This Wasn't Mauro, It Was Mao Biao! With an Open Goal, Icardi Went Straight Into the Net!

After the match started, Manchester City dominated possession, while Manchester United retreated and launched counter-attacks.

This aligns with both teams' tactical approaches and Manchester City's home advantage.

Unexpectedly, just six minutes into the game, before Manchester City's players had even warmed up, their opponents launched a surprise attack!

Agüero's shot was blocked by Rojo, winning a corner kick for his team in the attacking third.

Kolarov took a short corner, intending to surprise Manchester City by penetrating the ground and disrupting their defensive positioning.

However, after receiving the ball in the defensive midfield position, Gündoğan hesitated for a moment, looking at the densely packed players from both sides in the penalty area, and then forced a through pass!

The corner kick was poorly executed. Although it bypassed the gap between Manchester United's two defensive midfielders, it was easily intercepted by Manchester United center -Blind halfway through.

"Push them all out, charge forward!"

Having gained a rare opportunity for a counter-attack, Manchester United's defense quickly pushed forward, leaving Agüero, Sterling, Navas, and others behind the offside line.

Icardi sprinted forward, reaching out for the ball;

Rooney is also making a forward run!

Blind, however, passed the ball to De Bruyne from among several possible passing options.

Gündoğan is also chasing back.

The ball was dispossessed because of his own play, and the responsible Germany midfielder, wanting to make amends, immediately moved closer to De Bruyne.

Seeing that Gündoğan was pouncing too fiercely, Tang Long, who had been retreating, quickly reminded him:

"Don't try to grab it, just hold your spot!"

But Tang Long's warning came too late.

De Bruyne remained remarkably calm and composed in the face of the aggressive Gündoğan.

He flicked his right foot to the right, feigning a breakthrough from the right flank, deceiving Gündoğan's balance before striking back with a sharp "snap."

With just that simple flick and pull, he completely outmaneuvered Gündoğan.

De Bruyne's ball handling was extremely smooth and precise, both in terms of timing and transitions, which drew admiration and praise from Gündoğan.

Tang Long, Gündoğan, Sterling, Navas, Agüero— all the forwards are tracking back!

The young De Bruyne possessed exceptional driving ability; his dribbling and speed were superb.

Facing Manchester City, who had once treated him as a backup option in the transfer market and then ruthlessly discarded him, De Bruyne's desire to win and his thirst for revenge were extremely high!

His dribbling technique is extremely simple, without any fancy moves, but he always hits the right spots and attacks open spaces.

It only takes six or seven seconds.

De Bruyne made a long 50-meter run from the backfield, beating out three defenders— Gündoğan, Toure, and Sagna— and brought the ball to the edge of Manchester City's penalty area!

In particular, Gündoğan wasn't satisfied with being beaten once; despite actively chasing back, he was then nutmegged by De Bruyne the edge of the penalty area.

De Bruyne shoots!

De Bruyne is a master of passing, and his signature Low-trajectory Curve Shot made him shine in the Bundesliga for a season.

After arriving in the Premier League, De Bruyne devoted himself to studying and, under the guidance of the Manchester United coaching staff, combined his shooting technique with passing. This long-range shot he unleashed was also Low-trajectory Curve Shot, only with a faster ball speed and an extremely sudden attack!

The tall full-back Kolarov had already tracked back and was clearly blocking De Bruyne's path;

But De Bruyne's low, curling shot seemed perfectly timed, just around Kolarov's toes and heading straight for the goal!

Caballero's view was blocked by Kolarov; he could only hear the sound of the ball but couldn't see its trajectory.

Fortunately, the next sound was a loud "clang," as the ball hit the outside of the goalpost and bounced out of bounds, giving Caballero a scare.

"That was close!" Kolarov's heart raced.

Tevez in the studio also thoroughly enjoyed the show.

As a star player who played for both Manchester City and Manchester United, Tevez has now left the Top Five Leagues and is living a semi-retired life.

Sky Sport specifically invited him to commentate on this match, precisely because of his status as a player for two different teams, hoping to generate some buzz.

"What a pity, Diletta! De Bruyne's shot was of very high quality; Caballero could only watch helplessly. Manchester City escaped a close call."

"It wasn't just the shot; the Belgium's dribbling before that was also superb. He was like a man-made wall in the middle. If that ball had gone in, it would definitely have been a strong contender for the Premier League Goal of the Season," Diletta added.

Live stream room.

[That was an amazing shot! It would have gone in if the goalpost hadn't been there!]

- [De Bruyne midfield just now was even better than Tang Long's!]

-[I heard before that Manchester City gave up on De Bruyne for Tang Long?]

"If you ask me, Manchester City should have signed both of them back then. Manchester City could have dominated Europe for five or six years!"

That wouldn't be as exciting, and there wouldn't be the intense competition for the Premier League title that Manchester City and Manchester United had this season.

- [Gündoğan didn't handle that ball well just now. He was too eager to intercept, and he seemed a bit impatient.]

-[That's right, if Tang Long were in that position, he would definitely delay De Bruyne's pass by blocking and retreating. The first principle of defense: you can let him pass, but you can't let him get past you!]

De Bruyne's long run and brilliant shot drew cheers from the Manchester United fans in the stadium.

However, Icardi was not very happy.

He got a little emotional.

De Bruyne's shot was beautiful, even though Icardi admitted it was a great shot.

However, the moment De Bruyne took the shot, Icardi had already created space on the left side of the penalty area!

If De Bruyne had simply pushed the ball gently down the left flank, Icardi could have shot directly from there.

Near angle or far angle, these are the entry angles he excels at.

"Kevin, are you blind?" Icardi yelled, shrugging at De Bruyne, "Give it to me and it's 1-0!"

De Bruyne glanced at Icardi expressionlessly, didn't speak to him, and turned to walk back.

Seeing Icardi still cursing behind his back, Manchester United captain Rooney quickly ran to De Bruyne's side to encourage him.

"I had no problem hitting that ball myself, I was just a little unlucky! Next time I have a chance like that, I should take it without hesitation."

Rooney has great faith in De Bruyne's goal-scoring ability.

Because De Bruyne is a midfielder who excels at scoring goals!

Although he provided 16 assists in the league, delivering beautiful passes to players such as Icardi, Rooney, and Lingard;

However, in terms of league goals, he has also scored 11 goals, making him the team's second-highest scorer after Icardi, and one more than Rooney.

Taking advantage of the gap in goalkeeper Caballero's kick-off...

Tang Long quickly summoned Gündoğan to his side to give him instructions.

"De Bruyne is very fast, don't rush at him, just hold your position. Your primary task is not to steal the ball, but to slow down his advance."

When Gündoğan played for Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund, he witnessed De Bruyne's dribbling skills during a match against Wolfsburg.

Unexpectedly, after De Bruyne the Premier League, his skills improved by leaps and bounds, completely exceeding Gündoğan's expectations.

He nodded nervously, keeping Tang Long's reminder in mind.

After Manchester United's early attacks, Manchester City gradually stabilized and rarely gave their opponents quick counter-attack opportunities from set pieces. When defending De Bruyne, Gündoğan also remembered Tang Long's advice, only blocking and not easily making tackles.

As the game progressed, and after another 20 minutes or so, Manchester City firmly controlled possession, with their possession rate once reaching as high as 73%!

Just as Manchester United were organizing their formation and defending tightly against Manchester City's possession and passing, they didn't expect that the goal they conceded would come from a Manchester City counter-attack!

It was another corner kick, and again Schneiderlin's pass through the middle was intercepted.

After gaining possession of the ball, Toure immediately looked for Tang Long as well!

Since Manchester City has many fast, diminutive wingers in their attacking third, Tang Long didn't need to expend energy on long runs like De Bruyne. He powerfully pushed the ball with the instep of his foot to Navas, who was already making a high-speed run on the right.

Navas is a typical Spain winger; he is not tall, but he dribbles very quickly, especially on the flanks.

He pushed the ball along the sideline three times with a "bang, bang, bang," and sprinted all the way down the line!

Tang Long understood Navas's playing habits; he preferred to push forward along the flanks rather than cut inside.

However, in this counter-attack, getting the ball into the middle was clearly more threatening.

So when Tang Long saw Navas about to push the ball to the corner, he had already moved into the right side of the penalty area. In response to the call, Navas looked up, did not cross, but instead passed the ball low to Tang Long.

Tang Long, positioned on the right side of the penalty area, delivered two La Croqueta, sending Schneiderlin's outstretched foot flying into thin air!

As he cut inside, the wind whistled past his ears, and the cheers of the Manchester City fans in the stands echoed in his ears!

At that moment, Tang Long made a wise decision.

At the last moment, the left foot, raised high but then gently lowered, pushed the ball like a scalpel, tearing apart Manchester United's defense and sending it into the left side of the penalty area.

Agüero, who had been lying in wait, suddenly took two steps from the offside line, bypassing Smalling from the inside. Before the ball even arrived, he had already made the swing motion and pushed the ball into the near corner of the goal!

Even if De Gea had three heads and six arms, he wouldn't be able to reach it!

"Agüero--"

"Tang--"

A storm of cheers erupted at the Etihad Stadium, and amidst this storm, Agüero and Tang Long embraced tightly.

-[If Tang Long and Agüero successfully connect, there's a very high chance the ball will go in!]

[Great shot! De Bruyne the same position, but Tang Long passes the ball!]

-[It's not that De Bruyne's shooting was bad, but Tang Long created the goal!]

-[To be honest, Tang Long's long-range shooting threat isn't as great as De Bruyne's, but just look at the assist charts and you'll see where he's better De Bruyne!]

-[I bet Icardi is furious right now, haha!]

Icardi must be furious...

In the 27th minute of the first half, Manchester City took a 1-0 lead, but Manchester United, trailing behind, did not lose heart.

During the break in play, the players clapped and shouted to each other, using various forms of body language to boost morale.

But Icardi glared at De Bruyne, clearly furious.

It's not that Manchester City scoring one goal is a big deal; it's only been 20 minutes, and there are still over 60 minutes of the game to play.

The outcome is far from certain.

The key point is that, in almost the same position, De Bruyne chose to shoot, while Tang Long chose to pass!

Especially De Bruyne's shot, although brilliant, didn't go in, while Tang Long's pass led to Agüero's goal.

How could Icardi not harbor resentment towards De Bruyne and, at the same time, be filled with jealousy towards Agüero?

They're both midfielders, so why is there such a huge difference between them?

He immediately wanted to rush over to De Bruyne and teach the Belgium a lesson.

But halfway there, Rooney grabbed his arm.

What are you going to do?

When Rooney saw Icardi charging angrily toward De Bruyne, he knew the kid was about to explode, so he stopped him in time.

"Captain, does De Bruyne have a problem with me? Look, in the same position, he missed his shot, but Don's pass led to a goal!"

Rooney gently patted Icardi on the back of the head, offering him words of comfort.

"Kevin can take that shot, but don't worry, you're our team's top scorer, Kevin will definitely pass you the ball. You're a forward, you need to wait for the right opportunity, you know that better than I do, I don't need to remind you, right?"

Icardi nodded helplessly; he even felt a sense of humiliation, as if he were bearing a heavy burden of humiliation.

However, Icardi remained like a leopard lurking in the jungle, constantly observing the ball's movement and the players' positioning, searching for the opportune moment to deliver the fatal blow.

Ten points later, his chance came!

This was another counter-attack, Gündoğan remembered Tang Long's advice, not rushing in to defend against De Bruyne.

Even so, it was impossible to completely contain De Bruyne.

De Bruyne simply flicked the ball sideways and launched a long kick while sprinting forward.

This long pass found Darmian, the right-back who was making a run down the flank!

Darmian is a typical Italy full-back; he is not fast and not physically strong, but his basic skills are very solid.

Not only did he control De Bruyne's ball perfectly, but he also didn't rush to force his way down the wing. Instead, he took two steps towards the center and began to observe potential passing lanes.

Just as a red gust of wind flashed past his ear, Darmian instinctively pushed the ball to the wing, and the ball went over Kolarov.

In the studio, Tevez exclaimed in surprise!

"My God, De Bruyne just made a long pass and immediately ran over to combine with Darmian on the wing!"

"How can his physical abilities be so strong? I'm so jealous of him!"

"He was completely open, he even cut inside a step or two, and had plenty of time to pass the ball!"

Having gained space, De Bruyne delivered a very cunning cross from the intersection of the penalty area line and the byline.

The ball was struck with the instep, not only fast but also perfectly aligned, catching Caballero at the crossroads where he was caught between coming out and not coming out – causing Caballero to hesitate for a moment as the ball slipped past his hand!

"Haha, the opportunity has arrived!"

Icardi cleverly appeared at the far post!

The ball had already passed Caballero's outstretched fingers, and Icardi was facing an open goal. He only needed to lightly touch the ball with any part of his body to change its direction and equalize for Manchester United.

When De Bruyne's sweeping shot went over Caballero, countless Manchester United legends in the stands couldn't sit still and instinctively jumped up!

Because of the God's-eye view from the stands, everyone saw Icardi at the far post, unmarked!

Van Nistelrooy, the Netherlands striker who scored 150 goals for Manchester United, even raised his arms in celebration!

Even after retiring last year, winger Giggs still maintains the passion of a player, roaring, "Icardi, goal!"

Scholes, the midfield maestro who was also in the stadium, clenched his fists excitedly, thinking that we had finally equalized the score in the first half.

Even Pellegrini, sitting on the sidelines, felt a sense of despair.

With that kind of pass from that position, even if it were Icardi, or even if he were over 60 years old on the field, he could still score.

It's so easy, just effortlessly eating pancakes, sigh.

Bang!

Icardi jumped into the net!

The ball rolled on the goal line, blocked by him!

Ranocchia was taken aback for a moment, then rushed over. With his height and long legs, he tackled the ball high out of bounds before Lingard could react to the follow-up shot!

Seeing this scene...

The live stream chat exploded!

[Holy crap, Icardi scored, but the ball didn't go in!]

What kind of plot is this?

[Brothers, this isn't Mauro, this is Mao Biao!]

At this moment, Icardi's spirit is possessed by Mao Biao; he is not fighting alone!