Chapter 301: Phase Two Mission Complete, A New Item? (Bonus Chapter, Seeking Monthly Votes)

Pinned post on Check Dongqiu Di: Manchester United vs. Benfica match in progress, current score 1:2, Manchester United trailing.

Live match report: Tang Ye delivers a precise long pass for a counterattack, Rashford beats two defenders in the box to score, Manchester United equalizes!

【Awesome!】

【Holy crap, Ronaldo!】

【Tied, haha!】

【It has to be Tang Ye.】

The Manchester United players huddle together in celebration, and Tang Ye jumps straight onto Rashford's back.

As expected!

Marcus is simply the best!

"Rashford!"

"Rashford!"

"Hey, Marcus, did you hear that?"

Pressed against Rashford's back, Tang Ye points to the fans in the stands: "They're shouting your name!"

Hearing Tang Ye's words, Rashford carries Tang Ye over to the base of the stands.

Tang Ye naturally knows what Rashford wants to do, so he quickly gets ready.

Charge up!

"Roar!!!"

Tom and Marcus's super roar!

Ten Hag returns to the sideline; Rashford's goal that equalized the score lets him breathe a huge sigh of relief.

But 2:2 should not be the final result of this match.

"Keep this rhythm, keep this rhythm!"

Ten Hag calls the players to the sideline: "We still need to attack, we still need to attack."

Finding Tang Ye in the crowd: "Well done, we must continue!"

Pleased by the praise, Tang Ye reaches out and high-fives Ten Hag: "I'll do my best, Mr. Erik."

The Eagles have been arrogant for long enough.

Tom won't let them continue being arrogant!

72nd minute!

Manchester United completes a steal in their own half, and Tang Ye drops back to receive support.

Calling for the ball, he glances back toward the far end!

Slap!

Rodri passes the ball to Tang Ye, who turns his body sideways and immediately launches a long pass.

"A long pass without adjusting first seems a bit rushed."

"Hmm... but considering it's Tang Ye, maybe it's quite normal?"

The long pass reaches the front field, and Rashford, who had already started making a forward run, suddenly accelerates.

Slap!

The ball hits the ground, bounces a few times, and is then controlled by Rashford.

This looks like a one-on-one breakaway!

But it's not certain; the defender Luisão is positioned even further back!

Rashford performs a few feints, then enters the penalty area.

In a panic, Luisão sticks out his foot and trips Rashford.

"Damn!"

Tang Ye, who was running, comes to a stop.

What a pity!

Rashford was just a hair's breadth from entering the box; if he had been inside, that would have been a penalty kick!

While Tang Ye is feeling regretful, Rodri and Ashley Young are quickly running toward the referee.

"What's going on, what's going on?"

Tang Ye looks completely bewildered until he sees the referee show a yellow card to Luisão.

But this isn't over yet.

Holding the yellow card in hand, the referee pulls out another card.

This is...

A red card!

The head referee writes Luisão's name on the red card.

Red card: Luisão.

"Wow!!!"

Cheers from the Manchester United fans ring out from the stands.

Luisão has been sent off!

"Holy crap."

Tang Ye slowly walks over.

So that Benfica defender already had a yellow card!

With Luisão sent off, Benfica now has only ten players on the field!

"Referee, listen to me!"

While the Benfica players were still arguing with the referee, Tang Ye took a moment to check his mission.

【Phase Two Mission Progress: Goals (1/2), Key Passes (10/10)】

His long pass took out an opposing defender, and the system immediately awarded Tang Ye a key pass.

That felt good!

Hmm... now he was only one goal away from completing the mission.

Check the current time!

Less than 20 minutes remaining!

Dongqiu Di Live Match Report: Luis pulls Rashford, committing a foul; two yellows make a red, and he is sent off. Benfica plays with ten men.

After Luis went off, head coach Vitória immediately substituted a defender for a forward.

The back four absolutely could not be changed, so the only option was to reduce the number of forwards.

However, the fact that there were only ten men on the pitch could not be altered.

Benfica's fate was sealed!

"Focus on defending the penalty area! Concentrate!"

Placing a hand on the substitute defender ready to enter, Vitória emphasized seriously.

Winning was no longer expected.

But they absolutely could not give the opponent a chance to take the lead!

"Watch out for passes from their number 10, come on, come on!"

Clap, clap, clap!

A draw in this match would be acceptable, but a loss would mean Benfica was completely out of contention for first place in the group!

"We're Man United and we are never gonna stop!"

"Ole ole ole ole!"

"Ole ole ole ole ole ol~~"

The atmosphere at Old Trafford reached its climax.

Manchester United's counter-attack was about to begin!

Who should Manchester United's attack rely on?

The camera focused on the number 10 on the pitch wearing the red jersey.

The male god, GG Bond!

What's the plan? What will the next attacking tactic be!

The 84th minute!

Tang Ye moved to the right flank, pulling wide.

"Charge, charge!"

"Run!"

"Dribble past him, dribble past him! Watch out for the tackle, watch out for the tackle!"

The spectators were frantically directing play, but Tang Ye remained extremely calm.

No rush; first, execute a one-two combination with Lin Lin Jiade, who had just come on as a substitute.

Look up and observe!

Slap!

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv5: Replication (Transcendent State)】

Proficiency: 32/3500

Outside the penalty area!

Mkhitaryan!

Bang!

Mkhitaryan's header went over the crossbar!

Lacking a target man, Manchester United's heading ability in the penalty area had always been a major problem.

Tang Ye earned another key pass credit, but honestly, it was useless.

His key pass mission was already complete; what he needed now was a goal!

As time entered the 85th minute, the Manchester United fans in the stands suddenly let out a scream.

The camera cut to Luke Shaw on the sidelines, changing his clothes.

Luke Shaw was returning!

"Wait a moment."

Ten Hag signaled for Luke Shaw not to rush.

Luke Shaw had recovered well in training, but this was a critical moment in the match; he did not want his substitution to disrupt Tang Ye's rhythm.

"Huff, huff huff..."

On the pitch, Tang Ye was gasping for air.

His stamina was nearly exhausted by now, but he still had to grit his teeth and persevere.

Rashford dribbled down the left flank!

Without hesitation, Tang Ye moved directly to the position at the top of the arc.

Fans with a god's-eye view noticed that Tang Ye was now the most advanced player in the Manchester United lineup.

Truly worthy of the name GG Bond!

See if there's a chance to get the ball!

As soon as he reached the arc, Tang Ye was immediately marked by two Benfica defenders.

Glancing back, he saw Ruben Dias with his hands on his hips.

Marking in the truest sense of the word!

"Come on, come on!"

Since Dias wanted to outnumber him, Tang Ye immediately called Rodri over.

To spread out his offensive pressure.

Tang Ye's offensive pressure had decreased, but Ten Hag's pressure was now immense.

With both Rodri and Lin Lin Jiade up front, it would be disastrous if Manchester United got caught on a counter-attack now.

Keeping Rodri inside the penalty area, Tang Ye made a strange move.

Retreat!

To stop Dias from continuing to stick to him, Tang Ye abandoned his current position.

Rashford dribbled forward, compressing the defensive line!

It's time!

Tang Ye and Rashford exchanged a glance, then suddenly accelerated.

Rodri reacted quickly, stepping forward to block Dias.

Tang Ye!

A toe-poke shot!

Goalkeeper Svilar dropped down quickly, but Tang Ye's poke rolled between his legs and into the net.

"Goooo——aaaaa——lllll!!!!"

"Goal!"

"Oh my god!"

The commentator in the studio jumped to his feet.

Look at the time now!

"89 minutes!" "A goal in the 89th minute!"

89 minutes, or strictly speaking 89 minutes and 45 seconds; in just a few more seconds, the fourth official would announce the stoppage time.

But at this moment, Manchester United killed the game!

"Roar!! Roar!!"

Ten Hag jumped up on the sideline.

Tom's last-gasp winner!

This is Tom's last-gasp winner!

Fan Fan Dejiahe raised both hands, while the Manchester United assistant coach sitting in the chair embraced Ten Hag.

"So I was right."

Ten Hag shouted loudly.

Fan Fan Dejiahe grabbed Ten Hag's arm: "So I've always supported your choice."

!

"Haha!"

As the scorer, Tang Ye was naturally extremely excited now as well.

He accelerated and ran forward!

【You have obtained Counterattack Points *20】

【Phase Two Mission Progress: Goals (2/2), Key Passes (11/10)】

Status: Completed

The Phase Two mission is complete!

But Tang Ye was not in a hurry to claim his reward.

He had other things to do!

"Fishing, fishing!"

Tang Ye found a suitable spot and stood still; hearing Tang Ye say he was going fishing, Rashford got off Tang Ye's back and stood aside.

Valencia and Lin Lin Jiade fell to the ground together.

And so did Rodri and Smalling!

"Too many, too many!"

"Forget it, forget it!"

"I'm reeling it in!"

Recalling the fishing techniques Musacchio had taught him, Tang Ye performed a smooth reeling motion.

"Hmm, this celebration move, haha."

"Yes, last season in La Liga, Tang Ye and his former teammates did this move."

"Indeed, I was commentating a La Liga match just yesterday, and Villarreal players are still doing this move now."

The Manchester United players lying on the ground stood up and vigorously ruffled Tang Ye's hair.

"Tom!"

"Viva Tom Tom! (Long live Tom)"

"The Hero of United! (Manchester United's Hero)"

"Viva Tom Tom!"

"The One of United! (Manchester United's Savior)"

This was the singing of Manchester United fans!

The great song of Tom!

Securing both the last-minute winner and the treasure chest simultaneously, Tang Ye believed he was absolutely the happiest person in the world right now.

Bar none!

He raised his hands to greet the fans in the stands!

"Wowhoo!!"

"Amazing, Tom!"

Ashley Young hugged Tang Ye's head, then planted a kiss on Tang Ye's forehead.

……

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Manchester United 3:2 Benfica, confirming group stage qualification two rounds early; Tang Ye scores a last-minute winner in regular time.

【Ten Hag really needs to kowtow to my Tang Tang Qiuwang】

【Don't say it, the 4-3-1-2 actually has merit; it's just that with Tang Ye posing as a striker, he gets marked too easily】

【Qualifying for the group stage knockout round two rounds early, familiar vibes!】

This season, Manchester United played four Champions League matches: two without Ten Hag and two with Ten Hag.

And thanks to Ten Hag's relentless efforts, his Champions League record finally tied with that of Fan Fan Dejiahe.

But this wasn't even the most important thing!

The most important thing was that Ten Hag used today's match to prove the correctness of the 4-3-1-2 formation.

"The fact is we just lacked some cohesion; there's nothing wrong with the 4-3-1-2. I need to make some changes based on the team's current situation. If we keep using the same lineup, the second half of the season will be very difficult for us."

In the press conference room, Ten Hag spoke slowly to the reporters.

"I know you proved the 4-3-1-2 was viable in training before using it in a match, but... Erik, wasn't using the Champions League game against Benfica as an experiment a bit too impulsive?"

Tactics need to be tested in actual combat.

The previous EFL Cup match against Swansea was actually a good opportunity for Manchester United to test the 4-3-1-2.

But what the reporters didn't know was that at that time, Manchester United hadn't even started training with the 4-3-1-2 yet.

This thing was something Ten Hag had only come up with half a week ago!

"You nearly missed out on three points,"

a reporter said.

"But the fact is we didn't."

Ten Hag spread his hands: "We got the three points; the 4-3-1-2 is correct; that's the result."

……

《442》Front Page Headline—Deep Analysis of Manchester United's New 4-3-1-2 Formation: A Desperate Move Without a Target Striker, or Also the Best Way to Activate Tom?

Less than two hours after the match ended, the 《442》newsroom published a long article deeply analyzing Manchester United's new tactics.

In the view of the 《442》reporter, Ten Hag adopted this new formation for two reasons.

The first reason was known to all fans: with Ibrahimović and Martial getting injured one after another, Manchester United now had no striker available, making playing a 4-2-3-1 extremely uncomfortable.

But there was another reason unknown to the fans.

That was that the 4-3-1-2 could activate Tang Ye's role in the offensive end to a greater extent.

The newspaper reporter compared Tang Ye's offensive statistics from this match with his other ten matches this season and discovered something interesting.

In this match, the number of times Tang Ye touched the ball inside the opponent's penalty area was twice the average of previous matches!

"Without a striker, Tom needs to frequently enter the penalty area to help with the attack, which brings his innate excellent poaching ability into play. But it's clear Tom isn't very familiar with this Tao Ti Fa yet; he needs more time to adapt," the 《442》reporter stated.

From this perspective, the 4-3-1-2 indeed had merit, but to say Ten Hag specifically researched and developed this tactic for Tang Ye would definitely be wrong.

Because of the 4-3-1-2, Manchester United won this match.

Ten Hag's 4-3-1-2 was beneficial to the team!

……

"See you tomorrow, Rod!"

"See you tomorrow!"

Returning to his apartment at night, Tang Ye threw his backpack onto the floor, then tossed his removed clothes and pants onto the sofa.

Splash, splash, splash!

He quickly washed his face, dried it with a Mao Jin, and then lay down on the sofa.

【Chain Mission】

Status: Stage Two Completed

【Claim Stage Two reward and unlock the next stage?】

【You have obtained Counterattack Points * 3000】

3000 Counterattack Points!

He remembered that when completing the Stage One mission, he had received a reward of 1500 Counterattack Points.

Tang Ye had guessed that the reward for the Stage Two mission would also be Counterattack Points, but he just hadn't expected it to be this much.

After all, when the season settled in June, he had received less than 10,000 Counterattack Points in total!

Two goals and ten threat passes yielding a reward of 3000 Counterattack Points could only mean that the Champions League mission rewards were truly generous.

Driven by the desire for even richer rewards, Tang Ye did not rush to process the 3000 Counterattack Points he had just obtained, but instead turned his attention back to the mission.

Let's see what the Stage Three mission looks like!

【Chain Quest · Stage Three】

Objective: Achieve 6 assists in the Champions League.

Current Progress: 0/6

Six assists...

The reward for Stage Two was 3,000 Counterattack Points; the reward for Stage Three must surely be more generous than Stage Two.

With 6 assists yielding no less than 3,000 Counterattack Points, all in all, it is still a very worthwhile deal.

But very soon, Tang Ye thought of a problem.

Only the final two rounds of the group stage remain; after finishing the group stage, they will enter the knockout phase.

If they are eliminated too early, Tang Ye simply won't have enough time to complete his quest!

"Hoo..."

He let out a long breath.

Looking at it this way... the Stage Three quest is quite difficult indeed!

Keeping his new quest of 6 Champions League assists in mind, Tang Ye opened his system.

Account Balance: Counterattack Points * 3,782

Because he had bought too much broccoli and hair wax to grind proficiency, Tang Ye hadn't saved any money recently; the Stage Two reward had helped him become wealthy again.

With less than 4,000 Counterattack Points, Tang Ye needed to think carefully about how to use this sum.

First, he considered his weaknesses.

Since landing in the Premier League this August, Tang Ye's disadvantage in physical attributes had been constantly exposed.

Moreover, Ten Hag had emphasized the issue of physical attributes to Tang Ye on multiple occasions.

Frowning in thought, Tang Ye went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of soda, then sat back down on the sofa.

Hiss!!

Taking a sip of the ice-cold soda, Tang Ye began his operations.

【Ronaldo's Chicken Breast +3 → Ronaldo's Chicken Breast +4】

Material Cost: Counterattack Points * 1,000

【You have obtained Ronaldo's Chicken Breast +4】

After spending 1,000 Counterattack Points to upgrade the chicken breast to level +4, Tang Ye now had 2,782 Counterattack Points remaining.

Next, he looked at the Red Bull.

A super item that boosts stamina during matches, this was Tang Ye's most important possession.

【Vardy's Red Bull +5 → Vardy's Red Bull +6】

Material Cost * 2,500

!

Placing the soda can on the coffee table, Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

He had discovered something very interesting.

Upgrading the item from +4 to +5 cost 2,500 Counterattack Points, and the cost from +5 to +6 was also 2,500 Counterattack Points.

Making a slight guess, the cost for subsequent upgrades should also be 2,500 points.

This was extremely comfortable!

Tang Ye now had a plan: to wait until the season concluded next summer and directly upgrade 【Vardy's Red Bull】 to +10.

By then, he could become a super attacking midfielder with full-pitch coverage capabilities!

Of course, Tang Ye only had a little over 2,700 points left now; he couldn't directly spend 2,500 points to upgrade the Red Bull.

He had another idea!

【Spend 2,000 Counterattack Points to unlock a new item?】

It had been a long time since he last unlocked a new item.

2,000 Counterattack Points were far too expensive for the Tang Ye of the past; although still expensive now, it was within his means to afford.

Let's try getting a new item!

【You have obtained... Tang Ye's Chewing Gum】

Hmm?

(End of Chapter)