novelraw Chapter 641 - 443: The fifth penalty taker! He is destined to be the one to decide victory or defeat!_2
Chapter 641 - 443: The fifth penalty taker! He is destined to be the one to decide victory or defeat!_2
Sure enough, Gundogan did a run-up and kicked a spoon penalty, tricking De Gea!
The Wembley Stadium erupted in applause, with Manchester City fans and neutral fans all cheering for Gundogan!
After kicking the penalty and returning to the center circle, shoulder to shoulder with his teammates, Agüero laughed and said: "Good guy, this Gundogan is learning from me, I shoot down the middle, he also shoots down the middle!"
Tang Long also laughed and said: "His guts are much bigger than yours, you go for a straight shot, he goes for the spoon~"
Gundogan walked back with his own steps and blinked at Tang Long.
Tang Long understood that Gundogan was actually paying tribute to him.
"Tang, you fooled Buffon twice with spoon penalties. If there’s a penalty tonight, I want to learn from you and trick De Gea in the same way!"
"Sure, haha, but I also learned it from Pirlo, this move can destroy the psychological defense of opponents."
This was a casual chat between the two half an hour before the game.
"..."
"Wow! Gundogan’s spoon penalty, he’s really got a steady mindset!"
"Four years ago in the European Cup quarter-finals, Italy vs. England, I also commented on that!"
"At that time, it also came down to the final penalty shootout, and Pirlo calmly used a spoon penalty to trick the then England national keeper Joe Hart!"
"In such a critical moment of the tournament, Pirlo’s composure and aura of greatness made the subsequent English penalty takers nervous, and they missed their shots!"
"Italy also overcame England and eventually made it to the final."
"The score in the first three rounds is 3-3, and no one’s missed a penalty yet. I wonder if Gundogan’s spoon penalty will affect the subsequent Manchester United penalty takers?"
"In the fourth round, the Manchester United player taking the penalty is..."
"Bony!"
Bony also volunteered for the job.
He wanted to prove himself in front of his former club.
He had already scored a goal in this match.
Now he needed to perform again in the penalty shootout.
However, Bony’s expression clearly showed some nervousness.
On the huge screen of the Wembley Stadium, although Bony had his back to the players in the center circle, his facial expression was crystal clear.
Perhaps influenced by Gundogan’s spoon penalty, sweat dripped continuously from Bony’s forehead, and he wiped it twice with the shirt on his arm;
When the referee blew the whistle, Bony stood there, not moving at all.
After four seconds, a round of boos erupted from the crowd!
Bony still didn’t move.
Ibrahim impatiently shouted: "Run, are your legs cramping?"
Finally, Bony started, but ended up shooting a mid-height ball to the left side!
Bravo, who had judged incorrectly in the previous three rounds, finally judged correctly this time, jumped out, not only stopped the ball but also caught it in his arms, held it firmly under him, then stood up and shouted at Bony!
"Ah..." Bony felt dizzy and disoriented, pulled his jersey over his head, utterly dejected.
He botched it!
In the center circle, Manchester United fell into silence, while the Manchester City players raised their arms in celebration!
"Just from the look in his eyes, I knew he wouldn’t make it, haha!"
"Not decisive enough, he hesitated, well done Bravo!"
...
Bony missed, which greatly boosted Sane’s confidence as the fourth kicker.
He pushed the ball into the lower right corner and scored!
4-3!
After four rounds, Manchester City was temporarily in the lead.
At this point.
Manchester United fans in the stands began to panic.
In the box at Wembley Stadium, veteran Red Devils like Ferdinand, Giggs, and Scholes stopped talking;
Everyone put down their wineglasses and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the field closely.
For Manchester United to win the penalty shootout, they not only had to score the final penalty but also hope that Manchester City missed theirs.
"Dear audience!"
"The penalty shootout has reached the final round!"
"An exciting showdown is about to begin!"
"Who will both sides send out to take the fifth penalty?"
"No matter who it is, these two must be the players with the best mentality and skills in their teams!"
"Ibrahim!"
"Ibrahim walks to the penalty spot!"
Ibrahim placed the ball in his hand, bouncing it on the ground like a basketball;
Then he actually took the initiative to step forward and taunted the goalkeeper Bravo.
"Hey, little Chilean dwarf, did you get promoted from Manchester City’s U15 youth team?"
Then he put his hand on his nose and gestured towards Bravo a couple of times.
It was obvious, this was mocking Bravo’s short stature!
This Chilean goalkeeper is 184 cm tall, and with the team’s second goalkeeper, the 183 cm tall Caballero, they monopolize the top two heights for goalkeepers in the Premier League.
Looking at the 195 cm tall Eevee, Bravo was a bit stunned~
He had seen goalkeepers taunting penalty takers before, but a player taking the initiative to taunt the goalie was a first.
Bang!
Eevee shot low to the bottom left corner, the angle wasn’t very tricky;
Bravo guessed the right direction again, but the ball was fast and low. It grazed his fingertip, bounced off the inside of the goalpost, and went in!
"Little dwarf, you’ll never be a goalie with those short arms. Didn’t your coach tell you that when you were young? Hahaha!"
Eevee taunted Bravo wildly, standing on the penalty spot, incessantly jabbering.
He did this with a purpose, to try to prolong the penalty shootout as much as possible and disrupt the rhythm, putting pressure on the next Manchester City player to take the penalty.
It wasn’t until the referee showed Eevee a yellow card that he grinned, shook hands with the ref, and walked toward the center circle.
Tang Long broke away from the team and walked toward the penalty area, passing Eevee in the center circle!
Eevee suddenly aimed a shoulder bump at Tang Long, attempting to hit him;
Tang Long saw Eevee’s move and had already anticipated he would try to bump him, just like Icardi had done at the start;
Gathering his energy in his abdomen, he suddenly lunged at Eevee.
Eevee naturally had a much greater size than Tang Long, with a significant advantage in normal encounters, but he didn’t expect Tang Long, half a head shorter, to move so swiftly, countering with a late and unexpected move, causing Eevee to stagger and almost fall~
The Manchester City players behind burst into laughter.
"Screw you!" Tang Long turned and glared at Eevee, cursing.
"Zlatan, come back here, stop causing trouble." Rooney hurriedly pulled the cursing Eevee back.
...
In front of everyone’s eyes, Tang Long stood in front of the penalty spot!
A storm-like booing erupted on the scene!
Tens of thousands of Manchester United fans were booing him, waving supporters’ scarves behind the goal, trying to obstruct his view!
Something even more unacceptable happened!
"Huh? We see, there’s a green wave of light appearing on Tang Long’s face!"
"Someone in the stands is flashing a laser pen at him!"
"How disgraceful!"
"Let’s hope Tang Long isn’t affected by external factors."
"Come on, Tang Long, you can do it!"
JU——
The chief referee blew the whistle!
The buzzing noise around Tang Long’s ears vanished instantly.
The glaring laser from the stands dissipated into nothing.
Even all the fans in the stadium disappeared.
In Tang Long’s vision, there was only the football in front of him, De Gea behind the ball, and the goal behind De Gea!
Within three short steps of the run-up, his heartbeat dropped abruptly from 81 to 62!
In this moment, everything seemed to slow down, even his kicking motion was as if in slow motion, like Tai Chi...
But in De Gea’s sight, Tang Long’s three-step run-up was very fierce, in a flash of lightning, he lunged towards the ball, swung his leg, and the ball flew!
As De Gea leapt halfway, he was overjoyed, "The direction is right!"
But 0.056 seconds later, the football soared, over De Gea’s arm, heading for the top left corner of the goal!
"It’s in!!!"
"Tang Long blasts it to the top left corner!"
"Full of power, this angle is simply unstoppable!"
"Manchester City won, they’ve taken the Community Shield, congratulations to Manchester City!"
"Tang Long became the decisive factor in determining the match’s outcome!"
The Manchester City players laughed and rushed from the center circle towards Tang Long.
Just as Tang Long was about to turn and celebrate with his teammates, a small, soft, fair hand clamped heavily around his neck, pulling him to the ground.
"Haha, you crushed De Gea, you’re so cool!"
His teammates roared and flew towards him, piling one on top of another on Tang Long, eventually forming a light blue pile of joy...
(The author wrote a big 4,000-word Chapter, taking a break first, there’s another Chapter, to be written around one.)