After the referee announced the penalty, Zhang Tiehan got up from the ground, rushed towards Gerald, and hugged him, "Steven, a gift for you!"

"You won't go to the free throw?" Gerald didn't react a little.

Zhang Tiehan patted his shoulder and said, "Steven, don't forget that today's game has special significance to you. This is a gift everyone gives you. I hope you like it."

Jamie Carragher rushed over from the backcourt and said, "Steven will give you a free throw! He should score the goal today."

Several people walked outside the penalty area, and other Liverpool teammates also clamored to let Gerald come for free, which was equivalent to giving him a goal.

"You must go in! Otherwise, you won't expect this kind of opportunity." Zhang Tiehan shouted with a smile.

Gerald turned around and said, "Thank you! Zhang!"

He didn't refuse anymore, and he was ready to make a free throw before the ball. This was his 300th game for Liverpool. It was very meaningful to him personally. There were many Liverpool fans watching the game in this game. In this game that is of some special significance to him, it would be perfect to score a goal by himself.

Fortunately, Zhang created a penalty kick.

Thinking of this, Gerald has to thank Zhang Tiehan even more. At the same time, he also feels a lot of pressure. Penalty is not a must-scoring goal. If this ball fails to be scored, a beautiful and meaningful game may turn into a painful memory.

Whether it is good or painful is this kick.

Gerald looked at Aston Villa's goal, his face showing determination.

......

Aston Villa side.

Ritchville was still upset by the impulse just now. He walked off the court and went back to the locker room. When he passed Aston Villa's coaching seat, he did not dare to look there, for fear of seeing head coach O'Reilly's dissatisfied eyes.

He felt quite guilty.

O'Reilly is his mentor. After O'Reilly came to the team, he got the chance to play and now he has become the starting center back of the team. In Ritchville's heart, O'Reilly occupies a large position. He feels guilty about giving the opponent a penalty kick by himself.

Perhaps because of this, the team will lose the game.

The more Ritchville thought about it, the more he felt lost. He didn't expect that he would return to the locker room and substitute goalkeeper Taylor also came back. Ritchville waved at him and asked strangely, "Is the game over?"

"No, not yet." Taylor patted Ritchville's shoulder and said, "It was the coach who asked me to see you. By the way, he asked me to tell you. Don't take it to heart. You're doing it right."

"Really?" Ritchville couldn't believe it.

Taylor nodded affirmatively, "Really."

Ritchville exhaled a long sigh and turned to look up and asked, "Did that ball...get it?"

Taylor shook his head, and the look of joy appeared on Ritchville's face, and then Taylor said, "I didn't see it. As soon as you left, the coach asked me to come. But..." Taylor pointed out the window, "I didn't hear our fans cheering, so I should have entered."

Ritchville nodded in disappointment.

The only good news is that Mr. O'Reilly did not blame himself, but he still scored the goal caused by his own rush. Ritchville O'Reilly cursed him a few times and felt more comfortable.

......

On the court.

Liverpool players are already celebrating the goal.

Gerald just used a precise and powerful shot and directly sent the ball into the goal. After scoring the goal, Gerald seemed quite excited. Although it was just a penalty kick and it was created by his teammates, this game has special significance to him. It is good to be able to score goals and win.

Everyone comes to congratulate Gerald.

Gerald also expressed his gratitude to Zhang Tiehan. Zhang Tiehan created a penalty kick and gave it to himself. He knew that Zhang Tiehan was really much more accurate than himself in playing penalty kicks. He could play long shots outside the penalty area very accurately, let alone penalty kicks, but Zhang Tiehan still did this.

It doesn’t matter to Zhang Tiehan, “Even if I give you a ball, I will still be the best scorer!”

He said so.

As a result, Gerald felt that he shouldn't say thank you... But that's true. For Zhang Tiehan, a goal is really nothing. Liverpool played two games less, and he was suspended for two more games himself. With four games missing, he still entered the top three of the scorers list. This is proof.

However, Zhang Tiehan was so lucky to be this penalty kick.

When he headed the ball just now, he didn't have the confidence to score, but the opponent made a malicious foul, so he fell to the ground directly. If it were normal, he wouldn't do this. Even if it was a penalty kick, he would often choose to score the ball in his own way. However, it would be great to create a penalty for Gerald in this game, so he did that.

But the result is very good.

He suddenly felt that in the future, the opponent would foul him, and he could choose to fall down. Just like other people's actions, the referee would give free kicks and penalty kicks. Many free kick opportunities in good positions are also very important, and penalty kicks... let alone, this will also increase some chances of scoring.

......

Liverpool's celebration ended at the urging of the referee - they wanted to delay more time, but Aston Villa would not let Liverpool delay time, and the celebration lasted less than a minute before it ended.

The game starts again.

At this time, Liverpool was not in a hurry. They had the advantage of scoring, just drag the game to the end. Everyone did the same. When there was no good opportunity, they strengthened their control over football - to put it simply, they were wasting time with constant passing.

Aston Villa had to attack, and they had no other choice.

However, Liverpool attacked the whole game, and Aston Villa defended the whole game. Now that the offense and defense were suddenly changed, Aston Villa was very uncomfortable. They lost the ball due to small mistakes in the next three attacks. Until the end of the game, they still did not find a chance.

In the end, the two teams ended 0:1, with the home team in front and the away team behind, and Liverpool won another league victory.

......

After defeating Aston Villa, Liverpool continued to have a good momentum.

Head coach Benitez seemed very happy. At the post-match press conference, he praised the team without hesitation. "Liverpool is stronger now than last season, and this is reflected in defense."

"We got another away win. And another game without conceding, we played well and created a lot of opportunities," Benitez said. "I am happy as the head coach, but the most important thing is that the team is stronger than last season. We are now keeping zero conceds and have tied the game of the whole season. This is a lot of our progress."

Gerald also attended the press conference, and many reporters were interested in his 300th league game.

"We performed well away this year, which is an improvement compared to last season. It is very important to get three-pointers away."

"Of course we want to stay in the European arena, but we also need to improve in the Premier League."

Many people's focus is on the penalty kick in the final stage of the game. Aston Villa originally did a good job, but that penalty kick made Liverpool win, which was a moment that changed the course of the game.

"That was a penalty."

Benitez's voice was a little scared, "You pulled the opponent hard and pulled it out of the air. Of course, this was a penalty kick, but the most important thing was Zhang, was not injured. At that time, my heart was almost to the throat. Zhang was too important to the team. Compared to his body, I would rather not win."

Villa coach O'Reilly was dissatisfied with the penalty. "Stop talking about whether it was a penalty. I think the referee's penalty was a bit severe. Players should pay the impulse on the court. But the penalty was already severe enough that Ritchville should not get a red card again."

"He is only twenty-one years old and is still very young. The red card is too serious for him."

O'Reilly seemed to want Ritchville to win sympathy, "A yellow card is enough, a red card plus a penalty. Can it be more serious? Ritchville cannot play, which is a big blow to us."

Many media also have a bit of sympathy for Ritchieville and Aston Villa.

O'Reilly's words also worked.

After the game, the FA conducted an investigation on the red card and held a temporary meeting. The final decision was to suspend Ritchville only for one game. This made many fans and the media very satisfied with the FA's "humanization".

Zhang Tiehan also expressed his opinion, "He is very good, the FA's decision is correct. Many people say that his foul is dangerous. Yes, I was unstable at the time and was afraid of injury, but then I thought about it, if we change positions, I would do more impulsive than him."

For Zhang Tiehan, that foul of Ritchville is really nothing.

Although it is a bit threatening... but in fact, he often encounters this kind of thing in the game. Now, in order to limit him, Liverpool's opponents will use almost all means, including two or three players to defend, and various small moves. Ritchville is very good.

Saying something good to win the favor of your opponent is actually quite good.

......

The match between Liverpool and Aston Villa is just an embellishment of this round of league. In this round, Liverpool is considered a fisherman because Manchester United and Chelsea have played.

The match between Manchester United and Chelsea can be regarded as a "Premier derby battle" in the past two years.

Manchester United still has a small advantage in the "Premier derby battle" in two years. Although Manchester United's performance in the league is not as good as Chelsea, they can always win the game head-on with Chelsea.

The same is true this time.

At Old Trafford Stadium, Ferguson once again gave Mourinho a taste of failure.

But Mourinho was still relieved after the game because the data of the whole game was satisfactory: the shooting ratio between Chelsea and Manchester United was 21-9, the ball possession rate was 54% to 46%, and the corner kick was 9-5.

Manchester United fought with a bloody battle with just 25 tackles and 19 fouls throughout the game.

"Looking at the performance in the second half, no one would believe that this is Old Trafford, we completely suppressed our opponents. I think from this people can see why we are the defending champions and why we are leading the league, and I believe we will also win the championship this season."

But the situation after the game was different from what Mourinho imagined. No one praised Chelsea's data, and those who were more like Portuguese comforting themselves.

The Daily Mirror linked Chelsea's failure with Zhang Tiehan, "...the opponent scored into a defensive position and the dominant Chelsea could not win the game anyway."

"It is not too worrying how many consecutive games you concede goals. Chelsea's midfield and backcourt strength is very strong, and there is a lot of room for adjustment, but they have no chance of getting lost in two consecutive games. The most important thing to be wary of is that if you can't score a goal, the most critical data (goal) cannot match your opponent, and it's useless to say anything."

"If Chelsea can have a frontcourt that ensures goal efficiency, then they will be truly perfect. Unfortunately, in the summer, Chelsea let Zhang go again!"

"That's why Chelsea lost to Manchester United!"

"Look at another game, Aston Villa faces Liverpool. Zhang was defended by Villa's two central defenders. He only had five shots in the game, three of which were within the goal frame, one on the post, and one on the penalty kick, creating a chance for victory for the team. Although there was no goal, Zhang faced Villa and the two of them to defend the game, and they still performed in limited opportunities. Although he did not score, he was still the best player."

"Zhang is even better than Chelsea's entire forward."
Chapter completed!