After the match against Birmingham, the draw for the English League Cup quarter-finals was announced.
The biggest dark horse in this year's cup was Cambridge United, as Cambridge United was the only team from the EFL Championship, with the remaining 7 teams all from the Premier League.
Cambridge United drew Harry Redknapp's Tottenham.
It should be said that Huang Hao's luck was not bad. After all, among the 7 Premier League teams, Tottenham was in the worst form. Tottenham's original Head Coach was the Spaniard Juande Ramos, but he only managed 2 points in the first 8 rounds and was eliminated by Udinese in the UEFA Cup, leading to his dismissal. Harry Redknapp took over as an interim Head Coach.
However, although the draw for the League Cup quarter-finals was announced, the match would not take place until December 4th. Before that, Cambridge United would host their old rivals Cardiff City in the English Championship League.
But the eagerly anticipating Cambridge United fans were doused with a bucket of cold water by Cardiff City, chilling them to the bone.
In the 18th minute of the first half, Lewandowski received a through pass from Ayu, broke through the closing defense of Lowen and Gabbidon, and faced Alexander, slotting a low shot into the net.
1:0!
But after scoring, Cambridge United seemed to lack energy, with no sharp passes, and their forwards lost their scoring touch. No matter how Huang Hao roared from the sidelines, it seemed that Cambridge United had no desire to score another goal against Cardiff City.
As the first half was coming to an end, Cardiff was awarded a free-kick in the attacking third. Stacey lobbed the ball to the far post, and although Lovren got to the first ball and headed it out of the box,
The second ball was claimed by Wales international Ledley.
Ledley met the ball with a scoop shot, and the ball arced beautifully, flying directly into the top right corner of the goal. Pantilimon had no reaction to it!
Immediately after the start of the second half, Stacey crossed again, and the ball went directly to Bothroyd. Bothroyd, without letting the ball touch the ground, lifted his right foot, and the ball struck Lovren's arm and went out for a goal kick.
"Beep," referee Carter decisively awarded a penalty. McCormack's feint tricked Pantilimon,
1:2!
Cardiff City took the lead.
The Cambridge United players, after conceding two goals, seemed to finally wake up. In the 78th minute, Sun Jihai of Cambridge United made a long pass from the back, directly reaching the edge of Cardiff's penalty area!
At the crucial moment, Lowen made a fatal error. His sliding tackle did not touch the ball! Lewandowski immediately surged forward from behind, creating a one-on-one opportunity!
Facing Alexander, Lewandowski calmly slotted the ball into the far corner!
2:2!
The Cambridge United players today had been trying to keep possession of the ball, while Cardiff played more like Huang Hao's Cambridge United: simple and efficient.
Ultimately, the 6600 home fans of Cambridge United witnessed their team draw 2:2 with Cardiff, despite having a possession rate of 65%.
The post-match holiday was, without a doubt, canceled again. The entire team did not train the next day but was instead pulled into the tactical analysis room by Huang Hao to watch the recording of the Cardiff match for a full day.
In Huang Hao's words, "I allow you to lose matches; there is no team in the world that can win all matches."
"But I absolutely will not allow you to play any match so cowardly and without fighting spirit!"
Four days later, the regrouped Cambridge United hosted Tottenham at Abbey Stadium. The happiest person in Cambridge United to see this match was undoubtedly Li Jianqin, who, as a Tottenham fan, finally had the chance to take a photo with Tottenham stars.
In the 22nd second of the first half, Tottenham won a corner kick.
However, Lennon's corner kick did not pose much of a threat, and Cambridge United immediately launched a counterattack!
Ayu dribbled into the box and chipped a half-volley. Dzeko, in front of the goal, immediately headed it like a lion! Robinson firmly brought the ball under control!
Two minutes later, Tottenham retaliated!
Modric dribbled the ball from the left side of midfield into Cambridge United's half, weaving left and right, and surged into the vicinity of the big penalty area!
Through a gap in the defense, Modric passed the ball to Pavlyuchenko!
Pavlyuchenko received the ball, turned, and unleashed a powerful shot!
Pantilimon crouched slightly and pushed the ball out for a goal kick with his palm!
Five minutes later, Bennett unleashed a surprise long-range shot from outside the big penalty area!
The ball flew directly over the crossbar!
After the kickoff, although Cambridge United was more proactive, Tottenham was not at a disadvantage in terms of play.
In the 11th minute of the first half, O'Connor, Dzeko, and Ayu combined in front of Tottenham's penalty area!
Ayu tried to thread the ball to Dzeko, who was running into the box!
Dawson flew in with a kick, sending the ball directly to midfield!
Jenas received the ball in midfield and immediately lobbed it into Cambridge United's penalty area!
At this time, only Pasc and Lovren of Cambridge United remained in their half!
Malbranque got the ball behind Lovren and quickly moved towards Cambridge United's penalty area!
Josh Pasque accelerated from the center towards Malbranque!
The two gradually closed in and met on the right side of the penalty area!
Pasc stretched out his right foot, attempting to poke the ball out for a goal kick!
Just then, Malbranque kicked the ball away and directly collided with Pasc's right leg with his body!
The referee's piercing whistle instantly echoed through Abbey Stadium!
Pasc's mind instantly buzzed! Oh no!
Indeed, referee Moss pointed to the penalty spot in front of Cambridge United's goal and quickly ran over!
Pasc fouled, yellow card!
Penalty!!!
Huang Hao narrowed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and thought, "This is uncanny!"
Malbranque took the penalty himself.
After placing the ball, Malbranque slowly retreated, took a run-up, and shot directly into the top left corner of the goal!
Although Pantilimon guessed the right direction, Malbranque's penalty was extremely tricky, still passing over Pantilimon's head and into the net!
In the 12th minute, Tottenham, playing away, scored first!
After conceding, Cambridge United immediately launched a counterattack, sending the ball to the left side of Tottenham's attacking third with just three passes from the back!
Ayu quickly burst out from the crowd and calmly brought the ball down!
With no one marking him closely, Ayu entered the box and immediately shot!
The ball went wide of the left post and hit the advertising board!
In the 16th minute, Lovren intercepted Tottenham's pass and sent a long ball to Tadić on the right side of midfield!
Tadić tapped the ball back to midfield, O'Connor again lifted the ball, and distributed it to Dzeko on the right side of the attacking third!
Dzeko brought the ball down and quickly passed it to Ayu at the edge of the box!
Ayu controlled the ball and simultaneously evaded Chimbonda's defense!
Ayu, after bringing the ball into the box, immediately unleashed a powerful shot!
The ball again went wide of the right post!!!
In the 26th minute, Lewandowski received a pass from Tadić and pulled off a Marseille roulette that stunned the entire stadium! Unfortunately, his subsequent shot hit a Tottenham defender and went out for a goal kick!
In the 32nd minute, Dzeko received O'Connor's corner kick at the edge of the box and unleashed a furious shot!
The ball again went over the crossbar!
Huang Hao sat on the bench, constantly pressing his temples with both hands.
He silently repeated, "Practice shooting, practice shooting, practice shooting!"
In the 36th minute, Tottenham had another excellent scoring opportunity!
Chimbonda dispossessed Cambridge United in the back, dribbled past midfield, and sent a long pass! The ball accurately landed at the edge of the penalty area!
Lennon accelerated past Lovren and dribbled directly into the box!
He controlled the ball and unleashed a powerful shot!!!
Pantilimon, with an incredible speed of getting down, pushed the ball out for a goal kick!!!
The stands instantly erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers for Pantilimon's heroic save!
The first half ended after Lewandowski's header went over the crossbar.
Cambridge United returned to the home team's locker room with a 0:1 score.
Huang Hao sat beside the players, constantly rubbing the Qingming acupoint above his nose, trying to find the team's problem.
"Lads, I think we're all a bit too impatient."
Hearing Huang Hao's voice, the players all looked up at their Head Coach.
"I know you're under a lot of pressure."
"But it's precisely at times like these that our will is best refined."
"And we cannot, just because we're behind, keep taking wild shots and wantonly wasting opportunities created by our teammates."
Ayu lowered his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Be patient, be calm, think about your strengths, and do what you're good at."
"Steady! We can win!"
Huang Hao clenched his right fist and slapped it hard with his open left hand.
At the start of the second half, Cambridge United immediately took the battle to Tottenham's half.
May dribbled on the right side of the attacking third and suddenly unleashed a fast, straight ball. The ball quickly traversed Tottenham's penalty area and was passed to Sun Jihai on the left side of the attacking third!
At this moment, Sun Jihai had no one marking him, so he calmly dribbled into the box!
Then Sun Jihai poked the ball with his left foot and followed up to cross the ball to the far post of the Villa goal!
The attacking full-back Tadić beat Gareth Bale, who was marking him, and powerfully struck the ball towards the left side of the goal!
Robinson failed to save, and the ball hit the net!
In the 45th minute and 50 seconds of the second half, Cambridge United scored a lightning goal to equalize!
In the subsequent play, although Cambridge United had more attacking momentum, they were unable to score.
Tottenham also used sharp counterattacks to threaten Cambridge United's goal multiple times!
Thus, the match slowly reached the 85th minute, with only a few minutes left until the end.
Ayu slowly retreated from the forward line to an attacking midfield position; it seemed he would be more comfortable there.
After getting the ball, Ayu caught a glimpse of Sun Jihai making a high-speed run on the left flank with his peripheral vision, followed by a long, over-the-top pass!
The ball, as if it had eyes, landed directly in front of Sun Jihai!
Unfortunately, Sun Jihai directly controlled the ball into the path of Tottenham defender Bale!
Facing the pressing Sun Jihai, the young Bale kicked the ball forward with a long pass, twisted his body past Sun Jihai, and chased after the ball.
Parks in the center quickly retreated while moving towards Bale. When Bale reached him, Bale again kicked the ball forward with a long pass, relying on his speed to forcefully overtake Parks. By the time Parks wanted to hold Bale back, Bale was already 2 meters away.
Bale quickly surged into Cambridge United's right penalty area. Lovren had no choice but to abandon Pavlyuchenko and block Bale.
Bale was waiting for this opportunity. He made a horizontal pass, and the unmarked Pavlyuchenko easily scored against Pantilimon.
1:2!!
Cambridge United, once again trailing, had no choice but to push all players forward.
Just two minutes later, Bennett dispossessed the ball in the back and immediately found Tadić, who had moved up to the right-wing position!
Tadić quickly dribbled to the edge of Tottenham's penalty area, then, with his back to goal, held off Bale, who was marking him, waiting for teammates' support!
Then Tadić quickly half-turned his body and quickly passed the ball to the surging May! Just as May was about to receive the ball, a foot stretched out—it was Modric, who poked the ball to Bale before May could get to it.
Bale, without stopping the ball, directly looked for Lennon in the attacking third. Lennon had a wide-open space in front of him. Lovren and Pavlyuchenko in the center were also rushing towards Cambridge United's penalty area at high speed.
Learning from the previous mistake, "Let me handle it, you mark number 9," Pantilimon roared and rushed towards Lennon, and Lovren no longer had to agonize over which side to cover.
Facing the rushing goalkeeper, Lennon gently chipped the ball, and it sailed over Pantilimon and directly into the net.
1:3! Tottenham scored two goals in quick succession at the last moment!
When the referee blew the final whistle, Huang Hao had to admit that a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and old Redknapp really had some tricks up his sleeve.
At this point, Cambridge United's League Cup journey ended in the semi-finals.
