Soccer Card System

Chapter 831 Dream Start
2 Month 19 Day!
Etihad Stadium!

Manchester City, already invincible in England, will face a Champions League opponent in this stadium, Zenit St. Petersburg!

Before the game, at the press conference, Italian coach Spalletti praised Gao Bo's achievements in the Premier League this season.

"More than 20 consecutive victories, this is really an amazing achievement, especially in the highly competitive environment of the Premier League. I think Manchester City this season will be remembered in the history of the Premier League. Against such a team at their home court, it is false to say that there is no pressure, but Zenit also hopes to make a breakthrough in the Champions League!" Spalletti said.

The Brazilian National Hulk is confident that it is a rare opportunity to confront an opponent like Manchester City, and he Hulk will let Manchester City see his strength!

That sounds like a bit of self-promotion.

However, the Hulk Hulk does not lack suitors from the five major European leagues. This guy with a very strong body looks like a Hulk and has a very terrifying shooting power.

His feet are very hard, and letting him shoot from anywhere outside the penalty area is a very dangerous option.

Before the game started, the Etihad Stadium was full of people.

When Gao Bo got the starting list of Zenit St. Petersburg, he also set his sights on several main players.

It's actually three players.

The midfielder Witsel!

Arshavin, who played in the front midfielder, and Hulk on the right!
These three players are the key players of Zenit St. Petersburg, and they are also the players that Manchester City needs to focus on when defending.

Of course, this is only something that Manchester City players need to pay attention to at certain moments. In fact, the tactics arranged by Manchester City in this game cannot naturally be defensive.

Manchester City will still dominate the offense at home, and the main job of defense is to defend the opponent's counterattack.

In the home and away game elimination system, it is actually not advantageous to play the home game first, and the away game in Russia is not an easy away game. Therefore, in order to ensure that the team advances to the quarter-finals, the first thing to do is to play the home game well first - try to get an ideal score as much as possible, and completely extinguish the opponent's hope for a comeback in the second round!

This is what Gao Bo asked the team before the game started!
Therefore, after the start of the game, Manchester City immediately dominated the offense! !

Massively press up, and Zenit will eat it with a big bite.

Spalletti is a coach from Italy.

Italians are defensive by nature, and so is Spalletti.

Although in Russia, Zenit is actually a team that dominates the attack.

But in the UEFA Champions League, Spalletti's team broke through the group stage by relying on simple and efficient defensive counterattacks. In Group G where Zenit is located, there are three opponents: Atletico Madrid, Porto, and Rapid Vienna. To be able to beat the Portuguese Super League giants Porto to qualify, Zenit, of course, has something in itself.

Therefore, Spalletti was not surprised to face Manchester City's aggressive attack, and he was even a little secretly happy.

What he hopes most, of course, is that Manchester City underestimates the enemy, and then Zenit steals one in the away game!
It would be best if they win the away game. Even if they are equalized, Zenit will return to their home court and take advantage of the harsh climate in Russia. Maybe they can also eliminate the favorites for the championship and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in a historic way!

However, Spalletti sat on the seat for only 2 minutes before he had to get up and stand on the sidelines with an anxious expression on his face!

The pace of the game is very fast!
In these 2 minutes, Manchester City has shot three times, each time creating a very big threat! !
This of course prevents Spalletti from sitting on the Diaoyutai!

The 4th minute of the game! !
Hulk managed to get the ball in the frontcourt, but his national team teammate Casemiro hit him on the body, and Kolarov went up to grab the ball and snatched the ball away!
Manchester City immediately launched a fast break!

Kolarov passes the ball to Sanchez!

Hazard pulled out from the penalty area and temporarily completed a swap with Griezmann!
Sanchez crossed and found Hazard! !
After Hazard pulled the ball and turned around, he sent a straight kick! !

Griezmann is offside!
Under the interference of logarithms, Griezmann staggered, and the Russian defender is still very good at using his body!
However, the dexterous Griezmann stumbled and poked the ball to the other side!
The football landed at the feet of David Silva who was waiting on the right side of the penalty area!

David Silva has a direct shot!
It's done overnight! !
One to zero! ! !

Manchester City took the lead in the 4th minute of the game! !
"David Silva scored!! In the 4th minute of the game!! Manchester City scored!!!"

"Beautiful!!! Manchester City has made a fantastic start! Although Zenit St. Petersburg is in Russia, but in the Champions League, facing the defending champion Manchester City, their strength gap is too big!"

"Zenit's resistance lasted only 4 minutes before it collapsed!!!"

Except for the commentator from Russia, other commentators sang praises for Manchester City's goal.

The cheers from the stands never stopped.

After the goal, David Silva opened his arms and hugged his teammates in the frontcourt.

On the sidelines, Italian coach Spalletti looked stern.

It was quite a test for Zenit to fall behind just after the start.

Taking advantage of Manchester City's celebration time, he called several key players over and asked them to stabilize the situation. The most important thing at this time is not to concede any more goals!
However, things backfired! !

The 5th minute of the game! ! !

Sanchez sent a just right cross from the bottom left!

The football wears to the back! ! !
Hazard tapped his foot and put the ball in the middle! !
Griezmann, who was following up in the middle, took a low shot towards the ball!
The football is sent into the near corner of the goal!
Two to zero! !

For Manchester City, it is impossible to have such a more fantastic start! !

"Two to zero!!! Griezmann scored!!!"

"In just 2 minutes, Manchester City scored two goals in a row!! Zenit's defense has a big problem!! In this stadium, Zenit looks too flustered!!!"

"From Griezmann's goal, Zenit's man-marking in the penalty area is useless. Hazard returned the ball to the center when the back point was almost unguarded!! And Griezmann followed up with a shot, and it was completely unmarked. Manchester City's frontcourt attacker moved flexibly, making it impossible for tall Russian defenders to keep up!"

(End of this chapter)