Chapter 587: Planned All Along? In Fact, Manchester United Had Already Reserved the EFL Cup

"United!!!!"

A roar erupted, but the few fans closest to the stands were not frightened.

Because they were Manchester United fans.

To them, Rashford's shout was like a stimulant!

"Volley it, Coach Rash!"

"This is Manchester United's youth academy!"

Having watched Tang Ye's matches for a long time, Wang Chao harbored some affection for Manchester United.

In his eyes, Rashford was a tier above Dembélé.

As for whether he was truly a tier higher, that was hard to say, but Rashford's status as Manchester United's Crown Prince certainly gave him a huge advantage.

"Marcus Rashford, he's one of our own! (Rashford is a Manchester United homegrown player!)"

"Marcus Rashford, he..."

"Rashford!"

"Rashford!"

Leading 2-0, with a goal from their own youth product, today was absolutely a day worth celebrating for Manchester United fans.

Of course, starting from last season, the excitement threshold for Manchester United fans had already been raised.

Before officially claiming the championship, the fans chose to remain calm.

De Jong dribbled toward the left flank, and Tang Ye quickly closed in.

"Hey!"

At the sound, two Manchester United midfielders executed a crossing run.

Now it was Tang Ye's turn on the left flank.

Grealish, tasked with marking Tang Ye, followed him all the way to the sideline.

Trapping the ball with his foot, Tang Ye quickly twisted his ankle.

Grealish retreated while Tang Ye inched closer.

Suddenly accelerating, Tang Ye began running toward the center.

Just as Grealish shifted his center of gravity, Tang Ye pulled the ball back.

There was a half-meter-wide gap between Grealish and the touchline; Tang Ye seized this opening and pushed the ball through.

Kicked with great force, it landed precisely at Rashford's feet.

!

Fuck!

Grealish turned around; he knew his defensive line had been pierced.

"Rashford has the ball!"

"A brace for Rashford!"

"Holy shit, Rashford just passed the ball to a defender."

"Mistake, brothers."

"..."

Villa was awarded a direct free kick in the attacking third; the score on the field remained 2-0.

The Villa players' expressions still looked decent.

But!

The camera cut to the large screen hanging above Wembley Stadium.

【88'23"】

Unless a miracle occurred, Villa would have no chance of winning!

Lin Lin Jiade stood outside the substitute bench; Ten Hag was preparing to substitute Tang Ye off once the opposing team finished their set piece.

Snap!

The set piece was delivered into the penalty area!

Boom!

A Villa center-back headed the ball into the goal; De Gea didn't even make a save attempt.

"Damn, we're done, brothers."

"Don't do this, damn it!"

"Hey, wait!"

The scoring Villa player prepared to retrieve the ball from the net, but the referee blew the whistle.

A Villa miracle?

This fucking goal was offside!

"Ohhh!!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep!!!!"

It was just a false alarm; Manchester United fans raised their red scarves once again.

"We are the champions! (We are the champions)"

"We are the champions!"

Bang bang!

Bang bang bang!

There were still three to four minutes of stoppage time remaining.

But the outcome was already decided!

"Stop struggling, little Villa!"

"Xuuuu!!!!"

Dean Shi Misi watched the Manchester United players running on the pitch.

He was Aston Villa's head coach and the chief architect of the team's tactics for this match.

To take down Manchester United, Shi Misi had prepared with his team for a full month.

Yet the truth was, for Villa, Manchester United now resembled a colossal Titan; the disparity in tonnage was something no fighting technique could overcome.

"Haha."

Tang Ye and Dembélé rose together from the substitutes' bench, moving to the open space ahead, right beside Ten Hag.

"Ousmane, I told you I'd lead you to a championship."

Tang Ye glanced sideways at the large screen above; only the final half-minute of the match remained.

Honorable Mr. Referee, please blow the whistle quickly!

"Oh, it was I who led you to the championship."

Dembélé placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, feeling the exaggerated muscle mass of his good friend.

He looked slim because Tom had excellent body proportions, but in reality, Tom was a tough guy.

Literally!

"Stop bragging, Ousmane; get ready to rush in with me!"

Having said this, Tang Ye stepped forward, only to be immediately caught by the assistant referee: "The match isn't over yet!"

"Beep, beep-beep——!!!"

"Now it's over!"

Tang Ye pushed Dembélé forward, made an open-handed gesture toward the assistant referee, and then rushed out as well.

"Haha!"

Swish!

Dembélé accidentally slipped; Tang Ye jumped to avoid him but was still tripped by Dembélé's neck, and both crashed to the ground one after the other.

……

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: The referee blew the final whistle; Manchester United defeated Villa 2:0 to claim their first trophy of the 19-20 season!

"Brothers!"

"A second EFL Cup championship—I'm just asking, who else is there!"

Wang Chao stood on a chair, arms raised high, his national team training trousers strikingly visible.

The trousers bore the number "7," clearly indicating they were the same style worn by Tang Tang Qiuwang.

"United!"

"United!"

"United!"

A light rain was still falling, but it mattered little; at this moment, Manchester United fans had completed their domination of the Wembley stands.

Tang Ye stood shoulder to shoulder with Dembélé and De Jong.

"Ousmane, look!"

Pointing to the very top of the west stand, where Manchester United fans had, at some point, unfurled a massive banner.

【Great TY!】

【Manchester United King!】

"Hey!"

Rodri's voice came from behind; Tang Ye turned to see Rodri wearing a down jacket.

"If I had recovered a bit earlier, perhaps I could have come up today to experience this, haha."

"That won't be necessary."

Dembélé shrugged, using his free hand to pull Rodri into the group: "Just lie back and enjoy it."

On the grass stood only a small awards podium being set up, intended for presenting the MVP award.

As for the large awards podium, that was unnecessary; shortly, Ten Hag would lead the players toward the stadium's main dais to personally receive the trophy from the FA Chairman.

Noticing Grealish standing motionless in a daze, Tang Ye, passing by, leaned over and placed his hand on the English midfielder's head: "It's alright, it happens every season; besides, you can still fight hard for a top-four finish. Keep going."

"Mm."

Grealish patted Tang Ye once before walking away.

Tang Ye stood where he was and sighed, feeling that Grealish hadn't truly taken his words to heart.

He seemed a bit sad.

"Now, after voting, we have selected the Final's Most Valuable Player..."

A voice rang out across the stadium; the players on the grass looked up. "The Most Valuable Player is..."

The voice paused, and the Manchester United fans in the stands shouted together: "TY!!!"

【Final MVP: Ousmane Dembélé】

"?"

"Wow!!!!"

The result differed from what had been chanted, and the fans onsite immediately began jeering.

"Hahaha!"

Dembélé raised both hands; upon hearing the news that he was the MVP, he ran before Tang Ye and jumped up, his mockery dialed up to the maximum.

"Oh, Eon!"

Tang Ye pretended to be deeply saddened.

In truth, Tang Ye did not care about an EFL Cup Final MVP award; honestly, he would have preferred the organizers give the trophy to a teammate.

Dembélé needs some confidence right now!

【Manchester United is awesome!】

【This is ridiculous, blatantly rigging against my GGBond; how can they not give him the MVP? Tang Ye scored at least 0.5 points higher than Dembélé.】

【Giving it to Rashford would be acceptable too, but Dembélé completed all four of his dribbles in the match; just ask yourself, isn't that impressive?】

【Ten Hag: The first title, but not the last.】

【Everyone stand up!】

The players lined up in a row and walked toward the podium amidst the applause of the runner-up Villa players.

Every Manchester United first-team player would receive a gold medal, even Rodri, who sat in the stands during the final.

And of course, there was the trophy!

"Come!"

Ten Hag took the trophy from Clark's hands, squeezed into the middle of the celebrating squad, and handed the trophy to Tang Ye.

Previously, Tang Ye could not be the first to lift it because he was not the captain.

But now he was.

When Manchester United won the championship, the Manchester United captain needed to be the first to step forward and lift the trophy!

"Wow wow wow ow ow ow~"

"United!!!"

【2019-20 EFL Cup Champions】

【Manchester United】

"Wow!!!"

"Haha!"

Not satisfied with doing it once, Tang Ye lifted it again, and the fans cooperated by roaring along.

After lifting it twice in succession, Tang Ye finally passed the trophy to Luke Shaw beside him.

Similarly, he first needed to build up the momentum.

And then suddenly lift it high!

"Wow!!!"

Haha!

Bang bang bang bang bang!

More than twenty players jumped up and down on the open ground in front of the podium, joining the fans to make the Wembley Stadium stands shake!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Manchester United wins the EFL Cup for the sixth time in club history, the second time since Tang Ye joined, with Dembélé winning the Final MVP.

"Tom!"

Bang bang!

"Tom!"

Bang bang!

"He came from China, with fire in his feet! (He comes from China, with flames burning beneath his feet)"

"The dragon's roar in the Stretford End's heat! (The roar of the dragon echoes through the Stretford End)"

"Oh oh oh! Ty wins the Ballon d'Or!"

While the fans sang, Tang Ye was signing autographs above the stands, the gold medal around his neck shining under the stadium lights.

"The world knows his name, and the Red Devils sing! (The whole world knows your name, and the Red Devils sing in unison)"

The fans spread their arms wide.

"The King of Man United!"

Click click!

Ten Hag and many players accepted interviews together.

It was clearly visible in the camera shots that the Manchester United coach and players were generally in high spirits.

"This is just the first title, not the last, so there is no need for us to get too excited."

Ten Hag acted calmly: "Before the match even started, I said that for the current Manchester United, winning the EFL Cup should be regarded as a very ordinary matter and does not require extra emphasis."

"In fact, Manchester United had already won the EFL Cup before last season even began."

Ten Hag told the reporters and fans something they did not know.

Why did Manchester United give up on the EFL Cup last season?

Because they had reserved this season's EFL Cup; simply put, the loan had already been successfully approved.

"If this isn't the first one, will you win any other titles?"

"Well... the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, these are all possible, but as for specifically which ones, we cannot say for sure."

Ten Hag remained relatively low-key; he had only reserved one EFL Cup and had not reserved any others.

Subsequently, reporters interviewed the injured Rodri, asking whether he could recover before the second leg against Real Madrid.

While the reporters were speaking with Rodri, Tang Ye and Dembélé sat together chattering away, just like Gao Zhongsheng secretly talking in class.

"Ousmane."

Dembélé suddenly looked up, while Tang Ye pretended nothing had happened.

"..."

"I feel that victory in this match is only part of it for us, because the season isn't over yet..."

Before he could finish, Tang Ye's voice suddenly cut off because Luke Shaw had stepped on his foot!

"Eric has already said it."

Luke Shaw whispered.

Oh, oh!

"Then, we will strive for more titles; I think there will be at least three this season, perhaps even four, but whether it's three or four is hard to say, because I don't know either."

"Do you know about the curse the online fans are talking about? It refers to the second leg of the Champions League between you and Real Madrid. TY, as someone who personally experienced being in the Champions League quarterfinals last season, how do you view this curse?"

Tang Ye was one of the Manchester United players with the highest internet usage within the team; of course, he knew what the so-called curse was.

"Haha, it sounds a bit scary. Marcus's injury last season indeed had a huge impact on us because he was our main striker, and then the second leg this season..."

Not knowing where to put his hands, Tang Ye simply stroked the medal on his chest: "It might affect our mentality. I'm quite afraid of this, but we will still win because I believe in our ability."

Click, click!

"If Manchester United wins either the Premier League or the Champions League this season, do you think you will win the Ballon d'Or again?"

Wow!

When the reporter posed this question, the scene instantly fell silent.

So far this season, Tang Ye's performance was clearly the best, surpassing Messi, Lewandowski, Kane, and others by an entire tier.

So, could Tang Ye win the Ballon d'Or consecutively?

"Haha, it's only March now."

"We have to wait, because the matches in May and June are the key."

When asked by reporters if he could win the Ballon d'Or consecutively, Tang Ye replied: It's only March now.

【Must win consecutively!】

【Brothers, I might not live to see that day; my throat hurts a bit, am I about to die?】

【To the person above, I checked your profile; you're only 20 years old, so what's there to fear? Nothing will definitely happen.】

【Only the matches in May and June are key; I feel the situation in England is very off right now. Will Tang Ye also die?】

【I suggest suspending the Champions League until Rodri's ankle heals before resuming play.】

【Brothers, I got the masks donated by Mancheng; the packaging box even has the Mancheng team crest stuck on it. But how is England about to collapse?】

The Times: Can the Premier League continue? Currently, there is no news of infection among Premier League players, coaches, referees, or related personnel.

English reporter: If the epidemic cannot be controlled, the league this season may have to be suspended.

The Sun interviews local fans in London: The Premier League can continue; if everyone is sick, it's equivalent to no one being sick. Moreover, we are all sports enthusiasts and recover very quickly.

The number of infected people rose from hundreds to thousands, even showing a trend of surging toward five digits. According to The Sun's statistics, at least 800 football fans have now been "hit."

So, should the matches be suspended or not?

Fans began arguing in the comment section under the Premier League's official account; some believed matches should be suspended, while others believed they should not.

In response, the Premier League official account posted a new tweet.

Premier League Official: The Player of the Month for February in the league is Manchester United midfielder Tang Ye.

(End of Chapter)