Halftime Assist Hat-Trick, Fadeaway Jumper, What Do You Call an All-Around Forward?
In the fourth round of the Premier League, Manchester City will play away against Bournemouth.
Manchester City's entire squad of about twenty men set off for Bournemouth.
Upon seeing this, the local residents reacted as if they had witnessed Japanese invaders entering their village, and they fled in panic.
This small city has suffered far too much!
In the 37th round of last season's Premier League, Bournemouth hosted Manchester City at home.
That day was an absolute nightmare for the club and the entire city; it was the darkest moment of their lives!
Having just been eliminated by Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals due to insufficient away goal difference in the two legs, they were eliminated by Bayern.
The Manchester City team, furious at their defeat, vented their anger on this small Premier League team.
0:10!
Bournemouth were thrashed 0-10 at home!
Tang Long and Agüero scored hat tricks, leaving Bournemouth utterly defeated, like lambs to the slaughter, helplessly being cut up piece by piece.
That match was completely out of control.
After the aggregate score reached 5-0, then-manager Pellegrini, to save face for the Bournemouth manager, ordered his players to slow down their attack.
Because if Manchester City wins this game, they can clinch the title with a round to spare, so winning 7-0 or 8-0 is completely meaningless.
But the players didn't care about any of that; they went completely berserk, raising their swords and hacking down relentlessly, showing no intention of stopping!
When the score reached 10-0, Bournemouth set a record that has stood for over two decades since the Premier League was founded – conceding double-digit goals in a single match!
Despite remaining in the Premier League for the new season, this double-digit scoreline remains a lingering pain for Bournemouth fans.
The day before the match, tens of thousands of Bournemouth fans flooded the social media accounts of Kompany, Agüero, Tang Long, Bonazzoli, and others, leaving messages pleading for leniency and asking them not to be too brutal in the game.
"Agüero, let us off the hook! One goal is enough!"
"Tang! You're the best in the world, you'll win the Ballon d'Or! But please, don't score in tomorrow's game, okay?"
"Bonazzoli, how about I introduce you to a blonde chick? Football isn't as fun as women, is it?"
"Kompany! You're the captain of Manchester City. If your Manchester City continues to bully us small teams like this, you'll get your comeuppance, and the Abu Dhabi United Group will get their comeuppance too!"
Of all the messages left for Manchester City players, only Tang Long replied to one.
He responded to the Bournemouth fan who had asked that no goals be scored in tomorrow's game with an "OK" sign and a smiley face.
All Bournemouth fans flocked to Tang Long's social media accounts to leave comments.
Before the match, many Bournemouth fans were pessimistic about the game, saying they were afraid of a crushing defeat and therefore dared not come to watch the game.
However, although the fans said no, their actions told a different story!
The Vitality Stadium, which can hold 12,000 people, was packed to capacity for the first time since the start of the tournament, with not a single empty seat left.
The reason is simple: everyone wants to see star players!
As a football fan, who could miss the chance to see stars like Tang Long, Agüero, Mkhitaryan, Diego, and Gündoğan perform live for just a few dozen Pound Sterling?
Looking at the packed stadium, Bournemouth manager Eddie wasn't excited, but rather sweating profusely with nervousness.
He thought to himself, "With so many home fans here to support me, if I lose 0-10 again, won't I be humiliated? I'll probably be fired on the spot!"
Since the start of the new season, Bournemouth have suffered consecutive defeats to Manchester United and West Ham United, and drew with the Crystal Palace in the third round, failing to secure a single victory in the first three rounds.
If they suffer another crushing defeat in the fourth round, it's not impossible that Eddie's job will be in jeopardy!
When Guardiola shook hands with Eddie before the match, he noticed that his palms were wet and sweaty.
He looked at the 39-year-old, the youngest Premier League manager in all of England, with surprise.
"Young man, what's wrong?"
Eddie glanced at the camera three meters away that was filming them, then leaned close to Guardiola's ear and whispered, covering his mouth:
"Pep, let's be lenient. Getting me fired won't do you any good. Let's keep the score close, okay?"
Guardiola was taken aback. He touched his bald head, looked at Eddie's pleading eyes, and immediately softened.
Being the head coach of a small team is really tough.
Although the 10-0 defeat was a disgrace caused by former Pellegrini, what can I do now that I'm the manager of Manchester City? Sigh.
Before the match started, Guardiola called Tang Long to his side.
"Tang, Bournemouth is a weak team, but don't score too many goals. Play conservatively. The first round of the UEFA Champions League group stage is in four days, so you need to conserve your energy."
The referee blew his whistle, and the match began!
Because they conceded 10 goals to their opponents last season, leaving them with a psychological scar, Bournemouth's players started the game very pragmatically, with everyone defending. Even their striker Joshua dropped back into his own half.
The formation at one point became a flat 550.
Seeing the opponent retreat like this, Guardiola on the sidelines couldn't help but find it amusing.
This is your home turf! Starting like this, aren't you even going to offer a token gesture?
It was only 8 minutes into the game.
Manchester City constantly tore apart the opponent's formation in midfield through a series of short passes.
However, due to Bournemouth's defensive line adhering to a zone-based strategy and consistently staying in their positions, it was difficult to break through for the time being.
Thiago made his final pass, choosing to play it safe by handing the ball to Tang Long on the wing.
Tang Long knew that the most important thing when facing the opponent's camping in the trenches was to get those players who were holding down the zone defense moving.
Because once things start moving, there will be gaps and weaknesses.
He stepped to the left with his left foot, lowered his left shoulder, and pretended to go down to the byline. Then, he flicked his right foot inward, quickly evaded the right-wing defender, and cut inside towards the center.
When Tang Long cut inside to the top left corner of the penalty area, right-back Smith and defensive Arter both rushed forward.
"Prevent him from shooting from long range!"
Facing the double-team, Tang Long didn't take a long shot. Instead, he feinted and continued dribbling towards the center, cutting inside until he reached the edge of the penalty area.
He dribbled the ball more than ten meters laterally from the wing to the center, constantly navigating the most dangerous area.
It's like a knife constantly dangling ten centimeters from your neck, making you feel uneasy.
The Bournemouth defense, which had been playing a zone defense, were terrified and dared not stay in their positions anymore. Instead, they rushed forward to try and double-team Tang Long.
For a moment, Tang Long was like a locomotive, with three or four Bournemouth players running alongside him like carriages!
A comfortable feeling welled up in Tang Long's heart in this position—just like when he played as an attacking midfielder last season.
With just a slight twist of the instep of his right foot, the football rolled along the ground in the opposite direction to the left.
Tang Long's pass tore open a huge gap in Bournemouth's defense!
"Mine!"
Left- Kolarov had already made a run forward, arriving in a flash. Without stopping the ball, he swung his left foot and unleashed a powerful shot!
The football flew straight into the top corner of the goal, and a goal was scored!
Kolarov, who scored his first goal of the season, was extremely excited and hugged Tang Long tightly, repeatedly saying that the pass was excellent.
Despite conceding a goal, Bournemouth's players showed no signs of discouragement; on the contrary, they all appeared quite desperate.
They knew they had done everything they could; they had indeed blocked Tang Long's shooting angles, but they couldn't stop his passes!
"Beautiful pass! Tang Long assists Kolarov's shot and goal!"
"This play demonstrates Tang Long's excellent vision and precise passing technique even when surrounded by multiple defenders!"
"Through passes from just outside the penalty area—that's Tang Long's forte as an attacking midfielder last season."
"It seems that even after switching to forward this season, Tang Long's passing skills are still there, and he has become even more versatile!"
Chivu, watching this scene from the sidelines, also raised his fists to his chest and silently chanted in his heart:
"A player like Tang, who can both pass the ball and score goals, is definitely our greatest weapon!"
Guardiola said he would end the game in the first half, and he meant it.
Manchester City scored early in the game, but they didn't stop their attacking momentum and continued to launch a fierce offensive in their opponent's home stadium.
Thiago sent a long pass to Navas on the right wing.
Everyone knows Navas's strength: his crosses from the byline.
While Bournemouth's players were defending against Navas' cross, the diminutive Spain player suddenly did the opposite, cutting inside with his right foot and then dribbling inwards with his left!
This scene stunned everyone on the field. Navas actually cut inside! Has the sun risen in the west?
Navas cut inside because he had seen Tang Long suddenly move rapidly from the left wing position towards the edge of the penalty area and was running towards him.
Navas knew that Tang Long wanted to coordinate with him by moving such a large distance from the left to the right, so he simply cut inside.
Navas passed the ball to Tang Long.
Tang Long, without stopping the ball, flicked it with the outside of his foot, completing a one-two pass, essentially setting up Navas as a target maneuvering towards the center.
Although it was just a simple one-two pass, Tang Long suddenly moved a large distance out of his original area of operation, and his coordination with Navas was extremely fast. How could the rough guys from Bournemouth possibly keep up with him?
When Navas received the ball, he was faced with a large open area at the edge of the penalty area, and for a moment his mind went blank.
Logically, since no one was marking that position, a shot should have been taken long ago;
But Navas is a player who doesn't like shooting; he only likes passing, so much so that at this moment, he seemed somewhat hesitant.
"Don't hesitate, just attack!"
At Tang Long's roar, Navas instantly snapped back to reality. Before the Bournemouth defenders could recover, he unexpectedly poked the ball with the tip of his right foot. The ball traveled at incredible speed and flew directly towards the bottom left corner of the goal.
Navas looked completely bewildered after scoring. "That went in?"
It's worth noting that he's never been one to like scoring goals. Last season, he made 30 appearances for Manchester City, scoring only one goal, but providing six assists.
Navas scored his first goal of the season in the fourth round, assisted by Tang Long, and he was indeed a little unaccustomed to it.
"Even Navas has blossomed like an iron tree!"
"Tang Long's long-distance raid, and his seamless coordination with Navas this time, served as a transit point!"
"This is Tang Long's second assist of the game!"
Is there anything else?
Of course there are more!
Just two minutes before the end of the first half.
Tang Long executed three consecutive Step Over on the left flank, leaving the full-back bewildered. With a final left-footed thrust, he forced his way down the flank.
Because of his realistic feint and extremely fast breakthrough, Tang Long's sudden movement created a huge amount of space.
He didn't need to rush to cross from the wing; instead, he cut inside with his left foot and dribbled the ball directly towards the center along the baseline!
"Tang! Over here!"
Agüero in the middle of the field, shouted a command from the crowd.
With five defenders, Bournemouth's penalty area was too crowded, and Agüero wasn't very tall; Tang Long couldn't even see him clearly when he looked up.
However, the only thing he could clearly see was that the gaps under the legs of those Bournemouth players who stretched out their legs to stop his crosses were so wide that a train could practically run through them!
He then used the instep of his right foot to push a low ball, which went through the legs of two Bournemouth defenders and rolled into the six-yard box.
[Passing the ball into the opponent's defender's legs, 85% success rate!]
With his keen eyesight, even though he couldn't see the ball go through the legs of two opponents, when it suddenly appeared in front of him, Agüero instinctively flicked it with his left foot, and the ball went into the net!
"Tang Long assists Agüero's goal once again!"
"He scored a hat trick of assists!"
"And all three assists were from different players!"
"Manchester City ended the battle early, a swift and decisive victory!"
"Today, Tang Long showed us what a truly well-rounded player is."
"Inside the penalty area, he can shoot; outside the penalty area, he can pass the ball!"
"He is the epitome of a modern football striker, an all-around striker!"