Football: The king of midfield, Guardiola is crying with envy

Chapter 246

In the summer window of 2022, in order to bring changes to Chelsea, Burley spent 260 million euros in one summer window, and Sterling was one of them.

Interestingly, Chelsea, which spent the most in the top five leagues, spent 260 million euros on the Northern Expedition, and Manchester United, which spent the third, spent 210 million euros to catch the traitor.

On the court, the game resumed soon.

Sterling was fine, just a little uncomfortable after being kicked in the chest.

Soon, at the signal of the referee, Sterling returned to the court.

Manchester City fans who traveled with the team applauded Sterling, but were drowned out by the louder boos and cheers of Chelsea fans.

42nd minute.

An offensive opportunity for Manchester City.

Chen Chen was making a short pass with De Bruyne.

When these two made short passes, Chelsea really couldn't compete.

To be frank, Chen Chen's strength is at the level of the top midfielder in active football, and De Bruyne is at least in the top three in active football.

Unless Barcelona comes, no one can grab the ball from their feet.

When Chen Chen passed the ball to De Bruyne again, the Belgian made a decisive pass!

He was looking for Mahrez, the single striker in front!

Mahrez got the ball in the first place.

But with Sarr and Rudiger beside him, he couldn't complete the turn and shoot.

After two consecutive back-to-back fakes that failed to deceive the opponent, Mahrez chose to pass the ball back to Chen Chen.

Rudiger gave up defending Mahrez and ran up quickly in three steps.

He wanted to grab a time difference for passing the ball, and cooperate with the weak bird in front to double-team Chen Chen and force him to lose the ball!

Chen Chen also understood what Chelsea meant.

Just as Rudiger rushed over with a ferocious face, Chen Chen stretched out his right leg, rubbed the outside of his right foot and passed it straight to the ground!

The ball drew a beautiful arc on the grass!

The ball passed in front of Rudiger and slid past Azpilicueta who was shrinking inward.

Finally, it landed accurately at the feet of Sterling who was cutting into the penalty area!

Sarr was looking at Mahrez, so who was looking at Sterling?

Azpilicueta!

The Blues captain made a mistake. He had been paying attention to Chen Chen for too long!

The Spanish defender realized it later, and Azpilicueta quickly raised his hand to indicate that he was offside.

But the referee ignored it, and the linesman did not raise the flag.

Azpilicueta's heart sank. It was bad!

In fact, as early as when Mahrez passed the ball back, Chen Chen had already conceived the route choice for the next pass.

It would definitely not work to turn around and pass the ball back again, because this kind of pass back is likely to make a mistake, and then the opponent would seize the opportunity to make a quick counterattack.

This is also the reason why after the corner kick was issued, when the ball was pushed to the front court by the defense, the offensive player who got the ball decisively chose to kick a long shot.

Many people will wonder, why shoot directly when there is an opportunity to pass the ball?

From the perspective of the broadcast, there is definitely time and space for passing the ball, but this is because the audience has a God's perspective and knows where to pass and where not to pass.

But it doesn't work on the court.

The player who receives the ball must make a choice immediately!

Direct long-range shooting is the most common choice.

There are three reasons.

First, it is a last resort. The opponent's goalkeeper just came out of the tense mentality of the corner kick attack, and a long-range shot is likely to score.

Many teams will suddenly make a strong effort to grab a start at the beginning of the game for this reason, because the opponent may not pay attention and enter the state in time.

The second point is that when a player is not sure that the ball is completely in his own hands, a long-range shot is the best choice, which can avoid letting the opponent seize the opportunity to grab the ball and counterattack.

This was the result of Liverpool's five ghosts knocking on the door.

Arsenal made a mistake in the corner kick, and the Red Army counterattacked with all their might. The five red-shirted players were like a 100-meter final, and Rice was the only one defending in front of them.

At that moment, Rice must have been desperate.

Because even if Thanos came and snapped his fingers, it wouldn't work, he had to shoot twice.

Then again, most players' long shots would hit the stands and then give the opponent a goal kick.

Although the skills are very impressive, but think about it in a positive way, at least the opponent's goalkeeper took a lot of time to get the ball from the back and kick the goal kick, so the team can return to defense in an orderly manner, right?

So, back to Stamford Bridge.

This time Chen Chen also had the same idea, passing the ball to the front, turning the passive into the active!

It works, it works, it doesn't matter if it doesn't.

Of course, it would be best to be a threat.

And the fact is as Chen Chen wished, Sterling's very spiritual offside run helped him get the ball!

Seeing that the referee did not raise the flag, Chelsea's defenders instantly became nervous.

Especially Kepa.The 28-year-old Spanish goalkeeper took two steps to the right decisively and bent over to make defensive moves.

At the same time, his eyes occasionally glanced at Mahrez near the penalty spot.

He was afraid that Sterling would push the ball horizontally, but he was also afraid that Sterling would directly hit the near corner!

This is the embarrassment of the defense being broken in an instant. There is really too little that the goalkeeper can do!

At this critical moment, Sterling did not hesitate at all and decisively chose to make a horizontal push.

Mahrez, who was in front of the penalty spot, met the ball with a shovel shot!

Kepa just had an opportunity to attack and block Sterling's passing and shooting space, but he hesitated.

And hesitation will lead to defeat!

Chelsea's door is actually open to Mahrez!

Just waiting for the last shiver!

Under the gaze of more than 40,000 people at the scene, the ball slid across the goal line, and the score on the big screen was changed in time.

Chelsea 1-2 Manchester City!

"Very exciting frontcourt cooperation! Chen Chen seized one of the few passing routes!"

"Sterling's running position selection is too good. Azpilicueta's focus is not on him, but he seized the opportunity!"

"This is the cooperation between Chen Chen and Sterling. This is a wonderful connection between teammates of the England national team!"

"Of course, we can't forget the role of De Bruyne and Mahrez. This goal also has the credit of the two of them."

"Just now we said that Chelsea had a great chance, but I didn't expect Manchester City to score a goal!"

"Dear fans in front of the screen, it's so exciting! There is no such thing as a sure win in the football world, because no one can predict what will happen next!"

Zhang Lu shook his head and said,

"This is the charm of football! The ever-changing situation in the scene is the most attractive thing about it!"

The Manchester City fans who traveled with the team have been excited!

Guardiola on the sidelines punched the air a few times!

Sterling, who helped the team overtake the score, rushed to the corner flag area and then slid to his knees to celebrate!

After sliding on his knees, Sterling stood up immediately. He imitated Chen Chen and waved his hands up and down.

He also signaled the Blues fans to boo louder!

Chen Chen was the first to run over.

He jumped directly onto Sterling's back, and then waved his arms to stimulate Chelsea fans!

The fans in the stands were really angry to the point of gnashing their teeth.

The Blues fans who were closer were very fierce. They threw their unfinished plastic wine cups and simple paper balls into the corner flag area, trying to hit Manchester City players!

Fortunately, the security was strong and the Blue Moon players were not hurt.

Because they were afraid that something would happen if the celebration lasted too long, the big brother Fernandinho quickly pulled everyone back.

Soon, the ball kicked off from the center circle.

Chelsea's attack in the last period of time did not improve.

Finally, the referee Craig blew the whistle to end the half.

Throughout the first half, Craig's whistle was okay, not as biased as expected.

Of course, this may also be because both sides are teams he doesn't like very much, and he doesn't want to be biased towards either side...

In the home team's locker room, Chelsea players were a little silent.

Manchester City's sudden reversal scared them.

At the same time, their internal energy was also lost a lot.

After all, the old saying is good, the first push is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.

Tuchel was also silent.

But he is the boss of the team, so he has to stand up and say a few words.

So, Tuchel clapped his hands and motioned everyone to look over. He wanted to talk about tactical arrangements and morale encouragement.