Chapter 582: Chapter 581: Fixing it first doesn’t count, fixing it later won’t lose
The 68th minute.
Manchester City’s persistence on attacking down the left had begun to pay off.
Deng Kai made a quick dash past Gary, but was taken down by Gary who couldn’t keep up.
The head referee immediately blew the whistle, awarding Manchester City a free kick.
After getting up, Deng Kai immediately turned over and roared at Gary.
It looked as though conflict was about to erupt once more.
Bang!
Deng Kai quickly kicked the ball forward, taking a quick free kick.
The head referee had been distracted by Deng Kai’s shout.
By the time he realized what happened, Ribery had already cut inside with the ball.
To call the quick play invalid at that point would seem amateurish.
Because the first moment had passed.
The head referee could only let the play go on.
After passing the ball, Deng Kai immediately pulled wide and dashed down the flank.
Ranieri, facing obstruction from Keane, didn’t attempt to beat his man but instead found Deng Kai with a pass.
With no one marking him, Deng Kai had a great view and many options.
Bang!
Deng Kai sent a cross in with his right foot, and it was a comfortable one.
In the box, Adriano and Ferdinand were fiercely contesting for the ball.
But Adriano was actually a good distance away from the landing spot.
Just when the fans were still confused,
Bang!
Yaya Toure charged in.
From near the edge of the penalty area, he fired off a smooth long-range shot!
Whoosh!
Barthez was powerless.
At such a distance, an unobstructed long-range effort was almost impossible to miss.
"Beautiful long shot! That’s a high-quality ’worldy’!"
"Yaya Toure has really been playing well this season! He’s already become Deng Kai’s best aide!"
"He’s all about attack and defense, with a very wide coverage—he’s currently the Premier League player with the most distance covered both per game and in total!"
"Four to three! Manchester City takes the lead for the third time this match!"
"Manchester United now has a lethal problem, their right side has been completely blown open! They have no answer for Deng Kai and Ribery’s breakthroughs."
"Of course, Manchester City’s right side is likewise undergoing a stern test; they can’t stop Ronaldo and Giggs either."
"But Manchester City has been stronger in converting attacks into goals today."
"It’s not that Manchester United’s attackers are less excellent than City’s, it’s that most of the chances City creates are eight or nine out of ten."
"While many of the chances Manchester United creates are more of the six or seven out of ten kind."
"That’s also why Ferguson insists on undergoing a tactical continentalization reform of the team."
"Typical Premier League tactics aside from high-quality counterattacks and one-on-ones, the quality of chances created has always not been high. This isn’t United’s problem, but a problem with the tactics themselves."
"This is also the significant impact Wenger’s Arsenal has had on the Premier League. Arsenal’s chances are also of that eight or nine out of ten quality."
"Such football is not just more beautiful; its offensive power is stronger! Arsenal and Manchester City have had many more big-margin victories than Manchester United."
"Oh! Are Manchester City not done attacking?"
On the sidelines, Manchester City displayed the substitution board.
Bayern star Lahm replaced the Serie A’s marauding defender Grosso.
Although labeled as a marauding defender, Lahm was clearly superior to Grosso in offensive attributes.
His speed, passing, and even shooting were all better.
The only flaw was that he was too short, his attitude towards defense was great but it was a fundamental weakness.
Lahm + Deng Kai + Ribery.
Manchester City had laid their cards on the table.
Come on, let’s continue to hurt each other!
Today it’s either you kill me or I kill you!
Naturally, Manchester United also made adjustments.
Solskjaer replaced Scholes.
Although Scholes had spent a year as a shadow striker with decent attacking attributes, in terms of scoring goals, he was a bit behind the bona fide substitute forward, the baby-faced Solskjaer.
In addition, Fran substituted for Van Nistelrooy, who had an average performance in this match.
Van Nistelrooy: ???
Van Nistelrooy: If that guy was willing to pass, I would have scored at least two.
Van Nistelrooy was sullen.
The seventy-fourth minute.
The substitute Lahm executed the coach’s tactical instructions perfectly.
Taking off down the flank, he eventually succeeded in getting to the byline with successive help from Deng Kai and Ribery.
Bang!
Lahm crossed the ball.
This time Barthez was well positioned and punched the football out with a single fist.
Adriano was right there, but he really wasn’t confident about catching it.
After all, everyone knows he’s a bit of a butterfingers.
The football flew to the edge of the penalty area.
Heading straight for Deng Kai.
Keane, who had overcommitted, immediately turned around and lunged toward Deng Kai.
Bang!
Deng Kai chipped the ball without stopping it, then turned his back to Keane to get around him.
A beautiful "scoop turn."
Bang!
Just in front of the penalty area, without waiting for the football to touch the ground, Deng Kai unleashed a volley.
It reminded people of last year’s Champions League.
Deng Kai and Zidane showed the world what "a sword from the west, Flying Immortal Outside Heaven" means!
Whoosh!
Barthez tried his best with a double save, but how could he reach a top corner shot in such a dead angle region?
A world class shot is often like that, usually flying high or wide.
But once it doesn’t fly high or wide, then it’s tough!
"GOAL! Five to three! Manchester City scores another goal!"
"Hat-trick! Deng Kai completes a hat-trick as well!"
"Following Ronaldo’s hat-trick, Deng Kai also nets three goals!"
"Who is the king of Manchester may be debatable, but at least the Lisbon twins have thoroughly dominated Manchester!"
"They are today’s Manchester powerhouses in this match!"
"Deng Kai also stitches together eleven Premier League goals, once again taking the sole lead in the Premier League top scorer’s chart!"
"Maybe nobody expected Manchester City to take the lead again."
"Manchester United faces a situation they have never seen before this season, can they equalize the score once more? Can Ronaldo score again?"
"Eh, what is Deng Kai doing..."
In the camera shot, the goal-scorer Deng Kai ran towards the corner flag area.
He twirled his finger, communicating with the fans in the stands.
Manchester City fans were ecstatic.
While Manchester United fans were stunned.
Ronaldo on the pitch looked even grimmer.
Following Deng Kai’s descent from the heavens with a thunderous landing,
Manchester City also burst out with a celebratory: "Siuuuuu!"
Huang Jianxiang chuckled, "Ronaldo probably didn’t expect Deng Kai to get a hat-trick, huh? Haha, this is the third time this season that Deng Kai has performed a hat-trick at Maine Road Stadium!"
"He is also the player with the most hat-tricks in the Premier League this season so far!"
"Of course, in the League Cup, he also scored a remarkable five goals here!"
"Manchester City truly deserves the title of home king!"
"As they say, an early siu doesn’t count, a late siu won’t lose! Next time Ronaldo uses this celebration, he better check the time and not give the opponent a chance to counter-siu!"
Amid Manchester City’s full-field celebration, Maxa replaced the somewhat exhausted Baggio with Thiago Silva.
Manchester City also shifted to a 5-3-2 formation.
Ribery and Adriano formed the striking duo upfront.
Manchester United: ???
