Over the weekend, Cambridge United traveled northeast to Lancashire, England, to face Blackburn.
Blackburn's League start of 4 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses in 12 rounds was mediocre. In their last two matches, they lost at home to Liverpool and won away against Portsmouth, showing inconsistent form and a tendency to be erratic.
However, this team is truly a headache. Blackburn's coach, Sam Allardyce, is a renowned English coach, known as a 'relegation expert' for his skill in helping mid-to-lower table teams avoid relegation. He has coached several Premier League teams, including Bolton, Blackburn, and West Ham United.
Sam Allardyce is famous for direct football, emphasizing physical fitness, set pieces, and defensive organization. He is often jokingly referred to as the epitome of the long-ball tactic.
Frustratingly, this team has earned the nickname 'Violent Rovers' among Chinese fans, which, as the name suggests, describes Blackburn's playing style.
Playing against such a team gives Huang Hao the biggest headache; the opponent definitely won't play by the usual rules.
On Saturday afternoon, Huang Hao led his team to Ewood Park. Blackburn was ready and waiting at home. Sam Allardyce had said before the match that Cambridge United would be tough to deal with and that he would be wary of Cambridge United's sneak attacks.
When Huang Hao stood on the sidelines at Ewood Park, Sam Allardyce specifically approached him to greet him. It wasn't that Sam Allardyce had a particularly good impression of Huang Hao; it was just that Sam Allardyce liked making friends. Otherwise, how could Sam Allardyce have gotten so many jobs with relegation-threatened teams? It's all about connections.
Making more friends naturally has its benefits. For example, after Abramovich took over Chelsea, didn't the purchase of Duff cost almost as much as Real Madrid paid for Beckham?
Huang Hao gently exhaled on the sidelines, hoping today's match wouldn't turn chaotic.
As the starting players of both teams entered the field, the atmosphere in the stadium was excellent. The momentum generated by a stadium capable of holding over 30,000 people was not to be underestimated.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we follow the live broadcast to Ewood Park in Lancashire, where the Premier League Round 16 match between Blackburn and Cambridge United will take place.
Currently, the point difference between the two teams in the League table is quite noticeable, but the League has only just begun its halfway point, and it's an undeniable fact that Blackburn has faced stronger opponents than Cambridge United.
Today, Sam Allardyce has deployed a 4-4-2 formation at home.
Goalkeeper: Robinson.
Defenders: Samba, Nelson, Salgado, Olsson.
Midfielders: Pedersen, Warnock, Van Heerden, Treacy.
Forwards: McCarthy, Di Santo.
Huang Hao, meanwhile, continues to field a 3-5-2 starting formation in the League.
Goalkeeper: Pantilimon.
Defenders: Sun Jihai, Vida, Van Dijk.
Midfielders: O'Connor, Kante, Grenier, Mahrez, Gotze.
Forwards: Lewandowski, Vardy.
Alright, the match is about to begin. Let's wait and see."
Huang Hao looked at Blackburn's starting lineup. There weren't many unexpected players, and hardly any household names, but pragmatic players aren't necessarily worse than stars.
After the battle between Cambridge United and Blackburn began, Huang Hao intently observed Blackburn's posture at home today.
Would they use their home advantage to launch a fierce offensive? Or would they pragmatically focus on defense first?
Especially in defense, what was the intensity of Blackburn's aggression? This was what Huang Hao valued most.
In the 3rd minute of the match, when Gotze received a pass from Grenier on the right wing and used his left foot to dribble horizontally, Huang Hao, in his player transformations, tried to make Gotze more versatile. Since he is a two-footed player, he hoped he could play the role of a 'wide attacking midfielder,' allowing him to coexist with Mahrez in the formation.
As soon as Gotze dribbled inward, right-back Olsson quickly chased him from behind. It must be said that Blackburn's defensive line had two full-backs, one old and one young, one experienced and one physically strong.
Both central midfielders, Pedersen and Van Heerden, were tenacious types of midfielders, capable of going up and down, quickly retreating to the edge of the box to participate in pressing when defending, and their actions were quite aggressive.
As soon as Gotze passed the ball back to Mahrez, South African midfielder Van Heerden rushed up and bravely challenged Mahrez, also using some small actions, elbowing Mahrez's ribs, making Mahrez instinctively unable to exert force.
At the moment of the tackle, Mahrez was almost forcibly shoved to the ground by the opponent. With a age difference of almost ten years, Van Heerden clearly bullied the younger player without blushing.
When Huang Hao saw Mahrez fall to the ground and not get up immediately, his heart sank. 'Don't tell me he's injured!'
Mahrez had simply had the wind knocked out of him by the opponent's shove and needed a moment to recover on the ground. He wanted to stand up immediately, but moving even slightly caused some pain.
The Match Official Mossias for this match turned a blind eye to Fleetcroft's action, and the sight of Cromwell injured on the ground did not make Blackburn give up their attack.
Huang Hao immediately bristled!
Damn it, if it's not a foul, I'll tolerate it!
But has Blackburn abandoned even sportsmanship?
When Van Heerden dribbled up, Kante gestured that Mahrez was down and not getting up, asking the opponent to stop their attack, but the opponent completely ignored him, passing the ball horizontally to the surging Pedersen, who took two steps and came face to face with O'Connor.
O'Connor didn't care about any of that. Blackburn's rough play from the start, combined with their disregard for Cambridge United having an injured player needing medical treatment, led him to directly choose a frontal slide tackle. Even though Pedersen had already passed the ball to the right wing, O'Connor still brought him down.
At this moment, Match Official Mossias blew his whistle, signaling a foul by O'Connor, but he did not issue a card.
Huang Hao kept shaking his head on the sidelines. O'Connor's action should have been a yellow card. Although he wasn't demanding the referee to card his own player, this indicated a signal: the Match Official's officiating standard for this match was very lenient!
Mossias, an experienced referee with 21 years in the refereeing world, is in his ninth year of officiating in the Premier League this season.
Having officiated matches around North Yorkshire for many years, he seems to be more accepting of the rough playing style there, so his officiating standards have always been very lenient.
The Premier League is only particularly strict with officiating demands at the beginning of the season, as a better image needs to be established. But after more than a month, regardless of the team, they have all passed the 'warm-up' phase. Now the schedule is dense, and who cares so much? Whether the officiating standard is lenient or strict depends on the Match Official's own judgment.
Huang Hao didn't go to bother the refereeing team. In lower-level Leagues, he could still pressure referees, as their level wasn't high, and they didn't have as much confidence.
But for a referee like Mossias, with over 20 years of experience, for Huang Hao, a newly promoted Premier League coach, to bother him? English Football Association would definitely support Mossias. Besides, who knows if Mossias, this Match Official who practically lives next door to Lancashire, would openly favor Blackburn.
Judging from the decision not to card O'Connor for his fierce tackle, his officiating was somewhat balanced. He didn't blow the whistle for Van Heerden's foul on Mahrez, and he only whistled for O'Connor's yellow card offense without issuing a card, showing no obvious favoritism.
But for Blackburn's continued attack after Mahrez went down, Huang Hao directed his anger at Sam Allardyce!
After the team doctor entered the field to check on Mahrez's condition, Huang Hao turned towards Sam Allardyce and roared, "Sam Allardyce, do you really want to win that badly? Are you willing to lose all dignity just to win?"
Sam Allardyce naturally wouldn't be a coward. He yelled back at Huang Hao.
"Who knows if that kid is faking an injury? Who doesn't know your team is the best at cheating and being cunning? Delaying the game, diving, faking fouls to get penalties! That was just a normal challenge, and he fell to the ground like he was dying. Who knows what he's up to?"
Huang Hao cursed at him, "You bastard, are you blind? A reasonable challenge? You guys have no sportsmanship at all! Fair play is completely absent from Blackburn!"
Seeing the two coaches verbally abusing each other, Match Official Mossias had to jog over to mediate, telling both of them to return to their respective technical areas and calm down.
With the help of the team doctor, Mahrez regained his breath and, once the pain subsided, stood up. He left the field with the team doctor and, after a minute, returned to the field with the Match Official's permission.
Because the match was full of tension from the start, both teams found it difficult to organize fluid attacks.
Blackburn's defensive strategy today was not merely brute force; there was a certain tactical approach to their defensive setup.
The entire four-man midfield unit focused on joint defense with the aim of restricting Cambridge United's central attacks.
Pedersen and Van Heerden double-teamed Gotze while also compressing space in front of the box.
One of the two wide midfielders, Warnock or Treacy, would flexibly move to the center during defense to closely press O'Connor. Coupled with McCarthy's retreat from the front line, this prevented O'Connor from smoothly organizing attacks from the back.
As for wide defense, that depended on the direction of Cambridge United's attacks from the back. The wide midfielders' flexible coordination of central defense also adapted to the situation.
This made Cambridge United's central attacks very difficult.
On the wing, Grenier's attacks were not strong because he primarily plays centrally and lacks speed. Therefore, he would only cross the ball from the byline if he had excellent space to control the ball.
The left wing naturally became Cambridge United's main attacking direction. Today, Sam Allardyce deployed Real Madrid veteran Salgado at right-back, primarily responsible for shutting down Cambridge United's attacks on the wing, with attacks mainly consisting of 45-degree crosses.
In the first 30 minutes of the match, both teams found it difficult to create threatening attacks, with more attention focused on fierce defensive duels.
O'Connor, Vida, and Mahrez were the main forces disrupting the opponent's attacks, and their defensive actions were also aggressive.
Blackburn, on the other hand, was a complete 'demolition crew'!
In the 32nd minute of the match, Cambridge United launched a threatening attack from the left wing. Vida, after dodging Treacy's tackle, continued to advance the attack. He deliberately used his speed advantage, pausing before suddenly accelerating to break past the opponent.
After reaching the byline, he sent the ball into the box. Lewandowski, making an inward run, stopped the ball near the byline in the box, then suddenly accelerated and dribbled towards the center. Samba rushed in from diagonally behind and stuck out a leg, tripping him to the ground.
Because Lewandowski had an evasive action, it looked like he jumped up and then fell to the ground, but Samba definitely touched his leg!
Lewandowski, after falling, turned his head to look at the Match Official, only to see him show no reaction, even gesturing for him to get up.
Lewandowski angrily and aggrievedly slapped the turf, then got up and rushed towards the Match Official, indicating that he had indeed been fouled and that it should have been a penalty!
Before he could reach the Match Official, Pedersen pushed him away and reprimanded him, accusing him of trying to deceive the Match Official into awarding a non-existent penalty.
Players from both teams nearly erupted into a brawl on the field because of this.
Huang Hao angrily kicked the back of a seat in the away team's dugout, astonishing everyone around him!
Because he actually kicked the backrest off!
It showed how angry he was!
The Match Official did not see what happened on the sidelines, but the live broadcast cameras recorded everything.
It's estimated that he will be punished by English Football Association after the match, with the ruling based on his 'improper behavior' on the sidelines.
After calming the dispute on the field, this match officiated by Mossias saw many fouls, but remarkably, not even a single yellow card was issued!
Blackburn's offense was wide open, charging and attacking fiercely. As long as they reached a dangerous attacking zone with a loose ball-handling environment, their attacking players would directly loft the ball into the box.
After several attempts, although there was no reward, it was uncertain whether the next one would pose a fatal threat.
In the 42nd minute of the match, Cambridge United also launched a cross from the wing. Gotze retreated to the wing to receive O'Connor's long pass. He crossed from the 45-degree angle on the wing, sending an inswinging ball into the box. Previously, Vardy had received no ground passes from teammates, making him almost invisible. Now, competing for high balls, he didn't seem to have much advantage, but Mahrez intelligently made a late run into the box to contend for the ball.
While challenging for a header with Spanish veteran Salgado, Mahrez had no aerial advantage whatsoever and was directly shoved away by the opponent. When he landed, his footing was unstable, and he fell to the ground again, not getting up.
After Salgado headed the ball clear, this time Blackburn players kicked the ball out of bounds, allowing Mahrez to receive treatment from the team doctor.
After the Cambridge United team doctor ran onto the field again, Huang Hao waited grim-faced on the sidelines for the result. The team doctor gestured to him, indicating that Mahrez could not continue the match.
Right ankle sprain!
Although not a serious injury, he would likely miss several matches.
Huang Hao was in a terrible mood.
Facing a top-ranked violent team in the Premier League, plus a Match Official with lenient officiating standards—damn it, they're practically a match made in heaven!
Huang Hao told Smith to warm up, ready to enter the match at any time.
As Mahrez limped off the field, supported by the team doctor, the Cambridge United fans who had traveled to Lancashire felt their hearts break.
Blackburn's rough playing style made them scoff, but they couldn't stop this Match Official from only blowing fouls and not issuing cards! Without yellow cards, players committed fouls recklessly.
Before the end of the first half, Smith came on as a substitute. Neither team created a threat before the first half concluded.
"The first half of the match has ended. Cambridge United and Blackburn's first half was more intense than exciting. The total number of shots from both teams combined was 5, but all were long-range shots from outside the box, with 0 shots on target! Neither team's forwards had many opportunities. Vardy only touched the ball 6 times in the entire first half. McCarthy and Di Santo were slightly better, but McCarthy was more often seen defending in the attacking third. This might be a typical English-style match, but it is certainly not the match Cambridge United coach Huang Hao wanted to see, because Cambridge United's preferred attacking style has been completely nullified by Blackburn's tough defense!"