Fifteen minutes after the halftime break, neither Leicester City nor Liverpool made any substitutions for the time being, but Leicester City's tactical adjustments changed very obviously.
After the start of the second half, Leicester City's pressing was no longer limited to the midfield, and the pressing turned into a ubiquitous high-position pressure.
Moreover, the width of Leicester City's formation was very wide during the ball possession phase, and the two sides used the horizontal width of the pitch to tear apart Liverpool's defense.
The functions of Mendy and Ndidi at Leicester City have also changed.
In the first half, Mendy and Ndidi were slightly conservative in their interceptions and defense.
But that was not the case in the second half. The two spared no effort in interceptions and steals, increased their intensity, and often made decisive moves.
But this kind of grabbing is not blind, but should be done with protection.
For example, if Ndidi steps forward to intercept and steal, there will definitely be a player behind him to protect him.
If Ndidi fails, this player will immediately step in to cover and provide secondary defense or interference to the Liverpool player holding the ball.
Apparently he got the advice from Leicester City coach Puel.
The two central midfielders from City of Manchester have lived up to Puel's trust.
Especially Ndidi, when he finds the right opportunity to steal or intercept, his success rate is quite high, showing his superb level as a defensive midfielder.
This tactical adjustment has a very obvious effect for Leicester City. From time to time, they can get the ball and start a counterattack.
Moreover, Leicester City's forward passing is very fast, smooth and purposeful. A continuous pass between three players can often transfer the ball out of Liverpool's pressing circle in the middle.
Either splitting the sides, penetrating the ribs, or shooting directly from outside the penalty area. The offensive methods are more threatening than in the first half.
"Puel, the head coach who just took office last year, still has his own way!" Zhan Jun said in the live broadcast room after seeing the changes in City in the second half.
"Compared with last season, Leicester City has changed very obviously this season!" Zhang Lu nodded, "The data of Liverpool and Leicester City in the first half were almost the same. Liverpool had a ball possession rate of 54%, while Leicester City had a ball possession rate of 54%.
City’s 46%, and shooting is also 1 of 3, which is slightly less than Liverpool’s 2 of 5, but the overall data is still very good!”
"From these data, coupled with Leicester City's previous games, we can clearly see that Puel wants the team to have more possession of the ball and use short passes to play the current ground passing style.
attack!"
In the 48th minute of the game, Leicester City was pressed by Liverpool while holding the ball on the right side of the frontcourt.
Mane, who retreated to join the defense, went straight to Mendy, who was short in stature, and took the ball along the wing.
When Mendy saw Mane rushing over, he immediately made a movement with his body weight leaning towards the sideline. Mane thought that he was going to drill forward along the sideline. He immediately picked up the ball with his right foot, turned to the left, and then put his foot down
With one kick, he dribbled the ball laterally to avoid Mane's attack, which was very flexible.
At this time, Mendy was in front of Ndidi and on the right was Madison. After these two people came closer, the three formed a triangle position to support Ndidi.
After Henderson saw it, he did not follow up immediately, but stood firmly between Mendy on the left and Madison on the right.
Mendy couldn't find Maddison, the initiator of Leicester City's attack. Mane was still pulling him hard from behind. After a few steps, he had no choice but to pass forward to Ndidi.
Henderson also reacted quickly and rushed directly between Ndidi and Madison, trying to intercept.
As a result, Ndidi didn't give him a chance at all and pushed the ball towards Madison.
Madison received the ball and turned around, slanting towards the top of the key.
But on his way forward, Wijnaldum was already dismounted and waiting for him.
Although the midfielder Madison is weak in physical confrontation, he is better in flexibility.
Madison quickly changed his center of gravity from left to right, making Wijnaldum unable to tell whether he was going to break through from the left or pass the ball to Gazal in front of Van Dijk on the right. The ball was passed to his right.
The foot poked out.
Wijnaldum was a step too late to make a judgment and did not intercept the ball.
In front of the right rib area, Van Dijk behind Gazal was about to go up, but unexpectedly Gazal pushed the ball straight back.
After a one-two with Gazal to kill Wijnaldum, Madison received the ball back.
But Madison was very smart. He did not choose to stop the ball directly, but once again used his flexible body.
The moment the ball came over, Madison gave the ball to the left, then made a small change to the left and followed it, immediately getting rid of the interference of Henderson behind him.
In front of Maddison, Gray, who was facing Vardy, had already completed his turn and pierced the top of the left front arc like a sharp arrow.
After he ran out, Madison still didn't pass the ball, but there was a small pause. Just when Arnold and Gomez saw Gray appear on the line between them, Madison moved and raised his left foot.
He passed the ball accurately, with an even line, right between Arnold and Gomez.
"ho!
!
!
!
!”
"Oh! Danger, there is a hole in our defense!
"
"It's over! The distance between Arnold and Gomez is too wide, and the line in front of the top of the arc is not closed!"
Beglin and Zhan Jun in the commentary booth and in the live broadcast room both became nervous.
Leicester City's continuous passing and coordination are so beautiful, it is pleasing to the eye and contains unlimited murderous intent.
In front of everyone, Gray, who had the ball, was about to sneak into the penalty area through this gap, but Gomez and Arnold, who were close to each other, obviously had no time to close the door.
At this moment, some Red Army fans noticed that Alisson, who had just left the penalty area, quickly retreated back. Just when everyone was confused, a tall red figure appeared in front of the penalty spot in the penalty area.
"Virgil!
!
!
!
"
“Holy!
!
"
“He anticipated Madison’s through ball in advance!
!”
Amid the exclamations from Beglin in the commentary stand, Van Dijk blocked Gray in time.
The next second, Gray fell to the ground, and the ball was knocked to the left side of the penalty area by someone unknown, and the referee waved to indicate that there was no penalty kick.
The game continues!
The backbone of Liverpool's defense cleanly killed Gray and went straight to where the ball landed.
But after rushing out one meter, Van Dijk found that he was too late to get the ball in front of Albrighton, so he slowed down and turned to cut off the passing line between Albrighton and Gray in the middle.
As a result, Albrighton kicked the ball directly on the sideline of the penalty area.
This kick made Van Dyke a little confused. He didn't expect Albrighton to be so reckless, and he had no idea what he wanted to do.
In the small penalty area, Alisson moved to the right post and couldn't tell whether Albrighton's kick was a shot or a pass.
It was a shot, it was too wide. Alisson knew at a glance that the ball heading straight for the back post was not within the goal frame.
But in line with his duties as a goalkeeper, he quickly moved to the left.
The next second, an incident suddenly occurred that made Alisson's eyes pop out.
In Alisson's sight, the ball that originally missed the left goalpost suddenly seemed to be bent inward, directly grazing the post and drilling into the goal.
"boom!
!
!
!
"
See this fairy ball!
Immediately, the 32,500 fans present were stunned, and then the home fans of Leicester City suddenly burst into violent cheers.
In the opposite corner of the penalty area on the left, Albright's eyes widened.
The expression clearly said 'F*ck!' 'How did you get in!'
But the next second, without waiting for him to take a closer look, Albright was overwhelmed by the crowd rushing towards Madison and others.