Whether or not they find it, the purpose is to prevent the ball from being intercepted or stolen during the attack!
Celtic holds the dominant position in the Scottish league, especially after their old rival Glasgow Rangers went bankrupt and got relegated. Celtic has been unstoppable across the Scottish Super League.
Fans accepted the defeat against Manchester City on the away match, but how co at ho they beco turtles hiding in their shells?
fans ca to Celtic Park, almost filling it up. Seeing the team act so timidly, the fans erupted in boos:
"What are you doing, attack!"
"Rodgers, show us the guts of a man!"
"Is this a half-court drill? Push forward, lads!"
"We bought tickets for the Champions League, not to watch us getting beaten up!"
"We Scots never fear England!"
Amid the overwhelming boos from the fans, Celtic’s players on the field felt sowhat rattled.
They looked expectantly at coach Rodgers, hoping he’d let them press forward a bit. After all, an away loss is tough, but back at ho, these Scottish lads from Celtic still want to fight against Manchester City, even if they can’t win, they want to battle!
But Rodgers is the one who remains calm.
The fans’ curses are ringing above his head like an explosion, but Rodgers still presses his hands downwards, calmly instructing the players to defend.
"Dembele, who allowed you to run so far forward? Get back to halfti, retreat!"
"Roshic, close the gap with Beaton!"
"Brown! Lustig! Are you two crazy? I said don’t get drawn out by Tang, return to your positions!"
"Withdraw the formation a bit more, flatten it a bit, compress it more!"
Rodgers’ shouts are so loud that they are clearly picked up by the sound system on the edge of the field and transmitted to the live broadcast.
Neymar, who knows a bit of English, listened and felt displeased.
"What kind of cowardly coach is this, at ho, sticking his head out for the opponents to hit, really not ambitious!"
Suarez also chid in: "Damn it, even when we Barça play against the bottom relegation teams in La Liga, we don’t play like this. Does this Rodgers think he can defend a 0-0? Impossible, I say."
ssi nodded, actually agreeing with Rodgers’ tactics.
"At least from now, Celtic, as the weaker side, hasn’t shown any flaws in their defense. They haven’t been intercepted in the backfield either, which is not easy for them. They’re doing well."
Rodgers is evidently executing a deadlock defense, piling masses of players in the midfield.
They’ll ignore how Manchester City passes from the backfield and sidelines;
But once they try to transfer the ball to the midfield or the area near the penalty area, the route is completely sealed!
Manchester City’s approach prioritizes ball possession and ground passes.
Since Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City, he has systematically transford the team, instating a mindset of ground passing and control.
This style has helped them remain unbeaten in the Premier League.
But today, facing Celtic, Manchester City encountered their toughest challenge of the season.
No matter how they pulled the ball left and right, no matter how the forwards and midfielders interchanged positions, Celtic held strong to their zone defense, steadfastly staying in their defensive positions!
They’re oblivious to any attempt to lure them out.
Tang Long on the left wing sought multiple opportunities for passing and breakthroughs.
However, after passing the first Celtic player, the second person imdiately charged, after passing the second player, the third one ca, and after passing the third, more Celtic players kept appearing.
This scene was abnormal because Celtic’s formation was exceedingly tight, with mutual support distances being very short. Tang Long’s shots following breakthroughs were blocked and deflected by defenders.
Even Tang Long struggled to break through the encirclent, let alone fellow starter Sterling.
Celtic at one point morphed into six defenders, crowding the small penalty area with legs everywhere. Striker Bonazzoli faced tall and broad Scotsman defenders and didn’t have much of an advantage, getting squeezed into a pie, enduring considerable struggle.
"Well done, keep playing like this!" Rodgers clapped on the sidelines.
Soon, the ti approached the 40th minute.
Manchester City’s possession rate still exceeded 80%, yet they hadn’t breached Celtic’s goal.
Witnessing this, ssi, watching in his living room, smiled knowingly and analyzed to his friends Suarez and Neymar:
"After so many years of playing, I increasingly feel that the gap between professional players isn’t as vast as we think. Just look at this Celtic. They’re not as capable as Manchester City, but as long as they shrink the formation and unite as a team, breaking through them isn’t easy. You see Tang, he isn’t performing exceptionally, in my opinion..."
Just as ssi finished speaking, a loud bang suddenly erupted from the television!
The massive explosion ca unexpectedly, nearly shattering the LCD screen, focusing all eyes on Tang Long!
Tang Long this ti withdrew to midfield, and from 35 ters out, unleashed a powerful long-range shot!
This fierce shot was still sternly blocked by a defender’s stomach.
The Celtic player hit imdiately clutched his stomach and squatted in pain.
ssi, Suarez, and Neymar watched in shock, exchanging glances in silence.
They all simultaneously thought about how painful it would be to take a shot like that to the body.
Suarez said: "If the outer pass doesn’t go through, you can only take a wild long shot and rely on luck, there’s no other way."
Before anyone could dwell on the pain, Tang Long charged forward at the rebounding ball and fiercely struck again!
This ti before Tang Long took the shot, Diego on the side shouted to him: "Don’t go solo, there are too many people, we can’t penetrate them," suggesting he pass to Navas on the wing, then cross;
But Tang Long didn’t care? His sprinting speed was remarkable; within fractions of a second, he completed the sprint, the leg swing, the support leg stomping, the right foot hitting the ball, followed by his body flying out!
The motion was executed fluidly!
Especially the step with the support foot, the amplitude was enormous, creating a sharp wind, like a fierce tiger erging from the mountain!
The speed of the shot was extraordinarily fast, precisely following the gap in the middle, piercing through the wall ford by four Celtic players, as if breaking through crashing waves on the shore to no longer face any obstacles while heading toward the goal!
The ball had a very direct angle, and goalkeeper Gordon saw it coming, attempting a save.
However, upon contact with the fierce force of the ball, his originally straight palms were suddenly struck backward — flipping his palms back 90 degrees!
With a snap, his upper body leaned back, slapping the ball into the net!
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