Temporarily Reaching the Top

Chapter 126 Temporarily Reaching the Top

"Less than five minutes into the game! Gray's goal gives Burnley the lead at home!"

In the live stream, the chat was scrolling wildly.

Liverpool's players underestimated their opponents!

Will Burnley be able to defeat Liverpool at home?

[Oh no! Jiang Shen's Liverpool team has only just begun; is it going to sink now?!]

[This goalkeeper's concentration is seriously lacking!]

On the sidelines, Klopp looked serious.

This is the only drawback of placing Jiang Yan in the attacking third. If Jiang Yan is always in the attacking third, he cannot cover the defensive duties in the backfield, thus creating a vicious cycle: the stronger Jiang Yan's attack, the more goals Liverpool concedes.

But Klopp has full confidence in Jiang Yan.

He walked to the sidelines and shouted to his players, "Don't be so discouraged! The game has only just begun, stay focused!!"

After Burnley scored, it was Liverpool's turn to counter-attack.

Jiang Yan proactively retreated to receive the ball.

Some teammates were still reeling from the fear of conceding the goal, and Jiang Yan's job was to bring them back to reality.

He started running around the midfield, receiving the ball, and passing it.

After taking the lead, Burnley's players retreated to their own half, which was part of the manager's tactical plan, relying on corner kicks...

They scored from a set piece and started parking the bus after taking the lead.

It's a common tactic for weaker teams against stronger ones, but Burnley's players executed it more thoroughly.

Under Jiang Yan's patient guidance, Firmino and Sturridge moved towards the center, forming a double center forward position, while Jiang Yan stayed behind them, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Not only the front three, but also Coutinho and Lallana in midfield began to push forward, and Milner at full-back also moved forward across the halfway line.

Liverpool are slowly eroding the space on the pitch.

"We can see that Liverpool are constantly pushing forward, leaving Burnley with less and less space on the pitch. Burnley are also constantly tightening their defense, fully prepared for Liverpool's attack. How will Klopp's team deal with Burnley's defensive tactics?"

After listening to Zhan Jun's words, He Wei continued, "The best way to break down a defensive wall is through set pieces and long-range shots, and Liverpool happens to have a player who perfectly fits that description."

The two simultaneously turned their attention to Jiang Yan, who was wearing the number 18 jersey, and the director knew what the audience wanted to see.

Jiang Yan dribbled the ball to the edge of Burnley's penalty area. Sturridge and Firmino had already entered the penalty area. Against such a defensive formation, short passes would definitely be ineffective, and Jiang Yan knew this well.

Just then, Firmino, inside the penalty area, turned around and glanced at Jiang Yan.

In that instant, the incredibly precise through ball from [Immortal's Guidance] reached his feet, and Firmino fully utilized his innate Brazilian ball control, engaging in a scramble against three opponents in the penalty area.

At the same time, Sturridge broke free of the defense and rushed to the goal. If Firmino could pass the ball to him, Sturridge would be able to take a shot.

But this put Firmino in a difficult position.

Although Sturridge had run to a position close to the goal, Firmino's intuition told him that he absolutely could not pass the ball to Sturridge!

Sturridge is currently in an offside position!

Just as Firmino was struggling with his decision, Burnley's players had already marked him and started to stick their feet out to intercept the ball.

Just then, a voice came from behind Firmino.

Hey! Look here!

It's Jiang Yan!

Jiang Yan appeared behind Firmino in time, thanks to Ljungberg's off-the-ball movement and timely late run.

Trusting Jiang Yan, Firmino delivered a difficult backheel pass.

"Backheel pass!"

"Jiang Yan received a pass from Firmino!"

The moment Jiang Yan received the ball, his left leg was already in the motion of shooting.

Upon seeing this, Burnley's defender immediately made a sliding tackle to block the shot, almost diving to his side between Jiang Yan and the goal, trying to block the angle of the long-range shot with his body.

The Burnley fans in the stands were already shouting nervously, and Zhan Jun in the live broadcast booth suddenly raised his voice: "Jiang Yan is going to take a long shot! The defender is going to make a sliding tackle!"

But the next second, Jiang Yan's left leg was just a feint. His center of gravity suddenly shifted, and with a light flick of his toe, he dribbled past the defender who was making the sliding tackle!

"Beautiful fried dough balls! Jiang Yan moved aside!"

"He's completely shaken off the defender! A shooting opportunity!!"

After locking onto the space, Jiang Yan's footwork was very fast.

boom! ! !

A powerful shot, the ball flew straight into the top right corner of the goal!

"They're here!!!"

"Jiang Yan and Firmino's perfect combination! They dribbled past the defender and finished with a shot!"

"With just one kick, the ball went straight into the net!!"

Liverpool have equalized!

"Two Premier League matches, Jiang Yan scored two goals and provided two assists! How efficient!!"

The Liverpool away fans erupted instantly, with red scarves waving wildly and deafening cheers and shouts drowning out the silence of the Burnley home fans.

He Wei and Zhan Jun in the live stream were also all smiles. Having watched Jiang Yan grow up, they knew this...

What does a goal mean?

The live stream chat was already flooded with comments, a dense barrage of praise for Jiang Yan.

[Jiang Shen! Forever a god!!]

[From hell to heaven in a second, that's so exciting! Is this what the Premier League is like?]

[Two goals and two assists! After only two rounds of the Premier League, Jiang Yan is about to dominate the Premier League!!]

[Enough talk, guys, let's go for one more goal!!]

Jiang Yan and Firmino's dazzling goals dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Burnley players, who looked dejected. At this moment, Burnley's head coach, Dyche, stepped forward.

"Don't be discouraged! We need to stick to our tactics and hold onto the draw!"

But can they really hold onto this draw?

The game has restarted.

Under Dyche's direction, Burnley's players kept tightening their defense.

They tried to get through the first half this way.

But all of this was ultimately in vain in the face of Jiang Yan's awakening.

The ball returned to Jiang Yan's feet. With the experience from last time, he used the "Magician's Pass" again, making his passes faster and more tricky. Of course, tricky only for the opponents; for his teammates, Jiang Yan's passes were always perfectly timed!

"Jiang Yan's pass...it felt like I was looking at a work of art!"

Zhan Jun also noticed the change in Jiang Yan's passing.

"Jiang Yan's ball-handling speed has improved significantly, leading us to reasonably suspect that he had been hiding his true strength all along!"

Jiang Yan constantly roamed between the midfield and the forward line. His passing speed was very fast. With the help of the "God's View", he almost completed the pass the moment he received the ball.

For the fans, his performance was very enjoyable to watch.

He almost always passes the ball without looking at the player, and every pass is perfectly timed.

Jiang Yan now gives the impression of being in complete control of the situation.

For him as well, on the field, he could see every move the players made, and everything was under his control.

During first-half stoppage time, Burnley players' concentration noticeably decreased.

That one momentary lapse in concentration gave Jiang Yan a chance to score.

Burnley midfielder Marny had just crossed the halfway line when he noticed Liverpool's double-team approaching, so he decisively turned to prepare to pass the ball back safely.

But at that moment, the hunter who had been lurking in the shadows revealed his true colors.

"Marny turned around, it seems Burnley are determined to stick to their park the bus tactic."

Zhan Jun and He Wei were already reviewing the scripts for the halftime broadcast when suddenly a figure appeared, just as Marni turned around to finish.

"Jiang Yan is here!!"

Jiang Yan had been lurking in the position closest to Marny, and he had long anticipated that the opponent would pass the ball safely.

This is the best opportunity to launch a counterattack!

Makelele's "Steal" skill pack was activated immediately.

In just one exchange, the ball at Marni's feet came to Jiang Yan's feet.

"Position changed hands! Liverpool's counter-attack is coming!!"

Jiang Yan received the ball but stopped abruptly after taking only two steps.

The Burnley players were still unaware of what had happened.

Jiang Yan took a step and delivered a precise 45° diagonal long pass to Sturridge inside the penalty area.

Just as Burnley's players were focused on Jiang Yan.

Sturridge has broken into the penalty area.

"Sturridge! A great chance to head the ball!"

The 1.88-meter-tall English striker leaped high into the air with no one marking him.

"Header!"

Its speed was so fast that even goalkeeper Tom Heaton couldn't react in time.

By the time he made his save attempt, it was too late.

"Great! Goal!!"

"Sturridge! The English center forward has breached the goal guarded by fellow Englishman Tom Heaton in his most distinctive style! Liverpool have changed the score in the final moments of the first half!"

"Whether it's Jiang Yan's ghostly 45° long diagonal pass or Sturridge's perfect collaboration with him, cheer, Liverpool fans! Mr. He Wei, there's one thing I need to correct about what you just said. Besides set pieces, there are other ways to break down a defensive wall..."

Besides a long-range shot, there's also the most basic tactic: a tall striker crossing the ball and heading it in!

After scoring, Sturridge didn't run towards the corner flag, but excitedly ran towards Jiang Yan and hugged him.

"Jiang! You're a fucking genius!"

Immediately afterwards, Liverpool players swarmed around the two and celebrated.

In front of their televisions, many Liverpool fans were excitedly dancing and gesturing after seeing this scene.

"Jiang Yan is currently the best midfielder on the planet!"

"I can't believe we have a player like Jiang!"

"O Lord, thank you for blessing Liverpool, Amen!"

Burnley, playing at home, took the lead at one point, but were overtaken in the final moments of the first half.

The Burnley locker room was deathly silent.

The originally promising situation was completely rewritten because of the existence of an Asian!

Inside the away team's locker room, Jiang Yan was still complaining that Burnley's away team locker room was small and cramped.

Mane quickly tried to comfort Jiang Yan.

"Jiang, you're a hero in Liverpool now, don't take this little thing to heart!"

It's not just in the Premier League; in most leagues, there's a significant difference between the home and away team dressing rooms. The home team's dressing room is standard, clean, and tidy, while the away team's dressing room has old and worn-out lockers and chairs.

After all, this is also a kind of underhanded tactic. Who would want an enemy who has come from afar to enjoy the same treatment as someone on their home turf?

Aside from traditional powerhouses like Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Bayern Munich, who might treat everyone equally in the locker room, a club like Burnley won't tolerate that.

Klopp gave a brief tactical briefing for the second half.

In short: apart from Jiang Yan, everyone else maintained a high-pressing strategy.

"Although we've taken the lead, Burnley still have a chance to fight back. Keep up the high press and score another goal!"

The second half of the game has begun.

Burnley substituted a striker with a central center-back, switching to a 5-4-1 formation.

With a strengthened defense, they threatened Liverpool's goal with long balls and crosses.

This is what Klopp meant by Burnley's final comeback.

But for Liverpool, who have an excellent tall striker, this is not a difficult problem to deal with.

In the 65th minute of the match, Jiang Yan dribbled the ball and chose to move to the wing.

This choice caught the eye of He Wei and Zhan Jun in the live broadcast room.

Jiang Yan can also play as a winger!

Logically speaking, Jiang Yan was not originally going to play as a winger.

But after acquiring Ljungberg's skill pack yesterday, he felt he could cause considerable damage on the side lanes as well.

Seeing this, the three players in the frontcourt switched positions.

Firmino on the left wing, Sturridge at center forward, and Jiang Yan on the right wing.

Henderson moved forward in midfield, while Lallana and Coutinho dropped back.

Jiang Yan thrived on the wing, dribbling past two defenders and drawing enough attention before delivering a cross to Sturridge.

Sturridge leaped high and ended the game in his signature style.

3:1! !

After Sturridge scored his second goal, Burnley completely lost their means of resistance, and the players' morale plummeted.

Klopp also began to call it quits, substituting Firmino, Lallana, and Klein all at once.

They brought on Mane, Grujic, and Arnold.

Liverpool still had chances to score in the final moments of the match.

After Arnold came on on the right, he showed a strong desire to attack and made a run forward past midfield. Knowing Arnold's long passing ability, Jiang Yan decisively passed the ball to Arnold.

After a change of pace to get past the opposing defender, Arnold delivered a high-quality cross.

Unfortunately, Sturridge and he didn't seem to click. Although he got a touch on the ball, his header was off target.

Liverpool ultimately defeated Burnley 3-1 away from home.

Jiang Yan led the way with one goal and two assists, Sturridge scored twice and was all smiles, and Arnold, who also played well, received praise from the media after the match.

After two rounds of matches, Liverpool have scored 6 goals and conceded 2, accumulating 6 points and temporarily ranking first in the Premier League.

Behind him are Manchester United and Manchester City, both with a goal difference of +4.

Mourinho and Guardiola's teams are eyeing the top spot in the Premier League.