novelraw Chapter 639 - 442: After a Headshot on Icardi, Tang Long Faces His First Penalty Shootout in His Career!_3
Chapter 639 - 442: After a Headshot on Icardi, Tang Long Faces His First Penalty Shootout in His Career!_3
After all, in last season, Bony scored quite a few goals for Manchester City. His diligent and hard training totally justified the salary Manchester City offered him.
But Eevee boldly opened his arms, facing the Manchester United bench, and murmured:
"You see? Little Mauro, a forward should play as completely as I do!"
Icardi watched Eevee’s smug demeanor from afar, feeling all sorts of displeasure.
You’re a 35-year-old veteran, what’s there to be smug about?
I admit you have skill with your feet, and you’re more versatile outside the box, but at your age, it’s impossible for you to play the full match!
Trying to take the starting position from me, definitely not possible.
Besides, those 38 league goals were scored in Ligue 1, and what kind of league is that?
Your Paris Saint-Germain is the dominant team, the others are all mediocre teams. Scoring goals isn’t like slicing through vegetables. If I went there, not just 38 goals, even scoring 60 would be easy!
Icardi was biting his finger, pondering angrily, when suddenly he heard a gust of wind by his ear.
As soon as he turned his head, he felt a "bang," his eyes went black, and his whole body fell backward, his head hit the backrest heavily.
Icardi barely stood up, wobbling, rubbing his painfully aching nose, angrily said:
"Who doesn’t have eyes and kicked the ball at my face!"
"Mauro, sorry, it was an accidental clearance, my apologies, it didn’t hurt too much, did it?" Tang Long indicated apologetically to him with a smile from the sideline.
In the previous defense, Tang Long, who was the left winger, proactively retreated, and with a slide tackle, took both Pogba and the ball down!
The force of this slide tackle was powerful, and the strength applied to the football was not inferior to a shot, hitting directly and squarely on Icardi’s face.
With no defense, Icardi was stunned by Tang Long, feeling bitter with no words to say, only able to cover his nose with a towel and continue to sulk.
In the 68th minute, it was time for Tang Long’s individual performance!
This time, Manchester City, after maneuvering from left to right, right to left, left to right, and finally right to left four consecutive times;
finally managed through Gundogan’s long pass, to transfer the ball to the left side where Tang Long was, which had fewer players.
The two midfielders, exhausted from running back and forth, whether it’s Fellaini or Pogba, couldn’t form a defensive team against Valencia.
Tang Long quickly dribbled towards him, challenging him one-on-one.
"Tang Long is approaching Valencia, Valencia is retreating carefully!"
"Can’t retreat any further, they’re in the penalty area now!"
"Tang Long takes a step inside, shifts the ball sideways, lifts his foot for a shot!"
"Haha, no shot, it’s a fake shot with a real cut!"
"Valencia is completely bypassed, Tang Long dribbles with his left foot into the penalty area!"
"Shot!!!!!!"
Tang Long blasts a shot at De Gea’s near corner, scoring!
This move, one cut and one shot with the left foot, only had three touches during the entire process;
the actions were simple, yet the transitions were very smooth, the whole sequence was like flowing water, extremely pleasing, and the fans were cheering enthusiastically!
However, only 5 minutes later, Eevee countered with a stunning free-kick.
The distance of this free-kick from the goal was about 28 meters.
Eevee’s shot was a straight kick on the football, no spin, flying into the right upper dead corner of the goal!
At that moment, Bravo’s height and arm span deficiencies were exposed. His fingertips had clearly touched the ball, yet couldn’t stop the football from breaking through constraints and into the net!
At that moment, whether in front of the TV or at the scene, the Manchester City fans must have missed the peak period of Joe Hart;
at that time, he would certainly have punched this ball away steadily.
Afterward, both Guardiola and Pellegrini continued to send players and adjust tactics, trying to score the final goal to defeat the opponent.
But until the referee blew the whistle to end the match, the score of 2:2 was still unchanged.
According to the Community Shield rules, if both sides draw in 90 minutes, there’s no overtime, they go directly to a penalty shootout!
This was Tang Long’s first career penalty shootout.
He squatted on the ground, drinking water while team doctor Gracie sat on his legs, massaging his calf muscles to relax them.
"Gracie, give me a good massage, if I suddenly cramp when taking the penalty, I’ll blame you!" Tang Long joked with Gracie.
Gracie, however, said seriously, "Rest assured, you won’t cramp. I’ve touched you from top to bottom, inside and out, and your muscles don’t feel very tight. Just go and take your penalty, do your best!"
Then she leaned down, with her cherry lips close to Tang Long’s ear, softly whispered:
"Whispering to you, if you want to stand out and be a hero, you must choose to kick the fifth one."