City Tore Sunderland Apart-Was This Revenge for Inter Milan?

Sunday, the match day, is here again!

In the 7th round of the Premier League, Manchester City will visit the Stadium of Light to Black Cats Sunderland.

In this match, Pellegrini continued his practice from the previous round, playing Tang Long as a defensive midfielder.

Even though Tang Long performed exceptionally well as a defensive midfielder in the UEFA Champions League, the Chile coach still wanted to see how Tang Long would fare in that position in the Premier League.

Of course, this tactical experiment has one prerequisite: that the opponent is not too strong.

Whether it's Monchengladbach or Sunderland, Manchester City is confident they can dominate them.

Starting lineup for this match:

Sunderland (home team): 4231

Borini

Johnson / Toivonen / Lens

Rodwell / M'Vila

Holt / O'Shea / Coates / Yedlin

Mannone

Away team Manchester City: 4231

Agüero

Sterling / Silva / Navas

Tang Long / Yaya Toure

Kolarov / Otamendi / Demichelis / Sagna

Joe Hart

When the Stadium of Light DJ began announcing Manchester City's starting lineup, boos erupted!

As a team located in the northeast of England, Sunderland is home to a local people known for their toughness and resilience.

This team is also a traditional mid-to-lower table team in the Premier League, often playing the role of a yo-yo club in the league. They retain the traditional high-ball, direct style of EFL Championship teams.

Amidst the boos, two people received the warmest "welcome":

"Number 10, Agüero."

"Sh--!"

"Number 9, Tang."

"Sh--!"

Despite the Stadium of Light only holding 40,000 people for this match, the boos were like 40,000 piercing whistles screaming in the ears of the Manchester City players.

Tang Long felt a buzzing sound in his ears.

"It's so noisy!" he said to Toure was lined up next to him.

Toure chuckled and replied, "Haha, that's how teams in northern England are. But it doesn't matter, the louder they argue, the more afraid they are of us!"

Sunderland's strategy against the visiting powerhouse Manchester City was revealed in the opening ball boy segment.

Logically speaking, caddies are all children, many of whom are only six or seven years old, both boys and girls.

But perhaps to deliberately mock Manchester City players, Sunderland put a lot of effort into the arrangement of their ball boys.

Sterling, Silva, and Navas, all three players who are just over 1.7 meters tall, each brought a "giant" caddie onto the field.

From the broadcast camera's perspective, these ball boys were almost as tall as the Manchester City players' noses.

These caddies are generally older, while the younger caddies are deliberately assigned to tall players like Yaya Toure and Kolarov.

In particular, Toure, who is over 1.9 meters tall, was paired with a 4-year-old girl.

With no other option, Toure could only bend over and stoop, holding the little girl's hand as he walked forward, not daring to go too fast for fear of tripping her.

Kolarov simply picked up the caddie and carried him forward.

Of course, the funniest one was Agüero!

Sunderland later made special arrangements for Manchester City's star striker.

A chubby boy who is about 1.75 meters tall is Agüero's caddie.

Agüero is only 1.72 meters tall. When this chubby guy stood in front of Agüero felt as if a mountain-like shadow was looming over him.

"Little fatty, how old and how much do you weigh?"

Agüero looked at the little boy wearing a Sunderland jersey with surprise.

"Agüero, I'm in fifth grade, 11 years old, and I weigh 180 pounds!"

The chubby boy grinned and rubbed his plump belly.

Tang Long, who was standing to the side, was also shocked by what he heard!

180 pounds, which is over 160 kilograms.

My goodness, only 11 years old! Are UK kids all developing this well these days?

Having played in the Premier League for many years, Agüero naturally saw through this little trick—a deliberate attempt to humiliate him for his short stature.

But he wasn't annoyed and continued joking with the chubby boy.

So, as the two teams lined up and the referee began the opening ceremony, the camera panned horizontally across them—

On Manchester City's side, either you could only see the players and not the ball boys, or the ball boys were completely blocking the players' faces.

In short, this very strange scene also caused Sunderland fans watching the big screen to burst into laughter.

"Haha, this is so much fun! Is this a circus performance?"

Such a clumsy trick left Manchester City manager Pellegrini shaking his head in exasperation.

Sigh, is it really necessary?

The happier you are now, the more miserable you will be in tears later.

In football, these off-the-books tricks never work; the difference in skill is the key to victory or defeat!

There's not much to say about this match; Manchester City firmly controlled the game from the very first minute.

Although both are teams that excel in physical confrontations, there is still a gap between Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham Hotspur's attacking midfielders, such as Guarin, Dier, Alli, and Son Heung-min, are tall, heavy, fast, and extremely powerful, but they also possess a certain level of technical skill.

On the other hand, Sunderland's side is full of roughnecks!

Although the Premier League is a fast-paced, physical league, you can't win without good footwork.

No wonder Sunderland is always a yo-yo club in the league.

In the 21st minute of the first half, a series of skillful passes by several quick and agile players from Manchester City's attacking third completely disoriented Sunderland's rough-around-the-edges players.

The attack still originates from the backfield.

Demichelis, originally a defensive midfielder, played as a center-back in this match. His skillful midfield vision allowed him to calmly pass the ball to Toure, when facing pressure from Italy striker Borini.

Toure looked up, he immediately noticed a huge gap in Sunderland's disorganized midfield.

"It's time for me to shine!"

Toure made a decisive move, leaning forward like a bulldozer, easily getting past Sunderland's two midfielders.

This time, however, Toure was smarter. He knew that with his current physical condition, dribbling past two players in the Premier League was already his limit.

He didn't pass to the third player, but gently pushed the ball to his defensive midfield partner, Tang Long.

Tang Long glanced at the field and saw that Sterling, Agüero, Silva, and Navas, three small players, were surrounded by tall Sunderland defenders, but they were all extremely agile and were not standing still. Instead, they were running around in different positions. He felt that there was a chance for them.

Countless golden routes to choose from were displayed in his AI brain. Tang Long selected the most convenient route and began to steadily transmit the signal throughout the venue.

He passed the ball straight to attacking midfielder Silva and then began to make a forward run.

Silva made a misalignment, allowing Tang Long to take the attacking midfield position, while he began to push towards Navas on the wing.

After receiving a pass from Silva, Navas quickly made a run down the wing, feigning a pass, but then cut the ball back.

Snap!

With that one quick move, he instantly shook off the full-back next to him and passed the ball to Silva.

Silva then cut inside the box behind the full-back, penetrating deep into Sunderland's heart.

The passing and cutting combination was so smooth and fluid, it was a beautiful sight to behold!

At this moment, Agüero decisively moved forward to intercept the ball at the near post, drawing away a nearby center-back.

Silva saw Agüero, but he saw Tang Long at the edge of the penalty area even more. He made a cutback pass, and the ball was pulled back to Tang Long's position.

With just that pull and tug, Sunderland's defense was thrown into complete chaos.

"Watch out, he might hit the door!"

Sunderland's defenders aren't the brightest, but they're incredibly tenacious.

Relying on their powerful running ability, they managed to pull the position back.

However, Tang Long didn't stop the ball; he gently pushed it to the left with the instep of his foot, instantly stretching Sunderland's defense open once again!

"Nice shot!"

The moment Tang Long pushed the ball, Sterling had already begun his run down the left flank at a speed of 36 kilometers per hour.

From the edge of the six-yard box, he unleashed a powerful left-footed shot with the instep!

The shot had power, but the angle was too straight, and it hit the Sunderland goalkeeper squarely in the stomach.

Fortunately, after the rebound, the quick-thinking Agüero flicked the ball in and it went into the net!

Although it was a rebound from Sterling's shot, Agüero knew that the key to the goal was Tang Long's first-time diagonal pass from the edge of the penalty area.

So, the first thing he did after scoring was not to celebrate with Sterling, but to give Tang Long a big hug.

This scene left Sterling was standing nearby, speechless.

"Damn it, that was supposed to be my goal, but he still managed to steal it!"

Tang Long, meanwhile, winked at Sterling, implying, "Who told you not to score, buddy!"

After taking the lead, a large number of Inter Milan fans flooded into the live broadcast room.

-[Beautiful! Well done, Manchester City crush Sunderland!]

- [Let's go for it! Let's beat them 7-0! A message from Inter Milan fan!]

Inter Milan fans are saying, "Relegation! Sunderland, relegation!"

[Go Tang Long! Kill Sunderland and avenge us!]

[Serves them right! A team that doesn't pay Alvarez's transfer fee should be relegated to the EFL Championship, no, EFL League One!]

Many Manchester City fans who were watching the live stream and Tang Long were also completely bewildered.

Why do Inter Milan fans have such a deep-seated hatred for Sunderland?

This is a long story, but it's actually quite simple.

In the 2014-2015 season, Inter Milan's Argentina midfielder Alvarez was loaned to Sunderland.

According to the agreement, Sunderland will permanently buy the player for €13 million at the end of the season.

However, shortly after joining Black Cats, Alvarez suffered a serious knee injury.

He hadn't played many good games all season, and Sunderland used this as a reason to refuse to pay Inter Milan the transfer fee to buy him out!

This infuriated many Inter Milan fans.

Even if a player gets injured unexpectedly, you still have to abide by the contract. How can you just break the contract like that?

Even a year later, the two clubs are still in litigation, and the matter remains unresolved.

Alvarez was released by Sunderland and returned to Serie A, where he faded into obscurity.

Many Inter Milan fans consider the transfer fee of over 10 million euros to be a huge sum of money.

After all, Inter Milan's current financial situation is far from ideal.

That's why they hate Sunderland so much and wish they would be relegated this season!

When Manchester City plays against mid-to-lower-table Premier League teams like this, whether at home or away, as long as they score the first goal early, the rest is just a matter of slowly chipping away at their opponent's strength.

In the 56th minute of the second half, Manchester City stretched the midfield several times, and Tang Long switched positions with Navas from the defensive midfield position, rushing to the right wing.

This is a tactic that Pellegrini likes; he has studied Guardiola's tactics at Bayern and is also imitating this positional switch.

If we consider Navas's crosses from the right wing, his signature move is a high, precise, curving shot;

Once Tang Long gets to the wing, he'll unleash his signature Low-trajectory Curve Shot, curved cross!

Tang Long has mastered this unique skill from De Bruyne.

His Low-trajectory Curve Shot are not only fast and accurate, but more importantly, they always anticipate the striker's movement, ensuring that the ball and the player arrive at the same time!

Like a well-planned cruise missile, the football, spinning at high speed, left a deep scratch on the grass of Sunderland's Stadium of Light, precisely bypassing the feet of center -O'Shea and landing in Agüero's path.

The former Manchester United defender could only watch helplessly as Agüero once again outmaneuvered the goalkeeper with a chip shot, extending the lead to 2-0.

The Stadium of Light, which had been roaring with excitement at the start, suddenly fell into a deathly silence, like that of a library.

In that eerie silence, Agüero's roar sounded particularly jarring!

"Haha, that's how it's been spread, Tang!"

This time it was a genuine assist from Tang Long; Agüero slid down to Tang Long on his knees.

"Just run! If they give you the chance, you'll get it!"

Tang Long gave a brief six-word reply.

Such a fierce offensive left Yaya Toure, still in the backfield, feeling quite impressed.

"He understands space, knows how to press, can control the tempo, and has a pass that can anticipate the striker's movement. Tang is a player born to play midfield!"

In the 70th minute, Pellegrini made a substitution, with Toure being replaced by defensive midfielder Delph.

This is Delph's second time coming on as a substitute this season.

He was extremely excited to have gotten this opportunity, and kept rubbing his hands together.

But Toure was not happy, because this ended his record of playing the full 90 minutes in every Premier League match since the start of the season.

"I can still run, what would I do?"

Toure muttered to himself.

On the bench, watching the 26-year-old local defensive midfielder Delph run around the field like a beast, he couldn't help but feel envious. Youth is indeed a privilege!

Pellegrini observed the course of the match while exchanging views with his assistant coach Rayne.

Just five minutes later, Tang Long was moved up from the back position to the attacking midfield position.

Silva was substituted, and Fernando, a substitute player who hadn't played for some time, was brought on to fill the defensive midfield position left by Tang Long.

"This is the first time Delph and Fernando have partnered in defensive midfield; let's see how this new combination performs."

Toure was sitting on the far side of the bench.

He also clearly heard the conversation between Pellegrini and his assistant coach.

He knew that Pellegrini's tactical adjustments were always for a specific purpose, and he would never make adjustments or substitutions for the sake of adjustments or substitutions.

He mentioned the new pairing of Delph and Fernandinho, who are 26 and 28 years old respectively, the prime of a player's career.

Thinking of this, Toure suddenly felt a sense of crisis again!

He suddenly became very envious of Tang Long because Tang Long could play three positions on the field: defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder, and striker. He could play all of them.

A player who can play multiple positions is definitely the ideal player in a head coach's eyes.

What's even more terrifying is that Tang Long consistently delivers outstanding performances in every position; he's never just there to fill a spot.

Later, he thought back to his time at Barca, when he was forced to drop back and play center-back because he couldn't compete with Ha-Bai-Bu in midfield.

At Manchester City today, center-backs like Kompany, Ranocchia, Mangala, Otamendi are all at the peak of their careers, each one a top-tier player in the Premier League.

If Toure can't play as a defensive midfielder, can he play as a center-back for Manchester City?

If he can't even play center-back, can he play any other position?

Forward, attacking midfielder, winger...

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

So much so that when the referee blew the final whistle, Manchester City had secured a clean and decisive 3-0 away victory against Sunderland.

32-year-old Toure remained seated, somewhat lost in thought...