The commentators at the scene were stunned.
Although the position of this free kick was indeed very suitable for a direct shot, no one would have expected that this one would result in a goal?
"Goal... Goal?!" Wright Kingston was also dumbfounded. He had guessed several possible scenarios for this game, but he never thought that Luton would score so quickly!
Wright Kingston looked towards the big screen at the scene.
Two minutes... Thirty-three seconds...
"Two minutes!! It only took two minutes!! Luton scored a goal!!!" Wright Kingston finally came to his senses. In any case, Luton was now in the lead.
"Now Benitez's team is in trouble. The game has just started, and they have conceded a goal!! This is really incredible!!! Could Luton continue to create miracles!!"
"I don't know if they can do it. Now everything depends on whether Liverpool can come up with countermeasures to respond!!"
Did Liverpool have any response?
Benitez stood on the sidelines with a frown.
It could be said that Luton's goal was completely unexpected by him. A free kick, Kevin Keane took it very beautifully!!
The football went straight into the dead corner, Reina had no way to stop it!
But now is not the time to admire the opponent's beautiful free kick!
Liverpool is behind!
Benitez breathed a sigh of relief. If there was any good news, it was that this goal came too early, and there was still plenty of time left for Liverpool.
Luton's players were still celebrating, Gao Bo was already straightening his suit, which had been wrinkled from celebrating with the coaching staff.
Gao Bo was very proud now.
Kevin Keane's direct free kick seemed like an accident, but Gao Bo's tactical thinking was not an accident.
Letting Adam play was to use his speed and dribbling ability to disrupt Liverpool's defense in the frontcourt, so that Luton would have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
Creating set pieces was certainly one of them.
Gao Bo knew that if they only defended, Luton might not have a chance to counterattack. Liverpool's configuration of three midfielders and three forwards was very strong. If these stars with considerable creativity slowly dismantled Luton's defense, Luton would be very difficult, perhaps with good luck, they could defend to a zero-zero draw—but Gao Bo didn't want to pin his hopes on luck!
What Gao Bo was most worried about was that after Liverpool's momentum was built up, they would completely take over the game and press Luton to attack. If Liverpool attacked into form, then Luton would be unable to counterattack even if they wanted to.
That's why Gao Bo asked the team to show some performance on the offensive end in the opening stage, so as to wear down some of Liverpool's initial vigor.
Now it seems that the effect is surprisingly good!
Gao Bo looked at the Liverpool players who looked like eggplants beaten by frost, and felt a little relieved. Conceding a goal at the beginning of the game had a big impact on Liverpool. At this stage, Gao Bo didn't have to worry about problems with the defense for the time being!
Maybe he could move the formation forward a bit....
Gao Bo touched his chin, and then made up his mind. He kept waving his right hand in the air, like herding ducks, signaling Luton's formation to move forward!
.....
"Never be afraid of confrontation!!!"
Adam thought of what Gao Bo had said to him, and almost gritted his teeth as he rushed towards Arbeloa, who was holding the ball!
Arbeloa had just received the ball, he didn't expect Adam to be so fast, he wanted to turn around and use his body to separate the ball from Adam!
But at this moment, the Spaniard saw the soft light of the rainbow bridge.
Adam rushed up, gritting his teeth, and with a sliding tackle that hugged the ground, he tackled the ball away, while also knocking the Liverpool star to the ground!
After Adam tackled the ball away,
he immediately got up and chased the ball. Just as he was about to take the ball towards the penalty area, the referee's whistle sounded.
Foul!!
Adam hugged the football and loudly indicated that he had tackled the ball!
But the referee ignored him!
"Foul!! This is a malicious foul!! This kid should be sent off!!!" Benitez was very angry on the sidelines.
He saw Adam's tackle very clearly. He did indeed tackle the ball. If the referee hadn't called a foul, Adam would have directly taken the ball into the penalty area.
Luton used very tough physical confrontation to limit Liverpool's attack in these few minutes.
Including Adam's tackle on Arbeloa, several Liverpool players had been knocked to the ground by Luton.
This game seemed to have turned into a wrestling match.
But what made Benitez angry was that, so far, the referee hadn't shown a single yellow card!
Not a single one!!
Gao Bo looked at the angry Benitez not far away, and he shouted over there: "What are you talking about? Are you blind? This is a standard tackle!! This shouldn't be a foul at all!!"
The two head coaches were at loggerheads, and Arbeloa on the field also went angrily towards Adam after getting up.
The scene was chaotic both on and off the field.
The fourth official had a big head, he separated the two angry head coaches, and the referee on the field also had a headache.
Arbeloa directly pushed Adam to the ground, and then Kevin Keane came up to stand up for his teammate, and then the other Luton players rushed up to surround Arbeloa.
Liverpool players naturally couldn't let their teammates suffer, they also rushed up.
For a time, the referee had a big head, and after finally separating two, another player butted heads on the other side.
The field was filled with the smell of gunpowder for a time.
Gao Bo didn't retort after being reprimanded by the fourth official, he didn't want to cause trouble for himself because of this.
The situation on the field was his favorite.
It would be best if Liverpool players were obsessed with fighting with Luton players, and then the game time would be dragged on like this.
Anyway, Luton was in the lead now.
Benitez also knew that the rhythm was not right now, Liverpool's attention seemed to be no longer on the game, conceding a goal early caused their mentality to fluctuate, and Benitez keenly noticed this.
They are doing it on purpose!!
Benitez quickly understood after calming down.
The opponent was deliberately using such big moves to stir up the fire, it would be best if Liverpool had a few irrational players, like Arbeloa...
At this moment, the referee finally settled the players on both sides, and a conflict was temporarily quelled.
And Arbeloa and Adam, the two parties involved, both received a yellow card...
This made Gao Bo very unhappy, he muttered in his mouth, making the fourth official keep his eyes on him.
If the fourth official heard Gao Bo utter disrespectful words, he would prepare to let the referee come over. But the fourth official couldn't understand Chinese, the language barrier allowed Gao Bo to escape punishment...
On the other side, Benitez spread his hands and turned to complain to his assistant.
In fact, he didn't have any clean words in his mouth, but fortunately Gao Bo helped him attract firepower, otherwise he would also be targeted by the fourth official.
But Benitez still knew the current situation, he called Gerrard over.
"Focus on the game! Don't fall for their tricks!"
Gerrard nodded frequently, he also knew what was most important to Liverpool now.
Gerrard came on the field, he comforted the emotionally excited Arbeloa.
"Calm down!! Calm down!!"
"We need to attack!!"
As the captain, sometimes Gerrard also needs to act as a firefighters.