Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 208 Curved Header
The game continues.

Manchester City, playing with one less player, continued to be pressured, and their morale was clearly low. However, they were no longer the main focus; everyone's attention was on Dynamo Kyiv's attack.

Manchester City's squad, despite the high cost of acquiring players, is not actually very strong, especially in midfield where weaknesses are very obvious. It consists of veterans like Barry and workhorses like De Jong, and is even somewhat inferior to the Roma squad where Shan Yongzhuo played last season.

The main reason for Manchester City's strong performance in the Premier League this season is Shan Yongzhuo's powerful goals, coupled with the attacking capabilities of Manchester City's two flanks.

However, in this match, Yaya Toure was placed on the left wing, and he had almost no offensive creativity.

After Balotelli left the field, the attack basically relied solely on Shan Yongzhuo and Milner.

With only Shan Yongzhuo as a focal point in the attacking third, Manchester City's limited counter-attacks can only repeatedly target him.

There was nothing Shan Yongzhuo could do to make a difference. The team's overall performance was poor, and he failed to win the ball on several counter-attacks. He could only stand silently in the frontcourt and wait for his chance.

But the opportunities all seem to belong to the other party.

In the 34th minute, Dynamo Kyiv launched another brilliant attack, with Yarmolenko once again breaking past Kolarov and crossing the ball into the penalty area.

Milevskiy followed up with a powerful shot, which was blocked by Boateng. Zabaleta cleared the ball into the attacking third, and Shan Yongzhuo finally rushed forward to get the ball, but he was blocked by Da Silva and Popov, missing the best time to use his skill. He could only kick the ball back to Bari.

Although Manchester City's attack didn't result in a counter-attack, they at least managed to reach the penalty area line.

Milner and Barry combined to get the ball to the right corner of the penalty area, where Richards followed up with a cross.

It was a high ball, aimed directly at Shan Yongzhuo. Inside the penalty area, Da Silva and Shan Yongzhuo were both watching the ball, while Popov was also crowding around, trying to contest it with Da Silva.

French defender Da Silva is about the same height as Shan Yongzhuo, but is very strong, while Popov is even taller and bigger. Between the two, Shan Yongzhuo does not actually have any advantage.

Dan Yongzhuo had no choice but to bite the bullet and compete with the two big men for the top, so he jumped and swung his head.

This time, luck was on their side. The football hit Shan Yongzhuo squarely on the head and bounced high in the opposite direction, even with a very strange arc.

No one could have predicted that such a header would curve into the air, not even the Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper.

So when the ball slowed down and went into the goal along the post, he only had time to run a step or two in that direction and watch the ball go into the goal.

At that moment, it was confirmed that the football had entered the goal.

Almost everyone looked at Dynamo Kyiv's goal, then collectively turned to look at Shan Yongzhuo, who was lying on the ground.

Dan Yongzhuo was helped up by Milner and looked up to ask, "How did it go? Did the ball go in?"

"In!"

Milner's expression was complicated; he really didn't know what to say.

Having received a positive response, Shan Yongzhuo smiled and dragged Milner along to the away team's stands to celebrate happily.

Manchester City fans were celebrating joyfully, as they couldn't believe they had managed to equalize the score under such unfavorable circumstances.

And it was such a bizarre header.

Sky Sports commentators exclaimed in shock, "That was a brilliant header, a goal from Shan Yongzhuo!"

"At the same time, it was also a somewhat unbelievable goal."

"We all know that Shan Yongzhuo is a player with top-notch footwork, but he is not good at heading. However, this goal is impeccable."

"Despite being sandwiched between two defenders, he still managed to curl the ball into the net with his header."

"It's certain that Shan Yongzhuo has developed his heading ability." "This kind of Shan Yongzhuo is bound to become even more terrifying..."

The commentator spoke eloquently, while the Dynamo Kyiv players looked dejected, unsure of what to say.

They believed they had done their best in defense; even if Shan Yongzhuo had headed the ball, it shouldn't have gone in.

There was simply no space for a header.

But the opponent just had to score; there's absolutely no logic to it.

More importantly, this was a valuable away goal.

In a two-legged knockout match, every away goal is extremely valuable.

Andrei Shevchenko looked at Shan Yongzhuo celebrating, his expression somewhat complicated.

Shevchenko was once a world-class striker, a Ballon d'Or winner, and can be considered one of the players who once stood at the pinnacle of the world.

He is confident in his abilities. Even though he is older now, he would never lose to anyone in his prime, not even a player like Ronaldo. Shevchenko believes he is no worse than Ronaldo.

Before this match, he knew about Shan Yongzhuo's sudden emergence. Regarding this player, his main opinion was that defense had declined too much in this era.

The reason why Shan Yongzhuo has scored so many goals is not because he has really surpassed his peak performance, but because his current defensive quality is incomparable to that of the past.

This is the pride of Shevchenko, who was once the world's top shooter.

But now, looking at Shan Yongzhuo, Shevchenko felt that things weren't so simple.

This guy is really amazing!
Shevchenko felt that under those circumstances, he absolutely could not have scored, not even at his peak.

But Shan Yongzhuo scored.

This is the difference.

Even the proud Shevchenko had to look at Shan Yongzhuo in a different light at this moment.

Meanwhile, Mancini, sitting on the sidelines, breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced at Balotelli, who was laughing like a child, and finally couldn't help but walk over to him, his face turning ashen. "You should really study something, not just your football skills. If you're always so brainless, you'll never become a top player."

Balotelli, who was smiling just a moment ago, immediately looked sullen and sat back down like a punching bag, clearly in a bad mood.

Mancini didn't bother with him. Although he thought highly of Balotelli, his prized disciple, he was really angry today.

Ignoring Balotelli, Mancini looked at Shan Yongzhuo on the field and was very satisfied with him.

Shan Yongzhuo's goal was more than just a goal.

In such an unfavorable situation, the team equalized the score, which not only changed the situation but also greatly boosted the team's overall morale.

Defense sometimes relies not only on techniques, tactics, and teamwork, but also on morale.

Even the best defensive skills will be greatly diminished if morale is low.

Manchester City not only equalized the score but also scored an away goal, which was a huge boost to the team's morale.

(End of this chapter)