As for midfielder Hausen, he seems not very interested in connecting with forward Jero, actively pulling back, which makes Norwich have four defensive midfielders!
With 5 defenders plus 4 midfielders, they form a strong coverage of the 30-ter area in the backfield, making it difficult for Manchester City to penetrate the ball into the penalty area through ground passing.
Even if Tang Long is positioned as an attacking midfielder, once he gets the ball, he’s surrounded by a ss of legs. Even if he manages to thread the ball through a gap, before his teammates can respond, a defender will imdiately appear to intercept it.
What’s more critical is their black forward Jero!
This forward, standing 1.85 ters tall, is more of a nuisance on the field than an actual forward.
When the ball is under control in Man City’s backfield by players like Caballero, Ranocchia, and Yaya Toure, Jero doesn’t press up;
But once the ball crosses the midfield line, Jero runs back and forth like a mad dog across horizontal paths.
His running has its characteristics, often moving back and forth along predetermined passing lines.
This causes him, despite not being able to seize the ball from Yaya Toure and Fernando, to force Man City’s central midfielders to quickly pass the ball without dwelling, giving the players advancing from the backfield less ti to think.
With the match reaching almost 40 minutes, Manchester City’s possession rate is unbelievably high at 78%, a historical high possession rate since the season’s Premier League began!
However, since they insist on short passes to penetrate the ball into the penalty area, they have only managed 5 shots.
Norwich’s first shot ca in the 42nd minute of the match.
Just as the dozing Itihad fans woke up, with so already getting up to visit the restroom early.
Norwich suddenly launched an attack!
Facing Jero’s pressing, Toure didn’t pass this ti but instead waved his arm to push Jero away, made a quick move with his legs, tightened his hips, and found space to carry the ball forward, suggesting a sudden rhythm change to speed up!
But Toure, already at 32, hit a physical limit after the 40th minute of the first half, slightly slowing down and was imdiately overtaken by Jero, who had been trailing him, stealing the ball on the spot!
As soon as Jero made the interception, two wingbacks, Yuto Nagatomo and Martin, almost simultaneously sprinted forward.
"Jero!"
After dribbling forward 10 ters, Jero heard Yuto Nagatomo calling from the right.
Jero smartly chose not to pass the ball to Yuto Nagatomo imdiately;
Instead, he turned, attracted another midfielder Fernando, and suddenly kicked a long pass with the inside of his foot.
By that ti, Yuto Nagatomo had just crossed the offside line set by Ranocchia!
Ranocchia knew Yuto Nagatomo was fit and not slow;
But this ti, Yuto Nagatomo’s accumulated attacking desire for the whole first half suddenly burst forth, surpassing his old teammate Ranocchia’s expectations!
"Yuto Nagatomo’s speed is extrely fast!"
"Ranocchia raised his hand signaling offside, but the linesman didn’t flag, so Ranocchia had to keep chasing the ball!"
"Unbelievable! Just seconds ago, Yuto Nagatomo was in his own penalty area, and now he’s turned into a winger!"
"Ranocchia is getting closer, their arms are entangled together!"
"Ah??? Yuto Nagatomo actually won this confrontation!"
"He slipped through like an eel right under Ranocchia’s legs!"
"Haha, Ranocchia is clearly dumbfounded, can a player really get through like that?"
"Is there anyone in the center supporting?"
"Hausen! We see Hausen!"
"Hausen is sprinting wildly, faster than Kompany!"
"Yuto Nagatomo crosses the ball!"
"Hausen pushes the ball into the goal!"
"My god, Manchester City, who couldn’t break through, was sneakily scored by Norwich just before the end of the first half~"
After scoring, Hausen was extrely excited, rushing to the corner flag area, leaping high, and kicking the corner flag, sending Manchester City’s corner flag flying!
Amidst the boos from Manchester City’s stands, he spread his arms wide, allowing the short Yuto Nagatomo to jump directly into his embrace.
"Yes! We did it!"
Norwich manager Neil’s neck veins bulged as he punched heavily into the Itihad night sky as if to knock the stars out of the sky.
...
Halfti break.
Pellegrini spent a lot of ti telling the players not to worry about the conceded goal, to relax, and continue playing the way they have been.
He still insisted that Norwich couldn’t maintain that defensive focus throughout the entire match, and after 65 minutes into the second half, they would surely lose concentration, and players need to seize this opportunity and break through quickly.
However, Tang Long remained silent but disagreed in his mind!
Even if Norwich’s players lose focus and energy after 65 minutes, isn’t Manchester City in the sa situation?
Playing Norwich at ho while trailing, the ti to equalize mustn’t be delayed to the end, the sooner the better.
It’s best to equalize at the start of the second half; otherwise, as the match plays on, Manchester City’s morale will drop while the opponents’ morale will soar, resulting from the ntality contrast due to the strength difference between both teams.
Manchester City mainly attacked through the center in the first half, but due to the dense players in the center, three central defenders plus four midfielders, they couldn’t break through.
If they continue to attack the center fiercely in the second half as Pellegrini said, the effect might not be that good either.
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