Chapter 360: He Is the Child Who Once Dared Not Step Forward to Take the Penalty Kick

Dongqiu Di pinned post: Manchester United vs. Villarreal, Champions League Round of 16 in progress, current score 2:0, aggregate score over two legs 4:1 in favor of Manchester United.

Live match report: Lukaku receives a through ball and scores with a powerful shot; Manchester United players are arguing with the referee.

Players from both sides started arguing again; this time Tang Ye did not rush forward immediately but stood in his position and sighed.

Sigh...

Impulsive young people.

When will they calm down a bit?

Of course, Tang Ye would not expect all his friends to be as calm as him, because he knew that was very difficult to achieve.

"Wasn't that offside?"

Rashford looked at Tang Ye, who nodded lightly: "It was definitely offside; no matter how much they argue, it's useless."

"Mm."

Rashford expressed agreement with Tang Ye's words.

Since even Tang Ye said it was offside, there should be no surprise.

The two waited a few seconds, but the referee never blew the whistle.

?

Tang Ye suddenly grew anxious and ran straight toward the referee: "Hey ref! That's offside! Blow your whistle, damn it!"

"Beep!"

Phew, finally he blew the whistle!

"See, Marcus, I told you it was offside; I don't lie."

The camera cut to Lukaku.

Having just finished celebrating, the Villarreal striker suddenly learned the goal was disallowed, and his face was filled with helplessness.

But there was nothing he could do.

"Mm, good!"

Lukaku gave Fornals a thumbs-up.

Although it wasn't a goal, Lukaku would not forget to give a thumbs-up to the teammate who made the pass.

Dongqiu Di halftime report: Tang Ye with a goal and an assist plus resolving the conflict between both sides, Lukaku's offside goal disallowed; at halftime Manchester United leads Villarreal 2:0.

【Great, Tang Tang Qiuwang】

【My Tang Tang Qiuwang has also worried himself sick for this family】

【Just started watching; may I ask, is this a coordinating midfielder?】

【Still need Tang Ye to handle it, damn it; he calmed things down instantly】

【They definitely can't make up three goals in the second half; isn't Villarreal done for now?】

Today, quite a number of fans were watching the match, and the number of comments on the Dongqiu Di app was also extremely huge.

Of course, a Manchester United victory was something to be happy about, but after watching Villarreal's matches for an entire season last year, Chinese fans still had some affection for this La Liga club.

It's really hard to bear; if only Manchester United and Villarreal hadn't met directly in the Round of 16!

"We played very well in the first half; we are now leading by two goals... well, strictly speaking, by three goals."

Ten Hag paced back and forth in front of the tactics board: "This advantage is quite good, so I hope you can maintain it."

Thump thump!

Tapping the tactics board once, Ten Hag began his tactical analysis.

"In the second half, our focus will shift more toward defense; there is a very crucial point here: Tom, your positioning needs to be deeper. Understood?"

"Tom?"

"Hey!"

Rodri slapped Tang Ye's thigh hard, snapping him back to attention: "Oh, I'm here, I'm here, Mr. Erik."

Ten Hag said nothing.

Based on his understanding of Tang Ye, this guy Tom was probably feeling sorry for his old teammates at Villarreal.

"It's fine, it's fine; in the second half, just pay attention to positioning a bit deeper; we're mainly focusing on defense."

"Of course, it's not purely defense; previous matches have already proven certain things: that a pure five-defender setup doesn't suit us. Our attack is strong, so we need to bring out this advantage; that's the logic."

"..."

Ten Hag explained the team's tactics for the second half in detail; afterward, the players stood up from the benches one after another.

Ashley Young glanced at Tang Ye, then asked him something before starting his own preparations directly.

"Just as Erik said, we must also play well in the second half!"

"Three, two, one!"

"Forward, Manchester!"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Escrivá was also speaking to his players.

"Forty-five minutes left; we are now trailing by three goals on aggregate, but remember, last season we created miracles; Villarreal can do anything!"

"Three, two, one!"

"Vamos Villarreal!"

At the locker room door, Tang Ye met Wu Lei coming out; the two exchanged greetings, then headed toward the player tunnel.

Unfortunately, Wu Lei was a substitute player, so he could not stand alongside Tang Ye in the player tunnel.

"Go for it, Brother Lei!"

"Mm, keep it up!"

Pop songs played over the speakers at Old Trafford; Tang Ye couldn't name the tune, but he could sing along.

The same song was playing in the Carrington gym!

CCTV5.

"Alright, dear viewers, welcome back. This is the Champions League..."

Villarreal made a lightning-fast substitution; Gomez, who had performed poorly in the first half, was taken off.

Replacing him was Tom's good friend, Sansone.

Tom certainly remembered Sansone.

With so much homework at Ceramic International School, Nicola was Tom's great homework helper!

"Villarreal!"

Boom! Boom!

"Villarreal!"

Boom! Boom!

The Yellow Submarine fans in the away stand displayed their unyielding spirit, and indeed, Villarreal's attack in the second half had truly come alive.

Sansone was on the left flank, near the byline!

He drove forward, carrying the ball with the outside of his foot.

Valencia retreated; Sansone didn't rush, first executing a few step-overs to further compress Manchester United's defensive line.

"Through the middle, through the middle!"

Tang Ye's voice rang out, and Smalling immediately stuck tight to Lukaku.

But Lukaku, relying purely on his own strength, muscled Smalling aside!

Slap!

Seizing the opportunity, Sansone delivered a square pass into the central penalty area.

Lukaku!

Turning his foot sideways, Lukaku executed a successful push shot, completing the goal.

Goal!

Lukaku immediately ran out to celebrate, while Escrivá hurriedly looked toward the assistant referee.

"Phew..."

Escrivá breathed a sigh of relief.

The goal was not offside!

"Lukaku scores!"

"Not long into the second half, Villarreal has pulled one back!"

At the end of the first half, everyone said the Yellow Submarine had no chance left.

But the truth was, in the second half, Villarreal delivered an excellent performance.

Coupled with Manchester United players' complacency, the gap between the two sides had now narrowed to two goals!

"Vamos!!!"

The Villarreal players shouted their celebration cries as Escrivá quickly called his players over to the sideline.

"The left flank—we attack down the left!"

Finding captain Bruno, he said: "Bruno, when we attack, you can push toward the byline; it doesn't matter if we temporarily leave the center exposed."

"But that will be very dangerous,"

Bruno voiced his concern.

Escrivá held up two fingers: "We are already two goals down; this is our last chance!"

Just as Escrivá said, trailing by two goals, Villarreal still had some opportunities.

To strengthen their attack, Villarreal had to sacrifice some of their defense.

Losing by two goals was a loss; losing by three was also a loss.

What Villarreal wanted was to win!

Clap! Clap!

Ashley Young and Valencia clapped and shouted, signaling their teammates to lift their spirits.

Unsurprisingly, for the remaining time, Villarreal would try every means to attack.

The most critical moment of this match had arrived!

"Musacchio carries the ball forward directly from the back!"

"Very fast pace; let's see how Villarreal plans to handle this attack."

As Musacchio dribbled forward, the Villarreal players on the pitch were thinking rapidly.

Bruno pulled out to the left!

Thump!

Musacchio delivered a low, driven through-ball.

Possession went to Bruno!

"Pass to me! Pass to me!"

The situation was extremely urgent; Tang Ye quickly dropped back.

Remembering Bruno's habits, Tang Ye immediately marked Fornals.

That guy known as Little Tom!

Boom!

Bruno played a straight through ball, and Tang Ye accelerated.

Boom!

Tang Ye wanted to attempt a sliding tackle to intercept, but Bruno guessed his intention.

The ball curved through the air!

Fornals took control!

He reached the edge of the penalty arc!

He passed again to the right wing, finding Bacca cutting into the box!

A direct volley!

Bacca's shot was headed away by Ashley Young.

Whoosh!

Tang Ye was nearly scared out of his wits!

That was close!

Escrivá clutched his head in his hands.

Each time, they fell just a little short.

The strikers had already done their utmost; Yellow Submarine simply lacked a player capable of delivering precise passes.

Otherwise, they truly would have had a chance to equalize!

After the match entered the 80th minute, Villarreal continued their attack.

But by this stage, the Yellow Submarine players' stamina had become an issue, and the substitute Luke Shaw easily contained Bacca's defense.

The counter-attack was launched!

Naturally, the first choice was to find Tang Ye!

OK!

Having observed the situation behind him in advance, Tang Ye planted his standing foot firmly.

Crack!

【De Bruyne Standard Long Pass Lv5: Replication (Transcendent State)】

Proficiency: 242/5000

The long pass found Rashford on the left wing directly!

"Wow!!!"

To strengthen their attack, Yellow Submarine abandoned pressing Tang Ye in the center.

Now they would have to pay the price for that!

Tap!

Rashford controlled the ball with extreme ease.

A brief pause.

Then sudden acceleration, cutting inside!

Musacchio stretched out his leg to block, and Rashford fell straight to the ground.

"Damn!"

Musacchio clutched his head with both hands, immediately spreading his arms toward the referee.

He had just made a mistake!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Rashford brought down inside the box; Manchester United awarded a penalty.

【Awesome, Rashford!】

【Great penalty! I'll be a Rashford fan for life!】

【With our Tang Tang Qiuwang's penalty conversion rate, isn't Yellow Submarine basically GG now?】

Escrivá stared at the penalty area, his upper and lower teeth clenched together.

At this moment, if Manchester United scored another penalty, Yellow Submarine would have absolutely no chance left.

Let's see who Manchester United's penalty taker is!

Keeping his eyes on the pitch, Escrivá suddenly unclenched his gritted teeth.

Because he saw Tang Ye picking the ball up from the ground!

That's right, Tom is Manchester United's primary penalty taker!

Escrivá covered his face, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Mr. Ferran, I, I think I'll sit this one out for now."

Those were Tom's exact words to him last season.

Back then, Tom was not yet some penalty expert; Tom was just Tom.

"Tom!"

"Viva Tom Tom!"

The Manchester United fans sang the Long Live Tom song as the primary penalty taker, Tang Ye, carried the ball toward the penalty spot.

Facing him was Asenjo, bouncing on his toes.

Two goals ahead in the 83rd minute.

If he converted this penalty, Tang Ye could kill the match outright.

Manchester United would then advance to the Champions League quarter-finals!

Placing the ball on the ground, Tang Ye began to step back.

Suddenly thinking of something, Tang Ye turned his head to look at the away stand.

That was the direction where Escrivá was located.

!

Noticing the gaze Tang Ye cast over, Escrivá's pupils dilated violently, and he exchanged a glance with Martí behind him.

At this moment, the referee blew the whistle!

"Tang Ye!"

"The run-up follows an arc!"

"There's a very obvious change in rhythm."

"Shot!"

"Goal!"

"3:1!"

Ashley Young rushed up and, together with his teammates, hugged Tang Ye, while Tang Ye, who had completed the goal, stood rooted to the spot in a daze.

【Scoring twice, you gain extra Counterattack Points *40】

"Welcome to Old Trafford, it's the theatre of our dreams!"

"We're ready to die, we're ready to fight—it's part of our history!"

The fans' singing was exhilarating, and teammates were shouting into his ears as well.

But Tang Ye didn't know what to say.

He glanced at Rodri; Rodri's face bore a smile.

But Rodri shouldn't be this happy!

……

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Tang Ye scores from a penalty to kill the match; in the second leg, Manchester United defeats Villarreal 3:1, advancing to the quarter-finals with an aggregate score of 5:2 over the two legs.

"Wowhoo!"

Ashley Young kicked open the locker room door, and the Manchester United players, having just finished celebrating on the pitch, began their celebration in the locker room again.

Ashley Young let out an excited roar.

"Fuck, the last time we played in the quarter-finals was ages ago."

The last time Manchester United played in the Champions League quarter-finals was during the 2013/14 season.

Back then, Tom was still sleeping in the dormitory at the Shandong Luneng Football School!

Tang Ye and Rodri sat together.

Leaning against the cabinet and thinking for a moment, Tang Ye suddenly spoke: "We still have to eat together tonight; I don't know what to say."

Rodri pursed his lips: "Didn't you think we would win before the match started?"

"Of course I thought about it, but Rod, you know, back then I just wanted to win, but we hadn't won yet, and they hadn't lost yet."

There was still a dinner gathering with his old teammates from Villarreal tonight, and Tang Ye was feeling somewhat distressed now.

The emotions after losing a match are always terrible; he could almost imagine how awkward he would look during tonight's dinner.

A very, very awkward appearance!

"But there's no helping it, Tom; we had to win."

Rodri placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, while the latter seemed to be thinking about something.

"Rod, it was FIFA that grouped us together with Bruno and the others."

"FIFA is no good!"

Rodri's eyes widened.

Just like Ten Hag, Tang Ye also had his own blacklist.

And because of this season's Champions League knockout stage draw, poor FIFA had been added to Tom's blacklist!

After the match ended, a fan named "Kross3181" posted a photo on Instagram.

He had taken it from the stands; the angle was excellent, capturing precisely the scene of Tang Ye being hugged by his teammates right after scoring the penalty.

Many people had captured this moment, but this fan's photo was the most special.

His position was perfect; not only did he capture Tang Ye being hugged by his teammates, but in the distance of the photo, there was also a desolate Escrivá.

"The child who once couldn't take penalties killed the match with a penalty"; this comment from a Villarreal fan received nearly 6,000 likes.

……

(End of Chapter)