Cambridge United did not disappoint its supporters; from the start of the match, they pressed Watford high, leaving Watford scrambling to defend.
Just one minute into the match, O'Connor delivered a precise half-volley through ball from midfield, sending the ball to the edge of Watford's penalty area! Ayu started at high speed! He continuously outran the center-back Demerit and the full-back Mondiel, getting to the ball first!
After entering the penalty area, Ayu shot at the goal with his left foot!
The ball was parried directly out of bounds by the goalkeeper Hammond with a dive!
Seeing this, Huang Hao shook his head. Perhaps this was the price of growth. If he had a goal-poaching genius like van Nistelrooy, Cambridge United might have soared long ago!
Four minutes later, Cleverley found a good opportunity on the left side of the penalty area and also took a shot, which was tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Pantilimon!
In the 11th minute, Davis received the ball at the top of the penalty arc and took a long shot, but the ball lacked power, and Pantilimon securely held it.
Five minutes later, Cambridge United's captain Cole received the ball in midfield and delivered a beautiful overhead long pass, finding Ayu in the penalty area once again!
Ayu met the ball with a powerful shot, sending it directly into the stands!
This time, even the usually tolerant Cambridge United fans were a bit fed up, and scattered boos could be heard from the stands.
In the 32nd minute, Ayu received a pass from Cole again, but the young man clearly lacked confidence. Even with only the goalkeeper in front of him, he still chose to pass the ball to Vardy on the other side.
Vardy tightened his ankle and shot with force!
The ball went over the goal again!
Huang Hao couldn't help but curse under his breath, “Damn it, this thing is contagious too!”
In the 45th minute, Watford launched a counterattack. After Dias gained possession in midfield, although O'Connor successfully tackled him, the ball still went into Cambridge United's penalty area!
Koayame outmuscled Lovren from behind! Even though Lovren kept making small fouls along the way, he still couldn't stop Koayame from bringing the ball into the penalty area! Koayame then took a powerful shot, and the ball, full of force, flew just wide of the right post and out of bounds!
Subsequently, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, with both teams level.
During halftime, Huang Hao slightly moved Ayu's position back to his preferred attacking midfield role, hoping to use his passing to create more opportunities for Dzeko.
The repositioned Ayu gave Huang Hao a surprise at the start of the second half!
In the 47th minute, Cambridge United won the ball in their own half. Cole kicked the ball from the penalty area directly to Ayu in midfield! Ayu adjusted his steps and immediately sent a long pass!
The ball arced beautifully through the air, perfectly clearing Demerit and Ode before landing in front of Dzeko!
With a clear path ahead, Dzeko dribbled directly into the penalty area and took a shot! The ball flew straight into the left side of the net!
Cambridge United broke the deadlock, 1-0!
Having broken the ice, Cambridge United's offense became even stronger.
In the 53rd minute, Dzeko received O'Connor's corner kick outside the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot!
The ball hit the crossbar and went out of bounds! In the 56th minute, Dzeko took another curling shot, and the ball again went wide of the goal!
In the 67th minute, Dzeko dribbled horizontally inside the penalty area, followed by a curling shot. Hammond reacted quickly and parried the ball out of bounds!
Cambridge United's continuous attacks forced Watford to retreat their defense and focus on defending!
The Cambridge United fans in the stands began to sing a cheer for Dzeko, encouraging the exceptionally active young man!
Over two years, Dzeko had become a darling of the Cambridge United fans.
Listening to the singing, Huang Hao thought of Dzeko's contract, which was set to expire next year. There was a long way to go!
In the 84th minute, Cambridge United's midfield maestro O'Connor once again precisely intercepted Watford's pass and immediately passed it to Bennett!
Bennett broke through to the edge of the penalty area and distributed the ball to Tadić on the right! Tadić dribbled horizontally and then took a powerful left-footed shot!
Hammond made a desperate save, parrying the ball away!
Chaos erupted in the penalty area!
As soon as Tadić touched the ball, he was directly slide-tackled by Taylor!
Dzeko quickly emerged from the crowd and, just as the ball was about to go out of bounds, powerfully struck it towards the goal!!!
The ball flew into the goal just under the crossbar!
Cambridge United sealed the suspense, 2-0!!!
Next, Cambridge United had two consecutive away games, winning 3-2 against Norwich and drawing 1-1 with Coventry.
On November 26th, Cambridge United finally returned to Abbey Stadium to host Birmingham.
The two teams had been evenly matched in League One, and they were still neck and neck in the EFL Championship, both occupying positions in the top five of the League table. Therefore, today was a six-point decisive match.
Just four minutes into the match, Vardy received a pass from Smith in the attacking third and embarked on a solo run!
After dribbling for over 20 meters, his shot was somewhat weak and soft, easily gathered by Birmingham's Northern Irish goalkeeper Matt Taylor.
Immediately after, Birmingham gave Huang Hao and Cambridge United a surprise.
In the 6th minute of the first half, Birmingham earned a corner kick on the left side of the penalty area.
Barry Ferguson sent the ball directly to the near post!
Josh Pasc jumped but did not touch the ball!
Marcus Bent, waiting directly behind him, met the ball with a powerful shot!
The ball flew directly into the top left corner of the goal! Birmingham scored! 0-1!
Five minutes later, Sun Jihai successfully intercepted the ball in his own half and passed it directly to Bennett on the left wing!
Bennett delivered an overhead lob, finding Vardy again!
Vardy dribbled into the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot!
The ball was blocked by Carr and went out of bounds!
O'Connor took the corner kick to the far post, and Taylor performed excellently, jumping up to pluck the ball out of the air!
In the 18th minute, Birmingham had a throw-in on the right side of the attacking third.
Larsson threw the ball to Bowyer, and the two executed a beautiful one-two, directly bypassing the defending Bennett!
Larsson dribbled horizontally along the edge of the penalty area, feigned a shot, and then suddenly passed the ball to Kevin Phillips in the middle!
Kevin Phillips swung his right foot and unleashed a powerful long-range shot!
Pantilimon landed extremely quickly, making a desperate save to parry the ball away! Bowyer, wearing a Birmingham jersey, was the first to emerge from the crowd!
He took a follow-up shot!
Although the fallen Campbell still tried to save, the ball unfortunately hit his body and bounced into the net!
Just 18 minutes into the match, Birmingham had scored 2-0 against Cambridge United at Abbey Stadium!
Huang Hao's players had long developed extraordinary mental resilience, so facing a two-goal deficit, they did not give up directly but continued to relentlessly search for attacking opportunities.
In the 20th minute, Dzeko received the ball in the attacking third, attracted two defenders, and then cleverly threaded the ball between Cooper's legs to Vardy!
After Vardy broke into the penalty area, his shot again went wide of the goal!
And turning around, Birmingham again found a good opportunity outside the penalty area, Kevin Phillips' shot also grazed the post and flew out of bounds!
In the 22nd minute, O'Connor took the corner kick to the far post, and May headed the ball towards the goal!
Taylor punched the ball out on the goal line!
Mowbray had clearly done his homework on Cambridge United, as several of their attacking threats were tightly marked by Birmingham players.
Although Mowbray wasn't very well-known, from the start, Huang Hao had a feeling of being seen through. This damned sense of pressure hadn't appeared for a long time.
In the 29th minute, under Dzeko's relentless pressing, Giranek passed the ball back to Taylor.
The ball's power clearly exceeded that of a back pass; it was both high and floating!
Facing the aggressive Dzeko, Taylor panicked a bit, attempting to head the ball back!
However, Taylor's header landed directly at Dzeko's feet!
Dzeko was clearly unprepared for this sudden gift!
After stumbling for two steps, his shot was weak and soft, directly lobbing the ball into Taylor's arms!!!
The fans at Abbey Stadium could no longer tolerate it, and boos immediately erupted from the stands, even for the darling of Abbey Stadium!
Huang Hao clutched his forehead, hardly believing what he was seeing!!!
Until halftime, Cambridge United failed to change the score, and Birmingham returned to the locker room content with a two-goal lead.
Seeing Huang Hao's gloomy face, the players knew that another storm was about to break.
“Dzeko, Vardy, did you two buy lottery tickets today?”
Dzeko and Vardy instantly flinched, immediately standing up and denying it repeatedly.
“Boss! Absolutely not!”
Huang Hao shook his head,
“But I really can't think of a second reason for you two to perform so poorly!”
Hearing this, both of them silently lowered their heads, clearly knowing how terrible their first-half performance had been.
“Lewandowski, Ayu, you two are coming on in the second half.”
“Dzeko and Vardy, you can make good use of the next 45 minutes to reflect on your first-half performance.”
Huang Hao was so unsparing, almost for the first time, especially for the newly joined players, who had almost never seen their coach so furious.
“If you really consider yourselves a relegation team, then I tell you, losing this match is perfectly fine.”
“I can guarantee you that I will lead everyone to successfully avoid relegation!”
Huang Hao looked around, and no player dared to meet his gaze.
“In every match, Abbey can almost invariably seat over 6,000 spectators. Could you have imagined this three years ago?”
“But is this the end for all of you?!”
“I'm telling you, I went through so much trouble to bring you back to Cambridge United, and it wasn't for some damn EFL Championship!”
“Remember, our destination is the Premier League! It's Europe!”
Huang Hao punched the tactics board, saying with dominance.
“Perhaps others will say we are dreaming, that we are too crazy, but every step, every day of Cambridge United, is striving towards this goal!”
“The top League! A stadium for tens of thousands! Remember, that's where you belong!”
“So in the second half, fight back for me, show me your determination, otherwise, I'll see you in the transfer market!”
Hearing these last words, the players couldn't help but shiver! It seemed the boss was truly angry!
As the second half began, Mowbray looked at the Cambridge United players on the field and was surprised!
Both strikers were substituted! With a full 45 minutes remaining, Cambridge United had used two substitutions, and both were for forwards!
Leaving aside the feelings of the two players, such substitutions were completely unexpected by Mowbray.
The intensity of Cambridge United's pressing on the field clearly increased by another level, and Birmingham players were occasionally brought down.
Smith once again delivered a brilliant through ball from the right side of Birmingham's attacking third!
The ball bypassed the defenders and landed perfectly at Bennett's feet on the left side of the penalty area!
Bennett shot immediately, the ball flashed past Taylor, but unfortunately, it went just wide of the right post!
Five minutes later, Cambridge United came back! O'Connor received the ball in the central attacking third, turned, and passed it to Lewandowski on the left side of the penalty area!
Lewandowski shielded the defender behind him and then passed the ball to Andre Ayew in the middle!
Ayu easily dribbled past Deane! Shot!
The ball accurately hit Taylor and went out of bounds!!!
In the 58th minute, Lewandowski and the Ayu brothers executed a well-coordinated triangular passing play in Birmingham's attacking third!
Their continuous passing attracted almost all of Birmingham's defenders!
Jordan Ayew suddenly delivered a diagonal through ball, and O'Connor, understanding perfectly, immediately ran into the penalty area, connecting successfully!
Facing Taylor, O'Connor chipped the ball towards the near post!
The brave Taylor once again parried the ball out of bounds!
Cambridge United's attacks came in waves, one after another! Taylor became Birmingham's busiest player!
However, Birmingham was no pushover; even facing Cambridge United's strong offense, they maintained a two-goal lead.
In the 64th minute, Birmingham's Miljan even used a corner kick opportunity to almost extend their lead!
In the 65th minute, Andre Ayew's shot was again securely held by Taylor.
In the 66th minute, Jordan Ayew received a brilliant pass from Lewandowski inside the penalty area, took a powerful shot, but the ball went wide of the goal!
In the 70th minute, Sun Jihai successfully intercepted the ball in his own half and directly launched a long ball towards the attacking third!
Jordan Ayew, lurking beside the Birmingham defender, suddenly burst into high speed! He successfully beat the offside trap!
This time, Jordan Ayew did not disappoint Huang Hao. After breaking into the penalty area, he unleashed a powerful shot, and the ball flew directly into the top right corner of the goal!
Cambridge United finally pulled a goal back!!!
Abbey Stadium, which had been suppressed for a full 70 minutes, finally erupted at this moment!
Ayu's goal brought hope back to Cambridge United!
However, after conceding the goal, Birmingham, at Mowbray's instruction, began to retreat their defense, focusing more on defending.
Although Cambridge United had at one point pinned Birmingham back in their own half, the score remained 1-2.
The fourth official pressed the number '3' on the display board and held it high.
Only three minutes remained in the match. Bennett directly passed the ball into the penalty area from the left wing!
Lewandowski shot! The ball directly hit defender Olsson's leg! The ball was again kicked out of the penalty area with a long kick!
Tadić gained possession and again passed it towards Birmingham's penalty area!
Lewandowski was offside...
Time was ticking away, second by second, and Huang Hao's palms were slightly sweaty.
Was it really going to end in a loss like this? It felt a bit unwilling!
Lovren took a long shot from outside the penalty area! The ball, like a clearance, directly hit the advertising board next to the goal!
Abbey Stadium did not let out a sigh or applause; it was eerily quiet.
In the stands, Lin Kexin clasped her hands together in front of her mouth, watching the players' every move nervously, just like the other fans.
The match had entered the 92nd minute, and the referee was repeatedly looking at his watch, ready to end the match at any moment.
It took Taylor a full 15 seconds to kick the goal kick to Larsson on the wing. Larsson passed the ball to Bowyer in front, and Bowyer then passed it to Barry Ferguson in the middle.
Cambridge United's players used their last ounce of strength, pressing like crazy along the ball's passing route!
Under O'Connor's pressure, Barry Ferguson attempted to pass the ball to Jemelo on his right front!
May suddenly emerged from midway, intercepting the ball!
May turned and shielded the ball, then knocked it back to Sun Jihai!
Sun Jihai launched a high ball towards Bennett on the left wing! Bennett jumped at the sideline to intercept the ball, then immediately dribbled towards the byline!
The referee ran towards Bennett while glancing at his watch!
Before Barry Ferguson could recover defensively, Bennett chose to send a ground pass into Birmingham's penalty area!
O'Connor, Ayu, and Lewandowski all surged towards Birmingham's goal!
On Cambridge United's bench, all the players stood up and ran towards Birmingham's goal!
Inside the penalty area, Johnson directly slid to the ground! Attempting to kick the ball directly out of bounds! Lewandowski got to the ball before Johnson and poked it out!!!
Taylor couldn't save in time! The ball slipped under his armpit and into the net!!!
At 92 minutes and 51 seconds, Cambridge United equalized!!!
2-2!!!
A huge cheer instantly echoed through Abbey Stadium!
Huang Hao fell to his knees, raising his arms and roaring!
Lewandowski directly jumped over the advertising board and rushed into the crowd of fans, who instantly surrounded him in cheers!
The referee timely blew two short and one long whistle, signaling the end of the match!