Chapter 357 goes down in history! The world's best central defender! Neymar is here! A special gift! [Subscribe]
In the evening of February 28, Wembley Stadium in London.
In the English League Cup final, Bayswater Chinese faced Manchester City.
This is a tit-for-tat competition.
This can be seen from the starting lineups of both sides.
Yang Cheng sent all his main forces.
Goalkeeper: Courtois;
Defense: Marcelo, Pepe, Van Dijk and Piszczek;
Midfield: Matic drops back, with Toni Kroos and Modric in the middle;
Forwards: Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale.
The Chinese players at Bayswater still used their most familiar 433 formation.
And from the beginning of the game, they launched a siege and blockade on Manchester City.
Through high-intensity pressing and oppression, Manchester City was suppressed.
The three players in the frontcourt made things difficult for Manchester City's defense by running and switching positions on the front line, and turned the Blue Moon's midfield and backcourt upside down, leaving them struggling.
First, Toni Kroos passed the ball. Sterling was on the left side. Facing the double-team of two Manchester City defenders, he dribbled the ball to attract the attention of the defense and then passed the ball to the flank.
Marcelo made a high-speed run and headed straight for the left side of the penalty area.
But at the critical moment, Ter Stegen decisively abandoned the goal and confiscated the ball directly.
Then, Gareth Bale's long shot was slightly above the crossbar.
The Chinese from Bayswater completely suppressed Manchester City in the first 10 minutes.
And frequently created threatening attacks.
Unfortunately, Yang Cheng's team failed to create an absolute threat and break Manchester City's goal.
Guardiola's starting tactic is also 433.
Goalkeeper: Marc-Andre ter Stegen
Defence: Leighton Baines, Chiellini, Kompany and Zabaleta;
Midfield: Yaya Toure in the back, David Silva and Verratti in front;
Frontcourt: Reus, Aguero and Messi.
If Yang Cheng also rotated Walcott, then Guardiola pushed all the main players he could arrange to play.
Moreover, he has been working on this lineup for three years, and now the players' performance and cooperation are quite good.
In the first 10 minutes, Manchester City was suppressed by the Bayswater Chinese.
But 10 minutes later, Blue Moon gradually stabilized its position and began to try to control the ball.
At this time, after the opening, the Chinese players of Bayswater boldly pressed forward. This almost unreasonable style of play created an opportunity for Manchester City.
In the 19th minute, Messi received the ball on the right rib, turned around and got rid of Toni Kroos, then dribbled the ball diagonally to the middle.
He sent a through ball before Matic intercepted it.
The ball was passed to Aguero on the left side of the center circle.
The Argentine stopped the ball behind the defense line, pushed his feet forward and quickly caught up.
Van Dijk was originally standing in the center circle. As soon as he saw Messi pass the ball, he immediately started chasing back.
Pepe in the distance was at the end and it was impossible for him to be offside.
When Aguero caught up with the ball again, Van Dijk had already chased back to the position in the first time.
The Dutch center back is even further forward than Aguero.
But Van Dijk did not choose to stay close or go directly for the ball.
He had been keeping a close eye on Aguero's dribbling route, and the moment the two men came into contact, he took a step diagonally and invaded Aguero's route.
This forced Aguero to stop moving straight forward and instead he was forced to move a little to the left.
Van Dijk received a detailed data before the game.
Aguero has scored four times as many goals with his right foot as with his left.
Apart from the fact that he is short and not good at heading, his left and right feet are also unbalanced.
Therefore, when defending just now, Van Dijk dared to stand closer to the center, wanting to let Aguero receive the ball on his left side.
At this time, the purpose of approaching is to force Aguero, who is dribbling the ball with his right foot, to move to the left sideline.
But the two still kept a certain distance.
Van Dijk has absolute confidence in his speed.
And he was constantly judging Aguero's movements.
In the eyes of all the fans, Van Dijk seemed to be retreating along with Aguero.
But when entering his own 30-meter area, Van Dijk took another step closer and stepped exactly on Aguero's step.
This forced Aguero to temporarily change his pace and adjust the ball path again, moving a little further to the left.
This slowed him down.
Don't underestimate this.
If Van Dijk fails to grasp the timing, Aguero may easily push the ball forward and pass the ball directly.
Or suddenly slow down and cut inward.
But Van Dijk kept a close eye on Aguero with every step he took as he chased back, forcing the Argentine to move further to the left.
In this way, Aguero began to approach Reus's route.
The speed of the German little rocket is well known to everyone.
But now that Aguero is approaching, Reus can't use his full speed.
When he was about to rush to the front of the penalty area, Aguero suddenly stopped, protected the ball, and made a straight pass.
Reus rushed from the side at the fastest speed and chased after the football.
Van Dijk's speed was not slow either. He chased closely all the way and still stuck to the inside of Reus, blocking the German winger.
When Reus was on the left side outside the penalty area, he first slowed down, then suddenly accelerated forward, trying to get rid of Van Dijk.
But no matter how the German little rocket rushed or slowed down, Van Dijk stuck to him like a dog-skin plaster.
In the end, the result of this attack was that Reus made a hasty cross and was directly caught in the arms of Courtois who was attacking.
Manchester City's most threatening attack since the start of the game was contained in this way.
But from beginning to end, Van Dijk didn't even make a move to grab the ball, and he was chasing his opponent all the way back.
The Chinese fans at Bayswater gave him the warmest applause.
"This is truly a textbook defense!"
"Van Dijk single-handedly blocked Manchester City's quick counterattack!"
"This Dutch central defender is indeed very strong. No wonder Yang Cheng was so confident in pushing the entire team forward, leaving Van Dijk and Pepe behind to defend."
"One against two, Van Dijk still easily wins!"
…
"This Van Dijk is really strong!"
In Manchester City's coaching booth, Guardiola put his right elbow against his thigh, supported his chin, and praised repeatedly.
Assistant coach Domenech Torrent also nodded repeatedly.
"Based on his personal ability, I think he is the best central defender in the world right now."
Guardiola turned his head and glanced at his assistant. He didn't expect Torrent to speak so highly of Van Dijk.
But after thinking about it carefully, I think it is normal.
In the past few years, everyone has been praising Thiago Silva and Pepe, believing that they are the world's top central defender combination.
After the two separated, they are both world-class central defenders.
But now, when everyone mentions Bayswater Chinese's defense, they will definitely mention Van Dijk.
The Dutch center back also forced a position between the two Brazilians.
Some even say that he is the most stable and indispensable player in Bayswater Chinese's defense.
"Yang Cheng, this guy, instead of learning from the good things, he actually learns from Klopp!" Guardiola laughed.
“But Bayswater Chinese are not Liverpool,” Torrent reminded.
Guardiola nodded.
Liverpool's biggest problem is that they lack control in midfield.
There was neither organization nor a core to control the tempo, which led to Liverpool playing at a very fast tempo throughout the game.
Moreover, Liverpool's ability to pass the ball from midfield to backfield is not strong.
But the Chinese in Bayswater are different.
"Have you noticed? He looks like he's learning from Klopp, but in fact, he's still a Bayswater Chinese."
"In the first 10 minutes, we just hacked at you. If we didn't kill us, we should change our strategy now."
"After they got the ball, they passed it in the midfield and backfield for us to grab it."
The purpose of doing this is very simple, which is to force Manchester City to press forward and grab the ball, which will be beneficial to their offense.
The whole world knows that Guardiola regards ball possession as his life.
If the ball is in the hands of the Chinese in Bayswater, Guardiola's team will definitely try to get it back.
Then there is no way to retreat immediately.
With the organization and attacking ability of the Chinese in Bayswater, they have the opportunity to play behind.
This is the biggest difference between the Chinese in Bayswater and Liverpool.
Just at this time, the ball appeared on the right side of the Bayswater Chinese.
Royce and others quickly rushed forward to grab the ball.
If it were other teams, except Arsenal, they would probably choose to pass the ball back quickly when facing Manchester City's pressing.
Or transfer.
But what about the Chinese in Bayswater?
They have absolute confidence in their passing and cutting, so they are still passing there.
Players move actively to create chances and try to pass the ball forward.
Manchester City was no pushover either, and they did a good job of intercepting in the midfield and backcourt.
But it's not easy to grab the ball.
The attack ended with Harry Kane retreating and passing the ball to the left. When he was about to find Marcelo, Yaya Toure suddenly rushed over and kicked the ball out of bounds before Marcelo could catch it.
But he also tripped Marcelo.
The referee called a throw-in.
But Yaya Toure's tackle was a bit fierce.
Marcelo pointed at Yaya Toure lying on the ground and started cursing.
After getting up from the ground, Yaya Toure grinned and raised his hands to express his apologies.
Many people forget that Yaya Toure is also from Bayswater Chinese.
The two former teammates were almost knocked to the ground, so it was only natural for them to complain a few words.
But in the eyes of Guardiola and others, this is not the case.
"This guy is only obedient when facing the Chinese from Bayswater." Torrent muttered.
Guardiola remained noncommittal.
Yaya Toure is indeed very unruly, and even as a defensive midfielder, he is not Guardiola's favorite type.
But it has to be admitted that Yaya Toure can inject strength and intensity into Manchester City's midfield.
"The Chinese in Bayswater are really a weird team!" Guardiola smiled.
But everyone can hear that this sentence contains more praise.
"You have to think of a solution, Pep," Torrent suggested.
Guardiola frowned, thought about it, shook his head and said: "We need the ball!"
Manchester City need the ball.
In fact, to a certain extent, Yang Cheng is right. Without the ball, Manchester City will not play football.
Based on this point, Guardiola and Manchester City actually have no good solution to the strategy of the Chinese in Bayswater.
Both sides have their cards open.
Both are under pressure.
It depends on who has problems first.
Judging from the current situation, it is more likely that Manchester City will make mistakes first.
Because their start was a bit hasty.
In fact, the Chinese players in Bayswater have always had the ability to compete with Manchester City for possession of the ball.
But for Yang Cheng and the Bayswater Chinese, controlling the ball is the tool to win.
For Guardiola and Manchester City, possession of the ball is life.
If you run out of tools, just get another one.
But life is gone, everything is over.
This is the most essential difference between the two teams.
…
With Van Dijk's wonderful defense, the morale of the Chinese players in Bayswater was greatly boosted.
The defense also performed more steadily.
But Manchester City soon created another chance.
David Silva and Reus made a combined attack on the left.
The Spaniard rushed into the left side of the penalty area and passed the ball into the penalty area.
High crosses are obviously not suitable for Manchester City players.
Pepe headed the ball away before Messi could.
But Yaya Toure intercepted the ball outside the penalty area and passed it to Verratti.
Verratti was targeted by Toni Kroos and was forced to pass the ball back to Kompany who was lagging behind the defense.
The ball was passed horizontally to Chiellini and then to the left.
When Leighton Baines received the ball, he passed it forward to Reus.
The German little rocket was watched by Piszczek and passed the ball back to David Silva.
The latter made a straight pass, which landed right at Aguero's feet.
Manchester City players made continuous passes and cooperated beautifully.
Aguero was on the left side of the penalty area, with his back to the direction of attack, leaning on Van Dijk with his body and receiving the pass from David Silva.
And at the moment of receiving the ball, the Argentine wanted to dribble, turn around and break through.
But what Aguero never expected was that Van Dijk was waiting for him.
The Dutch center back was so smart that he kicked the ball first and intercepted it directly.
Aguero staggered and fell to the ground.
But the referee did not blow the whistle.
Van Dijk passed the ball straight to Modric's feet.
Almost at the same time, Manchester City's midfield and frontcourt players immediately started to encircle Modric.
Especially David Silva and Verratti, who were the first to be hit, surrounded Modric from the left and right.
The Croatian midfielder was not afraid of the opponent. After stopping the ball and turning around, he dribbled past David Silva and took a step forward, making a diagonal pass before Yaya Toure came over.
Harry Kane ran off the line, collected the ball behind Yaya Toure and flicked it to Gareth Bale on the right.
The Welshman quickly pushed the ball forward.
The other players all joined in at high speed.
Harry Kane took two steps at a time and quickly rushed to the front of the penalty area, the right side of the top arc.
Gareth Bale was seen being blocked by Leighton Baines outside the right corner of the penalty area.
Seeing this scene, Harry Kane changed direction decisively, cut in behind Leighton Baines, called Gareth Bale, and pointed out his running route.
Gareth Bale suddenly started, made a feint, dribbled the ball inside, and sent a straight pass with the inside of his left foot directly to the right side of the penalty area for Harry Kane to chase.
After passing the ball, Gareth Bale first ran to the right side of the arc to confuse Manchester City's defenders.
Since the ball was just passed behind Leighton Baines, Chiellini followed Harry Kane out to defend.
After Gareth Bale passed the ball, Leighton Baines immediately turned around to double-team Harry Kane.
In a very short time, a vacuum appeared between Chiellini and Kompany.
When Gareth Bale ran to the right side of the arc, he suddenly changed direction and went in a straight line, moving forward at the fastest speed.
Before Harry Kane received the pass from Gareth Bale on the right side outside the penalty area, he looked left and right, and after seeing the positions of Chiellini and Leighton Baines clearly, he suddenly poked the ball towards the bottom line and accelerated to catch up.
Near the baseline, Harry Kane sent a cross with his right foot.
And it was a half-high ball that passed Chiellini's left foot interception.
After entering the penalty area, the football landed on the right side of the small penalty area and bounced up.
Almost at the same time, Gareth Bale sprinted at the fastest speed.
Kompany was also the first person to realize the danger. He immediately left Sterling and others behind and rushed to the front point.
But Gareth Bale was one step faster than him. After blocking Kompany with his body, he sent the ball into the goal guarded by Ter Stegen with his right foot, straight into the bottom of the right side of the goal.
“The ball goes in!!!!”
"In the 24th minute, in the 24th minute, the Chinese from Bayswater took the lead in breaking through Manchester City's goal!"
"Gareth Bale's header!"
"As we said before, the Bayswater Chinese front three kept changing positions and leaving gaps for Manchester City's defenders."
"Harry Kane made a cross from the right and Gareth Bale scored in front of the goal, opening the scoring for the Bayswater Chinese!"
The whole Wembley Stadium was filled with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans!
Gareth Bale pulled Harry Kane and rushed out of the stadium excitedly to the cheers of the fans.
The other players also followed suit and celebrated the goal together on the sidelines.
1 to 0!
…
With the goal scored by the Chinese in Bayswater, Manchester City began to lose their patience.
After losing the ball, Guardiola's players tried to launch a rapid attack, but failed.
The best chance came outside the penalty area. After Messi took the ball in the middle and faked Matic to shake off the opponent, he wanted to try to pass the ball to Aguero. However, Van Dijk fell to the ground and tackled him outside the penalty area, intercepting the ball.
This wonderful defense once again won Van Dijk applause from the audience.
After that, Manchester City tried several times to attack the Chinese base in Bayswater, but failed.
This also caused the game to gradually return to the previous stalemate.
Manchester City tried hard to control the ball, and Bayswater Chinese continued to play steadily.
But after every steal, the Chinese in Bayswater would quickly pass the ball and launch a counterattack.
If the counterattack fails, pass the ball back and reorganize.
This style of play made Manchester City feel very uncomfortable.
And the consumption of players is also very high.
In the end, the first half ended with a score of 1-0.
Neither side actually created many good opportunities.
Each of them is restraining the other in a targeted manner.
For example, Messi.
Whenever the Argentines got the ball throughout the game, they would be suppressed by at least two players.
But precisely because more defensive attention was on Messi, Aguero and David Silva, especially Aguero, became more active.
The Argentine striker tried to dribble the ball several times, but was blocked by Van Dijk.
The Dutch center back became the best performing player in the entire first half.
"His defense in the first half can almost be described as flawless!"
“There really weren’t any mistakes!”
“This is incredible to us!”
Not only the commentator, but Yang Cheng also praised Van Dijk by name during the half-time break.
Everyone can see that the 24-year-old Dutch central defender is entering the golden period of his career.
Whether it is physical fitness or experience, they are beginning to reach their peak!
For the second half, Yang Cheng made a prediction and believed that Guardiola's team would choose to rush the start.
Yang Cheng also made adjustments to some situations that occurred in the first half.
For example, he believed that when the team switched from defense to offense, its overall formation was still not stretched out.
Especially the full-backs.
We must resolutely expand the width of the attack and create enough space in the middle and flanks for interspersed runs.
Sterling, Harry Kane and Gareth Bale can break through Manchester City's defense through continuous crossing and substitution.
As for defense, Yang Cheng said that he has full confidence in Van Dijk and Pepe.
Isn't there Matic in charge in the midfield?
After the second half, Manchester City took the initiative to launch an attack as Yang Cheng expected.
The Bayswater Chinese chose to play steady defense.
First, David Silva made a wonderful pass, and Messi dribbled the ball into the right side of the penalty area. Due to Pepe's interference, his shot went wide and failed to pose a threat.
This was Messi's second shot in the penalty area in this game.
From this point, it can be seen that the defense of the Chinese in Bayswater was very successful in restricting Messi.
Afterwards, Yaya Toure took a long shot from outside the penalty area, but it went directly high.
But the Chinese in Bayswater soon responded.
After intercepting the ball, Modric made a series of passes in the 30-meter area of his own half, dribbled forward across the center line, and then passed the ball.
Gareth Bale dribbled the ball along the right side, constantly approaching Leighton Baines, then spotted an opportunity, passed the ball directly, rushed to the right side outside the penalty area, caught up with the ball he had passed, and passed a low right foot ball to the middle.
Harry Kane, who came in from the back row, hurriedly followed up and shot the ball under the close defense of Kompany.
Harry Kane wanted to hit the bottom right corner.
Unexpectedly, the ball hit the right post and bounced back.
Obviously, Kompany's close marking on him was effective.
The back-and-forth offensive and defensive battles between the two sides made the game very intense and the fans were very nervous.
After 10 minutes, Manchester City's attack gradually slowed down.
Bayswater Chinese took advantage of this opportunity to gradually turn the game around.
Yang Cheng took the opportunity to walk to the sidelines, constantly calling out to the players and gesticulating with his hands.
"Yang Cheng is directing the team."
"He should be signaling the team to spread out."
"Manchester City's attack just now brought some pressure to the Chinese in Bayswater."
"The formation is indeed quite compact."
"Yang Cheng's intention now is to try to pull them apart."
“Indeed, for the Bayswater Chinese, the formation was too compact and not suitable for them to play.”
"Whether in the midfield or the front court, they are not suitable for this kind of tight positioning."
"This is more suitable for the characteristics of Manchester City players."
"Guardiola's team is very good at continuous passing and cooperation in this kind of small and dense space to tear open the defense line."
“So, their players are generally shorter in height.”
“But the Chinese population in Bayswater is higher.”
“Look at this time.”
"The team tried to go down the left and Marcelo broke through with the ball on the left side."
"Zabaletta blocked the ball and gave a throw-in."
"The damage was very clean this time. The Bayswater Chinese wanted to play fast, but it didn't work."
"Marcelo quickly threw the ball out to Toni Kroos."
"Manchester City are pressing."
"Toni Kroos passes it back to Marcelo."
"Marcelo made a long pass horizontally to Van Dijk."
"Let's look for the Dutch central defender."
"Van Dijk was in excellent form today."
"Look at this time, Van Dijk made a long diagonal pass to the right side of the frontcourt."
"Piszczek also received the ball near the right sideline, with the formation stretched wide."
"Two defensive players come over and see how Piszczek handles it."
"Cross-ball to Gareth Bale."
"Modric came over to receive the ball and passed it back to Gareth Bale."
"Pass the ball back to Harry Kane."
"Harry Kane passes it back!"
"Continuous one-two passes."
"Gareth Bale appeared at the top of the arc to receive the ball and passed it diagonally to the left corner of the small penalty area with his left foot."
"Sterling follows up and shoots!"
“The ball goes in!!!!”
"In the 60th minute of the second half, Bayswater Chinese scored another goal!"
“A very exciting pass and cut combination!”
"Continuous pass!"
"This is what we just said. After Bayswater Chinese grab the ball, if they can't counterattack quickly, they will try to pass it back, pull out Manchester City players, and then adopt the pass-cut combination they are best at."
"From the left to the right, then advancing from the right, after a continuous pass, pass back to the left."
"Sterling seized the opportunity at the critical moment and scored another goal for the team!"
“What a wonderful goal-scoring combination!”
The stands of Wembley Stadium were filled with the cheers of Bayswater Chinese fans.
…
When Sterling scored the second goal for the team, everyone realized that the outcome of the game would be difficult to change.
Although the data shows that Manchester City has a slight advantage in ball possession and number of passes, no one probably sees it that way given the overall situation.
Because Manchester City as a whole did not show a clear advantage.
Instead, Bayswater Chinese scored repeatedly.
Both goals were basically scored with the cooperation of the front trident.
This surprised everyone.
But at the same time, we have to admit that the Chinese in Bayswater are indeed superior in overall strength.
Both sides reached a climax in the subsequent games, especially around the 80th minute.
Manchester City tried to counterattack and created chances several times.
But the Chinese in Bayswater fought back resolutely.
The most threatening attack occurred in the 83rd minute. When Sterling dribbled the ball on the left, he was knocked down in the penalty area by Yaya Tourera who was chasing him from behind.
But the referee did not blow the whistle.
After all, at this time, Bayswater Chinese was already leading by 2 goals.
So, the referee signaled the game to continue.
From the slow-motion replay, it was indeed a foul.
Until the end of the game, neither team was able to score again.
Bayswater Chinese finally defeated Manchester City 2-0 with goals from Gareth Bale and Sterling, and won the League Cup again after an absence of 5 years!
When the results of the match came out, the entire British media was loudly praising the performance of the Bayswater Chinese.
The Guardian even published a photo on the front page of Bayswater's Chinese players celebrating the League Cup championship in the locker room, which made everyone feel the joy of Bayswater's Chinese players after winning the championship.
Leading the league all the way and winning the League Cup, this is undoubtedly the first shot for Bayswater Chinese to hit the championship on all fronts in the new season!
After this shot is fired, the team will be more confident!
Surprisingly, after the game, Gareth Bale, who made one assist and one goal, and local young player Sterling received numerous praises.
But the one that everyone was praising was the Dutch center back Van Dijk.
In this game, the Dutch central defender not only passed the ball steadily, but also defended decisively and skillfully.
As Sky Sports commented after the game, he ended the game with zero mistakes.
Van Dijk won all the one-on-one duels in this game!
This is an incredible achievement.
Especially in the first half, one person successfully froze the counterattacks of Aguero and Reus, which was simply the art of defense to the extreme.
The Times mentioned in its post-match review, "Van Dijk delivered a wonderful performance as a world-class central defender!"
The Sun also believes that "Van Dijk is truly the world's number one central defender!"
After the game, in an interview with a Daily Mail reporter, Van Dijk said that all the Chinese people in Bayswater are full of desire and hope to win every championship trophy.
“It’s going to be tough and we need to win all the games!”
“But this is what we want to challenge now!”
Why?
The Dutch central defender replied calmly in front of the media camera, "This is a special gift!"
This sentence once again aroused speculation from the media and fans.
As early as the beginning of the season, when Yang Cheng was elected chairman of the FIFA Supervisory Board, there have been rumors that he will step down from his position as head coach of Bayswater Chinese.
After all, he is now in a high position with great power, and his identity and status are extraordinary, so it is really not appropriate for him to continue coaching.
Moreover, he has been training his successor Flick.
Now, Van Dijk's words further confirm this speculation from the outside world.
There were even media reports that Yang Cheng had announced in the locker room that he would leave the coaching position of Bayswater Chinese after the end of this season.
"This is a secret that everyone in the Bayswater Chinese team knows but is unwilling to talk about."
Bayswater Chinese won the League Cup again after a 5-year absence!
In addition to leading the Premier League, they have also reached the quarterfinals of the FA Cup and have one foot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Everyone is looking forward to whether the Bayswater Chinese can hold on to the end on the other three fronts this season?
After all, in the past, in the history of English football, or even in the history of European football, no team has ever achieved a Grand Slam.
Yes and no!
Even at the peak of their powers, the Bayswater Chinese were unable to win both domestic cups.
But now, Bayswater Chinese have won the League Cup.
The Premier League title is also a high probability.
If they can win the FA Cup and the Champions League, Bayswater Chinese will have achieved a season grand slam.
Then Yang Cheng’s team will go down in the history of world football!
…
After winning the League Cup, the Bayswater Chinese did not hold any celebration ceremony.
After the League Cup final on the 28th, the 28th round of the Premier League will begin three days later.
Perhaps affected by losing the League Cup final, Manchester City performed rather sluggishly at Anfield.
On the contrary, Klopp's Reds, after losing to Bayswater Chinese in the 26th round, made painstaking adjustments for a week and defeated Everton 4-0 at home.
In this round, Klopp's team once again used the iconic boxer style of play.
From the very beginning, Liverpool waved their fists and threw a barrage of punches.
Manchester City still wanted to control the ball, but their morale was obviously affected.
So in the first half hour, the game was not very exciting.
As Guardiola said before, if his team can withstand Liverpool's barrage of punches and wait until the opponent's physical strength is consumed to a certain level, then they will be at the mercy of Manchester City in the second half.
But the key point is that in the 34th minute, Rakitic assisted Suarez to score.
What's even more fatal is that in the 41st minute, Suarez passed the ball with his heel, Firmino passed the ball, and Rakitic followed up with a shot, breaking Manchester City's goal again.
Even before the end of the first half, Liverpool had another chance.
Firmino headed the ball in front of the goal, but Kompany cleared it on the goal line.
Losing two goals in the first half was a huge blow to Manchester City.
Liverpool, on the other hand, was in high spirits.
At the beginning of the second half, Manchester City took the initiative to attack, but Liverpool defended and counterattacked.
In the 57th minute, Rakitic made a wonderful pass and Firmino scored with a shot in front of the goal.
3 to 0!
The subsequent trend of the game was basically Manchester City attacking and Liverpool defending.
But the Blue Moon was never able to break Liverpool's goal.
In the end, Guardiola's team suffered a 0-3 defeat away from home!
Everyone was in disbelief at the result.
No one could have imagined that Guardiola's team would lose so badly.
But for Yang Cheng, it was not really a surprise.
Klopp would like to thank the Bayswater Chinese for their victory in the League Cup final.
More importantly, Guardiola's team has always been bad at playing against the wind.
After losing the League Cup final, Klopp came right after.
Guardiola obviously wanted to learn the tactics that Yang Cheng used in the 26th round, but unexpectedly, he conceded a goal in the first half.
There was nothing wrong with the tactics, but the players' execution and Liverpool's recent form led to Manchester City's crushing defeat!
Coincidentally, Yang Cheng's other competitor, Wenger's Arsenal, also lost at home.
Since it is a consecutive battle and a midweek game, Wenger's team has also made certain adjustments.
And this game is on the evening of March 1st.
It was raining in London.
The strength of the two teams is actually not at the same level.
So, after the opening, Wenger's team easily suppressed Swansea and attacked continuously.
In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Gunners missed three great opportunities.
This shows the gap between the two teams.
At the same time, it also laid the groundwork for this game.
In the 14th minute, Sanchez made a lob pass from the front of the penalty area, and Benzema shot into the goal in the penalty area, giving Arsenal the lead.
This should be a very good start.
After taking the lead, Arsenal firmly controlled the initiative and ball possession in the game, with the highest possession rate reaching nearly 70%.
But they are also constantly squandering opportunities.
In the 31st minute, Swansea launched a counterattack and passed the ball behind them.
This should have been a normal counterattack.
Arsenal also organized an offside trap in defense as usual.
But isn’t it raining tonight?
When Mertesacker was offside, he stepped on a pothole on the field and almost fell.
Swansea winger Routledge successfully made an offside move and after receiving the ball, he had a one-on-one chance to equalize the score for the team.
This goal completely changed the course of the game.
Afterwards, Arsenal kept attacking but kept wasting opportunities.
It was like this in the first half and it was still like this in the second half.
The more anxious the Gunners' players were, the further away the goal became.
Wenger even brought on Van Persie to strengthen the attack.
But, it's useless.
Van Persie's first shot hit the post.
Opportunities are constantly wasted.
Finally, in the 74th minute, Swansea center back Williams scored against Arsenal again from a free kick in the frontcourt.
2 to 1!
The Gunners were unexpectedly defeated by Swansea, who were fighting to avoid relegation, at their home ground!
Wenger expressed his disappointment at the defeat in his post-match press conference.
"We created so many chances and if we had taken one or two of them we would have won the game."
"But our luck was terrible and we were very unlucky to lose the game!"
Wenger believes that the slippery pitch due to rainy weather led to Mertesacker's mistake.
"Without that goal, the game would have been under our control."
But the media clearly did not agree with Wenger's statement.
Apart from anything else, the Gunners wasted so many opportunities in the game. Don’t Arsenal have any problems at all?
We conceded two goals. The first one could be attributed to Mertesacker’s bad luck, but what about the second one’s free kick defense?
As for the championship situation this season, Wenger said it is hard to say now.
"We are all losing points. It is a very difficult time now. The team's physical fitness and condition have been affected."
"Therefore, the championship situation is difficult to predict, we can only focus on every game!"
But under the questioning of media reporters, Wenger had to admit it.
“The Bayswater Chinese do have the upper hand, but they haven’t won the championship yet!”
Just as Wenger finished speaking, Yang Cheng's team defeated Everton 3-1 at home.
Just 5 minutes into the game, Van Dijk, who has been in excellent form recently, scored the first goal for the team with a corner kick.
In the 30th minute, Walcott scored again.
In the 60th minute, Van Dijk made a long pass into the penalty area and Giroud headed the ball into the goal.
Although they conceded a goal later, Bayswater Chinese beat Everton 3-1 at home and retained their 3 points.
With both Arsenal and Manchester City losing points, Yang Cheng's team withstood the pressure and took a step ahead in the championship race.
In the same round, Chelsea beat Norwich 2-1 away.
Manchester United beat Watford 1-0 thanks to a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.
…
March 5th, weekend, the 29th round of the Premier League.
The first game of this round is the North London Derby, which takes place at noon on the 5th.
As a result, Arsenal scored first, but Tottenham scored two goals in a row, completing a reversal.
In the end, it was Sanchez's goal that equalized the score.
In the end, the two teams shook hands and agreed to a 2-2 draw.
By the way, before this round of games, Tottenham Hotspur admitted for the first time that the club had accepted the acquisition from the Qatari consortium and that the two sides were in intensive negotiations.
The Qatari consortium's acquisition was handled by Rothschild Bank, a well-known bank in London's financial street.
A due diligence team consisting of experts and elites such as lawyers, accountants and financial analysts has been formed to conduct acquisition due diligence on Tottenham Hotspur.
If there are no problems, the Qatari consortium will complete the acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur in May.
The Sun has always been known for its transfer intelligence. Although it did not seize the initiative in the Qatari consortium's acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur this time, it immediately followed up after other media broke the news and added a piece of bombshell news.
Once the Qatari consortium completes the acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur, it will invest more than 1 billion pounds to build a super stadium for Tottenham Hotspur in the northeast of London that will be comparable to the Prudential Stadium!
Another billion pounds!
No one will forget that the initial investment in the Prudential Stadium was set at £1 billion.
Now, the Qatari consortium has once again come up with this figure.
As the saying goes, the first one eats the meat, and the second one can only drink the soup.
But such an investment and such a large project are still very eye-catching.
And it happened in London and the Premier League, which was enough to excite the media and fans around the world.
The Sun immediately dropped another bombshell.
Neymar!
British media revealed that the Qatari consortium has reached a consensus with Neymar's team.
Once they acquire Tottenham, Neymar will leave Barcelona and join the Premier League in exchange for the buyout clause.
This immediately caused an uproar around the world.
Another superstar!
It’s the Premier League again!
After Messi and Ronaldo successively joined the Premier League, the Premier League can now be said to be star-studded, quite similar to the heyday of the Serie A Mini World Cup.
Now, Neymar is here too!
The Premier League brings together almost all the most influential superstars in the world.
Barcelona immediately denied the rumor in the media, stating that the team's top star would not leave Barcelona.
Neymar's father also said in an interview with the Catalan media that Neymar has not reached any formal agreement with the Qatari consortium and is not considering leaving Barcelona for the time being.
But such rumor-refuting is somewhat lacking in persuasiveness.
The continuous rumors boosted Tottenham Hotspur's morale and they drew 2-2 with Arsenal.
Afterwards, Yang Cheng's team drew 2-2 with Manchester City away.
Messi scored twice and Harry Kane also scored twice.
Guardiola's team also got a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.
That was from Pepe's foul on Messi in the penalty area.
As a result, the Argentine's penalty was directly saved by Courtois.
In the end, the two teams shook hands and made peace.
But this is not a bad thing for Bayswater Chinese who are leading the standings!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
