novelraw Chapter 603 - 410: Tang Long’s Unique "Direct Pass in Front", One Move to Seal the Throat, Crushes Paris!
Chapter 603 - 410: Tang Long’s Unique "Direct Pass in Front", One Move to Seal the Throat, Crushes Paris!
The Brazilian full-back Maxwell was kneeling on the ground at this moment, angrily pounding the ground with his fist.
Thump thump thump, punch after punch, filled with unwillingness.
Even before his foul on Sagna, his stamina had already reached a bottleneck.
After managing to foul Sagna and gain a moment to breathe, he saw the fourth official preparing for a substitution off the field. France’s full-back Kimpembe was standing on the sidelines, and Maxwell finally breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed he was going to be replaced.
He thought he had completed his mission in this game, but before he could celebrate, Sagna launched a quick play!
Then Maxwell helplessly watched Tang Long and Agüero complete a one-two and effortlessly chip the ball into the goal.
Maxwell was furious, just that little bit short, just one minute of time...
Maxwell was substituted off; Kimpembe came on.
Compared to the 35-year-old Maxwell, the 21-year-old black youth Kimpembe was stronger, with more powerful sprinting and combat capabilities.
He bounced onto the field, exuding the unique confidence and flamboyance of a black player, and even rushed directly to the front of Tang Long.
"Hey, Asian! My speed is much faster than Maxwell, don’t even think, don’t you dare imagine getting behind me!"
Tang Long squinted his eyes, looking at the spirited young black man in front of him, touched his chin, and nodded: "Okay."
Kimpembe originally intended to provoke Tang Long, exchanging some trash talk, but he didn’t expect Tang Long to respond like this, making Kimpembe a bit dumbfounded and walked away.
Time came to after 60 minutes.
Paris’s towering striker Eevee had gradually recovered after about ten minutes of breathing adjustment.
His stamina temporarily restored, he began to selectively hold the ball against opponents instead of just a touch.
Once Eevee’s state improved, Paris’s offense could advance somewhat.
However, with everyone’s stamina generally declining, they found it difficult to continue the crazy pressing of the first half.
They could only rely on some long passes to let Eevee get the ball, afterward, the backfield players gradually advanced.
But with Manchester City being very familiar with this style, having encountered it many times in Premier League matches, as long as they prevented Eevee from turning with the ball and guarded Eevee’s passing routes, they could still restrain Paris’s counterattack.
Second half, minute 67.
David Luiz took the ball in front of the penalty area, advanced two steps, looked far away, and saw Eevee leaning on the center-back Ranocchia, hand out asking for the ball.
Like Ranocchia, David Luiz is also a ball-playing center-back, with outstanding footwork, and a long pass that is charming.
He made a quick decision, gently scooped, the football flew in an arc through the sky, landing steadily towards Eevee.
At this moment, Eevee was ready as he watched the ball flying from afar.
His back was like a mountain; pressing back hard, his whole body’s weight was on Ranocchia.
Just as Eevee was preparing to use his signature chest ball control, his tailbone was suddenly hit heavily, causing him to shudder.
In an instant, the ball flew right above!
Ranocchia and Eevee jumped simultaneously!
Both being 195 cm tall, when jumping, their heads hit the ball simultaneously, neither headed far, the ball went straight up and down, soaring vertically 10-plus meters in the air.
"Again!"
The two of them, four eyes, stared fiercely at the football overhead.
When the ball dropped to less than a meter above their heads, they jumped again simultaneously!
This time, from behind, Ranocchia overpowered Eevee, heading the ball 20 meters forward!
Eevee clutched his throat, bending over.
Just as this jump happened, Ranocchia’s elbow hit his throat, leaving him breathless.
"Damn bastard, you elbowed me?" He turned and glared viciously at his opponent.
Ranocchia laughed and retorted, "I also kneed your tailbone, what’s wrong? Have you forgotten I’m an Italian defender!" Then he ignored Eevee and moved forward with the ball.
The second ball flying in the air was headed forward again by Toure without giving Motta any chance.
The ball flew to Tang Long’s feet!
"Double up on him!"
Matuidi shouted urgently, bringing Rabiot, the two-man gang attack on Tang Long from the left rear and right rear.
However, after receiving the ball, Tang Long did not pause, smoothly pulled the ball, wiped the body, and surprisingly slipped past the gap in the middle of the two-man flank attack~
With a loud "bang" sound, Rabiot and Matuidi missed Tang Long, instead collided heavily with each other, head to head, making a loud bang!
The two were head-spinning from the collision with each other, turning in place three times, and dizzyingly toppled over.
"Tang!"
Sterling accelerated forward on the left side.
It’s clear he wants to attack the area behind the opposing full-back Kimpembe!
Kimpembe was also not slow, keeping pace with Sterling, compressing the space behind him.
His confidence in his speed and judgment of space was very high, so when he first came on, he boldly provoked Tang Long, saying never to think of going behind him.
Actually, on the Ligue 1 stage, emerging rookie full-back Kimpembe indeed was the fastest player on the entire Paris Saint-Germain team, rarely being penetrated by opponents with direct passes.
Because he could always guard his space, even if he didn’t, his extremely quick recovery speed could instantly destroy the space behind.
Tang Long dribbled towards the side where Sterling and Kimpembe were.
Sterling was desperately sprinting, Kimpembe was desperately chasing, no matter how Sterling ran, he could never surpass Kimpembe.
And Tang Long’s ball had also not yet been passed out, just when Sterling was extremely anxious, suddenly seeing Tang Long make a hand gesture to pull back—
In 0.025 seconds, Sterling instantly understood, stopped rushing forward, and pulled back towards the middle.
"Haha, no one in this world can break through behind me!" Kimpembe was smug.
But a second later, he quickly became a literal clown.
Tang Long didn’t pass the ball straight, but pushed it between Sterling and Kimpembe.
Kimpembe was taken aback, what kind of tactic is this?
He hurried forward to intercept the ball with his foot.
Mistake the moment you extend your foot!
Just as he stretched out his foot, Sterling, who had taken a step forward first, flicked the ball with his toe, slipping past both the ball and Kimpembe’s interception.
Kimpembe’s defense missed!
Kimpembe’s speed is even faster than Sterling’s, making it difficult to break through behind him with a direct pass. Since the opponent was prepared, Tang Long went against the grain, tackling from the front!
Even though Sterling’s absolute speed is not as fast as Kimpembe’s, his step frequency in small areas is higher than his opponent’s.
This front ball allowed Sterling to move faster, taking a step ahead of Kimpembe, coaxing Kimpembe into extending his foot — this extension lost his center of gravity, and Sterling slipped past him like an eel.
What a brilliant feint!
This is the "front ball" tactic tailored for Sterling by Tang Long. Although they practiced it during training, it was the first time it was used in a real match. As soon as the sword came out, it was aimed at the throat!
After getting past Kimpembe, Sterling revved up like a little motorbike, full throttle.
First push then flick, then step back with a spin.
He performed a soulful dance in the midfield, smoothly dribbling past David Luiz and Diego Silva, breaking into the penalty area.
Sterling is one-on-one with the keeper!
Sterling is very nervous!
The whole world knows he is unbeatable at dribbling, but terrible at shooting.
He knows it too!
In a rush, facing the advancing goalkeeper, he wanted to push the ball into the far corner with his left foot;
Just as he struck the ball, Sterling immediately felt a chill in his heart, oh no, the position wasn’t right, too straight...
Just when Sterling was regretting wasting Tang Long’s miraculous pass and his own brilliant three-man dribble, the ball went straight through Trapp’s legs and steadily rolled into the goal.
Sterling was stunned!
After a moment of shock, he rolled his eyes and then confidently pushed his hands down, making a bold celebratory gesture towards the booing Paris fans, as if everything was under his control.
"Awesome! That was a clean finish!" Tang Long rushed over first to give him a thumbs up.
"You managed a nutmeg? You’ve improved, Sterling!" Agüero exclaimed, hugging Sterling’s neck.
"Perfect dribbling, even more perfect shot!" Delph clapped to show his approval to Sterling.
The Manchester City players on the bench jumped up again, rushing to the touchline.
2:1, they had taken the lead!
Although Bony also stood up, from his expression, it was clear that this time his feelings were more complicated than witnessing Tang Long’s solo lob goal earlier.
Bony rubbed his eyes, even wondering if he was seeing things, and thought to himself in astonishment:
"What’s going on? How come both Tang and Sterling seem to shoot better than me!"
Just as one wave subsided, another rose, Manchester City surged back!
In an avalanche, no single snowflake claims innocence.
Despite Blanco making substitutions to maintain the players’ fitness on the pitch;
But once Manchester City started charging, Paris simply couldn’t hold them back.
In the 76th minute of the second half, Tang Long delivered a stunning pass that silenced the entire Prince Park, so much so that some home fans left early, looking forlorn.
After some probing passes in the midfield, facing the return ball, Tang Long suddenly spun his body and bent a moonlit blade with his foot!
The football flew towards the goal!
Goalkeeper Trapp signaled to stay calm, let him catch it.
Defensive core Diego Silva indicated there was no one around, everyone stay steady!
But at the last moment, enhanced by the ball’s speed, it suddenly made a rapid turn mid-air, veering past Trapp’s hand, initially headed for the goal but then swinging towards the far post, and Trapp’s hand missed!
At the critical moment, Sterling, riding in on his motorbike at the back post, arrived just in time, leaping from his bike to head the ball!
It wasn’t until this moment that Diego Silva and David Luiz, these two top central defenders, finally realized.
It turned out Tang Long hadn’t mistakenly aimed for the goal, but had anticipated Sterling charging at the back post, deliberately drawing a high arc shot to lure Trapp into error.
"We were all fooled by him!"
The 172cm tall Sterling scored with a header in the Paris area!
...
The whole match ended.
In the end, Manchester City, playing away, reversed a 3 to 1 against Paris Saint-Germain, winning the first leg encounter between the two teams.
As Manchester City’s entire team, led by Tang Long, Kompany, Agüero and others, came to the stands to thank the away fans.
In the players’ tunnel of Prince Park.
The Paris Saint-Germain CEO Nasser was angrily waiting at a corner for someone’s arrival...