Icardi: The king of beasts never cared about a mongrel's barking!
Bony is Manchester City's second-choice striker this season.
His transfer fee was €32 million, and he was the striker Manchester City bought from Swansea in January 2015 during the winter transfer window.
It is said that when Manchester City were considering buying a striker, Toure recommended this fellow Ivory Coast to the club.
Bony is physically strong, fast, and has a great shot in front of goal. In a mid-to-lower-table team like Swansea, he is undoubtedly the team's number one player and star player.
However, after arriving in Manchester City, he experienced difficulties adapting to the new environment.
Since joining the team six months ago, he has made 10 appearances in the league, scoring only two goals, and was once called a flop.
Manchester City has considered selling him, but considering he's only been with the club for six months, selling him now would result in a significant discount. Furthermore, the transfers of Tang Long and Sterling this summer cost over 100 million euros, so selling Bony would mean needing to bring in replacements, especially since young Iheanacho is simply too inexperienced.
Therefore, due to Financial Fair Play regulations, even the Manchester City owners, who don't value money, had to curb their spending, and Bony stayed at Manchester City.
Bony, spurred by his defeat, worked incredibly hard during summer training this season, which rekindled Pellegrini's hopes for him.
With Dzeko gone, Bony has become even more indispensable in Manchester City's tactical puzzle.
Manchester City plays a single-striker formation, with only three center forwards in the team, making Bony the first candidate after Agüero.
In the first four games of the season, due to the outstanding performance of the main striker Agüero, who scored three goals in four rounds, substitute striker Bony has basically not gotten any playing time.
In this round, Manchester City played Southampton at home, Bony took advantage of Agüero's suspension to start.
"The time has come to prove yourself! God bless!" Before Bony stepped onto the stage, he touched the ground and then devoutly made the sign of the cross on his chest.
He thought that his hard work and training had finally given him the opportunity to shine.
But to his surprise, fate played a cruel joke on him; the match turned out to be the beginning of a disaster.
In the 24th, 41st, and 56th minutes, he had three one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper.
The first time, he accurately connected with Tang Long's through ball and kicked the goalkeeper in the head;
The second time, he was a step too slow to start and the goalkeeper caught the ball;
The third one was the most regrettable. He could have easily broken into the penalty area and gone one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Bony actually ran to the outside and didn't receive the ball at all, which made Pelle on the sidelines shake his head in frustration!
Tang Long also looked helpless.
My routes were all calculated by the AI System to be the best, but Bony either couldn't shoot in or couldn't get there, he just didn't follow the usual path.
We wanted to design a route based on Bony's runs, but who has the time to input the running routes of this substitute player? Agüero's passes haven't been completed yet. Besides, many of Bony's runs are wrong. Even if we know where he's going, the passes we send out will be completely harmless.
Pellegrini regretted it somewhat. If he had known that Bony would still be so disappointing, he would have sold him in the summer no matter what!
In the 72nd minute of the match, during a counter-attack, Bony finally received Tang Long's through ball.
But this time, under intense pressure, his shot hit the outside of the goalpost and bounced out of bounds with a thud!
Bony knelt on the ground, pounding his fists against it.
"Looks like Bony really isn't having any luck scoring today!"
"This is the fourth time he has wasted Tang Long's pass in this game!"
"Manchester City fans must be missing their star striker Agüero terribly."
"If the Argentina striker had been on the field at that moment, he could have scored at least three of those four goals, completing a hat-trick long ago, and Tang Long would have had three assists as well."
"I wonder if Agüero, who is currently doing community work, will regret his recklessness at the Emirates Stadium?"
"I think so, Joe Hart too!"
No sooner had the commentator finished speaking than Southampton launched a counterattack.
Teams that squander opportunities will be punished; this is an irrefutable truth.
In the 79th minute, Southampton's Italy striker Pelle received a pass from midfield at the edge of the penalty area and held off his compatriot Ranocchia.
There weren't many Italy at the Premier League match, but the duel between Ranocchia and Pelle still attracted a lot of attention from fans.
"Watch his left!" Ranocchia shouted to right- Sagna.
Standing at 194cm, Pelle is the strongest center forward Ranocchia has faced since arriving in the Premier League!
He is not only just as tall as Ranocchia, but also has an advantage in weight, at 90kg.
No matter how much Ranocchia challenged him, Pelle remained unmoved and steadily passed the ball to Mane had made a run forward!
Senegalese winger Mane is a skilled winger.
Sagna was only half a body length slower in his pursuit, and he could no longer catch up with the fast horse.
Mane surged ahead, bursting into the penalty area and unleashing a low shot!
"Mane shoots!"
"Low ball!"
"Oh, that ball..."
"Caballero left the near post open! Goal!"
"That's unacceptable! Caballero made a huge mistake!"
"The goalkeeper should have covered the near post and focused on the far post instead."
"Remember what I said? If Hart were here, he wouldn't have made such a basic mistake."
"Agüero paid the price for his recklessness, and so did Hart."
Ultimately, Manchester City will be the one to bear the consequences!
With this goal, Southampton, playing away, took the lead and went into the 80th minute with a 2-1 advantage.
Pellegrini made a quick decision, bringing on his last striker, Iheanacho, and instructing Tang Long to push forward and not come back.
With three players suddenly available in attack, Manchester City is going all out.
The Etihad fans were incredibly anxious, with over 50,000 chanting in unison, "Attack! Attack!"
However, Southampton wisely opted to cut their losses, making two substitutions: taking off Tadic and Mane and replacing them with a defensive midfielder and a center-back. They also dropped one of their midfielders back, adopting a 6-4-0 defensive formation.
"Six, six defenders?"
"This is the first time I've seen a team use six defenders in the Premier League."
Looking around, the six defenders filled the penalty area to the brim, and all four midfielders had retreated to the defensive midfield position.
Tang Long was surrounded by people.
Although the AI System showed many possible routes, there was no space to pass the ball because the middle was completely blocked. Tang Long could only pass the ball to the wing, allowing Sagna and Kolarov to cross the ball high.
This was exactly what Southampton wanted.
They weren't afraid of high balls. Southampton's average height was 2 centimeters taller than Manchester City's. Striker Pelle transformed into a center-back in the final moments, heading out four crosses from the wings and becoming the aerial threat in his own penalty area.
Ultimately, this team from Southampton took three points away at the Etihad Stadium!
Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season.
Ranocchia even declined Pelle's invitation to exchange jerseys.
Tang Long shook his head and returned to the locker room.
Bony, with your level of skill, you're playing striker for Manchester City? Bring over Inter Milan's Bonazzoli; he could score at least one out of four goals!
"Hahahaha, they lost! Manchester City lost!"
In a villa in the suburbs of Manchester, Icardi slid down to his knees on the soft carpet in the living room.
I'm so happy, so excited, I'm having a blast!
Nothing could excite him more than Manchester City losing.
To put it another way, nothing could make him happier than Manchester City losing and Agüero not being able to play and score goals!
This season, Icardi has two goals: to win the European Golden Shoe and to help Manchester United win the Premier League title.
Manchester United kicked off their match a day early this round, Icardi put on a spectacular brace, bringing his tally to seven goals in the first five rounds—more than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo!
In fact, since the start of the Premier League season, Icardi has consistently topped the scoring charts and has never relinquished that position.
"Dear Tang, I wonder if you regret not coming to Manchester United and playing alongside me, hahaha~"
Icardi leaned back on the sofa, tossing a green baseball back and forth in his hand.
His pride was palpable.
"Look how happy you are! Are you really that pleased that Manchester City lost, darling?"
Wanda waddled out of the room.
"Of course! Nothing makes me happier than our city rivals losing! Hehe, Manchester United made the right decision to buy De Bruyne. We're getting better and better together; we're a match made in heaven!"
"I remember you told me the same thing about that China man before," Wanda said.
"Hey, why bring up Tang? That's all in the past. He's now playing for a noisy neighbor of Manchester United. That's the path he chose, so let him go all the way. As for me, Mauro Cardi, I will wear the red jersey and win every title in red Manchester, including the European Golden Boot and the Ballon d'Or!"
Seeing Icardi's triumphant spirit, Wanda revealed a lustful smile.
"That's right, my husband should be this domineering! Mauro, coming from Inter Milan to Manchester United, you've really grown up!"
Two hours later.
Icardi, his vision blurred, trembled as he stood up, gripping the table for support.
He shook his head, seeing stars.
Still managing to stay alert, he opened his social media and posted a status update: -- [A hug with Kevin, the Premier League's best midfielder]
The accompanying photo shows him celebrating with De Bruyne after scoring twice in this round of the Premier League.
Immediately, a group of Manchester City fans criticized him, saying that Tang Long is the best midfielder in the Premier League!
Some Inter Milan fans also said that Icardi was ungrateful, always praising De Bruyne as the best midfielder in the Premier League, which seemed to be an intentional denigration of his former Inter Milan teammate Tang Long.
"Mauro, have you forgotten how many assists Dom gave you at Inter Milan? Have you forgotten who helped you win the Serie A Golden Boot!"
His wife, Wanda, retorted point by point below:
"My husband won the Serie A Golden Boot entirely on his own merits, and it had nothing to do with anyone else's help!"
"It's a loss for Tang that he didn't come to Manchester United!"
"De Bruyne can share the same responsibilities as my husband, which is why he can become the best midfielder in the Premier League!"
"Manchester City is just a noisy neighbor, a nouveau riche oil tycoon with no real foundation!"
"Inter Milan is a disgusting club, and you Inter Milan fans are utterly disgusting. Stop harassing my husband, or I will take legal action!"
Icardi liked every single comment his wife made.
Then, another picture was posted in the comments section: Manchester United 2-0 Swansea #Manchester City 1-2 Southampton, with the caption: A true lion never cares about the barking of a stray dog!