After a pleasant 3-point victory against Bordeaux, Leeds United, who were dominating the Champions League, rushed back to England.
Without any rest, they faced Manchester City at home on Saturday night for their ninth league match.
Having already decided to forfeit the League Cup match against Manchester United in a few days, Li Shiguang fielded his full starting lineup for this game, determined to secure all three points at home.
In the BBC studio today, the two commentators are Gary Lineker and Jon.
The two had previously discussed Leeds United's starting lineup for today. Lineker was initially confident that Lee Shi-shi would field a mostly reserve lineup to conserve energy for the next match.
But when Jon saw Leeds United's starting lineup, he turned and smiled at Lineker sitting next to him: "Gary, looks like you'll have to treat us to lunch tomorrow. Leeds United aren't going to hold back today. Lee has fielded his strongest lineup. It looks like Manchester City will have a tough time in this game."
Lineker nodded helplessly. He had thought that Li Shiguang would choose to have another head-to-head match with Manchester United, but now it seemed that Leeds United would give up the League Cup.
Just as the two were chatting, Dzeko passed the ball to Barton from the center circle on the TV screen, and the match officially began!
However, Manchester City did not have possession for long. They had just moved the ball to the left when the alert Lahm intercepted the pass. Seeing Lahm intercept the ball, Bale in front of him and Ribery on the right wing did not hesitate and ran towards Manchester City's half at the same time.
After dribbling forward a couple of steps, Lahm passed the ball to Modric, who had already made space, before the Manchester City players could catch up. Modric then launched a long ball down the right flank without stopping it, and cleverly anticipated the pass.
Amid cheers from the fans, Ribery, who had already reached his position, deftly controlled the ball with his right foot and continued to accelerate towards Manchester City's penalty area.
"Mika, push him towards the baseline, don't let him cut inside!"
Seeing Ribery's speed, Manchester City's goalkeeper James shouted a reminder to right-back Richards inside the penalty area.
After Sun Jihai was bought by Li Shiguang to Leeds United, Richards, without any competition, became Manchester City's starting right-back this season.
Upon hearing James's shout, Richards, whose speed was no slower than Ribery's, quickly moved over and skillfully blocked Ribery's path to cut inside. However, Ribery had no intention of cutting inside at all. Seeing Richards rushing over, he instead poked the ball away from his feet and sprinted towards the byline.
At this moment, inside Manchester City's penalty area, Ibrahimovic, Torres, and Podolski were already in position, with Bale having already run to the edge of the penalty area further away. De Bruyne was also lingering at the edge of Manchester City's penalty area. With so many points of support, Ribery, who had reached the byline, simply glanced up at the situation in the penalty area and then flicked the ball out with his right foot, relying on his own rhythm.
Seeing Ribery raise his foot, the Manchester City defenders in the penalty area quickly approached the three Leeds United forwards who were already preparing to jump for the header. With each other pulling and tugging, none of them were able to jump, and they could only watch as the ball slid over their heads and landed at Bale's feet, who was standing at a far point.
Bale, having gained possession, saw that there were already many people in the penalty area and that Manchester City's defenders were chasing out again. So, instead of trying to score, he quickly passed the ball across to De Bruyne, who was completely unmarked.
The young Belgian player controlled and flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot, then quickly swung his left leg and spun the ball with the inside of his left foot.
James stood in front of the goal, his view completely blocked by the players in the penalty area. He didn't see the shot until the ball spun over Ibrahimovic's head. Even though he reacted, he couldn't stop the ball from flying into the goal he was holding.
1-0, Leeds United took the lead at home in just 2 minutes!
After Manchester City restarted the game, Leeds United did not slow down their attack despite taking the lead.
Amid the cheers of the fans, they launched another attack in the 6th minute.
De Bruyne and Alonso, who had just scored, executed a beautiful one-two pass in midfield, quickly advancing the ball to the edge of Manchester City's penalty area. Facing the onrushing Manchester City defenders, De Bruyne delivered a beautiful through ball to the right side of the penalty area. Torres followed up with a powerful shot from the right side of the six-yard box, but unfortunately, it went slightly wide of the goal and hit the side netting.
But less than a minute later, before James could even wipe the cold sweat from his forehead after the near miss, he saw that Leeds United had regained possession of the goal kick he had just taken.
Alonso headed the ball directly to Bale on the left wing from the center circle.
Bale sprinted down the left flank and then lobbed the ball towards Manchester City's penalty area from near the byline. This time, it was Ibrahimovic who arrived at the perfect moment. He leaped high into the air and headed the ball towards the top right corner of the Manchester City goal. Fortunately, James was focused and made a valiant save, tipping the ball out of play with his fingertips.
"Oh my god, Zlatan Ibrahimovic!! Oh dear, that was a bit of a pity, James made a beautiful save." Although he was praising James, the regretful expression on Lineker's face made the praise seem a bit incongruous.
Jon, standing nearby, nodded in agreement, muttering, "Judging from Leeds United's form today, Manchester City will likely have a tough time escaping Elland Road unscathed..."
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