Cambridge United's offense surged again; previously, they had achieved some success attacking the left flank.
The next wave of attack, however, shifted to the right flank.
When Tadić and Kante surged forward together on the right flank, Shorey's defense was virtually nonexistent; he inherently lacked significant distinguishing features, perhaps only active running could be considered one, but unfortunately, facing Cambridge United's sharp flank attack, he not only couldn't resist but didn't even get a chance to directly confront them.
With a pass and a run, Tadić and Kante easily shook him off.
When they advanced the attack further, Juninho followed up in the center to receive, and Kante, on the outside of the flank, was the first to run in front of the full-back Shorey, but the person controlling the ball and dribbling forward was Tadić.
Shorey wanted to create an offside trap and press Tadić, but Tadić, when still 5 yards away from him, suddenly changed direction with a dribble and surged towards the rib of the penalty area. At this moment, Davis actively rushed over to block and intercept Tadić.
Vardy, who was positioning himself in the center of the penalty area, saw Davis leave his defensive zone. He thought to himself, “Going to help others? He really doesn't have me in his eyes!” He immediately moved into the open space. Tadić, just as he was about to be double-teamed, obliquely tapped the ball back to the advancing Juninho.
Juninho looked up to observe the situation ahead before touching the ball. Vardy had already run into the open space, but Sidwell in front of him was blocking the passing lane between him and Vardy. Tadić was also making an inside run, and Davis immediately followed him for tight marking. Juninho made a decision in an instant: after the ball rolled to his feet, he gently chipped it with his right foot, sending a through ball deep into the right rib of the penalty area.
The ball flew over Davis's head and fell behind him. He was sure he was following Tadić, and he instinctively turned his head to look where Vardy was. Dunn was also with Vardy. So, who was Juninho's pass for?
Just as a fleeting doubt crossed Davis's mind, cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.
There was still one more person!
As expected, when he turned to look at the ball's landing spot, he was surprised to see Kante cutting diagonally into the penalty area from the outside of the flank, and he was rushing towards the ball's landing spot unmarked.
Goalkeeper Friedel immediately moved towards the near post. Kante, facing the falling ball, used the instep of his right foot to tap the ball towards the center of the goal.
Vardy ran forward one step and, before Dunn, lifted his leg for an aerial volley!
He didn't put much power into it, just letting the ball deflect, and the ball flying towards the far corner of the goal left goalkeeper Friedel helpless!
After the ball flew into Aston Villa's goal, Vardy had just turned to celebrate. At this moment, many people on the Cambridge United bench also stood up with smiles, but the next second, deafening boos erupted from Park Stadium.
The linesman's flag was raised high, exceptionally glaring! Vardy spread his hands, indicating his confusion; he was certain he couldn't be offside!
Dunn, who was beside him, was caught off guard by his early move, and besides, Kante's passing position meant there was no possibility of Vardy being offside!
“According to the linesman's flag signal, the linesman has ruled an offside at the near post, so it's not Vardy who was offside, but Kante, who provided the assist!
Was Kante offside at the moment Juninho passed the ball?
We can only wait for the slow-motion replay of the match footage to judge later.”
Kante had originally gone to celebrate with Vardy. After seeing Vardy turn his head to look at the linesman with a bewildered expression, he also turned to look at the linesman. Upon seeing the linesman's signal, he immediately exploded, rushing towards the linesman like a small lion. After reaching the linesman, he furiously questioned, “Me offside? How could I be offside? Did you even see clearly? This call of yours is simply a crime!”
Huang Hao stood up from the bench. He walked to the sideline, and upon seeing Kante's angry state, he actually smiled.
Very good; he likes players with fighting spirit.
The referee immediately blew his whistle and ran towards Kante, unceremoniously pointing him towards the field, telling him to leave the linesman, and showing him a yellow card.
“The slow-motion replay shows this is a clear misjudgment! An absolute misjudgment! At the exact moment Juninho passed the ball, indeed, Kante's position was beyond Shorey, but the full-back Luke Young on the far side was trailing behind the furthest! If Shorey or defender Dunn were used as reference points, Kante would be offside, but if the linesman saw Luke Young on the far side, then this ball would definitely not be offside!
This is a misjudgment; the linesman has killed a goal for Cambridge United!”
Huang Hao slowly walked to the fourth official, pointed at him, and said in a deep voice, “Another shoddy officiating, I sometimes truly admire you all. Even if you're cursed to hell and back, you can still hold your heads high!”
O'Neill shrugged on the sideline; he felt that Cambridge United was overreacting at this point.
Are there few controversial calls in European football every week?
This is football!
If you can't accept it, then get off the pitch!
After reprimanding the fourth official, Huang Hao walked back to the bench and sat down again.
He was already used to this; even Manchester United and Arsenal had criticized referees for unfair calls against them more than once in a season, so it was perfectly normal for him to protest to the referee from time to time.
With a good goal disallowed, Vardy himself shook his head and walked back, starting to defend.
Perhaps it was due to the absolute trust he had from the coaching staff at Cambridge United; Vardy himself adjusted his mentality very quickly. At the very least, he didn't have a crisis of trust within the team, and he also had full confidence in the team. There was no need to worry about creating chances; what was due would always come.
All he had to do was always be ready to give his all for the next attack!
Aston Villa continued to patiently organize their offense. In the 23rd minute of the match, full-back Shorey pushed up to assist. Although his explosive power was relatively low, his speed was above average, and his stamina was also good.
Ashley Young on the left flank was just a decoy, attracting Tadić's defensive attention.
When Petrov passed the ball to the left flank, Tadić really thought the opponent was passing the ball to Ashley Young, but Ashley Young let the ball go through. Just as the ball was about to roll out of bounds, Shorey rushed up and dribbled the ball forward. Tadić's attempt to change direction and chase back seemed powerless.
Shorey dribbled the ball to the 45-degree position on the flank, preparing to cross. He looked up to observe the situation in the penalty area and found that Carew was being double-teamed by Lovren and Van Dijk inside the box.
So, he passed the ball horizontally to the left-of-center area in front of the penalty box.
Agbonlahor, who was roving outside the penalty area, actively ran to receive. Under Kante's pressure, Agbonlahor struggled to control the ball. When he attempted to break through Kante with a feint, Kante extended his leg to intercept, but the ball hit his leg, causing him to stumble and get past.
However, when he caught up with the ball inside the penalty area, Van Dijk had already moved over to block, forcing Agbonlahor to take a desperate shot. The ball was blocked by Van Dijk's body!
The next second, Agbonlahor immediately raised his hand, signaling a handball foul by Van Dijk!
When Van Dijk blocked the ball with his body, his hands were held in front of him, and the ball did hit his forearm, but referee Knight made no call.
O'Neill on the sideline immediately exploded. He angrily rushed to the sideline, yelling and screaming, signaling that the officiating team had made a wrong call.
Earlier, when Cambridge United's goal was disallowed, he had appeared so calm and collected, even inwardly disdainful of Cambridge United's reaction.
But when it was his turn to encounter a similar situation, his reaction was more like throwing a tantrum than Huang Hao's.
After all, it wasn't an absolute handball foul.
The referee had ample reason not to blow the whistle; Van Dijk did not use his hand to enlarge his defensive area.
Upon seeing O'Neill's reaction, the Cambridge United fans immediately began to insult him again.
“O'Neill, eat shit!”
“O'Neill, woo-la-la, eat shit, oh hehe!”
O'Neill's face turned extremely ugly!
In the 28th minute of the match, Cambridge United attacked down the right flank. Kante and Tadić once again wreaked havoc on the right. M'Vila, who had moved closer to the right flank, engaged in a triangular pass with the two, causing Ashley Young and striker Agbonlahor's active pressing to fail. Tadić surged ahead, crossing midfield along the sideline to receive M'Vila's pass and continued to dribble forward, pushing the attack.
As Sidwell covered the flank in midfield, Tadić continued to accelerate forward, creating an angle to pass to the center before decisively sending a horizontal pass.
Juninho, who had pushed up to assist, distributed the ball in the center. He sent a diagonal pass to Mahrez's feet. Tadić had already stretched the right-flank defense on the right, and now Cambridge United's attack shifted to the left. Mahrez, after dribbling the ball into the dangerous attacking zone, sent another horizontal pass.
Petrov, in the center in front of the penalty area, didn't expect Vardy to drop back to receive. He moved forward to try and win the ball, but Vardy pulled the ball back and turned in place, not only avoiding his interception but also breaking through his defense.
Seeing the menacing Vardy, the two central defenders, Davis and Dunn, immediately closed down. When Vardy reached the center in front of the penalty area, he passed the ball horizontally. Watching the ball roll towards the right-of-center position in front of the penalty area, Lewandowski was making an inside run. Davis immediately moved horizontally to block. Dunn, meanwhile, was marking in the center of the penalty area, ready to respond to any potential change of direction or dribbling breakthrough from Lewandowski.
But by the time he reacted to Vardy surging diagonally past him, it was too late. Lewandowski, in front of the penalty area, also simply chipped the ball diagonally into the left rib of the penalty area.
The ball flew over Dunn's head. Dunn hurriedly retreated and jumped to head the ball clear, but after jumping, he realized he had jumped too early. The ball grazed his scalp and fell behind him.
Dunn's eyes widened, feeling a prickling sensation on his back, and he thought to himself, “It's over!”
Vardy, who had surged diagonally past him, was behind and to his left, meeting the falling ball. He still had time to observe goalkeeper Friedel's positioning. Friedel was moving towards the near post on his side. Vardy made up his mind, and as the ball fell to mid-air in front of him, he turned sideways and tapped the ball with the instep of his right foot, a shooting posture similar to his disallowed goal earlier.
Vardy used the instep of his foot to tap the ball towards the far corner of the goal. Friedel, while moving, sharply stopped and turned back towards the far post, then launched himself into a dive, attempting to block the ball, but he was a step too slow. The ball flew past his fingertips and straight into the goal!
Upon seeing the goal, Vardy immediately looked at the linesman's reaction. The linesman's flag was not raised, and referee Knight also pointed to the center circle, signaling a valid goal.
Vardy's face immediately broke into an excited smile. He turned, spread his arms, and rushed towards the corner flag, letting out a passionate roar!
All Cambridge United fans at Park Stadium stood up, applauding and cheering!
How long had it been since they last saw Vardy score?
From the moment he got injured until today, it hadn't actually been long, but the fans felt like they had waited too long!
“Vardy scores! A brilliant combination and shot! A simple yet effective combination with Lewandowski in front of the penalty area, enough to tear apart Aston Villa's defense. Lewandowski's overhead chip pass was perfectly timed, and Dunn's desperate jump to head the ball clear ultimately resulted in him misjudging it!
Vardy didn't wait for the ball to land, directly volleying it with his right foot, cleanly sending the ball into the far corner of the goal!
Cambridge United 1:0 Aston Villa!”
Huang Hao's lips curled upwards. He stood up from the bench and walked to the sideline, his fists gently pumping up and down in front of him.