Chapter 358: Chapter 358

Henderson initially wanted to use a Maradona-style step-over feint to trick Tang Long and get past him.

Unexpectedly, Tang Long didn’t fall for the fake at all!

He seized upon the flaw in Henderson’s awkward moment of lifting his foot, and jabbed the ball swiftly with his toe!

Not only did he poke the ball away, he also sent Henderson sprawling to the ground, eating dirt.

"Brilliant!" Seeing Tang Long’s successful defense, the center-back Ranocchia behind him also applauded.

In the Sky Sports studio, Gary Neville and Carra both looked displeased.

Though these two don’t like Manchester City’s midfield core Tang Long, they have to admit this guy is indeed a passing expert.

Across the whole Premier League, only De Bruyne can compare to him.

However, defense isn’t Tang Long’s absolute strength, so both were quite surprised by Tang Long’s precise ball interception and disruption!

Neville, who played a lifetime as a defender during his player days, couldn’t help but think secretly, "Such precise prediction, Tang must have already anticipated Henderson’s next move before the feint, truly impressive."

Top defender Carra was equally astonished at Tang Long’s prediction, he said:

"The biggest taboo in defense is hastily going for the ball, easily getting played. But Tang Long’s move showed great determination, Henderson failed thoroughly in this attempt to get past."

The referee blew the whistle, signaling a foul by Manchester City!

Manchester City players were dumbfounded!

They were highly discontented, and surrounded the referee.

The most emotional, Ranocchia, dashed to the referee, his hands behind his back, shouting, "Tang Long touched the ball first, it was a clean play, ref!"

But the referee insisted on his view, thinking Tang Long kicked the player before the ball, awarding Liverpool a free kick about 25 meters from the goal, at a favorable position.

Tang Long waved his hand dismissively, thinking to himself: here comes the home-field whistle.

(Clattenburg: I saw that clearly, Tang committed the foul!)

-[What the hell, they called that?]

-[That was definitely a clean play, I saw it clearly, Tang Long touched the ball first!]

-[Clattenburg again, I’m speechless!]

-[What? The referee is Clattenburg? Then it’s no surprise, the biggest fool of the Premier League referees, ridiculously cocky.]

-[Rare to see Tang Long make such a beautiful interception, this referee’s home whistle is too blatant!]

-[Not at all! First time watching Premier League, buddy? Clattenburg is just blind, it has nothing to do with home field.]

Even Henderson, who was slowly getting up, looked utterly bewildered.

Why was a free kick awarded when I lost the ball dribbling, totally baffled, totally baffled.

Whether it was Neville, Carra, or Gerrard, all clearly recognized it was a misjudgment.

Yet Neville hypocritically said, "Henderson used his skillful dribbling and earned a set piece, Tang Long paid for his reckless move."

Carra with some sense of face only vaguely said this incident could go either way, but there’s nothing to say if it’s called.

Gerrard insisted that Tang Long didn’t foul, Henderson just lost the ball himself.

Anyway, due to the referee’s poor judgment, what should have been Tang Long’s opportunity to counter-attack on the spot turned into Liverpool getting a set piece.

Just as Manchester City began organizing the wall, Philippe Coutinho and Milner stood over the ball.

When Gerrard was still there, he and Philippe Coutinho would discuss who would take the free kick.

After Gerrard left, Philippe Coutinho became the ideal choice for set piece taker.

But this time, Milner had his own plans — he wanted to steal the spotlight!

After being let go by his former club, he harbored resentment, long awaited this home game against Manchester City.

Milner wanted to use this set piece to prove to Manchester City’s management: "You’ll regret chasing me away!"

Milner also has some skill in taking set pieces, but back at Manchester City, the team was filled with excellent set piece takers like Silva, Klarov, and Yaya Toure, all had outstanding skills, and set pieces were hardly given to Milner.

So, after successfully taking this ball from Philippe Coutinho, Milner was excitedly rubbing his hands, looking left and right, thinking how to strike a world-class shot.

Sagna, Iheanacho, Yaya Toure, Fernando, Tang Long.

Under Caballero’s direction, the five formed the wall.

From left to right, their heights were 176, 185, 190, 183, 182.

Milner observed and noticed that Tang Long, standing on the far right and slightly shorter, was a perfect gap to exploit.

After a four-step run-up, he used the inside of his foot to curve the ball intending for it to bypass Tang Long’s head, drop and bounce into the net.

Faced with the ball flying over his head, Tang Long leapt high without fear, facing the ball with his face, aiming to block it!

Unexpectedly, though the ball smashed into Tang Long’s face, it was not blocked but took a strange curve, heading towards the goal.

Milner’s curved shot was initially not of high quality, it didn’t completely bypass the wall, but after deflecting off Tang Long’s face, it unexpectedly changed course, Caballero couldn’t react, took a misstep, and watched the ball find its way into the net.

Tang Long felt a burning sensation on his face, as he inhaled, a metallic taste started to spread in his nostrils.