Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 233 An Unstoppable Second Blossom
The unreasonable goal left Stoke City frustrated. It's not unacceptable that the opponent scored first, after all, they are Manchester City, a team with a chance to win the treble. Losing to them is not shameful.

But conceding such an unreasonable goal is a bit frustrating.

Wilkinson was alright; he was just there to help with the defense.

Shawcross was very frustrated. He thought he had defended Shan Yongzhuo to the best of his ability, but could someone explain how a cross from the byline could result in a goal?

Shan Yongzhuo's goal was indeed very sudden, so much so that the Manchester City players were a little caught off guard.

Many teammates were amazed by the suddenness of the goal and had little interest in celebrating. Even though they were leading the game, it was only the beginning. They simply high-fived and hugged Shan Yongzhuo before returning to their positions and starting the game again.

However, after Shan Yongzhuo scored this goal, everyone felt more relaxed. Being able to take the lead in just over 5 minutes was a very satisfying advantage.

After the game restarted, Manchester City gradually relaxed and, after stabilizing their defense, launched wave after wave of steady attacks. Mancini's strategy began to work, which was to overwhelm the opponent with strength.

Next, Manchester City launched two solid attacks, although only one of them reached the penalty area, but these two attacks consumed 4 minutes of time.

Stoke City had a tough time winning the ball back; their midfield gradually lost control, and they simply gave up on contesting the midfield, constantly dropping back to defend the goal.

By the 17th minute, Stoke City had retreated quite deep, with their defensive midfielders having dropped to the edge of the penalty area, almost in the same position as the defenders.

In this attack, Silva broke through all the way to the baseline.

He glanced at the penalty area and saw that Shan Yongzhuo and Balotelli had already rushed into the penalty area, vying for position with the opposing defender, and he delivered a cross.

Shan Yongzhuo and Shawcross were shoving each other when the goal was aimed directly at him.

The two jumped together, and Shan Yongzhuo headed the ball. As long as it touched the ball, it could unleash its headbutt technique and become a sure goal.

"Look at this ball!"

"The header, Shan Yongzhuo won it!"

As the commentator spoke, the ball then drew a wide arc and, to the goalkeeper Sorensen's astonishment, quickly disappeared into the corner of the net.

At that moment, many people were stunned.

The ball went in!
This time, the stadium audience reacted with even more surprise than before.

Scoring with a header is nothing special; even someone like Shan Yongzhuo, who doesn't often head the ball, has scored several headers.

But has a header ever produced such a high arc?

This is a bit hard to understand.

However, after a brief moment of disbelief, Manchester City fans began a wild celebration.

Who cares how he dribbles the ball in an arc, as long as it goes in.

The commentator shouted loudly, "Shan Yongzhuo, goal!"

“goooooooal!”

"A header from Shan Yongzhuo in the penalty area makes it 2-0!"

"In the 17th minute of the first half, Shan Yongzhuo scored again against Stoke City, giving Manchester City a two-goal lead!"

"At this point in the game, it seems there's no suspense left; Stoke City can surrender."

"Shan Yongzhuo has performed exceptionally well. If he continues to play like this, Stoke City will no longer be concerned about winning the championship, but rather about not losing by too much."

"However, they also have a difficult time. It's impossible to defend against Shan Yongzhuo's two goals."

"..."

The commentator's opinion represented the majority of views: these two goals were simply impossible to defend. One was a near-zero angle shot from close to the byline, and the other was a header that curled an unpredictable wide arc.

How do you defend against a ball like that?

The defenders were helpless, and the goalkeeper was also at a loss.

just now.

Stoke City faces a difficult problem: "How can they stop the unstoppable Shan Yongzhuo?"

Faced with this unsolvable problem in the Premier League, Stoke City manager Pulis stared intently at the game, his brow furrowed deeply.

Tony Pulis was a defender throughout his professional career, spending most of his time with Bristol Rovers, playing in the lower leagues.

His coaching career began at Bournemouth, and he served as manager of Stoke City from 2002 to 2005. After returning to the club in 2006, he finally led the team to promotion to the Premier League in the 07-08 season.

Pulis played a crucial role in Stoke City's subsequent stability in the mid-table of the Premier League, even leading them to the FA Cup final.

For a coach who has spent a long time in lower leagues, Pulis has done a good enough job.

However, Pulis was not satisfied with reaching the final and finishing as runner-up. He hoped to defeat Manchester City and win the FA Cup, which would be his first title as a manager.

However, the situation on the field is far from optimistic.

Pulis prepared extensively for the match. After they defeated Bolton in the FA Cup semi-final, he and his assistant constantly studied Manchester City, watching numerous video recordings.

He has a certain understanding of every player in the Manchester City team.

These preparations made him feel that Stoke City had a chance to beat Manchester City.

Now he realizes that he was completely unprepared.

Shan Yongzhuo.

He simply cannot solve the world's number one defensive problem in football.

The consensus is that to beat Manchester City, you either need to pray that Shan Yongzhuo doesn't play, or you need to pray that your team can stop Shan Yongzhuo.

After all, Shan Yongzhuo is indeed outstanding, scoring more than 60 goals in a single Premier League season, breaking a top European league goal record once again, and becoming the world's most recognized striker.

Shan Yongzhuo did not play in the last league match against Manchester City.

This match made Pulis complacent. He thought he had taken Shan Yongzhuo seriously enough, but now he realizes that he hadn't at all.

Two in a row of inexplicable goals.

What can be done?
"Have no idea!"

Finally, Priss came to a conclusion.

He decided to use the simplest method: increase the number of people.

While Manchester City were still celebrating, he called over one of his defensive midfielders, Delap.

"You don't need to participate in the attack. Stick with Ryan and keep an eye on him!"

"Stay by his side the whole time!"

"Don't let him get a shot off easily, understand? Even if it's an impossible shot, keep a close eye on him."

After a long explanation, Delap could only nod in understanding.

Once Delap left, the match was ready to restart.

Pulis watched the game with a sense of helplessness.

Overwhelming the opponent with numbers is not a good strategy. Stoke City does not have the same attacking strength as Benfica, and their counter-attacks cannot achieve the same effect as Benfica's. Overwhelming the opponent with numbers to defend against Shan Yongzhuo is very detrimental to their own attack.

But there was nothing he could do.

If the opponent is allowed to play freely, Stoke City will likely suffer a humiliating defeat, let alone win.

"We can only hope that the attacking players can perform better."

Pulis thought helplessly.

(End of this chapter)