Soccer: I have the attributes of Messi in his Prime

Chapter 563: Home Field Controversy – Did Lin Quan Dive?

Since Kevin De Bruyne's return, he had performed exceptionally well in several consecutive matches.

On November 24, in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester City faced Borussia Mönchengladbach away. De Bruyne came off the bench and provided an assist, helping City secure a 2-1 victory.

Two days later, in the 13th round of the Premier League, De Bruyne started the match. Although he was subbed off before the 70th minute, his time on the field was outstanding.

In the first half, he delivered one of his signature 45-degree crosses, assisting Agüero's goal. Before being substituted in the second half, De Bruyne scored a brilliant long-range shot from outside the box. With one goal and one assist, he was named Man of the Match.

Ultimately, Manchester City beat Burnley 3-1 away, securing their second consecutive Premier League victory.

This marked City's third win in all competitions since De Bruyne's return.

Despite the victory, City's position on the league table remained unchanged. Chelsea won 2-1 in the London derby against Tottenham, securing their seventh consecutive win and maintaining their top spot in the league.

Last season, Chelsea's performance was dismal, so this year they only have the Premier League and domestic cups to focus on, with no European matches. This allowed them to conserve a lot of energy and avoid the hassle of traveling across Europe, giving them a better chance to compete with their rivals in the league.

After their seventh consecutive win, public opinion on Chelsea began to shift:

"Under Conte's leadership, this Chelsea team has found a style that suits them. The players are more united than ever, and the issues from the past two seasons, where the squad seemed unsettled, are no longer a problem. They're starting to look like the Chelsea that once dominated the Premier League!"

"Even though Manchester City is right on Chelsea's heels, City has to compete on two or even three fronts. Once the Club World Cup starts, they'll have four competitions to deal with. The packed schedule and frequent matches will be a huge test for their squad's fitness and depth. If they suffer more injuries to key players, it'll be hard for them to catch up to Chelsea."

"With only a few matches left before the halfway point of the season, if Chelsea can claim the top spot at that stage, they might really be able to snatch the Premier League title from Manchester City!"

Although not many people thought Chelsea was actually stronger than Manchester City, being the stronger team doesn't always guarantee a title.

City may be powerful, but they are distracted by other competitions and can't focus solely on the Premier League.

That might not be too much of an issue right now, but come spring, when the Champions League knockout stages intensify, City's opponents will be far tougher than what they face currently. The physical toll on City in the Champions League will be massive.

Will City still be able to dominate the league after such intense matches?

It seems unlikely, especially with so many strong competitors this season.

Moreover, with Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea all on the rise, even the Premier League is much tougher to win than in previous years.

This round of the Premier League saw not only City and Chelsea winning, but also Liverpool and Arsenal, both of whom defeated their opponents.

The standings remained unchanged: Chelsea stayed top with a one-point lead, followed by Manchester City. Liverpool, trailing City by just two goals, sat in third, while Arsenal, two points behind City and Liverpool, held fourth place.

The gap between these four teams was only three points at most, making this one of the most fiercely contested title races in the Premier League over the past decade.

However, Chelsea's title hopes will largely depend on how they fare in their direct confrontations with Manchester City.

And coincidentally, their next match was a direct clash between the two teams—a six-pointer.

Whoever wins will climb to the top of the table, while the loser risks falling out of the title race altogether.

Given the significance of the match, Fleet Street's media outlets had already begun hyping it up before it even started:

"Can Manchester City, back in form, stop Chelsea's seven-game winning streak?"

"Facing the daunting Etihad Stadium again, can Chelsea break their winless curse?"

"Lin Quan vs. Hazard: Who is the Premier League's best dribbler?"

...

Not only were the media deeply focused on these questions, but the fans were eager to find out the answers as well.

Chelsea's seven-match winning streak made them look unstoppable.

On the other hand, while Manchester City had recently stumbled, the reputation they had built over the last three years meant they couldn't be underestimated.

In such a pivotal match, one that could determine this season's champion, who would come out on top?

Both coaches were taking the match very seriously, each opting for closed training sessions to prevent their tactics from being leaked to the outside world, seemingly planning to unleash a surprise.

On December 3rd, dark clouds loomed over the Etihad Stadium.

At kickoff, the temperature in Manchester had dropped to 2-3 degrees Celsius. If it started raining, it would be a tough challenge for both teams.

And rain in Manchester was, of course, all too common.

But even the threatening weather couldn't dampen the fans' enthusiasm.

The not-so-large Etihad Stadium was packed, as usual, with a mix of local fans and many who had traveled from all over the world to witness the match.

For those who had come from afar, watching such a high-stakes clash between Manchester City and Chelsea up close was a stroke of luck.

Both managers seemed to have kept a few tactical surprises up their sleeves. When the fans saw the lineups, they were shocked.

Both Manchester City and Chelsea had opted for three-man defenses!

The difference was that City's formation was 3-4-2-1, while Chelsea lined up in a 3-4-3.

At the start, both teams played cautiously, not rushing into attacks.

Chelsea's formation leaned more towards offense. But after City's players probed their defense, it quickly became apparent that Chelsea's main focus was on defense in this match.

This wasn't surprising. After all, Chelsea hadn't won at the Etihad for several years.

The team carried a bit of psychological baggage, and with City's fearsome attacking power, placing emphasis on defense was the basic strategy for most teams facing them.

There were very few teams in world football willing to go toe-to-toe in an all-out attack against Manchester City.

Chelsea had the advantage on the league table, so even a draw would be acceptable for them.

A loss, however, would be disastrous, especially against their biggest title rival.

Seeing Chelsea play so conservatively, Guardiola gestured for his team to push forward and launch a full-scale attack.

Guardiola had been very deliberate in his choice of the three defenders for this match. He left out Zabaleta and Kompany, opting for Van Dijk in the center, Kolarov on the left, and Stones on the right.

Both Kolarov and Stones were strong attacking players, indicating that Guardiola had been planning to overwhelm Chelsea's defense from the start.

Chelsea, under Mourinho, once boasted the best defense in the Premier League.

Although Mourinho was no longer there, and many of the players from that era had left, the defensive steel seemed to remain ingrained in Chelsea's DNA.

Faced with City's fierce attacks, Chelsea played a disciplined defensive game, setting up for counterattacks whenever they could. Their defense was particularly impressive.

In the last six months, Conte had done a remarkable job revamping Chelsea.

Under his guidance, Chelsea's defense had taken on some of the characteristics of Italian teams, with even better organization and teamwork. Their players rotated and covered for each other seamlessly, with hardly any errors in their positioning.

After 45 minutes of play, Chelsea, despite being the more defensive side, hadn't received a single yellow card.

This fact alone demonstrated how successful, and clean, their defensive efforts had been.

Yet, even so, they still couldn't prevent City from scoring.

In first-half injury time, Chelsea's center-back Gary Cahill scored an own goal, handing Manchester City a gift.

The timing of the goal was a huge blow to Chelsea's morale. With the first half just about to end, conceding an own goal in the final seconds negated all their hard work, leaving the team feeling crushed.

In the dressing room, however, Conte didn't blame his players. He even comforted Cahill, the own-goal culprit.

"You played great. I'm proud of you."

"But you can do even better!"

Conte's words immediately grabbed the players' attention, and they looked up curiously at him.

He wasn't just offering empty praise to boost morale—he truly was proud of their efforts.

Aside from Cahill's unfortunate own goal, Chelsea hadn't given City any real opportunities in the entire 45 minutes.

There were very few teams in world football capable of achieving that.

But now the team was trailing, so their strategy needed to change in the second half.

...

At the start of the second half, Conte subbed off Pedro and brought on Willian.

Willian's introduction significantly boosted Chelsea's attacking threat.

City's defenders on the flanks struggled to keep up with Willian's pace. But it wasn't just his speed that caused problems—his positioning and passing also posed a continuous danger to City.

Even so, City remained calm. In the 58th minute, they put together a beautiful series of passes in the final third. It ended with Lin Quan delivering a through ball into the box, and Agüero arriving just in time to fire a shot towards goal.

Chelsea's goalkeeper was beaten, and the ball rolled towards the goal line, but at the last second, Chelsea's number 15 swooped in and made a dramatic goal-line clearance, saving the day.

Agüero, seeing the ball stay out, was frustrated, grabbing his head and dropping to his knees, regretting not putting more power into the shot.

If that ball had gone in, the match would have been all but over.

Wasting chances can lead to punishment, and just two minutes later, Chelsea responded.

A long pass from Fabregas found Diego Costa, who held off Kolarov and fired a low shot, beating Navas to level the score.

The goal ignited the Chelsea fans in the stands. In the space of two minutes, they had experienced the emotional rollercoaster of going from despair to jubilation.

Two minutes earlier, they had watched their team being pounded by City, fearing that another goal was imminent. Now, their fear had vanished, replaced with joy and newfound ambition.

If they kept playing like this, an away victory over Manchester City didn't seem impossible!

After Chelsea equalized, Manchester City seemed angered and ramped up their efforts in attack.

In the 65th minute, City pushed forward again, and Lin Quan dribbled into the box. Just as he was about to shoot, he was tripped by Chelsea defender David Luiz.

It looked like an obvious penalty, but to everyone's shock, the referee acted as if he hadn't seen anything and instead gave Lin Quan a yellow card for diving.

The stadium erupted in disbelief. City fans in the stands, as well as the players on the pitch, were all stunned.

Didn't the referee know that Lin Quan never dives?

Giving a player like him a yellow card for simulation—was this ref being paid off by the other side?

Agüero had already been frustrated with the referee. In the 24th minute of the first half, he had been tripped in the box, and the ref hadn't called anything. Now, the referee had blatantly ignored another foul and accused Lin Quan of diving.

Furious, Agüero approached the referee to argue, but the ref wasn't interested, instead signaling for the game to continue.

Seeing that City's players were distracted by the referee's decision, Chelsea quickly took advantage, restarting play and catching City off guard.

Willian, the substitute, received a pass and sped into City's box, beating the keeper in a one-on-one and scoring again.

The score was now 2-1, and Chelsea had completed the comeback.

When the referee ignored City's protests and allowed the goal to stand, Agüero and the rest of the City players were furious.

They surrounded the referee, with Agüero and Fernandinho even pushing him.

Without hesitation, the referee pulled out two red cards, sending off both Agüero and Fernandinho.

The City players on the field, along with the fans in the stands, were enraged. Many of the fans near the pitch began trying to climb over the barriers, aiming to rush onto the field to confront the referee.

Some started throwing objects like coins, water bottles, and even phones onto the field.

The referee, standing farther away, wasn't hit by much, but the assistant referees and the fourth official were caught in the barrage. Even Chelsea's bench wasn't spared from the "storm" of coins and bottles.

With the situation spiraling out of control, the match had to be temporarily halted. The referee, under the protection of security personnel, hurriedly left the pitch as the "coin rain" continued to fall on his head.

If they had let him stay on the field any longer, who knows what might have happened. If City's fans had lost their minds and rushed him, things could have ended very badly.

(End of Chapter)

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