Chapter 132 Super Shooter, Looking Back with Confidence
Li Qing faked a pass and accelerated past Sane, whose defensive ability was almost negligible. Facing Yaya Toure who was in place to make up for the defense, he chose to stop and change direction, accelerating from the outside to the right rib.
Klein made a timely advance and attracted Yaya Toure's attention.
Clichy and De Bruyne immediately felt the pressure, and the Manchester City fans in the audience had the same uneasiness as Guardiola.
Liverpool coach Klopp was full of expectations. From the second half to now, Li Qing had not made a decent breakthrough. He was either fouled or passed the ball. Now he suddenly changed the rhythm and passed Sane and Yaya Toure and accelerated to the inside. Regardless of whether it can be effective, at least it can bring heavy defensive pressure to Manchester City on the offensive end.
De Bruyne is strong in offense and weak in defense. Seeing Li Qing accelerate and dribbling the ball from the right to the right rib, he saw that he and Clichy were in a good position. The two looked at each other and stepped forward at the same time to pressure Li Qing's ball space.
Li Qing, who had a broad vision, smiled confidently, flicked the ball to the left with the outside of his left foot, and the ball rolled along the grass to De Bruyne's original control area.
De Bruyne's pupils shrank suddenly, and he realized that something was wrong. He quickly turned 90 degrees clockwise with his left foot as the axis, and ran towards the top of the penalty area, thinking of racing against time with Firmino who received the ball to prevent him from shooting from that position.
The rain was heavier in the second half. Long shots about 30 meters away from the goal could easily cause the goalkeeper to lose the ball. Caballero was the kind of goalkeeper who occasionally had butter hands and mistakes. In order to avoid losing the ball, it was better not to give Liverpool players long-range shooting opportunities as much as possible.
Li Qing did not stop in place after passing the ball to Firmino. He accelerated along the right rib of the attack. Clichy realized that Li Qing might want to complete a two-on-two cooperation with Firmino. It would be too late to turn around and follow Li Qing, so he reached out to grab the jersey raised behind Li Qing.
Clichy quickly let go of Li Qing's jersey as soon as his right hand touched it, and he didn't even dare to pull it.
He had already received a yellow card. If Firmino passed the ball to Li Qing and Li Qing fell, the referee Michael Oliver would most likely blow the whistle.
A second yellow card would be a fatal blow to both the individual and the team as a whole.
Thinking of this possibility, Clichy did not dare to foul.
But Clichy was glad that Firmino did not pass the ball to Li Qing while running. He passed the ball to Coutinho in the middle and then rushed between Stones and Otamendi.
It was a wise choice to not foul!
However, the next moment, Clichy regretted it very much.
Coutinho stepped on the ball with the front of his right foot and pulled it to the right front. His left foot quickly followed up to support him. He used the inside of his right foot to pass the ball to the right rib, which was the left rib of Manchester City's defense, about 30 meters away from the goal in the middle.
To be more precise, Coutinho made a long pass to the defensive ribs of Otamendi and Clichy.
The on-site director quickly switched the camera, and a Liverpool player wearing a red jersey appeared on the broadcast screen. The number 55 raised behind him told who its owner was.
Xinying Sports commentator Jin Xiangkai's voice suddenly rose eight degrees: "Coutinho made a long pass to Li Qing!"
Clichy was left behind by Li Qing. He raised his right arm to remind the linesman that Li Qing was suspected of offside. Otamendi, who was pulled out again, also raised his right hand to indicate that Li Qing was suspected of offside.
Guardiola, who was standing in the command area of the home team coach, spread his hands and looked at the assistant referee in confusion.
In his opinion, Li Qing was offside.
The referee Michael Oliver's position was definitely not as good as the first assistant referee. When he saw that the assistant did not raise the flag, he naturally would not blow the whistle, otherwise it would be difficult to convince the crowd.
As for whether it was offside, we can only wait for the slow-motion replay to know.
Otamendi didn't know whether Li Qing was offside or not. As a qualified central defender, he had to stick to defend.
The football slowly fell from midair. Since Li Qing had already crossed the penalty area, Otamendi did not dare to make too big a move, lest he be called for a penalty by the referee Michael Oliver.
Li Qing, who was running, used his chest to lead the ball to the right front. Otamendi, who was keeping a safe distance, suddenly rushed to grab it. Li Qing raised his right foot calmly and used the instep to pick up the football that had fallen to the height of his belly.
Otamendi braked on the spot, and Li Qing used the outside of his left foot to lead the football horizontally to the middle, cutting inside!
The right foot stepped forward as support, and the left foot was naturally raised in an exaggerated manner.
"Shoot--"
Andy Gray, the commentator of Sky TV, raised his voice by two degrees.
Otamendi, who was defending Li Qing head-on, put his hands behind his back, and used the huge reaction force brought by the sudden brake to move his body half a step to the middle, trying to block Li Qing's shooting angle as much as possible.
De Bruyne, who chased back to the penalty area line, quickened his pace, stretched out his right foot, and tried to block Li Qing's left-footed shot on the right side of the penalty area.
The on-site director pushed the camera forward, and the fans watching the game on TV clearly saw Li Qing smile.
Manchester City fans' hearts skipped a beat and became a little nervous.
Li Qing did not shoot. He put down his left foot and slammed the inside of the instep of the foot into the middle of the falling football, and the football obediently rolled towards the baseline.
"Oops!"
Otamendi, who had already made a frontal blocking move, realized the danger.
Manchester City coach Guardiola watched from a distance as Li Qing slammed the ball through Otamendi's defense and faced goalkeeper Caballero directly.
"wuwuwuwuwu——"
The boos made by Manchester City fans rang out over the Etihad Stadium.
The offense was proactive, and Li Qing had super explosive power. Otamendi was passive and it was too late to make defensive moves.
Li Qing dodged Otamendi's defense, stretched out his right foot while running, and buckled the ball back to the left side of his body with the inner side of his instep. Goalkeeper Caballero left the goal and attacked.
Li Qing came to the right side of the penalty area, about ten meters away from the bottom line, and adjusted the position of the ball with the outer side of his left foot. He stepped forward with his right foot, tilted his body center of gravity to the right, and naturally raised his left foot. The upward range was not large, less than 90 degrees, and the arch of his foot swung along his calf and pushed the ball hard.
The ball rolled along the grass from the right side of the penalty area to the goal. Caballero, who was halfway through the attack, suddenly felt a chill under his crotch and subconsciously closed his feet.
However, the ball rolling forward and accelerating was obviously faster.
After completing the shot, Li Qing did not look at the goal again. He opened his arms and ran all the way.
"Goooooooooooooooal——"
At the same time, the iconic drawn-out voice of Sky TV commentator Andy Gray sounded in the live studio of the Etihad Stadium.
The football quickly passed under Caballero's crotch, crossed the goal line, and hit the snow-white net.
Xinying Sports commentator Jin Xiangkai was overwhelmed: "The ball went in! The ball went in! I have to say that Li Qing is a very confident super shooter. After completing the shot, he celebrated the goal directly without even looking at the football! In game terms... it's a confident look back!"