Chapter 191: Sweeping Manchester United, Manchester changes the game!
Seeing how Manchester City gradually took control of the midfield, Moyes couldn't stay still.
He had Rooney drop back and join the battle in the center of the field.
Rooney was a bit reluctant, why could Van Persie stay up front and not him?
He's a forward too!
But Moyes hadn't been so bad to him, so he decided to follow Moyes' orders for now.
After Rooney dropped back, Manchester United formed two lines of pressure in the center of the field.
In front were Rooney, Ashley Young, and Valencia.
Behind were Fellaini and Carrick.
Once these two lines of pressure were established, their defensive ability in the center of the field strengthened considerably.
Lin Quan quickly realized that it would be difficult to exploit counterattack opportunities like before, when Manchester United's defenders and midfielders were well coordinated.
However, he soon noticed that when all the Manchester United players grouped together in the center of the field, the defense on the wings was left unprotected.
So, Lin Quan gave up attacking through the center and began to play more on the flanks with his teammates.
Manchester City had previously not focused much on playing through the wings, but both Navas and Nasri lacked the organizational ability of David Silva.
They were good at bursting through the wings, but they couldn't organize attacks effectively upfront.
This resulted in Manchester City's wing attacks being noisy but ineffective, without really threatening Manchester United.
However, after Lin Quan started playing on the flanks, the situation changed.
He was different from the other wing players; he was versatile, explosive on the wings, and could organize attacks.
And his inclusion meant that Manchester City had one more player in attacks through the wings, greatly increasing Manchester United's defensive difficulty.
The situation began to tilt in favor of Manchester City again, and Manchester United's defense on the wings staggered under Manchester City's fierce attack.
In the stands, seeing Lin Quan's choice, Guardiola smiled with satisfaction.
"This kid is in tune with me!"
By shifting the team's organizational work to the wings, he avoided the confrontation in the center of the field, rendering the opponent's defense useless.
Now, Manchester United was in trouble.
"Coach, is Manchester United facing any problems?" Ten Hag wasn't as insightful as Guardiola, but he could still see that Manchester United was in a difficult situation on the field.
"Yes, they're at a disadvantage in defense on the wings. The whole defensive line is staggering, and if they don't adjust soon, they're likely to concede a goal in no time."
Listening to Guardiola's words, Ten Hag's eyes widened, closely watching the match on the field.
He tried to focus even more to better understand the situation.
Seeing how serious he was, Guardiola asked, "If you were the coach of Manchester United, what would you do now?"
Ten Hag had heard Guardiola analyze that Manchester United's defense on the wings was failing, so naturally, he thought they should strengthen defense on the wings.
"Is that so?"
Upon hearing his response, Guardiola made no comments, apparently waiting for Moyes to make adjustments.
...
Moyes wasn't blind and could clearly see that Manchester United was in danger.
However, he didn't do what Ten Hag thought he would do, which was to directly strengthen defense on the wings.
The players on the field were limited, strengthening defense on the wings would mean weakening the center.
They had already experienced the power of Manchester City's central attack before, and Lin Quan was a free player with exceptional football intelligence.
If Manchester United made adjustments, Lin Quan would surely return to the center and exploit Manchester United's weaknesses there.
In this situation, unless he himself, as the coach, was on the field to tactically adjust at any moment, it wouldn't work at all.
So, what should Manchester United do?
Moyes only thought of one solution: designate someone to limit Lin Quan.
If the problem lay with this type of player, then they should confront it directly!
If they could contain him, Manchester City's offensive threat would be drastically reduced.
Thinking this, Moyes seized the opportunity of a free kick to call Fellaini and give him some instructions.
...
A few minutes later, Lin Quan on the field noticed that Manchester United seemed to have designated someone to mark him.
Fellaini followed him like a shadow, always close to him.
Seeing this choice by Manchester United, Lin Quan was delighted.
He was worried that Manchester United's defense in the center of the field was too strong and his teammates would have difficulty finding opportunities.
But now, Manchester United was self-weakening.
So he showed no mercy!
He didn't go back to the center of the field but continued to collaborate with his teammates on the wings.
However, Manchester City's attacking line experienced a major change.
Lin Quan began to collaborate more with forward Agüero.
In the 36th minute of the first half, Lin Quan received the ball upfront, and Fellaini quickly approached.
Instead of dribbling the ball, Lin Quan quickly passed it to Navas' feet.
Navas ran with the ball while Lin Quan followed closely.
Fellaini tried to disrupt, but Navas passed the ball back to Lin Quan as he slid down the wing.
Lin Quan didn't stop the ball but quickly passed it to the center to Agüero.
Fellaini retreated, leaving Manchester United with only one defensive midfielder, making their defense in the rear seem a bit unprotected.
Carrick rushed, but Agüero and Nasri executed a wall-pass combination that evaded Carrick, and Agüero made his way into the penalty area.
Vidic rushed, but Agüero didn't attempt to dribble past him or shoot himself; instead, he passed the ball to a teammate.
From the inner cut of the wing, Nasri received Agüero's pass, facing goalkeeper De Gea, and calmly shot, breaking through De Gea's defense.
The score changed to 2-0.
Although Agüero made the final pass, the key pass was from Lin Quan.
Even though he was playing on the wings, he remained the organizational core of Manchester City's attack upfront.
And precisely because he was on the wings, he faced much less defensive pressure than in the center.
Although Moyes had designated Fellaini to mark him, the space on the wings was too vast.
After reducing the time he spent with the ball and constantly collaborating with his teammates, Fellaini couldn't stop him.
Seeing that even under his personal mark, Lin Quan could still help his teammates score, Fellaini's face was full of frustration.
After the game resumed, he increased his aggressiveness in physical confrontations and even resorted to fouls to stop Lin Quan's advances.
"Kid, don't think you can play comfortably as before. I'm going to follow you to the end!"
After knocking down Lin Quan in a collision, Fellaini fiercely looked at the fallen player and said to him fiercely.
He hoped to disturb the opponent and leave a negative psychological impression through threats like this.
However, Lin Quan didn't even pay attention to his threats, not even bothering to stay on the ground wasting time.
He quickly got up, and as Fellaini kept talking, he quickly took the free kick and passed the ball to Agüero.
Agüero passed to Fernandinho, who spread the play to the left side, where Nasri received the ball.
After receiving the ball, Nasri decided to shoot from inside, but De Gea made a crucial save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.
"Focus more, don't get distracted!"
After making this save, De Gea showed his dissatisfaction with his teammates' performance.
Making these quick shots is common on the field, but if teammates maintain concentration, the opposing team would never have the chance to shoot.
Fellaini apologized to his teammates; it was evident that this goal was his responsibility.
He shot a fierce look at Lin Quan, but Lin Quan had a smile on his face and nodded at him.
Then he slowly walked away from him, getting ready to take a corner.
It was definitely a provocation!
Fellaini was furious. He had originally planned to use trash talk to disturb Lin Quan's mood and unbalance him, but instead, he was the one who lost his composure first.
"Manchester City has a corner, and Lin Quan has decided to take it personally."
"The corner has been taken, it reaches the central area but is cleared by Smalling. The ball remains in Manchester City's possession."
"Zabaleta passes it to the left side of the field, Yaya Touré attempts a shot... oh, it's deflected!"
"There's still a chance, the ball remains in Manchester City's possession. Agüero attempts a shot, but De Gea makes a great save! Wait a moment, the ball is at Lin Quan's feet! Wasn't he in the corner area? When did he get into the penalty area?"
Seeing the ball rolling towards Lin Quan, the Manchester City fans near the goal area rose from their seats. Could this ball go in?
Lin Quan ran along the goal line, and when he received the ball, he was almost at a zero angle.
In this situation, most people would probably choose to pass!
Manchester United defenders also thought the same. They hurried to block Lin Quan's passing lanes, but they didn't get close enough to disturb him when shooting.
This was definitely a fatal mistake!
"Don't let him shoot!"
De Gea saw the ball reaching Lin Quan's feet and suddenly started sweating cold.
As a national team teammate of Lin Quan, he knew too well his ability.
A zero angle didn't mean absolutely safe because this guy had a strange shot from that position!
De Gea guessed right!
After receiving the ball, Lin Quan looked towards the goal without hesitation and chose to shoot directly to the far angle.
De Gea, while shouting, had already anticipated that his opponent was going to shoot to the far angle, so he immediately dove towards that side to try to stop it.
However, the unpredictability of this shot far exceeded his imagination.
The ball traced an exaggerated curve, evading De Gea's interception and passing by the far post to enter the goal.
De Gea was a step too slow!
Even with some preparation, he still couldn't stop this shot.
Previously, when he was in the national team and was Lin Quan's teammate, seeing Lin Quan use this kind of shot against other teams seemed incredibly surprising to him.
But when he actually encountered this kind of shot on the field, he realized how desperate it was in the heart of the goalkeeper.
After scoring his second goal, on his celebration path, Lin Quan passed by Fellaini. He glanced at him and seemed to be asking him, "What were you saying?"
Fellaini turned pale and green, truly enraged in his heart.
Right after he threw his threats, Lin Quan helped a teammate score a goal and seized the opportunity to score another.
These two goals were like two slaps, hitting him hard in the face.
Upon seeing Manchester City leading by 3 goals at the end of the first half, Guardiola felt proud and lifted his head with pride, almost wishing to praise Lin Quan's brave performance to anyone who approached him.
Being able to see his son displaying such outstanding performance on the field filled him with joy as a father.
Ten Hag, beside him, was a bit puzzled: "Coach, isn't this bad news for us at Bayern? Why are you so happy?"
"Uh..." Guardiola hesitated for a moment, nodding: "You're right, I should be more serious."
Although he said that, when Manchester City fans started doing the wave to celebrate the goal, Guardiola quickly set aside his previous words and joined in the madness with the crowd.
Ten Hag, on the side, covered his face with his hand: "Coach, at least consider our position!"
We're coaches of Bayern now, what will they think at the club if they see you like this?
Although it wasn't clear yet what they would think at Bayern, Mané, the owner of Manchester City who was in the stadium, saw Guardiola joining the crowd and his heart suddenly lit up.
He began to have some ideas.
Although Pellegrini had achieved good results with the team, after this match, Manchester City had obtained six consecutive victories in all competitions.
However, the fame of the Chilean engineer was still somewhat limited, and Mané was not completely satisfied.
And in terms of skills, Pellegrini definitely couldn't match Guardiola.
If given the choice between the two, Mané wouldn't hesitate to choose Guardiola.
Since Guardiola seemed to have a great affection for Manchester City, would there be a chance to bring him here?
He remembered the invitation he had extended to Guardiola when he went to Munich to visit Lin Quan.
Although Guardiola had mentioned that he had a valid contract, he had never explicitly rejected Manchester City's invitation.
So there was still a chance!
...
After Lin Quan scored the third goal for Manchester City, the first half ended quickly.
At the start of the second half, both teams made changes in the lineup. Cleverley replaced Young in Manchester United.
But this change had no effect, as Manchester United remained in a passive situation.
On the contrary, Manchester City, having gained a great advantage, played increasingly relaxed, and their cooperation upfront became better and better.
At the beginning of the second half, just 2 minutes later, Agüero scored another goal, turning the score into 4-0.
Manchester City was ecstatic, while Manchester United was clearly baffled.
For the fourth time, the ball was kicked off from their own goal, De Gea, filled with frustration, kicked the ball hard with his foot as if releasing his anger.
This match was extremely frustrating for Manchester United. Although they had the energy, they were defeated by the opposing team.
On the sidelines, Moyes was out of ideas. Seeing the disheartened expressions of the players, he couldn't even find words of encouragement.
Moyes couldn't help but wonder in his mind: What would Ferguson do in this situation?
He seemed to have forgotten Mourinho's previous attacks and was now completely under Ferguson's shadow.
After gaining a big advantage, Guardiola began to make changes in the lineup.
In the 71st minute, Milner entered the field instead of Navas.
Five minutes later, Agüero was also substituted, leaving Lin Quan as the only one of the three goal scorers on the field.
Seeing that Manchester United's attack no longer posed any threat, the players completely lost their fighting spirit.
Finally, in the 86th minute, Guardiola felt confident enough to take Lin Quan off the field.
When Lin Quan was substituted, the fans in the stadium stood up and applauded him.
His performance deserved the applause of the fans, and not only the fans, the cameras even captured Manchester City's owner and club president in the VIP box standing up and applauding.
Seeing how the number ten of the other team hogged all the attention, Rooney felt a lot of anger and, at the same time, a lot of envy.
So, after Lin Quan left the field, Rooney, as if suddenly igniting his fighting spirit, suddenly became more active.
In the 87th minute, when Rooney was carrying the ball, he was brought down by a Manchester City player.
Manchester United got a free-kick opportunity upfront.
Rooney personally took the free-kick. After looking at Joe Hart's position, he chose to shoot towards the upper right corner of the goal.
The shot was of high quality, and Joe Hart couldn't do anything about it, he could only watch as the ball flew into the upper right corner of the goal.
4-1, Manchester United scored a consolation goal.
It was Rooney's fifth consecutive goal against Manchester City, but unfortunately, it came too late.
Finally, Manchester City defeated Manchester United at home with a score of 4-1, winning the city derby.
After this match, the sky of Manchester completely changed. The red disappeared, the blue appeared.
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