Chapter 610: Chapter 609: Scoring Rate, Drawing Yellow Cards Hat Trick
However, because the football bounced rather high, Lampard didn’t dare to use all his strength in order to aim, so the power of his potentially world-class shot wasn’t maximized, nor was the angle particularly tricky.
In the end, it was parried away by the superhuman performance of Lehmann.
This time, Chiellini didn’t clear it recklessly but instead passed it accurately to the retreating Deng Kai at his feet.
Deng Kai, in his own penalty area, sent a long pass after shaking off Zola, who attempted to press him, with a "deep-fried meatball" move.
A counter-attack the Deng Kai way!
Fowler sprinted upfront, successfully receiving the ball.
Ribery was advancing shoulder to shoulder with Fowler.
Terry was racing back to defend against both, alone.
Just as Fowler was about to break into the box, Terry feinted with a forward surge.
Fowler passed the ball to Ribery.
But suddenly, Terry rushed towards Ribery.
He made the right gamble!
Bang!
Terry slid in, trying to intercept the ball before Ribery could get to it.
However, Ribery’s ball control skills exceeded Terry’s expectations.
Seeing that he couldn’t avoid it, Ribery’s near foot cleverly flicked the ball at the same moment he touched it.
The football flew up into the air.
Terry didn’t manage to get the ball on his first attempt.
Instead, he brought down Ribery.
Peep!
The referee blew the whistle.
As he pointed to the penalty spot with one hand, he ran over and showed Terry a yellow card.
Ribery had already entered the penalty box when he flicked the ball.
A yellow card and a penalty kick – a combo deal!
"Oh! Terry really is having some bad luck this game!"
"He is clearly the player with the best sense of position in defense on the team... He moves quickly, he caught up with Fowler and Ribery, and he demonstrated his defensive intelligence."
"He was so close to executing a textbook ’one against two’ defense."
"But sometimes, the difference between a hero and a villain is just that one moment!"
"However, it is comforting to see that Chelsea’s fans understand the game. They didn’t boo Terry; they could see his effort and role."
"Without Terry, that wouldn’t have been a penalty kick; it would have been Ribery shooting into an empty goal."
"Hey... why hasn’t Zola gotten up yet?"
"Deng Kai is signaling to the sideline, calling for the medics and stretcher to come onto the field!"
"Is Zola injured?"
The camera focused on Zola.
He was clutching his left thigh, looking quite pained.
After the medics arrived and conducted a brief examination, they shook their heads at coach Ranieri on the bench.
Ranieri had no choice but to substitute Stanik, the team’s utility player, onto the field.
Subsequently, Deng Kai successfully executed the penalty kick.
Two to nil!
Manchester City finally scored their first goal against Chelsea this season.
At the same time, they moved one step closer to the FA Cup final.
After Stanik came on, Chelsea’s offensive thrust wasn’t as strong as before.
He lacked Zola’s delicate ball control and couldn’t link up the midfield and attack.
Chelsea’s attacking methods devolved into the simple and rough English style of long passes and aerial balls.
This significantly lowered the defensive pressure on Manchester City’s backline.
In the 54th minute, Gudjohnsen crossed the ball, but Hasselbaink, surrounded by Hierro and Chiellini, failed to make contact with the ball.
But just when everyone thought the match was settled, the 66th minute brought a twist for Chelsea.
Lampard used his body in midfield to complete a dribble past opponents.
Essien came to fill in the gaps but ended up being drawn into a second yellow card by Lampard.
Two yellows turned into one red – Essien was sent off the field, and Manchester City was down to ten men!
"This is Lampard’s advantage; among midfielders, he has brains, technique, physicality, long-range shooting, and penetrating power!"
"With this, not only does the current game have an unexpected twist, but even if they win, it’ll be trouble in the final."
"Essien acts as a pivotal part of Manchester City’s defense, nearly irreplaceable on the defensive front."
"Manchester City’s defense, already poor, is likely to become a complete sieve without Essien,"
Manchester City responded quickly during this set-piece phase.
They substituted Adriano for Fowler.
Thiago Silva came on in place of Baggio.
Thiago Silva took up the defensive midfield position.
This meant Manchester City had one fewer player up front.
That’s also why Adriano replaced Fowler.
The Adriano + Ribery combination, with the former having height and strength to act as a bridgehead.
The latter had speed and dribbling skills.
Together they made for a tall and fast, standard configuration.
As an opportunistic striker, Fowler struggled to pose a threat when the team was at a disadvantage.
His highlights for the season were largely contingent on Manchester City’s own high points.
Fowler had scored seventeen goals in the league, also in the leading group of the scorers’ chart.
But if you analyze the impact of his goals for the team’s scoreline, you’ll find that his scoring rate is quite low.
Most of the time, Manchester City could have won those matches even without Fowler’s goals.
This season in the Premier League, among the strikers with more than ten goals, Deng Kai, Owen, and Ronaldo ranked in the top three in terms of goals-to-points ratio.
Last season, the top two on this list were Van Nistelrooy and Henry.
They were the true Mr. Clutch.
In the 72nd minute, after losing the ball, Deng Kai tackle-hugged Gudjohnsen and received a yellow card.
In the 79th minute, Hasselbaink’s shot led to a corner.
Then Terry headed in a corner kick taken by Lampard, redeeming himself.
One to two!
Chelsea sounded the horn for counterattack.
In the 81st minute, Gudjohnsen on the wing blew past Maicon one-on-one.
Maicon made a defensive error and after being bypassed by Gudjohnsen, pulled his shirt, leading to Gudjohnsen going down immediately.
Obviously, there were elements of performance to it.
But Maicon’s foul was beyond doubt.
Eventually, Maicon received a yellow card.
Gudjohnsen completed the hat-trick of drawing yellow cards!
The Icelandic marksman became the most troublesome player for Manchester City players in this match.
In the 82nd minute, Lampard executed a tactical free-kick, trying to lob the football into the penalty box.
But substitute Thiago Silva was proactive, sprinting and leaping to head the ball towards the far post.
Grosso received the ball and executed a one-two with Deng Kai, dribbling forward.
Manchester City launched another counterattack.
After Grosso moved the ball into the attacking third, he played a through pass to Adriano.
Terry slid in early to disrupt the ball.
From about five meters outside the penalty box, Deng Kai arrived in time and unleashed a long-range worldie.
The Italian Chelsea goalkeeper Cudicini performed spectacularly, keeping out Deng Kai’s long shot.
But the next moment, Ribery darted into the penalty area and scored with a follow-up shot into the empty net.
Three to one!
Manchester City, despite being a man down, scored another goal, further extending their lead.
This was without a doubt a shot to the heart for Chelsea.
After the goal, the Manchester City team celebrated wildly, wasting at least two minutes.
Only after being admonished did they reluctantly return to their own half.
In the following time, Manchester City played hideously defensive football, fully retreating into their shell.
In the 88th minute, Sun Jihai replaced Maicon.
Maicon wasn’t substituted because he had a yellow card.
It was because he was the furthest from the player substitution area.
At that time, the major leagues had not yet stipulated the principle that a player must leave the pitch at the nearest point when substituted. Players needed to go to the fourth official by the midfield line for the handshake exchange with the incoming player.
This way, as Maicon jogged over, didn’t that consume another minute of time?
Maxa might not be good at football, but he was always adept at these tricky diversions and deceptions.
A few minutes later, as the football was repeatedly kicked towards the sky.
The referee blew his whistle three times to end the match.
