Chapter 642: Chapter 641: Please Call Us the Triple Champions
The second one out was Adriano.
Bang!
A high-quality penalty kick, many were even surprised by Adriano’s shooting skills.
But the Manchester City players knew about Adriano’s abilities from pre-match training.
It’d be unacceptable if he missed.
On the Manchester United side, the second to take the penalty was Van Nistelrooy.
This super striker competing with Ronaldo for Manchester United’s leading forward unleashed a powerful penalty.
Peter Cech decisively dove to the right.
With the tips of his fingers at full stretch, he managed to push the football onto the post.
Clang!
The football rebounded out.
Van Nistelrooy missed the penalty!
"Oh! An opportunity has arisen! Cech has actually saved Van Nistelrooy’s penalty!"
"Van Nistelrooy is so unlucky, Cech actually guessed the right direction!"
On the Manchester City side, the third player stepped up.
Tricking Howard convincingly, right-footed Ribery scored with a left-footed shot.
The penalty wasn’t of high quality, but the deception was successful.
Three to one!
Manchester City increased their lead.
The pressure was on Manchester United now.
The Welsh star "Old King" Giggs approached the penalty spot.
He was Manchester United’s third penalty taker.
Giggs’s eyes darted cleverly towards Cech’s left.
Then, his penalty indeed went in that direction.
And before he shot, he even feinted a move to kick to the right.
It was a standard excellent penalty.
Wisdom, technique, and a psychological battle all came into play.
But Giggs fell.
Because the immovable Cech didn’t buy any feints, he decisively dove to the left and grazed the football out with a solid save.
If Van Nistelrooy’s penalty had a bit of luck for Cech,
Then for Giggs’s shot... no one could deny Cech’s credit.
"My God! It’s still three to one! Cech has saved Manchester United players’ penalties twice in a row!"
"It’s unbelievable!"
"Does Cech have magic?"
"Did Manchester City insist on using Cech for a season, and in summer sold Lehmann who would have threatened his starting position, all for this moment?"
"Cech! Peter Cech! He is making a name for himself!"
"The camera shows Schmeichel on the substitute bench, who last season, although part of Manchester City, was more of a goalkeeping coach."
"And the one he coached the most was Cech!"
"Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel has passed on his magic to Manchester City’s goalkeeper Peter Cech, could this become one of the reasons Manchester United loses the title?"
"Are all those named Peter truly magical goalkeepers?"
On the Manchester City side, the newcomer David Villa approached the area.
From a shooting skill perspective, he was the strongest of the remaining players on the field.
From Deng Kai’s strategic planning, this was also an opportunity for Villa.
Neuer: "What’s the word this time?"
Guardiola: "In penalty shootouts, the fourth round sees the most decisions, exceeding fifty percent!"
"Then, it’s the fifth round that decides, followed by the third, sixth, seventh rounds..."
"Kai is giving Villa a chance; although he would prefer Villa to help Adriano this season, he does not want Villa to do so reluctantly."
"He will give Villa plenty of opportunities."
"This is the difference between Manchester City and Manchester United."
"Kai does not want what happened to Ronaldo or Van Nistelrooy to happen in Manchester City."
Bang!
As the football soared into the sky, Villa covered his face in despair.
He sent the penalty flying!
It wasn’t even saved by Howard.
It flew!
This...
Manchester United’s fans sang and danced, starting to cheer their team on.
As long as Manchester United’s fourth player scored, and Manchester City’s fifth player missed like Villa, then Manchester United would be level again.
Once it goes to the sixth round, it really becomes a matter of fate and fortune.
Considering that Manchester United had already had two penalties saved in a row.
This fourth penalty surely had to go in.
Forget a seventy percent hit rate for penalties, wouldn’t fifty percent be fair for my United?
That’s completely in line with the laws of probability.
This world has to be scientific, right?
Keane stepped forward.
The Red Devils’ captain was the fourth to take the penalty.
It must be said, Ferguson’s arrangement was awesome, not putting Keane as the fifth.
At this moment, if there was anyone who could bear this kind of pressure, it had to be Keane.
Bang!
Keane struck the ball.
Manchester United fans cheered excitedly.
Manchester United players and Ferguson also looked at the goal immediately.
Cech dived the wrong way!
He went to the right.
And Keane’s shot was... down the middle!
But Deng Kai, who had been bravely watching every player’s penalty, raised his eyebrows and raised his hands in advance!
It’s stable!
Choosing the middle, one can only say Keane has a big heart.
But not daring to use a chip shot when aiming for the middle shows Keane’s heart isn’t big enough.
That’s the difference between Keane and Zidane.
When Zidane goes crazy, he really goes crazy.
But Keane... still has his rationality in the end.
And as long as there’s rationality, there’s definitely a way to deal with it.
Cech’s height is one ninety-six.
In this era, goalkeepers of one eighty-something are common.
One ninety-six is definitely one of the tallest goalkeepers.
Cech also has long arms.
And long legs.
Quick reflexes.
Good goal line technique.
He nearly possesses the most top-notch static talent for a goalkeeper.
His effective save area is much larger than that of other keepers of the same height.
This is the advantage of having long limbs.
And over the past year, he’s been focusing on coming out for the ball.
Focusing on his footwork.
Practicing short passes with both feet, long passes with his dominant foot, and clearance kicks with his non-dominant foot.
His dynamic talent has also been elevated to the top among goalkeepers.
Even historically top-tier!
Though he dove, he quickly realized something was off and held back his power in time.
Despite still flying to the right, he kept his feet in the middle as long as possible and lifted them to block.
And the biggest difference between a chip penalty and shooting straight down the middle is:
A chip can increase the football’s hang time.
Once the goalkeeper dives, the football usually flies into the net as it falls to the ground.
Completely avoiding the possibility of the football being blocked by the keeper’s feet.
Kicking straight down the middle, no matter how lightly, always takes less time than a chip.
Therefore, there might be a chance for the keeper, who hasn’t fully dived out, to block the ball with his legs.
Bang!
Cech’s right foot, half a meter above the ground, touched the football.
The ball flew back towards Keane.
Keane instinctively rushed forward to take a follow-up shot.
But after running two steps, he remembered this was a penalty shootout.
There was no chance for a do-over.
If it wasn’t in, it just wasn’t in!
"Ah ah ah!"
"Cech! Manchester City! Community Shield Cup!"
"Cech has done it!"
"The Super Triple Save!"
"Blocking the opponent’s penalties three times in a row! And all were blocks, not misses!"
"Three to one! Cech has finished the game!"
"Manchester City are the champions!"
"The treble! FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield! Manchester City are the treble winners!"
In the footage, a surge of blue!
The players rushed towards Cech.
The Manchester City personnel from the bench also stormed onto the pitch.
Blue seemed to be painting the entire sky!
In the history of the Community Shield, an unavoidable stroke of blue has been added!
