In the 27th minute, the goal was blown away, which had a great influence on young Hernandez. Later, Hernandez was suspicious when he was running, always worried about his offside position. As a result, he started late and lost the chance.
In fact, it has an impact not only on Hernandez, but also on passers-by such as Gao Xiaodong and Carrick. After a successful cooperation was called offside, the midfield players have become more cautious about the choice of passing time.
However, attack is not the most important thing for Manchester United. They are ahead in the total score. Even if the score is 0-0, they can still reach the final. Therefore, even if Manchester United can't make a sharp attack, Manchester United fans won't care.
The ineffectiveness of Manchester United's goal saved Chelsea from a disaster. However, they can't stop attacking and have to increase their attacking strength, because the time left for them is less and less. They can't score a goal in the first half, and their goal task will be heavier in the second half.
In order to prevent Manchester United from playing the empty space behind them, the attack of Chelsea is more to take the way of long pass and oblique long pass. When Drogba and Torres in front hold the ball, they will press on the attack.
This kind of attack efficiency is not high, but it is safe, which can reduce the chance of Manchester United playing behind.
However, United have made great efforts in the defense of Drogba and Torres. Ferdinand and Vidic are on the mark, Fletcher and Carrick are on the clip. Under such a defense, even if Drogba and Torres have strong personal ability, it is difficult to hold the ball or pass it to their teammates.
After 35 minutes in the first half of the game, Chelsea could not continue to use this inefficient offensive method. They finally began to take risks. They pushed the battlefield to Manchester United's half and put the defense near the central circle.
It's a risk, but there's no other way for Chelsea to go.
With the increase of attacking forces, the attacking threat of Chelsea has also become greater. This is mainly because when Drogba and Manchester United defenders compete for the top, they have more chances to get the ball. They attack directly in the front court and have more chances to shoot.
In the 37th minute of the game, Ferdinand headed the ball to the foot of Chelsea midfield Frank Lampard when he was fighting for the high ball. Lampard raised his foot and Gao Xiaodong extended his foot to intercept. The ball hit Gao Xiaodong's leg and flew to the goal.
Fortunately, the ball didn't change much and van der Sar managed to hit the bottom line with one hand.
Chelsea got a corner.
Gao Xiaodong comes to pat van der Sar and apologizes to him. If van der Sar can't get the ball out, Gao Xiaodong will certainly carry half the pot, and van der Sar's no goal bonus will be gone.
Van der Sar did not care, he pushed Gao Xiaodong, said: "nothing, go to defense."
Gao Xiaodong's corner defense is mainly to stand at the front of the restricted area, mark Essien who is ready to shoot from a long distance, and also take into account the task of seizing the landing point to counterattack.
In the past few times, Chelsea's corner kicks went directly into the penalty area to find Drogba and Torres. However, due to Manchester United's strict defense against Drogba, the corner kicks of Chelsea did not create too much threat.
This time, Lampard hit the front of the penalty area, looking for Essien long-range shot.
Chelsea's corner tactics are all practiced. As soon as Lampard kicks off, Essien immediately understands that he is looking for him, so he rushes to the landing point quickly.
Gao Xiaodong is a defensive player. He is always passive and backward in defense. He is slow and wants to pull Essien, but he is afraid that he can't hold him. Essien is as strong as a bull. He is afraid to take a yellow card. Today, he is not a pure offensive player, but also has a defensive task. If he takes a yellow card, he will have scruples, which is not good for the following game.
Gao Xiaodong is so cunning that he didn't take Foul Tactics directly. Instead, he accelerated to catch up. When Essien was ready to shoot, he put his hand behind Essien's back and pushed his body against him.
Essien almost hit the ball, first pushed by Gao Xiaodong, then hit again, and fell to the ground.
Beep!
The referee Ben quilenka's whistle sounded and Gao Xiaodong was fouled. He gave Chelsea a good free kick, but Ben quilenka thought Gao Xiaodong was Essien who was knocked down without controlling his center of gravity, so he didn't give Gao Xiaodong a yellow card.
Gao Xiaodong is very happy, he is not afraid of fouls, in that case, it is impossible to stop Essien from shooting without fouls, it is very lucky not to take cards.
Free kicks in front of the penalty area are usually taken by Lampard and Drogba.
Drogba felt that the free kick was very suitable for him. He discussed it with Lampard and stood in front of the ball.
Drogba's free kick is powerful and fast. Once it's aligned, it's a big threat to the goal.
There is not much time left until the end of the first half. Van der Sar is on guard and will never let Drogba score.
When Drogba's approach is ready to shoot, Gao Xiaodong is different from others. He is also on guard. He knows that Drogba has a strong foot and is afraid that van der Sar will jump off the ball and be shot by others. He should be ready to break out.
Bang!
Drogba volley!Almost at the same time, Gao Xiaodong rushed to the goal, he ran to the right side of the goal, Gao Xiaodong thought that van der Sar would jump in this direction.
Not only does Gao Xiaodong have this consciousness, when Drogba shoots, Torres also rushes to the goal for the first time, and runs in the same direction as Gao Xiaodong.
Sure enough, van der Sar put the ball to the right side of the goal, he wanted to put the ball to the sideline, but because of the great power of Drogba's free kick, van der Sar almost didn't come and hit the ball.
Gao Xiaodong is faster than Torres, he beat the ball out of the bottom line.
The Manchester United fans in the stands have been holding their hearts. After van der Sar saved the ball, their hearts were just about to come down. When they saw Torres coming, their hearts were raised to their voices. Until Gao Xiaodong kicked the ball out, the Manchester United fans put their hearts down and applauded Gao Xiaodong, who had made a key breakthrough.
Manchester United's situation is still tense and Chelsea will continue to serve corners.
This time, Manchester United all back to defend, took Rooney and Hernandez back, determined not to let Chelsea score in the first half.
Lampard's corner kick changed a little. He made a tactical corner with Ashley Cole, which disturbed the order in the penalty area. Ashley Cole passed the ball to the penalty area.
This tactical corner is very effective. The defenders in the penalty area can't find the target to mark, so they can only defend nearby. As a result, it was Fletcher who defended Drogba.
Fletcher is undoubtedly brave, but it's a joke to fight for the header with Drogba. Fletcher saw Drogba ready to jump, he grabbed Drogba's shirt desperately and pulled it down.
"Stab Didier Drogba's shirt was torn, but Fletcher still didn't hold him and Didier Drogba jumped up and grabbed the spot.
However, Fletcher's pull still played a role. Drogba didn't jump so high, the top position was a bit off, and the ball flew out against the crossbar.
Didier Drogba saw the ball falling into the net and immediately went to the referee with his shirt. He said Fletcher had fouled and asked for a penalty.
After shooting, he even asked for a penalty. Of course, the referee Ben quirenka would not agree. He ignored Drogba and let van der Sar serve the goal.
These three set pieces consumed a lot of energy for Chelsea. In the last three minutes, Manchester United defended with all their strength and didn't give them any chance to win the first half.