Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 291 The Signature Kickball

The match continued, and Shan Yongzhuo was tightly marked by Skrtel.

Skrtel became more aggressive, and at the same time, he put more thought into his game, no longer focusing solely on physical confrontations in defense, but also using his experience and positioning to shut down his opponent more effectively.

This does have some effect.

Overall, Shan Yongzhuo has improved his skills a lot after several seasons of honing his abilities, but that improvement comes from his physical attributes and match experience.

From a tactical perspective, his tactical awareness is extremely poor.

Now, facing Skrtel's extreme defense, Shan Yongzhuo immediately felt the increased difficulty. Skrtel's close marking, coupled with the blocking of positions and routes by other Liverpool players, made it difficult for Shan Yongzhuo to even receive the ball.

Under such a complete blockade, even the top strikers would find it difficult, let alone Shan Yongzhuo, who, without his skills, would hardly be considered a top striker.

Dan Yongzhuo felt like he was stuck in a quagmire. Even running normally would be a huge obstacle, let alone having the chance to do anything.

However, Liverpool's tight containment of him will inevitably come at a price.

Manchester City's other positions became more active. Aguero was marked fairly tightly, but Silva and Yaya Toure, who occasionally made runs, could take a shot from time to time, making things much easier for them. Sometimes, all they had to do was take a shot from the edge of the penalty area to find space to shoot.

"Unfortunately, not everyone is Shan Yongzhuo; Silva's shot went wide again..."

Silva felt very frustrated.

Since the start of the match, Shan Yongzhuo has only had one shot, a header from a zero-degree angle that went straight into the net.

He had taken three shots, but none of them resulted in a goal.

Because Shan Yongzhuo was closely marked, Aguero was also targeted quite heavily by the opponent, giving the players who made late runs many opportunities. Silva already had three shots, Yaya Toure had two shots, and even Milner on the right wing pressed into the penalty area and took a shot.

Unfortunately, none of them posed a threat.

This efficiency is quite poor.

Of course, the other Manchester City players weren't entirely useless either. Barry frequently passed the ball forward and, when given the opportunity, would also take the ball and break through to try and tear apart the opponent's defense.

Ironically, the best performer for Manchester City turned out to be veteran Barry.

In the 42nd minute, Manchester City had another chance.

This time, Barry and Silva executed a series of passes, with Barry dribbling into space on the edge of the penalty area. He used his movement to create space, leaving the opposing defender with no choice but to commit a foul.

The referee showed Adams a yellow card and awarded Manchester City a free kick in a very good position.

The ball is facing the left post, about 25 meters from the goal. For a direct free kick, this position is quite good.

Because of the wall, free kicks aren't always better the closer they are. For example, a free kick close to the penalty area line is difficult to curl because of the wall; getting the ball over the wall is not an easy task.

Of course, being too far away isn't a good thing either. If the position is too far, it's not easy to kick with power, and it also gives the goalkeeper enough time to react.

Therefore, 25 meters is a very suitable distance for a direct free kick.

Shan Yongzhuo stood at the free-throw line without hesitation.

Liverpool took this goal very seriously. Shan Yongzhuo's free-kick prowess is known worldwide, boasting a 2% success rate with direct free kicks, averaging one goal out of every two. Such terrifying free-kick efficiency makes him a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, Shan Yongzhuo doesn't take many free kicks either, averaging close to one per game.

However, if he takes the penalty, it means he is very confident.

Liverpool formed a four-man wall and also assigned players to mark the player who came to contest the header.

Goalkeeper Reina was on high alert.

Shan Yongzhuo would definitely shoot directly at this kind of ball, and that's what Reina thought too.

His judgment was correct.

After the referee signaled that the penalty could be taken, Shan Yongzhuo took several steps back, then jogged forward, raised his right foot high, toe pointing directly at the ball, and with a thud, the ball soared high over the wall. "Look at that shot..."

The football's initial trajectory seemed to be heading towards the stands, but the commentator didn't draw any conclusions. He immediately noticed that after reaching its highest point, the football began to sway left and right and then plummeted downwards.

"Shan Yongzhuo's signature leaf ball..."

But the commentator exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone knows that Shan Yongzhuo is good at kicking knuckleballs, and he also loves to kick knuckleballs the most.

However, this kind of ball is very difficult to defend, and even if you know it, it is difficult to make the right judgment.

Many people were staring intently at the ball.

Goalkeeper Reina dared not relax for a moment. He was a very experienced goalkeeper and had already predicted that the opponent would shoot directly and that they would use their best knuckleball, the only difference being whether it was to the left or the right.

He thought it would be from the far corner.

But when the football soared into the sky, he hesitated because its trajectory was too unpredictable and erratic.

Once Reina made his judgment, he immediately rushed towards the far corner.

He jumped very high, and as he rose higher, he tried to reach upwards with both hands to block as many angles as possible, finally touching the soccer ball at the highest point.

"It's sealed off!"

Reina felt a surge of joy, but the next moment he realized he was a little too slow. He had only touched the ball with his fingertips, and the ball, spinning violently forward, changed direction slightly after touching his fingertips, hitting the crossbar and bouncing into the goal.

"shit!"

Before Reina had even landed back on the ground, he blurted out a curse.

"The ball is in!"

"Shan Yongzhuo's signature falling leaf shot!"

"Goalkeeper Reina guessed the direction, but he was still a step too late..."

"Manchester City are now two goals ahead of Liverpool at Anfield!"

"Shan Yongzhuo scores twice!"

"..."

The commentator shouted loudly, while the stands erupted in commotion. Liverpool fans were extremely disappointed, having conceded another goal just before the end of the first half. They couldn't have been more frustrated.

The Manchester City fans, who had traveled to the away game, were ecstatic, cheering and celebrating wildly.

Although they had confidence in Manchester City, Anfield is a notoriously difficult home ground, and they didn't expect their team to take a two-goal lead in the first half.

The biggest contributor to all of this was Shan Yongzhuo, whom they always trusted and liked the most.

Many fans couldn't help but call out Shan Yongzhuo's name.

"one!"

"Well done, deal!"

"Go for it, Dan!"

"Shan, I love you!"

"..."

(End of this chapter)