From the Watford bench,
Coach Mazzarri felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down his forehead.
Although he wasn't playing on the field, he also felt immense pressure.
Originally, Mazzarri's performance with Watford this season had been quite good, so much so that with six rounds remaining in the League, it felt as if they had already secured their Premier League status.
But he forgot one thing: you can't be reckless when you have an advantage!
Now, he had directly thrown himself back to the brink of relegation, forcing him to secure at least one point in today's match to successfully avoid the drop.
Mazzarri was determined to defend for the entire match today, forming two impenetrable walls with five defenders and four midfielders, aiming to make Sunderland's offense crash and burn, returning without success!
His misleading pre-match interview was also part of this point-scoring strategy.
But what he hadn't expected was that Zhao Zhao didn't seem to have been fooled at all?
They immediately launched a fierce attack, as if they had accurately predicted that he would turtle up in defense!
Moreover, Sunderland's attack was indeed a bit too fierce.
From the kickoff until now, only dozens of seconds had passed, and Sunderland had already completed their first shot on goal.
Mazzarri's meticulously arranged nine-man defense seemed like paper in front of Sunderland's attacking force.
Especially when Sunderland's three forwards and three midfielders pressed high in the front, they appeared so well-trained and clearly divided in their roles, instantly winning the ball back.
And their transition from defense to offense was also very decisive!
The midfielders passed the ball to the wing without hesitation, then the Moroccan player dribbled and passed, and finally Defoe completed the header on goal.
Although no goal was conceded, Mazzarri already had an ominous premonition.
If the match continued in this manner, Watford wouldn't be able to hold on!
After all, a football match is ninety minutes long; what if every minute was like this???
Mazzarri couldn't help but turn his head to look at the home team's bench.
Sunderland's Coach Zhao Zhao was simply sitting calmly in his seat, as composed as ever.
"This calm one, he's truly calm..."
Mazzarri kneaded his slightly sweaty palms and couldn't help but shake his head.
If he had been very confident about his coaching position two months ago, he now had absolutely no assurance.
Four consecutive losses and a constantly declining ranking had made his position within the club precarious.
Perhaps it could be said that if they truly lost today, leading to relegation, he would definitely not be able to stay at Watford.
This also reminded Mazzarri of the terrible experience of being prematurely dismissed by Inter Milan two years ago...
"We can only wait and see for now. If they press too high, there will definitely be gaps in their defense, and then we can steal one through Niang's counter-attack, which will make the situation much better."
Mazzarri thought this, and observed for a while longer.
Then he discovered that he seemed to have underestimated the tactical capabilities of Coach Zhao Zhao's team.
Although Sunderland's high press often involved players aggressively pushing forward, their overall formation remained very compact.
Especially the two wings in the front, when defending, stayed relatively close to the center, compressing the entire space very tightly, and the formation was also very meticulous, with overall movement being highly coordinated and consistent.
It seemed that Coach Zhao Zhao's tactics intentionally compressed the effective range of the game into a small central area, and when Watford was forced to shift the ball to the wings, Sunderland would suddenly press their wing players, forming a local numerical advantage, and then win the ball back.
Coupled with Sunderland's stronger and more decisive high press today, the entire Watford team was suffocated, with no chance to launch a counter-attack!
The game had been going on for almost 10 minutes, and Watford hadn't even managed a single effective attack.
In contrast, Sunderland launched attacks again and again, each more threatening than the last.
In the 12th minute, a Watford pass in midfield was again intercepted by Sunderland, and the ball fell to defensive midfielder Larsson.
Larsson quickly passed the ball to Januzaj.
This was Sunderland's old routine: letting Januzaj primarily handle the organization of the offense, which was also Coach Zhao Zhao's strategy to maximize his player's abilities.
Watford's side clearly knew that Januzaj was the midfield engine of this Sunderland team, so their defensive midfielder Capoue quickly rushed towards Januzaj.
However, Januzaj did not dribble forward or pass forward directly; instead, he back-heeled the ball to Larsson, seemingly just a meaningless pass.
Just as the Watford players were a bit relaxed, Larsson again passed the ball back to Januzaj.
And this time, Januzaj looked up, saw an opening, and without stopping the ball, he decisively struck it, sending a high ball forward.
This ball sailed over everyone in the midfield.
And directly in front of him, a red and white figure moved along the wing, suddenly making a run into Watford's penalty area!
It was Defoe!
He used his agile movement to shake off Prodl, who had been marking him, and he was not offside!
After Defoe received the ball, Watford's other center-back, Britos, quickly came over to cover.
But after Defoe chested the ball down, he didn't dribble at all; instead, he took a direct shot!
The angle for this shot was actually not good, probably a few meters out from the corner of the six-yard box, and at an angle of only about thirty to forty degrees.
But Defoe's shot was simply too sudden; Watford's goalkeeper Gomes, despite diving down with all his might, was still half a step late.
His right arm almost touched the ball, but he still couldn't prevent the ball from finding the net!
"Goal!!!!! Defoe!!!!! He scored again! This is his 19th goal in the Premier League this season!"
James Jun's excited voice also echoed in the ears of Chinese fans through the broadcast signal.
"With a shot from a tight angle, he pierced Watford's goal, helping Sunderland open the scoring!"
"This player, born in October 1982, is now over 34 years old, but his movement is still so agile, and his shooting technique is still so superb!"
"And from this goal by Defoe, we can also see Coach Zhao Zhao's tactical characteristics."
"He makes his players constantly press Watford's midfield and defense, causing the opponent's passes to go awry, and then immediately delivers a fatal blow to the opponent!"
On the field at this moment, Defoe had excitedly run towards Zhao Zhao, then directly jumped up and embraced Zhao Zhao!
He was dedicating the goal to Zhao Zhao, to the Coach who had always trusted and supported him!
Because even he himself hadn't imagined that he could score 19 goals in a single Premier League season at the age of 34!
This was already his personal career-best statistic.
Before this, his most goals in a single Premier League season was only 18, which happened in the 2009-2010 season, when Defoe was still playing for Tottenham Hotspur.
And clearly, the Sunderland fans at the Stadium of Light also knew the significance of this goal for Defoe.
Soon, the entire stadium echoed with rhythmic shouts:
"Defoe!"
"Defoe!"
"Defoe!"
...