One could say that the first half today was a rare 45 minutes where Cambridge United were almost completely ineffective in the Premier League.
Huang Hao seemed a bit cornered.
Before kickoff, Cambridge United's formation was clear at a glance.
2-5-3!
Defenders: Lovren, Van Dijk.
Midfielders: Kante, Mahrez, Tadić, Juninho, Gotze.
Forwards: Vardy, Lewandowski, Kane.
The adjustments Huang Hao made were to strengthen the central attacking force and playmaking ability, with the wing-midfielders dropping back into midfield, which allowed them to receive support from the midfield and behind them.
The change in midfield was Juninho organizing and supporting, with Gotze primarily responsible for making late runs into the box!
Kante still focused on defense, maintaining a triangular defensive system with the two center-backs!
Huang Hao's eyes were steady; he wasn't cornered, he was gambling!
He was betting that Hodgson was not without a desire to win.
Cambridge United's change in formation was also a lure, and once Fulham started committing more players to counter-attacks, Cambridge United could then counter their opponent's counter-attacks!
But this was very risky.
Of course it was risky!
However, compared to one point, Huang Hao wanted three points more, and besides, having five defensive players standing idle in the backfield was also a waste.
After Cambridge United changed their formation, they played simply and directly from the start of the second half.
In the 49th minute of the match, Tadić advanced with the ball on the right wing. He first combined with Gotze to break through Duff's defense, and then, while Duff was chasing, he also encountered resistance from fullback Konchesky. In the squeeze, he flicked the ball towards the sideline, then half-turned and swept the ball behind him.
The ball rolled past Duff, who turned to look and saw Kante rushing up, sending a long, arcing cross without stopping the ball.
The ball flew directly into the penalty area.
Due to the extreme speed of the ball, after it dipped, Fulham's center-back Hangeland grazed it with his head, and the ball then fell towards the far post in the box. Juninho, who had cut into the penalty area, cleverly stepped forward and juggled the ball forward with his thigh, then immediately, from a tight angle, swept the ball across the front of the goal to the center. Lewandowski immediately slid in for a shot in the middle, but the ball speed was too fast; by the time he got into position, the ball had just rolled past.
Then the ball rolled out of bounds.
Schwarzer was startled and broke out in a cold sweat from that shot.
“Cambridge United have clearly changed their style of play. After adding Kane, a powerful 188-centimeter center-forward, in the second half, they started trying to cross the ball from the flanks to create danger in the box!
This time, Kante's cross wasn't perfectly placed, but the ball speed was too fast. Hangeland, who tried to head it clear, only slightly grazed the ball. Juninho, who was covering the far post, controlled the ball and surged forward, creating a threat on the left side of the box. He swept the ball across the goalmouth, but unfortunately, Lewandowski was a step too slow in his run. The continuous intense matches are taking a heavy toll on the players' physical condition.”
Hodgson began to feel anxious on the sidelines.
Now Huang Hao had thrown the problem to him.
Attack or not attack?
A glance at Cambridge United's backfield indeed showed large open spaces.
Hodgson, who had originally planned to rely on Murphy and Zamora to break through, now had to consider whether to commit more attacking forces.
It should be noted that in his lineup today, even the wingers Duff and Dempsey were defensively oriented, though they did have some attacking ability. And the two defensive midfielders in the center, while also possessing some attacking ability, Cambridge United's midfield is already strong. If the attack fails and they get hit by a counter-attack, relying on just one defensive midfielder in the center would likely be insufficient to withstand Gotze and Juninho's combined assault!
Hodgson gritted his teeth and gestured from the sideline, telling his players not to panic, to calm down, and to stick to the pre-match tactical arrangements!
It wasn't that he didn't dare to take risks, but compared to Cambridge United's adaptability, Fulham was clearly inferior.
Unless there were other major changes on the field, Hodgson always believed that the tactics practiced and emphasized during pre-match preparation were the best!
Changing rashly, on the contrary, might lead to self-destruction.
Just as Cambridge United launched a fierce attack on Fulham, Cambridge United themselves made a mistake.
In the 54th minute of the match, when Mahrez dribbled forward on the left flank and encountered strong resistance, he helplessly passed the ball diagonally back to the central midfield.
Just after Gotze, who was organizing the attack near the center circle, had controlled the ball, he passed it diagonally to Tadić on the right wing, in an unchallenged situation, to initiate an attacking shift. However, the pass was a bit underpowered, and Etuhu decisively moved horizontally to intercept and win the ball.
Before Tadić could attempt a tackle, Etuhu passed the ball to Murphy, who was making a forward run in the center.
Murphy ran directly past Gotze, then continued to dribble the ball forward to advance the attack, while Zamora moved forward to find space and receive the pass.
Van Dijk, who had run to the left wing to join the attack, had already crossed the halfway line. Seeing the team being counter-attacked at this moment, he immediately gritted his teeth and chased back, but it seemed futile, as he could never reach Cambridge United's penalty area faster than Murphy, who was advancing in a straight line.
The Fulham fans in the stadium became excited!
This was a two-on-three attacking opportunity. Although the number of attackers was somewhat disadvantaged compared to the defenders, the attacking space was large!
After Murphy dribbled into the dangerous attacking zone, Kante intended to intercept him from the front. At this moment, only Lovren and Juninho were on the defensive line.
Murphy took a large touch past Kante to his front-left, a relatively long distance, then accelerated to chase the ball again. This was to go around Kante! If Cambridge United's defensive formation had been tight, the opponent would never have been able to dribble like that; the ball would have been intercepted by Cambridge United's fullbacks beforehand.
But now, the defensive space in the backfield was too large, giving Murphy the opportunity to break through Cambridge United's defense in this way.
Zamora was originally in the center of the penalty area. At this moment, Juninho had to move to intercept Murphy with Kante, otherwise, Murphy, whose speed had already reached its maximum, would have had every chance to render Kante, who had just started moving, defensively ineffective.
Lovren was marking Zamora tightly in the center of the penalty area.
Murphy was the first to reach the ball at the top left corner of the penalty area. When Juninho was still two meters away from him, he immediately crossed the ball!
The ball was lofted towards the far post of the penalty area.
Lovren, who was marking Zamora tightly in the center, now found Zamora using his body to prevent Lovren from moving towards the far post.
Zamora, meanwhile, moved towards the far post in the challenge, looking set to meet Murphy's cross and head the ball towards goal!
Fulham fans were excited, and Hodgson was excited too!
Oblak moved towards the near post of the goal!
Huang Hao stared at Cambridge United's goal, involuntarily clenching his teeth, a rare hint of worry appearing in his eyes.
Zamora jumped!
Lovren was completely helpless against him.
Zamora looked at the falling ball. As he jumped, he also observed Oblak's positioning. The moment the ball dropped from the air, he headed it towards the far corner of the goal with his forehead!
He was sure that Oblak, standing near the near post, would be helpless!
He could only sigh in despair, powerless to turn the tide!
Oblak was indeed like that. After Zamora's header, he stood rooted to the spot, mechanically turning his head to look towards the far corner of the goal.
The ball, tracing a parabola through the air like a lob, was falling towards the far corner of the goal, making Fulham fans almost ready to celebrate.
Bang!
The next second, the entire stadium erupted in an uproar!
The ball hit the crossbar and bounced down!
Oblak immediately rushed towards the far post. The moment the ball fell in a straight line, no one could be sure whether the ball landed inside or outside the goal. Murphy rushed into the six-yard box, wanting to follow up with a shot. If he could have, it would have been an undeniable goal!
But Oblak was a step faster, catching the ball that bounced up after landing.
Zamora immediately excitedly signaled to the referee that the ball had bounced inside the goal after landing!
But the referee was unmoved.
Hodgson also excitedly signaled to the fourth official from the sidelines that this ball should have counted as a goal!
Huang Hao closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
That was incredibly close!
“Cambridge United narrowly escaped! Zamora met Murphy’s cross in the box with a header. He headed the ball towards the far corner of the goal, but unfortunately, it hit the underside of the crossbar. The ball bounced off the ground and was then gathered by Oblak.
And looking at the slow-motion replay, it's hard to say if the ball completely crossed the goal line. Due to the lack of better-angled replays, we also cannot determine whether the ball went in or not. This is probably as controversial as England's goal against Germany in the 1966 World Cup.
The reality is that the referee did not rule the ball crossed the goal line for a goal, so for now, we can only say that the ball did not go in, and the score remains 0-0.”
Gotze's passing error almost caused a major disaster. After reopening his eyes, Huang Hao turned to look at Hodgson, who was still protesting to the fourth official.
The entire stadium booed, and Fulham fans were naturally dissatisfied with the referee's inaction.
They believed that Fulham should be leading Cambridge United by now.
Huang Hao looked at the agitated Hodgson, who was being calmed down by the fourth official, and thought to himself: 'Have you seen the hope of winning? Then commit more players to attack!'
Cambridge United playing a three-at-the-back formation away from home, and with an aggressive pressing style in midfield, naturally gave Fulham a better attacking environment at home.
Fulham didn't need to go all out; they just needed to commit one or two more players to attack. It's easy to imagine that if the attacking opportunity just now had been a 3-on-3 or 4-on-3 situation, Cambridge United's defense would likely have been completely overwhelmed!
Hodgson indignantly walked back to the home team's dugout. He gradually suppressed his anger, and when he looked back at the field, he did consider whether to increase his counter-attacking forces.
But five minutes later, a Cambridge United attack completely dispelled that thought.
In the 60th minute of the match, Mahrez surged forward on the left wing. His primary dribbling area today was the flanks; attempts to cut inside had all ended in failure. This time, as he dribbled forward, caught between Konchesky and Dempsey, he still unexpectedly changed direction and dribbled the ball to the byline.
When he feigned a cut inside the box, Dempsey immediately retreated into the box to block his advance. Mahrez saw Konchesky rushing to press him, so he stopped abruptly, pulled the ball back, turned, and then laid it off. Juninho stepped forward, lightly nudging the ball forward with his left foot, then looked up to assess the situation in the penalty area, and then followed up with a high-quality cross.
Vardy was active around the penalty spot, while Kane rushed towards the near post of the goal. Because Kane was so conspicuous, his run forced Fulham's defenders to mark him tightly.
This created some space in the central area of the Fulham penalty box, near the penalty spot, when the ball flew past the near post and started to dip.
Lewandowski was lurking there, using Kane as a decoy!
As the ball descended, Hughes was already pressing him from behind. Lewandowski didn't have time to adjust; he had to shoot immediately, so he directly headed the ball towards the goal!
The distance was decent, and although the angle wasn't extremely tricky, it still severely tested the goalkeeper.
Australian international goalkeeper Schwarzer performed steadily on the goal line. Facing Lewandowski's header, he moved two steps horizontally and then stretched out his hand to block the ball away.
“Schwarzer has done it again! Lewandowski’s header inside the box was blocked by him!
Wait, there's still a chance, Kane heads it again!”
The blocked ball happened to fall where Kane was. He outjumped Hangeland to head the ball towards goal again, and this time he headed it towards the top left corner of the goal!
It looked like the angle was very tricky, with a high chance of a goal, but Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer, using his previous block, was already positioned close to the near post. This time he directly jumped and dived out, extending his long arm, and with his right hand, he once again blocked the ball from that almost impossible top left corner of the goal!
Fullback Pantsil, who had dropped into the penalty area, immediately ran forward and cleared the ball out for a goal kick.
The entire stadium was stunned!
“Schwarzer has made two consecutive saves from Cambridge United’s shots! Cambridge United are really unlucky! They’ve run into a god-like goalkeeper today!”
After standing up, Schwarzer roared forward, and then Hughes and Pantsil both rushed over, yelling and bumping his chest!