Football career: From winning the championship to becoming a legend

2008年1月19日下午15时，07/08赛季英格兰足球超级联赛第23轮，红衣白裤的曼联在马德伊斯基球场，客场挑战蓝白横条衫的雷丁。

曼联在双方近10场交锋中6胜4平保持不败，雷丁历史上唯一一次击败曼联还是1927年1月的足总杯第3轮第2次重赛。

Brown, who returned from suspension, and Hargreaves, who recovered from injury, replaced O'Shea and Carrick in the starting lineup respectively, while Park Ji-sung replaced Giggs. The Four Little Swans continued to dance on the stage together, oh no, they were performing on the field!

Judging from Sir Alex's deployment, Li Qi has finally secured his position as a first-line starter; in games with enough intervals, he will not be rotated, and he has initially gained a level lower than Ronaldo and Rooney...

Well, okay, the treatment is one and a half levels lower!

The home team Reading was eliminated by Tottenham in the FA Cup replay in the middle of the week. Because of the double match in one week, coach Coper replaced five players in the starting lineup.

But even if 5 starting players were changed, it was a double match in one week after all, and Reading, playing at home, was taken advantage of by Manchester United. After all, England is only so big...

Just 42 seconds into the game, Park Ji-sung and Tevez cooperated continuously and the latter made a cross pass. Ronaldo cut inside to receive the ball and broke through to the edge of the penalty area and shot low with his left foot!

The ball went slightly wide of the near corner. Manchester United struck a stunning blow at the start of the match!

However, this was just the beginning of Manchester United's offensive...

In the 7th minute, Li Qi launched a quick counterattack in the backcourt and made a long pass to Rooney on the front line.

The latter didn't stop the ball and headed it directly to Ronaldo on the wing.

Ronaldo dribbled the ball along the right wing at high speed to the edge of Reading's penalty area, changed direction with his heel, took a step sideways, and made another long shot with his left foot!

Unfortunately, the ball missed the near corner again.

In the 11th minute, after several passes in the backcourt, Li Qi seized the opportunity and suddenly led the ball forward into Reading's half, then passed the ball to Rooney who retreated to receive the ball.

The latter received the ball, leaned against the defender and half turned and passed the ball diagonally into the penalty area...

Tevez got the ball and shot from 14 yards on the right side of the penalty area!

The ball drew an arc and headed straight for the back corner of the goal, but Reading goalkeeper Hahnemann bravely saved it from the bottom line!

Li Qi then took the corner kick from the right side, and Vidic successfully scored in the crowd, but his header also went wide of the baseline.

In the 15th minute, Manchester United continued to put pressure.

Li Qi was blocked from advancing, and after retreating, he sent a precise through ball in the opposite direction. After receiving the ball, Ronaldo cut inside to the edge of the penalty area for the third time and took a long shot with his left foot, which also missed the near post for the third time...

In the 20th minute, Manchester United finally broke the deadlock.

Li Qi decided to let Ronaldo calm down and look for opportunities more patiently; because in this game, although Reading did not press too hard, they obviously made tight defenses against both him and Ronaldo.

Today, Li Qi clearly felt that his forward movement was blocked, especially in the area outside the opponent's penalty area. No matter he was advancing with the ball or receiving the ball with his back, he would be blocked or assisted by two or more defensive players of the opponent, and he would be pushed out.

Li Qi can be allowed to pass the ball horizontally or back near the midfield, but his vertical passing and support are obviously restricted.

As for Ronaldo, although Li Qi didn't know how he felt, his intuitive observation was that they were obviously blocking his right foot, forcing him towards his left foot, allowing long shots and passes, and preventing him from breaking through!

Since the defense and attention are focused on himself and Ronaldo, then the others... Li Qi figured it out in an instant, so he tentatively moved forward with the ball to attract the defense and then decisively passed the ball to Ronaldo, in the opposite direction!

As expected, Tevez, who was pulled to the corner of the penalty area, was left open.

After receiving the ball, Tevez also had a tacit understanding, staring straight at the right side of the attack direction, pretending to pass the ball to Ronaldo to attract the attention of Reading's defense;

But he secretly shook his ankle and passed the ball without looking at anyone, tilting the ball straight behind Reading!

In a flash, Rooney came running in and shot the ball into the far corner without stopping!

In the 20th minute, Manchester United finally broke the deadlock. Rooney helped Manchester United take the lead! 1-0!

Oh! No! The linesman raised the flag!

Tevez and Rooney scored with a straight pass, but were judged to be offside.

Having escaped the disaster, Reading also knew that the loopholes in his defense had been exploited;

Obviously, they had rehearsed the corresponding tactics before the game. After being penetrated by the Four Little Swans tacitly once, Reading began to shrink their defense area even more, leaving the two flanks and the area near the center circle completely to Manchester United, and only strictly guarding the third zone.

Although the retreating Reading still focused on defending Li Qi and Ronaldo, the gaps in other defensive areas were compressed. If they ran a few more steps, they would have enough time to make up for the defense and assist in the defense.

Although Li Qi felt that breaking this turtle shell only required patience and was only a matter of time; however, some impatient Manchester United teammates fell into the trap, allowing the home team to launch the most threatening counterattack of the game!

In the 29th minute, Wes Brown, who had finally finalized his contract extension after half a season of hesitation, felt a little lonely as he watched his team fail to make any breakthroughs and score even though they had the upper hand.

Manchester United's right-back changed from the calm and experienced style of the previous half hour and instead rushed forward with the ball!

Li Qi, who originally wanted to get close to the ball but could only see the taillights instead of receiving it, didn't need to guess, he could see with his eyes closed that this guy just wanted to get in and then get to the edge of the penalty area and cross the ball...

Obviously, the opposing defender guessed it, so he moved sideways to block the path for Ronaldo to cooperate, driving Wes Brown to develop deeper;

Then two of them teamed up to grab the ball, and the third person assisted in defense, and they easily stole the ball from Wes Brown's feet.

Manchester United's right side was suddenly empty. After all, Ronaldo rarely returns to defense. Although his eyes are sharp, his defense is just for show.

So Li Qi hurried to fill the hole.

However, Reading's counterattack caught Li Qi off guard, and it was obviously planned before the game...

After Reading's left-back Nicky Shorey stole the ball from Wes Brown, he did not pass it straight blindly. Instead, he waited for Li Qi to come over and then sent a diagonal pass to the middle before Li Qi filled in.

And that position, where Hargreaves didn't have time to return to defense, was Manchester United's Achilles' heel in the transition from offense to defense!

Reading's midfielder No. 21 Hunter received the ball near the center circle and made a series of explosive moves, pushing Manchester United's defense line back into the penalty area. Then, as if he had completed his mission, he simply passed the ball to the violent black striker Lita, whom Li Qi had played against in the U European Championship!

Just by hearing his name, you know that this Reading striker is very tough, even though he is only 170cm tall and he is also a guy who starts high and ends low;

But at this time he was still young, fast, flexible and muscular!

Lita took the ball and rushed into the penalty area, breaking through Ferdinand's first line of defense!

The former broke into Manchester United's penalty area and shot a powerful shot from 15 yards away from the goal on the left!

Fortunately, the quality of the shot was average and was blocked by the focused Van der Sar with both palms at the near corner.

However, the ball was still not cleared. After all, Lita's shot was so powerful that Van der Sar did not dare to take it head-on, nor could he block the ball accurately out of bounds. Instead, he hit the ball back into the small penalty area...

Reading's other striker Kitson was quick to take the lead and made a follow-up shot!

Fortunately for Manchester United, Vidic flew to make up for the gap and cleared Kitson's shot just as the ball was about to hit the empty goal!

Then Reading midfielder Doyle picked up the ball on the periphery, stopped it with his chest and then made a 30-yard shot, which was intercepted by Hargreaves who returned to defense.

But the ball curved and rolled back to Kitson's feet...

This time, the Reading striker did not kick the ball blindly. Instead, he feinted and dodged Ferdinand's defense, then cut to the right side of the penalty area and shot at a small angle 10 yards away from the goal.

However, this shot was obviously kicked with the left foot, and under pressure, it missed and was easily caught by Van der Sar who turned back to block the near corner.

This was Reading's first threatening attack of the entire game, and in just 30 seconds the home team made the first, second, third and fourth shots of the entire game!

There were three shots on target, two of which were close to scoring, and they immediately caught up with the offensive data of the Red Devils Manchester United, which had worked hard for half an hour...

Manchester United, who were frightened, changed to a more calm approach to ball handling and back-and-forth coordination in the rest of the first half;

Obviously, Li Qi, who was in charge of organizing the midfield, intended to first wear down the home team's physical strength, and then patiently look for an opportunity to strike a fatal blow.

Soon it was halftime, and Sir Alex approved Li Qi's tactical plan, and at the beginning of the second half, he gradually replaced Li Qi with helpers:

Park Ji-sung, who was active in running but could not help Manchester United's attack to open up width, was replaced by Giggs, who was more accurate in crossing from the wing;

Hargreaves, who was fierce in midfield interceptions but lacked agility in offensive organization and attacking runs, was replaced by Carrick, a hexagonal midfielder who was good at organization and dispatching.

Sir Alex's substitution had an immediate effect. At the beginning of the second half, Manchester United not only pressed Reading again near the penalty area, but also created many opportunities to score.

In the 48th minute, Li Qi passed the ball to Carrick outside the penalty area, and the latter's long shot created a corner kick.

Giggs took a corner kick from the right side, and the ball shot by Reading goalkeeper Hahnemann in the small penalty area hit Kitson's back and bounced into the empty goal. Fortunately, Cisse cleared the ball in front of the goal line.

Reading escaped the second disaster! But soon...

Manchester United missed another good opportunity in the 54th minute, as Li Qi and Carrick cooperated to create a corner kick through a long shot.

Giggs's corner kick from the left side was cleared by the Reading defender.

However, Li Qi headed the ball back into the home team's penalty area from outside the penalty area...

Ferdinand, who was lurking behind the goal, was not offside. After stopping Li Qi's pass, he did not choose to shoot directly, but made a powerful low pass in front of the goal!

Ronaldo finally found an opportunity in the middle, but he failed to shoot from 8 yards in front of the goal!

Reading escaped the third disaster.

Then, in the next ten minutes, Redding escaped the fourth and fifth disasters successively...

First, in the 60th minute, Li Qi received the pass from Giggs and sent a lob pass to the side;

This time, Ronaldo did not break through but directly made a cross from the right. Giggs, with the help of Tevez and Rooney, suddenly moved forward to 12 yards in front of the goal and made a flanking move!

Unfortunately, Giggs's low shot with his left foot was saved by Reading goalkeeper Hahnemann!

In the 64th minute, Manchester United launched a quick counterattack. Li Qi intercepted the ball in the backcourt and made a long pass to Giggs on the wing.

The latter broke through to the left side of the penalty area and made a cross. Tevez's first shot at the front point was cleared, and then Rooney followed up with a shot from 12 yards, but was blocked by defender Ingimarsson!

But the ball had not been cleared yet. Tevez was the first to find the ball in the crowd and protected it with his back, then used Ronaldo to attract attention again and passed the ball to Rooney!

However, the latter's powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area hit the near post and went out of the bottom line.

This... the opportunity has come, but I just can’t get it in!

The Sir Alex Ferguson on the sidelines was so anxious that his face turned red. He just chewed gum and even stood on the sidelines, personally directing Li Qi and Everard to press forward...

But Li Qi has a different opinion. This is not a question of pressing forward: Reading's defense is already shaky. This is not the time to compress them. Instead, they should be pulled back first, slow down and accumulate strength, and then suddenly accelerate and change the rhythm, which will become the last straw that breaks the camel's back!