Cambridge United, having secured a difficult victory, unleashed all the pent-up frustration of many days onto Wolves, spurred on by the cheers of 26,300 home fans.
Before the match began, Huang Hao said only one sentence to his players:
"Think about the past half-month; you've all been suppressed and besieged by opponents. Today, you're back home, and that husky across the field is your perfect target to vent on!"
As the match began, Wolves' players noticed a peculiar anticipation in the eyes of Cambridge United's players.
It was as if they had been waiting for this match for a long time, and their overt excitement left Wolves' players somewhat bewildered.
One must remember that the Premier League had already reached its 15th round. Could they still be excited about playing in the Premier League?
That was too absurd!
Having lost to Cambridge United previously, McCarthy was extra cautious in this match.
Wolves deployed a 5-3-2 formation with five defenders. McCarthy attempted to use the numerical advantage in defense to prevent Cambridge United's sharp through balls.
However, this left Wolves' flanks wide open, allowing Cambridge United, who were already adept at wing attacks, to play like a fish in water in this match.
Another reason Wolves were confident in abandoning the wing corridors was their proud counter-attacking strategy.
Although the team had no big-name stars, under McCarthy's cohesion, the entire team worked as one, unleashing 150% of their combat power.
After the kickoff, Chelsea's loaned young player, Mansienne, received a pass from a teammate in midfield and, single-handedly, surged down the left flank, all the way to the edge of Cambridge United's penalty area!
Seeing that Cambridge United's goal was heavily guarded, Mansienne displayed his exquisite footwork, directly lofting the ball from the left and widely shifting it to the right!
Unfortunately, after Glendinning received the ball on the right, De Vrij and May immediately blocked all his breakthrough routes from front and back!
Glendinning could only pass back to the middle, giving the ball to Milijas.
But just as Milijas tried to pass the ball back to Glendinning again, May directly intercepted it and kicked the ball to Gotze in midfield!
Without a word, Gotze launched a high ball towards the edge of the penalty area, where Jordan Ayew was lurking!
Unfortunately, in his haste, Gotze's pass was a bit off course. Bella hooked and stopped the ball in front of Ayew, then handed the settled ball to Henry beside him. Henry then directly kicked a long ball towards Cambridge United's front field!
Smith won the first ball and passed it to May in midfield.
May chose to pass the ball forward to Lacazette, who, without stopping, immediately spread it wide. The ball came to Mahrez on the left flank!
Mahrez dribbled successfully to the byline area and crossed directly into the six-yard box!
Ayew, at the far post, got ahead of the defender and headed the ball into the middle!
O'Connor struck a left-footed volley!
Hennessey sprang up and blocked the ball back!
Unfortunately, the ball landed in front of O'Connor again!
This time, O'Connor immediately switched to his right foot and pushed the shot! Hennessey, still on the ground, was helpless!
1:0!
Cambridge United's fluid cooperation was simple, efficient, and seamless!
The home fans at Selhurst Park immediately gave the loudest cheers to the players on the field!
O'Connor's ambidextrous shot was even more stunning to the entire stadium!
Just as Cambridge United's fans eagerly anticipated their team quickly scoring a second goal, Wolves' five-man defense began to show its power.
Often, when Cambridge United reached the edge of Wolves' penalty area, the box was filled with Wolves' defenders.
Cambridge United even had three consecutive shots blocked by opposing defenders, unable to penetrate Wolves' defense!
Huang Hao was never afraid of aggressive attacking teams, as Cambridge United had been diligently practicing their defensive skills for the past six months. However, facing a team that piled up defenders against Cambridge United, he genuinely had no good solution for a while.
After all, teams that proactively bowed to Cambridge United were few and far between.
McCarthy was truly unique.
In the 27th minute of the first half, De Vrij organized an attack from the back.
De Vrij, whose movements had become muscle memory, directly launched a long pass from the back of midfield, attempting to link up directly with Ayew on the front line!
Mansienne, following closely beside Ayew, immediately accelerated. The difference in explosive power allowed Mansienne to quickly leave Ayew behind.
Mansienne, who successfully won the ball, immediately passed it back to Henry, intending for Henry to launch a new attack. Henry then sent a long pass to Milijas in midfield.
Milijas dribbled, feinting left and right, heading straight for Cambridge United's penalty area!
However, just as he reached the edge of Cambridge United's box, De Vrij, with O'Connor's assistance, directly slid in, tackling Milijas and the ball to the ground!
Before De Vrij could even catch up to the ball, Mansienne, like a flash of lightning, streaked past De Vrij!
And what he took with him was the ball De Vrij had just won!
Mansienne repeated his trick, taking the ball to the byline, then sending a direct overhead long pass. The ball flew over the penalty area to the other side of the field, where Glendinning once again received it!
This time, Glendinning wasted no time and immediately crossed!
Van Dijk seized the moment and extended his leg to block it! The ball flew out over the byline again!
Wolves earned their first corner kick of the match.
Milijas chose to pass the ball to the far post!
Pantilimon constantly adjusted his blocking direction according to the ball's trajectory. Just as his gaze fell to the far post, Pantilimon realized May was out of position!
Due to the sudden surge of Wolves' defender Marlon, May was distracted and lost his focus.
And just then, Blake, who May was originally marking, rushed towards the ball's landing spot first!
Pantilimon cried out in alarm, but it was too late to warn May, so he immediately rushed out of his goal!
Pantilimon, who started a step late, was still running out of his goal when Blake had already jumped!
By the time Pantilimon reached Blake, Blake had already powerfully headed the ball towards Cambridge United's empty net!
1:1!
McCarthy clenched his fist and vigorously waved it across his chest!
Just 6 minutes later, the Wolves attacked Cambridge United's goal again!
Milijas, after receiving the ball at the edge of the penalty area, swung his left leg and powerfully kicked the ball up!
This shot, which seemed like both a pass and a shot, suddenly drifted towards the right side of the front field after clearing Cambridge United's defense!
Glendinning made a timely run forward! Without waiting for De Vrij to cover, Glendinning crossed directly!
The ball once again found Blake!
Blake had a clear hang time! After getting to the ball, he headed it towards the goal again!
At this point, he was less than a meter from the goal! This fast and powerful header clearly exceeded Pantilimon's reaction speed!
Just as Pantilimon despairingly closed his eyes, he unexpectedly heard a 'clang'!
The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back!
Before Blake could land and make a second jump, Van Dijk quickly jumped up and headed the ball out of bounds!
Huang Hao was also somewhat shaken on the sidelines. Cambridge United's defense still lacked a leader. All three defenders had leadership qualities, but they were too young to command respect right now. It was like leveling up against wild monsters; only through continuous training could their experience points increase!
Speaking of which, today's huskies truly had a bit of wolfishness about them!
Doyle's eyes at this moment only saw the ball still in flight ahead.
He was currently making a full-speed sprint towards Cambridge United's penalty area!
The noisy cheers of the fans seemed to gradually fade away from his ears, eventually disappearing.
As the running distance increased, Doyle's breathing became a bit rapid, and his heart beat powerfully, as if it was about to burst from his chest at that moment!
Behind him, De Vrij and Van Dijk were rapidly chasing back from both sides! However, the moment Jimenez had just dribbled past Smith and passed the ball, both of them were several meters away from Doyle. It was too difficult to close that gap in a short amount of time.
De Vrij, who should have intercepted the pass, now had only one belief: he had to catch Doyle! Otherwise, he would surely suffer a terrible fate!
Fortunately, De Vrij's speed was on par with Doyle's, and in terms of explosive power, De Vrij was even slightly better.
The two were almost on the same horizontal line, and as Doyle got closer and closer to the ball, De Vrij also gradually narrowed the distance between them from the flank!
"Got it!!!"
Doyle finally caught up to the ball on the edge of the penalty area! His heart was filled with joy!
But Jimenez's pass had a lot of power, and after landing, the ball had a somewhat irregular bounce.
Doyle quickly hooked the ball, then pushed it to the right, and then swung his left leg around!
Just then, a dark shadow darted out from his right side!
De Vrij finally arrived, extending his leg in front of Doyle!
"Far corner!!!"
Facing Pantilimon, who was blocking the near post, Doyle powerfully shot the ball towards the far corner of the goal!
In just an instant, the ball whistled past Pantilimon's ear!
Doyle and De Vrij collided! But their eyes remained fixed on the ball!
Accompanying the ball's trajectory, Doyle's expectant gaze gradually dimmed.
The ball whistled as it grazed the crossbar and flew out over the byline!
Doyle, kneeling on the ground, angrily pounded the turf, venting his frustration!
Just a little bit, just a little bit! Damn it!!!
Meanwhile, De Vrij and the fans in the stadium let out a long sigh of relief.
He never expected Jimenez's pass to curve! It went directly around him!
If Doyle had scored that goal, there was no doubt he would have been thoroughly chewed out at halftime!
As Milijas's long shot went wide of the goal, Chris Kavanagh first raised one arm, then quickly extended it forward. After two whistles, the first half of the match officially ended!
In the last few minutes of the first half, Wolves suddenly showed their fangs, almost turning the score around.
Huang Hao also broke out in a cold sweat. Teams that could establish themselves in the Premier League were clearly not to be trifled with.
Wolves created 8 shooting opportunities in the first half, 2 more than Cambridge United, but most of their shots were off target.
Through the 45 minutes of the first half, Huang Hao also figured out McCarthy's strategy: to stifle Cambridge United's attack with tight defense, and then deliver a fatal blow to the opponent by exploiting Cambridge United's tendency to lose focus in the final stages of a match.
McCarthy was very clever to notice this subtle change in Cambridge United, but he seemed to have forgotten that Cambridge United hadn't made such mistakes in the recent matches.
Or rather, McCarthy just wanted to gamble and try his luck.
Thinking of this, Huang Hao felt more confident. He might as well gamble with McCarthy and see if Cambridge United's recent special training had any effect.
Therefore, during halftime, Huang Hao didn't give Cambridge United's players too many instructions. He only emphasized one point: they must score as early as possible in the second half. Against defensive teams, your lead is the best weapon to break them down.
After the second half began, Wolves launched the first attack. Blake mostly chose to stay wide today, leaving the task of attacking the goal to Doyle.
Unfortunately, his cross went directly into Pantilimon's arms, and Wolves' attack ended there.
Seeing Blake and Doyle pressing close to his defenders, Pantilimon chose to kick the ball long to the front field.
In the fierce scramble between both sides, possession changed hands several times, but ultimately it fell to O'Connor's feet.
Cambridge United's midfield commander received the ball sideways, barely looking up, and immediately sent a half-volley pass to the left flank!
The ball precisely cleared Glendinning and landed in front of Lacazette!
Lacazette dribbled directly to the byline and then crossed!
The ball went straight to the far post of Wolves' goal!
Ayew leaped high, instantly attracting two Wolves defenders!
However, like a feint in volleyball, Ayew's jump this time did not touch the ball!
As Ayew landed, Gotze, behind him, was now unmarked!
Facing the ball that landed in front of him, Gotze swung his right foot and calmly struck a shot towards the near post!
The ball flew straight into the net between Hennessey and the right post!
2:1!
Cambridge United's lads did not disappoint Huang Hao; they successfully broke through Wolves' defense just three minutes into the second half!