Deliberately Tripping Me? Sorry, You'll Have to Break a Leg First!
Amid the fierce competition in the Premier League, Burnley are struggling on the edge of the relegation zone.
Currently, they are ranked 17th, just outside the relegation zone, and only one point behind Watford, who are ranked 18th. Their situation is quite precarious.
In this match, Watford's opponent happens to be Hull City, who are at the bottom of the standings.
This means that if Burnley loses to the mighty Manchester City at home, and Watford defeats Hull City, Burnley will instantly replace Watford and fall into the relegation zone.
This is undoubtedly a nightmare for Burnley, who fought their way up from the EFL Championship to the Premier League last season. It is an outcome they absolutely do not want to face and cannot accept!
On the day of the match, a tense and oppressive atmosphere permeated Burnley's home ground.
In the locker room, Captain Benjamin stood before his teammates, his expression resolute, trying his best to encourage them.
"Listen up, guys! We only lost 1-2 at the Etihad. Today, we're back at home, and beating Manchester City is definitely not impossible! The key is that we have to dare to dream and dare to fight!"
His voice echoed in the locker room, trying to ignite the flame of victory in the hearts of every teammate.
However, the responses he received were not all the same.
The players' eyes darted around, each harboring their own thoughts.
Some eyes held despair, feeling that defeating Manchester City was simply a pipe dream;
Some, however, felt a pang of resentment, thinking that even if they couldn't win, they would still give their all in front of the home fans and not disappoint those who were full of expectations.
Many others remained silent, overwhelmed by immense pressure and unsure of what to do.
Just then, head coach Dyche walked in with a stern expression and began to give instructions on tactics.
His voice was deep and cold, each word seemingly carrying a ruthless edge.
When the players heard his tactical instructions, everyone gasped in astonishment, their faces filled with disbelief...
With a crisp whistle from the referee, the match officially began.
Almost from the very first minute of the game, the Burnley players displayed their rough side like wild horses.
Without any hesitation, they viciously aimed their spikes at Tang Long's ankles, as if they wanted to devour Tang Long alive!
At the same time, elbow strikes, wild arm swings, and violent knee strikes rained down on Tang Long, creating a chaotic scene.
In the 8th minute of the first half, the ball came to the left wing, and Tang Long skillfully dribbled the ball inside, preparing to shoot.
At this critical moment, right- Lowton pounced on Tang Long's legs with a vicious tackle from behind, like a hungry wolf.
With a "whoosh," Tang Long lost his balance and fell heavily onto the lawn.
"Tang! Are you alright!" Agüero and Bonazzoli were extremely anxious upon seeing this and rushed over to check on Tang Long's condition.
The hot-tempered Kolarov was even more enraged. He rushed over and grabbed Lowton by the throat with both hands, his eyes blazing with fury.
In an instant, the players from both sides quickly surrounded each other, and the scene became tense, with conflict on the verge of breaking out.
Fortunately, the referee reacted quickly and rushed over to separate the two, preventing a larger-scale conflict from occurring.
Nevertheless, the referee still had to show each of them a yellow card as a warning against their excessive behavior.
"I'm fine, nothing serious." Tang Long stood up and patted the grass and mud off his backside.
In fact, the moment Tang Long broke through Lowton's defense with a bicycle kick, he had already sensed from his opponent's exaggerated and contorted movements, as well as the low and malicious roar coming from his throat, that this guy was up to something.
Therefore, at the moment when Lowton made a sliding tackle from behind, Tang Long, with his excellent reaction and anticipation, jumped slightly upwards and cleverly avoided Lowton's deadly studs.
Although he was eventually knocked down by Lowton's move and rolled twice on the ground, fortunately, he did not suffer any real physical injury.
Tang Long looked coldly at Lowton, who was making the tackle.
As soon as Lowton and Tang Long locked eyes, Luo Dun's blue eyes darted around rapidly like a startled deer. Then, a hint of panic flashed in his eyes, and he dared not meet Tang Long's gaze again. He hurriedly turned around and slunk away to the back of the field.
The referee awarded Manchester City a free kick in the attacking third.
Kolarov walked over to Tang Long, met his gaze, nodded, and then silently stood aside.
Within the Manchester City team, it's an unspoken understanding that whenever Tang Long stands in front of the ball, the right to take the penalty kick is undoubtedly his, unless Tang Long voluntarily gives the opportunity to a teammate.
This time, Tang Long's eyes were firm, clearly indicating that he did not intend to give up this free kick opportunity.
From the series of malicious fouls committed by the opponents in the first few minutes of the game, Tang Long clearly felt that all of Burnley's actions at home were aimed at him without reservation.
Tang Long lowered his head slightly, touched his chin, and pondered to himself:
"We've encountered similar situations before. But for a team like Burnley, desperate to avoid relegation, the only way to end this malicious siege as quickly as possible is to completely overwhelm them in the first half, crush their spirits, and put an end to their dangerous and malicious schemes."
Tang Long understood better than anyone that the longer this malicious fouling tactic targeting him continued, the more detrimental it would be to him and the team.
At this moment, the only way to get out of this predicament is to act quickly and decisively!
Tang Long stood in front of the soccer ball, took a deep breath, and looked up.
Five towering Burnley players quickly gathered in front, forming a seemingly impenetrable wall of men.
Behind the wall of men, their goalkeeper Heaton, was intently leaning over the goalpost, nervously directing the positioning of the wall while closely watching Tang Long's every move.
"JU--"
Tang Long bent down slightly and began his running start.
The entire audience held their breath.
"Bang!"
Tang Long shoots!
With the sound of the ball being struck, Burnley's five wall players seemed to receive a unified command. They were all ready to die, and without blinking, they used all their strength to raise their heads high and stretch their bodies as if they were trying to break through the sky, and they all jumped with all their might.
They knew in their hearts that Tang Long's free kicks, with their unpredictable curves and tricky angles, were a deadly weapon on the field;
To stop him from scoring with a direct free kick, the only option is to fight bravely and use your body to block every possible angle!
However, just as the Burnley wall of players leaped high, seemingly about to jump straight into the sky, an unexpected and bizarre scene unfolded.
Instead of kicking a beautifully curved free kick as usual, Tang Long unexpectedly unleashed a superb Low-trajectory Curve Shot!
He merely gave it a gentle push with the instep of his foot, seemingly effortlessly, but the football shot off like an arrow, skimming the ground and flying towards the goal at incredible speed.
The football seemed to have eyes; it flew past the gap left by the Burnley wall after the players jumped high, like lightning!
Goalkeeper Heaton was completely unprepared for Tang Long to choose such a low, flat shot.
"Hey, where's the ball? Where did it go?"
In that instant, he felt as if his thoughts had frozen, and his body was nailed to the spot, unable to move.
By the time he finally realized what was happening and tried to make a save, it was already too late.
The football had already rolled into the net like a ghost.
Heaton made a hasty, symbolic save, which ended with him rolling awkwardly on the ground.
The entire audience erupted in uproar!
Not only were the Burnley players stunned by the sudden goal, but even their Manchester City teammates were dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief.
Everyone stared blankly at Tang Long, as if they were seeing a football god descend from the sky!
On the sidelines, Guardiola, seeing this, smiled with satisfaction. He waved his hand and laughed at Chivu:
"See? This is genius. You know what I'm thinking right now."
Chivu, also beaming, said, "I guess it's Ronaldinho's free kick?"
After hearing this, Guardiola gave Chivu a thumbs up, and the two then embraced excitedly.
After Tang Long scored that exquisite free kick, Burnley's momentum was instantly dampened, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.
After all, as the home team, they were already trailing the powerful Manchester City in less than 10 minutes.
Given this situation, getting points from Manchester City seems increasingly difficult, almost an impossible task.
Tang Long's free kick, in the eyes of Burnley manager Dyche, seemed like a cruel joke, which infuriated him.
He was furious on the sidelines, yelling at the players on the field, "Get your act together and play according to the established tactics!"
His so-called existing tactics were not about playing football properly, but about continuing to use any means necessary to defeat Tang Long.
Inspired by Dyche, Burnley's players rallied once again.
Soon, they launched a second, even more intense attack on Tang Long.
In fact, these players understood that their desire to target Tang Long was not entirely out of personal resentment, but rather a desperate measure taken to avoid relegation for the team.
If they still harbor a sliver of hope and want to get points from Manchester City, injuring Tang Long as soon as possible seems to be their only lifeline.
Because they knew that given the difference in strength between the two teams, no matter how hard they tried or how fiercely they fought, if Tang Long performed normally on the field, they would have absolutely no chance of defeating Manchester City.
Seeing that his opponent not only didn't restrain himself after he scored a goal, but instead intensified his attacks, Tang Long couldn't help but sigh, shake his head in disappointment, and think to himself:
"Sigh, I gave you a chance, but you refused to listen and insisted on suffering the consequences, huh? Fine, then I'll have to make an example of you."
At this stage, Tang Long has honed his skills through numerous matches and combined them with three years of rich professional experience. His understanding of football has reached a depth that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve, and his connection with the ball is superb, reaching a very high level.
Looking across the entire world of football, there are very few players who can rival him in this regard.
In Tang Long's eyes, the seemingly fierce and rough tackles of Burnley's players were like slowed-down motions at 0.3 times the speed; everything seemed so slow and so easy to predict.
In the 18th minute of the first half, the ball came to the left wing again, and Tang Long, like a gust of wind, easily broke through Lowton's defense once again.
This time, with a yellow card already on his back, Lowton was clearly more cautious and dared not act as recklessly as before. He could only carefully stick close to Tang Long, trying to disrupt his rhythm.
Just then, another defensive midfielder Arfield, seized the opportunity, made a diagonal run, and launched a powerful sliding tackle on the ball at Tang Long's feet.
He knew perfectly well that under these circumstances, it was better to give Tang Long a free kick than to let him dribble smoothly into the penalty area and shoot, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
Tang Long seemed hesitant while dribbling the ball, failing to immediately detect Arfield's sudden attack.
Just as Arfield's toe was about to touch the ball, and his sliding tackle was about to strike Tang Long's ankle, Tang Long seemed to have foreseen everything, as if he had anticipated it all—
Suddenly, he leaped high forward, ball and all, and gracefully soared through the air.
"Ah!!!"
A piercing scream instantly echoed through the sky, sending chills down the spines of everyone present.
The scream did not come from Tang Long, but from Lowton, who had been sticking close to Tang Long.
It turns out that Tang Long had already calculated Arfield's tackle route and the possible next steps in his mind through precise judgment of the situation on the field, and combined this with Lowton's position to conduct a series of complex and accurate simulations.
Finally, he leaped high into the air, and Arfield's sharp cleats struck Lowton's ankle squarely!
Poor Lowton was completely unprepared for such an accident. He never imagined that his teammate's tackle would not only fail to catch Tang Long, but would instead send him flying.
Caught completely off guard, Lowton, like a fragile doll, spun helplessly 180 degrees in the air before crashing heavily to the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He rolled on the ground in agony, clutching his ankles tightly with both hands, groaning in pain.
Meanwhile, Arfield, who had made the tackle, was completely dumbfounded, standing there at a loss, his eyes filled with regret and self-blame.
Upon seeing this, the team doctor rushed onto the field.
After a thorough examination, the team doctor shook his head helplessly and announced that Lowton had a fractured ankle.
Lowton was then slowly carried off the field on a stretcher.
After Tang Long scored a goal and injured a key player, Dyche was so anxious that his eyes turned red, like a wild beast trapped in a desperate situation.
Without hesitation, he immediately substituted the injured Lowton with Darikwa, and shouted wildly from the sidelines:
"We can't let our guard down. This is our home turf, so let's get the action going!"
At this point, Dyche didn't even bother to hide it anymore, openly encouraging the players to continue using malicious fouls.
Chivu, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it any longer. He angrily pointed at Dyche and shouted, "Are you here to play football or to kick people? Have you no professional ethics at all?!"
However, Dyche acted as if he hadn't heard, rolled his eyes at Chivu, and then spat heavily on the ground, completely ignoring his accusations.
Chivu was furious, his face flushed, and he wanted to rush up and argue with Dyche.
Guardiola gently reached out and pressed Chivu's hand down.
"Pep, look! They're obviously trying to sabotage Tang Long. Why don't we substitute Tang Long? I don't want him to get injured before the Juventus match," Chivu said anxiously.
"What are you afraid of? Can't you see? These roughnecks from Burnley think they can hurt Tang Long? Haha, I bet you, they'll have to make a substitution before the end of the first half!"