He knew that as long as he dodged Sterling’s cal hump-like rear, this kid couldn’t win in a collision against him.
So when Sterling was about to push back once more, Bennett took a step back, quickly standing side by side with him, and used his shoulder to crash into Sterling.
Sterling’s first back-push hit air, his body dipped and almost fell;
But fortunately, his stance was stable enough, and stepping back with his foot preserved his balance!
He had just steadied himself when he felt a breeze rise up on his left shoulder.
In that mont, Sterling suddenly recalled a move Tang Long often did on the training ground—a ball-dragging turn—a move Tang Long had practiced tens of thousands of tis with Iniesta in the AI Cloud Training Ground, mastering its essence.
Although Sterling hadn’t specifically trained it, he’s seen it enough to learn sixty to seventy percent of it, plus his dribbling skills are among the best in the Premier League, so when Bennett’s shoulder collided, Sterling stepped back, his body like cotton, absorbing the impact!
His upper body moved, and his lower body didn’t stop;
With a foot drag and a wave, he spun in place 180 degrees, leaving Bennett lunging into the air.
Bennett didn’t have Sterling’s flexibility; how could he stand after such a dive?
A perfect faceplant!
"Wide open, pass to !"
While Sterling and Bennett were tangled up, Agüero had been quietly lingering by Basson.
Just as Sterling broke through, Agüero accelerated in an instant, shedding his defender.
Now Sterling was on Rudy’s left, and Agüero was on the right, a two-on-one;
As long as the ball was passed, Agüero could easily tap into the open net.
But having beaten Bennett, with applause pouring from all over Itihad, Sterling’s eyes were fixed only on the goal, where could Agüero be?
Feeling pleased with himself, he thought, with all this applause, surely so of it cos from England’s head coach Mancini, let him witness my goal!
Bang!
Sterling blasted the ball wide.
"Uh..."
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
I clearly intended to push a right-side curved shot, how did it end up in the stands?
Tang Long, watching from behind Sterling, shook his head.
He knew Sterling’s shooting skills all too well: the odds of a spontaneous goal in chaos are decent enough;
But for simple one-on-ones with the goalie, a miss or off-target shot is utterly normal.
The great chance not passed, not scored, Sterling could only raise his hand to apologize to Agüero;
Agüero gave Sterling a sidelong glance and walked away, muttering.
It’s the calr Agüero of age; if it were his early Manchester City days, a ball like this not passed to him would have triggered a rage on the spot.
Agüero and Sterling remained civil on the surface, but over at Norwich, conflicts had begun!
"You’re joking about , losing position, letting him beat you with speed and turns. Good grief, Bennett, don’t tell you’re a professional defender!"
"Heh, at least I was beaten by speed, not knocked away by one butt. Mind your own, Japanese guy!"
Finally, trailing at halfti, Manchester City scored two in the second half, securing a narrow 2:1 win at ho.
Though Sterling and Agüero each scored a goal, the man of the match was once again Tang Long, who offered two assists.
Tang Long, who couldn’t recall how many tis he’d won the Premier League man of the match, held up the crystal trophy, shaking it.
He was looking forward to the season’s end, hoping to lift a truly collective honor trophy!
However, Manchester City didn’t revel in the victory for long;
A thunderbolt echoed on the training ground the next day...
(One more update for today as I need to head to the hospital for a check-up early tomorrow. Can’t stay up late. Thanks again! This month, the author has updated 270,000 words, setting a personal monthly record. Only two months left this year, ti flies!)
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