He rushed under the KOP stand and made a gesture in response! Keep barking, keep barking!
After Tang Long scored, he looked up and, by sheer coincidence, found himself facing the Kop, the die-hard supporters of Anfield.
The Reds fans were stunned!
Everyone simultaneously put their hands behind their heads!
Many people have heard the legend of Ronaldo Pendulum, but this legend dates back to the distant year of 1998, during the UEFA Cup final between Inter Milan and Lazio.
Witnessing the legend come to life firsthand is a powerful experience that far surpasses anything a blurry film could ever provide!
What drove the die-hard Kop fans crazy was that the one who made this move was actually the opposing team's forward, Tang Long!
The score was reversed, and the fans' hearts were like they were on a roller coaster, plummeting from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley, from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench.
"Shhhhhhhh-"
Once they came to their senses, the Reds fans erupted in a deafening chorus of boos at Tang Long!
Giving the middle finger, pulling at the corner of the eye—various discriminatory gestures struck again.
This time, Tang Long decisively retaliated.
He rushed to the stands.
The Manchester City number 9, dressed in a blue jersey, smiled up at the tens of thousands of fans in bright red jerseys in the sky, his hands by his ears!
One man against ten thousand!
This is the signature move of his former teammate Icardi, who sticks out his ears. At this moment, Tang Long felt that only this move could respond to these barking opponents!
Keep barking! Keep howling!
Speak louder, Grandpa can't hear you!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh--
A storm arose around Tang Long!
The boos from above, like a category 8 tsunami, crashed against him!
"I am coming!"
Haha, I'm here too!
"Count me in!"
Iheanacho, Ranocchia, Fernando, Navas, and many other teammates rushed over, lining up on either side of Tang Long in the center, all facing the Liverpool die-hard Kop stand, making a gesture of sticking out their ears!
Come on, tsunami, storm, hail, come on even stronger, damn it!
Milner, are you alright?
"Why is your face swollen from being hit!"
"Oh no, when you get home tonight, will your wife even recognize you? Will she let you in?"
Inside the goal, players from both teams surrounded Milner.
Manchester City players all sent friendly greetings to Milner.
The friendliest of them all was Yaya Toure.
He and Milner both joined Manchester City in 2010.
In the old saying of China scholars, those who passed the imperial examination in the same year are considered "friends of the same year," and their friendship must be very deep, unlike that of ordinary people.
Milner's passionate knee slide celebration after taking the lead against his former club in the first half further deepened the bond between him and Yaya Toure.
Her love for him burned like a raging fire.
Toure rushed to Milner's side, squatted down, and slapped Milner across the face as he lay on the ground!
"Wake up, Milner! Are you dead? Waaaaah..."
Milner, lying on the ground, had regained about 30% of his consciousness. His vision was blurry, but he saw Toure's wailing face and thought to himself, "Toure is the best. I scored against them, Toure still cares about me. He's a real buddy."
Unexpectedly, he was suddenly slapped hard across the face, his head was turned to the side, and his tongue, which had been retracted into his mouth, drooped out again with a hiss.
I closed my eyes and fainted again.
"Team doctor, team doctor, come quick! Milner has fainted again!"
Toure stood up with a regretful expression and beckoned the Liverpool team doctor to come onto the field quickly.
After the team doctor fiddled with it for a while...
Milner swayed and was helped to sit up.
Tang Long peeked out from the crowd and called out, "Milner, are you alright with your head?"
Milner shuddered at the sight of Tang Long and nearly fell backward.
Liverpool's team doctor quickly helped him up and chased Tang Long away, fearing that Milner might have an overreaction if he saw Tang Long.
Worried that Milner might have a concussion, the team doctor shone a small flashlight into his pupils, then held up a finger and asked him how many fingers it was.
At this moment, Milner, whose vision was gradually returning, saw the scoreboard in the far corner of Anfield Stadium, which displayed in large letters:
[1:2]
Seeing that they were behind, and Manchester City had scored two goals in the second half, Milner's eyes widened, and he shouted, "Two, two, two!"
The team doctor's face darkened; he thought to himself, "We're doomed. He can even mistake one for two. Milner must be mentally impaired."
However, Milner suddenly sprang up like a spring!
"I'm fine, I'm not dizzy! I can walk in a straight line, and I'm going to keep fighting! I'm going to defeat Manchester City, and I'm going to make them regret it!"
After saying that, he did a high-knee run on the spot.
On the sidelines, Liverpool manager Rodgers breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the players on the bench, saying:
"Look at Milner, all of you, you should learn from his fighting spirit!"
Rodgers initially intended to substitute Milner, but seeing Milner's high spirits, he kept him on the field, hoping to inspire the team with his never-give-up attitude and put more pressure on Manchester City to equalize the score.
The Liverpool players were deeply moved.
They all cast admiring glances at Milner.
He was knocked unconscious by a headshot, but when he woke up, he continued to fight. Although he had only just arrived in Liverpool and this was only his second game for the team, this spirit of fighting on despite a serious injury is the true spirit of the Kop!
Amidst chants of "Milner, You Will Never Walk Alone" from the crowd.
Rodgers also made substitutions, replacing the ineffective center forward Firmino with striker Benteke;
Then, Lallana, who was physically exhausted, was replaced by Sturridge.
Liverpool also switched to a 4-4-2 formation, fielding two strikers!
Liverpool launched another attack!
However, Manchester City, having finally taken the lead, are not about to let those three points slip away.
Pellegrini makes a substitution.
In the 77th minute, Navas, who was exhausted, was substituted, and Silva, who had better ball control, was brought on to strengthen midfield control;
In the 82nd minute, Clichy, who is 176 cm tall, was substituted and replaced by Kolarov, who is 187 cm tall, to strengthen physical confrontation and aerial ability.
In short, whether it's skillful footwork or physical confrontation, Manchester City is not afraid of Liverpool. Bring it on!
As for Tang Long, Pellegrini decided to keep him on the field, but in a lower position as an attacking midfielder, shifting from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 formation, using Tang Long's ball control and passing in midfield to slow down the pace of the game as much as possible.
Surprisingly, Pellegrini's tactic actually worked.
Tang Long dropped back from striker to attacking midfielder.
Although Manchester City's attack did not continue, thanks to the increased depth in midfield, the five midfielders firmly controlled the ball.
Compared to Navas, Silva has a more skillful control of the tempo, and his stamina is not an issue when he comes off the bench.
With Tang Long at the core, his teammates Silva, Yaya Toure, and Nasri began to play a triangular passing game with positional changes.
Ranocchia's role became apparent at this point!
As a center-back who plays out the ball, Ranocchia fully utilized his strengths in passing and dribbling in front of the penalty area.
Despite the relentless pressing by the two black strikers, Benteke and Sturridge, which frequently forced Ranocchia into mis-passing situations, Ranocchia's passing was repeatedly disrupted.
However, the Italy center-backs always manage to pass the ball promptly, either to the full-backs on both sides or directly linking up with the defensive midfielders Yaya Toure and Fernando, thus avoiding pressing.
Ranocchia and Tang Long, one in front and one behind, firmly secured possession for Manchester City!
However, Liverpool, playing at home, are not without a chance.
Manchester City's starting center -Demichelis slipped in the 85th minute due to exhaustion, and the ball passed to him by Ranocchia went uncontrolled and was directly given to Benteke.
Benteke was overjoyed!
The ball that I had been trying to get for ages was suddenly delivered right to my feet. It was like finding a needle in a haystack!
Benteke dribbled forward and found himself one-on-one with Manchester City goalkeeper Caballero.
However, when it comes to a one-on-one duel between goalkeepers, the difference between Benteke and Tang Long becomes apparent.
Benteke flicked the ball to the left, intending to use a change of footwork to get past Caballero and score into an empty net.
However, despite his relatively short stature, Caballero was surprisingly quick on his feet, and Benteke couldn't get past him, almost losing the ball in the process.
Benteke managed to dunk the ball back, thinking that this change in rhythm would surely fool him.
However, Caballero was still not fooled. At this moment, Demichelis got up and rushed forward, Ranocchia had already closed in on Benteke.
Opportunities are fleeting!
Benteke panicked!
He hurriedly took a shot under Caballero's arm, but the shot lacked both power and angle. Caballero didn't even need to get off the ground; he simply reached out and blocked the ball, pinning it firmly to the ground.
Meanwhile, in a remote China studio, a commentator slammed his fist on the table in anger and began cursing.
"Benteke! CTMD Benteke!"
"Why didn't you just push the ball into an empty net earlier? Damn it!"
Benteke, having missed a golden opportunity, was not greeted with encouragement from the Anfield fans, but instead met with a chorus of boos.
Milner was both anxious and angry!
Although he wasn't originally a striker, he was confident he could score that goal. If Benteke were in his position, he would be 98.82% sure he would have put the ball in the net!
The fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half.
After receiving the ball on the wing, Tang Long glanced at his teammates, but instead of passing it back, he dribbled forward at high speed towards the corner flag.
Manchester City's players understood; he was trying to stall for time and use up the last minute of added time.
"Get the ball! Don't let that kid get away with it!" Milner roared as he charged forward.
Milner's running posture was strange. Perhaps due to the aftereffects of his concussion, his cerebellum was not quite working properly, and he limped around, looking as comical as a disabled person.
He and Tang Long were locked in combat, the ball rolling in front of them, their arms constantly tangling together.
At this point, Milner had already given up hope of equalizing the score.
But then he remembered Tang Long's nose injury, and a wicked thought suddenly arose in his mind. Even if he couldn't win the game, he would teach this kid a lesson!
He simply kept slapping his palms at Tang Long's face.
However, because his cerebellum wasn't working very well and his movements were uncoordinated, he couldn't hit Tang Long's face with his hand; instead, he was just waving it at the air.
Milner, frustrated after missing several shots in a row, was humiliated when Tang Long had already brought the ball to a steady stop near his club, turned his back, and prepared to face him again.
Milner suddenly leaped up, bouncing like a spring, and raised his elbow, pressing it down on Tang Long's back!
Seeing that Tang Long had his back turned, and fearing he might not see Milner's sneak attack from behind, Ranocchia shouted, "Watch out, there's a thief behind you!"
However, Tang Long had clearly anticipated Milner's move.
He placed the ball here, quietly waiting for Milner to come up.
Swift as a rabbit!
Tang Long pulled the ball back and turned on the spot, disappearing from Milner's sight in an instant.
Smack!
Milner lunged at his opponent in terror, only to miss and fall heavily to the ground.
He heard a cracking sound as his wrist slammed into the ground. A sharp pain shot through his head, and large beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.
"Aaaaaaah!!"
Tang Long also heard the sound, and with a cold laugh, he lightly kicked the ball towards Milner's leg. After the ball bounced out of bounds, Tang Long didn't even look at Milner on the ground, and turned to walk into the penalty area.
This time, Milner couldn't get up again.
The excruciating pain from his fractured wrist was several times worse than when Tang Long had stunned him with a powerful shot!
The stretcher is brought in, and the body is taken away!
The referee then blew the final whistle.
Ultimately, thanks to Tang Long's brace, Manchester City came from behind to defeat Liverpool 2-1 away from home, ending their losing streak from the previous home game against Southampton and securing three points at Anfield, leaving with a positive result!