Chapter 161: The Last Stop Before the Winter Break
Alberto's goal in the 31st minute of the first half, like a bank password, completely opened Porto's goal account. In the 39th minute of the first half, Porto continued to extend the score. After Lao Lei cut off Maritimo's counterattacking long pass in the backfield, he immediately hit a long pass back to Maritimo's hinterland. Alberto, who has already scored a goal, showed his delicate footwork as a Brazilian player. In the confrontation, after unloading Lao Lei's pass steadily, he knocked the ball with one heel and gave it to his teammates on the other side. The right midfielder, who came on as a substitute for Alenichev, received a pass from Alberto and unguarded, and once again broke the door of Maritimo with a powerful volley to extend the score to 2:0.
Before the end of the first half, Porto Ben had a chance to extend the score again. Lao Lei stepped forward and caused a defensive foul on the Maritimo player 25 meters inside the goal, and got a well-placed free-kick. Lao Lei, who felt that his feet felt good today, chose to attack the goal directly. After bypassing Maritimo's goalkeeper, the ball grazed the crossbar and flew out of the goal, unfortunately missing the chance to extend the score again.
At half-time, Jose Mourinho praised his team's performance and said that the advantage in the first half was enough to secure the three points for Porto. He didn't make too many tactical arrangements, giving Lao Lei absolute freedom on the field, because this lineup was originally going to rely entirely on Lao Lei, so he chose to give Lao Lei the greatest trust. Of course, at the same time, he did not forget to remind that Lao Lei's playing time was only 15 minutes. How to look. All of this stimulates the possibility of Lao Lei trying to break out again before he goes down.
And Lao Lei really did what Mourinho expected, and he showed all his skills at the beginning of the second half. Since you have to play for 15 minutes, you have to go out. Lao Lei simply turned on the devil's flesh man and played it unscrupulously. Maritimo's players haven't been able to get a foothold yet. In the face of Lao Lei's aggressive offensive and pressing, it is inevitable that he will be a little hurried. In the 56th minute of the second half, Lao Lei, with the assistance of Alberto, cut off the football at the feet of the Maritimo central defender, who was indecisive in his shot, and then dribbled directly into the penalty area and faced the goalkeeper who attacked Maritimo with a single knife.
A very concise shooting feint, after deceiving Maritimo's goalkeeper, he flicked sideways and accelerated. got rid of the goalkeeper of Maritimo. Facing the empty goal, he kicked lightly and scored his first goal of the game. The score of 3:0 has sealed the victory of this game. Seeing this situation, in the 60th minute of the second half, Mourinho replaced Lao Lei and asked him to come down to rest. When Lao Ray left the field, he was applauded by the Maritimo fans in the stadium. He used his good form today to conquer tens of thousands of Maritimo fans on the scene. That's a great honour for a player. Conquering the away fans is the greatest recognition of this player's skills.
However, it was a great shame for the home team's players, as their performance turned their fans against them. After Lao Lei went down. Maritimo, who was ashamed and brave, began a frantic counterattack. However, Porto's defence is not vegetarian either, despite the aggressiveness of Maritimo's attack. However, it was the thunder and rain that did not put real pressure on the Porto defence. Until the 78th minute of the second half. Maritimo pulled a goal back with a free-kick combination.
But it doesn't help. Can't change the big picture. The score was maintained at 3-1 until the end of the game, with Porto successfully picking up three points away from home. After the game, Lao Lei was praised from all sides, and Maritimo's players and head coaches all praised Lao Lei's appearance. Of course, Mourinho did not hesitate to praise his proud disciple, praising him: "Reima's watch today is a master. After the game, some fans also made a highlight of Lao Lei's indifferent passes in this game, posted them on the Internet, and received widespread attention. There are many fans who were attracted by Lao Lei's unreasonable passing and became his loyal fans.
After a short period of ups and downs, Lao Lei's football road was once again on the road. Although the media of the National Team are still singing "Godzilla the Butcher", it has not attracted much attention. Sometimes football is so unfair, just like the students in school, the bad mistakes of good students are always easier to forgive and understand.
After this game, Porto, who was back on track, once again started his crushing journey in the Portuguese Super League, and once again opened the points distance with the second place Benfica, so that Benfica could only look at Porto above his head and sigh: "Why are you so strong." After the match against Maritimo, Porto beat Leiria and promoted Evaca in quick succession. Neither team was strong, so Mourinho opted for a rotation in both games.
Against Leiria, Porto took a 2-0 lead in the first half, and both goals were assisted by Lao Lei. First of all, in the 21st minute of the first half, the Leiria defence, which had been holding on for less than 30 minutes, was broken, and Lao Lei made a stunning 50-meter long through ball to help McCarthy find a good opportunity in the penalty area and break the door of Leiria with a low shot. This pass also made the Leiria fans at the scene once again burst into the cry of "We want Godzilla", and this is already the drama that Porto will play out every time they visit the Magalhays Stadium in the past two seasons. Leiria's fans still can't forget the departure of Lao Lei, and the magical Leiria team in the 01-02 season has become an unforgettable memory for them. In this regard, Lao Lei could only be silent, and made a gesture of refusing to celebrate to his teammates.
And just seven minutes later, Lao Lei once again delivered a subtle assist. On the edge of the Leiria penalty area, Ray delivered a precise assist with the outside of his left foot to help Maniche head home at the back post. After two goals, Porto slowed down their attacking pace and maintained the score of 2:0 until the end. Soon after the start of the second half, Lao Lei was replaced by Jose Mourinho, allowing him to get plenty of rest. At the end of the game, Ray once again received applause and cheers from Leiria's fans, and he returned a deep bow on the sidelines, and Leiria always occupied a place in Ray's heart no matter what.
After Lao Lei left the game, both sides each scored another goal, and the score was charged at 3:1. Porto will then go away to challenge promoted Ivaka, but before going away, Porto will play a Champions League group game and face the challenge of Partizan Belgrade at home. As long as Porto wins this game, they will be able to secure a place in the qualifiers. Considering Porto's excellent performance in the Champions League this season, no one thinks that Partizan Belgrade can overturn Porto at the Dragon Stadium.
And this is indeed the case, Porto three military life, at home with a score of 2:0 bloodlessly picked off the Belgrade partizan who came to challenge. Lao Lei did not give assists and goals in this game, but no one could ignore Lao Lei's control role in the game, steadily suppressed the rhythm, and did not give Belgrade Partizan any chance.
On the other side, Real Madrid also defeated Marseille 2-1 at home and advanced with Porto in the first round. However, the group stage of Group F is not out of suspense, in addition to Marseille's qualification for the UEFA Cup with Partizan Belgrade, there is also the battle for the top spot in the group between Porto and Real Madrid. In the final round of the group stage, Porto will travel to Madrid, Spain, to visit the Bernabeu Stadium, where countless superstars have fought to compete for the top spot in the group, which will be Porto's last game before the winter break.
However, before that, Porto must continue to consolidate their advantages in the league. Porto are four points ahead of Benfica at the top of the table as we approach the halfway point of the season, which is not a safe lead, and once the Champions League reaches the knockout rounds, no one can guarantee what will happen.
First of all, Porto will travel to challenge promoted Evaca. This time, Lao Lei and Maniche and others were left at the Porto training base by Mourinho to rest and recover. At Aihuaka's home stadium, Deco used an excellent table of one shot and one pass to steadily immediately Aihuaka and scored three points. After returning to Porto, Porto had only two league games left before the winter break, both at home, against Universidad Coimbra and Rio Ave respectively.
Porto won both games at home, giving the Porto fans the best Christmas present. Among them, in the match against the University of Coimbra, with a hearty 4:0 victory, the Porto fans at the scene enjoyed a happy night. Old Ray, Deco, Maniche and McCarthy scored one goal each, and the multi-point blossoming attack turned the Universitatea de Coimbra's defense into a stopper. Lao Lei's goal came just three minutes into the opening period, when Porto's opening sneak attack threw the Universitatea de Coimbra defence into disarray, and Deco's breakthrough in front resulted in a dangerous free-kick 22 metres from goal. Lao Lei took his trademark right-footed outside of his instep free-kick into the top right corner of the goal and smashed past the University of Coimbra.
And against Rio Ave, Lao Lei's free kick scored again, this time in the 71st minute of the second half. In the previous matches, Porto first used a 2-0 advantage to firmly dominate. However, in the 56th minute, the wind and rain on the field changed abruptly, Maniche fouled the tackle, and two yellows turned into one red and was sent off. Six minutes later, Rio Aveton Guò pulled a goal back with a counter-attack. Just when Rio Ave's momentum was about to rise, Lao Lei created a free kick opportunity with a breakthrough in the front court, and seized the opportunity to score directly with a free kick, stabilizing the situation and letting Porto pass the test without danger. After the game, Mourinho also used the word "patron saint" to highly praise Lao Lei for standing up and stabilizing the situation.
At this point, Porto's pre-winter break league is over, and only the battle for the top spot in the group with Real Madrid remains.
On December 8, Lao Lei and the whole Porto team boarded a flight to Madrid.
There, the Galactic Battleship was waiting for them. (To be continued......)