Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 207 Yarmolenko and Shevchenko
With the Europa League entering the Round of 16, it has attracted more attention, as evidenced by the number of reporters covering the event.

On the day of the match, the Lobanovsky Stadium, home of Dynamo Kyiv, was filled with reporters, including journalists from Ukraine and England, as well as many from other countries.

They were all there to cover the match.

This is already an international stage.

in the afternoon.

Manchester City's team bus drove into the Nobarovskiy Stadium.

Manchester City fielded their strongest lineup for this match. The only bad news was that their key center-back, Kolo Toure, was relegated to the reserve team due to a drug test, forcing them to field the center-back pairing of Kompany and Lescott.

Dynamo Kyiv is not weak, especially in terms of their offensive capabilities.

Our top scorer, Milevski, is second only to Shan Yongzhuo in the current top scorers list, while midfielder Öremenko is second only to David Silva in the assists list.

With veteran striker Andriy Shevchenko and their young right winger Andriy Yarmolenko, this attacking quartet is Dynamo Kyiv's main offensive weapon and poses a small challenge to Manchester City's defense.

In the locker room before the match, Manchester City mainly discussed these three players, especially their attacking linchpin Yarmolenko, who was the player Mancini talked about the most.

Since joining Dynamo Kyiv in 2007, Yarmolenko has grown rapidly and is now the undisputed core player of Dynamo Kyiv, attracting the attention of many top clubs.

During the winter transfer window, several top European clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, and Valencia, expressed interest in the winger.

Yarmolenko was tall, strong, and fast, and possessed excellent shooting skills.

In this match, Manchester City started with Kolarov at left-back, while Mancini also placed Yaya Toure in the left winger position, aiming to shut down Yarmolenko.

In the central midfield position, the combination of Barry and Zabaleta lacked attacking ability. Therefore, Manchester City's attack in this game was basically handed over to Shan Yongzhuo and Balotelli up front, plus Milner on the right wing.

Meanwhile, Dynamo Kyiv is also talking about Shan Yongzhuo.

For this Ukrainian powerhouse, winning a championship at this level is somewhat wishful thinking, but who wouldn't want to go further?
However, if they want to beat Manchester City, they will have to face one person: Shan Yongzhuo.

Their key center-back, Mihalik, was injured in the previous knockout round and will be unavailable for this match, leaving the defensive pressure entirely on their other key center-back, Da Silva.

Their Russian head coach, Yuri Shomomin, also made specific arrangements and deployments for defending against Shan Yongzhuo.

However, Dynamo Kyiv's defenders still felt quite uncertain about defending against such a universally acknowledged world's best striker.

However, once the match started, Dynamo Kyiv displayed impressive defensive capabilities.

Their main tactic is counter-attacking, and their style has a strong Russian influence.

Dynamo Kyiv's players are physically outstanding, disciplined, tough, and tenacious, especially on the defensive end. After testing the referee's standards at the start of the game, they adopted a tough, physical approach to defense.

Unlike the physical play in English football, the physical play in this Dynamo Kyiv match was genuine.

This made Manchester City's players seem somewhat uncomfortable, especially Shan Yongzhuo and Balotelli, neither of whom are players who like physical contact. They both looked a bit embarrassed by Dynamo Kyiv's tough confrontation.

In the opening ten minutes, taking advantage of the referee's relatively lenient rulings, Dynamo Kyiv completely dominated the game with their superior physical strength.

In particular, Yarmolenko performed exceptionally well on the right flank. Utilizing his outstanding speed and footwork, he completely dominated the duel with Kolarov, forcing Yaya Toure to retreat more aggressively and work with Kolarov to contain Yarmolenko.

As a result, Manchester City's attack became very sluggish, with several attacking opportunities ending before they could even advance to the edge of the opponent's penalty area, allowing Dynamo Kyiv to launch quick and concise attacks.

Dan Yongzhuo was closely marked by Da Silva. In the first 10 minutes, he was in an awkward situation where he could not receive the ball, and he only touched the ball twice and did not find any opportunities.

This behavior is equivalent to being invisible.

In the 7th minute, Öremenko delivered a through ball, Yarmolenko crossed low from the right wing, and Shevchenko, unmarked at the far post, swept the ball with his right foot. If it weren't for Joe Hart's outstanding performance, Manchester City would have conceded a goal much earlier.

But even bigger blows were yet to come.

In the 13th minute, Balotelli kicked Popov during a challenge, and the referee showed him a straight red card, sending the Italian striker off.

Balotelli walked off the field looking dejected, while Mancini on the sidelines kept yelling at the referee and the fourth official, but to no avail.

The Nobalovsky Stadium erupted in thunderous cheers as Ukrainian fans celebrated Balotelli's departure.

Meanwhile, the Manchester City fans who had traveled from afar were filled with gloom and despair.

Dan Yongzhuo was also extremely helpless on the field, shaking his head at Balotelli's brainless behavior.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the ruling; the only one to blame is Balotelli for having a brain fart.

However, just 13 minutes into the game, Manchester City had to face a 10-on-11 situation, which was a huge blow for them.

Mancini quickly adjusted his strategy, retreating across the board and adopting a defensive counter-attacking strategy, leaving the burden of offense entirely on Shan Yongzhuo.

However, just four minutes after Balotelli left the field, Manchester City suffered another major blow.

In the 17th minute, Kompany was injured and had to leave the field during a challenge, forcing Mancini to bring on Boateng. This substitution proved costly for Manchester City.

Two minutes later, Dynamo Kyiv launched a quick attack.

Yarmolenko evaded Kolarov on the wing and delivered a cross. Boateng missed the header at the near post, and Shevchenko rushed in at the far post and fired a shot that Joe Hart couldn't reach. The ball bounced off the right post and into the net.

After scoring, Shevchenko seemed to transform back into the blond-haired boy he once was, running and celebrating on the field.

This goal ignited the passion of the Nobalovsky Stadium, with goalkeepers in all the surrounding stands celebrating wildly.

The Dynamo Kyiv players on the field excitedly hugged each other.

Manchester City is somewhat frustrated.

They faced the embarrassing situation of playing with one less player and their key captain injured just 10 minutes into the game, and now, only 20 minutes later, they have conceded another goal.

Mancini on the sidelines was shaking his head in frustration, but he didn't have any good solutions.

(End of this chapter)