“Beep!”
Barry’s long-range shot hadn’t even flown out of bounds when the linesman raised the flag in his hand.
Tevez was offside!
Tevez stood in place, looking at Cambridge United’s defenders with his fierce yet somewhat adorable eyes, wishing he could devour them whole.
After Cambridge United left the penalty area, Oblak kicked the ball to Mahrez on the left wing.
Seeing that Adebayor didn’t participate in the immediate counter-press, Richards rushed directly over! But before Richards could get close, Bola had already passed the ball to Ayu in the middle!
Richards, who had missed, gritted his teeth and turned to chase Ayu again, reaching Ayu in just two seconds!
Unfortunately, Ayu had already passed the ball to Lewandowski at the edge of the penalty area!
This time, the out-of-position Richards gave up the chase and angrily waved his arm at the air.
Lewandowski received the ball and immediately broke into the penalty area, and after completely drawing Kompany over, he directly back-heeled the ball from in front of Kompany to the goalmouth!
Kane, who understood perfectly, had already gotten in front of Lescott!
Facing this rare opportunity, Kane directly pushed the ball towards the goal!
Given, with an incredible speed of getting down, directly blocked the ball with one hand!
Lescott, still shaken, immediately booted the ball out of the penalty area!
Huang Hao jumped up from his seat and bounced several times to vent his frustration!
Just a little bit off!
Huang Hao was even a little annoyed; if Vardy had been playing today, Manchester City might already be leading 1:0!
Manchester City, having escaped a scare, launched another attack.
Although Cambridge United gave up high-pressing in the front, once the ball crossed midfield, they immediately operated like a fully wound-up machine.
Robinho, facing Kante’s entanglement on the right, tried several times but couldn’t break free, so he could only pass the ball to Barry in the middle. However, as soon as Barry stopped the ball, Adam May rushed over and knocked him to the ground!
It seemed like a normal press, but May, at the moment of impact, still pressed his knee against the inside of Barry’s thigh. This severe pain would take a long time to completely subside!
Robert Jones didn't let May off this time and rushed over, holding the yellow card high above his head!
What was surprising was that even though the game was in the 50th minute, Cambridge United had already committed more than a dozen fouls, and this was only Cambridge United’s second yellow card of the match!
Despicable fouls, wantonly disrupting the flow of the game; everything looked as bad as ever.
Cambridge United was just a common team; winning was the goal, and they didn’t care what others thought.
Their fans would be overjoyed if they could draw with the powerful Manchester City. They didn’t need to consider whether their style of play was entertaining or whether they could dominate the field.
So they could foul recklessly in the game, and they could play very ugly. The most hateful thing was that their Head Coach and players seemed to enjoy it!
In a blink of an eye, the second half of the game was already halfway through.
The endless harassment from Cambridge United players also caused a noticeable fluctuation in the form of Manchester City’s stars.
Before Phillips could even receive the pass from De Jong in the middle, he saw May reveal his big tackle again and again!
F***! I remember you have a yellow card!
Even so, May still tackled down without hesitation!
Fortunately, he still tackled the ball first, but Phillips was also innocently flipped to the ground!
Phillips didn’t even want to get up, directly sitting on the ground and shrugging, looking utterly resigned!
May didn’t have time to comfort his opponent; after getting up, he immediately passed the ball to the front field!
Seeing Kane about to slip past him, Lescott instinctively pulled!
Kane, who was about to accelerate, directly fell onto the grass with a thud!
Yellow Card!
Robert Jones pulled out the fourth yellow card of the match, shared evenly between Manchester City and Cambridge United.
Seeing the scene before him, Mark Hughes directly threw the water bottle in his hand onto the grass!
As if that throw wasn’t enough to vent his dissatisfaction, Mark Hughes kicked the innocent water bottle flying into the distance!
What he didn't expect was that the flying water bottle directly hit Cambridge United's coaching bench!
Darren looked stunned!!!
Seeing that he had caused trouble, Mark Hughes immediately rushed towards Darren, constantly bowing and nodding along the way to express his apology!
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry!”
Before he even reached Darren, Mark Hughes hurriedly apologized to him.
Darren quickly waved his hand, indicating it was alright.
Huang Hao watched the somewhat awkward pair from the side, his face about to turn red! Seeing the somewhat dazed Mark Hughes return to Manchester City’s coaching bench, looking back every three steps, he finally covered his stomach and started laughing!
“Old man, hahahahaha, I heard that Mark Hughes is a very proud person, hahahaha!”
“You can brag about this for a lifetime, you’re the first Head Coach to make Mark Hughes bow his head, hahahahahaha!”
After saying that, Huang Hao even ignored the match and directly collapsed onto the coaching bench, laughing.
His voice was so loud that even Mark Hughes heard his laughter, but since this matter originated from himself, Mark Hughes could only pretend not to hear and act as if he hadn't seen anything.
Since he had no private interaction with Mark Hughes, Huang Hao never expected that Mark Hughes would have such a side, and it was precisely this huge contrast that made Huang Hao’s reaction so intense.
Although Lescott’s foul successfully prevented Cambridge United from having a one-on-one opportunity, Huang Hao was quite satisfied with the overall performance of Cambridge United’s players today.
Under Cambridge United’s strict defense, although Manchester City had already created more than 20 shooting opportunities, only 7 were truly on target.
Throughout the match so far, Robinho’s shot that hit the post was Manchester City’s only excellent chance.
With only 5 minutes remaining in the entire match, May and Van Dijk teamed up on the left side of their own penalty area and successfully dispossessed the ball from the substitute Ireland!
May immediately launched a counter-attack with a long pass!
Kane received the ball at the center circle, passed it to Gotze beside him, and then accelerated from the right side towards Manchester City’s front field!
Once Kane was in position, Gotze lightly chipped the ball with the instep of his left foot, and the ball arced through the air, just clearing De Jong and Barry!
Kane, who had pulled wide, faced Bridge's interception and crossed the ball to the surging Adam May. As a defensive midfielder, May's crossing technique was clearly not exquisite, and the ball was directly blocked out of bounds by Kompany.
In the 85th minute of the second half, Cambridge United earned a corner kick from the right side.
Mark Hughes nervously stood up from his seat, walked to the sideline, and loudly called out to Manchester City's players, signaling everyone to retreat and defend.
At Mark Hughes’s instruction, Manchester City only left Adebayor in midfield; all other players retreated to their own penalty area.
Even so, Gotze stood confidently in front of the ball.
Kompany and the substitute Zabaleta marked Cambridge United’s two central defenders, Lovren and Van Dijk, respectively.
Richards and Phillips stood by the two goalposts, while the remaining players focused on defending the near post and the area in front of the goal.
With everything set, Given turned in Gotze’s direction, trying to predict where the ball would land.
Corner kick taken!
Van Dijk suddenly rushed quickly towards the goal!
Although he was interfered with by Van Dijk, Zabaleta didn't fully follow, as experience told him the ball's trajectory was not towards the goal!
So Zabaleta immediately moved outside the six-yard box!
At this moment, also rushing up quickly, was Cambridge United’s midfielder, Adam May!
May's sprint distance was clearly longer than Zabaleta's, so he quickly gained an advantage after jumping!
Given immediately prepared to save!
But just then, the ball struck De Jong’s shoulder and deflected!
Given watched as the ball suddenly flew from his right side towards the goal, and his heart instantly sank to the bottom!
Richards, standing on the goal line, also looked surprised to see the ball suddenly flying towards him, but fortunately, Richards reacted swiftly, directly flying up and kicking the ball out of bounds!
Mark Hughes’s anxious heart finally settled!
At this point in the match, Mark Hughes knew what a goal from the opponent would mean; compared to that, a draw was not so unacceptable.
And Huang Hao had slapped his thighs red! Manchester City truly wasn't destined to be eliminated!!!
As the three minutes of injury time ended, both sides shook hands and settled for a draw! Manchester City’s players successfully completed the first task Mark Hughes had set at halftime: keeping a clean sheet against their opponent.
Amidst the media’s exclamations, Cambridge United once again created a minor upset.
With the away draw against Manchester City, Cambridge United’s grueling schedule finally came to an end.
One win, two draws, and one loss; Huang Hao was quite satisfied with the team’s performance.
During the same period, Tottenham lost 1:2 to West Ham United away, and Wolves drew 1:1 with league leaders Manchester United, also surprising countless people.
Unfortunately, on the league table, Cambridge United dropped instead of rising, falling directly to 11th place. Upon closer inspection, Cambridge United’s so-called five-game unbeaten streak, while impressive in quality, only resulted in one victory. Conversely, Cambridge United had also been winless for three consecutive matches.
However, the day after the match, Huang Hao still generously gave the players a day off.
In mid-November, the UK began to cool down. The climate in Birmingham in the afternoon was still quite pleasant, but the early autumn afternoon sun felt lazy on one’s body; it was estimated that if one sat in a comfortable position, a slight lapse of attention could lead to a nice nap.
St. Andrew's Stadium was packed, with Birmingham fans passionately cheering for their team from the stands, mixed with chants attacking Cambridge United.
“Take down Cambridge United!”
“Let the Cambridge people taste it!”
Huang Hao was not surprised; last season, Cambridge United stepped on Birmingham to get promoted to the Premier League, which more or less affected the local Birmingham fans, although Birmingham eventually also got promoted to the Premier League through the play-offs.
Cambridge United fans, meanwhile, focused solely on cheering for Cambridge United from the stands.
Alex McLeish appeared on the sidelines, dressed in sportswear. His body, which had begun to gain weight after retirement, was increasingly noticeable, making him look quite stout, but at heart, he was still a man of steel, just like the team he coached; his style was also very clear: daring to fight, daring to play, absolutely tough!
McLeish neither pursued Wenger's sexy football, which was devoted to the Way of the Jedi, nor did he dream of integrating into the European style, returning to the origin of all streams. He simply looked like he lacked ambition but worked as a Head Coach in a low-key and pragmatic manner.
It is undeniable that in the football world, some pursue eternal fame, some pursue establishing a school of thought, some pursue restoring a dynasty. Most distinctive Head Coaches, in the eyes of outsiders, no matter what they do, basically want to stand proudly at the pinnacle of this world, looking down upon all beings.
However, distinctive Head Coaches are still a minority; most Head Coaches live precariously, moving from one place to another. There are also some Head Coaches who don’t seem to be particularly passionate about football, treating the Head Coach role as a job rather than a dream. McLeish is such a person, but perhaps he just recognized reality early on, without being presumptuous or overly ambitious.
It was precisely this low-key, serious, and unpretentious style of Alex McLeish that led Birmingham to advance step by step, successfully getting promoted to the Premier League last season. This season, their performance has been mediocre, currently ranking 16th, slightly below Cambridge United.
Huang Hao was indeed a bit troubled by such an opponent.
If Cambridge United could field their best players and have a good fight with their opponent, even away from home, Huang Hao wouldn’t have a shred of worry. If they truly lost, it could only be said that Cambridge United had issues with their on-the-spot performance, not with their inherent strength.
But the current situation truly made Huang Hao feel tricky.