Chapter 395: Chapter 395

Almost at the instant of the goal, the referee blew the whistle for halftime!

The football was violently rubbing against the net within the goal, not falling down for a long time.

After sprinting 60 meters without oxygen and dribbling past players, a strong sense of bodily fatigue instantly hit.

"Ah, I’m exhausted..."

Tang Long collapsed on the ground, lying there.

He didn’t even have time to catch his breath.

Teammates from all directions rushed to him, forming a dark crowd, staring at him with wide-open eyes!

(Look at this guy, he’s amazing!)

In the LeSports studio.

Zhan Jun watched the computer, filled with dense barrage of comments from viewers watching the live broadcast, feeling emotional.

"I didn’t expect that at the end of the match, Tang Long would bring us to a climax!"

"The viewers are simply going crazy!"

"This kind of dribbling reminds me of Messi, reminds me of Ronaldo!"

"With my experience of commentating on the Premier League for over 10 years, when Yaya Toure first came to Manchester City in his younger days, he also had this kind of driving ability at the defensive midfield position!"

"But with age, the 32-year-old Toure no longer has such stamina and muscle strength."

"But at this moment, Tang Long stood out!"

"His control of space and the connection of his dribbling moves, I feel, are at least twice as strong as Toure when he first came to Manchester City!"

"Especially that final swing, he barely swung once, yet completely confused Domingos, the opposition’s central defender!"

"As the saying goes, there is no fixed move. In the last Premier League match, when Everton’s central defender Stones was interviewed, he said he never thought that the second step of Tang Long’s Matthews’ move would pass vertically through his legs!"

"I think after this match, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s center back Domingos should also have his personal insights into Tang Long’s unconventional pendulum move!"

"I hope that these defenders can all grow after facing Tang Long."

Zhan Jun spoke eloquently, while Dong Fangzhuo beside him stammered and didn’t say much.

Because he realized that in this match, from the first half to now, as long as he pressed Tang Long a little, Tang Long would instantly retaliate and impress.

Not wanting Manchester City to make great strides in the Champions League, Dong Fangzhuo simply fell silent.

Compared to the thrilling first half, the confrontation in the second half was lackluster.

Borussia Mönchengladbach had already given up resistance.

The group stage of the Champions League is a round-robin tournament, with each group consisting of 4 teams, playing a total of 6 home and away matches, and the top two teams advance.

After the first half skirmish, Mönchengladbach was already clear!

Let alone trying to defeat Manchester City at home, even taking a point was quite unrealistic. Original content can be found at noᴠelfire.net

They decided to conserve their strength for the remaining five matches.

So in the 58th minute, the Bundesliga team substituted their main midfielder Zaka for a young newcomer.

This was a proactive gesture of surrender to Manchester City.

Seeing the opponent voluntarily showing weakness, Pellegrini was also quite pleased.

This season Manchester City is fighting on three fronts, juggling the league, the Champions League, and also the domestic League Cup and FA Cup.

Winning against the opponent at the smallest cost, Pellegrini refrained from crushing them further.

In the 60th minute, Tang Long was substituted out, replaced by backup defensive midfielder Fernandinho.

As Tang Long exited, all the fans at the Etihad Stadium stood up and applauded him.

This was the new nickname given to Tang Long by the fans at the Etihad.

The pronunciation is exactly the same as Chinatown.

This title for Tang Long’s outstanding performance in the first half was very fitting.

He sprinted from the defensive midfield, broke through three players, and went straight towards goal;

Although he was the only Chinese player on the field, he opened up his own Chinatown on the Etihad pitch!!!

In the 75th minute, Agüero scored the third goal to seal the victory and was also replaced by Bony.

The final score was not altered again, as Manchester City neatly secured a 3-0 victory at home, claiming their first win in the Champions League group stage.

With a performance of one goal and one assist, Tang Long received the highest rating of 9 points for the entire match and was named UEFA’s official Man of the Match.

However, during the mixed zone interview, looking at the newly graduated, bespectacled young female reporter, Tang Long felt uninterested.

After repeating a few polite technical remarks, he went back to the dressing room to celebrate with his teammates.

In the other Champions League group B match, Seville held Juventus to a 1:1 draw at home, with both teams sharing a point.

Champions League Group B, real-time standings:

1. Manchester City 3 points

4. Eindhoven 0 points

Tang Long’s halfway solo goal ignited the emotions of the British media!

Once again, he became the key to attracting traffic, with all attention drawn to him.

The Champions League and the Premier League are still different.

This is a confrontation between an English team and a German team.

Although within the UK, many media have certain biases against Manchester City, when facing foreign teams, most media can agree externally and unite.

The Guardian: Tang performed a Maradona-like dribbling goal!

Manchester Evening News: One goal and one assist, he had a perfect Champions League debut!

The Times: Manchester City won 3-0 against Borussia Monchengladbach, and Tang Long’s performance conquered the Etihad once again!

Even the right-wing conservative Daily Telegraph, which has always been critical of Tang Long, had to issue such a comment:

"Manchester City’s victory in the Champions League helped the Premier League gain valuable European points, with Agüero and Tang being the stars of the match."

The next morning, in a studio at Sky Sports’ London headquarters.

Veteran media presenter Dilata was recording a program called "Weekly Champions League Review" on her exclusive Radio105 station.

This program aired at 7:30 in the morning and summarized last night’s Champions League matches, broadcasting it for commuters to listen to on their way to work.

"In last night’s Champions League group stage matches, all teams embarked on their first journey."

"Real Madrid won 4-0 at home against Shakhtar Donetsk, with C Luo scoring a hat-trick, reaffirming his dominance on the Champions League stage."

"Barcelona, however, was held to a 1-1 draw away by Rome, with Uruguayan forward Suarez scoring for Barça."

"Bayern Munich’s performance was as steady as ever, scoring a 3-0 win away against Olympiacos in Greece without any surprises."

After discussing the performances of the foreign teams, Dilata focused on the domestic English teams.

"The four Premier League teams participating in the Champions League each had different outcomes."

"Manchester United narrowly won 2-1 away against Eindhoven, with Icardi scoring twice!"

"It seems the conflict with a Tottenham player and former teammate Gualin in the last league match did not affect this Argentine sharp-shooter’s form in the Champions League. In his first Champions League appearance, he scored twice, impressing everyone!"

"Chelsea, on the other hand, thrashed visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv 4-0 at Stanford Bridge."

"In contrast, fellow London team Arsenal performed poorly, suffering a 1-2 away loss to Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia."

After saying these, Dilata took a light sip of water to soothe her throat.

"Now, let me focus on the match between Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach!"

"At a cursory glance, the 3-0 scoreline seems ordinary, reflecting a typical strength gap between the two teams, with Manchester City taking an early 2-0 lead in the first half, effectively sealing the match."

"However, the flow of this match was anything but ordinary!"

"The ups and downs of this game cannot go without mentioning one person, and that is the 19-year-old Chinese youngster, Tang!"

When mentioning Tang Long, Dilata’s lips curled with a smile, and her voice became gentle.

"Can you imagine, only 19 seconds after the kickoff, Tang used his first touch of the game to make a precise long pass, assisting returning top scorer Agüero to score a solo goal!"

"After the match, in the press conference alongside head coach Pellegrini, Agüero was full of praise for this assist!"

"He said that he initially just made a probing run, not expecting Tang Long to actually spot his run and manage to pass the ball through tight midfield encirclement, with his back to the goal!"

"Agüero lavished praise on his Chinese teammate for his keen understanding of the forward’s movement and the precision of the pass, with Pellegrini also stating that with Tang’s presence, Manchester City would be more competitive in the Champions League this season."

"But viewers, if you’re already impressed with Tang Long’s performance upon hearing this, I ask you to hold your excitement."

"Because just before the first half ended, Tang made a long forward charge from the defensive midfield position, dribbled past three players, and scored a goal, which was the climax of the match!"

"That goal showcased his accurate spatial awareness and exquisite footwork, with perfect control over the shooting technique at the finish!"

"It’s no wonder that in Sky Sports’ selection of the top five goals of this Champions League round, Tang’s long-distance run was placed at the top."

"When he first transferred to Manchester City, many doubted if he was worth the over 70 million euros record transfer fee, questioning if someone not even 20 years old would be a flash in the pan in football?"

"But with the progress of the matches, six Premier League games and one Champions League game, 7 matches 5 goals 5 assists, Tang used his abilities to silence all those who doubted him!"

With Dilata’s FM broadcast.

The commuters driving to work and those listening to radios on buses were filled with curiosity.

They all picked up their phones to search for Manchester City’s performance last night.

After watching the replay highlights, everyone was thrilled!

Crowded buses echoed with cheers of "Great goal!" and "Amazing!";

While at traffic lights, drivers who took out their phones to watch were so excited they honked their horns several times!

It wasn’t just Manchester City fans among them; there were also Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton fans, etc.

However, after witnessing Tang Long’s extraordinary performance, everyone was captivated by his superb skills, giving heartfelt praise!

This is the charm of football.

It can momentarily stop the hostilities between two rival nations;

It can also make antagonistic fans cheer together for a spectacular moment!

Tang Long arrived at Manchester City’s training ground at nine-thirty, and Dilata had already finished her broadcast.

She sent Tang Long a photo of herself in the studio, [Tang, today the star is you].

Wearing a black fitted top with black tight leather pants, her voluptuous figure was accentuated, curves on full display.

Tang Long, while changing pants in the locker room, replied with one hand, "The outfit looks nice, but is your blonde hair dyed? It looks a bit strange mixed with the newly grown black roots."

Dilata replied with a [crying and laughing] emoji.