Chapter 134 Securing Victory!

Manchester City used all three substitutions. Head coach Guardiola looked very nervous standing in the home team coach command area. He had done everything he could do, and the remaining things could only be done by the eleven players on the field.

Liverpool added a defensive player, and the tactics naturally tended to be defensive, leaving only Li Qing and Mane in front to wait for counterattacks in turn.

"aoaoaooaoooo——"

Time was running out, and the shouts made by Manchester City fans became louder and louder, as violent as a tsunami, one wave after another.

Liverpool fans who traveled with the team felt more and more pressure. They concentrated and held their breath, fearing that breathing too much would affect their own defense.

The Liverpool players on the field did a good job in defense, leaving Manchester City players with very little offensive space. The direct benefit was that the defense seemed to be in a panic, but in fact there was no direct danger.

Goalkeeper Mignolet did not make any saves to turn the tide during this period, which meant that Liverpool's defense line had no major problems.

In a blink of an eye, the game was over for another five minutes. De Bruyne, who got the ball, did not pass it to Aguero or Iheanacho. He chose to shoot directly from 30 meters away from the goal.

Although the rain was getting smaller and smaller at the end of the second half, the field was not dry and the football was still soaked with rain. In this case, the powerful long-range shot can often cause the goalkeeper to lose his grip.

There are two secrets to breaking dense defenses, long-range shots and set pieces.

Compared with Liverpool, which has more high-altitude players, long-range shots are more suitable for Manchester City now.

David Silva, De Bruyne, Kolarov and Fernandinho all have a good long-range shooting skill. With less and less time left, Manchester City coach Guardiola can only default on the choice of players.

This is his first season coaching Manchester City. If he wants to fully instill his football philosophy into the current players, he must wait until next season.

In addition, many players cannot meet his tactical requirements, the back line is seriously aging, and the most important goalkeeper also needs to be replaced. He needs a goalkeeper with a strong ability to organize offense.

Bravo originally met the requirements, but for some reason he felt uncomfortable after transferring from Barcelona to Manchester City. Bravo, who has always been very stable, made fatal mistakes one after another.

Rebuilding still needs time.

"Ah..."

Guardiola couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this.

At this moment, Fernandinho suddenly shot a cold arrow, but his long shot was blocked by Emre Can with his body, and the ball rolled to De Bruyne who was attacking the left rib.

De Bruyne took the initiative to meet the ball, and a red figure suddenly flashed from the right like lightning, and stretched out his foot to poke the ball out.

In a flash, the red figure stopped in place, and De Bruyne turned his head to look. The raised Arabic number '55' was particularly dazzling. He was surprised: "Is it him?"

The poked ball rolled to Wijnaldum, who sent it directly behind De Bruyne without stopping the ball.

Manchester City players were conducting half-court attack and defense drills at the end of the game. Both full-backs were used as wingers. If Li Qing caught the ball at this time, it would be absolutely fatal, so Fernandinho, David Silva and Sagna all subconsciously rushed towards Li Qing.

Li Qing originally wanted to create opportunities through personal breakthroughs, but with his wide field of vision, he saw teammates rushing in at high speed from the far end.

Compared with personal dribbling speed, the speed of football flight is faster.

Stones and Otamendi both consciously moved to their side and did not notice Mane at the far end, which means that the passing efficiency will be maximized.

Li Qing turned around and caught the ball in one go. After attracting enough defensive players, he suddenly swung his left foot and kicked the bottom of the football with the inside of his instep.

The football flew diagonally from the defensive right side of his team to the offensive left side of his team. Considering Mane's extremely fast speed, the advance amount of the long pass was a bit large, which was just right for Mane to advance at full speed.

Stones and Otamendi, who were already consciously approaching the direction of Li Qing's dribbling, looked over along the flight trajectory of the ball. They didn't know until they saw it, and they were shocked.

Mane, who was second only to Li Qing in the speed of Liverpool, was running at full speed along the left road, chasing the ball.

Caballero, the goalkeeper standing at the top of the Manchester City penalty area, looked at the ball and had no choice but to abandon the goal and attack.

Li Qing's long pass was indeed a bit long in advance, but the footwork he chose was a backspin long pass, which meant that the ball would have a significant deceleration after landing.

The live director gave a long shot, and the fans sitting in front of the TV could see Mane crossing the center line and chasing the ball that was constantly slowing down.

Caballero, who was halfway through the attack, suddenly regretted it. Speed ​​has always been a disadvantage for goalkeepers. At the age of 36, his physical function has declined greatly. The chance of winning against the extremely fast Mane in speed is less than 1%.

Caballero is now in a very awkward position. It is not right to continue moving forward, and it is not right to stay where he is.

It was precisely because of his hesitation that he lost the chance to win the game.

Mane ran at high speed and sent the ball, which was basically no longer rolling forward, to the middle. Behind him on the left were Stones and Otamendi, who were chasing him hard.

After a split second of thinking, Caballero felt that he should make some sacrifices for the team.

1:2 is obviously easier to equalize than 1:3!

But Mane is not stupid, on the contrary, he is very smart. He realized that Caballero was going to foul and kicked the ball out early.

Andy Gray, the commentator of Sky TV in Great Britain, said naturally: "There is no suspense in this game. Liverpool's expansion of the score is equivalent to locking the victory!"

The following ending was a bit cruel to Caballero.

Those Manchester City die-hard fans did not give up. They closed their eyes and prayed, hoping that Mane could become a member of the "grandma can score goals series".

I don't know if Mane felt the curse of Manchester City fans. In order to ensure that there is no mistake, he did not shoot directly after catching up with the ball. Instead, he brought the ball into the penalty area at full speed and completed a weak push shot.

The ball rolled slowly towards the unguarded goal at an extremely slow speed until it hit the snow-white net.

"aoaoaooaoooo——"

The Liverpool fans who traveled with the team were instantly boiling, releasing their long-lost passion, and the hysterical shouts swept the entire Etihad Stadium at this moment.

"The ball goes in! The ball goes in!"

Leshi Sports commentator Zhan Jun raised his voice and shouted ecstatically: "Li Qing's long pass was like a refined missile, accurately finding Mane who was running at high speed. Mane calmly dribbled past Caballero and scored into the empty goal, helping Liverpool to expand the score to two goals! There were only three minutes left in regular time, and Mane's goal was equivalent to helping Liverpool secure the victory!"