Chapter 478: Manchester City’s Entire Squad Praised Just One Player After the Match!
Chapter 478: Chapter 479: Manchester City’s Entire Squad Praised Just One Player After the Match!
Guardiola’s original plan was to use Cancelo to bring the full force of Manchester City’s high press to bear.
What he hadn’t expected was that if you gave Leo even a single second, he would punish you with a goal and show exactly why he was already a legend at such a young age.
“Manchester City are two goals down to Liverpool!”
“Forget last season for a moment. This feels like watching Liverpool play Manchester City a few seasons ago again. It’s exactly the kind of experience Liverpool fans have missed, and the kind Manchester City fans least want to relive!”
Liverpool fans were certainly enjoying themselves.
“It really feels like we’re improving. We weren’t anywhere near this good against Manchester City last season!”
“Ever since the captain came back from injury, the whole team has looked different. A lot of players who were struggling before are working much harder on the pitch now!”
“Playing with more effort is often the first sign that an out-of-form player is starting to turn things around!”
Guardiola had no choice but to keep pushing Cancelo forward. Manchester City needed to claw their way back into the match as quickly as possible.
From there, both Manchester City and Liverpool began attacking the weaknesses the other side had exposed.
“Liverpool can counter into the space on the left, but with Cancelo pushing up, City really are making it much harder for Liverpool to play out from the back!”
“Grealish wins it from Mac Allister and gives it to Cancelo. Cancelo drives into the box and takes the shot himself!”
“Alisson was never really troubled!”
“That’s one of Cancelo’s strengths. He may be a fullback, but when he charges forward from deep, he can offer a great deal in attack!”
A few minutes later, Liverpool created a chance of their own by attacking the space Cancelo had left behind.
“Mac Allister gets away from Grealish and finds Gakpo. Gakpo carries the ball forward and lays it off to Núñez, who switches play to the right. Salah receives it!”
Salah ran at Stones and used a simple burst of acceleration to create some room. He didn’t get past him, but that had never been the objective. Salah only needed enough space to find Leo with the pass.
With Cancelo still out of position, Leo drove toward the six-yard box again. This time, De Bruyne had dropped into the center-back line and joined Laporte in defending him.
Leo alternated between his left and right foot, repeatedly shifting the ball into whichever position gave him the greater advantage.
Bernardo Silva, chasing from behind, thought he could nick the ball away. When Leo turned with the ball for the third time, Bernardo stuck out a foot and succeeded only in bringing him down.
The referee pointed to the spot.
Leo took the penalty himself and calmly converted it, completing his hat trick and putting Liverpool 3-0 ahead of Manchester City. For all practical purposes, the match was over.
“League leaders Manchester City are going to lose this one. There simply isn’t enough time left for them to score three goals!”
When the final whistle blew in the 93rd minute, Liverpool had officially completed the first step in their mission to return to the top of the Premier League. They had taken all three points from Manchester City.
No fewer than three Manchester City players joined Guardiola at the post-match press conference.
Normally, when that many players appeared alongside the manager, there were only two possibilities. Either the team had won emphatically, or they had just lost a crucial match.
In the latter case, several key players would often accompany the manager and help absorb some of the media pressure.
The very first reporter wasted no time.
“Grealish, Manchester City have just lost by three goals to a Liverpool side that hasn’t been in good form this season. On top of that, you haven’t beaten Liverpool once over the past few seasons. The best you’ve managed is a draw. Does that mean Manchester City simply can’t beat Liverpool?”
Grealish had no idea how to answer a question like that.
De Bruyne had heard enough. After trying to calm Grealish down, he turned to the reporter.
“You know what? Leo, the man who just scored a hat trick, is waiting for us by the back entrance so we can go have dinner together.”
“I spoke to him for a few minutes before I came in here. He was unbelievably calm. Ten minutes after the match ended, he’d already recovered most of his energy. I honestly think he could go straight out and play another Premier League match right now, and he’d still score.”
“Eight goals in two matches. That alone has taken him straight into the top six of the Premier League scoring chart. Kane is currently top, and it took him sixteen Premier League matches to score twelve goals.”
“At Kane’s current rate, he could very well finish the season with thirty Premier League goals. Scoring thirty league goals in a single Premier League season is already an incredible achievement.”
“Salah is level with him on twelve goals after sixteen matches, but Leo has covered most of the ground they needed sixteen matches to cover in just two. He’s only four goals off the top now.”
“I have no idea how many goals Leo will score this season, but I think the number is going to be ridiculous. And if you’re asking us why we lost this match, then Leo is the best answer I can give you.”
Stones joined in as well.
Manchester City’s players had spent the entire match suffering on the pitch, and this reporter had seemingly given them the perfect opportunity to vent all their frustration.
“Did any of you actually watch how I had to defend Leo out there?”
“I stayed as tight to him as I possibly could. I even had to start running toward where I thought he was going next before he moved, because otherwise I had no chance of keeping up with him. Sometimes I’d be a full step ahead of him, and that was only because he was standing still.”
“Then the moment he accelerated, he’d erase that gap almost instantly, leave me behind, and take a shot right in front of me in a way that shouldn’t even be possible.”
“Are any of you going to say Bernardo Silva isn’t an outstanding player? Among players who are still active, can you name three who cover more ground than Bernardo Silva?”
“And among all active players right now, can you name three center backs who can play in midfield better than I can?”
Stones stared directly at the reporter.
There was no way he could.
“All right. I’ll give you one last chance. Pick from every player who’s still active. You can even include retired players if you want. Name one player better than Leo.”
“Go ahead. Give me one name.”
With that, the Manchester City players got up and left.
Everyone at Manchester City already knew the answer.
Who could possibly name someone like that?
Leo had begun winning the Ballon d’Or at eighteen. He had become a FIFA World Cup champion at eighteen. By the age of twenty-three, his home already held multiple Ballon d’Or trophies, a FIFA World Cup trophy, a FIFA World Cup Best Player award, a UEFA European Championship trophy, a UEFA European Championship Best Player award, more Premier League Player of the Season trophies than anyone could easily count, and all kinds of honors recognizing him as the fans’ favorite player.
At this point, UEFA almost didn’t need to bother voting for the European Player of the Year each season. They could simply deliver the trophy to Leo’s house on schedule and add it to the pile.
Individual awards that countless footballers spent their entire careers dreaming of winning looked almost insignificant among Leo’s collection of honors.
And Leo was only twenty-three.
Scholes quickly uploaded a video of Manchester City’s post-match press conference to his page and wrote:
“I saw the Manchester City players having dinner with Leo afterward. Maybe that’s why every one of them spent the press conference praising him!”