Football’s First Defender

In this much-anticipated battle, Liverpool had an absolute advantage in the first half, and was attacked fiercely by Manchester City in the second half, making the defense line jittery.

It highlights that the players of the two teams have a very high level of strength, and can complete effective and targeted tactical arrangements in the game, and do it to the extreme, causing enough trouble to the opponent.

Manchester City's targeted counterattack in the second half put Liverpool under considerable defensive pressure.

This pressure is not only the pressure of not being able to win this strong duel, but also the pressure from the Premier League era. Liverpool, a giant, has never won the league championship.

When the championship trophy is in front of you, as long as you win this game, Liverpool can open up enough points in the standings. For many Liverpool players, it is normal to have some ups and downs in their hearts.

In this regard, for the Manchester City players, the pressure of the game is the same, and Manchester City also cannot afford to lose.

However, another fact is that in recent seasons, Manchester City has been in the championship group all the year round. Last season, Manchester City also won the honor of the Premier League championship.

Now for the Manchester City team, it is just the same as last season, as a chaser, behind the leader, waiting for the top team to make a mistake, and rushing forward to compete for the championship trophy.

This also makes Manchester City definitely have more experience than Liverpool in dealing with the mentality of the final stage of the game.

That experience, reflected in this crucial head-to-head encounter, saw the City players slowly becoming the better side on the pitch, even though Liverpool still held the lead.

Perhaps Manchester City was indeed stunned by Liverpool's advantage at home at the beginning, but with substitutions and tactical adjustments in midfield, Manchester City regained the rhythm of the game in the second half and successfully gained the initiative on the field.

The continuous creation of threatening offenses has also allowed Manchester City to narrow the point difference. The gap of one goal may be a threat to hit the goal.

Liverpool is now under more pressure.

If it is really defeated by Manchester City, with a crazy attack, then for Liverpool, not only will the morale of this game be hit hard, it will even affect the team's performance in the last few rounds of the league.

7 points become 4 points or 3 points. With Manchester City missing one round, the pressure on Liverpool's subsequent schedule will be huge.

Liverpool, who cannot tolerate being reversed, can only increase the defensive range of the players at the end of the game, and desperately strengthen the defensive interception ability on the defensive end.

Destroy Manchester City's offense, hoping to keep the team's one-goal lead.

However, Manchester City, which is in full swing, can still create a threatening offense, especially Aguero, who came off the bench in the second half, has excellent physical fitness as a basis, and played an extremely dazzling performance in the second half of the game.

Although Aguero did not have much advantage in the match against Yang Feng, but with the increase of matches against Liverpool, he also found the most suitable way to deal with Yang Feng.

Aguero, who used to prefer to be in the middle and wanted to control the team's offensive end, in this game, most of the time, he pulled the side, or retreated outside the penalty area to receive the ball.

Aguero wants to force Yang Feng to attack and defend, creating space for his teammates to penetrate into Liverpool's penalty area.

And if Yang Feng sticks to the penalty area, then for Aguero, although he is not an orthodox winger or midfielder, but receiving the ball outside the penalty area, with his comprehensive almost ability, Aguero can also break through with the ball , or the bottom, or a long shot, but they can also create a direct threat to Liverpool.

Yang Feng felt a lot of defensive fatigue.

As the second half of the game progressed, the entire Liverpool defense was under the double test of physical fitness and mental strength under the constant impact of Manchester City.

And Yang Feng is the point that consumes the most energy in Liverpool's defense.

Although it is impossible to completely follow Aguero's defense, Yang Feng also needs to take into account the defense of Liverpool's entire team. In the game, Yang Feng's defensive range is the entire penalty area.

Not only must the marking of Manchester City's offensive players be considered, but also the space in the penalty area must be completely locked to limit Manchester City's penetration passes.

Even without the ball, Yang Feng will keep small steps so that he can have the fastest reaction speed, rush to any position in the penalty area, and complete the supplementary defense.

Yang Feng's jersey was soaked with sweat early on. However, Manchester City's offensive continued. As long as they only lead by one goal, Manchester City still has time and opportunity to create miracles in the away game.

Yang Feng also wanted to find opportunities to contribute to the team, but Manchester City did a very meticulous set-piece defense in the second half, but it also prevented Liverpool from using set-pieces to threaten their opponents.

In the second half, the two corner kicks towards Yang Feng were suddenly defended by Manchester City, which restricted Yang Feng's header.

Manchester City's onslaught wanted to equalize the score, and while Liverpool was doing a good job of defending, they were also looking for opportunities to expand the score again.

In the 83rd minute of the game, Liverpool's chance came.

Manchester City's full-scale attack on the left side attracted enough defensive power from Liverpool. Nasri's big foot moved the ball, but Yang Feng stepped forward to complete the interception.

Liverpool's chance to fight back.

Yang Feng kicked the ball and directly found Suarez who was rushing forward on the right.

Suarez pulled to the wing and acted as Liverpool's most forward counterattack point.

In the direct confrontation with Clichy, Suarez did not get enough space to attack on the wing, and in the end he could only complete a cross from the wing under Clichy's pressure.

Suarez's pass was also touched by Clichy's toe. It was not a big threat. Manchester City's two central defenders were both on the passing route.

However, Kompany, who had been steady for the whole game, made a mistake at this time.

With a big foot to clear the siege without too much interference, Kompany kicked the football, and the ball flew to the penalty spot.

Even Demichelis, who was so tired that he retreated to the small penalty area, couldn't complete the defense immediately.

Coutinho directly retreated to the penalty spot, stopped the ball and took a step horizontally, and volleyed directly before Demichelis and Kompany got in place.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye. Before Chahat could figure out the situation on the field, Coutinho had already hit the goal.

Joe Hart's flying save only became the background of Coutinho's wonderful kick.

The ball sticks to the right post of the goal and enters the net.

3 to 1!

Liverpool, who had been suppressed in the second half, relied on a lucky goal to expand the score...