Chapter 24: Eve of revenge

Millwall and Sunderland's Ligue 1 unknowingly reached the 40th minute of the second half, and almost everyone thought that the two teams would end in a draw.
Even Aldridge felt that the handshake was a fair ending. After all, Millwall couldn't make a stunningly smooth offense.
But the surprise came quietly when you didn't expect it.
Schneider received the ball on the right. After more than 80 minutes of the game, he would pass the ball in the wing position at 45 degrees, or hit the opponent's full-back and center-back in the straight, but this time, he did After a fake action, the defensive player who deceived the opponent moved the ball laterally. After approaching the middle, he had a passing pass. He kicked the ball to the right of the top of the penalty area.
Sunderland's central defender saw a Millwall player withdraw from the penalty area on Schneider's pass.
Solskjaer!
After taking over Trezeguet's position, he didn't go deep into the penalty area, but ran back and forth in the penalty area. Although the Sunderland guards were troubled, he did not create a threatening attack.
But at this moment, he appeared at the top of the arc in the penalty area, and there was no defensive player to mark him personally.
Solskjaer, who faced the goal sideways, faced Schneider's passing with peace of mind. Since he was sitting on the bench, he has been observing the situation on the field. It is not accidental to appear in this position to easily receive the ball. !
If it wasn't for him and the teammates that he wasn't tacit enough, he believed he wouldn't get such a good chance more than ten minutes after his debut.
Overcrowded in the penalty area, Solskjaer knew he didn't have space for the ball, and he didn't even have the time to stop and turn to adjust, so he thought about what to do next second before catching the ball.
Shoot!
And it is difficult to shoot by accident!
He rolled the ball on the inside of his right foot against the ground, aiming at the top right corner of Sunderland's goal!
After shooting the ball, Solskjaer raised his head and looked at the rainbow ball leaping like a rising rainbow.
The next second, Solskjaer was stunned.
The ball popped out of the restricted area!
Solskjaer immediately raised his right hand while hitting his right arm with his left hand and turned to shout to the referee: "Handball! Handball!"
The ball he shot hit Sunderland's jumping defender's arm, and then the penalty area popped out, otherwise, Solskjaer was sure it would be a wonderful goal!
The other Millwall players also raised their arms and shouted at the referee.
At almost the same time, the referee blew his whistle and at the same time reached out with a majestic face to the penalty spot in Sunderland's penalty area.
Penalties!
The Sunderland players saw the referee decisively awarded a penalty and immediately surrounded...
Aldridge didn’t respond at all on the sidelines. He was far away and could not determine whether it was handball, or whether the opponent’s arm was expanded to expand the defensive area. He just instinctively excited and shouted
That’s a handball "Then he saw the referee awarded a penalty and he no longer verbose, but applauded instead.
Fans at the scene reported boos to the referee, and Sunderland players protested to no avail.
The first penalty designated by Millwall team was held in front of the penalty spot. Under the pressure of booing, Larson easily shot the ball into the dead end.
Millwall led by one goal away!
Aldridge was relieved after seeing a penalty kick.
In any case, it is always more joyful to win the game than to win a draw.
He applauded the players on the sidelines, then put on a smile to stabilize the players and defend.
There are three minutes left in the game, and about five minutes plus stoppage time.
Sunderland was naturally unwilling to lose behind at home, so he launched a fierce counterattack in the last five minutes, but failed to break through Millwall's door.
Instead, in the last minute of stoppage time, Stam's header cleared the ball to the right, but Thuram's big foot clearance turned into a counterattack. Larsson made a header back in the middle circle. Not far away, Solskjaer sprinted into the opponent's half at full speed. In the case of Sunderland's heavy pressure, Solskjaer succeeded in anti-offside and went to the meeting alone!
Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Solskjaer pushed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal with full confidence outside the penalty area.
2: 0.
Solskjaer, who played less than twenty minutes, played the magic in the first game of his career.
Creating a penalty and scoring a goal helped Millwall take away three points on the road, while also steadily improving the team's confidence and cohesion.
After the game, Aldridge hurriedly shook hands with Sunderland's coach, and then walked into the player's tunnel. It was only a few words to be interviewed in the mixed zone.
"Sunderland's performance is very stable, we won the game in addition to the team's stable play, more or less luck, I also hope that good luck will always look after us."
Two-game winning streak Millwall continued to sit at the top of the standings, which is not what Aldridge cares about.
In the following period, Millwall began a week of consecutive double matches.
After three days of rest, Millwall welcomed his opponent in the first round of the League Cup at home: Plymouth in the fourth league.
In this game, Aldridge performed a team rotation to play with a full bench.
Goalkeeper Bout, defenders Phil Neville, Dean Richards, Marco Materazzi, Zambrotta.
Midfielders Beckham, Vieira, Barack, Glennshire.
Forward Kevin Phillips, Solskjaer.
The average age of this set is 19 years old.
Although Aldridge has no idea about the cup, it does not mean that he will easily give up the game, even if he loses, he has to lose value.
Throughout the game, he directed on the sidelines, constantly shouting to let players on the field run to make up positions.
The starting point of this lineup's offensive is center and right. Compared with the main lineup, Aldridge is still suppressing Nedved's offensive talent. He gave Barak more freedom to insert forward, while Beckham on the right It is like a precision-guided weapon. The Bézier arc is not well known, but as long as Beckham’s ten-footed and twenty-footed long passes can create several threat attacks, then Aldridge’s expectations can be met.
The Glencar on the left is very fast, the speed of the 100-meter sprint is comparable to that of track and field players, and Aldridge also allows him to pose a threat on the left.
The first round of this League Cup match against Plymouth was not exciting. The ball was almost flying around in the sky, but Millwall players showed the quality that Aldridge wanted to see.
The players who finally shined in the audience were Kevin Phillips and Beckham. The former staged a hat trick, while the latter's repeated and accurate long passes were impressive.
The final score is 4:3.
After Barak's unscrupulous attack, only Vieira remained in the back defense. Although the performance was not too bad, it still exposed many flaws, allowing Plymouth's offensive combination to easily face Millwall's young and immature. Rear line of defense.
Plymouth will have more chances to score absolute points than Millwall. If it is not Bout high and low, I am afraid that Millwall's League Cup tour will end in the first game.
After the game, Aldridge praised the team. For many players who have no professional game experience, the first show is eligible to win.
And four days later, Aldridge will welcome an opponent who makes Millwall fans unhappy at home: Derbyshire.
Three months ago, the promotion play-offs were vividly remembered. Derby County beat Millwall 5:1 in two rounds, blocking their progress to the Super League.
After the game, fans of both sides also broke out in a small-scale conflict.
For the tactical settings of this game, Aldridge still follows the deployment of the first two games, but he needs to mobilize the team's mood at the preparation meeting.
Three consecutive victories in the new season, the team's players have good morale and confidence.
They are also increasingly convinced of Aldridge.
At the team's preparation meeting, Aldridge stopped his speech after analyzing his opponent Derbyshire. Instead of announcing the dissolution, he made a period of silence.
The players looked at each other, not knowing why the boss suddenly got stuck.
Aldridge pouted his lips with an unpleasant expression, looked around the team and raised his eyebrows: "Do you know what Derby County has to do with us?"
Most of the players who have just arrived in the UK less than three months have a blank expression and are really not interested in the team's history.
Even Beckham and Neville were confused.
Derbyshire is a Derby City team. It can't play against Millwall, and there is no untieable knot in history.
Only Southgate in London is thoughtful.
"It seems that Gareth knows. You tell everyone."
Named by Aldridge, Southgate shrugged: "Derby County was our enemy last season, and tomorrow is a battle of revenge for us."
After listening to Southgate's words, there are still players expressing daze.
Aldridge said with a sullen face: "Yes, tomorrow is a vengeance. Not to hide from you. If Millwall defeated Derbyshire last season, it is likely that we are now in the top league, but because of the loss to that not Derbyshire, we have stayed in the first class, look at the performance of Derbyshire in the past half month, they lost to Barnsley, draw Luton, grass, is a joke, Millwall last season Why did you lose to this kind of garbage? It was because the first two games of Derbyshire only got a point, so tomorrow they came to the Lion’s Cave Stadium and they definitely want to take three points from us. After all, they were three months ago. Here I stepped on the body of Millwall and went to Wembley. Although they lost to Leicester City in the end, in their eyes, we are soft eggs, which can make them kill and let them get back. Confident, relive the feeling of victory. What should we do? Did we walk over and tell them politely: Millwall had nothing to do with us three months ago? Who the would listen to this? I just need to see them after the game It’s enough to go home crying.