"Andy Johnson—what a pity!"

Everton's forward, Andy Johnson, held his head in his hands. Behind him were the goalkeeper Malafeev, still in shock, and the football that had flashed past the post, crashing into the advertising boards…

The game had only been going for five minutes, and Everton, playing at home, had already had a golden opportunity to score. The team's midfield maestro, Arteta, played a brilliant through ball, which sliced between the two center backs, Skrtel and Nicolas Lombaerts!

Andy Johnson, running parallel to the defensive line, accelerated, using his speed to get behind Zenit's defense. After receiving the ball, he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

When Zenit's fans saw Andy Johnson appear like a ghost behind their defense, their hearts leaped into their throats, as if they were about to jump right out of their wide-open mouths.

Thankfully, the shot went wide…

Advocaat was not happy. He stood up from his seat, rushed to the sideline, and roared at the pitch, "Watch the space behind! Protect!"

Why had he started the young, twenty-one-year-old Belgian center-back Lombaerts alongside Skrtel? It was because the young Lombaerts was faster than Erik Hagen and Kryzhanaq, giving them a better chance against Everton's speedy forwards…

Who would have thought that the opponent would break through his defense in just five minutes? How could he not be angry?

In this game, he valued defense more than offense. With Arshavin, Chen Yingxiong, Kerzhakov, Domingues, and others in attack, the quality was guaranteed.

But the defense was much weaker. Tymoshchuk had to defend in midfield, and the fullbacks Anyukov and the Korean Kim Dong-jin were both attack-minded. Skrtel was trustworthy, but Lombaerts had only joined the team this season and hadn't played many games. He didn't know if his performance in such an important match would be satisfactory.

Advocaat had considered using a five-defender formation, with three center-backs and a sweeper playing behind the two central defenders… but he didn't have the right personnel. You couldn't just pull anyone back to play as a sweeper.

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The key to solving the problem of his worrisome defense actually lay in the attack—if Zenit could use a strong offensive to push the home team, Everton, back, the crisis in his defense would naturally be resolved. This was the strategy of "Wei Wei rescues Zhao," (a strategic maneuver in which one avoids a direct confrontation with a stronger enemy by attacking their weaker allies, forcing the enemy to retreat and assist their allies) although Advocaat, as a foreigner, didn't know the origin of this idiom. But he understood the principle.

He knew what Everton's players were thinking. Although their attack looked threatening right now, and Moyes had fielded almost his entire starting lineup, he couldn't control what the players were thinking. They weren't data; they were living people with their own thoughts and ideas. So sometimes… they wouldn't be so obedient.

With the league in full swing and the team currently in first place in the UEFA Cup with one game in hand, was it necessary to put all their energy into the UEFA Cup? What if they got injured? What if they ran out of stamina? If they were relegated to the bench for these reasons, who knew if they would ever have a chance to turn things around? So "saving energy" was definitely something on the players' minds.

As long as he could show strength, it would force Everton's players to be cautious. A draw at home against Zenit wasn't unacceptable to them. With seven points from three games, they were practically guaranteed to advance. So why should they work so hard?

These players would definitely have that thought!

Thinking this, Advocaat turned his gaze to the front, where someone was very conspicuous.

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Chen Yingxiong was raising his hand, signaling his teammates to pass him the ball.

Standing next to him was Everton's center-back, Lescott.

Although Moyes said that Chen Yingxiong was the defensive responsibility of both Lescott and Yobo, in reality, it didn't require two people. So the young Lescott volunteered to take on the task of defending Chen Yingxiong.

After all, Zenit didn't only have one forward; Kerzhakov was also a dangerous player.

In fact, in the eyes of Everton's players, Kerzhakov was more of a threat than that Hero.

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Although Chen Yingxiong was up front, calling for the ball, it wasn't passed to him directly. Zenit still wanted to transition through the ground. Blindly using long balls was too predictable and easily countered.

The ball was passed to the captain, Tymoshchuk. The defensive midfielder Tymoshchuk's job wasn't just defense; he was also responsible for passing the ball forward, connecting the attack and defense, and linking the front and back.

As usual, after receiving the ball, he would pass it to Domingues.

But this time, he couldn't even turn his body…

"Everton has launched a high press! They have no intention of showing mercy in their home stadium!" The English commentator exclaimed. "This Everton is terrifying to their opponents!"

When Zenit was attacking, Arteta and the others didn't immediately retreat to their own half and wait for the opponent to come up. Instead, they rushed forward and tangled with Tymoshchuk, who had the ball.

In the pre-match analysis, everyone knew that Tymoshchuk wasn't a technical player who was good at controlling the ball. As long as you put pressure on him, he might lose the ball. And what did it mean for a defensive midfielder to lose the ball in front of his center-backs? Everyone knew very well.

Pressuring Tymoshchuk and cutting off his connection with Zenit's forwards, Domingues and Arshavin, was Moyes' tactical arrangement. This would not only reduce the pressure on his own defense, but also create opportunities for Tymoshchuk to make mistakes, intercept the ball directly in the front, and launch a counterattack. The chances of scoring would be much greater that way.

Tymoshchuk saw that he couldn't turn around and knew that it would be dangerous to continue holding the ball. Other players might be watching, and as soon as they saw that he was entangled, they would immediately rush up to support him. If he was surrounded, the ball would likely be intercepted…

He had no choice but to pass the ball back to Skrtel.

At the same time, as he passed the ball, Everton's forward, Andy Johnson, shot out like an arrow, lunging towards Skrtel. Since it was a high press, how could they not press the center-back who had the ball? Intercepting the ball from the defensive midfielder still meant facing the defensive line, but intercepting the ball from the center-back, if successful, would lead directly to the goalkeeper!

Skrtel didn't hesitate like Tymoshchuk, intending to play with his feet. He met the incoming ball, raised his leg, and launched a long pass!

The ball flew towards Chen Yingxiong in the front.

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Chen Yingxiong had been raising his hand, but the ball just wouldn't come over. He looked like the Statue of Liberty, and his arm was getting tired. Just then, Skrtel kicked the ball over.

Lescott saw the ball flying towards him and prepared to jump. Just as he lowered his center of gravity to jump, he saw Chen Yingxiong suddenly leap into the air!

He was startled and jumped up hastily. He had already completely lost to Chen Yingxiong in terms of momentum, let alone technical skill…

Chen Yingxiong kept Lescott behind him, headed the ball down, and passed it to the onrushing Domingues. Then he landed, turned, and ran forward.

After landing, Lescott staggered slightly due to Chen Yingxiong's interference, losing his balance. But he still had to turn around and chase, otherwise he would lose his position!

In the contest with Chen Yingxiong, Lescott suffered his first setback.

Domingues passed the ball to the wing, where Arshavin was immediately entangled by the opposing fullback, Barnes.

In the end, Arshavin could only cross the ball in a hurry, and the quality was predictable—it flew high and straight out of bounds. Even if Chen Yingxiong was two meters thirty-six tall and jumped up in the center, he wouldn't be able to reach this ball…

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The two sides were locked in a stalemate, and after nearly thirty minutes, neither had achieved anything.

Everton's attack in the front was very sharp, repeatedly playing through balls behind the defense. Although such passes were fatal once they penetrated, the problem was that the success rate of penetration was too low. And Zenit's attack was ineffective because several key players were being targeted by the opponent, so the quality was also not high.

The score remained 0:0.

After thirty minutes of entanglement, Everton gradually gained the upper hand by taking advantage of their home field.

The fans' singing and cheering in Goodison Park never stopped. Everton's attack became sharper and more threatening amidst the cheering. Every attack gave people the feeling that "the next shot will definitely go in."

In the thirty-first minute, Arteta continued to play a through ball!

The ball passed by Lombaerts, and Yakubu overtook the young Belgian defender to chase the ball.

The tall defender's weakness in turning speed was evident. By the time Lombaerts turned around, Yakubu had already received the ball and stepped into the penalty area.

The Belgian kid only had one thought in his head: "This is bad!"

If Yakubu continued to carry the ball in, it would be a one-on-one. He only had one choice now: he had to stop him!

Tackle!

Lombaerts flew out.

When he reacted, he was lying on the ground, and Yakubu had fallen in the penalty area in front of him, but he wasn't in pain. Instead, he jumped up from the ground, raising his arms.

The surrounding stands were filled with thunderous cheers.

He also saw his teammate, the fullback Anyukov, who had returned to defend, holding his head in his hands…

"Oh no! Lombaerts tackled from behind! He's done for! That's a foul worthy of a red card, and… the foul was in the penalty area… Penalty! The referee pointed to the penalty spot! At the same time, he's reaching into his chest pocket…"

His teammates rushed over and surrounded the referee.

But this couldn't stop the referee from walking towards Lombaerts, who was still lying on the ground with a confused look on his face. In his hand, he held a… red card!

In the thirty-first minute of the game, Saint Petersburg Zenit's center-back Lombaerts was sent off with a red card for tackling from behind, and he also gave the home team Everton a penalty… Saint Petersburg Zenit, who had to win this game, was really pushed to the brink this time!

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ps, A new day has begun, please vote for monthly tickets, recommendation tickets and electrode! There will be an extra update when there are 20 monthly tickets!

In addition, I have created a author survey to see what everyone thinks about Chen Yingxiong's development experience after leaving Zenit. Please participate actively, this will help me know what you want to see and what you don't want to see.

Thank you!

Finally, I got up early in the morning and saw that "Fire Roasted Old Hen" rewarded an alliance leader, thank you to my third alliance leader!

Thank you also to everyone else who subscribes, votes, and rewards me for their support, thank you all!