Chapter 479: Chapter 479

The referee for this match is the famous Premier League whistle, Clattenburg.

When the goal happened, he was standing just outside the penalty area, watching clearly.

As Nasri was about to shoot, Clattenburg focused intently, eyes wide open, watching the Chelsea defenders in the box for any fouls or handballs.

Nasri was knocked over!

Clattenburg thought to himself, such an obvious foul, definitely a penalty!

But when he saw that the one who pushed Nasri was his own Manchester City teammate, Tang Long, he quickly spat out the whistle he had in his mouth.

What’s this nonsense?

Then, Tang Long scored the goal, and Clattenburg signaled the goal was valid, giving Manchester City the lead.

As Clattenburg walked back, he was secretly amazed!

In his ten-plus years as a referee, it was the first time he had seen such a bizarre scene, where the player about to shoot was pushed aside by his teammate, losing the scoring opportunity to his teammate.

This famed Premier League manager didn’t know why Tang Long did this, nor would he ask;

He just secretly sweated for Tang Long: How are you so sure you can score if you don’t? Won’t your teammate tear you apart?

Just as he was pondering, Nasri jumped in front of him, blocking the path.

"Foul, ref! He fouled! Tang pushed me from behind!"

Seeing Nasri’s flushed face, Clattenburg scratched his head.

"Uh, Tang is your teammate, your teammate pushing you isn’t a foul, Chelsea players pushing you is a foul."

"But if Tang hadn’t pushed me, I would have scored!" a muddled Nasri insisted relentlessly.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

This question left Nasri momentarily stunned.

Tang pushed you and snatched the goal opportunity,;

But what do you want the referee to do?

"Give Tang a red card, send him off!"

This is Nasri’s inner cry.

Luckily, calmness prevailed over impulse; otherwise, Nasri would become a laughingstock in the world of football, asking the referee to send off his own teammate during the game.

Nasri’s face turned pale as he walked away from Clattenburg.

The season’s opening goal, the sizzling roasted duck was snatched by Tang Long right under his nose and eaten, leaving Nasri furious.

He didn’t go up to celebrate with Tang Long, just staring at him.

"Forget it; I’m a veteran player now, won’t argue with you, but remember this, next time you have such an opportunity, I’ll push you over and take it myself!"

Pellegrini didn’t clearly see what happened in the penalty area;

A lot of teammates didn’t see clearly either.

They only saw a scramble in the penalty area, and then Tang Long violently shot and scored in the chaos!

Everyone’s face was filled with excited smiles.

This is at Stanford Bridge!

Mourinho’s home, the iron fortress that would never fall, and we scored in the opening minute.

Nothing could be a more wonderful start!

But through slow-motion replay,

Zhan Jun and Fan Zhiyi in the LeSports studio saw it clearly.

"Oh my god! Nasri’s goal opportunity was forcibly taken by Tang Long, haha, what kind of play is this!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱

From the beginning of ESPN, Zhan Jun has commented on football for 20 years, and it’s the first time he’s seen such a violent play.

Fan Zhiyi was even more perplexed!

In his ten-plus years of professional career, he’s seen players bump heads contending for the same spot, seen mispositioning costing opportunities, even seen dual touches leading to a score where it’s unclear who should be credited.

But these are all coordination mishaps due to lack of harmony between teammates.

What was shown in the slow-motion just now, Tang Long pushing a teammate roughly for a shot, Fan Zhiyi has never seen before in his life.

"Wow, my eyes are opened wide, are they playing football or fighting for a woman?"

"Tang is so selfish, I’ve never seen a player this extremely selfish!"

"Why didn’t you let Nasri shoot? Do you think he wouldn’t make it? Doesn’t Tang trust his teammates? Then why bother playing, no need to play anymore!"

"Teacher Zhan, let me give you a conclusion; although Manchester City scored in the first minute, Chelsea will definitely make a comeback!"

"Why?" Zhan Jun asked.

"Isn’t that obvious," Fan Zhiyi snorted twice, "with internal conflicts and lack of cohesion, Manchester City can’t beat Chelsea; if I were Pellegrig, seeing Tang so selfish, I’d sub him out at halftime and let him cool off on the water bench!"

"The outcome of a football match is determined by the number of goals, whether scored by oneself or a teammate, it’s a goal and helps the team win."

"But there are people who like to put their interests above the team, which is wrong!"

Watching Fan Zhiyi’s indignant demeanor, Zhan Jun nodded, "That’s right, Tang Long really needs to apologize to Nasri after the game, seeing the Frenchman’s aggrieved look earlier, I do feel a bit sorry for him. I hope this won’t affect the friendship between Nasri and Tang Long."

-[Isn’t Tang Long’s behavior just wrong? This will affect team unity!]

-[I’ve been following Tang Long since his Inter days, it’s strange. He’s usually unselfish; why is he so selfish today?]

-[Exactly, Nasri hasn’t scored this season yet, Tang Long’s actions might hurt his teammate’s feelings!]

-[Made me laugh, remember the scene where C Luo stole an open goal from Higuain?]

-[Don’t even say it, it’s exactly the same; both were from behind, but C Luo tripped Higuain, while Tang Long pushed over Nasri!]

- "Sigh, no matter what, I hope Tang Long doesn’t do anything to disrupt the team’s unity!"

- "Yeah, Nasri is such a kind guy, it’s unfair to him. If it were me, I would’ve blown up by now."

The more one endures, the more one loses; the more one steps back, the angrier one becomes.

In the next match, Nasri began, consciously or not, to go against Tang Long!

After getting the ball on the left flank, even though he could obviously cooperate with Tang Long, he just wouldn’t pass it to him.

He either teamed up with Bony or sought Kolarov who was advancing forward.

At worst, he’d link up with defensive midfielders Yaya Toure or Delph.

It seemed like, in his eyes, Tang Long didn’t even exist.

He thought that by doing this, he could anger Tang Long and make him upset;

Even if Tang Long just shouted at him a couple of times, "Why aren’t you passing the ball to me, are you blind," Nasri would feel a bit better—after all, he robbed my sure goal!

But to Nasri’s surprise, Tang Long didn’t seem affected at all, continuing to play seriously.

Even if he clearly knew Nasri wasn’t giving him the ball, Tang Long would still actively move into position.

It’s all about: I’ve still run into position anyway, whether you pass or not, that’s up to you.

What’s even more bizarre is that while Nasri intentionally ignored Tang Long’s presence, Tang Long didn’t ignore Nasri!

Having withstood Chelsea’s initial press from Manchester City, they started to regroup and launch their attack.

In the 18th minute of the first half.

The Spanish midfielder Fabregas, using teammate Milk’s cover, burst out from a gap, instantly escaping the enclosure of Delph and Yaya Toure, advancing the ball forward!

"Toure is getting slower and slower!" Pellegrig worried in his mind.

Fabregas, having returned from Barça, not only improved his foot skills, but his passing vision was also more advanced.

He sent a through ball—a move with very strong anticipation!

Trying to bypass the left-back Kolarov, who couldn’t catch up, and penetrate Manchester City’s rib line, directly connecting with the Brazilian William, who had switched positions.

However, William’s forward run wasn’t decisive, he didn’t start early;

Even rushing to the sideline, a flying slide to hook the ball, throwing his body completely out, still couldn’t match the speed of the rolling ball.

Just as William got up and regretfully gave a thumbs up to Fabregas from afar, he suddenly saw the ball trace a parabola in the sky, flying past behind him!

"Watch the ball! Nasri!"

Kolarov quickly took the sideline throw, directly targeting Nasri on the wing.

Nasri, a veteran, understood this was an opportunity for an instant counterattack!

He started quickly, following the ball’s path, sprinting 20 meters forward;

It wasn’t until the right-back Azpilicueta closed in that he had to slow down his advance.

This season, Nasri hasn’t had many chances to play; the frequency at his feet needs recovery;

Moreover, he didn’t have the same physique as Kolarov on the same side, capable of enduring Azpilicueta’s challenge, so he lacked confidence in one-on-one against Azpilicueta.

"Don’t force it, pass it back!" Toure shouted.

Nasri glanced at Tang Long, who came to take the ball in the attacking midfielder position, "To me, Nasri!"

Nasri passed the ball to Toure.

Toure was stunned for a moment, then quickly came forward to meet the ball, "I wanted you to pass to Tang, why are you giving it to me!"

Though he said that, Toure, who got the ball, didn’t dare slack off, advancing two steps with his long legs before poking the ball with his toes just as Mikel stretched his leg to steal, delivering it to Tang Long.

Bony on the centre burst in diagonally, drawing the attention of two centre-backs!

Navas on the right pulled to the sideline; if he got the ball, he could cross next.

But the most favorable situation was actually on the left flank!

With Mikel bypassed, another defensive midfielder Fabregas was too pressed forward previously and was still chasing back, far behind.

Azpilicueta was too wary of Tang Long’s ability, especially his unpredictable dribbling, making him very nervous.

In an earlier match where Manchester City played Liverpool, Tang Long’s Ronaldo-style deadly dribble broke through three players and scored, sparking a pendulum dribble craze among forwards in the Premier League. Many Chelsea players too had mimicked Tang Long’s dribbling videos, which Azpilicueta was well aware of.

Bony occupied a center-back, Azpilicueta wasn’t comfortable letting Tang Long and another center-back face off one-on-one!

Therefore, he moved in from the left-back spot to close in on Tang Long.

"Don’t worry, we’ll double-team him together!"

Tang Long was waiting for this moment!

With a flick of his ankle, the ball rolled into the open space behind Azpilicueta!

Nasri was stunned; by the time he came to his senses to chase the ball, it had already rolled away.

The ball went over the end line.

He hadn’t run at all in the beginning!

Previously acting against Tang Long in various ways, deliberately not giving him the ball.

This time, even though Nasri saw the open space, he was already convinced in his mind, I won’t pass to Tang, so how could Tang pass to me!

Tang surely wants to score; he will definitely shoot himself!

But Nasri never expected that in the end, the ball actually came...

"Nasri, are you asleep! Why aren’t you running!"

Yaya Toure rushed over, yelling at him, almost wanting to slap him!