Defensive players lack the excellent game-reading ability of attacking and organizing players, making it difficult to find suitable passing routes through the crowd, so even though Cambridge United chose to retreat their defense, Birmingham's offense still looked a bit awkward.
After some thought, McLeish finally sent on Lowe, who can play both midfield and forward, replacing Casley.
This substitution had an immediate effect; through Lowe's organization, Birmingham's offense finally showed improvement.
Lowe constantly roamed in Cambridge United's central area, effectively linking Birmingham's midfield and forwards.
After several consecutive passes in the front field, Lowe skillfully evaded Kante's interception and, at the edge of the penalty area, passed the ball to Phillips!
Phillips unleashed a powerful shot from a standstill, venting all his frustration from this match onto the ball!
Pantilimon clenched his fists and barely managed to punch the ball away!
Lovren quickly kicked the ball out of bounds!
Murphy ran to the sideline, ready to take the throw-in.
Phillips glanced at Suxi, who was almost on top of him from behind, and suddenly shouted, "Hey, buddy, give me the ball!"
Suxi was stunned. Was this... a one-on-one challenge?
Hearing Phillips's shout, Suxi moved even closer, close enough to smell Phillips's sweat.
"Hey, man, how great would it be if you were a girl! At this distance, I'd definitely be tempted!" Phillips said disdainfully, mocking Suxi.
Upon hearing this, Suxi secretly held back a surge of anger, attempting to directly snatch the ball.
As Murphy raised the ball above his head with both hands, Phillips suddenly accelerated, and Suxi immediately followed!
Just as the two were about to step out of Cambridge United's penalty area, Phillips suddenly braked!
Suxi couldn't dodge in time and directly collided with Phillips!
Phillips dramatically flew out of the penalty area!
The linesman immediately raised his flag! Kavanagh's whistle followed in quick succession!
Suxi clutched his head in annoyance, unable to believe what had just happened!
Phillips personally stood over the ball and quickly kicked it towards the right side of the goal! Although Pantilimon dived in the right direction, Phillips's shot was at a tricky angle and extremely fast, still beating Pantilimon to nestle into the goal!
1:2! Birmingham pulled a goal back!
Phillips looked triumphantly at Suxi, spreading his hands, his every gesture full of provocation!
Huang Hao saw what was happening and immediately stood up, walked to the sideline, and called over Tadić, who was closest to him, loudly reminding him to tell Suxi to calm down!
Tadić quickly ran over. During their conversation, Suxi saw Huang Hao standing on the sideline, and that feeling of unapproachable authority made him shiver involuntarily. The anger that Phillips had provoked immediately dissipated! Only when Suxi became obedient did Huang Hao return to his seat with peace of mind.
There are 20 minutes left in the match. I hope the lads can hold onto the victory.
Phillips's goal greatly boosted Birmingham's morale! Especially seeing Suxi's frustrated expression, they felt even more exhilarated.
After Cambridge United kicked off, the ball was passed to right winger Tadić.
Tadić boldly pushed forward along the right wing, and after crossing the midfield, he seized the opportunity to accurately thread the ball to Mahrez's feet.
Mahrez dribbled past Hanke and then directly knocked the ball horizontally into the center!
Lewandowski suddenly burst out from the crowd and kicked the ball towards the goal!
However, Lewandowski's hurried shot was too central and was directly blocked out of bounds by Hart!
Subsequently, Ayu's offside directly ended Cambridge United's attack.
Hart kicked the goal kick to Karl next to him, Karl passed it to Murphy on the wing, and then the ball came to Lowe's feet again.
The young Lowe was full of energy today, as if telling McLeish that he had been brought on too late! Lowe first made continuous changes of direction, easily dribbling past O'Connor.
Then Lowe accelerated with the ball through the midfield, directly reaching the edge of Cambridge United's penalty area, putting on a show of charging straight into the heart of the defense!
Confident Lowe dribbled past Lovren and Kante consecutively before passing the ball to Phillips, who was supporting on the right.
Phillips dribbled horizontally along the edge of the penalty area, then passed the ball to Hanke on the left!
After Hanke broke through to the byline, he passed the ball back to Bent at the edge of the penalty area!
Bent, who had the lowest appearance rate among the three forwards, saw Larsson in the center and decisively took a shot, passing the ball towards the middle!
Larsson immediately took a shooting stance!
Sun Jihai saw this and immediately rushed forward, attempting to block the shot along with Pasc!
Huang Hao suddenly sprang from his seat, shouting, "Oh no!"
Sure enough, Larsson feigned a shot, but then let the ball through his legs!!!
The ball continued to roll from the center towards the right side of the goal!
Phillips was perfectly positioned! Unmarked, Phillips unleashed a low shot, and the ball once again pierced Cambridge United's goal!!!
2:2! Birmingham successfully equalized the score!
Sun Jihai, frozen in place, only then realized that he had been tricked by Larsson and Phillips working together, filled with regret!
In the 76th minute, just 4 minutes after Birmingham's first goal, Phillips scored again!
McLeish swept away his dejection and embraced his colleagues on the coaching bench, celebrating the team's comeback! Mahrez looked at his somewhat dejected teammates around him and shouted loudly:
"Cheer up! The match isn't over yet! Have you forgotten what the boss used to say?!"
"There are still more than ten minutes left, for our dream, let's score another one!"
"Come on!!!"
Mahrez's few words instantly invigorated his teammates!
Larsson, who happened to be passing by, was startled by the cheer! Seeing the high-spirited Cambridge United players, he felt like he had a new understanding of them, beyond just the word 'thugs'.
In the 78th minute, Hanke tried to throw the ball directly to Phillips, but Suxi flew in from behind with a header, sending the ball back into Birmingham's half!
Phillips turned his head to look at Suxi, unable to believe that despite being repeatedly frustrated by him, he was still full of fighting spirit!
Fah got the ball in the backfield, and Tadić immediately chased him. Seeing no good passing lanes ahead, Fah simply turned his back and dribbled, leading Tadić around to wear down his stamina!
As Lewandowski and O'Connor also joined the pressing, Fah finally showed a hint of panic!
The three gradually tightened their encirclement, causing Johnson to become extremely displeased and shout for a pass!
Hearing the voice, Fah immediately kicked the ball!
Upon closer inspection, the ball was actually intercepted by Kante!!!
Kante immediately threaded the ball to Vardy at the edge of the penalty area!
Before Vardy could shoot, Johnson made a sliding tackle, directly kicking the ball away from Vardy's feet!
Murphy hadn't even caught up to the ball when a yellow lightning bolt suddenly streaked into the penalty area!
Tadić unleashed a thunderous left-footed cannon shot!!! The ball went directly through Hart's legs and into the right side of the goal!!!
2:3!
The celebration at St. Andrews Park lasted only 3 minutes before coming to an abrupt halt!
Huang Hao did not show the same excitement as McLeish; instead, he immediately rushed to the sideline, loudly reminding his players to defend!
For the last ten-plus minutes, Cambridge United defended with all players, essentially parking the bus in front of the goal, and substituted Van Dijk for Vardy.
Facing Birmingham's final desperate onslaught, Cambridge United's players were united in their efforts, blocking Birmingham's shots time and again!
In the 89th minute, even Birmingham's defender Murphy had pushed up to midfield!
Facing the incoming ball, Murphy used his strong heading ability to head the ball back again!
However, he seemed to have forgotten that this was not Birmingham's penalty area; Murphy's header went directly to Sun Jihai!
Sun Jihai took a flying kick, and the ball whistled directly over Murphy's head, heading straight for Birmingham's penalty area!
Lewandowski gritted his teeth, used his speed to get past Johnson, and faced Hart directly!
Unfortunately, facing Stephens's entanglement, He Zhenyu's shot angle was a bit too central, and Olsen flew to tip the ball out for a corner!
O'Connor slowly walked towards the corner flag, clearly trying to waste time!
Boos erupted at St. Andrews Park, but O'Connor ignored them until Warner ran over, at which point he quickly ran two steps to the ball.
Birmingham left three forwards waiting in midfield; all players in the penalty area had one goal: win the aerial duel, kick the ball to midfield, counterattack, and score!
What McLeish didn't expect was that Huang Hao, seeing this, continuously waved his hands, signaling Cambridge United's players to push forward! Had he gone mad?
Ultimately, Cambridge United left only two defensive players in midfield!
The focus of both sides was on the slowly moving O'Connor!
The moment O'Connor touched the ball, Lewandowski suddenly turned and ran out of the penalty area! Johnson, who was marking Lewandowski, clearly hadn't anticipated such a move. By the time he caught up, Lewandowski had not only successfully received O'Connor's pass but also passed the ball to Tadić on the right!
Tadić took a shot on sight!
The ball hit Crudd's backside squarely! Before Crudd could react, the deflected ball had already fallen to Ayu's feet!
Ayu scored with a chip shot!
Hart, in front of the goal, was disoriented by the continuously changing direction of the ball, and watched helplessly as the ball once again entered the net!
2:4! Cambridge United secured the victory!
This time, Huang Hao dared to celebrate wildly; he ran two quick steps, slid to his knees, and raised his arms, cheering loudly!
Battle of the Peaks, Cambridge United, victorious!
As Cambridge United defeated Birmingham, Molineux Stadium also erupted in celebration.
Although McCarthy's team drew 0:0 with Preston at home, with only two League rounds remaining, they were already 7 points ahead of Birmingham, successfully promoting to the Premier League next season!
McCarthy, who was being tossed high into the air by his players, closed his eyes, a winner's smile on his lips; this season had been wonderful for him.
With the championship decided, all eyes in the EFL Championship turned to Cambridge United with 82 points and Birmingham with 81 points.
In the battle at St. Andrews Park, Cambridge United successfully took control of their promotion destiny!
Next, Cambridge United must play steadily; any misstep will lead them back into the playoffs.