Chapter 548: Escrivá's Midfield Leap, Dortmund's Miracle

"Wow!!!"

A classic nutmeg through the center; after taking possession, Tang Ye immediately shook off Pogba.

Ignoring everything else for now, he moved toward the top of the arc, as Tang Ye needed to secure a good position as quickly as possible.

Sensing a passing opportunity, Tang Ye began to slow down.

Boom!

He pushed a through-ball to Dembélé.

Dembélé controlled the ball, took an adjusting step, and started cutting inside.

Tang Ye read Dembélé's intention and, factoring in the defenders' positioning, ran to a suitable spot.

Slap-slap!

A one-two combination was executed, and Dembélé received the ball at the top of the arc.

Hummels stepped out to defend; Dembélé adjusted slightly, shifting his center of gravity left and right.

Whoosh!

He successfully shook off Dortmund's center-back!

Slap!

He struck with his left foot, but Bürki easily parried it away.

"Oh!"

Seemingly due to rushing the shot, Dembélé's strike applied absolutely no pressure.

"It's still the same issue mentioned earlier: Dembélé's shooting ability is too poor. Of course, neither Commentator He nor I mean to belittle Dembélé; it's just that compared to his overall individual ability, his shooting technique is terribly lacking..."

As a forward, it was a highly awkward situation that Dembélé's shooting accuracy was not even as high as Tang Ye's.

"Ousmane."

After clapping hands with Dembélé and whispering a few words, Tang Ye went to the corner flag to prepare for the kick.

"Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye! Tang Ye!"

Fans in the lowest tier of the stands pressed their bodies against the railings, reaching out their hands in an attempt to touch Tang Ye.

Unable to satisfy every fan's request at once, Tang Ye simply walked over and high-fived the guy closest to him.

"You are fucking United King, Tom! (Tom, you are the f***ing King of Manchester United!)"

Placing the ball inside the arc, Tang Ye began to back away.

"Aim for the far post, the far post!"

"Aim for the near post!"

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!

Although the fans present were all loyal Manchester United supporters, Tang Ye knew he now had to make the decision himself.

"Hoo, hoo..."

Charge forward!

Slap!

The cross was delivered.

Tang Ye aimed for the far post, targeting De Ligt, who was making a run forward.

De Ligt!

Boom!

A header was launched, but it was headed by a Manchester United defender straight into the stands.

"..."

Clasping his head with both hands, Ten Hag felt somewhat distressed.

The reason for signing De Ligt during the summer transfer window, besides the fact that he is Dutch, was also his exceptional heading ability.

Ten Hag wanted to utilize De Ligt's aerial prowess to create combinations with Tang Ye.

But looking at this season's performance, De Ligt's heading ability didn't seem that strong after all?

The Eredivisie's king of headers had encountered a slight problem in the Premier League and the Champions League...

Up until the 20-minute mark, neither side had scored any goals.

At this moment, the director cut the camera to Ten Hag.

With the score at 0-0, the most anxious person was naturally the Manchester United coach, because objectively speaking, Manchester United should be the side holding the advantage.

"Fuck."

In a spot unnoticed by others, Fan Fan Dejiahe cursed under his breath.

Escrivá was too cunning; he deliberately avoided Manchester United's midfield, and during counterattacks, he assigned someone to lock down Tang Ye.

After this series of maneuvers, Manchester United's advantages in every aspect were completely stifled.

Thorgan Hazard actively drifted toward the center and, with help from his teammates, gained control of the ball.

Moving toward the right flank, Thorgan and Sancho executed a crossing run.

Thinking quickly, De Jong ultimately abandoned Thorgan and chose to mark Sancho instead.

Thorgan arrived on the right wing!

Boom!

Hakimi, who had made his run down the line at some unknown moment, now received his teammate's pass.

He accelerated toward the baseline!

Hakimi's speed was immense; Luke Shaw, who was at a positional disadvantage, failed to catch up immediately.

Slap!

Cross from the baseline!

It's a high ball; Götze heads it clear inside the penalty area.

At the second ball, Pogba!

Slap!

The sound is light, because this is a shot with the outside of the foot.

The long-range shot carries a huge arc, finally curling past the defenders and into the goal.

"Goal!"

"Pogba! Haha, that's a worldie!"

"1:0! Dortmund leads!"

Beep beep beep beep beep!!!

The scene is chaotic as the Dortmund players sprint out quickly.

"Wow!"

Pogba shouts, runs to the sideline, first collides with teammates to celebrate, then starts dancing under the gaze of the cameras.

La~ lala~

Pogba's two hands make movements in front of his body.

No one knows what this move is, nor which dance it comes from, but it is undeniably full of rhythm.

The scorer is Dortmund's defensive midfielder, Paul Pogba!

"Damn..."

Tang Ye looks up at the sky, hands on hips, utterly helpless.

Manchester United's defense was actually quite decent, but no one expected this long-range shot from Pogba.

Escrivá's tactics have indeed succeeded.

Since Tang Ye's return this season, this is the first time Manchester United has trailed in a match.

Of course, Tang Ye has only played two matches so far.

Ten Hag immediately calls the players to the sideline to give instructions for the remainder of the game.

Escrivá's targeted tactics were very successful, and now Ten Hag must target Escrivá's targeting.

It's a bit noisy, but anyway, it's damn impressive.

"We must utilize our wings, understand? This is what I emphasized before the match!"

Ten Hag shouts at Rashford and Dembélé: "Use your speed to charge at their defensive line and put them under pressure!"

"And Frenkie, if Tom gets pressed and can't get out, you must go up immediately; you can pass too, it doesn't always have to be Tom passing!"

"Create more passing outlets to split their attention!"

Ten Hag finishes speaking quickly, and the players clap each other's hands.

"It's fine, it's fine, just keep going!"

Rodri encourages his teammates, while Tang Ye continues whispering something to Dembélé.

"Be more confident, Ousmane; I'm right behind you."

"Mm."

The first few matches of the season have shattered Dembélé's confidence, and clearly, such confidence cannot be regained in just one North West Derby.

Because in Tang Ye's view, his good friend Ousmane has obviously not yet reached the highest level.

Come on, Ousmane!

The match quickly reaches the 38th minute of the first half.

Although leading by one goal, it is evident that Dortmund is now struggling immensely.

The reason is simple: De Jong's forward pressing means there are more midfielders Dortmund needs to defend against.

Originally there was only Tang Ye; now it has become Tang Ye plus De Jong.

With two people sharing the pressure, Tang Ye's opportunities to receive the ball have increased significantly.

"Hey!"

De Jong carries the ball forward rapidly.

His speed is fast; defenders rush in to tackle, but none succeed.

Frenkie De Jong's ball-carrying ability is top-tier across the entire Top Five Leagues!

Slap!

He passes to Dembélé.

Dembélé charges straight ahead!

Remembering Tang Ye's instructions, Dembélé casts aside his worries and immediately hits his maximum speed.

A defender stands before him, but it doesn't matter; using the outside of his foot to carry the ball closer, Dembélé applies pressure bit by bit, forcing the defender to retreat.

Left foot to right foot, right foot back to left foot.

Whether using his left or right foot, Dembélé can control the ball with extreme precision.

And this advantage of being two-footed makes things extremely uncomfortable for the defenders.

Spotting an opening, Dembélé executes a nutmeg on his own to shake off the marker completely.

"Wow!!!"

Unbelievably cool; Dembélé sprints to the byline.

Like Sancho, he boasts excellent dribbling stats, but Dembélé's strength lies in the fact that his dribbling is accomplished entirely by himself.

"Come!"

Tang Ye moved to support, receiving Dembélé's cutback pass.

Without looking, he delivered the pass immediately!

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv6: Never Ashamed to Ask】

This was not a simple high cross; Tang Ye's pass first struck outside the penalty area before bouncing up into the box.

It was a very comfortable position, and Haller was already prepared.

He controlled the ball first, adjusted his stance, then fired the shot.

"Gooo——aaaa——lllll!!!!"

"Goal!"

"Goal, Haller!"

"A perfectly executed combination by Manchester United in the attacking third!"

【Haller!】

【Scored, scored, haha】

【Saint Escri: Why is it my own people again?】

Tang Ye provided the assist, Haller scored, and Dortmund's coach was still Escrivà.

One could only say that Saint Escri's entire life has been spent on the path of being screwed over by his own people.

The former Little Tom!

The former Sebastian!

"1:1!"

"Manchester United equalizes!"

"Wow!!!!"

Amidst the cheers, the Manchester United players quickly gathered near the corner flag.

"Come!"

Tang Ye jumped onto Haller, but failing to hold on tight, he fell off again.

Bang!

He crashed onto the ground.

Behind them, Dembélé rushed over and successfully climbed onto Haller.

"Damn it, Ousmane!"

Tang Ye slapped Dembélé's thigh: "Don't steal my spot!"

To be honest, Dembélé was indeed being somewhat immature, actually snatching the celebration spot on top of Haller for himself!

"Haha!"

Dembélé and Tang Ye high-fived, celebrating this equalizing goal.

"..."

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: In the 42nd minute, Tang Ye's direct free-kick shot was saved by the goalkeeper; the score remains 1:1.

Pah!

Spitting saliva onto the grass, Tang Ye felt somewhat uncomfortable.

After not playing matches for several months, he originally thought his open-play ability would decline the fastest, but unexpectedly, it was his free-kicks.

The robot walls used in training are still different from the human walls in actual matches!

Glancing toward the goal, Tang Ye now felt somewhat unconvinced.

He wasn't paying attention and collided with Pogba.

"Hmm, oh, sorry."

Pogba patted Tang Ye.

"Beep, beep beep!!!"

"The first half has ended; the current score is temporarily 1:1. Manchester United and Dortmund have played to a draw in the first half."

"Yes, Dortmund did hold a significant advantage at the start of the match, but Manchester United quickly caught up. Hmm... looking at it now, I think Manchester United performed better overall."

The camera focused on the pitch; after coming off, Tang Ye first high-fived Ten Hag, then exchanged greetings with Escrivà.

"Didn't play very well, Tom."

"Oh, Mr. Ferran, don't be like that."

Tang Ye spread his hands.

He knew Escrivà was joking, but even so, he took Escrivà's words to heart.

"Just wait, Mr. Ferran."

"Haha."

Entering the player tunnel, Pogba made a request to Tang Ye to swap jerseys after the match.

"Oh, that's no problem; we can do it after the match ends."

In the away team's locker room, Escrivà swept away the relaxed attitude he had shown while communicating with Tang Ye, turning serious instead.

Because the team was currently under pressure!

"The key point is to avoid their midfield; this must still be done well. Because I believe only by seizing this point do we have a chance to win."

"The opponent is strong, but we must also build up our confidence."

Escrivá spoke slowly: "Of course, the confidence I'm talking about isn't blind confidence; you must stay calm and focused while playing."

Pointing to his temple: "As I said before, think before every pass. I'm not asking you to predict the rest of the match; I just need you to consider the teammate receiving the ball."

"In the first half, this happened many times: the ball was passed, but the teammate struggled to receive it. So what was the point of that pass?"

Escrivá's tone was relatively calm, yet even so, it carried no lack of pressure.

Sancho bit his fingernails.

He and Pogba were currently the two players under the least pressure within the Dortmund squad.

There was no other reason; it was simply because they were confident enough.

The Fan Fan Dejia dribbling king plus assist king—the chance to slay Manchester United was still very high!

"Paul!"

Pogba was called out by name by Escrivá.

"What is it?"

"You are responsible for marking TY."

"... Alright then."

The second half began quickly, with both sides ready.

Judging by their expressions, players from both Manchester United and Dortmund appeared relatively confident, though the Dortmund players showed more pressure on their faces.

Because Manchester United had nearly controlled the situation in the first half, it would be very difficult for Dortmund to score again.

"Come on, come on!"

The second half begins!

"Manchester United makes the first substitution here: Martial comes on to replace Haller, who started and scored..."

"I feel Ten Hag really likes this substitution pattern: Haller plays the first half, Martial plays the second. I've seen it many times just in the matches I've commentated."

"Hey, different attacking styles for each half; doing this indeed causes some trouble for the opponent."

The two commentators evaluated Ten Hag's tactic.

One cannot definitively say whether Ten Hag's move is good or bad, because substitutions can indeed produce tactical effects. However, similarly, one of the mere three substitution slots is now used up.

Therefore, Ten Hag's substitution must be judged case by case.

If the team's attack clicks in the second half, then it was a good substitution.

Conversely, if it doesn't work out, then this substitution was rather inappropriate.

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: 61st minute, Tang Ye is fouled by Pogba and falls; Manchester United awarded an indirect free kick.

With an indirect free kick opportunity, Tang Ye and De Jong are whispering to each other.

(End of chapter)