Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 320 An Easy Goal

At Wembley Stadium, both teams had finished warming up and were coming out of the locker room.

The match is about to begin.

The cheers from the surrounding stands reached a climax.

The enormous cheers of more than 80,000 people made the stadium's sunshade vibrate.

This is a real competition.

Although it was just the League Cup final, it was still a cup competition title.

Manchester City is doing alright. They've won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Europa League titles. They just have a slightly larger fan base now, which isn't enough to affect their morale.

Cardiff is different.

This Welsh team only plays in the English Championship League, and most of the players are relatively unknown, having spent a long time in the Championship.

For them, reaching the League Cup final was already an incredibly lucky draw, and most of the Cardiff City players felt very nervous.

As the starting players were introduced over the loudspeaker, the stands around the stadium erupted in excitement.

The more than 80,000 fans can be divided into three factions: Manchester City fans, Welsh fans, and neutral fans.

Neutral fans make up the largest group, numbering approximately 4.

Manchester City fans are the second largest group, numbering 3.

More than 10,000 Welsh fans came to the stadium. Some of them were not even Cardiff City fans, but they still chose to come and support Cardiff City. For these Welsh people, Cardiff City's achievement of reaching the League Cup final is a source of pride for Welsh football.

England fans didn't care much, after all, the gap between England and Wales was just too big.

Moreover, this was just the League Cup final.

On the field, with the referee's whistle, the League Cup final officially began.

Cardiff City took advantage of the kickoff to launch an attack on Manchester City's goal. They did not show any fear of being a Championship team, but instead displayed an attitude of wanting to suppress Manchester City from the start.

In fact, they played quite well. Cardiff City's first wave of attack reached the penalty area, but was cleared by Lescott. Gunnarsson in midfield then won the ball back and launched another attack.

Cardiff City, united as one, launched an attack on Manchester City's goal for nearly two minutes.

Although they didn't score or even pose much of a threat, their continuous attacks made them seem no weaker than Manchester City. On the contrary, they displayed an unstoppable momentum, which made many people look at them with higher regard.

After all, Cardiff City's journey to this point was almost entirely due to the luck of the draw. They only faced one Premier League team, Blackburn Rovers, along the way, and their semi-final opponent was only Championship side Crystal Palace.

They were completely underestimated in the final against Manchester City.

But now, they have demonstrated their strength and earned a certain degree of respect.

The commentator remarked, "Let's take a look. The match has just begun, and Cardiff City has shown great strength. They've been constantly attacking Manchester City, and they've even managed to get the ball into the penalty area. Fortunately, Lescott cleared the ball in time, otherwise Gasted on the other side would definitely have had a shooting opportunity..."

"Judging from the start, Cardiff City is in good form. They are a strong team and their attack is very sharp..." "There may still be suspense in this game."

"If Manchester City really gets careless, they might actually be defeated by Cardiff City."

On the field.

Manchester City's performance at the start of the game was indeed somewhat poor. Cardiff City launched two consecutive attacks into the penalty area, while Manchester City were repeatedly dispossessed, giving Cardiff City numerous opportunities.

Of course, it won't be easy for Cardiff City to score a goal.

Manchester City players, who haven't quite found their rhythm yet, are focusing more on defense and trying to wear down Cardiff City.

They are much stronger, and by slowly wearing down Cardiff City, they can definitely gain the upper hand and win the game.

This is Manchester City's strategy: against weaker teams, overwhelming them with superior strength is the best option. Otherwise, if they let the opponent score first and then park the bus to defend desperately, it would be quite embarrassing.

After Cardiff City launched a series of tough attacks, Manchester City finally managed to mount a steady counter-attack. Nasri passed the ball from the left wing to the center, Silva chipped it to Milner on the right, and Milner then passed the ball across to Shan Yongzhuo.

Shan Yongzhuo stood not far from the edge of the penalty area, with Cardiff City defender Ben Turner behind him.

Ben Turner is very confident in himself. The young defender is tall, strong, and has come up through the Coventry youth academy. After arriving in Cardiff City this season, he quickly became the core of the team's defense.

After the match started, he gained the upper hand in two scrambles for position with Shan Yongzhuo. Shan Yongzhuo's strength was simply not enough to compete with him, and Ben Turner's excellent positioning and anticipation skills gave him confidence that he could defend against Shan Yongzhuo.

This time, however, after receiving the ball, Shan Yongzhuo quickly turned around and blew past Ben Turner in one step. This surprised Ben Turner, who quickly turned around to try to catch up with Shan Yongzhuo, but found that he couldn't catch up at all.

Like all tall and strong center-backs, Ben Turner's biggest weakness is that he is too slow to turn and not fast enough. In this play, Shan Yongzhuo turned quickly before he could block him and completely beat him.

Before Ben Turner could catch up, Shan Yongzhuo had already dribbled the ball directly into the penalty area. This time, he didn't even use any skills; his speed had reached 86 points, which, while not top-tier, was already excellent.

The speed attribute brings a huge boost to Shan Yongzhuo's absolute speed and instantaneous explosiveness. Facing Ben Turner, a Championship-level defender, Shan Yongzhuo's own strength is more than enough to handle him.

Dan Yongzhuo had already dribbled into the penalty area line, and just after crossing the line, he immediately swung his right foot to shoot.

Cardiff City goalkeeper Heaton felt his scalp tingle when he saw the ball. It was a powerful shot that went straight into the top corner of the goal. He couldn't help but want to curse Ben Turner for letting Shan Yongzhuo get past him so easily.

But there was nothing he could do. Heaton lunged in that direction, but unfortunately his reaction was too slow. The ball was fast and tricky, and it went straight into the goal, giving Heaton no chance to make a save.

"They're in already?"

The whole audience felt somewhat incredulous, but the facts were undeniable.

Moreover, on second thought, this goal was perfectly normal.

Ben Turner was completely outmaneuvered, and then Shan Yongzhuo took a shot from his most comfortable position. Shan Yongzhuo is almost guaranteed to score on this kind of shot.

Everyone knows just how threatening Shan Yongzhuo's shots are from near the penalty area line.

(End of this chapter)