Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 462 I, Mark Schwarzer, am very capable.
Fulham is a decent team, currently sitting in the upper-middle of the league.

In particular, the addition of the dashing Berbatov to the team is a very strong boost for Fulham.

However, Shan Yongzhuo...

The name is like a curse for Fulham.

At their peak, Fulham reached the Europa League semi-finals, only to be defeated by Shan Yongzhuo.

After that, they never gained much advantage against Shan Yongzhuo, and even a draw was a remarkable achievement.

Now, playing against Manchester City, especially at the Etihad Stadium, Fulham are prepared to defend to the death.

Guardiola was prepared for this, and Fulham's defensive strategy was naturally within his expectations.

"We need to pay more attention to opportunities on the periphery!"

Guardiola emphasized this to his players, and also gave special instructions to several players: "Shan, David, James, the three of you need to pay special attention to opportunities to shoot from the outside. If you can seize the opportunity from the outside, their defense will be easily broken down."

Upon receiving the instructions, Shan Yongzhuo, Milner, and Silva nodded to indicate that they understood.

The starting forwards for this match were Shan Yongzhuo and Dzeko.

There's no way Dzeko could have anything to do with the outside starting position.

As some of the team's best players in terms of footwork, the outside strategy will definitely fall to these three.

Once the match started, Manchester City did exactly that.

This was Shan Yongzhuo's first match since his return, and Manchester City fans showed him great respect, filling the Etihad Stadium to capacity.

Among them, the Shan Yongzhuo Women's Cheerleading Team was the most enthusiastic performer.

Manchester City's performance at the start of the game further heightened the emotions of the fans in the stadium.

After the start of the game, Manchester City completely dominated the match, basically pressing Fulham.

However, Fulham's defense is indeed very tenacious, and it is not easy to break through their defense.

As a result, Manchester City began to look for opportunities more from the periphery.

However, the results did not seem to be very good.

Manchester City have attempted several long-range shots since the start of the game, starting in the 5th minute.

Silva, Barry, and Javi Garcia each took a shot, but they all went a bit too far off target.

Dan Yongzhuo also took a shot, but without using any skills, and under close marking from the opponent, he failed to score. Instead, the ball flew almost across the crossbar and out of the goal.

This also drew sighs of regret from Manchester City fans, since Shan Yongzhuo's missed shots are not uncommon, but they are not frequent occurrences.

In the fans' minds, Shan Yongzhuo either couldn't shoot, or he was basically able to score goals.

Therefore, those who understand football know that although Shan Yongzhuo seems selfish and has scored a lot of goals, he actually occupies a very small percentage of the team's possession. His shooting conversion rate is simply outstanding.

Next, Shan Yongzhuo tried another shot, but it still didn't go in. This time, the shot was saved by the opposing goalkeeper, Schwarzer, which left Shan Yongzhuo feeling somewhat disappointed.

Shan Yongzhuo's two consecutive failures have disappointed Manchester City fans and players, but one person is very excited.

That was Fulham's former goalkeeper, Schwarzer.

In the recently concluded World Cup qualifiers, Shan Yongzhuo led the Chinese team to a 4-2 victory over Australia in Sydney. In that match, Schwarzer was Australia's starting goalkeeper.

At that time, Schwarzer was helpless against Shan Yongzhuo.

In this match, he was able to intercept Shan Yongzhuo's ball right at the start, twice in fact.

Although he went over the crossbar the first time, he had touched the ball beforehand, so it can't be said that he didn't contribute to the effort.

This really boosted Schwarzer's morale. As a veteran Australian goalkeeper, Schwarzer certainly has his own ambitions.

Now, he has blocked Shan Yongzhuo twice in a row. What does this mean?
"I, Mark Schwarzer, am very capable!"

Schwarzer was in high spirits, while Shan Yongzhuo on the other side had figured out some methods.

The opposing team sent their main center-back, Ritter, to mark him closely, and after the previous encounter, Shan Yongzhuo had figured out the big man's defensive capabilities.

Soon, the opportunity came again.

This time, Shan Yongzhuo didn't hesitate. He seized the opportunity and used a whirlwind ground kick to split the ball and the ball between himself and Ritter in a half-turn, leaving Ritter completely unable to react. Ritter tried to chase but failed to catch up.

Shan Yongzhuo dribbled the ball to the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a right-footed shot.

This time, although he didn't use his powerful kick, Schwarzer had no chance against his well-prepared shot.

The football, spinning intensely, grazed the crossbar and went into the goal.

"The ball is in!"

"Shan Yongzhuo, a beautiful dribble, Ritter was completely useless, he was like a clumsy wooden stake."

"He got past Ritter, faced goalkeeper Schwarzer, and unleashed a brilliant shot in the familiar area where Shan Yongzhuo was!"

"1 to 0!"

Manchester City are now ahead of Fulham!

As the commentator shouted, the stands around the stadium were filled with cheers from the fans, all chanting Shan Yongzhuo's name and celebrating his goal.

Although Manchester City performed quite well recently, many fans come to the stadium hoping to see Shan Yongzhuo perform.

For many fans, the game always feels different with or without Shan Yongzhuo.

The most obvious example is that before Shan Yongzhuo's home games, very few members of Shan Yongzhuo's women's cheerleading team would come to watch the games.

This is so heartbreaking.

And now, Shan Yongzhuo has indeed not disappointed them.

Just 10 minutes later, with his third shot, Shan Yongzhuo broke through Fulham's impenetrable defense.

Shan Yongzhuo scored the first goal, which was somewhat embarrassing for Fulham.

Fulham is a very good defensive team, but their attack is a bit weaker.

Despite the arrival of Berbatov, he is not the kind of player who can single-handedly help the team like Shan Yongzhuo, nor is he the kind of counter-attacking striker who relies on speed.

Their attack relies more on Petric and Ruiz in the frontcourt, plus Duff on the wing in midfield.

Now, trailing by one goal, Fulham is in a tough spot.

To tie the game, they must focus more on offense, but this will make it difficult for their defense to hold up.

Fulham is in a dilemma.

On the other hand, Manchester City played much more steadily.

After gaining an advantage, they didn't look for opportunities on the periphery, but instead steadily controlled the pace of the game, keeping it entirely under their control.

As a result, Fulham completely collapsed, and the game spiraled out of control.

Finally, the match ended.

Shan Yongzhuo made his first appearance back in action, scoring four goals in the first and second halves. Dzeko and Milner also scored, leading Manchester City to a 6-1 home victory over Fulham.

(End of this chapter)