Chapter 570: Chapter 569 Your Emperor Has Returned
Wycombe was truly infuriated by the two goals scored against them.
Where was the easy target they were promised?
Under the coach’s direction, Wycombe players launched a ten-minute bout of intensive pressing.
This did indeed curb Manchester City’s offensive momentum.
However, with the movement and support of Deng Kai and Tu Lei, Manchester City still maintained the majority of ball possession.
This was also related to the insufficient pressure from Wycombe’s players.
It wasn’t that they lacked a positive attitude, but rather that they were limited in their abilities.
They weren’t fast enough, nor strong enough in physical duels.
The players of Manchester City weren’t worried at all about being brought down after passing the ball.
The not-so-tall Essien even managed to knock down an opponent without receiving a card after making a pass, in a legitimate act of self-defense.
In the 44th minute.
After Wycombe intercepted a through pass from Tu Lei, they launched a counterattack.
Their forward even managed a shot at goal.
But Lehmann performed exceptionally well, catching the football.
Just as the Wycombe players turned their heads to retreat to defense.
Bang!
Lehmann suddenly booted the football upfield with a powerful kick.
The camera instantly moved to the frontcourt.
Deng Kai had already broken away, charging into the opposition’s half.
Following him, the entire defensive line of Wycombe.
The Wycombe players raised their hands one after another, signaling offside for Deng Kai.
But the linesman didn’t raise his flag.
Clearly, Deng Kai successfully beat the offside trap, completing a swift counterattack with Lehmann.
Because of Deng Kai’s consideration, Lehmann paid close attention to Deng Kai’s requests and responded whenever needed.
The Wycombe goalkeeper rushed out of the six-yard box but didn’t dare leave the penalty area.
Because Deng Kai was already close to the football.
This kind of half-hearted move to charge out was the worst.
Bang!
After the football touched the ground, Deng Kai promptly lobbed it with a flick.
He completed an ultra-long-range lob shot from three meters outside the penalty box.
The Wycombe keeper leaped for a save, but he couldn’t even touch the football.
The ball, like a rainbow, slid into the goal.
"Hahaha! A clever lob shot!"
"Deng Kai’s vision is just too good, his handling of the football is always spot on!"
"This lob shot fully showcased Deng Kai’s imagination."
"Lehmann gets an assist, which is quite rare for a goalkeeper!"
"Same old saying, having Lehmann as a backup for Cech is just too much of a waste. Manchester City should let Lehmann start more often."
The first half.
Manchester City leads by three goals to none!
This situation was unexpected by many.
The English media were at a loss for words.
Wycombe was considered quite good among the English League One teams, with their best lineup for this match.
How could they not defeat a rotated Manchester City?
Could it be... the legend of Manchester’s King continues?
Impossible, right?
Wasn’t it all said to be fake?
During halftime, Huang Jianxiang’s Dongsphere account was bombarded with mentions.
"Damn! My bro Xiang is awesome!"
"For commentary, you’ve got to listen to Huang Jianxiang. He truly knows football!"
"You actually predicted it right! Manchester City three, zero!"
"Don’t rush, brother. It’s only halftime; who knows what could happen in the second half."
"But that’s still correct, whether it’s three-nil or five-nil, both were said by Huang Jianxiang!"
"Awesome!"
"Begging for Huang Jianxiang to livestream this match on Dongsphere. The commentators on Channel Five are so passionless, one’s neutral, the other’s biased against Kai, what’s the point?"
"Exactly. These days, don’t Chinese fans watch matches just for Deng Kai?"
"I know Manchester City might be struggling, but isn’t this when they need our support? Oh, you all act like football experts and tell me that Manchester City can’t do it. Can’t I see that for myself?"
"If you truly understand football, either you should have told me ahead of time that Manchester City can’t make it, or be like Brother Huang and speak for us all, encouraging Manchester City to prevail. Don’t just parrot the foreign media! Annoying!"
...
The second half began.
The Wycombe players clearly drank a pot of fiery locker room pep talk.
They were all pumped up again, aggressively contesting for the ball.
Never mind if they’d run out of steam after seventy minutes.
Three to zero, if they didn’t score now, how would they catch up later?
For a while, Manchester City’s backfield passing faced immense pressure.
Deng Kai immediately dropped back, helping his teammates distribute the ball and signaling them to push forward.
When facing pressure, you have to press back.
Manchester City began to move forward.
The defense line was close to the center circle.
The forty-eighth minute.
The Wycombe forwards launched a pressing attack.
Grosso, not daring to take risks, passed the football horizontally to Deng Kai, who had moved to the center-back position.
Facing the onrushing opponent forward, Deng Kai swung his right leg.
The opponent dived to block the shot.
But with a flick of his foot, Deng Kai turned, creating space and tricking his opponent.
Bang!
Deng Kai’s left foot then fired off a long pass.
Torres made an off-the-ball cut inside.
Tu Lei surged forward.
Both players raced toward the football’s landing spot.
They clashed fiercely with the opposing defenders.
Nobody managed to get into position.
The Wycombe goalkeeper aggressively came out, leaping up to kick the football back into Manchester City’s half.
However...
After landing, perhaps due to an uneven pitch.
There was a slight deviation.
And the football had more power than the goalkeeper had anticipated.
It bounced higher.
Just over the raised instep of the goalkeeper’s foot.
A misstep.
The goalkeeper couldn’t even hook the football back with his hands.
After landing, he turned to look at the football.
The football bounced, bounced, and bounced into the net.
Maine Road Stadium, a moment of silence.
It wasn’t until Deng Kai raised his hands high that the Manchester City fans erupted in cheers!
"Incredible! The Wycombe goalkeeper made a huge mistake!"
"His charge out was of poor quality!"
"He didn’t touch the football!"
"This is a mid-field lob shot! Absolutely magical!"
"Four to zero! Deng Kai completes a hat-trick!"
"Another hat-trick! Deng Kai has now scored a total of ten goals in all competitions, achieving three hat-tricks!"
"Deng Kai is on fire! It’s harder to make him score just one goal than to get a hat-trick!"
"Grosso has made a second assist."
"If his assist for Torres was the main contribution, then this time he really got lucky! This assist was so easy I could have done it myself!"
"We were just talking about how easy Lehmann’s assist was, and now Grosso immediately shows us there’s an easier one!"
"So, the Manchester City players are just lying down, aren’t they?"
"All of them waiting for Deng Kai to score? That’s too complacent! Hahaha!"
At the venue, the stands resonated with the fans’ unified chant:
"King of Manchester!"
"Manchester, your emperor is back!"
And the pedestrians passing by outside, upon hearing the boisterous noise from Maine Road Stadium, knew Manchester City must have scored again.
And not just once.
Many residents of Manchester said they could now gauge the score from the cheers coming from Maine Road.
The city of Manchester was buzzing with activity because of Deng Kai’s arrival and Manchester City’s return to the Premier League.
This buzz was purely physical.
Most residents were pleased with this atmosphere, proud of it.
