"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Sky Sports. We're live with the second round of the 10-11 season of the EFL Championship.
"In this match, Cardiff City is hosting Sheffield United at their home ground! Let's take a look at the starting lineups for both teams!
"Cardiff City is fielding their usual 4-4-2 formation. The starting lineup is unchanged from the last game, with goalkeeper Maël." "Sheffield United is sticking with their traditional three-four-three formation with three defenders. Compared to the previous two matches, the only change is the introduction of 17-year-old Maël from Arsenal, a bold move!"
On the field, as the Cardiff City center forward kicks off from the center circle, the match officially begins.
Maël and the other two members of his forward line sprint towards the opponent's half, launching an opening offensive.
Cardiff City makes a few simple passes in their own half, getting the ball to their right-back.
"Hey!" Maël shouts, rushing forward at full speed, making it clear he won't stop until he wins the ball.
This is a common tactic when pressing; you have to show your determination to deter the opponent from holding onto the ball.
"Bang!"
Cardiff City's right-back, Gabor, doesn't take any chances and kicks a long pass hard towards the forward line.
Maël turns around and moves with his team's formation.
Having played football for many years, his basic tactical awareness is no worse than these EFL Championship players. What he lacks is the positive feedback from successful attempts.
"So, you're the young kid?"
Gabor sneers behind him. "If you've got the guts, try to break through me!"
Clearly, he's starting the psychological warfare that defenders often use against forwards.
This is common in matches. Everyone is too excited to stay silent; trash talk is the norm.
"Alright."
Maël replies, turning his head. He feels the tens of thousands of eyes on him and looks at the experienced faces of these EFL Championship players.
He finally realizes that he's playing in an EFL Championship match. This makes every pore on his body open, his blood temperature rise, and every step he takes is filled with extra effort.
"Pay attention to the formation! Pay attention to the formation and the second point of protection!"
On the sidelines, Sheffield United's coach, Kevin, stands, gesturing and reminding the players, "Don't be too loose!"
EFL Championship matches tend to be chaotic at the start.
Most of the time, there's a period of aerial duels, with possession changing hands rapidly.
Whoever can calm down first and execute their trained tactics will have the chance to take the initiative.
However, it's clear that few people are listening to Kevin's instructions, except for newcomers like Maël, who are eager to prove themselves.
Sheffield United is playing impatient football. The players' attitudes are generally not serious. Forget about teamwork and solidifying the formation; they often lose even local skirmishes.
In the 13th minute, Cardiff City launches a wave of attacks, with their entire army pressing into Sheffield United's half.
"Sheffield United's wing defenders haven't fallen back into position yet. Cardiff City is advancing quickly, with a numerical advantage!"
In the live broadcast booth, the Sky Sports commentator, wearing headphones, says with excitement, "Danger!!"
He can't wait to stand up from his seat, watching the field with his own eyes. "It's passed to the wing, Garewen brings the ball down! A low cross, a close-range shot!!
"Robert saves it! The Sheffield United captain saves it... Oh! There's a follow-up shot!! "Goal! Drinkwater, the player on loan from Manchester United, scores the opening goal for the team. Sheffield United's form is really too poor!"
Inside the magnificent stadium, more than 20,000 home fans quickly stand up from their seats, waving their hands and shouting in celebration.
"Yeah!!"
Enveloped in this atmosphere, Drinkwater puts one hand to his ear and gestures to the fans to be louder, fully enjoying the hero's treatment.
Cardiff City's players rush to his location, each shouting and celebrating with wide-open mouths.
In contrast, the Sheffield United away fans' section is silent. The fans sit back in their seats with disappointment, some even looking despairing.
It's the same old story, no different from the previous two games!
The players' situation is no better. Some stand with their hands on their hips, others are expressionless, as if they've lost all sense of shame.
Maël blinks his eyes hard a few times near the center circle to avoid being disoriented by the overwhelming cheers.
For the first dozen minutes, he had been running hard, hoping to get a chance and to awaken the fighting spirit of the older players.
But now it seems that what I've done is useless.
Their situation has no solution other than changing the coach.
Maël walked towards his own half, looking at the back of the young midfielder on the opposite side, briefly envying him.
Drinkwater, later a key player in Leicester City's championship-winning squad, is also a star player here today.
He longed to have the opportunity to celebrate so unrestrainedly, especially on this important day.
"I can't give up. If I can perform well in my debut, it will greatly help my confidence throughout my career."
Cheering himself up in his heart, Maël tried to regroup, clapping his hands to encourage his surrounding teammates, which caused many Sheffield United players to turn their heads to look at him.
Someone opened their mouth, wanting to say something to him, but in the end, they swallowed those words.
After all, he is a new player, and today is his debut.
Thinking of this, some people who usually have a good relationship with Maël hesitated.
Should they ruin Maël's debut because of their conflict with Kevin?
"Bip!!"
Without giving them too much time to consider, the game immediately restarted, and the two sides once again fell into fierce competition.
While calling on his teammates to cheer up, Maël moved quickly in the left area, sometimes helping his teammates with defense, and sometimes opening up space to draw away defenders.
His visible activeness once again made many Sheffield United players hesitate, their minds in a mess.
"Tear!" A few minutes later, as they once again made a confused clearance that resulted in a flying tackle on right winger Ward, someone finally erupted in silence.
On the sidelines, Gareth Speed, who had changed into a black suit, suddenly stood up from his seat, bypassed a bewildered Kevin, and rushed to the sideline.
"Are you still professional players?!"
He pointed at some people on the field and roared, "I still dream of staying on the field, but you are wasting time here!"
The fourth official quickly came to dissuade him, and Gareth Speed was soon pressed back into the coaching seat by the assistant coaches, leaving only his chest constantly heaving, as if releasing words that had been suppressed for a long time.
His words had an immediate impact on the players on the field.
Many people who were already wavering suddenly felt a surge of strength, and began to sprint and run, the pace of the game accelerating in an instant.
Cardiff City's midfield didn't have time to react to this acceleration, and Sheffield's midfielder Lotton intercepted the ball with a tackle, passing it to left winger Maël's feet.
"Good ball!"
Maël stopped the ball, turned around, and dribbled towards the opposing defender Gabor, knowing that this was a good opportunity.
A few desires for victory and defeat emerged in his heart. After approaching the opponent, his legs skillfully slid on the forward-rolling ball, while observing the changes in the opponent's center of gravity.
After finding an opportunity, he did as he had done countless times in training.
He switched the rhythm with a 'pop', his right foot contacting the ball on the outside, pushing the ball towards the outside line!
Gabor obviously didn't expect this, and after staggering, he lost the possibility of chasing.
"Bang!"
After glancing at the situation in the penalty area, Maël's right foot wrapped around the middle of the ball, whipping out a fast, inward-curving cross.
The ball rotated violently, with high quality, easily passing over the heads of Cardiff City's front defenders! In the center, striker Evans emerged like a ghost, circling behind the opponent, concentrating on leaping up, using the instep of his right foot to meet the ball.
The height of this ball was not high, so shooting with the foot was the best option.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion at this moment, with a few glimmers of hope appearing in the eyes of the Sheffield people, while the Cardiff City people were filled with horror.
"Young player Maël's cross... high quality! He has the elements to become an excellent winger! Evans!!" The ball went in!! A beautiful goal, a beautiful counter-attack goal!!"
"From Maël's breakthrough cross, Evans scores, Sheffield United regroups and slams the ball into Cardiff City's goal with a thunderous momentum!!"
The Sky Sports commentator's eyes widened suddenly. As a neutral commentator, he could raise his arms at this moment to celebrate for Sheffield.
This must be a perfect goal, everything is just right.
Asking for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets! Thank you everyone!!
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