Chapter 320: Mancheng Defeats Tom and His Friends (Bonus Chapter, Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Manchester United vs. Mancheng, the Manchester derby is underway, current score 2:3, Tang Ye breaks through alone from midfield to score.

【Tang Ye, the Ball King!】

【Damn, isn't that Hazard?】

【Perhaps this is what they call a possession-type midfielder; Ggbond is like this, he always steps up at critical moments.】

【Tang Army assemble, attack Mancheng!】

Tang Ye's goal completely ignited the mood of the fans in the live stream.

Trailing by two goals after 15 minutes, and trailing against the powerful Mancheng at that.

Originally, this match had already lost all suspense.

But now it seems...

perhaps Manchester United is not entirely without a chance?

"Go, Tom!"

Ibrahimovic placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, then pushed Tang Ye quickly toward the halfway line.

"Go, Zlatan, if you see an opportunity, run fast."

Tang Ye twisted his neck; the spot where Rashford had pressed him earlier hurt a bit, but it didn't matter, he would adjust soon enough.

The biggest problem was stamina.

Having played nearly 80 minutes, Tang Ye was starting to feel unable to run.

Clap, clap!

He clapped his hands to hype himself up.

Although exhausted, Tang Ye would find a way to pass to Ibrahimovic!

So far, he had not yet completed an assist to Ibrahimovic in an official match!

The match continues!

"Push forward, push forward!"

"Be decisive when passing!"

Ten Hag shouted loudly from the sideline.

Clearly, the Manchester United manager highly values this match against Mancheng!

He also wants to win!

The 83rd minute!

After finding their rhythm, Manchester United's possession rate increased significantly.

Boom!

Rojo's long kick found the left baseline, and Tang Ye sprinted over!

Slap!

【De Bruyne's Cutback Pass Lv3: Simulation】

Proficiency: 231/400

Tang Ye's cutback!

It was aimed at...

Rodri!

This was a great opportunity; every nerve in Rodri's body was tense.

Boom!

A direct shot!

"Fuck!"

Rodri roared loudly.

He had blasted the ball wide!

"It's okay, Rod."

Tang Ye and Rodri raised their hands to signal each other.

Wasting one long-range shooting opportunity was nothing significant.

Manchester United had now found their rhythm, and Tang Ye would find ways to create more chances.

"Tighten the defensive line, tighter, tighter! Watch your positioning!"

Realizing the situation was turning unfavorable, Guardiola immediately instructed the Mancheng players on the field to play defensively.

Although this would give Manchester United more possession opportunities, Guardiola believed this tactical change was worth it.

He trusted Mancheng's defensive capabilities!

The 86th minute!

Since the score became 2:3, the Manchester United players in the backfield had been frantically looking for Tang Ye.

Now was no different!

"Zlatan!"

Shouting Ibrahimovic's name loudly, Tang Ye sent a through ball forward.

It went to Ibrahimovic at the very front!

Ibrahimovic chose to shoot directly from outside the penalty area!

But the ball was blocked out by Otamendi!

"Hmm, the Mancheng defenders are in excellent form today."

"Yes, especially Otamendi; whether in attack or defense, Otamendi has delivered very impressive performances..."

"Huff, huff..."

Hands on his hips, Tang Ye gasped for air in great heaving breaths.

After stopping his run, he could even hear the sound of his own heartbeat!

The kind that goes thump-thump!

Just imagine it for a moment.

The heart beats, pumping blood to every part of his body...

No!

Focus!

He turned his head to check the current time.

87 minutes!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: At the 90th minute, Tang Ye's long pass went directly out for a goal kick; stoppage time is 3 minutes.

【Only giving 3 minutes? Could the referee be a bit more generous?】

【Don't bother; with Mancheng's defense like this, Man United would probably struggle to score even if they played another 30 minutes.】

Ten Hag had sat back down on the substitutes' bench at some point, the Man United manager shaking his head repeatedly.

Mancheng last season was strong; Mancheng this season is even more absurd.

When Mancheng wanted to attack, Man United struggled immensely to defend.

And when Mancheng wanted to defend, Man United had absolutely no way to break through their defense!

Slap!

Receiving a pass from a teammate, Tang Ye looked for an opportunity to advance.

Sterling, tracking back to defend, stood right in front of him.

Although already exhausted, Tang Ye still wanted to give it a try.

A feint to shake him off!

Tang Ye's current objective was to get the ball forward to Rashford making a supporting run, but Sterling simply refused to give Tang Ye any passing lane.

After a tense struggle, Tang Ye chose to pass directly.

A 45-degree cross intended to find Ibrahimović directly in the penalty area, but the ball was kicked too low and ultimately failed to get past the near post.

"That passing mistake by Tang Ye was quite significant."

"That's correct, but there was nothing he could do about it; Tang Ye covered a huge distance in this match, and by this stage he has almost no stamina left."

The CCTV commentators and fans briefly analyzed Man United's problems.

This season, Man United generally struggles when facing possession-based teams, and there are two reasons for this.

First is possession rate; falling behind in possession leads to fewer attacking opportunities for Man United.

With fewer attacking opportunities, scoring goals becomes an extremely difficult task.

Then there is defense.

Possession-based teams, like Mancheng, prefer to keep the ball in the opponent's half, which forces Tang Ye to frequently drop back from the front line to participate in defense.

Against average teams, Tang Ye's stamina is fully sufficient to last 90 minutes.

But when facing a strong team like Mancheng, Tang Ye's weakness in physical endurance is exposed!

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The full-time whistle blows; ultimately, Mancheng won this Manchester derby with a score of 3:2.

"Roar—!!!"

The Mancheng players sprinted across the field celebrating; Tang Ye stood alongside Rodri, hands on his own buttocks, feeling terrible inside.

"If only I had another 10 minutes, I should have been able to find an opportunity."

Tang Ye muttered softly.

"But you can barely run anymore."

Rodri placed an arm around Tang Ye's shoulder; he could clearly feel Tang Ye's body sagging downward.

Speaking of which, Rodri felt somewhat guilty today.

Before the match, Fan Fan Dejiahe had specifically emphasized unleashing Tang Ye's capabilities in attack, which required Rodri and Mata, the two defensive midfielders, to work hard.

But the actual situation in the match was that Man United's backline exposed severe problems in playing out from the back, forcing Tang Ye to drop deep.

"What's wrong, Rod?"

Seeing that Rodri was in a bad mood, Tang Ye asked directly.

Rodri shrugged his shoulders: "I don't know how to put it; we did have a chance to equalize, that long-range shot..."

When the score was 2:3, Rodri received a cutback from Tang Ye and got a chance for a long-range shot, but in the end, he blasted it over the bar.

"It's fine, Rod."

Tang Ye also placed his hand on Rodri's shoulder: "I wasted far more opportunities than you did."

"Haha, Tom."

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Tang Ye fails to save the day with a goal and an assist; in the Manchester derby, Man United loses 2:3 at home to Mancheng, their unbeaten record brutally ended.

After this match concluded, Mancheng became the only unbeaten team currently in the Premier League.

1. Mancheng, 46 points (15 wins, 1 draw, 0 losses).

"Hiss—"

Looking at the Mancheng league table data displayed on his phone, Tang Ye felt an indescribable sense of envy in his heart.

"Mancheng is truly too outrageous."

Rashford sighed: "Under normal circumstances, our record would definitely be first."

"They are indeed very strong."

Tang Ye nodded slightly.

At the beginning of the season, he had already heard just how formidable Mancheng was.

After playing today's match, Tang Ye now had an intuitive sense of his city rivals' strength.

"Fifteen wins and one draw... Marcus, they truly deserve that record."

Tang Ye clenched his right hand into a fist: "If we want to surpass them, we must deliver an even better performance, but that is no easy task."

Manchester Evening News front-page headline: Manchester Derby ends in a 2:3 defeat; Manchester United's unbeaten record brutally terminated.

The Guardian: During a press interview, Ten Hag stated that Mancheng was the luckier side, claiming their opponents won the match with some "little tricks."

【Classic little tricks】

【Can Ten Hag please reflect properly? So how exactly is Manchester United's build-up play from the back going to be solved?】

【How dare you ask Saint Ten to reflect!】

【What a pity.】

【I thought Manchester United could use this opportunity to close the gap with Mancheng...】

Just as the comment section said, for both Chinese fans and Manchester United supporters, this was an extremely regrettable match. Originally, there was already a points gap between Manchester United and Mancheng; after losing this match, the gap between them grew even larger!

Inside the apartment, Tang Ye and his little brother Rod were lying on the sofa.

Just as he was about to return to his room to play a few rounds of FIFA, Tang Ye accidentally discovered that Rodri was watching a recording of the post-match interview.

After today's match concluded, he and Rodri had accepted reporter interviews together in the press room; what Rodri was watching was the recording of that interview.

"What's wrong, Rod? Why are you watching this?"

Tang Ye pointed at Rodri's phone; the latter spread his hands: "I just wanted to see if I said anything wrong."

"Oh, there's no need for that, Rod; you're too tense."

Tang Ye found Rodri's approach completely incomprehensible.

Post-match interviews were such trivial matters; shouldn't one forget them as soon as they were over?

Tang Ye disliked keeping too many things in his mind, because it might affect his sleep.

!

"Look."

Rodri displayed his phone before Tang Ye: "I told the reporters we would win it back in our next match; I feel that statement wasn't very appropriate."

"But we truly had a chance to win today, don't you think?"

Mancheng was strong, yet Tang Ye always maintained an extremely high degree of trust in the team he belonged to and in his friends.

"We only lost one match; in the league, we will play Mancheng twice, so we just need to win it back next time."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Rodri's shoulder, offering comfort.

"However, Rod, let me tell you, our current focus is to win the next three matches as quickly as possible; this is very important."

"What's wrong, Tom?"

Rodri did not immediately understand Tang Ye's meaning.

"Hey Rod, have you forgotten? I told you before about the emotion value; after losing to Mancheng, our emotion value has now decreased."

Tang Ye explained slowly to Rodri.

Because they lost to Mancheng, until the next victory arrived, the training atmosphere within the Manchester United squad would not be very cheerful.

This was not what Tang Ye wanted to see.

"Wow."

Rodri nodded in agreement with Tang Ye's words, took out his phone, and checked Manchester United's schedule for the next three matches.

December 13th, Manchester United vs Bournemouth (Premier League Round 17).

December 17th, West Brom vs Manchester United (Premier League Round 18).

December 20th, Bristol City vs Manchester United (EFL Cup Quarter-finals).

Rodri turned his head to look at Tang Ye: "Tom, our opponents in the next three matches aren't strong; the probability of a three-match winning streak should be quite high."

Tang Ye leaned his head forward, carefully examining the content displayed on Rodri's phone.

"Quarter-finals already? Hmm, time flies quickly."

Tang Ye counted on his fingers: "Win the quarter-finals, then comes the semi-finals, and after the semi-finals comes the finals. Winning the finals means becoming champions."

Tang Ye was about to claim his first championship trophy since joining Manchester United!

Together with his good friend Rod!

Just thinking about it made him excited!

"Haha, Tom, you can't calculate it like that; the opponents in the semi-finals and finals definitely won't be simple."

"It's all the same, it's all the same."

Patting Rodri's shoulder, Tang Ye finished the ice-cold cola sitting on the coffee table, then returned to his own room.

Picking up the controller placed on the bedside table, Tang Ye launched his game.

FIFA 17.

The match against Mancheng made him realize he had many problems.

Tang Ye now needed to use the game to identify his specific issues, then think of methods to improve them.

Line up the starting lineup...

Rashford, Ibrahimovic, Mkhitaryan, Rodri...

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye began his matching.

Finding one's own problems is not an easy thing, but Tom will try his best!

The Carrington Base on the afternoon of the second day.

As expected, the Manchester United players were not in a good mood after losing the match.

Rashford and Valencia looked visibly drained of energy.

Ibrahimovic still looked fierce, making Tang Ye dare not approach him to say hello.

They say Sebastian is coming over.

Tang Ye is already looking forward to it now.

When is Sebastian coming over!

Although the first encounter with Mancheng this season ended in failure, Tang Ye believes that after his friend Ale arrives, Tang Ye can defeat Mancheng together with his teammates.

Because Tang Ye knows Ale too well!

They can execute very, very good coordination!

The Manchester United players, their half-day holiday over, arrived at the gym one after another.

After everyone had gathered, Ten Hag did not rush to start training; instead, he first had the players go to the conference room in the office building.

"It's a meeting, Marcus."

Walking alongside Rashford, Tang Ye said, "I feel Mr. Erik will criticize all of us, because we lost the match against Mancheng."

Coming out of the conference room, Tang Ye hung his head low.

Just as expected, Ten Hag criticized almost every player in the Manchester United squad.

Although Mancheng is strong, Ten Hag and the players clearly emphasized one point: yesterday's defeat was unacceptable!

Chewing the gum in his mouth, Tang Ye watched the staff setting up equipment on the training ground. Then he turned his head to look at his friends.

The defeat in the Manchester Derby plus Ten Hag's criticism left the Manchester United players generally in a terrible mood.

Tang Ye knows that Manchester United desperately needs a victory right now!

"Ahead, ahead!"

His teammates had already started their forward run; Tang Ye was searching for the right moment.

Now is about right!

Snap!

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 958/1200

The long pass went to Ibrahimovic at the very front.

Ibrahimovic with a header!

The ball went in!

But...

The moment Ibrahimovic scored with his header, Tang Ye, sensing something was wrong, turned to look at the linesman.

Just as Tang Ye expected, that goal was offside!

"Hiss, Ibrahimovic's goal was offside!"

"So now Bournemouth is still the leading side!"

"This situation is a bit terrible for Manchester United!"

The commentators and fans could see it, and Ten Hag outside the stadium could see it too.

Trailing 0-1 against Bournemouth, the Manchester United players failed to display their true level in this match!

They seemed to be affected by the defeat in the previous match!

"Hiss—"

Taking a sharp breath and then exhaling, Tang Ye, retreating toward the backfield, glanced at the big screen.

It was already the 82nd minute of the match, and Manchester United was still trailing by one goal.

If this scoreline continued, they would lose this match against Bournemouth!

【Damn, Manchester United made too many mistakes this match; Tang Ye didn't even get a chance to touch the ball】

【Mancheng knocked Manchester United's confidence out, right?】

【Come on!】

【Manchester United!!!】

Ten Hag paced back and forth by the sideline, finally sitting back down in his position on the bench.

Fan Fan Dejiahe was right beside him, but Ten Hag said nothing, simply shaking his head on his own.

It's too terrible!

This is the situation Manchester United is showing right now!

The time reached the 85th minute of the second half!

The match was about to end, and Manchester United was still trailing by one goal.

The situation was similar to the Manchester Derby, but slightly different.

Bournemouth did not press too aggressively in the front field, so Tang Ye's stamina was still okay.

He dribbled the ball forward himself!

"Hurry, hurry!"

Urging Rashford to make his run, Tang Ye played a through ball to the Manchester United winger, then followed Rashford down the left flank.

No rush; Rashford controlled the ball, inching closer toward Bournemouth's penalty area.

Tang Ye now stood directly behind Rashford.

The view from here was extremely wide; Tang Ye could take in nearly the entire situation across the attacking third.

Rashford dribbled forward using the outside of his foot.

Feeling the timing was right, Tang Ye reached out to call for the ball.

Slap!

Rashford passed it back!

Tang Ye!

"Zlatan!"

Shouting loudly, Tang Ye lifted his foot to deliver a cross.

It was aimed at Ibrahimović inside the box!

Boom!

Ibrahimović headed the ball.

But the shot was too straight, and the Bournemouth goalkeeper caught it cleanly in his arms.

"Oh!"

In the stands, Manchester United fans clutched their heads.

When it was previously said that the Manchester United players' mentality had been affected by their derby defeat, the fans hadn't believed it.

Now, looking at it, that was indeed the case.

From Rashford to Tang Ye, and then to Smalling in defense and goalkeeper De Gea, the Manchester United players' performance in this match truly couldn't be called very good.

Let's check the time now.

In the 87th minute of the second half, the score on the field still showed Manchester United trailing by one goal.

They were really going to lose!

……

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Manchester United lost 0:1 at home to Bournemouth, suffering their second defeat of the season; Tang Ye's direct free-kick shot was saved.

"Phew..."

Leaning back in his chair, Ten Hag cupped his head with both hands, remaining silent for a long while, utterly at a loss for words.

The defeat in the Manchester derby had affected their match against Bournemouth!

……

(End of chapter)