Chapter 663: Chapter 662: Return to the Throne of the Archer King
But soon, Maicon also completed a spectacular sprint down the flank, and with Ribery’s assistance, successfully delivered a cross.
Villa moved dynamically, flicking the ball on with a header at the near post.
The football struck Ferdinand and deflected into the net.
Since the ball was already within the goal range, it was not considered an own goal but credited to Villa as a score.
The Four Greats of Spain began to show their edge!
By halftime, the teams were tied at one apiece.
The second half.
Both sides focused on attacking through the flanks, taking turns charging at each other.
After sixty-five minutes, both teams simultaneously made substitutions for tactical adjustments.
Manchester City substituted Torres for the exhausted Baggio.
A few minutes later, Deng Kai delivered a superb through ball from midfield.
Adriano was offside, but he did not participate in the score.
The real threat was Torres on the left flank.
Torres started late but arrived first, overtaking Silvestre at a visible speed differential to go one-on-one and ultimately score successfully.
The Four Greats of Spain struck again!
Far off in Valencia, Luke felt lonely and cold!
Taking on two alone, that’s not fair!
As the match drew to a close, Ronaldo forced a breakthrough on the right flank and successfully earned a corner.
Ronaldo then took the corner kick himself.
Ferdinand, the premier central defender of the Premier League, reached the first touchpoint and headed the ball across.
Diego Forlan headed the ball into the net, leveling the score.
In the end, the playful Blue Moon, ugh... the formidable Blue Moon took away a point from Old Trafford.
The teams shook hands amicably.
And Adriano’s consecutive scoring streak also came to an end in this match.
In this match, Adriano failed to score for the team.
He encountered a ninety-minute goal drought!
Neither Manchester United nor Manchester City could advance further on the points table.
...
November 6, the first leg of the second round of the Europa League.
The team from the Russian Premier League shivered intensely.
Having finally made it to the Europa League, they faced a royal team like Manchester City right off the bat.
This was the top scoring team in all of Europe!
Significantly, Manchester City fielded their main lineup for this match.
Baggio, Adriano, Ribery
Deng Kai, Essien, Tu Lei
Lahm, Chiellini, Desailly, Maicon
Cech
It had been a while since Desailly started, and his form had recently improved slightly.
Throughout the first half, the Russians demonstrated their resilient spirit, defending staunchly.
Firmly, they maintained a score of zero to zero with only nineteen percent possession.
In the second half, at the fifty-fifth minute.
Maicon controlled the ball on the flank, Tu Lei took the pass and then delivered a diagonal through ball.
Adriano started in third gear, received the ball after moving forward, leveraged the explosive power that belied his size to shake off two defenders from Siberia after turning around, and blasted a shot into the net.
One to zero!
The formidable Blue Moon cracked the icy cold of Siberia.
Around the seventieth minute, Fabregas replaced Tu Lei.
Torres came on for Baggio.
Eightieth minute.
Deng Kai made a direct through pass.
Fabregas, without stopping the ball, directly played a slanting knock-on, completing the through pass relay.
Adriano was marked by the opponent’s center back, but Villa seized the opportunity, darted out from behind the opponent’s center back, and scored with a shot at the near post.
Two to zero!
Manchester City had won the victory.
This was also Manchester City’s least "dazzling" performance in recent times.
After the match, the media began to worry about the state of Manchester City.
Sky Sports, "Manchester City’s two-nil victory shows signs of decline! Grozny Terry has hope for the next leg with only a two-goal loss!"
The Times, "With only two goals in two consecutive matches, Manchester City’s firepower has plummeted, but where exactly lies the problem?"
Echo Report, "Ribery’s absence due to injury significantly weakens Manchester City’s attacking power, they lack a true top winger!"
BBC, "During the winter transfer window, Manchester City should try to bring in a top winger, their firepower relies too much on wing players!"
Manchester Evening, "Adriano faces a hundred and eighty minutes of goal drought! Ronaldo’s ’Moment Card’ experience is expiring, and Fran’s weakness is about to return?"
Understanding Football, "Deng Kai thinks the team’s performance is normal, even the most powerful teams can’t always score big, winning the game is already enough for Manchester City."
Understanding Football, "Before this season, people demanded Manchester City to win matches. But now, they expect Manchester City to win big!"
"Manchester City has always been leading a change in the fans’ perception."
"Perhaps one day, if Manchester City doesn’t win the championship, we will see them as failures!"
"But when that day comes, for Manchester City, it would instead prove their success!"
Finally, after the match, Deng Kai promoted his friend Keira Knightley’s new movie on his social media platform, released today: "’Love Actually’ has finally premiered, I’ve been waiting for this movie for a long time."
"The cast of this movie is too luxurious, it’s a Christmas film worth watching ten thousand times!"
"In the future, every year, Europeans will watch Keira’s movie at least once, I hope this movie can be released every Christmas season!"
"I’m going tomorrow. What about you? Are you coming with me?"
Deng Kai tagged Ribery and Feng Te.
The former is still recovering from injury and does not need to join tomorrow’s training.
The latter hardly plays, so of course, he can skip training, Deng Kai even forgot that Feng Te was still a player.
November 8th, the twelfth round of the Premier League.
Manchester City against Leeds United.
With Ribery injured, Villa who had moved up got a chance in this match, providing a brilliant pass that assisted Tu Lei’s world-class goal.
Shortly after, Adriano drew a foul inside the box, and Deng Kai scored from the spot.
Eighty-first minute.
Deng Kai took a tactical corner kick, Lahm lobbed it into the box.
Adriano’s header was pushed out.
Substitute Torres scored on the rebound.
Manchester City easily defeated Leeds United, which had been quite strong in the Premier League in recent years, three to zero.
Unfortunately, times have changed, and this season’s Leeds United, with further departures of key players, had completely turned into an easy target.
After this round of the league, Leeds had two wins, two draws, and eight losses in twelve matches, firmly sitting at the bottom of the Premier League with eight points.
This match was very important for Manchester City fans.
Although they were still pressed into third place in the league by Arsenal and Chelsea.
But within Manchester City, Deng Kai had reached twelve goals in the Premier League, officially surpassing Adriano’s eleven, and once again becoming the team’s top scorer.
The fans of Manchester City have long awaited this moment!
Of course, it’s not that Adriano isn’t excellent.
Everyone naturally hopes that Adriano can score more.
But Deng Kai becoming the top scorer undoubtedly holds more symbolic significance.
It means Manchester City’s core is in great form.
This team has every reason to be highly anticipated by everyone!
November 21st, the thirteenth round of the Premier League kicks off.
Manchester City’s opponent is Fulham, ranked seventh in the league.
