Football: The strongest post-2000s Chapter 063

“Beep~”

Accompanied by the head referee’s long whistle, the 2016- 2017 FA Cup Fourth Round officially began. Although the Wolves were currently in the lower-mid table of the Championship, they quickly organized an offensive with the kick-off advantage as the visiting team.

Defensive midfielder Saville sent a long pass to the right flank. Left-back Moreno made a fatal misjudgment. To compensate for his mistake, he chose to foul from behind. The referee on duty decisively blew his whistle, awarding the visiting Wolves a free-kick on the right side of the attacking half.

“Wuwuwuwu——”

The Liverpool fans in the KOP stand created a huge booing sound, sending it towards the visiting players.

Costa took the free-kick from the right, and the ball accurately found the lurking center-back Stearman in the middle, allowing him to leap high, out-jump the young Gomez and Klavan, and complete a header on goal.

Goalkeeper Mignolet reacted too late, and the ball went straight into the net.

No one expected that the visiting Wolves would take the lead as the away team!

The highly emotional Liverpool fans instantly felt as if they had been struck by a blunt object, standing stunned in place, shaking their heads bitterly as they watched the Wolves players celebrate their goal.

Since entering 2017, the team had only won one replay match. All other matches were either losses or draws. Could it be… that this match would also be like the past few matches where they dropped points?

The live director gave Liverpool head coach Klopp a close-up shot of his face. Klopp, appearing on the screen, had his hands behind his back, his brows tightly furrowed, and his expression was extremely solemn.

Although the higher-ups had held a press conference two days prior to announce their unconditional trust in Klopp, if Liverpool were to lose consecutive home games, Klopp’s outcome would definitely be dismissal.

Liverpool, with the kick-off advantage, played very impatiently. Facing the Wolves who had retreated to their own half, they resorted to long-range shots to break through the compact defense. However, the Wolves, who were leading, played very intelligently. The area in front of the box was filled with defensive players, and the ball was blocked out of bounds by the Wolves’ defenders.

Facing the Wolves who had set up a bus formation, Klopp, who was good at high pressing and defensive counterattacks, truly had no solutions.

Li Qing, sitting on the bench, also had a solemn expression. Apart from Wijnaldum and Firmino, who were starters, Liverpool’s starting players were all substitutes and players promoted from the youth team. Their overall strength was not much stronger than the Wolves, who had their full main squad. Therefore, forcing a goal was an exceptionally high difficulty.

Liverpool, playing at home, had possession advantage but no actual threat. The match gradually entered a stalemate.

In a blink of an eye, half an hour had passed, and Liverpool still hadn’t equalized the score. On the contrary, the Wolves’ counterattacks were quite effective.

The broadcasting party showed Liverpool’s possession rate once reaching as high as 80%, but it was all for nothing.

In the forty-first minute, team captain Lucas made a clearing error. Costa, who unexpectedly gained possession in the middle, sent a brilliant pass. The ball rolled along the ground towards the left attacking channel, and the timely surging forward Weimann dribbled past the rushing goalkeeper Mignolet, then scored into an empty net.

The score changed from 1:0 to 2:0.

Klopp’s face, shown on the broadcast screen, was clouded with gloom.

During the slow-motion replay, Klopp made an angry, venting body movement the moment his team conceded the goal, and he was saying something, clearly dissatisfied with the goal conceded.

The home atmosphere at Anfield Stadium dropped to its lowest point. Even the die-hard fans in the KOP stand gave up making noise, letting the visiting Wolves fans celebrate loudly.

The live feed showed the Wolves’ new owner Guo Xing ecstatic, forming a stark contrast with Liverpool’s owner John Henry.

Even though Liverpool, trailing by two goals, intensified their attack towards the end of the first half, with even center-back Klavan entering the box to play as a forward, time was running out, and they couldn’t narrow the score until the end of the first half.

The Liverpool players walking towards the player tunnel were all dispirited, as if they had lost their souls.

Li Qing sighed. In such a situation, it was inevitable that he wouldn’t be sent onto the field. He could only get up and enter the pitch to warm up, preparing for the second half.

Whether he could play was not something he could achieve just by wishing for it; it depended on head coach Klopp having that idea.

Most of the Liverpool fans in the stands were dispirited, and some disappointed fans even chose to leave early to express their dissatisfaction with the team’s performance.

Fifteen minutes of halftime passed quickly. The die-hard Liverpool fans in the KOP stand once again shone with their usual colors. The classic team anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” resonated again in the die-hard fan stand.

When-you-walk-through-the-storm

Hold-your-head-up-high

And-don’t-be-afraid-of-the-dark

……

Walk-on, walk-on, with-hope-in-your-heart

When the song reached this point, all the Liverpool fans in the stadium sang loudly with hysteria.

And-you’ll-never-walk-alone

You’ll-never-walk-alone……

Li Qing, still warming up, listened to the singing coming from all directions. He felt his blood rushing rapidly throughout his body at that moment, as if it was about to burst forth.

He had a strong feeling that if he could come on as a substitute in the second half, he would definitely score!

Liverpool, trailing by two goals in the first half, made a substitution before the start of the second half, but it wasn’t Li Qing who came on, but Coutinho, replacing defender Randall.

Klopp’s intention for the adjustment was very clear: to strengthen the attacking creativity in the final third. However, the Wolves had made targeted deployments during halftime, and Liverpool’s attack struggled to reach the core areas, still dominating possession without scoring.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Liverpool still hadn’t narrowed the deficit. Klopp once again made a personnel change, replacing young prospect Stewart with experienced veteran Milner.

However, the effect was still not good.

With both substitutions used up, the home team’s attack still showed no improvement. Li Qing knew that he would very likely not play in this match. Unwilling to give up, he couldn’t help but stand up and walk to Klopp, who was standing in the home team’s coaching area with a furrowed brow, and whispered with his hand covering his mouth, “Boss, I want to play.”