Carlisle United's Head Coach John Ward set up in a 4-3-2-1 formation, a defensive setup where the fullbacks pushing forward left large defensive spaces on the flanks, clearly indicating Ward's lack of confidence against Cambridge United.
In the 24th minute, Carlisle United's Fusuo displayed impressive dribbling ability, successively evading two Cambridge United defenders on the right flank.
However, when he tried to use a feint to get past Sterri, he was thwarted; not only was the ball dispossessed, but he also fell to the ground!
Seeing that the referee made no call, Sterri immediately passed the ball to MacKenzie in midfield, who, upon receiving it, launched a high ball towards the front!
At this moment, Tadić was surrounded by two Carlisle United players, yet he still accurately found the ball's landing spot with his agile movement!
He even brought down the spinning ball steadily in mid-air! This showed his deep fundamental skills.
After gaining possession, Tadić, facing a Carlisle United defender, did not rush to break through, but instead used the outside of his foot to directly transfer the ball to the left side of the field, where Bennett was located!
Upon receiving the ball, Bennett quickly broke through to the byline and successfully crossed the ball into the Carlisle United penalty area!
Tadić, at the far post, lost out in a challenge with Carlisle United defender Mason, and the ball was directly headed out of the box by Mason.
However, Cambridge United's attack was not over!
MacKenzie received the ball directly in the big penalty area and passed it to Vardy on the right!
Vardy took a shot immediately!
The ball struck Mason, who was marking Tadić, and took a bizarre deflection!
Goalkeeper Amos instinctively reached out to block it but only touched air!
1:0! Cambridge United scored!
Mason walked back to his left-back position with his head down, speechless.
He never imagined that his backside would become a crucial assist for Cambridge United!
Three minutes later, Bola, who received the ball in the backfield, cleverly spotted Tadić's open space and delivered a long pass that seemed to have eyes, finding Tadić precisely!
After bringing the ball down smoothly with his shoulder, Tadić once again broke into the penalty area!
After quickly dribbling past Mason, only Amos remained in front of the goal!
Unfortunately, his chipped shot was directly blocked out of the box by Amos, who had closed down the angle, and Mason, who arrived quickly, immediately kicked the ball out of bounds!
Grove's corner kick went directly into the Carlisle United penalty area, and Dzeko received the ball and shot forcefully!
The ball was immediately kicked out by Fusuo!
Carlisle United's Brooke received the ball on the left side of the field, turned, and fired a shot, sending the ball directly back to the center!
At this moment, only Sterri remained in Cambridge United's backfield!
The ball brushed past him!
Carlisle United's Grant successfully received the pass in the center, with clear space ahead of him!
Sterri and Longolo pushed with all their might, finally catching up to Grant on the right side of the penalty area!
At that moment, Grant passed the ball into the middle of the penalty area through the gap between the two defenders!
Marnie and Brooke arrived simultaneously, like two ghosts at the door!
Marnie, who reached the ball first, struck it directly into the top corner of the goal, leaving Pantilimon with nothing but a sigh!
1:1! Carlisle United equalized!
In the 35th minute, Carlisle United earned a corner kick.
The one taking it was Mason, who had previously made the own assist.
Mason hoped to make amends and help Carlisle United take the lead with this corner kick!
Spotting his teammate's position, he delivered a low ground pass directly to Sibiki!
Sibiki immediately dribbled the ball towards the penalty area!
MacKenzie gently poked the ball with his toe, and Sibiki, who had reached the edge of the box, found that the ball hadn't followed!
Grove cleared the ball with a big kick, sending it back to near the center circle!
Vardy received the ball and immediately passed it to the better-positioned Dzeko!
Dzeko immediately started to advance into Carlisle United's half!
Cambridge United's rapid pace of advance flustered the three Carlisle United players remaining in their half!
Brooke directly rushed at Dzeko to prevent him from continuing to dribble and break through!
The remaining two could only stand in the passing lanes, trying their best to prevent Dzeko from passing the ball out!
Yet, the ball was still passed out by Dzeko through the crowd!
It bypassed the defense of Preston and Steele, landing at Vardy's feet!
This time, Vardy did not disappoint his teammates, decisively striking the ball into the top corner from near the penalty spot, 2:1!
Cambridge United took the lead again!
Two minutes later, Carlisle United carried the ball out of bounds during an attack.
Pantilimon took the goal kick.
Carlisle United began to implement a high-pressing tactic in the attacking third, attempting to force Cambridge United into mistakes with intense pressure!
Huang Hao, on the sideline, subtly curled his lips into a slight smile.
This was Cambridge United's signature move, and he naturally knew how to counter it!
Carlisle United leaving five players in the attacking third meant that once the ball quickly broke through midfield, there would be large open spaces in the back!
Indeed, Pantilimon's pass, neither right-back Sterri nor the pressing Fusuo touched the ball!
Behind them was Cambridge United's right winger, Tadić!
The young Tadić used his powerful explosive force to carry the ball into Carlisle United's half in a few steps, then launched a long pass, pushing the ball to the edge of the Carlisle United penalty area!
After receiving the ball, Dzeko immediately changed direction and cut into the penalty area, breaking through to the byline, then gently back-heeled the ball to the onrushing Grove!
Grove met the ball with a powerful shot!
Preston blocked the ball with his body!
Bennett intercepted the rebounded ball and curled a shot!
Amos, who was blocking the shot at the near post, looked desperately towards the far post!
It was a Carlisle United player, Pierce! There was still hope!
However, a second later, the flame of hope in Amos's eyes extinguished.
Pierce, at the far post, clearly hadn't expected to be in the path of the shot.
The ball struck his groin and deflected directly into the goal.
Shit...
Mason's backside and Pierce's groin had actually become Cambridge United's two winning weapons!!!
Thus, thanks to the Carlisle United players' "brace" and Dzeko's penalty, Cambridge United ultimately defeated Carlisle United 3:1 at home!
Cambridge United, having defeated Carlisle United, did not stop their momentum!
In the subsequent League matches, they cleanly dispatched Bristol Rovers and Swansea, achieving a 4-game winning streak in the League!
Their ranking rose to sixth place in the standings, entering the promotion lottery zone!
This team, which has invested no more than 1 million yuan in the transfer market to date and has an average age of only 22, truly shocked both domestic and international media!
Domestically, it was even hailed as a model of club management!
In an era where money politics is rampant and running a club means burning a lot of cash, Cambridge United has clearly become a breath of fresh air in the football world!
In the 13th round of the League, Cambridge United met the challenge of Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest had good momentum for the match, setting up with an attitude to take all 3 points at the Abe Stadium, and with the referee's whistle, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, the match officially began!
Nottingham Forest kicked off first.
Cambridge United did not immediately swarm forward to press after the kick-off, but instead, according to Huang Hao's pre-match deployment, prioritized stability, observing and waiting to see what the former giants were truly capable of.
Nottingham Forest didn't care as much; they quickly passed the ball back and forth after kickoff, then the ball was passed by midfielder Ben Watson to winger Julian Gray.
The 22-year-old England winger had good speed and explosiveness.
This was also something Nottingham Forest Head Coach Colin Calderwood was proud of.
The attacking group he built was primarily focused on the left flank.
He did not follow the traditional English forward setup of one tall and one fast player but instead used two forwards who both possessed explosive power and speed, attempting to win with speed in fast-paced games or create chaos to make it easier for forwards to find scoring opportunities.
The speed and explosiveness of left-winger Gray, and forwards Friedman and Johnson, were among the top in the entire League One!
Calderwood expected Cambridge United to be caught off guard.
However, when Julian successfully advanced the attack into a dangerous area and faced Mark Bola, he attempted to dribble past Bola and then cross from the byline, but Bola first cut off the connection with the ball by positioning himself, then Bola shielded the ball, Julian tried to win it back, Bola adjusted his stance, always keeping Julian behind him, and then passed the ball horizontally to Suxi who came to receive it, who then passed the ball directly forward to Cork.
Cambridge United easily withstood the opponent's first wave of attack and executed the transition from defense to offense very well.
Calderwood stood on the sideline, slightly stunned, thinking that Julian hadn't yet gotten into form at the start of the match and hadn't executed his breakthrough optimally.
Cambridge United, on the other hand, played steadily.
Cork appeared composed when facing the pressing of Nottingham Forest's midfield rising star Ben Watson, passing the ball diagonally to Cole, who had moved into the attacking third.
Cole, upon receiving the ball, immediately dribbled forward at a steady pace, carrying the ball all the way to Nottingham Forest's defensive midfielder Danny Granville.
Before Granville could close in and press, Cole passed the ball to Vardy on the right flank, closer to the center.
In front of the opponent's penalty area, Vardy released the ball with one touch, passing it horizontally to Dzeko's feet on the edge of the big penalty area.
Facing the double-team defense of two opposing defenders, Dzeko stopped the ball in place, then suddenly accelerated, dragging the ball sideways, taking a step horizontally, and directly striking with a half-turn shot!
This snap shot was extremely sudden, but the angle was too central.
Goalkeeper Matt Clark moved one step horizontally and embraced the ball.
Dzeko glanced at Clark, then slowly retreated without any further reaction.
"Cambridge United completed a shot within 1 minute of kickoff.
Dzeko is becoming more and more stable in the frontline.
This time he showcased his footwork, shaking off Shane Daly before suddenly taking a shot.
Unfortunately, the shot angle was too central and was easily saved by the goalkeeper."
Nottingham Forest continued to launch attacks.
But in the 4th minute of the match, when Julian was successfully dispossessed by Bola again, Calderwood frowned on the sideline.
Julian, are you in such poor form today?
How can you not get past just one opposing fullback?
Julian was also a bit annoyed; he found the opposing defender to be very stable!
For a winger like Julian Gray, who only hoped to get past Bola with explosive power and speed, Bola was not afraid.
As long as he didn't press, waiting for Julian Gray to initiate, Bola's success rate in dispossessing the ball would be higher by reacting after him.
Cambridge United's attacks, combining both flanks and the center, were more efficient.
In the 6th minute of the match, Cole received Tadić's diagonal pass in midfield.
He had his back to defensive midfielder Granville.
The opponent perhaps wanted to give Cole a hard time, but didn't expect Cole to tap the ball diagonally to the flank the moment he touched it.
Bennett moved closer to the center to receive the ball and also released it with one touch.
At this point, Cole had already turned forward in the center, bypassing defensive midfielder Granville.
The two indeed didn't have a direct confrontation, but Granville could no longer touch Cole's jersey.
Cole regained control of the ball at the edge of the penalty area.
Daly and Popovic, two defenders, primarily focused on marking Dzeko, while Cole dribbled diagonally to draw the defense, and fullback Fleming rushed up to intercept him.
Cole spotted the gap in the defense and gently slotted the ball with the inside of his foot into the open space on the right side of the penalty area.
Fleming stopped abruptly and turned to look, only to see Vardy powerfully bursting into the penalty area, facing the goal at an angle, creating a half-one-on-one situation!