Chapter 73
In the 22nd minute, Ruben Dias passed the ball forward, and Rodri took two steps forward to catch the ball, which made Brighton's players feel like they were facing a formidable enemy. Baldock had already rushed towards Rodri.
But they didn't expect that Rodri would spread his legs and let the ball slip directly between his legs, and behind Rodri, Jota, who had retreated to receive the ball, had already received the ball.
Before Jota received the ball, he had already looked around, and Brighton quickly reacted. They turned and rushed towards Jota from three directions. Jota did not panic, but leaned on a defensive player near the center circle and completed a difficult turn.
Jota chose to pass the ball to the left, where Joe Mason passed it to Ben Godfrey. Joe Mason ran to the center of the field, shouting loudly while running, signaling Godfrey to pass the ball over.
Joe Mason's conspicuous move certainly attracted a lot of attention. Central defender Duffy did not dare to neglect it, and took two steps forward to block Joe Mason's possible route to receive the ball.
But Godfrey didn't even look in his direction!
Godfrey saw Joe Mason take away a central defender and attracted the attention of many other defensive players. Instead of passing the ball in his direction, he sent a straight pass to Joe Mason's original position, which was the left front side of the court!
Who was the ball passed to?
This was the common doubt of Brighton players.
But Brighton goalkeeper Stockdale, who had a wide field of vision, shouted loudly and pulled Brighton players back into the game.
"Come back!!!!" Stockdale shouted loudly.
Because from his perspective, it was clear that Jota had already rushed to the passing route, which was the left side of the Wolves!
Where did he run from? Wasn't he still in the middle just now?
Without time to think about this question, central defender Duffy was shocked. He hurriedly called on the full-back to defend, and he turned around and wanted to find Joe Mason who had just attracted attention.
But where did Joe Mason go?
Duffy reached out and probed behind him. He thought Joe Mason was here, but he only caught a ball of air!
Damn! Duffy turned his head and saw that Joe Mason was no longer here.
Duffy ignored Joe Mason's position and paid too much attention to the direction of the football, and lost the person he should have defended.
Duffy turned his head and looked around, and was horrified to find that Joe Mason had appeared in the penalty area!
And there was no one around him! Damn!!
Another central defender Dunk was still fighting with the tall and strong Ziro, and Joe Mason was in a state of no one defending! Although Jota often appeared as the last scorer in previous games, no one would doubt that Jota also had a strong passing ability!
During his time playing in Portugal, Jota often played as a left winger. How could he not pass the ball?
Brighton right-back Bruno Salto was in a state of panic. He wanted to stop Jota urgently and stretched out his hands to grab Jota's jersey, but he couldn't catch up at all!
In a panic, Brighton right-back Bruno Salto staggered two steps and was thrown away not far away. Salto fell to the ground without paying attention. Now no one could stop Jota from passing the ball!
Jota flew his left foot and passed a low cross-
This ball was fast, the route was tricky, and the landing point was accurate, just passing in front of Joe Mason!
Duffy turned quickly, trying to stop Joe Mason at the last moment, even if it was just to block his shot. But it was too late. The Wolves players' smart running completely left the clumsy Brighton players behind.
"Jota made a cross, Joe Mason shot - the ball went in!!! ...The knowledge in books is just knowledge, and the real understanding depends on actual combat. It is shallow to learn from books, and it is necessary to practice to know it. As a head coach who came from a wild background, Wei Le attaches more importance to the feeling of playing against a strong team and head coach.
Books and videos told him that breaking high-pressure pressing can catch counterattacks and avoid the key areas of pressing. Wei Le remembered it, but it was not until this goal was born that Wei Le really made progress.
The game continued soon, and Wei Le still stood firmly on the sidelines. He continued to observe every move on the field. He found that Hughton might not have thought it through, or had no time to make adjustments, and the initiative of the game was gradually controlled by Wolves.
After Wei Le issued the order to launch counterattacks mainly on the wing and keep calm, the team actually played the monkey game on the wing.
Rodri, Ben Godfrey and Joe Mason passed the ball happily, but Brighton's players were not so happy. As the game entered the last 10 minutes of the first half, Brighton players were in urgent need of rest and adjustment after the first half.
Professional football players can often run for a long time, but they can't keep thinking for that long while running. This is why the last 30 minutes of the game is considered the "scoring period".
During this period, the players' physical fitness has already turned red, the brain is seriously lacking oxygen, and the mind is often blank. Coupled with the tension, it is easy to make mistakes that seem low-level to outsiders, and it is also easy to make some brilliant strokes.
The same is true at the end of the first half of the game. Although Brighton players are now running wildly, Wolves players can feel that the pressure brought to them by Brighton players has been gradually reduced; and Wolves players have long adapted to playing under high pressure, and passing and receiving the ball seems to be more comfortable.
In the final stage, Wei Le signaled the players to slow down the offensive for safety reasons, so as not to be hit by a counterattack. The last few minutes ended in mediocrity.
The referee blew three long whistles, and Wei Le and Hughton walked towards the court together, and the two of them met.
"You played well in the first half." Although the game was tied, Hughton did not show obvious negative emotions, and he greeted Wei Le.
"Yes, I look forward to our performance in the second half." Wei Le also responded with a smile.
Hughton hummed and walked in another direction. He also wanted to greet his players.