After the match restarted, although the first wave of attack failed, Mahrez's cross was headed clear by Ledley King, Tottenham's counter-attack also failed.
As soon as Ekotto's through pass from the backfield sideline reached Palacios's feet, Kante rushed up from behind, and after a legitimate body collision, directly knocked the ball out of bounds.
Huang Hao applauded from the sideline, telling the players to play like that!
Although Tottenham still had possession, it delayed their attacking speed, allowing Cambridge United's attacking players to have time to retreat and fill defensive space in the backfield, forcing Tottenham to play a positional battle again.
In a positional battle, Tottenham posed little threat because of their lack of attacking creativity; their wide play had little novelty, and as long as Cambridge United's one-on-one defense wasn't completely broken, their defensive line wouldn't have major problems.
Modric's long-range shot from outside the box didn't test Oblak, who easily collected the ball.
Having stabilized their formation, Cambridge United continued their wide attacks.
In the 32nd minute of the match, Cambridge United maintained stable possession in their half, and M'Vila's wall pass with Juninho caused Palacios's midfield interception to miss.
Juninho dribbled the ball forward alone along the center.
Ledley King gradually retreated, ready to drop into the box, but if Juninho continued to dribble towards the box, he would directly step forward to press.
After entering the dangerous attacking zone, Juninho changed his dribbling direction to the left wing.
At this point, Lennon, who was originally on the wing with Kyle Walker, moved to press Juninho.
Juninho glanced at the situation on the wing before laying the ball off horizontally.
Lennon turned his head and saw that the ball was rolling behind Vardy, not passed to Vardy; he already knew who would be rushing up.
Mahrez!
Mahrez hooked the ball back before it rolled out of bounds, then continued to dribble forward.
Kyle Walker moved to the outside of the wing, preparing to press Mahrez, but as soon as he moved, Vardy ran into the space behind him.
Mahrez sent a through pass, and Vardy controlled the ball on the wing outside the box.
He looked up to observe the situation in the middle of the box, then delivered a decent cross.
The ball fell to the middle of the goalmouth, and Lewandowski was losing the aerial duel with Dawson, who ultimately jumped and headed the ball clear.
Seeing that this cross attack didn't pose a threat, Cambridge United fans were somewhat disappointed, but then new hope immediately ignited, and their eyes gazed expectantly at the ball.
Dawson's clearance fell to the right side of the area in front of the box.
Juninho was entangled by Lennon in the left side of the area in front of the box and couldn't reach the ball's landing spot, but in that open area, a Cambridge United player still arrived swiftly!
Defensive midfielder Kante!
He used his chest to control the falling ball, then nudged it with his right foot before unleashing a powerful shot!
The ball rocketed towards Tottenham's goal like a cannonball.
But the shot still went towards the bottom right corner of the goal, frustrating some Cambridge United fans.
Previously, Vardy and M'Vila both shot at this angle, and their goals were narrowly missed.
Now Kante also shoots at this angle?
Goalkeeper Gomes ran two steps towards the right post of the goal before giving up; the ball speed was too fast for him to make a save.
He could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into the goal!
This time, Kante did not disappoint; his powerful shot flew cleanly into Tottenham's goal!
Park Stadium suddenly erupted!
Cambridge United fans cheered for Kante, and his teammates ran to high-five him.
This goal was crucial; for Cambridge United, it not only equalized the score but also boosted morale.
"Kante scores with a long-range shot! This is his first Premier League goal!
This shot left Gomes stunned!
Huang Hao's expression on the sideline finally improved slightly.
Redknapp, on the other hand, also started to scold his players, apparently believing that the team's defense in front of the box was too loose.
After the match restarted, Tottenham played more proactively, but their positional play truly offered nothing for Cambridge United to fear.
Kyle Walker's attempt to break through De Vrij on the right wing was directly intercepted by his opponent.
De Vrij sent a long pass from his own half to the advanced central midfield area.
M'Vila rushed forward, jumping ahead of Ledley King to head the ball to Juninho, who came to receive it on the right wing.
After controlling the ball, Juninho dribbled forward, initiating an attack.
While moving rapidly, Juninho saw Vardy running into space in front of the box to receive, and he directly passed the ball to Vardy.
Vardy dribbled horizontally one step, and after attracting Ekotto and Dawson to double-team him, he laid the ball back to Juninho, who was rushing up from behind, turning and running forward for a wall pass!
Juninho's lobbed pass sent the ball into Vardy's path, and Vardy, catching up to the ball inside the box, shot without hesitation!
The shot went towards the near post, but the height was somewhat comfortable for goalkeeper Gomes.
Gomes raised his left hand and blocked Vardy's shot, but his block looked somewhat lucky.
It was a completely instinctive action.
The blocked ball flew to the left wing, and Ekotto ran to control it, then sent a long pass.
Upfront, Crouch dropped back this time and headed the ball to Modric, who dribbled two steps and then chose to force a breakthrough against M'Vila.
Although he got the ball past him, M'Vila simultaneously extended his leg and brought him down.
The referee blew his whistle, and showed M'Vila a yellow card.
Tottenham's direct free kick was floated into the box, and Van Dijk's frontal defense was quite stable, heading the ball directly clear.
Lennon, lurking outside the box, controlled the ball and shot from thirty yards, the ball flying directly into the stands.
With less than 5 minutes remaining in the first half, Tottenham manager Redknapp gestured to his players on the sideline.
The gesture's meaning was easy to understand: strengthen defense!
Cambridge United wouldn't think so much; naturally, the game wouldn't stop, and the attack wouldn't cease!
In the 41st minute of the match, the right-wing attack came fiercely again.
De Vrij surged forward from the back, receiving a pass from Kante and dribbling with long strides.
Upon encountering Palacios, he executed a quick wall pass with Tadić, and Tadić's one-touch pass also evaded Ekotto's interception.
De Vrij, without losing speed, dribbled along the outside of the wing to the byline.
Ekotto chased back to block the inside line, and De Vrij decisively laid the ball back diagonally.
Tadić, who had followed up at the top right corner of the box, sent a diagonal pass into the box.
Vardy, lurking behind Lewandowski, moved horizontally to receive the pass and shot directly without stopping the ball!
Dawson stood in front of him, blocking his shot with his body.
The ball rebounded and flew out of bounds on the right wing.
De Vrij ran back to take the throw-in.
Tottenham's defensive line dropped back quite deep, and their overall deployment looked quite tight.
De Vrij's throw-in found Kante, who completed a short passing combination with Sun Jihai, avoiding Defoe's counter-press.
M'Vila controlled the ball in the midfield area, and after observing the situation ahead, he passed the ball diagonally to Mahrez.
They attacked the right wing earlier, now they attack the left wing.
Cambridge United's two wings flew in unison, tearing at Tottenham's horizontal defense as much as possible.
Tottenham's backline instinctively shifted towards Mahrez's side.
This time, Mahrez dribbled along the inside channel, leading Palacios, who was chasing him, to also move inside, and Kyle Walker also dropped into the box to prevent his inside cut.
After dribbling to the edge of the box, Mahrez suddenly laid the ball horizontally to the left wing.
Kante was already waiting there for his teammate's pass, directly taking the ball and surging forward.
After reaching the byline, Kante had ample time to observe the situation inside the box.
Tadić's inside run into the box was to the near post, and Lewandowski also moved towards the near post of the goal.
The two of them drew Tottenham's two defenders and one defensive midfielder, King, Dawson, and Palacios, all crowding into the near post area of the goal.
Vardy sought opportunities in the middle of the goalmouth but not close to the goal line, with Ekotto shadowing him.
As Kyle Walker rushed to press, Kante nudged the ball further towards the byline, then curled a cross with his left foot!
This was a high cross with a very clear parabola; everyone in Tottenham's box looked up at the sky.
The ball passed over the heads of those at the near post and then began to drop rapidly.
Due to the height, goalkeeper Gomes, even near the near post, could not disrupt the ball's flight path.
Gomes immediately moved towards the far post of the goal, while others could only watch with sighs.
As the ball dropped towards the far post, everyone saw Juninho sprint to the goal, leap high, and head the ball into the goal!
"Wow! Juninho puts Cambridge United ahead! This was a brilliant team effort.
Kante saw the open space at the far post of the box.
Tottenham's defenders in the box were almost all crowded at the near post and central areas of the goal.
This gave Juninho space to surge in and score with a header!
Juninho picked up the ball from inside the goal and ran towards midfield.
He held the ball with one hand, his face stern, and slightly pumped his other fist up and down towards the stands!
Park Stadium erupted in deafening cheers.
"Juninho!"
"Juninho!"
Juninho had only played a few matches but had already quickly won over Cambridge United fans!
Redknapp's face was pale on the sideline.
His one-goal lead had vanished, and only then did he realize he had been too complacent too soon!
At Park Stadium, Cambridge United had infinite possibilities!
Disadvantages and adversities had certainly befallen Cambridge United at this stadium, but their resilient spirit and tenacious fighting will often allowed them to overcome dangers!
Once is luck, twice is coincidence, three times, four times—no one will still doubt that Cambridge United's combat power at home will clearly break through their own limits!
This was their foundation for conquering the Premier League, their base camp for declaring war on Europe; this was their source of motivation and their most familiar battlefield!
They were naturally the kings here!
Tottenham did not launch a fierce attack after the restart; they only wanted to get through the first half quickly, because for them, this first half had been a rollercoaster.
Tottenham had a dream start, then conceded two goals, and the immense sense of loss made them need to stop and regroup now.
The first half of the match quickly ended, with both teams heading into the locker rooms with a score of 1:2.
Upon returning to the locker room, Huang Hao primarily made defensive adjustments.
Kante would focus more on Sun Jihai's side, effectively neutralizing Bale, which would significantly reduce Tottenham's attack potency.
The issue of the three-center-back coordination could not be resolved immediately, so they could only be assigned specific defensive responsibilities, at least to reduce errors in defensive coordination.
Simply put, Sun Jihai and De Vrij would intercept directly on the defensive line, even aggressively pressing up to the defensive midfield line to form frontal resistance.
Van Dijk would intercept opponents' penetrations and breakthroughs from behind.
With this arrangement, the horizontal defensive area naturally expanded, meaning the two wide midfielders needed to be more proactive and frequently drop into the box to assist the two wide center-backs, compressing space within the box.
All of Cambridge United's players listened intently to Huang Hao's defensive adjustments, and after resting, they walked out of the locker room with renewed fighting spirit.