Left, Right, Up, Down, Nine Shallow, One Deep, Elusive!

Initially, the Manchester United players were only surprised by Tang Long's sudden interception of the ball from De Bruyne, but they didn't care about his shot, instead thinking it was rather reckless.

Tang Long's kick was approximately 40 meters from the goal.

Taking a shot from that spot and expecting to score is simply a pipe dream, as ridiculous as Icardi's lobbed shot from the center circle!

Icardi was initially annoyed and alarmed by De Bruyne's sudden loss of possession, blaming him for not passing the ball to him sooner;

He was taken aback when he saw Tang Long suddenly kick the ball, fearing that he might score a spectacular goal before the end of the first half.

"Stay calm, De Gea, you can do it!"

But after the ball was kicked, seeing that it didn't have much power and its trajectory was rather languishing, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"You say I'm no good? Look at your footwork, it's not much better than mine!"

At that moment, goalkeeper De Gea was positioned somewhat forward, and he was standing right on the edge of the penalty area when Tang Long took the shot.

Seeing the ball coming, he quickly adjusted his center of gravity and kept backing away, afraid that the ball would fall directly into the goal.

But after taking two steps back, when he reached the penalty spot, he slowed down and relaxed slightly.

De Gea saw the ball coming towards the goal, and although it looked like it was going in, the ball wasn't moving very fast. He figured he could easily catch it with both hands.

Agüero and Sterling didn't make any forward runs, and Manchester United Darmian and Ashley Young stood still next to them.

It seemed everyone was waiting for De Gea to catch the ball securely in his hands.

Just like before, he didn't need to hug the ball; instead, he gently lifted it, let it land, and then stepped on it, just like Manchester City goalkeeper Bravo did with Icardi's absurd shot.

"Ah, is this just for the sake of creating a show?" Michael Owen sighed softly in the Sky Sport studio.

He also didn't think the ball would pose any threat to De Gea.

Diletta pursed her lips. She knew Tang Long did indeed possess an astonishing long-range shot, but this one was poorly executed. She thought to herself, "What's wrong with you, Tang? You can't just mess around like that."

Ronaldo's eyes followed the ball's trajectory the whole time; although the ball was kicked slowly, it was still unexpected for Ronaldo.

However, based on his understanding of Tang Long's move seemed to have a hidden meaning. "What's going on? Let me see..."

Just as De Gea had raised his hands to judge the landing point and was about to catch the ball, when the ball was about 15 meters away from him, it suddenly swayed from side to side!

"Um?"

De Gea was startled and quickly squinted, trying to focus his gaze on the ball;

But he found it difficult to focus because the ball was moving so erratically, like a bird flapping wildly in the air.

Left and right, up and down, nine shallow and one deep, drifting and uncertain!

Although Tang Long didn't exert much force when he shot, he still volleyed the ball out with his foot!

The ball had no arc in the air and was originally going straight forward, but under the force, it suddenly swayed irregularly from side to side when it was about to reach the goal, making De Gea momentarily dizzy.

This move was once mastered by Juninho, the midfield maestro of Ligue 1 in Lyon. However, Juninho used a free kick, while Tang Long used a volley in open play, which is more difficult and unpredictable.

As the ball drew closer, De Gea steeled his resolve and, facing the unpredictable trajectory of the ball, immediately abandoned any thought of catching it.

He leaped high into the air, waving his fist, trying to punch the ball out of the penalty area!

"Fxxkoff!"

De Gea roared and stretched out his long arms!

His towering 1.9-meter frame gave him excellent control and coverage; it looked like he was about to punch the ball away.

Unexpectedly, when the football was about a meter away from him, it suddenly turned to the right!

With a "snap," De Gea's fist scraped against the surface of the ball's leather, indicating that he had missed!

After the ball went around De Gea's arm, its speed gradually decreased, and it even bounced once before falling into the net.

[The Winged Shot Test was a success!]

Tang Long nodded slightly, his expression calm.

He knew this moment would come, and even if it was before the end of the first half, it would still be a good opportunity.

Tang Long remained calm, but the other players on the field were anything but!

Everyone— Manchester United players, Manchester City players, players off the field, and nearly 70,000 Manchester United fans in the stadium—turned their heads in unison, and all eyes were focused on Tang Long. Everyone was stunned!

Even the referee was shocked, remaining stunned for three seconds before blowing his whistle to signal that the goal was valid.

When the whistle blew to end the first half, all of Tang Long's Manchester City teammates rushed over and surrounded him.

Everyone chimed in, excitedly discussing Tang Long's shot from just now.

His words contained both envy and surprise.

"De Gea is stunned by your attack, Tang!"

"Haha, I thought we wouldn't be able to get in at first, it's amazing!"

"How did you do that? The ball seemed to suddenly change direction?"

"That was a world-class goal!"

"That's great! It's 1-1, we'll definitely beat them in the second half!"

Sky Sport studio.

Since Tang Long scored that goal, Diletta and Owen have remained silent.

It wasn't that they didn't want to speak, or that they didn't want to share their thoughts and opinions on Tang Long's brilliant long-range shot; rather, the small studio was completely filled with Ronaldo's deep and magnetic voice, leaving the two of them no chance to get a word in edgewise.

"A full 40 meters!"

"I knew it! I knew he had a plan when he shot from that spot!"

"See? He kicked the ball, and it went in. Scoring goals is that easy for him!"

"Don taught Icardi a harsh lesson, showing him what a real long-range shot is. That's the difference between the two, the huge difference between a first-class player and a top star!"

Ronaldo spread his arms wide, gesturing, "That's how big the gap is, an insurmountable chasm!"

"Footwork, awareness, anticipation, and courage—all four are indispensable to scoring a goal like this!"

Owen was tired of hearing Ronaldo's incessant praise of Tang Long, and he retorted somewhat unconvinced:

"In my opinion, Tang Long's shot was certainly brilliant, and the trajectory was very unpredictable, but the main reason was that De Gea underestimated his opponent and positioned himself too far forward. If he had been standing on the edge of the penalty area, given the speed of the ball, it would have been impossible for him to score. So, luck played a big part!"

Owen further explained that with shots from beyond the arc, especially volleys, the player often doesn't know where the ball will go, and luck plays a significant role in making a goal.

Upon hearing this, Ronaldo snorted coldly and rolled his eyes at Owen, thinking to himself, "You're a Ballon d'Or Ballon d'Or striker, how can you say something so low-level? Don't let me underestimate you."

He then added, "Michael, if you truly understand Tang, if you carefully watched the entire goal, you'd know how crucial anticipation is for a player when scoring from that distance. Why did Icardi's long-range shot miss, while Tang Long did? That's the difference; it's far beyond what luck can excuse!"

Owen's status is considerably lower than Ronaldo's, but since they are both retired players sitting in the studio, there's no need to consider seniority.

"Roni, give me 50 kicks, and I can score a goal like Tang's. We've both been professional players, and we know that the most spectacular goals are often scored in training, because there are more shooting opportunities!"

Seeing the atmosphere getting a bit tense, Diletta quickly changed the subject. "Let's watch the SportMediaset again. I have something I'd like to ask Mr. Ronaldo."

"Go ahead and speak," Ronaldo said, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve before sitting down.

"De Gea didn't save that shot," Diletta said, puzzled. "We can certainly attribute it to a mistake by De Gea, but we saw that the ball made a very obvious curve at the end. How did he kick it like that?"