How does the saying go?
Luck is just the byproduct of hard work.
Nowhere is that more evident than on the football pitch.
Every goal in a football match might have a touch of luck behind it, but behind every ounce of luck lies a mountain of effort.
After overcoming the massive challenge of Manchester United, Leeds United had a stroke of good fortune in the draw for the League Cup fourth round. They drew the weakest team remaining: Aldershot, from League Two.
If that's not luck, what is?
Manchester City, meanwhile, were drawn against Premier League relegation candidates Wolves.
According to the British media, Leeds United had all but secured their place in the quarterfinals.
The Yorkshire Post was delighted for days, and Leeds United fans were overjoyed.
But soon enough, reality sank in.
Leeds United CEO Fernando Lucas told the media, "We accept any draw result. After beating Manchester United, we fear no opponent!"
Sarri also emphasized that the draw would not lead to carelessness within the squad, but instead make the team even more focused.
And as it turned out, the Manchester United match had indeed taken a toll.
In the eighth round of the Championship that weekend, Leeds United traveled to face Brighton, and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
The result didn't affect Leeds United's position at the top of the table—their lead still stood at three points. But Brighton were sixth in the table, and Leeds conceding three goals revealed obvious defensive vulnerabilities.
While Leeds dropped points at Brighton, Manchester City also hit a wall at home.
Everton, led by David Moyes, parked the bus at the Etihad.
With a Champions League group stage match coming midweek, City rotated their squad. Moyes was well aware of this and deployed an extremely conservative strategy.
Highly unusual for him.
Moyes is not known for being overly defensive, yet tonight he completely gave up on possession, dropping his entire team deep into their own half, even parking outside their own penalty area, focusing entirely on defending.
Phil Neville, young Jack Rodwell, and Fellaini formed the midfield trio.
Up front, Moyes benched main striker Louis Saha and instead deployed Tim Cahill as a false nine, flanked by Osman and Coleman on the wings.
This ultra-defensive, highly specific tactic caused City major problems.
Their attacking moves lacked penetration, and there was no space to pass into.
Everton barely even looked to counterattack. Their sole mission was defense.
That meant whenever City got the ball into the final third, they immediately ran into a wall, and attack after attack came to nothing.
Gao Shen lined up with a 4-4-2.
Fernandinho and Yaya Touré anchored the midfield, with Sturridge and Van Persie as the front two.
But it was clearly ineffective.
City dominated possession in the first half and created more chances, while Everton managed only one shot. However, most of City's shots were from range and lacked threat.
Their attacks weren't sharp enough.
At halftime, neither side made any changes.
Everton maintained their rigid defensive shape. City tried to encourage more individual dribbling from the flanks, particularly from Hazard and Robinho, who were more aggressive going forward—but the results remained poor.
"We need a goal."
As Gao Shen returned to the technical area, Carlo handed him a bottle of water and spoke quietly.
Nothing surprising. Even fans in the stands could see it.
The hardest part about facing a parked bus is always scoring the first goal. Once you break the deadlock, everything changes.
Everton's defense would inevitably lose focus.
Some players won't be content losing 0-1.
The real issue was: how do you score?
Gao Shen understood all of that, but still shook his head.
"Wait a little longer."
Carlo thought it over, then nodded.
By "wait a little longer," Gao Shen meant the timing wasn't right yet.
At this point, it had become a battle of attrition.
Hazard and Robinho were wearing down Everton's wide defenders. But more than that, Gao Shen was waiting for Moyes to move.
Moyes would be monitoring his players' fatigue. Once it crossed the red line, he'd need to make changes.
Gao Shen's ideal moment to make a sub would be right before Moyes made his. That way, the fresh legs on City's side could exploit Everton's fatigue before reinforcements arrived.
In the 63rd minute, Tim Cahill pressed Jerome Boateng during a broken play, but committed a foul and was shown a yellow card.
Everton's players were visibly frustrated and walked away cursing.
Signs of impatience.
Gao Shen glanced toward the technical bench. Analyst Carlos Vargas immediately raised a hand and nodded. Gao Shen turned toward the substitutes and pointed at De Bruyne, motioning for him to warm up.
A minute later, De Bruyne jogged over to Gao Shen.
"Remember what I told you? What's your biggest strength when it comes to passing?" Gao Shen pulled him close, speaking into his ear.
"Diagonal balls, boss. I remember everything you said," De Bruyne replied seriously.
Gao Shen nodded. "Good. Now, go show them."
De Bruyne focused intently.
"Push Yaya Touré higher. He'll draw Phil Neville and Rodwell out—they'll defend that zone in front of the box like their lives depend on it."
That area was where Yaya Touré was most dangerous, and Moyes would know that.
"Then get the ball out to the right corner. Buy yourself a little time. Your job is to swing a diagonal pass behind them—to Van Persie or Sturridge. Got it?"
It was crystal clear. No room for misunderstanding. De Bruyne nodded.
"When you get on, tell Van Persie and Sturridge to drop back, then move forward. When you play the pass, pay attention to the keeper's position—don't put it too close."
De Bruyne continued nodding.
"Go." Gao Shen gave him a firm slap on the shoulder.
The Belgian nodded and jogged over to the fourth official.
He was coming on for Robinho.
The Brazilian had worked hard but wasn't having much success tonight.
His direct opponent was veteran Drenthe, a former Real Madrid player.
After Leighton Baines moved to Manchester City, Drenthe had become Everton's starting left-back.
"What time is it?"
Moyes frowned as he saw De Bruyne waiting to come on.
In-game tactical substitutions were always a gamble.
If City made a change now, it might just be dangerous.
"Sixty-five minutes," came the reply from his assistant coach.
He hadn't realized they'd been defending for over an hour.
"Are the players still holding up?" Moyes asked.
"Phil's struggling."
That was Phil Neville—Everton's captain and defensive anchor in midfield.
At 34 years old, it was no surprise he was flagging under constant pressure.
Moyes hesitated.
The situation wasn't clear enough to risk changes.
He had planned to hold out until the 75th minute, then bring on Saha to go more direct.
Anyone who thought he intended to defend all the way was mistaken.
That wasn't Moyes' style at all.
Thinking fast, he instructed Rodrigo to help cover for Neville and pulled Fellaini deeper to stabilize the area in front of the defense.
After issuing the orders, Moyes exhaled.
"Manchester City have made a substitution."
"The young Belgian, Kevin De Bruyne, replaces Brazilian winger Robinho."
"Robinho worked hard, but his dribbles weren't effective. Let's see if De Bruyne can change the dynamic."
"It looks like he's brought fresh tactical instructions straight from Gao Shen."
"Over the years, Gao Shen's in-game adjustments have won him widespread praise. Will he impress again tonight?"
"Manchester City resume their attack. The ball goes to Hazard on the left."
"Hazard tries to dribble past Hibbert, but the Everton fullback holds firm. Hazard has no choice but to pass it back."
"Baines moves up and swings it across to Fernandinho, who passes to Yaya Touré."
At that moment, Everton had collapsed their entire formation deep in front of the box.
Fellaini, Rodwell, and Phil Neville stood side by side like a wall.
Yaya Touré remembered Gao Shen's instructions clearly and carried the ball forward.
Van Persie dropped deeper to meet him, drawing the attention of Everton's midfielders and making it seem like he was going to receive the ball.
That immediately put Everton's defensive trio on edge as they tried to close him down.
Yaya "saw" Van Persie was tightly marked and no longer open, so he shifted the ball right. He spotted De Bruyne calling for the ball wide and passed it to him.
De Bruyne, positioned close to the right touchline, checked the penalty area before taking the ball under control.
Sturridge hovered near the top-right edge of the box, making a run toward the near side, as if to receive from De Bruyne.
But Distin stayed close to him.
If Distin didn't track him, De Bruyne could play a through ball toward the corner of the box and Sturridge would be in—he could shoot or cut it back.
So Distin had to follow.
De Bruyne recognized this. At the same time, he saw Drenthe closing in and keeper Howard guarding the near post.
So he nudged the ball forward and swung his right foot, launching a diagonal ball.
The pass flew off De Bruyne's boot in a high arc, sailing over Drenthe's head and dipping toward the back post.
(To be continued.)