Green Dragon

Chapter 644 The Stinging Hornet
After a short holiday and the club's annual meeting, the coaches and players got a certain degree of rest.

Therefore, Liverpool should welcome the upcoming schedule with more enthusiasm.

Logically, it should be so.

But the reality always makes people feel helpless.

On December 12, they played an away game against Watford, another unknown relegation team.

But this team that was supposed to be in the relegation zone...after the round of 16, they ranked 7th in the standings!
Their ranking is even higher than defending champion Chelsea!
Their luck must be very good!
-
Watford's luck is really good.

When the game progressed to the 15th minute, they were nicknamed "The Hornet" and they were leading Liverpool 2-0...

The Vicar Road Stadium, which can only accommodate [-] spectators, has already been boiling. Huge yellow posters and flags are one after another in the stands. Excited fans even used their voices to completely occupy this small stadium!
"Watford scored twice in the first 15 minutes! For Liverpool... this is the worst start ever! This game is worth watching!"

Alan Hansen, the commentator of Sky TV, had an expression that watching the excitement is not a big deal.

Carragher, who was sitting opposite him, groaned for a long time, and could only hold back one sentence:
"There are 75 minutes left in the game, there is still time for Liverpool... There is still a lot!"
-
The first 15 minutes were a nightmare, with most Liverpool players conceding the ball before they even touched the ball!

It was in the second minute, a corner from Watford.

The first goalkeeper Mignolet accidentally fell off the sofa because of singing too much at the banquet a few days ago, and had to rest for a few days, so Bogdan came off the bench in today's game.

Originally, this was not a big deal. After all, Bogdan has played more than ten official games this season, and his basic condition is still there. What's more, the position of goalkeeper is more for Liverpool to make up the numbers...

——This is probably not fair to the two goalkeepers. After all, during this period, Mignolet was actually able to contribute two or three good saves per game. In the last season, the Belgian goalkeeper even made 82 saves. Save tied with Szczesny, who was still at Arsenal at the time, as the goalkeeper who can save the most...

The corner kick flew straight into the penalty area. Bogdan jumped high, stretched his arms to stop the ball, and then bounced down to the ground, holding the ball in his arms.

But things didn't go so smoothly. Watford defender Ake, who was crowded in the crowd, had sharp eyes and quick feet. He raised his right foot and poked the ball out of Bogdan's arms. Then he flicked his left foot, and the football flew directly. Goal!
The home team took the lead so easily!
After losing the ball, Bogdan angrily complained to the referee that Ake was a goalkeeper. This goal was obviously fouled, but the referee not only ignored it, but gave him a yellow card for chattering...

10 minutes later, Watford made another move:
Their midfielder Dini had just dribbled the ball past the center circle, and then passed the ball directly - there is no way, if he doesn't pass the ball, he will face Long Shute's defense directly!
The long pass this time was quite clever, and it directly found the teammate Ighalo who advanced at a high speed.

Skrtel quickly got stuck in the middle and chased back, trying to squeeze Ighalo out of the penalty area.

The speed of his recovery is not slow, and the choice of defensive position is also very correct, but Ighalo still blatantly shot with almost no angle. The football bypassed Bogdan's hands and hung straight to the goal. Far-end blind spot! 2-0!

In front of Liverpool, Watford doesn't even think about ground control and penetration in the middle. They just use the most primitive long pass to solve the battle!
-
The Hornets, which led by two goals, did not hesitate for a second. They began to put up a defensive formation from the 16th minute.

At one point they had 8 defenders in the box...and that doesn't include the goalkeeper!

The style of this game changed instantly, from the offensive and defensive in the first 15 minutes, it immediately became a half-court offensive and defensive battle.

Long Shute has seen countless iron barrel formations, especially defensive experts such as Chelsea, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, and Real Madrid (especially during the Mourinho period), but today he is in the little-known Watford. It is difficult to move an inch in front of Germany!

As long as he enters the 30-meter zone, there must be defenders around him.

The defensive player has only one task, which is to prevent him from kicking the ball!
As for the breakthrough... Sorry, there are more than a dozen players from both sides in such a narrow area behind him, and now even a foot can't fit in!

Long Shute did try many times. He was able to shake off Capoue, who was defending him, but then he could only hit the yellow iron plate of Watford!
The opponent didn't even need to make any foul moves, just a group of people standing side by side on the edge of the penalty area, cutting off his advance route!

In order to seek a breakthrough, he even used his speed and impact to overturn several players on both sides, but he still failed to penetrate the opponent's defense after all. Instead, he was reminded by the referee:

"You are a world superstar, don't be so barbaric, okay? This doesn't fit your status..."

After the breakthrough failed, Liverpool can only take another extreme: long shot!

But Capoue stuck to him almost every step of the way. Although Long Shute's long-range shot was close to the full level, it hadn't reached the realm of hitting every shot—in fact, even fifty hits were impossible, let alone the restricted area. It was full of people, and his long shot didn't even fly into the penalty area, and would be blocked by the bodies of players from both sides...

Long shots, breakthroughs, free kicks, corner kicks, long passes... When all Liverpool's offenses can only depend on fate, it also means that they really don't have much to do with Watford.

Long Shute managed to pull back a goal in the 43rd minute, but this goal was counted on the Watford defender...

In order to score a goal, Long Shute even performed a deliberate loss of the ball when attacking, but Watford's midfielder Capoue kicked the ball towards Liverpool's half without hesitation. The intention to fight back!
Stop acting, I won't be fooled! -
This is not a difficult game, but a desperate game.

The 2-1 score was maintained from the 43rd minute to the 90th minute. Watford's defense seemed to be crumbling, but they stayed in the penalty area like a sinking stone on the bottom of the sea.

When the game reached this stage, almost all Liverpool players became irritable. Even Henderson, who has always been calm and calm, and can use his domineering to deter football villain Diego Costa, almost strangled his neck with the opponent. .

But Watford still didn't take the opportunity to expand their lead. They still had to guard their penalty area, even though Liverpool had 81% possession rate and as many as 42 shots!

The referee had already put the whistle in his mouth, and Long Shute also felt a little "I am dead, I am not guilty of war", but Emre Can suddenly received a large-scale transfer pass from Coutinho .

The German midfielder rounded his right foot and made a shocking sideways shot!

After all, it was the last moment of the game, and the Watford players no longer reacted so quickly. They could only watch the football fly through the crowd at high speed, and then dive into the net!
2-2!

Liverpool beat the buzzer...

Looking at Emrejan who was ecstatically sliding and kneeling on the turf to celebrate, Long Shute had a bad premonition.

Watford...may have really found a way to deal with Liverpool!

The next schedule, I am afraid it will not be easy to play!
(End of this chapter)