Chapter 182 Hero!

Actually, there was nothing much to adjust during halftime. Both sides had to stick to their own tactics, and they both believed that their tactics were correct and effective.

Everton's coach, Moyes, who was behind, encouraged his players, while Liverpool's leading coach, Dalglish, did not praise the players—he knew that if he easily praised the players in this kind of game, it might make them feel complacent. If they relaxed in the second half, it would be difficult to tighten up again—so he just encouraged the players and didn't say anything too nice.

The fifteen minutes passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the players from both sides reappeared on the field, switched sides, and continued the game.

There was no difference from the first half. Liverpool, with the advantage of playing at home, continued to bombard Everton's goal, while Everton continued to defend desperately, sticking to the path of defensive counterattack.

Defensive counterattack is a good tactic, but there is one problem that must be paid attention to, that is, be careful not to turn into a real desperate defense while defending, and lose the counterattack...

At the beginning of the second half, Liverpool launched a fierce attack on Everton's goal. Their plan was to score a goal in the first few minutes of the second half, which would basically secure the victory. The only thing left for Everton to do was to struggle to the death—if they were not willing to lose the game, they would have to press forward to attack. In that case, there would be more gaps in their defense, and Liverpool would have more attacking opportunities. With Suárez's ability, it would be no problem to stir up the field with the ball, and with Chen Hero's impact, it would be impossible for Everton not to concede a goal. If Everton continued to defend desperately and occasionally harass? Then Liverpool would slow down the pace and slowly wear them down. When the time came, the score would still be 2:0, and Liverpool would win.

In any case, as long as Liverpool could lead by two goals at home, they would be invincible.

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Suárez was more active in the second half than in the first half, mainly in terms of dribbling. He had more shots in the first half, but the accuracy of his shots was very poor. It looked like he wasn't wearing his shooting boots. In the second half, he changed his strategy and started dribbling more, which could tear apart Everton's defense and provide opportunities for Chen Hero—he didn't pull to the wing to assist much anymore. He knew that his crosses were terrible. Since he and Chen Hero were already good friends, there was no need to continue to embarrass him. Anyway, he didn't just have crosses for assists. Back in Ajax, he was also an assist king with fourteen assists in a season, relying on breaking through and passing the ball, completely disrupting the opponent's defense, making the opponent's defenders unable to take care of themselves, and exposing many flaws. As long as his teammates ran into the open space, he would pass the ball over, and that would basically be an effective assist.

He was now officially going to use this method to assist Chen Hero. Most of the time, the ball would be at Suárez's feet, and all Chen Hero had to do was run off the ball.

Suárez's active performance made Everton's defense focus more on him. As for Chen Hero, he was neglected for a while.

But it didn't matter!

This was exactly the effect Suárez was after.

"Suárez dribbles and breaks through... beautiful dribbling! He cuts in! Pass! Ah... Hero ran past, a little short! The idea is good, but unfortunately Hero is too far forward, and there are not enough players in the back to insert in time... Liverpool's attack is very threatening, but unfortunately the attack lacks a bit of depth..."

"Suárez has switched to the right wing again, and his breakthrough is still sharp. Everton's left back, Barnes, is under great pressure..."

In the fifty-first minute, Suárez broke through on the right wing again. This time, he first pretended to cross, tricking Barnes into blocking the cross with his back to him, but he suddenly hooked the ball to his left foot, and then drilled past Barnes, like an eel, slippery and hard to catch.

Barnes couldn't catch up with him anymore, so he could only run directly to the center to fill the gap—center back Phil Jagielka had already rushed up to defend Suárez, so he didn't need his help here, and he had to fill Jagielka's defensive position.

For Suárez, the best time was when Jagielka rushed up and Barnes hadn't had time to fill back, because at this time there were fewer Everton players in the center of the penalty area, and Chen Hero faced much less defensive pressure.

So he passed the ball decisively!

But this time it was still a little too far behind.

Chen Hero ran past!

When Suárez passed the ball, many Liverpool fans thought the goal was in, but when they looked at the trajectory of the ball, they felt bad.

And Everton fans cheered—the ball was passed too far again. According to this trajectory, the ball would eventually fall at the feet of Fellaini, who was retreating, instead of letting Chen Hero get it!

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Chen Hero was originally running forward, with Distin closely following him.

When he turned his head and saw the ball flying towards the direction behind him, he quickly braked!

Could he still get the ball?

In the eyes of many people, it was very difficult... but he did not give up.

Fellaini was already planning to catch the ball. He had even thought about whether to kick the ball out or pass it short to his teammates outside the penalty area and launch another threatening counterattack.

At this moment, a long leg appeared in front of his eyes.

"Hero—" the commentator exclaimed.

Chen Hero was seen grabbing Distin's clothes with one hand, firmly planting his left leg on the ground, and stretching his right leg out with all his might. In order to make his leg stretch far enough, his body was also leaning back.

Then his toe touched the ball!

The ball was blocked by him and did not continue to fly towards Fellaini, but stopped...

He stopped the ball with such an awkward posture!

But the ball was not controlled by him!

After Fellaini reacted, he was about to rush up to grab the ball. He still had a chance to get the ball again!

With the fat meat at his mouth, how could Chen Hero spit it out?

Relying on his powerful waist and abdomen strength and the explosive power from his ankles, knees, and thighs, his body suddenly twisted and "bounced" over from Distin!

He happened to protect the ball before Fellaini, and Fellaini crashed into his body.

Chen Hero's body swayed slightly, but he did not fall or lose his balance. Then he raised his right foot and shot directly while his center of gravity was very awkward!

"gooooooooooooooooooAL! goAL! goAL! goAL!!"

The commentator shouted.

"2:0! Liverpool lead Everton by two goals, Hero scores twice!"

"What an unexpected goal, when everyone thought that Hero couldn't reach the ball, he used the advantage of his long legs to intercept the ball! Then, relying on his excellent physical fitness, he took the lead in shooting the ball! Hero's physical explosiveness is really amazing!"

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The ball flew into the goal. Howard made a save, but the distance was too close. Although Chen Hero's shot was not very sudden—after all, it took time to turn around, protect the ball, and then shoot. But the advantage was that the power was great. Although Chen Hero's shooting posture was awkward, his leg explosiveness made up for the lack of posture. The shot was still full of power and extremely fast.

So Howard was not able to save this seemingly easy ball.

After scoring the goal, Chen Hero looked back, confirmed that the ball had entered the goal, and then opened his arms and ran to Suárez, who assisted him, hugged him tightly, and patted him hard on the back.

Anfield Stadium once again resounded with huge cheers, and everyone jumped up from their seats, shouting Chen Hero's name.

"Hero! Hero! Hero!!"

This "hero" is a pun. On the one hand, it is calling Chen Hero's name, and on the other hand, it is also cheering for Liverpool's hero.

Scoring in the derby, and scoring twice, can maximize the support and love of Liverpool fans. Everyone will feel that such a player is a real Liverpool player!

"Chen Hero has scored twice in the Merseyside derby for the second consecutive time. He has only participated in one season of the Merseyside derby and has already scored four goals! This is really a good start. In the next Merseyside derby, we should be able to expect more goals from him! Maybe the Merseyside derby goal record will be broken by him?"

※※※

Chen Hero and Suárez hugged, and the other teammates rushed up and surrounded them, celebrating the goal together.

Leading by two goals, everyone's heart returned to its original position. Now they were not afraid of Everton's counterattack, nor were they afraid of their desperate defense. Anyway, no matter what Everton did, Liverpool could already be invincible with two goals.

Liverpool's players would not be stupid enough to let the opponent equalize the score with such a big lead. If that were the case, it would be an insult to Liverpool's defense! Even if Dalglish didn't say anything, they would hate themselves so much that they would want to crawl into the ground.

"We're going to win!" Chen Hero shouted in the crowd. "They're done for!"

"That's right, we're going to win!!"

Everyone's morale was high.

On the other hand, Everton was downcast and sighing.

Fellaini was once the Everton player closest to the ball, but half a second later he crashed into a wall. This wall separated him from the ball, so he could only sigh at the ball.

Distin was surprised by Chen Hero's physical fitness: "My God, what is he? I rarely see such a big guy who can make such a quick reaction and movement..."

Generally speaking, the taller and heavier a person is, the more difficult it is for him to quickly change his center of gravity in a short period of time. He will definitely fall into a state of physical stiffness and inability to move due to his own mass and inertia. The length of this time is determined by his own physical fitness. People with poor explosive power and heavy weight may be stiff for a longer time, while people with light weight and agile body may be stiff for a shorter time.

Who would have thought that Chen Hero, a big man with a height of 1.95 meters and a weight of 95 kilograms, would react so quickly, grab the ball before Fellaini, and complete the shot. From the time he stretched his leg to intercept the ball to the successful shot, the whole series of actions was completed in one go. Even if there was a stiff time, it was so short that it was less than a blink of an eye.

Distin asked himself that he couldn't do it...

That's why he was particularly surprised by Chen Hero's reaction in this goal.

Goalkeeper Howard was also very depressed. Chen Hero scored two goals in a row, and he, the goalkeeper, had not been able to touch the ball. Hearing Distin's surprised question, he said depressedly: "He's not someone, he's a monster!"

Everyone was silent, and no one disagreed. Because Hero's performance, in their opinion, could only be achieved by a monster...