Chapter 898: Guardiola Is a Liar!

The second half begins.

Just as the commentators guessed, Palmer, who performed poorly in the first half, was quickly substituted off by Guardiola.

Coming on as a substitute is the team's young talent, Rico Lewis!

This player is truly remarkable, having become a first-team member for Mancheng at such a young age.

Guardiola choosing to trust Lewis over Palmer reveals this player's footballing talent.

Compared to Mancheng, where young geniuses are abundant, Man United finds itself in an awkward position; the Tang Ye plus Rodri combination has been used to death, with no other players able to step up and replace them.

Tragically!

"Come on City!"

"Come on City!"

"..."

"The final 45 minutes of the match—these short 45 minutes carry the last hope of Mancheng fans for this season."

"Yes, but in my opinion, it will be very difficult for Mancheng to overturn and defeat Man United within these 45 minutes; if possible, the best approach would be to score two goals first to drag the game into extra time, leaving the rest to be resolved in extra time or a penalty shootout."

The commentators have already started offering strategies to Mancheng, and the Mancheng players on the field are delivering impressively.

Stones shields off his defender and quickly passes the ball to Rico Lewis.

Lewis pulls the ball under his body, sees Tang Ye charging toward him, and decisively passes to Gündoğan.

Boom!

Tang Ye slides in to intercept, but fails!

A very beautiful pass from Rico Lewis!

Gündoğan drags the ball and turns, taking Grealish with him; the two quickly advance to a more forward position.

Man United's defenders are tightly packed, making getting the ball into the penalty area an urgent problem for Mancheng's players.

Gündoğan passes back, giving possession to Akanji, who has surged up the flank to support.

Dragging the ball and changing direction, Akanji cuts inside toward the penalty area along the byline.

"Wow!!!"

Akanji is putting pressure on Dalot!

Dalot is extremely cautious, but Akanji's change-of-direction speed is indeed exaggerated.

A cutback find for De Bruyne!

De Bruyne.

Long-range shot!

Boom!

Clang!

The ball strikes the crossbar and rebounds out.

"Oh!!!"

The home fans are startled.

"Both sides are fighting for the loose ball."

"Bernardo Silva, is there a chance to get the ball!"

"Eh, still a step too slow; Luke Shaw's intervention was perfectly timed, directly finding Tang Ye."

What began as an exciting attack by Mancheng instantly turns into a counterattack by Man United.

"Press up!"

Dias reminds his teammates in the attacking third.

If they don't stop Tang Ye immediately, their goal will be in serious trouble!

Not daring to delay, Stones and Lewis rush in from two different directions, determined to block Tang Ye from passing.

!!!

Tang Ye dribbles toward Stones on the left front and waves to Rashford.

Stones makes his move!

Detecting Stones' intention to tackle, Tang Ye feints and instantly shifts to the right.

Swish!

A half nutmeg adjusts his positioning.

Seizing the moment, with a "snap," Tang Ye threads the ball between Lewis's legs.

"Wow!!"

That's a nutmeg; Tang Ye has toyed with Lewis during the counterattack.

He bypasses the defense and gains control of the ball.

"Hey!"

Boom!

!!!

Tang Ye is utterly decisive, immediately launching a through ball forward.

Kane is startled by this sudden move; realizing he has a chance to receive the ball, he immediately starts running.

"Kyle Walker is right beside him; it will be difficult for Kane to control this ball."

"Will there still be a shooting opportunity after he gets it?"

Just as Kane receives the ball, Walker sticks tight behind him, giving the Man United striker no chance to turn and shoot.

"Beautiful!"

"Nice!"

Just as the Mancheng fans on site breathed a sigh of relief, Kane passed back, handing the ball to Luke Shaw, who was sprinting desperately from behind.

Slap!

A 45-degree cross from Luke Shaw!

The ball is distributed to the far post!

Dembélé!

Boom!

Completing a header right in front of Ederson, Dembélé crashed directly onto the ground inside the penalty area.

The good news is: the ball went in!

"3:0!"

"Dembélé scores!"

"3:0!"

"Oh my god, looking at it this way, Manchester United truly didn't showcase their full strength in the FA Cup."

Live match report: Dembélé header! Dembélé scores with a high-difficulty header; in the 61st minute, the score reaches 3:0, and Manchester United extends their lead.

【Deng-zi, you're not acting like a human!】

【Don't get it, how did that new Mancheng player get nutmegged? Was he treated like a toy by Tang Ye?】

【Gua-Gua, you said there was a chance to beat Manchester United, so why are we down by three goals now? Is there any explanation for this?】

【66666, Dembélé should be second for the Ballon d'Or this year; this header was truly handsome, just relentlessly handsome.】

【Counterattack, counterattack, hurry and bring Foden on, get rid of Grealish, and as for this Haaland, I'm seriously pissed off, don't go invisible, can't you even secure the ball?】

Haaland is truly pitiable; in the first half, when Mancheng had possession, the center forward could still get some chances.

Once the second half was completely controlled by Manchester United, Haaland basically had no opportunity to receive the ball.

"Pass me the ball!"

Haaland looked to De Bruyne and Gündoğan, only to receive Gündoğan's helpless complaint: "We're too passive!"

By the 65th minute, both sides had completed their latest round of substitutions.

Ten Hag indeed understands Rashford very well; whenever he sees the guy performing poorly in the second half, he substitutes him immediately without a shred of hesitation, because one cannot guarantee that Rashford's second-half form will match his first-half form.

"Manchester United is bringing on B. Fernandes to play as a winger; actually, we'd say Manchester United's advantage is already quite large, so perhaps Ten Hag should focus more on defense."

"Eh, that statement isn't quite right, Commentator He."

"For Manchester United, attack is the best defense!"

"..."

Guardiola was also somewhat out of options; he could only signal the players on the field to target Manchester United's defense, specifically looking for breakthroughs through De Ligt and Lima.

The tactic was fairly successful, but alas, neither De Bruyne nor the freshly substituted Foden had their shooting boots on; two shots in five minutes both sailed high like anti-aircraft fire.

"Fuck!"

Gripping his scalp tightly with all ten fingers, Guardiola sat in the front row of the substitute bench, his entire face red, looking as if he were allergic to something on the pitch.

As the runner-up of this season's Premier League, Mancheng accumulated a full 91 points over 38 rounds of matches.

Their outstanding league performance also gave Guardiola the idea of crushing Manchester United.

And yet!

Why is the match turning out like this!?

"Tang Ye, eh, so close!"

"Oh, he fell again; that was a foul by Lewis. Although Lewis is young, his instinct for tactical fouls is still sharp."

"Eh, he took it directly!"

Mancheng was still retreating, waiting for the opposition to set up for the set piece, but Tang Ye, this show-off, directly took a quick restart.

Slap!

The ball speed was fast, secured by Dembélé, who was sprinting forward desperately.

"Over on the Mancheng side!"

"Mancheng's reaction! This shouldn't be happening."

Dembélé immediately turned ruthless; with a burst of moves, he closed in on the goal, forcing Akanji to hastily assume a defensive stance.

Slap!

A curled shot aimed at the far corner.

It grazed the post almost exactly as it entered the net; Ederson had no chance.

"Gooo——aaaa——lll!!!"

"DEMBÉLÉ!!!"