Chapter 160: A Shootout!
Queens Park Rangers' continuous attacks created panic in Swansea's defensive line. When Friedrich controlled the ball and passed it to Balitsch, Balitsch failed to control it cleanly and allowed it to roll over the byline.
And from that corner, Queens Park Rangers scored!
The QPR players rushed to the touchline in surprise and joy to celebrate.
They had taken the lead first at the most terrifying home ground in the Second Division!
The Swansea fans in the Liberty Stadium stands were not frightened. Their momentum did not change at all as they continued cheering the team on.
Lynn rose from the dugout and walked to the touchline, supervising the match with a stern expression.
He made no gestures and shouted no instructions. He had confidence in his disciples. They would definitely adjust quickly!
After seeing the goal, Peter Taylor lowered his head with surprising calm. His right hand clenched into a fist and gave two small shakes in front of his body before dropping again.
When he raised his head again, his expression was still just as composed, as if the team leading was not Queens Park Rangers, but Swansea!
He made no tactical changes either.
On the contrary, his firm and steady eyes showed that he would not be moved.
He had not led his team to the Liberty Stadium to show off. He had been forced into this. Because of their poor defense, Queens Park Rangers had no choice but to firmly carry out an attacking strategy!
This would be a fight where both sides threw away fear of death!
Either you die, or I fall!
On the pitch, Cromwell clapped hard toward his teammates in every direction and shouted loudly, "They're nothing special! Don't be scared by them, and don't panic! Play our own style. Don't let the opponent drag us around by the nose!"
Driven and encouraged by their captain, the players quickly steadied themselves and calmly restarted the match.
After taking the lead, Queens Park Rangers continued attacking as before, while Swansea fought stubbornly against them across the pitch.
In the 19th minute, when Pedretti became tangled with an opponent, Cromwell knocked the ball away from the side. Swansea quickly launched an attack. Grosso carried the ball down the left flank at full speed, breaking through the opponent's wide defense before sending in a low cross.
Villa made a diagonal run into the space behind the defensive line. After meeting Grosso's cross, he directly guided the ball toward goal with a cushioned shot.
The Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper hurriedly dived and blocked the ball with his palm, but failed to hold onto it.
He could only watch helplessly as Ibrahimović charged into the six-yard box and stabbed the rebound into the goal behind him!
The atmosphere inside the Liberty Stadium instantly rose even higher, and the fans applauded Ibrahimović's goal!
Times had changed. Over the past two months, Ibrahimović's stable performances had made an indelible contribution to the team's victories.
Perhaps Lynn and Ibrahimović's relationship was no longer as close as it had been at the beginning, but there were no longer any problems between master and disciple. Each had clearly settled into his own position. Lynn was the manager, Ibrahimović was the player. One gave orders, and the other obeyed management.
On the touchline, Lynn nodded. After seeing this goal, he felt reassured. He smiled and returned to sit in front of the dugout, continuing to watch the match carefully.
Peter Taylor remained silent.
He had long prepared himself mentally.
In the first half of the league season, Queens Park Rangers had conceded an average of 1.2 goals per match. Against Swansea, the team with the strongest attacking firepower in the league, and while playing a risky attacking duel, no matter how one looked at it, this match was never likely to end with a clean sheet.
Conceding was within expectations.
The key issue was scoring.
Could they score more goals than the opponent?
After restarting the match, Queens Park Rangers maintained the same fighting posture!
It was as if they intended to run from start to finish with naked bodies, carrying machine guns, charging forward through Swansea's artillery fire.
For a while, the match became deadlocked. Both teams fought actively in defense, battling fiercely for possession. The ball kept changing hands, and for a time, the quality of both sides' attacks dropped.
Until the 36th minute, Queens Park Rangers were in the left side of their middle and defensive third. Their full-back stepped forward, used his physical advantage to squeeze James Cook away, and stole the ball from under his feet. James Cook had slipped slightly while turning with the ball, which caused him to lose balance and allowed the opponent to win it.
Just as he was about to chase back, Queens Park Rangers had already moved the ball quickly into a dangerous attacking area.
They won the ball on the left, shifted the attack to the right, then crossed from the right into the penalty area.
Sitting in the dugout, Lynn watched QPR's attacking pattern and could not help silently praising it.
If not for their poor defense, Queens Park Rangers could definitely squeeze into the top five.
Judging only from their tactical design in creating chances and the fluency of their understanding, they really did have something about them. No matter what, they were still a team that had played in the First Division.
The cross was delivered to the back post of Swansea's penalty area. Queens Park Rangers' tall striker overpowered Danny Gabbidon and headed the ball toward goal!
Although Glendor's palm touched the ball, he could not stop it from flying into the net!
Swansea had fallen behind at home for the second time!
Lynn stood up again and walked to the touchline, making a gesture toward the pitch.
The meaning was for the midfielders to focus more on long passes when organizing attacks!
Sometimes, being too obsessed with small-team ground progression was not necessarily a good thing.
If a long pass could create a chance, there was no need to insist on advancing through short passes.
After the match restarted, Peter Taylor looked at his watch with a calm expression. When there were still five minutes left until half-time, he ordered the team to retreat.
If they could enter the dressing room with the lead, that would be an extremely good advantage for Queens Park Rangers!
It would be very beneficial for their second-half battle.
But things did not go as planned. Just after he ordered the formation to shrink and retreat, before Queens Park Rangers could fully fall back into defense, Swansea launched an attack that was simple but not crude.
After receiving Balitsch's pass in the backfield, Cromwell played the ball to James Cook on the right side of midfield.
James Cook raised his head and observed the situation in the front field before sending out a long pass.
Outside the penalty area, Ibrahimović used his body to hold his position. Not only that, he beautifully controlled the ball with his chest, perfectly bringing it down from the air, then stylishly flicked it with his heel into the penalty area.
The lightning-fast Villa rushed into the box and formed a one-on-one chance. Facing the goalkeeper, he chose to shoot powerfully, but unexpectedly, the goalkeeper's body blocked the ball as he rushed out. Fortunately for Villa, luck was good. The blocked ball still flew back toward him. He instinctively raised his leg to shoot again, but ended up knocking the ball with his knee and sending it back toward goal.
The Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper wanted to cry. He had already done his best, but luck had not stood on his side.
When Peter Taylor saw this "unfortunate" goal, he lowered his head again and let out a deep sigh.
He did not show a disappointed expression. At least his team was not behind. He should have been happy.
Villa slid on his knees toward the touchline, and the entire crowd of Swans fans shouted excitedly at him.
"Saint David! Saint David! Saint David!"
Wales' patron saint was called Saint David!
Villa, who scored goals like they were falling from the sky, had repeatedly struck golden goals whenever the team needed them. He was like Swansea's guardian spirit!
Because of that, the fans had now begun affectionately calling him "Saint David"!
The first half ended after Cromwell's long shot flew over the bar.
The two teams entered the dressing rooms with the score at 2–2.
This attacking duel had already given the fans four goals in the first half, and the second half was just as crazy!
After fully finding their footing in the match, Swansea played with increasing composure, and their attacking bursts became sharper and sharper!
In the 64th minute, after the two teams fought fiercely in midfield, Pedretti knocked the ball out to the left flank.
Tobias Rau stepped forward and, without stopping the ball, sent out a long pass.
That instantly turned the situation of the match upside down.
Queens Park Rangers had concentrated their pressing in the middle and attacking areas, leaving their backfield empty.
After successfully beating the offside trap, Villa had a one-on-one chance. Every Queens Park Rangers defender chased back, rushing toward Villa.
Their center-back was fairly quick. After Villa entered the penalty area, a surrounding net came toward him from behind.
At that moment, however, Villa did not shoot. He stopped sharply and passed the ball diagonally backward.
Ibrahimović, arriving from the second line, took the ball forward and gained an even better shooting position.
He struck a low shot into the bottom right corner.
After scoring, Ibra turned and walked toward Villa. The two raised their hands and slapped palms in the air.
Peter Taylor secretly gritted his teeth, finally no longer wearing that calm, normal expression.
He clapped toward his players, signaling for them not to lose heart just because they had been turned around!
What Queens Park Rangers did not expect was that five minutes later, just as they were about to launch an attack, their full-back made a mistake.
He directly passed the ball to James Cook. Naturally, Cook accepted the gift with a smile and easily sent a diagonal through ball into the box. After Villa's run beat the offside trap, he went one-on-one and calmly pushed the ball into the far corner!
4–2.
Swansea scored twice in five minutes in the second half and completed the comeback.
This attacking battle still was not over. In the 81st minute, a Queens Park Rangers cross from the flank found their tall center forward inside the penalty area. His header struck Danny Gabbidon's arm, and the referee awarded a penalty.
Queens Park Rangers converted the penalty and pulled the gap back to one goal.
At 4–3, the fans became extremely nervous during the final moments of the match.
Lynn substituted three players in one go.
Charisteas replaced Ibrahimović.
Nelson replaced James Cook.
Poulsen came on for Cromwell.
Peter Taylor also substituted three players at once at this moment!
He took off both wide midfielders and sent on fresh legs to maintain impact. He also replaced a forward. They were all like-for-like substitutions!
The two managers stood on the touchline, constantly giving orders to their players on the pitch.
This scene raised the tension of the match once again.
In the end, Swansea's substitutes had more energy and impact. With the super-sub effect, Nelson, Charisteas, and Poulsen all looked lively and fierce after coming on. At the same time, Lynn also made an in-game adjustment to the attacking tactics.
Tobias Rau and Grosso swapped positions.
Poulsen mainly strengthened the defensive work in the middle and back areas, assisting Pedretti.
After fully stabilizing the defense, Swansea seized the defensive flaws left by the opponent's excessive attacking investment as QPR urgently tried to equalize.
In the 84th minute, Tobias Rau switched the ball to the right side in the front field.
Nelson received it successfully, then immediately carried the ball inside. After using his blistering pace to break into the penalty area, he squared the ball across, assisting Charisteas to rush in and finish!
Swansea once again expanded their lead to two goals.
As regular time was about to end, Tobias Rau lifted a forty-five-degree cross from the left side of the front field. At the back post, Charisteas headed it back across goal. In the middle, Villa connected with a header, flicking the ball into the top left corner!
Swansea crushed Queens Park Rangers 6–3!
When the final whistle arrived, the QPR players lowered their heads in disappointment.
The Swansea players, meanwhile, cheered and leapt across the pitch.
The Liberty Stadium thundered with applause.
The Swans fans were very satisfied with the team's performance today. Although they had conceded three goals at the back, as long as Swansea could win, the fans would be extremely excited.
Lynn straightened his slightly messy coat and walked toward Peter Taylor. Taylor looked somewhat helpless and did not even notice Lynn approaching.
When he suddenly came back to himself and turned his head to see Lynn, he raised his hand and shook Lynn's. Lynn said to him, "QPR almost stunned us today. A very good match. I look forward to the next time we meet."
Peter Taylor nodded without saying a word.
Lynn turned and walked toward the players' tunnel. Peter Taylor watched his back thoughtfully. He could not understand how Lynn had built Swansea into such a combative team, especially when the players' characteristics were so rich and varied. Almost none of them felt like template players.
For him, the road of coaching was still long and heavy.
After losing this match, QPR suddenly dropped to tenth in the table. For them, direct promotion this season had become wishful thinking. They could only place their hopes on fighting their way into the promotion play-offs.
Christmas was coming soon, and Lynn took the initiative to accept an interview after the match.
Facing the reporters, he commented on the match.
"Queens Park Rangers created huge difficulties for us in the first half. At one point, we lost control of the match. But after making adjustments, Swansea stabilized. Our performance became better and better, especially in the second half, where we were almost flawless.
"I still don't agree that Gabbidon's handball should have been awarded as a penalty. His arm was not stretched out. What does the referee want him to do, cut off both hands?"
Reporter Roy Wood informed Lynn of the changes in the table.
Swansea's lead over second-placed Reading had grown from five points to seven.
Lynn responded, "I don't care about other teams' points or rankings. As long as Swansea take care of ourselves and show our true strength, I will be very satisfied.
"In the next match, we will face Reading, who are second in the table. Let's see what happens then."