Football's No. 1 Prodigal Son

The game was a tough one.

Although Manchester City won a big victory, the next game is another tough battle.

Home game against Chelsea!

Chelsea performed very well this year, with six wins and two draws in the first eight rounds, but was defeated by Arsenal at home in the ninth round.

Now they are in third place in the standings, while Manchester City is in sixth place.

Before the season, Yang Luo's expectation for this season was to compete with Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle for a place in the Champions League.

Therefore, this game is a contest between direct opponents.

And this game has been given more meaning by the media.

Both teams are big spenders, and can be called a rich duo.

Their direct competition can even show whose money is more effective.

Chelsea's head coach is the tinker Ranieri, and his most commonly used formation this season is 442, but the starting lineup has changed frequently.

However, since it is 442, no matter how strong it is, it will not be as strong as Arsenal.

Therefore, Manchester City continued the previous starting lineup in this game, but Stam, who was rested, appeared in the starting lineup again.

On the Chelsea side, the starting lineup was not announced until an hour before the game.

Goalkeeper Cudicini, defender Glen Johnson, Terry, Gallas, Bridge, midfielder Joe Cole, Petit, Lampard, Duff, forward Crespo and Hasselbaink.

And Yang Luo also came to the stadium early to pay attention to this game.

When he saw the players from both sides lined up, he saw Terry and Bridge standing together on the Chelsea side, and his face was suddenly weird.

If Bridge knew about the incident later, I guess he would have stabbed Terry's heart directly now.

At this time, the two of them were still close teammates...

When he thought of this, Yang Luo couldn't help but shook his head and sighed.

Just as he was thinking about it, the game officially started.

Ranieri's style of play is a typical defensive counterattack, so Van Gaal was not polite to him and launched a fierce attack at the beginning, trying to kill the opponent directly.

But the defense trained by Ranieri was very stable, and Manchester City couldn't find an opportunity for a while.

However, in Van Gaal's tactical system, the wing is his very important offensive means, so he waved his hand and Evra actively moved forward to try to find a breakthrough.

After Evra moved forward, Manchester City's offense became more three-dimensional, but Chelsea's defense was still very stable. Terry and Desailly, the old and young combination, directly made Manchester City's offensive line helpless.

And Chelsea's counterattack was also very simple. As long as the backcourt got the ball, it would immediately hit the wing or the frontcourt at the first time, either using Duff's wing attack or Hasselbaink's speed advantage to hit Manchester City's pain points.

In the 23rd minute, Chelsea finally got a great chance.

Crespo headed the long pass from the backcourt, and Hasselbaink beside him made a soup after getting the ball. Stam didn't keep up with his pace and was seized by him!

Just as Hasselbaink was running forward with big strides, a sky blue figure suddenly rushed out from the side, carried the ball with his body, and destroyed it!

It was Sun Jihai!

Seeing that Hasselbaink was about to speed up, he decisively chose to abandon his defender and successfully destroyed the single knife that was about to be formed!

Van Gaal couldn't help but clench his fist on the sidelines, and the fans at the scene also gave a huge cheer!

But the clearance fell to Joe Cole's feet on the other side!

He lightly dribbled past Evra, and then passed the ball to Crespo who had already advanced again!

Crespo took a few steps, but found that he couldn't get rid of Distin beside him, but he suddenly pushed the ball gently and handed it to Lampard who was running at high speed behind him!

Forward penetration is Lampard's forte, and he is also the best midfielder at scoring.

But this time he didn't get what he wanted, because Essien beside him had caught up with him and squeezed him with his body!

Lampard's footsteps suddenly became chaotic, and he wanted to adjust his footsteps to shoot, but the ball didn't hit the right part and went out of the goal!

Chelsea's attack was very simple, but he could put in four to five offensive groups in an instant, which also posed a great threat to the opponent's defense.

If it weren't for Sun Jihai and Essien's timely defense, this ball might have been scored!

Van Gaal also saw this

, so he waved his hand and asked Makelele to mark the extremely fast Hasselbaink to prevent him from speeding up again.

Essien was responsible for sweeping in the midfield and delivering shells forward once he got the ball.

In the following time, Manchester City still had the advantage on the field. Ronaldinho and Robben's side became their focus of attack, because the defense of right-back Glen Johnson was prone to problems.

Sure enough, in the 39th minute, Manchester City finally got a chance!

After Essien intercepted Petit's pass, he passed it directly to Ronaldinho.

Lampard stepped forward to interfere, but was easily dribbled by Ronaldinho.

He dribbled forward along the left side of the center and instantly came to the 30-meter area.

At this time, right-back Glen Johnson hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to give up Robben and block Ronaldinho with Terry!

Ronaldinho's eyes flashed a sly smile, and he saw Robben moving sideways quietly through Glen Johnson's big head.

Terry realized something was wrong, and he quickly asked Glen Johnson to return to his position!

But it was too late, Ronaldinho's ankle shook and he sent a straight pass!

The football passed through the gap that they had not closed yet and was handed to Robben, who was no longer guarded!

Robben took the ball and rushed into the penalty area!

At this time, the entire left side of the penalty area was completely empty, and Gallas had no choice but to go over to make up for the defense!

Seeing that the tactical intention had been achieved, Robben gently passed the ball horizontally, and Eto'o, who was no longer guarded, pushed the ball and Cudicini was completely unable to react!

One to zero, Manchester City took the lead at home!

This goal instantly ignited the fans at home!

Van Gaal excitedly punched the ball to celebrate, this goal was too important for Manchester City!

Yang Luo also excitedly high-fived Bernstein.

Chelsea's senior management did not appear here, so they celebrated even more without care.

Ranieri frowned. For a defensive counterattack team, it is undoubtedly very disadvantageous to be scored first.

It seems that adjustments need to be made during the halftime break!

However, there are still five or six minutes before the halftime break. He calmed down and waited for the whistle to end the halftime.

In the rest of the first half, the two sides failed to form a threatening attack. At the end of the first half, Manchester City led Chelsea by one to zero!