The score of 2:0 immediately made Anfield Stadium fans feel very dissatisfied.
There were endless boos and curses.
On the one hand, it is against the arrogant Manchester City, and on the other hand, it is also dissatisfaction with its own players.
Because many fans at the scene couldn't see what was happening on the field, they all thought it was in the penalty area. Van Dijk and Alisson made mistakes in cooperation, which allowed Gabriel Jesus to seize the opportunity and score the goal.
They have no sympathy for Li Mingyu's Spin Pass, and cannot understand the collapsed mentality of the person involved.
After scoring two goals, Manchester City completely relaxed.
The Liverpool team could only let go of the offense. They were two goals behind and still played so conservatively. It is estimated that the fans would not spare them.
Drinking poison to quench thirst is nothing more than that.
In the 25th minute, the Liverpool team's attack hit the edge of Manchester City's penalty area. Salah shot a long shot, but goalkeeper Ederson firmly held the ball under him.
The players of team Liverpool quickly returned to defense. Ederson had no chance to launch a fast break and could only signal to slow down the rhythm.
He threw the football to Laporte, and Laporte passed the ball to Rodri in front.
Rodri looked at Li Mingyu's position and passed the ball.
Li Mingyu stepped forward to catch the ball, but Salah behind him also pressed closely against him.
Li Mingyu didn't want to waste his energy and chose to pass the ball directly to the goalkeeper.
All the players stopped running and were waiting for Ederson to catch the ball before reorganizing the attack.
As a result, something unexpected happened.
Watching Li Mingyu's pass, Ederson raised his right foot carelessly, preparing to block the football.
But before the football came over, Ederson was already thinking about who he was going to pass the ball to.
As a result, the football rubbed against the edge of Ederson's shoe and quickly slid past his feet.
Ederson's soul came out and he quickly turned back, but the ball was so fast that the moment he turned his head, the football had already entered the small penalty area.
Looking at the direction the football was rolling, Ederson held his knees with both hands and buried his head deeply.
Before the Liverpool players could react, they heard huge cheers from the fans in the audience.
Salah, who was still behind Li Mingyu, saw the whole process of this own goal.
When Ederson missed the ball, Salah felt his heartbeat speeding up crazily.
Could it be that...
Seeing the ball roll into Manchester City's goal, Salah excitedly raised his arms and shouted wildly, rushing towards his own half.
A group of Liverpool people hugged each other tightly.
No guns or cannons, the enemy made them for us!
It doesn't matter if we don't score, Manchester City helps us score!
"Hey! How did this goal go in? There is absolutely no problem with this goal. There is absolutely no problem with scoring! Goalkeeper Ederson made a huge mistake!"
"Huge, huge, super, super low-level mistake!--"
Tencent Sports today invited the famous former China star Sun Jihai to be today's guest host.
Sun Jihai was the representative figure of China football at the time. After leaving Premier League, he joined Crystal Palace, and later joined Manchester City who was still at League One.
Manchester City and Sun Jihai performed very well, representing Manchester City in various competitions 151 times.
In September 2015, Sun Jihai served as the Chinese image ambassador of Manchester City, and was selected as English Football Hall of Fame the following month.
Since there is Manchester City in this competition, Sun Jihai was specially invited to be the guest host.
Seeing Li Mingyu's wonderful performance, Sun Jihai has been full of praise for Li Mingyu, claiming that such a player is the most precious asset of any team.
Sun Jihai also gave a professional explanation to Li Mingyu's several Spin Pass just now. Although he couldn't kick it, as a professional football player, he can still understand the principle of this kind of ball.
Who knows, just when I was saying that Li Mingyu's pass back was very smart, this dramatic scene happened on the court.
Ederson actually missed Li Mingyu's back pass into the goal.
In the broadcast room, Sun Jihai was frozen. His eyes widened and he couldn't believe what he just saw.
If it hadn't been for the thought that he was now a guest on a TV station, Sun Jihai would have been ready to curse.
"Ederson, gave the opponent a goal!"
The shock on Sun Jihai's face resembles China a comedy master named Zhao from the northeast.
Li Mingyu looked down at his right foot in confusion!
Own goal!
This is still my own goal!
The first own goal in my life came quite suddenly!
Ederson, what on earth are you doing?
But looking at Ederson who kept his head down and looked like he was about to collapse, Li Mingyu had no choice.
Li Mingyu trotted all the way from midfield to Ederson, helped Ederson up, who was bent over, and said with a smile, "Okay, it's no big deal, cheer up!"
Ederson said with an apologetic look, "Sorry, Li, I was a little distracted just now!"
"It's okay, it's okay, we are still leading now, let them have a ball, what are you afraid of!" Li Mingyu said with an indifferent expression.
Li Mingyu's words filled Ederson's heart with warmth and gratitude.
Many times, a word of encouragement from teammates can quickly restore a player's confidence.
Ederson looked at the back of Li Mingyu and secretly swore in his heart that today, I will never let Liverpool score another goal!
Ederson patted his head hard to wake himself up.
Liverpool was lucky and scored a goal, which boosted the morale of the Liverpool players.
The own goal just now had a big impact on Manchester City's morale and state.
After the restart, Manchester City's offense had quite a problem. After Li Mingyu got the ball, there was no good way to face Liverpool's pressing. He could only make frequent back passes and cross passes, and there were almost no forward passes.
Manchester City was suppressed by team Liverpool.
Salah and Mane frequently attacked Manchester City's weak wings.
In the 30th minute, Liverpool team made a series of exquisite cooperation at the front of Manchester City's penalty area. After two consecutive one-twos, Salah got the football in the ribs of the penalty area and shot a volley with his foot.
Facing the shot that was so close, Liverpool goalkeeper Ederson made the ultimate save.
Salah's shot was very tricky. It hit the lower corner of the near post directly. For the goalkeeper, he needed to quickly lower his weight in order to hit it.
Ederson, while weighing his heart down, had blocked Salah's volley with his left hand. Then, while falling to the ground, he turned over and pressed the football tightly under his body.
Salah couldn't believe his eyes. Such a sure shot was actually saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.
Sun Jihai in the broadcast room couldn't help but exclaimed, "Ederson, he did it. He was not affected by the own goal just now. He made a wonderful save and saved Manchester City. It's amazing!"
Indeed, it is very remarkable that a goalkeeper can adjust his mentality and state so quickly after just scoring an own goal.
Ederson was able to save this goal that was almost a must-goal, which caused a huge psychological change for the players on both sides.
Manchester City members who had narrowly escaped death all came forward to express encouragement for Ederson's performance.
And Liverpool's players all looked annoyed. Didn't they even score this kind of goal?
If you don't cherish the opportunity, you will be punished accordingly.
In the 40th minute, Liverpool team once again attacked Manchester City's frontcourt. They made two consecutive passes into the penalty area, but failed to succeed. Mane, who barely got the ball outside the penalty area, took a long shot.
However, defender Stones's eye-catching defense blocked this long shot out of the penalty area.
When Mane was still signaling to the referee that Stones was suspected of handball, the football that popped out of the penalty area fell at the feet of Li Mingyu.
Seeing that the referee did not give any indication, Li Mingyu took the ball and rushed towards the half court of team Liverpool.
Counterattack quickly.
Seeing that the opponent's midfielder was about to double-team him, Li Mingyu made an emergency stop, turned 360 degrees on the spot, and smashed the ball twice in a row, completely breaking the three-man double-team of Liverpool team.
However, the speed of Li Mingyu has also been reduced.
With his back to Liverpool's half, Li Mingyu suddenly turned around and passed the ball directly with his right foot. The football flew quickly from near the midfield to the direction of Liverpool's penalty area.
Liverpool center back Ben White reacted a little slowly. From behind, Gabriel Jesus came out directly and used his right foot to get rid of Ben White's pursuit. Facing the attacking Alisson, Gabriel Jesus calmly pushed the ball into the goal from Alisson's armpit.
It only took less than ten seconds from Mane's shot being blocked to Gabriel Jesus's successful shot.
Li Mingyu's continuous turns in the midfield to get rid of the defense of three players can be called a midfield work of art.
"Mane's shot, oh, it was too forced. There is no space for the ball, so we have to force it!"
"Hey! The ball that popped up fell at Li Mingyu's feet. That's right, Manchester City is going to counterattack!"
"However, the Liverpool team's defense has already pounced, and Li Mingyu has no way forward."
"Beautiful, Li Mingyu made a sudden stop and turned around. It's so beautiful and silky. It's so beautiful to use the other person's body as an axis."
"With continuous turns and continuous smashes, the football seems to grow on Li Mingyu's feet. This kind of body balance and flexibility is really amazing!"
"Oh, this pass is so imaginative. How did he see the position of Gabriel Jesus!"
"Gabriel Jesus didn't start it in advance. He started it when he saw the football flying over. Ben White was a little careless. He didn't see Gabriel Jesus who had been ambushing behind him."
"Gabriel Jesus's ball was so bad. When Ben White saw it, it was already too late. This shot was also very clever. He didn't use any force. He just pushed the ball with one kick. Sometimes, the shot is so light that it makes it difficult for the goalkeeper to save it!"
Sun Jihai was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. When he saw this wonderful goal, he was so excited that his glasses almost fell to the ground.
As a defender, he is also a jack-of-all-trades in the backcourt. He has played basically all positions in the midfield and backcourt.
Sun Jihai was shocked by Li Mingyu's pass, because he really couldn't see how Li Mingyu could see the movement of the frontcourt players when he passed the ball. Could it be that he just relied on tacit understanding.
That doesn't make sense. Li Mingyu has only been in this team for less than half a year. If we talk about a tacit understanding, it's impossible to establish such a tacit understanding of passing and running so quickly!
Finally, Sun Jihai came to a conclusion.
This is the sense of a top talented midfielder.
There are many top midfield masters, but you can hardly see him observing the movement on the field before passing the ball.
Because he already had a general understanding of the movements of his teammates on the court before, he didn't need to confirm whether his teammates were already in place at the moment he passed the ball.
I think you are in place, you must be in place!
Li Mingyu's pass was actually just as he was catching the ball, he saw that Gabriel Jesus had already started running. After turning around several times, he concluded that Gabriel Jesus's position was at the edge of the penalty area, so he sent the pass directly.
Gabriel Jesus lived up to Li Mingyu's pass and ran into position very beautifully to complete the attack.
3:1, Manchester City extended the lead to two goals.
"Liverpool team needs to cheer up, they haven't scored a goal in the first half!"
Sun Jihai said with a teasing look and a smile.
The teacher Zhan Jun next to him is a die-hard fan of team Liverpool. Hearing this, he could only smile bitterly.
What can I say about Liverpool's performance today? In fact, he played very well, but he just lacked a little luck.
In the first half of the game, both sides did not create any more scoring opportunities, and the score of 3:1 remained until the halftime break.
During the halftime break, Sun Jihai made some analysis on Manchester City's offense in the first half and expressed deep affirmation of Li Mingyu's important role in this team.
Zhan Jun also said that today's Manchester City has almost no opponents in the Premier League league. Unless they let themselves go, it is impossible for anyone to compete with them.
The existence of Li Mingyu has raised the integrity of Manchester City's offensive and defensive ends to a very high level.
"Don't think that Li Mingyu is only sharp when attacking. In fact, he is an indispensable barrier in Manchester City's defensive system."
"Li Mingyu's defense is definitely underrated!"
Zhan Jun said decisively.
Sun Jihai also nodded and said in agreement, "Yes, I have watched many games of Li Mingyu, and I can see that every time when returning to defense, Li Mingyu will intercept the opponent's arrow. Sometimes, Li Mingyu's interception is not successful, but he has completely slowed down the opponent's attack speed. This is a very important role in his defense!"
"Mainly because his offense is so good, everyone ignores his defense!"
"Just like Spain National Team's original Alonso, in fact, Alonso's defensive role in the national team is far greater than his offensive role. Back then, When Spain National Team collapsed, it started from Alonso's physical deterioration. When his physical strength could no longer support him as the team's defensive barrier, Spain National Team's defensive system completely collapsed!"
"So, Li Mingyu acts as a sea-fixing needle in Manchester City!"
Pay tribute to goalkeeper Simon, your mistake almost sent me away! Fortunately, there was no danger in the end! Come on Spain!