Chapter 282: Fan Daike's Malicious Foul? Forcing a Draw Against Southampton

After Manchester United equalized the score, Pellegrino quickly gathered his players on the sideline.

"We need to keep possession in the opponent's half; I know this is difficult, but you must do it, because only then will our goal be absolutely safe."

From the tone of his voice, one could tell that Pellegrino was already somewhat anxious.

He had come into this match intending to defeat Manchester United, but the current situation was clearly beyond his expectations.

"If we cannot keep the ball in the opponent's half, then we must drop back, drop back deep."

"Tom's penetrating passing ability is exaggerated; I already mentioned this during yesterday morning's meeting!"

Placing his hand on Fan Daike's shoulder and pressing down hard several times, he scanned the surrounding Southampton players, then pointed at his own temple: "Focus! Manchester United is strong, so we must focus!"

Clap clap clap clap!

"Come on, come on!"

After Manchester United finished their celebration, the match resumed!

With the score at 1-1, both Southampton and Manchester United wanted to accelerate the pace of the game.

As Manchester United's rhythm master, Tang Ye was naturally working hard to speed up his own tempo.

Because Tang Ye was extremely dissatisfied with this 1-1 scoreline!

His teammates felt the same way!

The clock reached the 75th minute of the second half!

Southampton capitalized on Mkhitaryan's mistake.

It was another attack down the wing!

"Get back! Get back!"

Ashley Young shouted loudly; Rodri was retreating, while Tang Ye ran directly toward the ball carrier.

Tang Ye was sneaking his run, but Lei Mengde specifically turned his head to take a look.

Their eyes met; Tang Ye felt slightly awkward, and in the end, Lei Mengde played a direct through-ball straight to the front field.

Damn!

What a pity; Tang Ye could only change direction and run toward the penalty area.

But Southampton's attack had already developed!

Pass pass!

Near the left baseline, a series of short passes combined; Tadic received the ball and immediately cut inside.

Phil Jones rushed out to defend, and Tadic charged into him!

Tadic failed to knock Phil Jones aside, but his collision prevented the Manchester United defender from extending his leg to intercept immediately.

Boom!

He pushed the ball into the penalty area and passed it to Xiao En Long!

Xiao En Long shot!

Goal!

"A poacher's goal from Xiao En Long in front of the net; Southampton scores again!"

Xiao En Long ran out with arms spread wide, and St. Mary's Stadium instantly erupted.

"Up the Saints!" (Saints, go!)

Boom boom!

"Up the Saints!"

Boom boom!

The home fans were extremely excited.

The current score was 2-1; if this scoreline held until the end, Southampton would defeat Manchester United at home!

And this match would likely be Southampton's most iconic victory of the season!

Ptui!

Spitting out the chewing gum in his mouth, Tang Ye felt rather upset.

"Tom!"

Mata patted Tang Ye's hand; after this greeting, he said nothing more.

Mata possessed vast match experience, but the fact was, even he did not know what to do now!

Manchester United's momentum was rapidly declining!

"Pull yourselves together, pull yourselves together! Keep your heads up!"

On-field captain Ashley Young encouraged his teammates.

At this moment, Ten Hag made a substitution, bringing on Herrera to replace Rodri.

Rodri's solid defense was crucial for Manchester United, but now that the team was trailing, Ten Hag had to bring Herrera on!

High-fiving Rodri, Herrera quickly ran to his position while shouting to his teammates on the pitch: "Left wing, left wing!"

They needed to strengthen the attack on the left wing!

Tang Ye noted this key point and then began pondering the problem in his mind.

The two defensive midfielders on the opposing side were always following him; he needed to find a suitable opportunity to break through!

Three minutes into the match, Bailly played a long pass from the back field to Rashford up front.

The pass was delivered with great speed; Rashford had to stop and control the ball with his chest.

"Go support him!"

Tang Ye shouted.

Martial hurriedly ran over to provide support.

With a simple calculation, once Martial receives the ball, he can pass toward the center.

Thus, Tang Ye's choice was straightforward: he ran directly toward the top of the arc!

Take the ball!

Lemina wanted to rush over and tackle, but Tang Ye had already noticed this guy!

Slap slap!

Executing a La Croqueta to shift his position laterally, he then accelerated into the penalty area.

Before Tang Ye even charged into the box, Van Dijk, who had been waiting inside, ran out first.

A direct slide tackle!

Damn!

In this situation, there could be absolutely no hesitation; Tang Ye's body almost instinctively jumped up.

Even so, he was still caught by Van Dijk's tackle!

"Ah!"

Letting out a cry, Tang Ye fell straight to the ground.

"Wow!"

"Van Dijk stepped on Tang Ye's leg!"

"This..."

The CCTV commentator in the studio looked grave: "Judging by Tang Ye's expression, the situation doesn't seem very optimistic..."

Ten Hag rushed over to the fourth official: "Red card, this is a red card!"

"This is absolutely a red card!"

The usually calm Ten Hag finally lost his composure; his cheeks flushed with blood, looking terrifyingly red.

"He was going straight for the man!"

Ten Hag kept trying to explain to the fourth official, but the fourth official could only gesture for Ten Hag to calm down.

The specific ruling depended on what the referee said!

"Ah!"

Tang Ye curled up on the ground, clutching his lower leg with both hands, while players from Manchester United and Southampton had already started arguing.

"What the f*** was that!"

Mata pushed Van Dijk away, Bertrand then pushed Mata aside, pulling Van Dijk to the back.

Van Dijk's presence would only cause the players of both teams to argue more fiercely!

The referee ran to Van Dijk's side and showed a yellow card, then walked over to Tang Ye.

"Do you need medical assistance?"

"No, I'm fine!"

Gritting his teeth, Tang Ye was slowly pulled up from the ground by Rashford and Mkhitaryan, who stood beside him.

"Damn, hiss—"

Pressing the ball of his foot hard against the grass, Tang Ye tested the stability of his ankle.

It still hurt a bit, but according to Tang Ye's experience, this kind of pain usually didn't indicate a serious injury.

Seeing that Tang Ye didn't have any major issues, Ten Hag breathed a sigh of relief and then walked toward the substitutes' bench.

Bang!

Ten Hag kicked his own chair, startling Van Gaal standing nearby.

Dongqiu Di live match report: Van Dijk committed a foul with a slide tackle and was shown a yellow card; Manchester United awarded a free kick in the attacking third.

【"Damn, what the hell is Van Dijk doing"】

【"This must just be a mistimed tackle, nothing major"】

【"Mistimed tackle? My GGBond has flown straight into the sky!"】

【"Is Tang Tang Qiuwang okay?"】

【"He jumped fast; Van Dijk probably hadn't put his weight down yet when Tang Ye jumped away, so he should be fine"】

After easing the pain for a moment, Tang Ye ultimately decided to take the free kick himself.

"Manchester United with a direct free kick here; Rashford and Tang Ye are standing together!"

Both Rashford and Tang Ye possessed the ability to shoot directly from free kicks, so the Southampton defenders were now under immense pressure!

The camera focused on Tang Ye and Rashford!

Standing on the right, Tang Ye raised both his hands!

Run-up!

Strike directly!

"G——OOOO——AAAAA——LLLLLL!!!"

"Goal!!!!"

"Tang Ye! Scores directly from the free kick!"

From this position, Tang Ye chose to strike the ball directly.

It wasn't a topspin shot aiming for the corner, nor was it a chipped free kick.

It was simply a very decisive volley, but Tang Ye had chosen an excellent angle!

"Tom!"

Rashford, the closest player, reacted incredibly fast, rushing over from the side to hug Tang Ye.

Quickly ruffling his hair!

"I'm going to charge! I'm going to charge!"

Excitedly shaking off Rashford, Tang Ye ran quickly toward the home supporters' stand.

The Southampton fans had mocked him when he scored that lightning goal in the second half!

Because while Davis was celebrating, Tang Ye had already been looking in the direction of the home stand.

Now that the score was tied, he needed to...

"Roar—!!!"

Let out a furious roar to scare those damn Southampton fans to death!

【You have obtained 15 Counterattack Points】

【Scoring twice, you have obtained an additional 30 Counterattack Points】

"Clap clap clap!"

Ten Hag applauded the Manchester United players on the pitch, glared at the home stand, and then sat back down in his seat.

"Phew..."

Ten Hag exhaled deeply, then shook his head; Fan Fan Dejiahe beside him said nothing.

"Forward, forward!"

"Pass it to me, pass it to me!"

After the match entered the 80th minute, both sides became increasingly aggressive.

Both teams had roughly equal chances in today's match, so players on both sides were desperate to win.

However, neither side managed to find a good opportunity.

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The full-time whistle blew; Manchester United ultimately drew 2:2 with Southampton away from home.

The Manchester United players on the pitch stood with hands on hips, while Tang Ye once again tried to stamp his right foot hard against the grass.

The spot where Fan Daike had stepped on him twenty minutes ago still hurt a little.

Walking toward the substitutes' bench, Mata along the way clapped hands with him: "Tom."

"Mm, Mata."

Whether it was a loss or a draw, as long as victory wasn't achieved, it was an extremely unpleasant feeling.

This was something Tang Ye knew: if they didn't win, the mood among many of the team's fans over the next few days would not be good, including Tang Ye himself.

And it wasn't just the players.

Turning to look at the away stand, the Manchester United fans there had also fallen silent.

"Fuck!"

That was the sound Ashley Young made while scraping his studs across the turf.

Tang Ye found this quite amusing, so he imitated the action.

"Fuck!"

Whoosh!

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Manchester United drew 2:2 away against Southampton; Fan Daike committed a controversial foul, Tang Ye scored directly from a free kick. (17,231 comments)

【We should have played 4-3-3 today; 4-2-3-1 completely failed to stop Southampton's wing attacks!】

【The 4-2-3-1 formation has strong wing defense, but Rashford and Mkhitaryan simply don't know how to defend.】

【Damn it, in the end I, GGBond, had to track back myself, but after GGBond tracked back, Manchester United had no idea how to attack anymore.】

Unsurprisingly, this match sparked fierce discussion among the fans.

Before the match, most fans favored Manchester United to win; a well-known entertainment streamer had even posted his predicted "Manchester United solo win by 2 goals" scheme in his QQ fan group prior to kickoff.

But the reality was that Manchester United encountered some problems and failed to secure the win!

In the locker room, Tang Ye leaned against the rear cabinet, looking up at the overhead light, unsure what was running through his mind.

Meanwhile, in the press conference room, Ten Hag walked into the camera's view with a furrowed brow.

"Erik, can you share some thoughts on today's match result?"

"Your tactics seemed suppressed by the opponent; did you anticipate this situation?"

"..."

Since last season, Ten Hag had kept hundreds of British football journalists suppressed.

And these journalists would jump out whenever Manchester United lost or drew!

"Phew."

"Phew, phew."

Adjusting the microphone on the table, Ten Hag slowly stated: "In this match, our opponent had very good luck, while our luck was poor."

"However,"

"I believe this match had nothing to do with luck."

The expression on Ten Hag's face as he looked at the camera was extremely serious, indicating that his brain was indeed racing at high speed.

"Fan Daike's foul should have been a red card, not a yellow card; this is the biggest reason we lost the match. He 【referring to Fan Daike】 was going straight for Tang, not for the ball on the grass."

Perhaps due to the lack of hair on his head, the wrinkles on Ten Hag's forehead appeared extremely prominent.

"The referee made a wrong call, turning what should have been a 3:2 lead for us into a 2:2 draw."

"The team that should have won the match didn't win, while the team that should have lost ended up taking one point."

He spread his hands wide.

"I completely cannot understand the situation we just experienced."

Crack, crack!

"But in reality, you indeed did not win the match..."

"But reality is wrong; what you saw should be wrong."

Ten Hag interrupted the reporter's words.

Uh...

Alright!

What I saw should be wrong?

Realizing Ten Hag was casting an illusion on him and that he was about to fail to resist, the interviewing reporter hastily switched topics.

"In one week, you will travel to play an away match against Feyenoord, but because... because of certain reasons, Eric, you cannot accompany the team to the Netherlands."

As for "certain reasons," this reason referred to UEFA's suspension penalty against Ten Hag.

Due to UEFA's suspension, Ten Hag could not conduct on-site command during the team's match against Feyenoord.

Sit in the VIP stands to watch the match, just like before when playing Basel?

No, that is also not allowed!

The damn Utrecht police would be waiting for Ten Hag in the airport terminal with handcuffs.

Manchester United cannot lose their head coach!

On the return flight, Tang Ye leaned back in his chair; on the table before him lay a tablet playing Narcos.

Of course, Tang Ye's attention was not on his tablet computer.

Having just lost a match, Tang Ye's mood was not very good.

This made Tang Ye now urgently anticipate the next match.

A new match to wipe away his current terrible form!

He took out his phone to check the upcoming schedule.

On September 27, go to the Netherlands to play Feyenoord; this is the second round of this season's Champions League group stage.

He remembered he still had a Champions League chain quest active.

【Chain Quest (Stage Two)】

Quest Objective: 2 Champions League main tournament goals, 10 key passes; time limit: 4 matches.

Current Progress: Goals (0/2), Key Attacks (0/10)

Two goals, ten key passes, and all within a time limit of four matches.

Needless to say, this was a very difficult quest to complete.

But Tang Ye knew his system very well.

The higher the difficulty of such a quest, the better the reward Tang Ye would ultimately receive!

(End of Chapter)