"Sterling! I didn’t expect it to be Sterling!"
"The player who scored the first home goal for Manchester City this new season is actually Sterling!"
"Sorry if this offends some of Sterling’s fans, but this 21-year-old black forward isn’t particularly known for his shooting."
"Last season, he appeared 35 times for Liverpool in the league and scored only 7 goals."
"Throughout his Premier League career, the most he scored in one season was just 9 league goals!"
"Before the match, I thought Aguero, last season’s Premier League Golden Boot, would be the one to score the first home goal in front of 55,000 fans!"
"That was certainly beyond everyone’s expectations!"
"I think the key to this unexpected event was Tang Long’s assist!"
"Tang Long provided the first assist of Manchester City’s new season home game, let me watch the slow motion again..."
"Wow! The ball, did he really do that, is that a reverse bull’s tail?"
"As we all know, the bull’s tail is the trademark skill of Brazilian star Luo, used for dribbling past players, but Tang Long actually improved it and used it for passing?"
"This innovation is fantastic, I’ve been commenting on football for over ten years, and this is the first time I’ve seen it!"
Not only was commentator Zhan Jun surprised by this.
Manchester City fans in the stands never imagined that the first home goal would be scored by Sterling.
This player has poor shooting skills. Remember last season, in Manchester City’s two matches against Liverpool, Sterling wasted many chances, becoming a breakaway master, with Captain Gerrard urgently jumping around.
Speaking of the last match alone, Sterling had three one-on-one opportunities and didn’t score any.
This made Manchester City fans deeply skeptical of this €63 million club transfer—could the club be a fool?
After the first match, some Manchester City fans began to console themselves, saying that even if Sterling’s transfer is a bust, Tang Long’s transfer was a great deal, and it balances out, we certainly don’t lose. After all, in football transfers, you can’t expect every decision to be perfect, right?
Yet, when Sterling scored the first home goal, especially under the close marking of West Brom’s center-back Dawson, calmly shooting the ball into the corner of the net, this superb shooting ability indeed deserves a second look.
"Tang activated Sterling, evolving this shooting dud!" shouted a fan in the stands.
"Haha, that’s right, only Tang could make that pass. If it were Milner, he wouldn’t have passed it; he’d have blasted it recklessly and likely hit the player!" another fan quickly chimed in.
Though they’ve only played two official matches together, Tang Long has basically figured out Sterling’s habits.
"Sterling actually has shooting skills, otherwise he wouldn’t be playing for Liverpool at a young age. Moreover, being able to run for a breakaway proves his positioning skills. But when facing unchallenged one-on-ones, he tends to overthink, hesitates, and deliberates too much, while under close defense, his shots become more decisive. It’s still a psychological issue."
In this regard, Sterling falls far short of Aguero!
The latter maintains consistent shooting standards under any circumstance, handling one-on-ones more solidly, which is why he’s able to win the Premier League Golden Boot.
"Good play, good play, Tang!"
As the West Brom players were returning to the center circle for the kickoff, the starting left-back Kolarov applauded Tang Long as he retreated.
Tang Long raised his hand to him in return.
He understood what Kolarov meant.
In this attack where Sterling scored, Kolarov was very active on the flank, pushing past the halfway line early on, once close to the 35-meter range from the goal area.
The Serbian was eager to join the attack.
However, the play did not develop down his flank, and until Sterling scored, Kolarov hadn’t touched the ball once.
Tang Long glanced at the substitutes’ bench and saw Clichy warming up on the sideline.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Pellegrini is going to substitute Kolarov with Clichy; this is just a regular rotation warm-up for substitute players, aiming to keep their bodies warm and ready to enter the game at any time.
But from Clichy’s earnest eyes, it’s not difficult to see his strong determination for starting at home.
Kolarov and Clichy are both 30 years old and at the peak of their careers.
It’s a happy headache for Pellegrini to have these two top backs at Manchester City, but it’s a tough intra-team rivalry for the players.
Tang Long decided to help Kolarov out.
In the subsequent games, Tang Long deliberately directed the ball towards the left, allowing Kolarov to touch it more.
In the 12th minute, Tang Long returned the ball to Yaya Toure, who had no clear pass line, returned it to center-back Ranocchia, trying to disrupt the opponent’s formation.
Ranocchia is a ball-holding center-back, seizing an opening, he deftly dodged the pressing opposing forward, striding forward!
Although his height is 195 cm, he looks elegant while dribbling, displaying a stylish play style, without any cumbersome footwork typical of traditional English center-backs.
Ranocchia pushed up near the center circle, glanced at Tang Long, noticed Tang Long pointing to the left, and immediately relayed the ball to left-back Kolarov.
Kolarov took the ball and saw Tang Long suddenly withdrawn, running towards him, drawing a defensive midfielder out of the area.