In the second half, back on the Park Stadium, Tottenham adopted an offensive posture after Cambridge United kicked off.
Their defensive aggressiveness also increased, especially on the flanks.
In the first half, Tottenham's two flanks were suppressed. No matter how out of touch Redknapp was, he still had the wisdom of watching a game. However, Tottenham's hard power couldn't improve immediately after a 15-minute break. So Redknapp adopted the simplest and most primitive method: fouling!
Foul tactics are not shameful at all; they are allowed by the rules. No team has ever committed a heinous crime or provoked public outrage by fouling, nor has anyone ever been exasperated by an opponent's foul tactics. If they were, it would only mean they don't understand football yet.
Cambridge United's offensive in the early part of the second half was not very ideal.
In the 52nd minute of the match, Tadić had just touched the ball on the right wing in the attacking third when he was knocked down from behind by Palacios. Tadić, lying on the ground, turned his head to look at Palacios. The opponent's attitude was quite friendly; he actively reached out to help Tadić up. Everyone plays for their own side, and the goal is victory, not pure physical harm to the opponent, so most professional players will understand, unless their mentality has completely broken down.
Cambridge United's set-piece attacks did not pose much of a threat; Tottenham, at least, was relatively well-prepared for set-piece crosses.
In the 55th minute of the match, Kyle Walker of Tottenham's backline intercepted Mahrez's pass to Lewandowski. Mahrez's pass was too obvious. Kyle Walker's anticipation was correct, and his interception was decisive. After winning the ball, he immediately launched a counterattack.
Kyle Walker passed the ball directly to Modric, who had moved from the wing to the center. The latter created distance from M'Vila, then accurately aimed at the passing target ahead, delivering a direct pass to Defoe, who was lurking outside the penalty area.
Defoe controlled the ball, turned, and evaded Kante's press, but he didn't expect Van Dijk in the penalty area to bravely step forward and slide tackle head-on!
Defoe was caught off guard and lost control of the ball while dodging.
Van Dijk's tackle was clean and decisive, earning him a round of applause.
Huang Hao nodded on the sidelines. In fact, if Kante played as a single defensive midfielder, his defensive quality would still be unsettling, after all, Kante's physical condition is what it is, plus the Premier League's standard is gradually improving, especially in terms of offense. Too many attackers with different offensive styles and excellent abilities have come to the Premier League, making it difficult for defensive players.
Therefore, Huang Hao brought in M'Vila. Currently, it seems that a double defensive midfield is better than a single defensive midfield plus an attacking midfielder.
Moreover, allowing a center-back like Van Dijk to aggressively push up and defend has temporarily shown good results.
In the 59th minute of the match, Cambridge United launched a brilliant attack from the left wing in the attacking third. Kante, Mahrez, and Juninho made successive one-touch passes, quickly advancing the attack into the dangerous zone. Then, Mahrez unexpectedly cut inside, while Juninho, acting as a decoy, stayed on the wing without making a run, tying up Kyle Walker's defensive attention.
As Mahrez just cut inside into the penalty area, Dawson, King, and Palacios all moved forward together, first leaving Lewandowski in an offside position, and then Dawson rushed to intercept Mahrez.
As Dawson rushed in front of him, Mahrez suddenly made a short diagonal pass into the right-of-center open space in front of the penalty area.
Tadić, poised there, unleashed another powerful shot upon receiving the ball!
This time, goalkeeper Gomes made a spectacular save, moving laterally one step before diving out and punching the ball away with a single fist!
"Gomes saved Tottenham's goal! Cambridge United's two goals in the first half were both scored by midfielders. In the second half, Juninho and Kante continued to play important roles. If this shot had been a bit more tricky, then Keller might have only been able to surrender!"
Tottenham's defense was still shaken. Three minutes later, Ekotto's foul on Tadić near the sideline in the backfield gave Cambridge United a direct free kick in the attacking third.
Juninho picked up the ball and went to the spot. The foul was 30 meters from the goal, outside the large penalty area, near the right corner flag. Tottenham set up a wall with Bale and Modric.
Van Dijk, De Vrij, and Lewandowski gathered to the right of the goal, ready to contest headers. M'Vila and Kante stood in front of the large penalty area, ready to challenge for the second ball at any moment. Gomes stood in the middle of the goal, ready to rush out and intercept Juninho's cross.
Juninho raised his right hand, showing four fingers. Seeing this, the Cambridge United players swarmed backward, causing the Tottenham players to also move back.
Juninho stood 10 meters away, took a run-up, and struck the lower-middle part of the ball fiercely with his instep. The initial speed of the ball reached 110 kilometers per hour, rising into the air with almost zero spin. The players all rushed to the far post, preparing to head the ball, and Gomes jogged two steps, preparing to catch the ball in the air.
The ball curved to the right, bypassed the wall, and flew straight towards the stands.
Too high? Off target? Everyone muttered to themselves, unknowingly stopping their steps.
As the ball flew towards the goal, just as it was about to fly out, an invisible hand seemed to guide it, causing it to plummet at an almost vertical angle, directly into the top left corner of the goal. Gomes, moving towards the right side of the goal, turned his head and watched the ball enter the net, dumbfounded.
"Wow, this is God, this is God, this is not a goal a human can score. Juninho once again showed us his signature free-kick philosophy that disregards angle limitations."
3:1! Park Stadium instantly erupted.
In the 65th minute of the match, Palacios, on the left side of Tottenham's midfield, passed the ball to Modric. The latter, after horizontally feinting to shake off M'Vila's entanglement, then delivered a diagonal pass to the right flank in the attacking third. Lennon crossed from 45 degrees on the wing. This cross was well-conceived, a large arc bypassing the Cambridge United defense, landing at the far post in the penalty area.
Defoe galloped forward from the open space, then rushed to the spot and slid to shoot. Although his toe touched the ball, he couldn't direct it towards Cambridge United's goal.
"Defoe only regretted that his foot was a few centimeters too short!"
Seeing Defoe's slide shot poke the ball out for a goal kick, the Tottenham fans who had traveled to support them let out sighs of disappointment.
Cambridge United's midfield and defense organized their attack calmly. After a few passes, Kante again crossed the halfway line. He passed the ball horizontally to Sun Jihai on the wing, who then passed it directly forward to Tadić, who had made a run into open space.
Ekotto was already somewhat at a loss as to how to defend. He was no match for Tadić one-on-one, and with Sun Jihai lurking on the wing, he could only guard the key positions to prevent the opponent from cutting inside.
The outside lane on the wing could only be given up.
This time, however, Tadić dribbled the ball horizontally across the front of the penalty area. When Palacios retreated to pressure him, Tadić passed the ball horizontally to Juninho in the center. Modric also returned to the central defensive midfield, his purpose being to prevent Cambridge United's players from acting recklessly in front of the penalty area.
Juninho did not stop the ball, making a one-touch pass directly into the penalty area.
Vardy received the ball with his back to goal. Dawson was behind him, ready to press. He lightly flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot, causing it to slightly change direction and roll diagonally behind him.
Lewandowski suddenly dropped back under King's defense. His retreat was to receive the ball flicked by Vardy. King reacted a beat too slow, as he was passively tracking.
Lewandowski's choice upon receiving the ball while turning was also a one-touch pass. He obliquely tapped the ball with the instep of his right foot to where Vardy was making his run.
After flicking the ball, Vardy immediately turned and ran forward. The tall and big Dawson, although not slow, was still inferior to Vardy in terms of speed. In a small area, there was still a clear gap between his initial burst and Vardy's.
As a result, after Vardy and Lewandowski completed a wall pass inside the penalty area, Vardy turned and rushed forward again. Dawson failed to keep up with Vardy, allowing Vardy to create an excellent shooting opportunity, and the distance to the goal was at most only 10 yards!
Under everyone's gaze, Vardy rushed forward, about to shoot. Dawson was tight behind him. As the ball rolled in front of Vardy, Cambridge United fans expected Vardy to blast a powerful shot past Gomes.
But Vardy did not complete the shot; instead, he was pushed to the ground from behind by Dawson!
Vardy fell completely inside the penalty area, and as he landed, the ball rolled past him.
Park Stadium instantly erupted with deafening shouts!
The referee's whistle and his gesture pointing to the Tottenham penalty spot made the Cambridge United fans cheer and celebrate again!
"Cambridge United has been awarded a penalty! Vardy was pushed to the ground from behind by Dawson in the penalty area just as he was about to shoot! This is a clear penalty, absolutely no diving involved! Because that chance just now was definitely better than a penalty kick. If possible, Vardy would certainly have wanted to complete the shot; a goal was within reach!"
On the field, Dawson did not try to defend himself. He stood up, placed his hands on his hips, and slightly lowered his head. His teammates also simply said a few words to the referee before giving up.
The Cambridge United players first helped Vardy up, then high-fived him in celebration.
The stands quickly grew quiet, as Cambridge United fans did not want noise to interfere with the player's penalty kick.
Redknapp shook his head slightly on the sidelines, his eyes blank.
From leading by one goal to equalizing, falling behind, and now being awarded a penalty, this process for him was like soaring to the clouds only to plunge into an abyss!
Huang Hao, meanwhile, stood with his arms crossed, observing calmly, showing no sign of excitement.
Celebrating before the ball is in the net is the most foolish behavior.
Tottenham players left the penalty area. Gomes walked to the goalpost to take a drink of water, then discarded the bottle and walked back to the goal line.
The team's primary penalty taker, Vardy, did not enter the penalty area. He approached Juninho and said, "I don't feel like my foot is in good form today. You take this penalty."
Juninho looked at him deeply, then nodded. This was an opportunity for him to score a hat-trick.
The referee blew his whistle. Juninho took his run-up. Gomes looked focused. The moment Juninho arrived at the penalty spot, stopped, and swung his leg to shoot, Gomes dove to the left side of the goal.
Juninho shot the ball with the inside of his foot into the top right corner of the goal!
The ball flew into the net; he scored with one kick!
"Juninho's goal was clean and decisive. Gomes misjudged. The quality of this penalty was very high, with excellent angle and power. Swansea completed a great comeback! They scored four consecutive goals from one goal down! Now Cambridge United leads Tottenham 4:1 at Park Stadium!
Tottenham is to be pitied. Their attacking line performed well, but their midfield and defense were too disappointing, especially the midfield's complete lack of control over the game, which was also the reason for their attacking line's poor performance in the second half."
After scoring, Juninho turned and ran towards the corner flag to celebrate, grabbing his chest badge and kissing it while raising his fists with his celebrating teammates, laughing wildly and excitedly.
Finally, finally, the comeback!
Win, win!
This was the only belief in the hearts of these spirited young men of Cambridge United!
No matter who was in front of them, they had to defeat them!
Soaring to the sky, standing in the heavens overlooking England!
Redknapp was at a loss. He looked back at the bench. To be honest, his substitute lineup could be described as scrap metal. As the club's football director, he was also partly to blame, as he was responsible for some player transfers. However, transfers in the football world are often a gamble.
Before buying, there is certainly a certain confidence and optimism about the player's development within the team, but what about in reality?
Either they develop as expected or exceed expectations, or they fall short of expectations or are even criticized as flops.
Tottenham also had quality signings like Robbie Keane and Kolasinac, but successful teams are often those where successes outweigh failures, allowing them to steadily build a competitive team. Moreover, Tottenham does not have the financial resources or appeal of a giant club, making them even less able to withstand failure.
Although Tottenham's performance has improved by leaps and bounds under Redknapp this year, the team has too few important rotation players, leading to their key players becoming too tired. This hidden danger will be infinitely magnified in the latter half of the League season.
Perhaps a summer of hard work, on the contrary, laid the groundwork for failure in the following season. This is universally applicable; teams in other Leagues are in similar situations, which is also one of the reasons why mid-to-lower-table teams find it difficult to shake the dominance of the giants.
Cambridge United's success is seen by the outside world as being single-handedly created by Huang Hao. His keen eye in the transfer market and his skillful operations have meant that Cambridge United has rarely had failed signings. Cambridge United has neither been affected by the battle strength impact of failed signings nor has it seen a steady increase in battle strength due to successful signings. This is an important factor in their success.
Even if key players are poached, Cambridge United can unearth new strikers to replace them. Dzeko left, and then Lewandowski rose. Now, this guy Kane also seems pretty good. I need to go back and properly motivate the youth academy director.
Tottenham was somewhat disheartened by the match. Their midfield and defense worked hard to stabilize the backline, while Crouch and Defoe in the attack tried to find scoring opportunities. Cambridge United, after their comeback, played steadily, first controlling the situation. Then, in the 70th minute of the match, Huang Hao opted for a substitution.
He replaced Vardy, who had a mediocre but contributing performance today, with Kane.
Vardy received applause from all the fans as he left the field. Although he didn't score, considering he had just returned from injury and created a penalty that turned the score around, the fans naturally gave him applause to encourage him.
