Chapter 574: Chapter 573: Biting off More Than You Can Chew, Manchester Blues
October 26, the 11th round of the Premier League.
Manchester City welcomed the challenge of Birmingham at their home ground.
The crowd surpassed sixty thousand.
The Manchester City fans’ confidence in their team had returned.
Right from the start, Deng Kai launched a through ball with a kickoff kill.
Robbie Fowler, starting in the lineup, seized the moment and scored a lightning-fast goal.
Following that, Ribery dribbled horizontally and cut through to the middle before delivering a brilliant pass. Roberto Baggio curled it into the far corner with precision.
The second half.
Adriano, who came on as a substitute for Fowler, provided a headed knockdown to assist Tu Lei’s world-class shot.
This was Adriano’s second assist in the Premier League.
However, his goal account remained unopened.
But he was no longer in a rush.
As long as he was integrated into the team, scoring goals was just a matter of time.
After all, he was not a striker who focused on scoring.
He wasn’t leeching off the team.
Ronaldo: ???
Ronaldo: Who are you slandering?
In the end, with a corner kick taken by Deng Kai during stoppage time and a header from Hierro, Manchester City snatched a 4-3 victory against Birmingham, defending their unbeaten home record!
After 11 rounds of the league, Deng Kai had netted eight goals and provided six assists, leading the Premier League in both categories.
Henry’s number of goals had already caught up with Deng Kai’s, and he seemed poised to overtake.
November 2, the 12th round of the Premier League.
Manchester City faced Chelsea at home ground.
The turnout was over seventy thousand fans!
On one hand, the team’s golden unbeaten home streak was still intact.
On the other hand, Chelsea was also very strong this season, having recently broken into the top three of the Premier League!
Out of the two shades of blue, only one could shine in Manchester.
And this time, it was...
Deep blue!
Chelsea triumphed with a 3-0 victory over Manchester City.
Birmingham had broken Manchester City’s golden unbeaten home streak!
During the match, Manchester City’s striker Fowler suffered an injury, causing the fans to worry about his future.
Fortunately, after a dispute at the hospital, it turned out that Fowler had only sustained a minor injury.
He could even make it back for this week’s League Cup third round.
November 6, the third round of the League Cup.
Manchester City met their match.
The bad news was that this opponent was Leeds United.
In their first league match, Leeds United thrashed Manchester City 3-0.
And after the second round, they climbed to the top of the Premier League table, holding the third position by the fifth round.
But since then, they had slid all the way to thirteenth place in the Premier League.
Just one spot above Manchester City, who had moved up to fourteenth after winning their last match and escaping the relegation zone!
With a heavy workload in the league, the team had completely given up on other competitions.
So the good news was that Leeds United fielded a lineup of academy and substitute players for this match.
By comparison, Manchester City seemed to have bitten off more than they could chew.
Inexplicably, they had put out a full-strength lineup, excluding the veterans.
Didn’t they fear another fall back into the relegation zone in the league?
Were they not aware that their biggest task this season was to avoid relegation?
What were they hoping for?
English League Cup semifinal?
What’s the point?
Just to grab that prize money of over a hundred thousand?
Amateur!
Ever since Mansour acquired Manchester City, from top to bottom, from the management, uniformed staff to the team, all reflect amateurism.
Look, this is the consequence of the Prince playing by himself.
Even if you’re draped in white cloth from the Middle East, you can’t play this game.
Unless the entire Abu Dhabi consortium of the United Arab Emirates comes in person, only then might you truly be competitive.
"Hello everyone, I’m Huang Jianxiang, and by popular demand from the viewers, I will be bringing you this match," Huang Jianxiang said with enthusiasm, bearing the title of top football commentator in China, clearly invigorated.
"Manchester City’s starting lineup for today is:
Torres, Fowler, Ribery
Tu Lei, Essien, Deng Kai
Grosso, Chiellini, Thiago Silva, Maicon
Lehmann."
"On the Leeds United side, whoa... they’ve started with a surprise attack! And it’s not all reserves either."
"Up front they have Robbie Keane, who hasn’t been in good form lately and has been relegated to the bench. But a star player like him can erupt at any moment. His threat can’t be ignored."
"Additionally, Leeds United’s attacker also includes Alan Smith, a versatile player who has made it into the England national team. I’ve heard that Manchester United really appreciates this player!"
"Also, Leeds United’s midfield academy graduate James Milner should be watched. This player is very talented and could be the next Alan Smith!"
"In the defense, Real Madrid academy loanee Raul Bravo has been performing decently recently. It remains to be seen if he can stop Robbie Fowler, who has been on fire!"
"The match is being held at Manchester City’s home, Maine Road Stadium... that’s right, absolutely good news for Manchester City."
Online, a detractor known as ’Old Man Kai’ was real-time rebuking Huang Jianxiang’s commentary: "Good news? Manchester City’s so-called home unbeaten record has become a joke."
"Got trashed three-nil by Chelsea, didn’t they!"
"Leeds United’s lineup today is already half their main squad; it’s clear they plan to continue competing in the English League Cup. Manchester City is definitely getting eliminated today!"
"Did you not see that only forty thousand fans showed up for Manchester City today?"
This critic noticed the decline of home fans at Manchester City’s stadium.
But he did not consider that this was merely an insignificant English League Cup match.
As expected, this would be the most-sold match of the English League Cup round.
With Huang Jianxiang’s introduction, the match officially began.
In the eighth minute, Deng Kai, following Ribery’s cut inside, threaded into the box and successfully drew a foul from Raul Bravo.
Penalty!
For Manchester City, Deng Kai undoubtedly stepped up to take the penalty he had created himself.
Ten seconds later.
Cheers filled the venue.
"Beautiful! Deng Kai’s penalty is very reliable! His last penalty miss traces back to last season’s Champions League final!"
"Facing Real Madrid goalkeeper Casillas, Deng Kai sent the penalty flying."
"But he then, as a goalkeeper, saved Zidane’s penalty and initiated a fatal counterattack! That was one of the most classic team collaborations in Champions League history!"
"One-nil! Deng Kai helps Manchester City take the lead! This is his sixth goal in the English League Cup! He still holds the top spot in the competition’s scoring chart!"
Tenth minute.
Deng Kai, holding the ball at the edge of the box, attracted young James Milner with a passing feint, then quickly executed a double touch, completing a nutmeg through ball.
Robbie Fowler received a pie-in-the-sky pass right in front of the small box and slotted it home.
Manchester City leads two-nil!
Fourteenth minute.
Deng Kai maneuvered around James Milner on the left flank, using a dash to easily bypass the younger player and delivered a powerful cross.
Robbie Fowler made an intelligent run, shaking off Raul Bravo’s defense completely and scored his second goal from the pass.
The man moved, the ball went in.
Starting from the eighth minute, within a short span of six minutes, Manchester City scored three goals in a row.
They effectively announced the winner of today’s match.
