Chapter 670: Chapter 669: The Golden Boot Fought For and The Golden Boot Conceded
On Manchester City’s side,
Torres, Villa
Deng Kai, Fabregas, David Silva
Mascherano
Ashley Young, Thiago Silva, Kompany, Sun Jihai
Neuer
The four great Spanish kings were united once again.
It was said that Manchester City’s matches had become a focal point for observation by the Spanish national team.
Continuing to play like this,
Villa, Fabregas, and David Silva might even have a chance to make it into the national team!
As such, their performance in this game was particularly active.
But Chelsea gave Manchester City a cold wake-up call from the start.
In the first minute, the viper Mutu controlled the ball in a narrow space, dribbled into the box, and took a low shot.
Neuer was fully focused and successfully parried the shot.
But then came Crespo’s follow-up shot.
Thankfully, Kompany rushed at Crespo in time, causing the Argentine’s shot to hit the post and bounce out.
When they snapped back to reality, Manchester City also launched a fierce offensive.
This was, after all, the terrifying Etihad Stadium, their hellish home ground!
Villa’s long-range shot earned a corner kick.
David Silva took the corner.
Terry leaped high and headed the football out of the penalty area.
Thiago Silva took a long-range shot from outside the arc.
The ironwall defender Makélélé threw himself in the line of fire, as tough as nails.
The ball deflected onto Fabregas’s abdomen, and Fabregas fell to the ground on the spot.
That’s what you call being caught in the crossfire.
But coincidentally, the ball that rebounded off Fabregas fell to Deng Kai’s feet.
Deng Kai poked it forward in stride.
The ball drilled into Chelsea’s goal.
Boom!
"GOAL! One to zero, Manchester City takes the lead!"
"Fabregas assists with his abdomen, Emperor of Manchester City Deng Kai scores the opening goal!"
"Deng Kai’s poke was absolutely the icing on the cake!"
Fabregas was still lying on the ground.
Makélélé shook his head and sighed, Are you sure the icing on the cake wasn’t my thigh block?
In the end, after Fabregas spat out a few mouthfuls of stomach acid, he stood up with the help of his team-mates.
Man, the ball almost knocked last night’s dinner out of him.
In the eleventh minute, Manchester City’s onslaught continued.
Deng Kai passed the ball back, Mascherano made a through pass, David Silva pushed forward to get the ball along the edge of the penalty area, then made a back-pass.
Villa went for a quick finish.
But Cudicini made an equally brilliant save, keeping the ball out of the goal.
In the twenty-fourth minute, Da Fu made a breakthrough on the flank, earning a corner kick.
Lampard took the corner.
Crespo headed the ball to set it up, and Terry, at the back post, followed with a header that found the net.
Kompany protested on the ground, with his hand raised.
Terry must have pushed Kompany down, otherwise how could he have won the header against the one-point-nine-meter-tall Kompany?
However, the penalty area was too chaotic, and neither the referee nor the linesman saw what happened.
So Terry’s goal stood.
One to one!
Chelsea equalized.
"Indeed, even though both teams wear blue, Chelsea’s blue is much deeper than Manchester City’s. That’s what you call unfathomable depth!" said Huang Jianxiang, indicating that the match was about to get interesting.
While Chelsea celebrated, Deng Kai immediately gathered his teammates, "Ashley Young, stick with Da Fu, tangle with him, and don’t let him take off on the flank."
"Until I call you up, forget about flying, understand?"
Ashley Young nodded again and again.
It wasn’t that they were afraid of high demands from the leader; they were afraid the leader had no demands at all.
Ashley Young certainly didn’t want to retire to the bench this early like Feng Te.
"Sun, David, you guys can play a bit further forward. Once I pass the ball over, try to speed up your combination play," said Deng Kai.
"Mascherano, if Joe Cole gets the ball, focus on physical confrontation, put enough pressure on him. His game relies on form, and if he doesn’t feel right, he won’t be much of a threat."
The players nodded in agreement.
After that, Da Fu broke through twice, but he couldn’t shake off Ashley Young’s defense.
To be precise, Ashley Young didn’t defend against Da Fu, but he followed closely.
Da Fu is a speed-type player, and so is Ashley Young.
And as long as Ashley Young kept up, the support from Thiago Silva, Mascherano, and Deng Kai would arrive quickly.
Especially Deng Kai.
Da Fu hadn’t expected that a superstar like Deng Kai, at the peak of the world, would also be so frequently involved in defense.
It was almost the style of a defensive midfielder.
In the thirty-ninth minute.
Deng Kai and Ashley Young completed a pincer move, dispossessing Da Fu.
Deng Kai then delivered a long, diagonal kick, transferring the football to the right flank.
Sun Jihai, positioned forward, started off and, with the help of a wall pass from David Silva, easily dribbled past Gallas.
Sun Jihai delivered a cross from the baseline.
However, considering that Villa was in the penalty area, and Sun Jihai was unmarked, he opted for a half-height ball.
This type of pass could easily be disrupted by the defensive players in front of him.
It also wasn’t suitable for tall players to handle.
But it was perfect for a low-height star like Villa.
Boom!
Villa bent and dove, heading the football into the goal with a powerful strike.
"Beautiful! Sun Jihai connects with Villa, Manchester City takes the lead again with a score of two to one!"
"This is Sun Jihai’s third assist of the season in the League Cup! He’s currently second on the list of top assist providers for this competition! And ahead of him is none other than Manchester City’s captain Deng Kai, with four assists!"
Huang Jianxiang’s eyes were filled with tears.
Twenty-six-year-old Sun Jihai was officially hitting the peak of his professional career.
He had become the top Chinese player on the European stage, second only to Everton’s main full-back, Wu Xudong.
Yang Chen returned to Shenzhen.
Fan Zhiyi joined the Hong Kong Pegasus FC.
Shao Jiayi rushed to Munich 1860 at the beginning of the year but faced ligament and meniscus problems in August, and he still hadn’t recovered.
Li Tie was a key player for Everton last season, but this season he has become a bench player and rarely gets a chance to play.
In the forty-fourth minute.
Fabregas controlled the ball, while Deng Kai gestured with his eyes for Ashley Young to come up.
Ashley Young quietly advanced to the midfield line.
Then Deng Kai asked Fabregas for the ball, and without even looking, he sent a through ball straight to the front of the left side.
Even Melchiot, the Chelsea right-back who was closest to the ball, had to run a good distance to catch up with it.
However, as he ran, a black whirlwind swept past him.
Ashley Young, at full throttle!
In the end, Ashley Young, with the ball at his feet, made it near the baseline and sent a back pass.
Deng Kai, who had rushed over to support, smoothly pushed the ball forward, swiftly sliding along the edge of the penalty area.
Makélélé thought Deng Kai was going to cut inside.
After all, this was the top scorer of Premier League! The very European Golden Shoe!
Without a heart set on getting close to the box, getting close to the center, ready to shoot whenever possible, how could he be such a super striker?
Alright, Makélélé had indeed been schooled by Ronaldo not long before, and Ronaldo had given him quite a lesson.
Before facing Ronaldo, Makélélé really hadn’t thought a winger could have unlimited rights to shoot.
It was ridiculous!
And now... after finally adjusting his worldview for Ronaldo, Makélélé encountered another ruthless player who didn’t play by the rules.
Makélélé didn’t know that whether it was Ronaldo’s Portuguese Golden Shoe or his Premier League goals, they were fought for against heaven, earth, and people! They were earned through struggle and competition!
While Deng Kai’s thirty-four goals from last season were like water, not competing with anyone for profit, yet in the end, he gained the benefit of everything.
If he had decided to compete, the record for most goals in a Premier League season would probably need to be rewritten.
Boom!
After reaching the baseline, Deng Kai sent a sharp cross.
The ball traveled at high speed.
Bridge failed to clear it, missing the football completely.
Then Torres scored with a follow-up shot.
"GOAL! Three to one!"
"Torres scores!"
"But the biggest contributors to that goal were definitely Ashley Young and Deng Kai!"
"Especially Deng Kai, he almost made Makélélé fall over in the penalty area!"
