The ball came to Tang Long’s feet.
Sterling had some space on the left flank.
Tang Long didn’t think much and passed the ball to him with his left foot.
At this time, his position overlapped with David Silva on the left, so Tang Long quickly moved to the right.
Gualin saw Tang Long running away, then ran back, feeling a bit relieved.
"Tang, don’t run around, come back to me, haha!" he shouted to Tang Long, then continued to stick close.
Unlike Milner, Sterling specializes in breakthroughs.
He engaged in a one-on-one duel with Kyle Walker on the flank.
Sterling puffed out his chest, raised his pinky finger, and twisted his hips left and right, trying to destabilize Kyle Walker’s balance with changes in rhythm.
In the last step, Sterling wrapped the ball with the inside of his right foot, quickly lowered his center of gravity, and forcefully pushed the ball to the left, attempting to use speed to get past!
However, Walker’s speed is not lacking!
Although Sterling initially surpassed him by a body, Walker caught up within three or four steps and used his body to block the position.
"Great job, Walker!" Center-back teammate Vertonghen applauded him.
The Tottenham fans at the scene also erupted in enthusiastic cheers.
Zhang Lu commented, "Hehe, I’ve figured it out, Walker always relies on his speed, likes to let someone pass and then catch up again, maybe he feels more confident this way!"
Motivated, Walker didn’t choose to pass the ball back, but instead, turned around and forced a breakthrough along the sideline against Sterling.
Walker’s breakthrough is different from Sterling’s, with fewer feints and direct advancement by separating the ball and player.
Compared to Sterling, Walker is faster, but his technical skills are also much rougher.
The ball was steadily intercepted by Ranocchia, who had been lurking behind.
Being selected in last season’s Serie A Team of the Year, Ranocchia decisively stopped the ball and directly made a pass,
sending the football more than 30 meters across back to Sterling’s feet.
Launched a sudden counterattack!
This time, in front of Sterling was an empty field, and Walker was ahead of him!
Sterling swiftly dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
But soon, the dynamic Ali caught up, forcing Sterling to stop.
Sterling, slightly annoyed, thought, Ali, why are you running so fast?
If you weren’t blocking me here, I could directly cut in and shoot.
By standing here, where do I have space to move forward?
The previous failure in a one-on-one against Walker slightly dented Sterling’s confidence in breaking through.
This time, facing Ali, he simply nudged the ball to the right and crossed towards Aguero in the box, along with the advancing midfielder Fernando.
However, as Sterling passed the ball, Aguero in the box stopped running and spread his hands helplessly.
What kind of pass was that?
Sterling intended to deliver a high, arcing ball, but possibly due to fatigue towards the match’s end and technique faltering, the ball lacked the necessary lift and arc, resulting in a low fast pace pass.
Ali extended his long leg, intercepted the ball slightly, altering its direction, which was initially aimed at the near post but ended up flying to the middle.
Gualin reacted quickly and rushed to this position, intending to clear it with a kick.
Yet, right when he judged the spot and aimed to clear the ball out of the penalty area, a gust of wind rushed by!
Tang Long, without anyone noticing, had already dashed ahead to intercept the ball!
He lifted his right foot and volleyed the airborne ball.
Gualin’s clearing attempt failed, he swung at thin air, and suddenly turned back.
Only to see the ball carrying a bizarre curve, first rapidly rising, and then like a falling leaf, dipped down after reaching the goal, bypassing goalkeeper Lori’s hand, touching the underside of the crossbar, and slipped into the net!
Gualin looked behind him in surprise, finding Tang Long just completing his shooting motion, with cleats raised carrying the White Hart Lane’s soil, he too, looked at him with a subtle smile.