the first half, Sunderland organized a counter-attack in their own half. Cana's through ball in midfield was a bit too strong, and Sun Jihai intercepted the ball in front of Bent.
Kante received the pass from Sun Jihai and directly launched a long ball to Ayu in midfield.
Ayu won the aerial duel against a Sunderland player, successfully heading the ball to Lewandowski in front.
Lewandowski, facing the encirclement, immediately passed the ball to Tadić on the right wing.
Tadić dribbled to the byline, using his speed to get in front of Sunderland's left-back Masina, and sent a low cross in front of the goal!
Incredibly, this horizontal pass subtly changed direction at the edge of the six-yard box, bypassing center-back Da Silva, and landing directly at O'Connor's feet!
O'Connor in front of the goal easily tapped it in, directly poking the ball into Sunderland's net!
1:0!
Thanks to a miraculous pass from Tadić, Cambridge United took the lead at home.
However, the good times didn't last. Just 2 minutes later, Sunderland took a throw-in in the attacking third.
Richardson received the pass from Bardsley and immediately passed the ball to Cana in the center. At this moment, Cana, at the edge of Cambridge United's penalty area, was completely unmarked!
Van Dijk immediately rushed up to prevent Cana from taking a long-range shot!
And just as Van Dijk started to move, Cana passed the ball to Jones behind him!
Van Dijk was startled, but just as he turned and lunged towards Jones, Jones had already powerfully struck the ball towards the goal!
Jones's full-instep shot was powerful, and the ball flew with extreme speed directly into the top left corner of the goal!
Just as Sunderland's teammates ran towards Jones to celebrate, the assistant referee raised his flag!
Jones was offside!
Bruce, who was about to celebrate, immediately rushed towards the fourth official!
Marriner had no intention of changing his decision, and from the television replay, the position of Jones and Cambridge United's last defender was indeed by a hair's breadth.
Although Sunderland did not equalize, this goal served as a warning to Cambridge United.