In the midst of the immense roar at Park Stadium, the match between Cambridge United and Manchester United began!
Cambridge United kicked off first, launching a swift attack right from the start.
After receiving a return pass from the frontline, Kante horizontally passed the ball to the left side of midfield.
Mahrez charged forward, and as soon as he controlled the ball, he was pressed by Nani. Mahrez quickly released the ball, playing a wall pass with Juninho, who came to support him. After surging past Nani, he saw Carrick moving to his vicinity, watching like a tiger. Without hesitation, Mahrez decisively passed the ball directly forward. Tadić controlled the ball on the wing in the attacking third, facing Gary Neville's interception.
As soon as he controlled the ball and turned, he elegantly dribbled with continuous touches. Gary Neville dared not press forward actively, fearing Tadić would suddenly change direction and break through. Tadić did not force a breakthrough either; instead, he nudged the ball towards the center, bypassing Gary Neville and moving inside.
Fletcher, at the defensive midfield line, could not ignore Tadić cutting inside and causing trouble. He immediately rushed to make a fierce interception on Tadić.
Tadić did not want to get entangled with Fletcher, so he passed the ball diagonally across. Juninho, having made a late run and shaken off Giggs's marking, received the ball in the center and dribbled two steps towards the right front. He deliberately avoided Fletcher's defensive zone, preventing Fletcher from interfering with him with sudden stops and changes of direction.
As Juninho charged towards the right of the penalty area, left-back Evra boldly pressed forward. Juninho, assessing the situation calmly, delivered a through ball.
The ball entered the empty space in the right rib of the penalty area. Evra turned to look, only to see Lewandowski cutting into the right rib of the box, directly shooting the ball towards the goal before Vidić could block him!
Ferdinand was tightly marking Vardy in the center, tugging his jersey and not letting him out of his sight. Vidić had blocked Lewandowski's passing lane, so Lewandowski had to take a difficult shot himself.
The shot flew directly towards the center of the goal, hitting within the goal frame, but goalkeeper Van der Sar dared not hold the ball, instead pushing it away with both hands.
By a strange coincidence, the ball was blocked towards where Mahrez was, just entering the slightly left area of the penalty box.
Mahrez didn't care about anything; he lifted his foot and shot. This shot was quite unexpected and had a high probability of becoming a goal, but the ball flew slightly over the crossbar and into the stands.
Mahrez sighed regretfully, looking up at the sky, then gritted his teeth and turned to walk back.
The Manchester United defenders were very dissatisfied with Van der Sar's handling of the ball, but playing away, they couldn't say much to avoid making Van der Sar even more flustered.
"Mahrez's shot was a bit hasty; he had plenty of space to adjust and calmly handle this opportunity!"
"Andy, I agree with you, but what I want to say more is why didn't Van der Sar hold the ball just now? Lewandowski's shot was like a pass aimed at him, just with a bit more power. He could have held the ball completely, avoiding giving Cambridge United a second attacking opportunity."
Ferguson was expressionless. An opponent who could act as he pleased at Old Trafford, and a person who was once so humble in front of him, even a glance from him towards Huang Hao would be a bestowal. To launch an attack first at Park Stadium was something Ferguson could not tolerate.
The Red Devils on the field did not disappoint Ferguson. After Cambridge United launched a fierce attack at the start, Manchester United quickly retaliated.
Carrick orchestrated from the backfield. When confronted by Vardy's counter-press, Carrick diagonally passed the ball to the left side of midfield, where Giggs received it with his back to the goal. Tadić was harassing him from behind, so Giggs quickly played a wall pass with Fletcher, who had moved closer.
Fletcher released the ball with one touch under Kante's relentless pursuit. Although Tadić had all his attention on Giggs, the Welsh left-wing maestro still left him helpless, because Giggs was very fast too!
Giggs surged forward like lightning on the left wing, advancing the attack. De Vrij waited for his charge on the wing at the edge of the penalty area.
M'Vila also moved to this side to assist in defense, mainly to prevent Giggs from cutting inside.
Giggs relaxed when he saw M'Vila was not coming for a close press. After dribbling the ball to De Vrij, Giggs first feigned a cut inside the box. After De Vrij shifted his weight horizontally, Giggs quickly nudged the ball back to the wing with his right foot.
After reaching the byline, Giggs crossed the ball unmarked. Lovren and Van Dijk jointly blocked Berbatov in the penalty area.
However, Giggs's cross was a bit strange.
It went behind Lovren, but the ball was a half-volley, landing at the front post of the penalty area.
Berbatov made a diagonal run into the small box, charging towards the front post.
At this moment, Oblak decisively rushed out of his goal, actively expanding his defensive range to block Giggs's cross. But he was still not as fast as Berbatov. Berbatov was the first to reach the ball's landing spot, flicking the ball towards the goal with the outside of his right foot. Oblak happened to dive to the ground to save, and the ball hit Oblak's chest from close range, but Oblak still couldn't hold the ball directly. After all, everything happened too fast, and no one could react instantly.
The ball bounced out of his chest again.
The ball rolling in the penalty area made all Cambridge United fans tremble with fear.
At this moment, Rooney rushed over and was about to complete a half-turn sweep shot!
Fortunately, Lovren lifted his leg and blocked the ball, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!
The bounced ball landed at the feet of the retreating Kante. Facing Carrick's turn and counter-press, Kante passed the ball to the unmarked M'Vila, and the danger was temporarily averted.
Ferguson shook his head slightly on the sidelines, showing a hint of disappointment. He was disappointed that Berbatov and Rooney's two shots failed to result in goals, but the team's offense still posed a threat, and this point had to be praised and affirmed.
"Manchester United also threatened Cambridge United's goal, not to be outdone! Berbatov is always able to do incredible things in very small spaces in the penalty area. This time, he once again demonstrated his extraordinary nose for goal. If it weren't for Oblak's quick reaction to block the near post, this goal would have been a certainty!"
"We can see that Cambridge United's defense still has problems. In this defense, Van Dijk hardly did anything. Of course, I think this makes the game more exciting. Otherwise, both teams would not dare to commit more players to attack, because the defense would be too dangerous. But since the defense itself is unreliable, then they can only rely on offense to gamble for a victory!"
The pace of the game remained very fast. Because Manchester United possessed excellent team spirit and midfield defensive strength, Huang Hao truly dared not let his team play a possession-based game against them, as the opponent was very good at physical confrontation!
In the Park Stadium stands, the fans of both teams were equally matched, all cheering for their beloved teams with hoarse voices.
In the 13th minute of the match, Cambridge United's midfield continuously launched quick passing attacks. Tadić suddenly moved from the right wing to the center. With the assistance of Juninho and Kante, Fletcher and Rooney's pressing in midfield proved fruitless.
Juninho, who suddenly surged forward, received Tadić's diagonal pass and dribbled towards the center where Carrick was. Carrick was rubbing his fists, ready to give Juninho a piece of his mind, but he didn't expect that when the two were less than two meters apart, Juninho passed the ball diagonally past him.
He turned his head and saw Vardy dropping back to receive the ball!
Carrick quickly rushed towards Vardy again. The latter turned and passed the ball horizontally again.
Tadić, who had followed up on the wing and moved inside, controlled the ball outside the right corner of the penalty area. Evra immediately rushed up to press.
Tadić passed the ball back to Juninho, completing a triangular pass.
Carrick's attempt to press Juninho again now seemed futile. After continuous changes of direction and acceleration, he himself was a bit disoriented.
Tadić feigned a cut inside, and Vardy surged forward through the middle, drawing the Manchester United defense towards them.
Juninho, meanwhile, passed the ball diagonally from the center to the left side of the penalty area. Lewandowski forcefully cut inside!
He received the ball and surged past Gary Neville, his speed so great that Vidić didn't even react.
Manchester United's left-rib defense was breached!
Lewandowski, with a very tight angle, chose not to shoot, but instead passed the ball horizontally to the center!
Vardy, following up in the center, met the ball and chose to push it on his first touch!
But at the moment of the shot, Ferdinand slid in to block his shooting lane, deflecting the ball out over the byline with his thigh!
After the shot, Vardy was tripped by Ferdinand due to his forward momentum. After tumbling forward and kneeling in the Manchester United penalty area, Vardy knew the referee would not call a foul on Ferdinand; to be precise, the opponent hadn't fouled. He lowered his head, listening to the sighs around him, knowing he had disappointed the fans.
If he had observed more carefully before shooting, he should have been able to judge that shooting on the first touch was not the best option. A slight delay or a touch to adjust the ball, and Manchester United's goal would have certainly fallen!
The burning flame deep within him made Vardy's face resolute as he looked up. A moment of introspection was enough for him to learn a lesson; a voice echoed repeatedly in his heart: You should perform better!
"Wow! Ferdinand saves the day! He blocked Vardy's shot! If it weren't for his block, this ball would definitely have gone in. Van der Sar was still near the near post, not in the center at all!"
Cambridge United's corner kick was taken, and Carrick, who had returned to the penalty area, headed the ball clear.
The ball fell outside the box at Kante's feet. Kante adjusted and then unleashed a long-range shot, but it posed no threat because there were too many players in the box, and the ball was blocked by Carrick's body.
The ball bounced out to the left wing outside the penalty area and was collected by Giggs. The Manchester United left-wing king suddenly accelerated after touching the ball, and the explosive speed and impact made Huang Hao on the sidelines gasp in astonishment!
Tadić decisively chose to slide tackle!
But Giggs changed direction and dribbled past him at the moment of the tackle, and Tadić's block failed.
Kante went to assist in defense on the wing, but his speed seemed unable to keep up. At this moment, Huang Hao couldn't help but shout from the sidelines to M'Vila, who was guarding the center: "Stop him at all costs! You must stop him!"
This counter-attack opportunity was too good!
Giggs could surge forward on the wing, and although only Berbatov was running forward in the center, there was also Nani following up from further back!
And for Cambridge United's players who were originally defending in the central midfield, Kante couldn't keep up due to his speed, and after Tadić's slide tackle failed, there was almost no one left to stop Giggs.
The lightning-fast Giggs swept like a whirlwind from the left wing towards Cambridge United's half.
After he dribbled past the halfway line, M'Vila decisively charged towards him. When the two were still about 5 meters apart, Giggs suddenly sent a long pass that made Huang Hao involuntarily clench his fists.
He gave M'Vila no chance to defend.
And his long pass sent the ball into the empty space in the center.
Nani, who was originally following up from behind, suddenly cut inside and charged forward. De Vrij passively also moved into the center, but as the two went for the ball together, Nani touched the ball first. De Vrij knew he might not catch up to the ball, so he slowed down to avoid overrunning and being directly dribbled past by the opponent.
But Nani's choice of touch made De Vrij regret it bitterly; one could only say Nani's execution of the ball was perfect!
Nani, at the moment of touching the ball, chipped it forward with the outside of his right foot!
An overhead through ball!
Berbatov had already run to a position ahead of Lovren, and this overhead through ball, of course, went over Lovren's head. Lovren knew he could not foul at this moment!
Because if he fouled, there was an over 80% chance it would be a red card!
Berbatov charged directly, Lovren turned to defend. Just as Lovren completed his turn, Berbatov had already surged past him from about a meter away!
One-on-one with the goalkeeper!
Oblak rushed out of his goal, and just as he was about to reach the edge of the penalty area, the ball dropped. Outside the box, Berbatov, while charging forward, controlled the ball with the top of his right foot. Oblak was already prepared to make a save.
But the change that occurred after the ball landed on Berbatov's foot caught Oblak off guard.
Berbatov controlled and dribbled past in one motion!
The ball was directly nudged towards the front left, and Berbatov's forward speed did not decrease. Oblak's attempt to change direction and chase was already futile!
When Berbatov surged past him from two meters away and then caught up to the ball, all Cambridge United fans involuntarily closed their eyes in disappointment.
Meanwhile, in the away section of the stands, the Red Devils fans were already preparing for ecstatic celebrations.
Berbatov caught up to the ball and then pushed it into the empty net with the inside of his right foot. Without any suspense, the ball rolled into Cambridge United's goal!