Chapter 362: Chapter 362

But no one expected that Pellegrini would actually move Tang Long to the front line!

Just a few minutes later, Manchester City launched another attack.

This time, Caballero and Ranocchia played a crucial role in alleviating the pressure from Liverpool’s pressing in the backfield.

Caballero is actually a goalkeeper with very distinctive traits; although he’s not tall and his goalkeeping skills are not as good as the regular starting goalkeeper Joe Hart.

But this Argentine goalkeeper has quite good footwork!

Faced with the rabid pressing of Milner and Firmino, Caballero remained calm.

First, he did a fake pass to dodge Milner, then gently nudged the ball just as Firmino was about to make a move, passing it to Ranocchia, who came to meet it in an open space~

This move made Pellegrini, who was watching from the sidelines, feel his heart in his mouth; the veteran coach covered his heart involuntarily and took a few deep breaths.

Luckily, Ranocchia’s performance afterward was very steady.

Having started as a midfielder, he not only has excellent foot skills but also great speed, striding his long legs with a height of 1.95 meters to quickly carry the ball away from the danger zone in the penalty area, advancing into the midfield.

In a soccer match, a center back taking the ball forward often poses a greater threat than a midfielder doing so!

Because generally, midfielders are marked man-to-man, closely guarded by the opponents;

Whereas a center back, the one marking him is a forward!

But by then, Milner and Firmino, who Caballero had outmaneuvered, had been left far behind by Ranocchia’s rapid ball advancement.

Thus, while Ranocchia was advancing with the ball, every Liverpool defender was marking other players, and there was no dedicated player to disrupt Ranocchia, making his advance exceptionally smooth.

Ranocchia passed to Yaya Toure, who looked up and swept a precise cross to the waiting Navas on the right wing!

Navas is also a player with unique characteristics; he doesn’t like shooting, he loves passing, and especially relies on crossing from the flank.

Facing left-back Moreno’s defense, Navas started to break through!

His breakthrough was also distinctive, with no excessive fake moves, just grabbing the ball and charging forward.

Navas’s forward speed wasn’t particularly fast, but as he charged, he kept feinting above the ball with his right foot.

This is Navas’s secret weapon for surviving on the flank!

Every time he feinted, Moreno thought he was going to cross and prepared to block him with his foot.

But each time, Navas only feinted; Navas feinted three times, and Moreno stopped three times to block.

On the fourth time, Navas suddenly accelerated, leaving Moreno behind, and then delivered a cross!

The ball was a high-flying cross.

The pace wasn’t fast, but the placement was extremely precise, landing perfectly towards Iheanacho at the penalty spot.

In the first half, after missing two must-score opportunities, Iheanacho shouted bravely, jumping early, with his arms raised high!

Although his footwork is somewhat rough, his good build and astonishing leap allowed him to just edge the ball past the 1.91-meter-tall Skrtel!

When Iheanacho flicked the ball, he had no idea where it would go; he just instinctively flicked it backward.

But when he touched the ball and landed, he turned to see—

He saw a terrified Lovren pulling on Tang Long, about a meter ahead of him, who was primed and ready to strike!

Tang Long, unbalanced from Lovren’s pull, fell to the ground, but his right foot managed to strike the ball dead center, with a powerful shot that zipped past Mignolet’s face straight into the net!

Iheanacho pushed aside the disappointed Skrtel beside him and charged towards Tang Long in excitement!

I assisted Tang Long in scoring!

We’ve equalized the score!