Vladivostok Light Energy head coach Pavlov looked at the court with an incredulous expression.
The score on the field had not changed. But his central defender was being ravaged.
The quality of the grass at the Stadium was not very good, which strengthened Advocaat's determination to have the team go high.
After Zenit St. Petersburg got the ball, they sent it over Chen Yingxiong's head, making full use of his advantage in heading.
What about Chen Yingxiong? He would head the ball if he had a chance but would pass it to his teammates if he didn't.
However, once he reached the small penalty area, he rarely passed the ball to his teammates, but instead headed it directly!
Chen Yingxiong's behaviour was somewhat unique, but it made sense. As long as he was in the penalty area, every time he jumped up to compete for the ball, he could cause great trouble to the opponent's defence...
The match was still not broadcast live nationwide, so only the local TV station in Vladivostok was broadcasting it. During the live broadcast, the commentator of the local TV station kept worrying about the home team's defence. Every time Chen Yingxiong jumped in front of the goal, he would shout. "Be careful!"
After 25 minutes of the game, some of the Light Energy team's defenders were out of breath and felt tired. How could they not be tired? Every time they defended, they had to jump with all their strength, and at the same time, they had to fight with Chen Yingxiong, stop him, interfere with him, and prevent him from scoring.
So while the score was still 0:0, these defenders don't know how long they could hold on...
Alexandr Sheshukov breathed a sigh of relief after once again defending Zenit's attack. The game had only been going on for more than 20 minutes, but his back was already soaked with sweat.
He was 1.81 meters tall and not good at heading. He was ten centimetres shorter than Chen Yingxiong, so it was so difficult for him to compete.
His partner Sergey Shtanyuk was 1.9 meters tall, almost the same height as Chen Yingxiong, but they were 11 kilograms apart in weight. These 11 kilograms meant that the 32-year-old veteran could only use his experience to defend Chen Yingxiong.
Fortunately, Sheshukov's partner in this game was Shtanyuko, otherwise, Light Energy's goal would have been broken by Chen Yingxiong's header already...
Even now everyone thought it was only a matter of time before Zenit scored a goal…
"Damn it...where did this guy come from?" Head coach Pavlov cursed in the coaching booth.
This sentence would later become the catchphrase of all head coaches that faced Chen Yingxiong.
…
Since the away game was too far away, even the die-hard fans of Zenit St. Petersburg could not come to the scene to cheer for the team.
Therefore, the Dynamo Stadium, which could only accommodate 10,000 people, was packed with home team fans.
Logically, this should have been a huge home advantage for the Vladivostok team, as they could fill the entire stadium with cheers. But now the Light Energy fans were too busy to do this. They were all worried about their team's defence.
Whenever Arshavin or Spivak passed the ball to the middle, they would scream in fear that their goal would be opened in this attack.
"Who is number 99?"
"His jumping ability and height are outstanding, and he's also a great header... Is this fair?"
There were fans who paid more attention to the Russian domestic league who already knew what the No. 99 player of Zenit St. Petersburg had done last game. "Hey, do you know? This guy scored a goal in the last game. It is said that it was his first game for the first team..."
"It's really enviable. When will our youth team be able to train such players?"
…
"For most of the game, the ball has been flying in the air. It's not fun to watch at all! I think this is definitely not the kind of game the audience wants to see!" The TV commentator complained. But he was just being salty because the team he supported had no advantage under such aerial tactics and could only passively take the beating.
As he was complaining, he saw Zenit kick the ball from the backcourt. Chen Yingxiong headed the ball to Kerzakov. Kerzakov pretended to break through the middle, causing the centre-back Sheshukov to shift his centre of gravity. Then he suddenly dribbled the ball out diagonally!
Breakthrough!
"Stop his breakthrough!" the commentator yelled. He really was putting himself in the shoes of the head coach...
…
Kerzakov, 23 years old this year, first represented Zenit's first team in the Super League at the age of 19. In the 2001 season, he made a total of 30 appearances and scored 6 goals, performing outstandingly.
In the second season, he played 36 times and scored 18 goals, making rapid progress. In every season that followed, he was the team's main force. The 2004 season was the craziest season of his career, in which he scored a total of 29 goals in 38 games of all kinds.
This year he had made 20 appearances this season and scored 10 goals.
His characteristics were fast speed and excellent shooting. He was a speed striker.
He was once Zenit's future hope along with Arshavin and Vladimir Bystrov, but Bystrov moved to Spartak Moscow last year.
Because he became famous at a young age, he was a person that many teams paid special attention to.
But this time, only one full-back followed him. Even the center-back Sheshukov who he had just dribbled past did not chase him. Instead, he turned around and ran towards the goal. His target was Chen Yingxiong...
Kerzakov would definitely use his speed to break through the bottom line, then pass the ball and send it over Chen Yingxiong's head.
The Light Energy defenders guessed right. like the entire Zenit team, did not hide his intentions at all. When he reached the right position, he accelerated and made a slight change of angle before decisively kicking the ball back to the middle!
For a forward to have such a ferocious header ability was indeed a headache for any defender. Because this meant that the attack did not occur outside the penalty area, where you could still use your hands to pull him, or just go up and hug him with both hands and drag him down.
Whatever you dared to do in the penalty area, you could just wait for a penalty afterwards. Thus the name, in fact.
When seeing Chen Yingxiong, Sheshukov and Shtanyuko jumping up at the same time, the Light Energy fans in the stands and the coach in the home team's coaching booth were all nervous...
Advocaat also tensed up. He clenched and unclenched his fists unconsciously.
Sheshukov and Shtanyuko sandwiched Chen Yingxiong in the middle, but the person who jumped the highest was still Chen Yingxiong, No. 99 of Zenit St. Petersburg!
Sheshukov leaned back again, pressing his entire body weight onto Chen Yingxiong, while Shtanyuko made a very hidden move to pull him in. Chen Yingxiong was indeed affected, and his body lost balance in the air and fell backwards.
But even in this situation, he still rubbed the football with his head! And rubbed the ball towards the goal even!
At this critical moment, the goalkeeper of the Light Energy team, Giorgi Lomaia, a Georgian national goalkeeper, made a wonderful save. He jumped up and blocked the football with one hand!
"Well..." The commentator didn't even have time to finish his words, "well, that was a close call" before he saw a white figure flash past the door!
The number 10 on his back was very eye-catching.
Andrey Arshavin!
Facing the ball shot by the goalkeeper, all Arshavin needed to do was hit it head-on!
"Ah... the ball went in!" The commentator slammed the table in frustration, but he still had to do his job. He shouted as usual and blamed the defence.
"This ball... neither of the two central defenders could stop the opponent's No. 99! I really don't know what they were doing! As for the height difference, Shtanyuko is 1.90 meters tall, and Zenit's No. 99... according to the information, he is 1.92 meters tall. There is only a difference of two centimetres. Is the difference that big? Both of them can't defend one person! I think Pavlov should consider introducing a new defender!"
In fact, he was wronging Sheshukov and Shtanyuko, who had done everything a central defender could do. But Chen Yingxiong, who had the talent of "air dominance", was like a king in the air, and no one could stop him.
They were not world-class central defenders, so of course they were defeated.
…
The Dynamo Stadium was quiet.
In the 37th minute of the first half, Andrei Arshavin scored the first goal of the game.
Although Chen Yingxiong did not score a goal, he was closely related to this goal.
After Chen Yingxiong landed and saw the ball go in, he turned around and hugged Arshavin, who was celebrating the goal with his signature "shut up" gesture - this gesture was not to provoke the away fans. The gesture first appeared in 2005, when Zenit defeated Amka 5:1 and Arshavin scored a hat trick. But he did not celebrate after each goal because he was protesting against the club in this way: Spartak Moscow wanted to buy him for $8 million, but Zenit rejected the deal and recommended Bystrov to the other party. Seeing his good friend being sold like this, Arshavin began to celebrate with "silence".
"Oh oh oh oh oh oh!" Chen Yingxiong shouted while holding Arshavin.
The other teammates swarmed over.
After a thirteen-hour long flight, they hadn't yet adjusted to the jet lag and were very tired when they started the game. Nothing could refresh them more than taking the lead!
Of course, teammates will not forget who contributed to this goal. After congratulating Arshavin, everyone also praised Chen Yingxiong's performance.
"You were able to steer the ball towards the goal even when being double-teamed by two central defenders. That's amazing, Hero!"
"If I were Shava, I wouldn't have rushed forward... I never would have thought you could really head that kind of ball!"
"You're not 1.92 meters tall for nothing, haha!"
"Even a double team can't stop you, kid!"
After everyone celebrated the goal, they came to slap Chen Yingxiong on the head. So Chen Yingxiong found that no matter whether he scored a goal or not, he would be slapped on the head and his hair would be grabbed.
But...this also shows that I am quite popular among everyone, right?
Chen Yingxiong ran back to his own half and thought about this question.
…
This score remained until the end of the first half, and the visiting team Zenit temporarily took the lead thanks to a goal from Arshavin.
Advocaat applauded the Zenit players who were leaving the field, while Pavlov had already walked into the player tunnel with a gloomy face.
He had to find a way to deal with Chen Yingxiong as soon as possible, otherwise... he felt that the second half would be even worse.