Chapter 1 A Goal

This goal brought both sides back to the same starting line.

It also excited Chelsea fans, and some fans who were waiting for Manchester City to lose.

Sure enough, it still had to be Chelsea.

Although they couldn't be called Manchester City's nemesis, Chelsea seemed to be the only team in England that could put up a fight.

Manchester City scored goals easily, but Chelsea had a luxurious lineup, and their 3-4-3 formation had a strong attack, so scoring goals wasn't difficult for them either.

Conte waved his arms passionately, directing the team.

Cesc Fàbregas' performance was crucial.

The last time this guy played, he competed with Zhao Gang, and as a result, Zhao Gang seized the opportunity to equalize the score.

This time, Conte did a lot of work with him before the game.

On the field, he almost made a muddle of things again.

Fortunately, Conte yelled at him and woke him up, and he didn't go his own way.

Otherwise, he would really be stuck on the bench forever.

Zhao Gang, sitting in the middle, now commanded his teammates with greater ease.

Before, he always felt a little awkward when commanding, always worried that it would affect his teammates' mentality. Ultimately, this was a kind of lack of confidence.

It wasn't a lack of confidence in his skills, but a lack of confidence in interpersonal relationships.

Zhao Gang's experiences in his previous life actually made him very sensitive, and he was always worried that others would be unhappy.

This was also why he wasn't used to motivating his teammates before the game, and always preferred to prove himself with actions.

Now, he was beginning to gradually improve his weaknesses in terms of personality.

Importantly, his command, his words, were all well-received by his teammates.

This gradually changed his personality.

When Manchester City restarted the game, Zhao Gang signaled all his midfield teammates to stabilize the rhythm.

Kevin De Bruyne began to fall back to receive the ball, and Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sané also began to position themselves further back.

As for Gabriel Jesus, there was no need to worry about him; just let him wander around in front.

Let Chelsea take the initiative to steal the ball.

Chelsea had just scored a goal and were in high spirits, so naturally they wanted to finish off Manchester City in one go.

This kind of thinking was inevitable.

It was a normal reaction when people were feeling triumphant.

When Chelsea rushed out, Zhao Gang and Manchester City would have more opportunities.

Sure enough, as Zhao Gang had thought, Chelsea's players were particularly excited in the next few minutes.

The midfielders and forwards began to press high up the pitch.

This should have been a good opportunity for Manchester City, because Manchester City's players were all good at passing and holding the ball, and could find good opportunities in this kind of pressing.

However, this was also Chelsea's chance.

They actually managed to steal the ball.

They stole the ball from De Bruyne!

De Bruyne fell back to receive the ball, wanting to find Jesus, but he was intercepted directly by Marcos Alonso!

Alonso was different from Victor Moses; Moses was better at dribbling and breaking through, while Alonso, as a wing-back, was better at organizing and passing.

Alonso, having stolen the ball, immediately found Pedro, who had run into the middle.

Chelsea's three forwards had a very wide range of movement.

Pedro, along the middle, played a wonderful combination with Diego Costa, who was falling back to support, and rushed to the edge of the penalty area!

Guardiola knew that John Stones's level of competition was good, but his experience in close combat wasn't great, so he arranged for him to cover and assist in this game, while Nicolás Otamendi was to mainly defend Costa.

Immediately, Stones quickly filled the gap, Otamendi followed Costa all the way, and Fernandinho also rushed back to support.

Costa was too much of a threat in the penalty area!

Pedro saw that Manchester City was defending Costa very tightly, and passing the ball at this time wouldn't be a good opportunity.

He passed the ball horizontally, and Eden Hazard, who had moved to the wing, received the ball, and Moses quickly overlapped on the outside.

This period of Hazard's career should have been his peak, the absolute core of both club and country.

Kyle Walker saw that the defense was too fragmented. Why had Hazard and Moses rushed over in an instant, leaving him alone to defend the entire right flank?

He didn't have time to think, and quickly followed Hazard. Fernandinho should be covering Moses.

Hazard didn't force a breakthrough. Walker was indeed more difficult to deal with than Pablo Zabaleta. If it had been Zabaleta, he would have already rushed into the penalty area.

Again, a cut inside!

He went all the way horizontally towards the middle, and Pedro had opened up space to support and pull away defenders.

Walker followed very closely. Hazard's short legs moved quickly, and he went all the way to the middle, then suddenly stopped. Walker stood his ground and subconsciously raised his leg to block Hazard's pass.

Hazard was able to change his center of gravity more easily than Walker. He didn't shoot, nor did he look for Costa in the penalty area.

Instead, he pushed the ball gently!

There was Moses, who had rushed over, with a very large gap inside the left side of the penalty area, with no defender!

He could shoot directly!

"Hazard's pass, the vision is very good! Moses!!! Moses... Oh no, Moses, too slow! Moses, this ball... such a good opportunity!

Why did he have to adjust?"

Moses came from the wing, and with the ball at his feet, he habitually adjusted his step. In just under a second, Zhao Gang, who was rushing from behind, stretched out his leg from behind and directly blocked Moses in front of him, kicking the ball out of the penalty area from between Moses's legs with his heel!

Moses fell to the ground.

In this kind of confrontation, Zhao Gang touched the ball first, so it would definitely not be called a foul.

"Moses... this is the difference between a good player and a star. If he and Zhao switched places, this ball would have flown into the goal long ago. How could it have been stolen from behind?? Oh no!!"

Jesus, who was running back with his head down, was sighing. They had already scored two goals, and more than twenty minutes had passed, but he hadn't touched the ball except for the kickoff!

This was really strange.

Seeing Zhao Gang kick the ball out of the penalty area, Jesus's blood boiled.

This ball excited him even more than if he had intercepted it himself.

His position...

Jesus looked left and right, turned his head, and sprinted desperately!

Sure enough!

The football soared into the sky, flying towards the midfield.

Jesus's legs moved faster than if he was going to meet his girlfriend.

Here it comes, here it comes, I'm coming, baby!

Jesus looked up at the football, jumped high, and tapped it with his toe, stopping the ball three or four meters away.

This wasn't because his ball control skills were bad; it was intentional.

The football rolled out, and Jesus sprinted with all his might.

David Luiz was good at passing and good at physical confrontation, but he was too slow.

He couldn't keep up with Jesus, who was full of energy.

In the entire backfield, only Cahill was still in position.

Cahill glanced behind him and around him, and confirmed that there were no teammates around.

He quickly went up to meet Jesus, keeping a certain distance, slowing down Jesus's progress, and waiting for his teammates to support him.

Jesus's head got hot, and he suddenly thought of Zhao Gang's breakthrough.

Using speed to overtake!

Jesus thought that if Zhao Gang could do it, then he should be able to do it too.

He took a big touch and prepared to break through from the left.

Cahill squeezed his position and knocked Jesus over!

Then he escorted the football into the penalty area, and Thibaut Courtois caught the ball in his arms.

Cahill gritted his teeth. Damn it, ever since Zhao Gang knocked him over in the penalty area last time, anyone could play physically against him now??

Jesus sat on the ground, looking frustrated.

He wasn't in the league game against Chelsea last round, but he had watched the game specifically. At the last moment, Zhao Gang had knocked Cahill over in the penalty area and scored the equalizing goal.

From the looks of it, Cahill's body was just average.

Why was he so fierce now??

Guardiola loosened his clenched fist and shook his head on the sidelines.

This kid has good skills, good speed, and good finishing, but sometimes he doesn't think clearly.

That's the top center-back in the Premier League, the captain of Chelsea's defense. Did he think it was a second-rate defense in Brazil?

Who did he learn from? Zhao?

Was he crazy?

The Stamford Bridge fans burst into applause, cheering for their new captain.

They were also accompanied by jeering boos.

Who was this guy? A kid from Brazil, daring to take on our captain?

Eat some more beef and grow your body!

"Zhao Gang's key interception and pass were both extremely wonderful! It's a pity that Jesus didn't seize the opportunity!

In front of Cahill, Jesus is still a bit too inexperienced. His ball control is quite good, but his physical confrontation is a bit lacking.

If he had waited a little for Sané or Sterling, the effect might have been better."

Conte on the sidelines frowned and breathed a sigh of relief.

This pass was too scary.

When others made this kind of pass, it was a flash of inspiration, but Zhao Gang made this kind of pass as if it were an everyday occurrence.

Fortunately, Cahill was experienced and physically strong.

Otherwise, the defense would have been easily broken through again.

Abramovich had discussed with him the possibility of replacing Fàbregas with Zhao Gang.

Conte didn't take it seriously at first. It would be better to have Zhao Gang, but he wouldn't suffer too much loss without him.

Looking at it now, with Zhao Gang, the three players in the front, especially Costa, would probably take off directly.

He estimated that they could score at least three or five goals in a game.

This kid is strong in passing, shoots hard, and has invincible physical confrontation.

He also has so much stamina. How can he be limited?

Chelsea, after pressing frantically and nearly creating a scoring opportunity, were instantly hit with a counterattack.

They immediately woke up and realized that they couldn't give Manchester City such a big gap.

So the pace slowed down again.

The two sides went back and forth, starting a difficult positional battle.

This kind of positional battle was a good thing for Manchester City.

What Guardiola was best at wasn't defensive counterattacks, but this kind of non-stop passing to find opportunities.

And Chelsea's midfield and forward abilities were also very outstanding. Their positional battles relied not on passing, but on continuous breakthroughs and pulling.

Hazard, Pedro, and Moses all had very strong breakthrough abilities.

It was difficult for both sides to launch counterattacks, but the positional battles were also lively.

Under the successive attacks of Pedro and Moses, Hazard opened up space and took a cold shot from outside the penalty area, which was slightly above the crossbar.

Conversely, Manchester City held the ball and advanced, with a group of people surrounding Chelsea's players and passing the ball non-stop, like catching rabbits.

Sterling passed, Sterling passed to Zhao Gang, Zhao Gang passed, Kyle Walker passed.

Then there was a large-scale transfer from left to right.

A group of people stood in position, constantly passing the ball and pulling.

Fernandinho returned the favor in front of the penalty area with a powerful shot, which was bravely saved by Courtois.

Both sides had opportunities, and good ones.

However, the score was not changed in a short time.

The Stamford Bridge fans started doing the wave to cheer for their team.

There were too few Manchester City fans, so they could only wave their scarves, beat their waist drums, and shout non-stop.

"The pace of both sides has slowed down. Chelsea's players are no longer pressing as much as before, probably realizing Manchester City's long-passing ability. They need to stabilize their defense and not let Manchester City easily launch a counterattack.

On the Manchester City side, facing Chelsea's trident, they don't dare to easily speed up, worrying about their counterattacks. In this case, the situation may be more favorable to Chelsea, because Chelsea's frontcourt has stronger impact. Although Manchester City's style of play is steady, the absolute opportunities are definitely not as many as Chelsea's.

Once Manchester City's passing and receiving has a mistake, Chelsea's frontcourt trident will show a very strong threat."

"Yes, Chelsea doesn't need everyone to press up to attack. They are different from Manchester City. Manchester City's positional attack requires the full-backs to go up, leaving a lot of gaps in the backfield."

The commentators were analyzing the situation, and Manchester City's frontcourt was constantly looking for Chelsea's defensive loopholes.

De Bruyne received the ball on the left and suddenly crossed!

The football flew directly over the entire middle, and Sterling, who was running at the back post, bypassed Cahill. After receiving the ball on the right side of the penalty area, facing David Luiz's cover, he didn't shoot, but passed to Kyle Walker, who had rushed up.

Moses covered and pressed, and Walker passed diagonally to Fernandinho.

Large-scale transfers and small-scale pulls made Chelsea's defense constantly move and cover, and it looked like a loophole was about to appear.

Fernandinho gave a ground pass to Zhao Gang, and Zhao Gang suddenly passed a ground ball.

Jesus, in the penalty area, resisted César Azpilicueta, feeling that the three Chelsea center-backs were all too strong, and he couldn't turn around. However, he saw that Zhao Gang had entered the penalty area.

Zhao Gang had rarely entered the penalty area during this period. Since he had broken in, Jesus didn't hesitate at all. Even if David Luiz might intercept, he still passed to Zhao Gang on a small scale, and didn't pass the ball out of the penalty area.

Zhao Gang received the ball with difficulty, entangled with Luiz.

In this kind of small space confrontation, it was difficult to completely squeeze out a position.

Zhao Gang flicked the ball with his heel, and Sané, who had also rushed in, received the ball and took a powerful shot!

Azpilicueta stretched out his foot to block, and the football hit Nemanja Matić's leg. With a whoosh, a group of people frantically stretched out their legs to grab the ball.

Courtois stood on the goal line, his eyeballs swaying from left to right, jumping non-stop, not daring to rush over easily.

Finally, he saw the opportunity and pounced over!

Thump!!

Jesus hooked his foot and kicked the ball to the side, then felt something touch his ankle and rolled to the ground in the penalty area.

Beep!!