Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 1655 Ground-Skimming Snake (First Guaranteed Update)
Manchester United and Liverpool were mortal enemies. This rivalry wouldn't lessen with the rise or fall of either team.
So, Manchester United's morale was already high for this game.
Nacho added fuel to the fire.
It had to be said, Liverpool fans had gone too far, mocking Nacho with their songs. Nacho was innocent because he hadn't made any remarks targeting Liverpool or Chen Hero. He was merely caught in the crossfire as a rival for the Golden Boot.
Therefore, when Nacho was mocked by Liverpool fans, there was widespread resentment within Manchester United.
However, almost everyone, including manager Solskjaer, believed that Nacho would be mired in a slump for an extended period.
No one expected Nacho to pull himself out of the shadows.
A revitalized Nacho made Manchester United players happy. At the same time, their resentment towards Liverpool increased.
Because of this, the Manchester United players were even more motivated.
They wanted to make Liverpool pay on their home turf.
More importantly, if Liverpool won the league title this season, they would surpass Manchester United as the team with the most league titles in Premier League history.
Manchester United couldn't tolerate that.
To prevent this from happening, they had to stop Liverpool at home.
That was their goal for this match.
So, Liverpool encountered fierce resistance from Manchester United at Old Trafford.
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Solskjaer's players didn't besiege Liverpool at home. Given the current strength gap between the two teams, Manchester United might not have that ability even at home.
Solskjaer chose the safest tactic: defensive counterattack. Defend first, then counterattack.
Ensuring they didn't concede a goal was the primary condition for Solskjaer's tactics. If they couldn't guarantee that, they would rather not attack.
Even a draw at home against Liverpool would be considered a victory for Manchester United.
Liverpool found this Manchester United quite a headache.
But with a freakish player like Chen Hero, Liverpool's headaches were bound to be shorter than others'.
Manchester United was on the defensive, which meant there would be more fouls in their defending.
And fouls would give Liverpool set pieces.
Chen Hero was a set-piece master.
Set pieces were one of the best ways to break a deadlock.
Because only when taking a free kick were Manchester United's defensive tactics useless.
They could only focus on the wall.
But Chen Hero's falling-leaf ball could bypass the wall…
So, Manchester United could only pin their hopes on Chen Hero's own free-kick touch.
But they were mortal enemies with Liverpool.
Chen Hero was a big-game player; the stronger the opponent, the more important the game, the more energized he became!
So, there was no need to worry about his touch!
In the twenty-third minute, Liverpool won their fourth free kick of the match.
This free kick was in a relatively poor position compared to the previous three, very far to the side, almost on the touchline.
For such free kicks, people often chose to take it indirectly, kicking the ball into the box and letting their teammates compete for a header.
But when Chen Hero stood in front of the ball, everyone knew that an indirect attempt was impossible.
When Chen Hero placed the ball and then stepped back to prepare to take it, the booing at Old Trafford was deafening.
This was a gift from Manchester United fans to Chen Hero.
Chen Hero was already used to this; in the past eighteen seasons, every time he played at Old Trafford, he faced this situation.
He turned a deaf ear and just stared at the goal.
Because of the position, this free kick looked very different from a free kick facing the goal directly.
The area of the goal was small, and it was blocked by the wall, the goalkeeper, and other players in the box.
The space that could actually be used was very small.
It was difficult even to kick the ball smoothly towards the goal.
There were only two choices: either kick the ball along the ground towards the goal, hoping for luck in the chaos, or kick the ball through the air towards the goal.
For Chen Hero, his specialty was kicking the ball through the air towards the goal, because his falling-leaf balls all passed over the wall in the air.
As old rivals, Manchester United's wall and goalkeeper would be on high alert.
But this time Chen Hero didn't plan to use his falling-leaf ball.
It was too predictable for the defense.
To get the ball over the wall, he had to kick the ball as high as possible, and the ball would definitely land at the far post, where the goalkeeper would be waiting.
Unless he was going to pass, that was definitely where it would go.
Chen Hero didn't like the feeling of having the opponent see through his intentions before he even kicked the ball, so he wanted to change his approach.
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"Hero is standing in front of the ball… he definitely won't pass it, everyone knows Chen Hero is only good at direct free kicks, not indirect free kicks. But it's not easy to get the ball in from this angle… Robinson, what do you think?"
"Ah, Steve… I think Hero will definitely use his signature falling-leaf ball! Let the ball soar high over the wall, then suddenly drop, straight to the far post. And the Liverpool players in the box will all rush to the goal to interfere with Leslie…"
The guest commentator confidently predicted Chen Hero's free kick.
But in the next second, Chen Hero dumbfounded him.
The referee blew his whistle!
Chen Hero started his run-up. His run-up wasn't long, even though the ball was far from the goal.
But he relied on the power generated by the swing of his calf, not his thigh, like a whip striking the ball.
At the same time, the wall jumped high.
But they didn't see the ball fly over their heads.
Instead, the ball, like a snake, rushed quickly along the grass!
Then it shot past under their feet!
"A ground ball!" the commentator exclaimed.
The guest commentator next to him didn't say a word.
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Manchester United goalkeeper Velen Leslie's attention was all in the air, which could be seen from the way he kept looking up.
He wondered why the ball wasn't flying through the air.
When he saw the ball, it had already squeezed through the gap under the wall!
Like a snake moving quickly along the ground!
Leslie hurriedly lowered his center of gravity to dive.
But it was too late!
Because he had been standing a bit far back, at the far post, to guard against Chen Hero's high shot.
But the ball Chen Hero kicked went through the wall and was heading for the near post!
By the time he reacted and dived towards the near post, it was too late!
The ball Chen Hero shot, tightly hugging the grass, rolled into the near corner of the goal…
The deadlock was broken!
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"Goal… goal! It's Hero again! It's Hero again!"
"After a hard-fought twenty-plus minutes, Hero opens the scoring for Liverpool! An incredibly imaginative free kick! When everyone thought he would kick a falling-leaf ball, he unexpectedly chose a ground ball!"
"That's why I say Hero is a freak! With him, Liverpool doesn't have to worry at all. When they encounter a situation they can't break open, Hero always steps up!"
"This game may not have any suspense anymore, Hero is showing his power again! Even at home, Manchester United is probably doomed… I can understand Manchester United's desire to stop Liverpool at home… but there is a gap in strength between the two sides after all. This goal perfectly reflects the gap in strength between the two sides! No matter how hard Solskjaer defends, as long as Liverpool gets a set-piece opportunity, Hero can seize it. Even seizing just one opportunity is fatal! Now that Manchester United is behind, how will they play? Continue to defend desperately? Or push forward to attack? If they push forward to attack, Liverpool's attack is not to be trifled with… In short, Manchester United is now in a dilemma! And I think they are doomed!"
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Taking the lead on the road made the three thousand Liverpool fans who had followed the team to Old Trafford very excited.
After cheering for the team's goal, they started singing the popular song.
"Hey, Nacho, how do you feel now… poor Nacho, he's scared! Poor Nacho, he's really scared!"
They sang this line over and over again.
Liverpool fans were showing off their superiority to the fullest.
The live broadcast director also cooperated by giving Nacho a long close-up.
In the picture, Nacho was expressionless.
"Nacho is getting further and further away from the league's Golden Boot. Hero has scored his thirty-second goal of the season, while Nacho's personal goal count remains at twenty-eight. The gap between the two is widening little by little…"
The commentator's tone also revealed sympathy.
Nacho's performance was so great before, but since Chen Hero scored thirteen goals in the game against Manchester City, Nacho's goal count has stagnated.
It seems that what the outside world said is right… Nacho is really scared…
It's a pity, a rising star has been frightened… I don't know when he will be able to recover, or if he will never recover?
Chen Hero has done this kind of thing a lot. In the past few decades, there have always been young guys who were touted by the media as geniuses and vowed to overthrow Chen Hero's brutal rule, but they were all killed by Chen Hero.
Without exception, these geniuses were all reduced to mediocrity by Chen Hero.
So, people don't know whether Chen Hero is too cruel, or whether those "geniuses" themselves lack substance…
So, this time, what is Nacho's substance?