Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 211 FA Cup and Europa League
With the match in the 70th minute, Manchester City were still leading Dynamo Kyiv 3-1 away from home.

To achieve this score while playing with ten men away from home is an absolute surprise, and Mancini is very satisfied with it.

The next match is all about defending the goal and trying not to concede any more goals. If we return to our home ground with this score, advancing will almost certainly be a sure thing.

Therefore, in this situation, Shan Yongzhuo's continued presence on the field was not very effective.

Mancini opted to replace Shan Yongzhuo with veteran Bate to bolster the midfield's defensive depth.

The intention behind this substitution is clear: Manchester City is going to defend their goal with all their might.

When Shan Yongzhuo left the field, he received a huge cheer and applause. Not only Manchester City fans, but also the home fans of Dynamo Kyiv applauded his wonderful performance.

The female fans of Dynamo Kyiv, in particular, clapped the most enthusiastically.

Shan Yongzhuo smiled and clapped his hands to greet the fans, a charming and confident smile on his face.

Regardless, receiving support from away fans is a remarkable achievement, and Shan Yongzhuo is very happy about it.

In the following match, Dynamo Kyiv launched a desperate attack, while Manchester City defended with all their might, turning the game into a half-court offensive and defensive drill.

Manchester City's goal was under constant threat, and they almost conceded three goals.

Fortunately, Manchester City managed to hold on to their lead in the end.

The match ended with a final score of 3-1. Thanks to Shan Yongzhuo's hat-trick, ten-man Manchester City narrowly defeated Dynamo Kyiv away from home, ending the first leg with a huge score advantage.

This scoreline is undoubtedly extremely favorable for Manchester City.

Manchester City are leading by two goals and have three away goals. If they don't lose by three goals at home, they can eliminate their opponents and advance to the Europa League quarterfinals.

After the game.

Many media outlets covered the match, and the English media were very excited.

Dynamo Kyiv is no weak team; they are a Ukrainian powerhouse, a regular in European competitions, and sometimes even reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Despite having a player sent off within the first ten minutes, the team managed to defeat their opponent by such a small margin and gain an advantage in advancing, which is undoubtedly inspiring.

Two people were heavily criticized by the media during this match.

One was Balotelli, who sent himself off with a completely unnecessary flying kick, putting his team in danger. This irrational behavior earned him a severe scolding from the English media.

Another was Da Silva's sliding tackle on Shan Yongzhuo, earning the French defender the nickname "butcher" from the English media.

In addition, Shan Yongzhuo's efficient performance in the game was highly praised by the English media. Not only the English media, but also the mainstream media in Europe gave great recognition to Shan Yongzhuo's performance.

Three shots, three goals.

Leading the team to victory single-handedly is an impressive feat, especially considering that Shan Yongzhuo has consistently delivered such performances since his debut, maintaining his reputation for high efficiency.

In the mixed zone after the game, Shan Yongzhuo was surrounded by a group of reporters.

However, he only gave a brief interview and did not say much about Balotelli and Da Silva's behavior, only saying, "Professional players will inevitably lose their temper on the field sometimes, it's nothing."

In a short time, Shan Yongzhuo cultivated an image of a gentleman of high moral character for himself.

What the media didn't know was that Shan Yongzhuo hated Da Silva to the core and even decided that if he had the chance in the next round, he would definitely beat him so badly that he couldn't find his way back.

……

Once back in Manchester, Shan Yongzhuo only had one thing to do:
That is rest. After a major battle, recovery and rest are essential. After more than two seasons of competition, things were alright in the Austrian Bundesliga and Serie A, but now that he's in the Premier League, the toughest season, Shan Yongzhuo is truly experiencing the hardships of being a professional player.

Many people believe that it's very easy for professional football players to earn high salaries by playing a few games.

In fact, this is not the case.

A single match is extremely taxing on professional players, and even for someone like Shan Yongzhuo who often coasts through, it's not an easy experience.

A tough match like this against Dynamo Kyiv usually requires three days to adjust and recover, not to mention players who are in poor physical condition.

Shan Yongzhuo is a player with relatively poor physical condition. Fortunately, he often slacks off in matches, which is why he is able to maintain such a high attendance rate.

Now, his average running distance has dropped to 2775 meters, a figure that is unmatched in the world of football.

Only in this way can he keep up with the pace.

So, three days later, at Shan Yongzhuo's insistence, Mancini still let him play in the FA Cup quarter-final.

The opponent is Reading, one of England's notorious hooligan teams.

Reading played a desperate defensive game, and their rough play caused Shan Yongzhuo some trouble.

However, he still managed to score two goals with five shots, with Silva and Yaya Toure also contributing.

Manchester City defeated Reading 4-0 to advance to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Considering the schedules of the league and the Europa League, the FA Cup is actually a competition that Mancini is prepared to give up.

However, they defeated Reading and advanced to the semifinals.

Mancini felt troubled again; at this point, it seemed a bit too much to talk about giving up.

"Fine, I'll just have to hold on. I can only trust the odds!"

Mancini had no other choice but to make this decision.

Five days later, in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16, Shan Yongzhuo hosted Dynamo Kyiv. No matter what, Mancini did not include him in the squad for this match.

Dan Yongzhuo felt somewhat helpless, but then he thought that being able to rest was actually a good thing.

In this match, Dynamo Kyiv had no way out; they had no way to retreat.

At the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City and Dynamo Kyiv engaged in an attacking battle. Jo, who got a starting opportunity due to Shan Yongzhuo's rest and Balotelli's suspension with a red card, performed well and scored a goal.

Ultimately, although Manchester City lost 1-2 to Dynamo Kyiv at home, they still advanced to the Europa League quarterfinals with a 4-3 aggregate score.

In another match, Liverpool were eliminated by Portuguese team Braga, leaving Manchester City as the sole Premier League representative in the Europa League.

This result left the English media quite frustrated.

In the Champions League, Arsenal was eliminated by Barcelona, ​​leaving only Chelsea and Manchester United from the Premier League. The quarter-finals are an all-Premier League affair, meaning that at most only one Premier League team can reach the Champions League semi-finals.

In the Europa League, only Manchester City remains as the sole representative.

There is no doubt that this is a terrible result for English football.

(End of this chapter)