Chapter 335: A Hat-Trick in the Semi-Finals, and the Imminent Upgrade of [Standard Long Pass]

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: The Manchester United vs. Leicester City EFL Cup match is underway; the current score is 2-1, with Leicester City having pulled one goal back.

"Damn!"

"They let the opponent score at a time like this!"

Wang Chao and the fans in the livestream room were both feeling a bit tense now.

Manchester United's momentum in the second half had been excellent.

Could they really be suddenly overturned at this very moment?

"Watch the offside line!"

Valencia shouted loudly, "Keep an eye on Vardy's position!"

"Pull yourselves together, pull yourselves together!"

Leicester City had suddenly found their form and were preparing to take the next kick quickly; at this moment, the Manchester United players absolutely had to concentrate.

Just as Ten Hag had said before.

A 2-1 scoreline is extremely dangerous!

"This is a bit tricky to handle..."

Rodri sighed, and Tang Ye turned his head.

"It's fine, Rodri; we'll just look for other opportunities."

This was a mistake by a Manchester United defender.

Tang Ye knew that anyone could make a mistake, so of course he wouldn't blame his teammates.

Focus on what lies ahead and extend the lead.

And incidentally...

Incidentally, pursue a possible hat-trick.

This was what he needed to do right now!

"United!"

Boom! Boom!

"United!"

Boom! Boom!

The match had entered the critical phase after the 80th minute, and both teams had already used all three of their substitution slots.

Tang Ye was still on the field, but he was already running with some difficulty.

Breathing through both his mouth and nose, Tang Ye slowly moved up behind Rashford.

Rodri passed the ball over, and Tang Ye controlled it on the spot.

Waiting for the Leicester City defenders to press, Tang Ye suddenly played a through ball toward the baseline.

To the making-a-run Rashford!

"Wow!!!"

"Look at this attack!"

"Rashford is marked by the defenders, and Tang Ye is running forward to support!"

"Beautiful play, Tang Tang Qiuwang!"

"He's reached the edge of the penalty area!"

Tom and Jerry had executed a brilliant combination.

This was a great opportunity, so Rodri quickly ran toward the center.

He knew Tang Ye possessed excellent cutback passing ability, so this would be a chance for a long-range shot.

However...

Tang Ye's choice for this ball was not to pass.

Standing in front of him was Maguire!

Tang Ye and Maguire had a decent relationship, but this was match time, so Tang Ye would exploit Maguire's weaknesses to make something happen.

Pass back to Rashford, then move forward!

Tang Ye received the ball beside Maguire, then took a step into the penalty area.

Maguire stretched out his leg to attempt a tackle, never expecting Tang Ye to actually choose to shield the ball with his own foot.

!

Both men fell to the ground together; referee Oliver rushed over and decisively awarded a penalty to Manchester United.

"Penalty!"

"A penalty for Manchester United!"

The fans were now extremely excited.

With the score at 2-1, Manchester United had been awarded a penalty.

Although Tang Ye was not Manchester United's primary penalty taker, he currently had two goals to his name.

Barring any surprises, Tang Ye had taken the opportunity to take this penalty!

"Tang Tang Qiuwang!"

"A chance for a hat-trick!"

The home fans fell silent as Tang Ye stood behind the penalty spot, adjusting his breathing.

【You have purchased Tang Ye's chewing gum】

Clench the chewing gum in his mouth!

Run-up!

Shot!

"gooo——aaaa——lllll!!!"

"The scorer is... Tang Ye!"

The live announcer at Old Trafford Stadium called out Tang Ye's Chinese name with great ease.

At the start of the season, pronouncing this name was still a bit difficult for the announcer.

But now it was no problem at all.

Tom had been called by name too many, too many times!

"Hat-trick!!!!"

Bursting swiftly out of the penalty area, Tang Ye threw an arm around Martial's shoulder as they ran together toward the corner flag.

"Ah!!!"

"Damn, Anthony, slow down a bit; I'm getting a little out of breath!"

Martial slowed down to wait for Tang Ye, and Rodri also caught up.

Get ready—

"Roar!!!"

【Everyone on your feet!】

【The King of Football says nothing, he just keeps delivering hat-tricks】

"Beautiful!"

Ten Hag raised both hands.

Then, remembering something, he turned to face the home supporters in the stands.

Erik was expecting cheers from the Manchester United fans!

"Tom! Viva Tom Tom!"

"Viva Tom Tom!"

"..."

Well.

Ten Hag shook his head.

It was a pity not to hear cheers from the fans, but if Tom had stolen his spotlight, then it didn't matter.

Tom was worth it!

Check Dongqiu Di match report: Manchester United defeated Leicester City 3:1 to take the first leg of the semi-finals; Mahrez scored with a long-range shot, while Tang Ye won and converted a penalty to complete a hat-trick.

Manchester Evening News commentator: Tom is the first player in the top five leagues to complete a hat-trick in 2018.

"Congratulations, Tom!"

From a staff member, Tang Ye received the Man of the Match trophy for this game.

Winning a penalty plus a hat-trick meant Tom was naturally the best player of this match.

There should be no controversy about this!

"Tom, with a 3:1 lead in the first leg, does this mean you have already secured a spot in the final?"

"Oh, certainly not."

Tang Ye smiled and shook his head: "Although I like what you said, that's not how it works; a two-goal advantage isn't really that much, so we need to be cautious in the second leg as well."

"So, is your goal the championship?"

The reporter pressed further.

Hmm...

Recalling what Rodri had said to him, Tang Ye knew the answer to this question.

"That's how the EFL Cup is; if you don't win the championship, then ranking means nothing, so our goal must be the title."

"Of course, I know this is difficult."

Click click!

"Rodri, did you hear the last sentence I said?"

Walking back toward the player tunnel, Tang Ye held the match ball in his left hand and the Man of the Match trophy in his right, his face covered in a joyful smile.

"What last sentence?"

"We must win the EFL Cup; if we're going to fall in the final or semi-final, we might as well have been eliminated earlier," Tang Ye said, walking backward while looking back: "Remember? That's what you told me."

"Indeed, that is true."

Rodri nodded as Tang Ye reached the locker room door and pushed it open with his butt.

"Tom!"

"Holy shit!"

Tang Ye stepped back, and all the water Mata flicked splashed onto Rodri.

"Wow, Rod, you blocked it all!"

Wiping the water from around his eyes with his hand, Rodri displayed a helpless smile.

"You dodged way too fast..."

!

The Guardian – In the upper half of the EFL Cup knockout stage, Arsenal drew 1:1 with Chelsea at home.

"Manchester United holds a significant advantage in the lower half; they are highly likely to advance to the final, where their opponent will be either Arsenal or Chelsea. Judging from the first leg, United is more likely to face Chelsea in the final. Ten Hag is poised to claim his first trophy since joining Manchester United," stated a reporter from The Guardian.

A special edition of The Guardian analyzed the current state of the EFL Cup, with Manchester United, having performed excellently this season, clearly being the favored side.

Besides The Guardian, 442 also published an article focusing on Manchester United.

Early in the season, a 442 reporter had already analyzed Manchester United's tactics, and this time, the reporter observed something different.

"Although it is his first season with Manchester United, Tom occupies an exaggeratedly important tactical position within the team. In Ten Hag's 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-1-2 formations, Tom serves as the crucial core playmaker; he even actively joins the attack when the forward line lacks offensive capability. Consequently, Tom is currently the midfielder with the most goals in the Premier League (naturally, his assist count is also the highest)."

"After Antony completes his transfer, the frequency of Tom's forward runs to join the attack should decrease. However, considering Manchester United currently lacks an outstanding right winger, Tom's role within the squad will not temporarily be that of a 100% playmaker, even though he possesses top-tier ball-distribution abilities in today's football world."

Beyond tactical status and playing style, 442 also analyzed Tang Ye's position in Manchester United's penalty kick hierarchy.

According to research by 442 reporters, Tang Ye's ranking for taking penalties at Manchester United should fall between second and fourth.

"This season, Tom has demonstrated exaggerated penalty-taking talent; if possible, he will become Manchester United's primary penalty taker next season."

Check Dongqiu Di reposted this article from 442.

The staff, well aware of the fans' sentiments, specifically bolded the sentence from 442 analyzing Tang Ye's penalty kick ranking.

Chinese fans are now extremely excited.

Next season, Tang Ye will be 19 years old.

To be named Manchester United's primary penalty taker at the age of 19!

Mr. ggbond, is there anything left that can stop your forward march!

Manchester United Official: Zlatan Ibrahimović leaves the club as a free agent.

The Sunday Times – Manchester United stars Tom and Rashford raised a total of 2.7 million pounds through a social media campaign dedicated to solving the problem of child hunger in the UK.

According to relevant sources, Tom personally contributed 250,000 pounds to this fundraising effort, which greatly increased the enthusiasm of fans to donate.

Since they did not deliberately hide their identities, the donation activities of Tang Ye and Rashford were quickly exposed by the media.

However, Tang Ye and Rashford were not the only ones donating.

The Sun front-page headline – Liwupu ambassador Tang Zhengxiong (Tom's father) organized Liwupu fans to participate in this donation campaign and personally contributed 50,000 pounds.

ggbond is a philanthropist; he and Marcus led Manchester United fans in making donations.

ggbond's father is also a philanthropist; he led Liwupu fans in making donations!

【Tang Ye's dad only supports Tang Ye during national team matches and charity events; poor ggbond.】

【Hahaha】

The roar of V8 engines echoed continuously from the Carrington Base as early-rising Manchester United players arrived at the gym.

Upon entering, Tang Ye saw Rashford sitting on a yoga mat: "Wow, Marcus, you're here really early today."

Going to the water dispenser to get a drink, Tang Ye suddenly remembered something and said: "By the way, Marcus, a friend told me while we were playing games yesterday that we made the news; I checked, and it was about that donation incident."

Sitting in front of Rashford, he added: "I even saw photos of the two of us."

"Haha."

Rashford and Tang Ye fist-bumped: "We used our social media accounts to promote it, so of course the reporters knew about it. But Tom, your fan count is truly exaggerated; I originally thought we could raise at most 500,000 pounds, yet we ended up with nearly 3 million."

"Haha, I didn't expect so many people to donate either; although many contributions were just 0.5 pounds or 1 pound, adding them all up resulted in quite a lot."

"My agent told me I should do more of these kinds of activities in the future."

Rashford slowly shook his head: "The key isn't really the exposure; I do this because of my experiences growing up."

Rashford told Tang Ye about his own experiences attending school as a child.

"Even if no one knew, I would still do this, and I will continue doing it forever."

"Mm."

Tang Ye looked at Rashford, whose eyes were shining.

It was a look of admiration.

You're too amazing, Marcus!

"By the way, Marcus, you can invite me to similar activities in the future too."

Fan Fan Dejiahe and Rodri always told Tang Ye to play fewer video games, but without games, Tang Ye still needed some leisure activities.

Participating in charity with Rashford was very interesting; Tang Ye greatly enjoyed the feeling of handing boxes filled with food to children.

"Watch closely, Rod!"

This is big brother Tom's teaching session!

Tang Ye kicked the ball straight ahead, then began his run-up.

"Smack!"

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 1098/1200

Witnessed by Rodri and Mata, Tang Ye's long pass flew out, landed, and precisely struck Ten Hag on the head.

Ten Hag turned around and spread his hands: "Fuck, your kick was way too off!"

"Haha!"

Tang Ye quickly hid behind Fan Fan Dejiahe: "Did you see that, Rod? That's the precision we need; I just had Mr. Eric execute a very impressive header."

Tang Ye's original plan was for the ball to hit Ten Hag's head, rebound, and fall into the basket nearby, but he failed to control it properly.

But since it hit Ten Hag's head anyway, that was acceptable.

"Stop playing, hurry up and get to training."

Fan Fan Dejiahe pushed Tang Ye back onto the training pitch: "After finishing passing drills, we still need to practice penalties; be more efficient."

Tang Ye laughed, tossed it aside, and left Fan Fan Dejiahe and Rodri standing there.

"This is truly outrageous, damn it..."

Fan Fan Dejiahe took a deep breath.

By a rough estimate, Tang Ye had been at least 25 meters away from Ten Hag just now.

From that distance, he landed a long pass precisely onto someone's head with a single kick.

Rodri nodded slightly, agreeing with Fan Fan Dejiahe's words: "If I were on the opposite side against him, I would feel utterly desperate."

No matter how strong a defensive midfielder's tackling ability is, they all fear a player like Tang Ye.

One pass, and the defensive line collapses directly.

The perspective opposing players have of Tang Ye will be terrifying!

A red devil in the truest sense!

Hmm, let's see what the Red Devil is doing now!

In a corner of the training ground, Tang Ye and Lin Lin Jiade were squatting together.

They saw Tang Ye toss up a mineral water bottle that was only one-fifth full.

It rotated half a turn in the air, and the bottle finally landed steadily upright on the grass.

"Jessie! This is skill!"

"..."

Having just achieved a hat-trick, Tang Ye was extremely happy, yet he had not forgotten today's main purpose.

【You purchased Pogba's Hair Wax +4】

【You purchased Ronaldo's Broccoli +3】

Get the preparations done first, then simply grind some proficiency!

Snap!

Snap!

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 1128/1200

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 823/1000

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 1157/1200

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 836/1000

The training is a bit scattered.

However, it is evident that 【Standard Long Pass】 is very, very close to Lv5!

PS: Bonus chapter for monthly votes; one bonus chapter added for every 700 monthly votes.

Kneeling and begging for monthly votes; additionally, everyone can participate in this month's monthly vote lottery, with the draw taking place in the early hours of March 8th.

(End of Chapter)