i am a football star

Chapter 137 A Pretty Good Result
Liu Ting can only slowly look for good opportunities, this kind of hard work cannot be rushed.

Reina continued his performance.

In the 33rd minute, Carrick's through ball and Carlos Tevez turned offside, and Reina got the ball in time, but Carlos Tevez received a yellow card for colliding with the goalkeeper.

Although Reina is in good form, Liverpool's goal was broken in the first half.

In the 38th minute, Rooney's shot was blocked by Mascherano and Manchester United got a corner kick.

Wayne Rooney kicked the ball to Carrick with a tactical corner kick. Carrick passed along the sideline of the penalty area to the bottom line. The ball was blocked by Agger's foot in the middle. The ball unexpectedly bounced in front of the unguarded O'Shea.

Faced with such an accident, Reina has nothing to do.

Today happened to be O'Shea's 28th birthday. He celebrated his birthday with a goal, but it made Liverpool embarrassing.

Alan Hansen said: "This is really a bad situation. Agger assisted O'Shea to score with an own goal. Manchester United took the lead. Even if Liverpool can score to equalize or even overtake the score, Manchester United also won an important away goal."

This goal is indeed very important, and Ferguson on the sidelines couldn't help waving to celebrate.

Manchester United couldn't break Liverpool's goal with several threatened shots, but now they scored in an accident. Anything is always possible on the pitch.

Agger, who had an own goal assist, was still discouraged. Liu Ting walked over to him and said, "Hey, Daniel, don't worry, the technical statistics officer on the sidelines will not credit this assist to your name."

A small joke caught Agger's attention, and Liu Ting continued: "We don't have to worry, we are only one goal behind. We still have a chance to recover. As for away goals, do you think we can't score goals at Old Trafford? We have scored 6 goals against Manchester United this season, and we have scored 4 goals at Old Trafford."

Liu Ting's consolation finally made Age better, and he came out of the accidental loss of the ball.

Not reconciled to this score, Liverpool launched a counterattack at the end of the first half.

In the 42nd minute, Gareth Bale stepped forward with the ball and used his speed to overtake Fletcher. Liu Ting slanted the ball to Liu Ting from the left.

This was Liverpool's most threatening shot before the end of the first half, and the fans at the scene sighed.

Ferguson was also taken aback, jumping and cursing on the sidelines. The Ferdinand midfielder who had just lost his position and was found by Liu Ting may have to accept the baptism of the hair dryer.

Liverpool returned to the locker room with a score behind 0:1. Everyone is still a little disappointed with this score.

If they lose at home, it will be really difficult for Liverpool to advance.

Heynckes also understands this truth and is making arrangements: "In the second half we have to find a way to equalize the score, so at least we have to score. Gareth (Bell) you can go forward more on the left. O'Shea on the right of Manchester United is not too strong. Although Ferguson arranged for others to help him, it is always the weakest part of Manchester United's defense. You step forward to help Liu. I believe you two can break through the opponent's defense. The chances of qualifying will be one point lower, even if we can get it back."

Heynckes' arrangement was that in the second half Liverpool would become the main defensive counterattack. Everyone paid attention to defense, and the counterattack was mainly launched from the left, using the speed of Bell and Liu Ting on the left to counterattack each other.

Heynckes was also gambling, betting that Ferguson would continue to attack if he was not satisfied with a one-goal lead in the second half. This season Liverpool double-beat Manchester United, especially at Manchester United's 4:1 slaughter at home. This is the biggest loss to Liverpool since Ferguson coached Manchester United.

Heynckes thought: If I have such an opportunity, I will definitely want revenge. Manchester United will definitely continue to attack in the second half.

At the beginning of the second half of the game, Ferguson was not satisfied with an away goal, and Manchester United continued to attack.

In the 46th minute, Manchester United launched the first attack in the second half. Ronaldo dribbled the ball and fell on the penalty area line under the defense of Harvey Alonso. He asked the referee for a penalty kick. The referee ignored it and signaled the game to continue. Rooney and Vidic also went to put pressure on the referee.

At this time, Reina quickly took the ball and threw it directly to Bell on the left. Bell quickly counterattacked with the ball, and Liu Ting also started to run forward immediately.

"Liverpool... a chance to fight back!"

Manchester United was a bit caught off guard. The referee had just signaled the game to continue and hurried towards Manchester United's half-court. Bale dribbled the ball and ran easily away from Anderson and Carrick who wanted to stop him.

"Bell...he's too fast!"

Bell ran with the ball, and Liu Ting was no faster than him without the ball. Soon it became a two-on-two in the frontcourt. A large group of Manchester United players have not returned yet. Only O'Shea and Ferdinand are in their own half. O'Shea went to stop Bell, and Ferdinand came to defend Liu Ting.

Bell passed the ball, Liu Ting received the ball, Ferdinand was very experienced and did not blindly extend his foot to steal the ball. Liu Ting was ready to go in if he dared to extend his foot, but even so, Liu Ting was not too worried.

Liu Ting skillfully controlled the ball at his feet, dialed twice in a row and suddenly changed direction to the right, causing Ferdinand to change his center of gravity and immediately spiked the ball back and entered the penalty area from the left. This is Liu Ting's favorite one-on-one dribble method.

Van der Sar attacked in a timely manner when Liu Ting broke through Ferdinand. Today Van der Sar was in good condition, and Liu Ting took the risk and chose the most difficult way for the opponent to hit the goal.

Liu Ting spotted a shot through the crotch. Fortunately, there was no accident. The ball passed through Van der Sar's crotch before he fell down, and flew into the goal after bouncing off the ground.

"Goooooooooal!!! Liu! Shot through the crotch! He helped Liverpool equalize the score!" Alan Hansen roared loudly.

"This was just Liverpool's first attack in the second half. A counterattack broke Manchester United's goal. Liverpool still have a chance to overtake the score."

Liu Ting, who scored the goal, rushed over and jumped on Bale's back, shouting and celebrating, and Anfield was also boiling.

Ferguson on the sidelines protested loudly, thinking that Ronaldo's fall was fouled, and Liverpool's counterattack goal could not be counted.

But this is a Champions League game, not a Premier League game. Ferguson's protest brought him a warning from the referee.

Liverpool equalized the score, Manchester United continued to attack and wanted to lead again. On the scene, Manchester United had the advantage, but they still failed to score.

In the 60th minute, Ferguson replaced Anderson with Giggs. This was Giggs' 800th game representing Manchester United. The Manchester media had reported it before the game, but this was at Anfield. Although some Manchester United fans came here and gave Giggs applause, most of them were huge boos from Liverpool fans.

Appeared amidst huge boos, but Wang Laoji created a threat as soon as he came on the stage.

In the 63rd minute, Ronaldo scored the ball and Giggs broke into the penalty area single-handedly, passing Reina and scoring. Fortunately, the linesman raised the flag to signal offside first.

In the 70th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo also kicked a long shot from outside the penalty area to pass Mascherano and hit the crossbar. The bang sounded like a shock to the heartstrings of all Liverpool fans. Fortunately, the ball bounced back into the penalty area and was cleared by Agger.

Manchester United's offensive was fierce, and Liverpool's counterattack was also impressive.

In the 66th minute, Liu Ting counterattacked and dribbled the ball to the frontcourt. Under the double-teaming of Vidic and Ferdinand, Modric followed up a step slower, otherwise it would be another goal.

In the 74th minute, Bell counterattacked with his left foot and shot the far corner, and Van der Sar dialed the ball out with his fingertips.

When the game entered 80 minutes, both teams began to slow down. At this time, the score was still 1:1, and both teams could accept this score.

Manchester United thinks that there is an away goal draw, and Manchester United will have an advantage in the next round when they return to the home court. They also have a headache for Liverpool's counterattack, especially when Bale's speed is combined with Liu Ting's personal ability.

Liverpool thinks it is acceptable not to lose at home. After all, Gerrard came back in the second round, and Torres may come back if he recovers well. At that time, it will not be too late to fight Manchester United in the away game.

The last 10 minutes or so of the game seemed uneventful, neither team created a good chance until the referee whistled the game to end.

However, in the 88th minute, Liu Ting broke through with the ball in the frontcourt. Ferdinand strained his thigh in order to defend Liu Ting.

Liu Ting inadvertently caused the opponent's attrition. After seeing Ferdinand's appearance, he may not be able to play in the second round after a week. This can be regarded as creating a small advantage for Liverpool in the second round.

Manchester United scored in the first half and Liverpool equalized in the second half. The first round of the Champions League semi-final between the two teams ended with a score of 1:1. From the score point of view, Manchester United has a slight advantage. They scored an away goal and played at home in the second round.

Liverpool also has its own advantages, that is, Gerrard's comeback in the second round, Manchester United's Ferdinand is likely to be absent, and this is a civil war in the Premier League. Manchester United will go to Liverpool at least once every season at home, and there will be no reasons such as unsuitable weather and venues.

At the press conference after the game, Ferguson said unconvinced: "We should have scored 4 away goals!"

Heynckes did not show any weakness: "Yes, the last time we played Manchester United away, we scored 4 away goals."

This is in response to Ferguson with Liverpool's 4:1 away defeat to Manchester United in the league.After all, Manchester United had the upper hand in this Champions League game. Manchester United had 13 shots and 7 shots on target. Liverpool at home had only 10 shots and 5 shots on target. Manchester United had 55% of the ball possession against Liverpool's 45%.

After the game, the media began to analyze the promotion probability of the two teams. Generally speaking, they believed that Manchester United had a slight advantage now, and Liverpool also had a good chance of an away comeback.

Both the Manchester media and the Liverpool media believe that their team has achieved a fairly good result.

Major European bookmakers have also adjusted their odds. Before the start of the semi-finals, Liverpool's promotion odds were slightly higher than Manchester United's. Now after the first round, Manchester United's odds are slightly higher than Liverpool's.

Liu Ting scored a goal in the game, and the number of goals in the Champions League reached 6. He also rose to 4th in the scorer list, tied with Porto's Lopez.

The top three scorers are still unchanged, and neither the ranking nor the number of goals has changed. Messi ranks first with 8 goals, Gerrard and Klose tie for second with 1 goals.

(End of this chapter)