i want to be king

Chapter 869 We have to score again!
Returning to the locker room with a zero-to-one deficit, Manchester City was furious from top to bottom.

Throughout the first half, Manchester City firmly controlled the ball and the situation, and did not give Stoke City many opportunities.

But who would have thought that it was that one of the foul ball defenses that gave Stoke City one of the few chances to kick, and the Norwegian center Karoo caught the loophole and scored a goal.

This made Manchester City feel very uncomfortable.

In the subsequent games of the first half, the team kicked more and more urgently, and the more urgent the game, the less effective it was.

Guardiola returned to the locker room and did not criticize the players' performance in the first half, nor did he criticize Joe Hart's mistakes. After all, it is only halftime now, and the players need to continue to work hard in the second half, so there is no need to do so.

Stoke City is not the underdog as imagined by the outside world. This team is currently ranked eighth in the Premier League, but any fans who are familiar with the Premier League know how difficult this ranking is.

The team also has famous Premier League players such as John Carew, Shawcross, and Pennant. These players are not very well-known, but their strength is beyond doubt. The head coach Tony Pulis also formulated corresponding practical tactics according to the characteristics of the players, and the effect was good.

Stoke City has adopted a double midfielder tactic. On the defensive end, the main focus is to mark Manchester City's center.

"In the first half, 70.00% of our attacks were in the middle, and Stoke City's attack in the middle reached 60.00%. What does this mean?" Guardiola took the data given by Torrent and asked the players.

No need to think about it, this means that the two teams are too entangled in the middle.

This is what Stoke City hopes to see, but it is very detrimental to Manchester City.

Everyone knows that the middle lane is too dense.

More importantly, Manchester City has a strong wing. Whether it is Marcelo Gadí Maria on the left or Sabaletta and Sanchez on the right, they are all well-known offensive channels in the Premier League and even European football.

But now, Manchester City's offense seldom goes to the side, but more to the frontcourt through the center.

Instead, Su Dong became a player who frequently split the number of side passes, which is not healthy.

Of course, it can also be viewed the other way around, Manchester City's offensive formation is too aggressive, and the flanks are pressed too fast.

The combination of side and center is the biggest advantage of Manchester City's offense.

But in the first half, Manchester City was a bit hot-headed, playing in the middle of the brain, always wanting to go directly to Su Dong after getting the ball, creating a threat in the frontcourt, but the intention was too obvious.

Su Dong was alone, and the opponent had two central defenders and two defensive midfielders. With this kind of shrinking defensive tactics, even if Su Dong had wings, he couldn't hold back the opponent's encirclement.

The countermeasure given by Guardiola is to activate the two sides and not allow Stoke City to focus too much on Su Dong. Di Maria and Sanchez must create enough threats on the side to share Su Dong's pressure.

"Open their defense and create space for the players in the middle. I believe that we can create more threats without one-on-one or one-on-two," Guardiola said eloquently.

Everyone in Manchester City is full of confidence in Su Dong's ability.

In one-on-one, Su Dong crushes all opponents, and even in one-on-two, Su Dong has enough strength to create a threat, and even score a goal. Su Dong's most famous sentence at the time was, "As long as I am one-on-one, I can kill all opponents!"

In the first half, Manchester City did a poor job in this regard, and Guardiola hopes that the team can adjust.

……

After the head coach assigned the task, the locker room fell into silence again.

Guardiola has never been a head coach who is good at mobilizing the atmosphere, so he needs the assistance of assistants such as Estiat.

But at this moment, Manchester City's players do not need external incentives.

What they need is confidence!
The lagging behind in the first half made them become impatient and start making mistakes. This is the biggest problem Manchester City encountered.

This is also a problem that the team's tactical adjustment cannot solve.

After Guardiola arranged the tactics, he saw that the players were still not interested, so he couldn't help looking at Su Dong.

Su Dong noticed Guardiola's gaze, thought for a while, and stood up.

Everyone's attention in the locker room was also on Su Dong. When they saw him stand up, they all raised their heads and focused their eyes on him.

"Man City in the first half was not really Man City."

Su Dong spoke lightly, as if explaining an undeniable fact.

"I can understand everyone's eagerness. Whether it's us here or the fans in the stands, we are eagerly looking forward to this victory tonight, and we are all eager to win this coveted championship, but we made mistakes in the game and were punished."

After hearing what Su Dong said, everyone calmed down.

This is a fact.

"We are not like this usually. We should patiently control the ball and steadily control the rhythm. We should firmly grasp the initiative and let the opponent follow us instead of being led by the nose."

"I hope that everyone can think about how to play in the second half. We don't need to perform supernormally. We just need to play in an orderly manner as usual. We should be on the wing. We should break through and pass the ball. Everyone performs their duties."

Having said that, Su Dong paused for a moment, and looked deeply at his teammates in front of him.

"I still say the same thing, you pull the opponent's defense apart, pass the ball over, and I can score!"

"If one is not enough, I will enter two, and if two are not enough, I will enter three."

"Tonight, we will be able to keep this championship trophy in Manchester!"

…………

…………

The second half of the game restarted.

Manchester City obviously played more organized.

After a 15-minute break, the players basically calmed down.

Guardiola's arrangement and Su Dong's confidence made the Manchester City players work hard to stabilize their emotions.

Of course, everyone knows that this is only temporary.

If Manchester City can't score as soon as possible, the players' emotions will become anxious again sooner or later.

time does not wait.

……

After the running-in and adjustment after the opening, Manchester City gradually made efforts on the two sides.

The combination of Marcelo and Di Maria on the left, and the combination of Zabaleta and Sanchez on the right, both played a threat.

With an attack from the left blocked, Marcelo passed to Busquets and then to Toni Kroos to complete the transition from left to right.

When Toni Kroos just stopped the ball, he saw that Stoke City's defensive center of gravity was still to the left, and they were nervously following the ball to shift, while Su Dong in the frontcourt just ran to the left to respond, and at this time he was also moving to the center.

After the eyes of the two crossed for a while, Tony Cross noticed that Su Dong suddenly stopped.

The tacit understanding made the German midfielder understand, and quickly sent a long pass with his right foot, directly to the top of the arc.

At the moment when Tony Cross made a long pass, Su Dong also quickly started, from between the two central defenders Collins and Shawcross, he quickly advanced forward and went straight to the top of the penalty area.

Collins was ten centimeters shorter than Su Dong, and was blocked by Su Dong. Shawcross turned slowly and was a step behind.

Two central defenders sandwiched Su Dong, and the three rushed forward. At the top of the arc in the penalty area, Su Dong jumped with his back and stopped the ball with his chest.

When it landed, the person had already reached the restricted area.

Collins was still blocked by Su Dong, and posted it immediately, not wanting Su Dong to turn around, but Shawcross rushed too far, stabilizing his position near the penalty spot, forming a defensive depth with Collins.

Obviously, he was wary of Su Dong passing Collins.

After Su Dong landed, he hooked the ball with his foot, and the ball stuck firmly to his feet.

Collins behind him seemed to be facing a formidable enemy, all his strength was concentrated in front of him, and he resisted Su Dong stubbornly, not wanting him to turn around.

At the same time, I also wondered in my heart, which side will Su Dong turn from?
He is so proficient in both left and right feet, God knows what he is going to do?
But almost instantly, he guessed that Su Dong should turn to his right, that is, the left side of the goal, and then directly hit the goal with his left foot.

On the one hand, goalkeeper Sorensen's position, on the other hand, Shawcross is on the right.

If Su Dong turned to the right and hit the goal with his right foot, it was very likely that he would be blocked by Shawcross.

Therefore, Collins put almost his entire center of gravity on his right side.

As he expected, Su Dong moved his body hard to the right, as if he was about to turn around.

But just as Collins tensed his nerves and took a step to the right, Su Dong suddenly turned to the left.

Su Dong, who was tall and long-legged, just turned around and hit the door with a small swing of his right foot.

Su Dong's leg swing was small and his turn was quick, giving people the illusion that he kicked the goal before turning around, while the football shot out from the position where Collins had just been in a straight line, passed by the right side of Shawcross, and went straight to the lower left corner of the goal.

Such a shot was completely beyond the expectations of Collins, Shawcross and others. The goalkeeper Sorensen's sight was also blocked by Collins a lot.
The ball almost hit the inside of the left post and went into the Stoke City goal.

One to one!

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

"Only 7 minutes into the second half, Su Dong equalized the score for Manchester City!"

"One to one!"

Su Dong knew it was there after kicking his feet, and quickly rushed out of the court, running all the way.

Manchester City fans throughout the Etihad Stadium cheered deafeningly.

All the fans rushed out of their seats in an instant, shouting Su Dong's name frantically.

But Su Dong rushed to the sidelines and kept waving his hands at the fans in the stands, signaling them to be more enthusiastic.

Encouraged by Su Dong, the fans made more enthusiastic voices in solidarity with the Manchester City players in the stadium.

The players rushed up one by one, surrounding Su Dong in a group.

One to one, the score was evened.

They are also relieved.

Su Dong is right, as long as Manchester City follow the steps, follow their usual rhythm, and firmly hold the initiative in their hands, there is no need to fear any opponent at all.

Not to mention Stoke City, even Manchester United and Arsenal, wouldn't they still be defeated by Manchester City?

"Continue to play like this, we will score again!" Su Donglang said.

The teammates also responded one after another.

At this moment, Manchester City began to regain confidence from top to bottom.

(End of this chapter)