In the commentary, James Jun praised the goal scorer Defoe, and also praised Zhao Zhao, who had completely activated Defoe.
However, without Zhang Lu's reminder, James Jun failed to see the crucial role Zhao Zhao's tactics played in this goal.
This was about how to exploit the slow movement speed of Hull City's midfielders and center-backs when facing their defense, then disorient them with horizontal and vertical movements, and finally launch a fierce attack!
It can be said that the entire process, from the initial pressing of Hull City's midfield, to the players' passing choices, to stretching the opponent's defensive line, and finally to the goal, was perfect!
Sunderland's players executed Zhao Zhao's tactics perfectly, making the goal look so fluid and natural!
Although he had seen similar scenarios in simulated matches, Zhao Zhao, on the sidelines, still happily turned to celebrate the goal with his assistant Coach and substitute players.
After all, as a football Coach, if his team had exceptionally skilled star players who could score by dribbling past five opponents or with a long-range world-class shot, he would naturally be very happy;
At such times, his tactics might even become very simple: 'Quickly pass that damn ball to the star player!'
After all, who can say that giving the ball to the best player on the team isn't a tactic?
But seeing his team score not through the individual ability of a star player, but through a complete set of tactics, working together to exploit the opponent's weaknesses and break through their defense, would clearly be more fulfilling for a Coach.
After all, this truly represents a Coach's real impact on a team!
Or, to put it another way, star player tactics rely too heavily on the star player; if the star player is not in good form today, or is tightly marked by the opponent, the team's strength is greatly reduced;
But for a team like Sunderland, led by Zhao Zhao, even relatively average players like Cattermole and Billy Jones can play their part.
Even Defoe, if the player receiving the ball in the middle had been another striker with decent shooting skills, might have still scored.
But a five-man dribbling goal like Maradona's or Messi's?
Another player might have lost the ball when trying to get past the first opponent...
And such a team goal naturally gave Zhao Zhao a sense of intellectual dominance.
However, after a brief celebration, Zhao Zhao turned back again, continued to look at the field, and waved frequently.
His intention was very clear.
It was to tell the players to press on while the momentum was with them, push forward actively, and continue to put pressure on Hull City!
And after Sunderland equalized, the players' morale naturally soared, and their fighting spirit clearly became even stronger.
In contrast, after Hull City conceded the equalizer, their psychology was somewhat affected, and their formation on the field appeared a bit disorganized.
Coach Marco Silva was naturally a bit flustered.
Strange, I clearly tightened my defense, making it more secure, so why did we concede a goal instead?
Then, what should I do now?
Should I maintain the status quo and defend for a while, or change tactics again and continue to attack Sunderland?
Then he recalled that at the beginning of the match, when he attacked Sunderland, he not only didn't concede but even scored;
Then why not...
Go back to that!
Marco Silva made up his mind, then stood on the sidelines again, waving frequently to tell his players to push forward again!
However, this time was different from the start of the match.
The difference mainly lay in the mentality.
Although it was still a draw, 0:0 and 1:1 were not the same.
The team that scored first and then conceded the equalizer had a feeling of gaining and then losing, and always felt uncomfortable;
Conversely, the other team's confidence doubled!
In addition, Marco Silva made frequent and large-scale tactical changes in a short half of the match, from full attack to full defense and back to full attack, which also left Hull City's players a bit at a loss.
Therefore, even though Hull City's tactics seemed to revert to the same as the start of the match, the situation was completely different.
Sunderland still held the initiative on the field!
Despite Hull City's best efforts to push forward, they found it very difficult to truly hold the ball and organize an attack.
And once the ball was under the opponent's control, it became even harder to pose a threat.
Therefore, Sunderland clearly had more shooting opportunities now, and although Hull City also started to use high pressing, they seemed a bit overwhelmed.
In the 41st minute, Sunderland had the ball in their own half, and O'Shea and Lescott exchanged several passes, but they never spread the ball wide or moved it forward.
At this point, Hull City's front three all rushed forward.
Niasse and Hernández ran towards O'Shea and Lescott respectively, while Bowen went to cut off their passing lane to right-back Billy Jones.
At the same time, Hull City's midfield also pushed up to assist the forward pressing.
Clucas went to mark Sunderland's left-back Oviedo, which effectively froze Sunderland's entire backline, eliminating all wide passing options.
And to maintain the compactness of their overall formation, Hull City's defensive line naturally had to push forward by twenty or thirty meters.
It can be said that such a high press was still very threatening.
Just one careless mistake could lead to a turnover, and then Hull City could face the goalkeeper directly!
But 'fortunately,' Sunderland already had a plan for this.
This was the plan to play behind the defense that Alan Tate had proposed in the very first meeting!
Since this plan was good, Zhao Zhao naturally 'followed through'!
However, the final execution of this plan on the field was slightly more complex.
After all, Zhao Zhao still had his own ideas and was not a puppet.
First, and most importantly, the attacking midfielder Januzaj dropped back to form a triangular position with the defensive midfielders Larsson and Cattermole, all standing in open spaces, giving their center-backs room and passing lanes to play the ball out.
Secondly, even the striker Defoe and wingers Borini and Khazri also dropped back into their own half, providing even more passing options.
At the same time, such a large-scale retreat also made Hull City relax their guard and push up more confidently and boldly.
But at this very moment, Sunderland's attack quietly began.
Before the opposing forwards could close in, O'Shea passed the ball forward to Larsson, who, without almost any pause, immediately passed it to Januzaj.
At the same time, Sunderland's three forwards, who had initially dropped back into their own half, suddenly sprinted forward together again!
Januzaj, with quick eyes and feet, sent an overhead pass directly to Defoe, soaring over all the defenders and landing on Defoe's head.
Defoe lightly flicked it with his scalp, and the ball changed direction, falling into the empty right side of the attacking third.
There, Khazri, who had now maneuvered to the right, immediately carried the ball at high speed into the penalty area!
Hull City's two center-backs, Ranocchia and Maguire, were shocked and rushed over to defend, but their weakness of slow turns and lack of speed was exposed, and they simply couldn't keep up with Sunderland's rhythm!
Khazri glanced at the six-yard box out of the corner of his eye and decisively chose to cross.
The angle and power of the pass were just right, perfectly clearing Hull City's goalkeeper Jakupović, who had come out to intercept, and reaching the other side of the goal!
And there, Borini had already made his run into position, and he gratefully accepted the gift, easily tapping the ball into an empty net.
'Goal again!!!!!!'
'It's 1:2!!'
'In the 42nd minute, Sunderland scored again!'
'A goal from Borini, Sunderland have now taken the lead!!!'
'The entire process of this goal was truly fantastic, starting from center-back O'Shea, going through the defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder, striker, right winger, and finally scored by another left winger into an empty net.'
'Sunderland's perfect coordination made this goal look like it was passed into the net!...'
After scoring, Borini ran off the field, celebrating the goal wildly with his hands and feet on the sidelines.
Behind him, Sunderland's players also chased after him one by one, eager to join in.
The Kingston Communications Stadium was silent, with only a small number of away Sunderland fans cheering.
When Hull City was leading, their fans never imagined that Sunderland would overturn the score so quickly!