Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 430 Hazard

The competition was fast approaching.

At Stamford Bridge, although there were quite a few fans present, it was clear that Chelsea's supporters weren't very enthusiastic.

There's nothing they can do; facing Manchester City, they simply don't have much confidence.

The Manchester City fans who came to the stadium were different.

For several seasons, Chelsea has consistently been defeated by Manchester City, which gives Manchester City fans a great deal of confidence in front of Chelsea fans.

Moreover, Shan Yongzhuo will also play in this match, and in their view, an away victory at Stamford Bridge is almost a foregone conclusion.

However, during the pre-match warm-up, Shan Yongzhuo noticed something was wrong; it seemed as if three burning gazes were fixed on him.

This made him feel a little uneasy.

A gaze fell upon Hazard.

Hazard, who is a year younger than Shan Yongzhuo, is a recognized Belgian talent. During his time playing for Lille in Ligue 1, Hazard performed exceptionally well.

This summer, Hazard joined Chelsea for £3200 million, becoming the most expensive signing of the season, and received a lucrative contract with a weekly wage of £17.5.

Joining a top club and achieving early success have made Hazard extremely proud and satisfied.

Moreover, Hazard has indeed performed exceptionally well since joining Chelsea. In the first round against Wigan Athletic, Hazard scored his first Premier League goal, and in the second round against Reading, he provided two assists and won a penalty.

To date, Hazard has scored 5 goals and provided 7 assists in all competitions, a very impressive performance, and is considered the future of Chelsea.

However, Hazard is still not satisfied with his current performance, and his goal is to become the world's number one star, Shan Yongzhuo.

Surpassing Shan Yongzhuo is Hazard's biggest goal deep down.

This direct confrontation with Shan Yongzhuo has ignited Hazard's fighting spirit.

Another point of interest came from Cech.

Unlike Hazard, Cech looked at Shan Yongzhuo with fear in his eyes.

Petr Cech has witnessed every single one of Chelsea and Manchester City's matches over the past few seasons.

Before the match, he had intended to feign illness, but this did not fool the team doctor and Benitez, so he had no choice but to play again despite his illness.

However, the thought of how terrifying Shan Yongzhuo was filled Cech with fear.

"Hopefully... this guy will be normal today. If he concedes three goals, he should be able to get away with it to Benitez..."

The last gaze came from Ivanovic.

Ivanovich was excited all night after receiving his wife's promise.

Now, as he arrived at the match field and looked at his opponent, Shan Yongzhuo, Ivanovic was full of fighting spirit.

"No matter what, I must succeed!"

The three people kept glancing at Shan Yongzhuo, which made Shan Yongzhuo's scalp tingle and his thoughts involuntarily wander.

"Damn it, these guys shouldn't be gay... and they're not damn British either!"

The competition began soon after.

In this match, Manchester City fielded a 4-3-3 formation.

Guardiola abandoned his usual tactical philosophy of central midfield passing and control, and in this match, he focused his attacking efforts on the two flanks.

This is also the core concept of the 4-3-3 formation: attacking down the flanks and integrating offense and defense.

In the central midfield, only Yaya Toure was anchoring the midfield, while Silva and Barry each occupied a wing.

Nasri's injury finally gave veteran Barry a chance to play in this match, which made him very excited.

As for the front three, Shan Yongzhuo occupied the middle, while Aguero and Milner each occupied a wing.

Manchester City are ready to fight.

However, Guardiola was somewhat uncertain. The 4-3-3 formation was neither familiar to him nor something he particularly liked.

However, Manchester City currently has some personnel issues. Injuries to players such as Nasri and Rodwell have left Guardiola with a limited pool of injured players.

There was some unavoidable reason for deploying this formation. With the current squad, using a 4-3-3 formation to utilize the strengths of the wingers is the best option.

On the other side, Chelsea fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation.

In defense, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Ivanovic, and Azpilicueta anchor the defense.

Ramirez and Mikel partnered in the double pivot midfield.

In Bénés' view, this lineup can maximize the defense and limit the performance of the opponent's Shan Yongzhuo.

The three midfielders are Hazard on the left, Oscar in the center, and Mata on the right.

All three players are fast and technically gifted, and their combination of three midfielders can guarantee Chelsea's attacking vitality and creativity.

Leading the pack is Benitez's favorite player, Torres.

Although Torres is no longer the fierce player he was during his time at Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, he is jokingly referred to as the "Iron Defender Torres".

However, with Drogba's retirement and Anelka's departure, Benitez currently doesn't have many good center forwards available.

On the other hand, Benitez also has faith in his former favorite player and hopes to help Torres regain his confidence through the match.

Torres was well aware of his mentor's thoughts about him, and he was eager to prove himself.

Torres was very active after the match started.

Chelsea also launched a relentless attack on Manchester City from the start, pressing aggressively and gaining the upper hand in the game immediately.

Hazard, in particular, was very active from the start of the match.

Hazard is a very fast player with excellent footwork and strong dribbling ability.

At the start of the match, he used his excellent dribbling skills to cause trouble on the left flank, making things difficult for Silva and Zabaleta.

Manchester City, on the other hand, were dominated on the field. After the game started, the ball kept rolling around in Manchester City's half, and Manchester City could hardly even launch a counter-attack.

In the 4th minute of the match, Chelsea had a very good chance.

Hazard dribbled past Zabaleta on the left wing and delivered a low cross from outside the penalty area.

Although Torres failed to get to the ball at the near post, Oscar managed to poke it at the far post.

Joe Hart fell to the ground and dropped the ball, but Nastasic quickly cleared it, moving the ball to the outside.

However, Mata received the ball on the perimeter, but instead of shooting directly, he made a surprising through pass, sending the ball directly into the penalty area.

Torres burst out, it was a brilliant through ball that beat the offside trap, and then it became a one-on-one opportunity.

Torres caught up with the ball and then kicked it away before Joe Hart could reach it.

The Stamford Bridge fans were on edge, everyone instinctively standing up, hoping for a goal.

however……

"Ding!"

A crisp sound.

"Hula..."

Then, a wave of disappointment swept across Stamford Bridge.

Torres covered his head in disbelief and squatted on the ground in utter despair.

He kicked this excellent one-on-one chance onto the crossbar, sending it flying out of bounds.

(End of this chapter)