After Huang Hao walked into the player tunnel, people's attention only then shifted to the backrest of the away team's dugout seat, which he had kicked to pieces.
When Huang Hao returned to the locker room, he kept thinking about how to turn the situation around in the second half.
Blackburn was actually very pragmatic, focusing on defense, and their defensive methods made many of Cambridge United's Good at attacks ineffective.
Cambridge United was good at passing and cutting, but this was based on ball control. Blackburn's players had excellent overall stamina, and their running ability in the first half was even stronger than Cambridge United's, because most of their players were at their peak age, especially in midfield!
Their physical condition was at its best, with wide running coverage and decent speed. Coupled with their tough and rough pressing, Cambridge United's ground passing and cutting became chaotic, naturally preventing them from organizing threatening attacks.
Another advantage of Cambridge United was the individual breakthrough ability of their players, but Mahrez tried many times in the first half without success, because the opponent's defense was very decisive; even if the ball got through, the player had to stay!
The game was far from flowing smoothly, and Cambridge United's preferred attacking methods were not working, so they had to change their strategy!
Huang Hao thought long and hard and decided to leverage another advantage of Cambridge United, though it couldn't be said that this advantage would bring immediate results; it depended on the players' on-field performance. Huang Hao busily formulated the second-half battle plan during halftime.
The players were all fired up, as an intense game itself easily generates anger in men.
However, they still patiently and seriously listened to Huang Hao's tactical deployment.
Before leaving the locker room, Huang Hao cheered them on, and the players' morale remained high.
In the second half, the two sides switched ends and resumed play.
Cambridge United immediately shifted their attacking focus to long-range shots from outside the box in the second half. Since passing, cutting, and breakthroughs couldn't penetrate the penalty area, and crosses from the flanks weren't very effective either.
Then, the long-range shooting skills of O'Connor, Grenier, Gotze, and May should be unleashed. Once Blackburn's defense pushed forward to block long-range shots, the anti-offside strengths of Vardy and Lewandowski could be activated again.
Long-range shooting, one could say, was a tactical means to force the opponent to expand their defensive area.
In the 49th minute of the match, Gotze received a pass from Sun Jihai on the left flank. After controlling the ball, he didn't cut inside towards the penalty area but dribbled towards the outside of the box in front of Samba. Before Pedersen could press, Gotze directly took a long-range shot.
Although the ball went over the heads of the Blackburn defenders, it also went over the crossbar.
Blackburn's offense still primarily relied on simple, crude long balls and aerial crosses.
After McCarthy recovered from his injury at the beginning of the year, his form plummeted. Today, most of his energy was expended on defense, with not much contribution in attack.
In positional play, Di Santo was jointly frozen by Van Dijk and Vida, and Blackburn's high balls into Cambridge United's box were basically cleared by the two center-backs.
Blackburn's second wave of attack also failed to create any significant threat due to a lack of imagination and offensive concealment.
Sam Allardyce saw Cambridge United focusing on long-range shots from the sideline, and he was somewhat apprehensive, but he remained unmoved and did not adjust his defensive line, because he knew that once the defense pushed forward, Vardy's threat would become Blackburn's nightmare!
Upon seeing Grenier's long-range shot from a position outside the box, twenty-five yards from goal, cause goalkeeper Robinson to fumble the save, fortunately, Neilson cleared the ball in time, not giving Vardy a chance.
Sam Allardyce couldn't help but look up at the sky, as if hoping for some divine favor in Lancashire.
Please don't let a world-class shot from Cambridge United change the game's situation!
By the 70th minute, Cambridge United's 7 long-range shots in the second half had failed to breach the opponent's goal, and Blackburn's defensive line had consistently not pushed forward, not even expanding the pressing range of their central midfielders. Huang Hao's expression on the sideline was quite grim.
Compared to actively changing the defensive strategy on the field to reduce Cambridge United's long-range threat, Sam Allardyce seemed to be leaving their fate to luck!
And Cambridge United seemed to be out of luck today; there was no problem with the tactical approach of long-range shots in the second half, but when executed, the overall quality of the long-range shots from various players was not high.
Only three shots were on target.
And once Cambridge United tried to change the game's rhythm and attacking style, Blackburn's fierce defensive pressing would start to create fouls again.
In the 73rd minute of the match, Salgado knocked Gotze to the ground as he dribbled horizontally, and the main referee Match Official Mossias finally showed the first yellow card of the match. It was probably Salgado's fourth foul of the game that forced him to pull out the card.
Huang Hao's lips curved into a sneer on the sideline.
Gotze took the direct free-kick himself, and his shot went directly over the crossbar.
After the shot, Gotze stood in place, looking at the ball flying into the stands with a helpless expression, letting out a long sigh. His shooting feel today was very ordinary.
It might also be that the fiery nature of the game affected his mentality, leading to a poor display of his technical ability.
This situation was actually spreading throughout the Cambridge United team.
Unconsciously, everyone's main energy was being diverted by the opponent's rough fouls.
Perhaps at this point, Huang Hao belatedly realized this problem. Because he thought of a match, Blackburn's previous home game, right here at Ewood Park, where Blackburn, although making Liverpool pay the price of two players leaving injured, still ultimately lost to Liverpool!
Liverpool fortunately won that away match 3-1.
Why could Liverpool win?
Why was Cambridge United struggling?
It wasn't that Blackburn's performance was better than the last game; in fact, apart from maintaining their tough and rough style, their offense didn't perform any better. But in the previous match, Blackburn had a player sent off by the referee due to a foul, and for nearly 60 minutes of the game, Liverpool played with a numerical advantage!
That's how they managed to score two goals afterward and take the victory from Ewood Park.
The reason it was "lucky" was because the referee in charge, Barry, had a relatively reasonable officiating standard, at least he was firm in giving cards when necessary.
In contrast, today's referee, Match Official Mossias, had loose officiating standards, which emboldened Blackburn's rough fouling, but this was not an excuse for Cambridge United's weak offense and inability to score.
Huang Hao at this moment thought that even as the Reds bravely confronted Blackburn, they did not lose their focus on the game; at least their performance was not affected. Not only did they pay the price of two players leaving the field, but other players were also injured; Gerrard was injured in the first half and limped off the field.
But Cambridge United was still too young. In matches below the Premier League, there were also some teams with rough confrontations, but they often lost defensive tightness due to being overly rough, and Cambridge United could "technically" defeat their opponents.
But today's Blackburn, having played in the Premier League for many years and being the second team in Premier League history to win the Premier League title, would not blindly pursue roughness. The purpose of roughness was to intimidate the opponent and better complete the defense!
In this regard, they did an excellent job, especially with a referee who was very much to their liking "helping" them.
Cambridge United appeared to be inadequately prepared and unfamiliar with such a game. Once the opponent completely restricted them with rough fouls, the players on the field easily developed anxious emotions and sometimes acted recklessly.
In the 79th minute of the match, Kante assisted from the back, and Sun Jihai pushed the attack down the flank. With O'Connor's support, the attack successfully reached the front field.
This time, Cambridge United intended to change their attacking method. After Sun Jihai crossed the ball to the center, Smith actively ran to receive it, preparing to dribble one step to create an angle before sending a through ball. Lewandowski was running into the empty space on the right side of the penalty area, while Vardy cut directly from the center into the empty space on the left side of the penalty area. The two completed a cross-run, which was very deceptive.
However, after Smith dribbled one step to evade Van Heerden, he didn't expect Pedersen to seem to be waiting for him, starting first to step forward and intercept the ball.
After he intercepted the ball, Swansea's backfield was in danger. Because Kante ran up to prepare to receive, but did nothing and moved away from his defensive position.
Pedersen delivered a long pass from his spot, lofting the ball towards the front of the penalty area, slightly to the left.
O'Connor ran towards that side, but McCarthy, who was waiting there to receive, touched the ball faster than him.
O'Connor intended to seize the opportunity to tackle the ball after it landed.
But he didn't expect McCarthy, who had been largely ineffective in attack, to control the ball with his chest, and as the ball dropped, without letting it touch the ground, he directly flicked it forward with his right foot.
Vida rushed up immediately to press, and McCarthy's flick was precisely to get past Vida!
He succeeded!
When he rushed past Vida and the ball flew over Vida's head, the players in Cambridge United's defense were stunned.
Everyone was surprised that McCarthy could perform such a dribbling move. Perhaps his silence last season had made people overlook that he was once a highly anticipated striker in the Premier League, having won the Premier League Silver Boot with 18 goals.
After McCarthy's flick and dribble broke through Vida's defense, he was about to enter the penalty area. Sun Jihai retreated into the box to block him. After the ball landed and he controlled it, McCarthy immediately passed it diagonally to the penalty spot.
Di Santo made a diagonal run. Van Dijk was a bit flustered, as he hadn't expected McCarthy to get past him so perfectly, despite O'Connor and Vida pressing from front and back!
Di Santo ran forward and, before Van Dijk could stretch out his leg to disrupt, he gently nudged the ball horizontally, then stepped forward to complete a shot with his left foot!
Van Dijk's sliding tackle to block was a step too late. Pantilimon covered the near post side of the goal, but he didn't expect Di Santo's left-footed shot to be directed towards the far post. He no longer had time to change his center of gravity for a save and could only stop and turn his head to watch.
Sam Allardyce and the 30,000 Blackburn fans in attendance watched Di Santo's shot intently, and after seeing the ball roll into the far corner of the goal at a not-so-fast pace, they roared with ecstatic joy.
Di Santo roared excitedly after seeing the goal, then burst into laughter as he sprinted towards the sideline.
The Blackburn fans, who had been quiet for a long time in the stands, enthusiastically released their pent-up passion.
"Di Santo shoots! Goal! Blackburn breaks the deadlock just as the game enters its final stages! Blackburn, who hadn't shown much in attack, pierced Cambridge United's defense with a simple combination this time!
Cambridge United's defense this time was truly careless; they are too young!
Kante and Sun Jihai both pushed up to assist and couldn't get back in time. In such a situation, O'Connor was still okay, as his position was somewhat about chasing McCarthy, but Vida's pressing was a bit reckless, and he didn't have the awareness to defend the area behind him to the death!
If it were Lewandowski dribbling past a player with a flick outside Blackburn's penalty area, guess what Blackburn's defenders would do? Even if it meant fouling and getting a card, they would keep the player there at all costs!
However, Vida's performance at other times was quite good. It's just that when facing an opponent with strong adaptability, he tends to be caught off guard. He's young and energetic but lacks experience. Let him grow slowly, but this growth comes at a cost."
Sam Allardyce raised both fists and cheered excitedly on the sideline. After finishing his celebration, he looked up at the sky and smiled slightly.
Huang Hao, however, looked serious and immediately began making substitutions. Forward Ayu was preparing to come on; he had already warmed up.
As for the midfielders with attacking ability, they were all in the hospital.
Cambridge United used their last two substitutions before the restart.
Ayu and Kane came on, replacing Kante and Sun Jihai respectively. Let O'Connor, Smith, Grenier, and Gotze organize the attack from outside and then deliver passes into the penalty area. If Ayu had a chance to break through on the flank, he could also try to create danger.
Blackburn also made a substitution.
The goal-scoring veteran Di Santo was replaced by Nzonzi.
Huang Hao was truly exasperated today; it was a game that left him utterly depressed. Not to mention Blackburn's rough defense, after all, their reputation for violence was not unfounded.
Even McCarthy could have a flash of brilliance and dribble past a player with a flick, what was that supposed to mean?
Was it like it never rains but it pours?
A player who had a car accident last year and almost met his maker, a player who years later would be mentioned in English football with immense regret and lament, a player who would cause Blackburn fans heartache in the future, precisely today he shone again! What terrible luck!
Blackburn, being in the lead, focused even more on defense. Nzonzi coming on was a deterrent, and McCarthy simply threw himself into midfield defense.
Blackburn's fouls became more obvious, even trending towards madness; they only wanted to hold onto their victory.
Cambridge United could now only resort to long balls and aerial crosses; there was no other way to threaten the opponent's penalty area.
In the 85th minute of the match, Sam Allardyce simply withdrew McCarthy and brought on a defensive midfielder to further increase defensive solidity!
Cambridge United's frantic attacks were disorganized. Long balls and aerial crosses failed to create threats. Ayu and Vardy were lost in the physical confrontations in the penalty area, and Lewandowski also pushed into the box but couldn't find an opportunity.
When the final whistle blew, Huang Hao turned directly and walked into the player tunnel, even skipping the handshake with Sam Allardyce.
Ewood Park, meanwhile, erupted with deafening cheers from the Blackburn fans!