Chapter 258

The Central Army quickly realized their opponent had changed. Chen Hero wasn't at the front anymore, but had retreated to the back. Now, Kerzhakov was the one leading the attack.

They were puzzled—what was Zenit St. Petersburg trying to do?

Chen Hero was great at headers, so of course he should be up front, closest to the goal, where he posed the biggest threat.

But like this…

Ignashevich suddenly remembered what the assistant coach had said during the pre-match tactical briefing.

In the tactical lesson, Radic had summarized Chen Hero's characteristics as two strengths—one was his strong heading ability, and the other was his strong long-range shooting.

However, many teammates had privately expressed doubts and even disdain for Radic's words at the time.

Everyone knew he was good at headers. He had scored nine goals so far, all with his head. But where did this "strong long-range shooting" come from?

Was it the long-range goal against the Central Army last season? But that was his only long-range goal.

Could such a performance prove he was good at long-range shots?

Even a central defender who couldn't shoot might rush to the front and score a world-class goal. Could that prove he was good at long-range shots?

The players felt that Radic had gone from one extreme to another. Previously, he had greatly underestimated the guy, which resulted in them getting slapped in the face and mercilessly mocked by the media. Now he had gone to the other extreme—exaggerating Chen Hero's abilities, even claiming he was good at long-range shots. If he was so good at long-range shots, why hadn't he scored a single long-range goal in the first eleven rounds of the league?

Although Ignashevich thought of this, he was also skeptical—he hadn't analyzed all of Chen Hero's game footage from this season. He naturally didn't know how "strong" Chen Hero's long-range shooting was. If the coach told them Chen Hero was good at long-range shots, did that really mean he was?

Ignashevich curled his lip. He would only believe it if he experienced it himself.

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In fact, Chen Hero's heavy cannon had been itching to fire for a long time.

He had maxed out his "Heavy Artillery" talent, but because of his position, he rarely had the chance to use it, and could only bully people in training.

What a waste it was to have a talent point that couldn't be used…

When Zenit St. Petersburg got an offensive opportunity, Chen Hero quickly let the CSKA Moscow players know why he was behind Kerzhakov…

Dominguez made a through pass, and it looked like Kerzhakov was going to break through!

The Central Army's defense line collectively took a step back following the through pass.

At this moment, Kerzhakov passed the ball back…

"Heeeeeeeroooooooooooooooooooooo!" Shiryayevski roared!

Chen Hero unleashed a powerful shot at the ball!

With a muffled bang, the ball, along with bits of grass, was blasted towards the goal!

This time it was within the frame!

Akinfeev lunged to the left and palmed the ball away with both hands!

"What a beautiful save!"

"Woah—" The Central Army fans let out another exclamation.

After Chen Hero shot the ball, Ignashevich turned his head and watched Akinfeev desperately save the shot. Radic's words rang in his mind again…

His long-range shot is very strong!

"Elvir!" he shouted.

"What?" Elvir Rahimic, the tall defensive midfielder from Bosnia and Herzegovina, came over.

"Don't give him another chance like that!" He pointed at Chen Hero and said to his teammate.

Rahimic looked at Chen Hero, who was holding his head in regret for not scoring, and thumped his chest. "Leave it to me!"

Rahimic was 1.91 meters tall and weighed 80 kilograms, a strong defensive midfielder.

Since Chen Hero wanted to retreat to find long-range shooting opportunities, then let Rahimic interfere with him, not giving him such comfortable chances to shoot. Then his long-range shots would naturally be less threatening…

Ignashevich was very pleased with his temporary arrangement. He thought the coach would definitely agree with his adjustment.

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He guessed right. Gassayev, seeing that there wasn't a single Central Army player around Chen Hero when he shot, immediately jumped up from his seat, rushed to the sideline, and shouted at Rahimic, "Mark him closely, Elvir!"

Chen Hero quickly realized that Rahimic's interference couldn't be ignored.

Because when he wound up to shoot from long range, the opponent would stick to him, making it impossible for him to shoot at all, or if he barely managed to shoot, the quality of the shot would be terrible.

Kerzhakov continued to act as his platform, and the Central Army's defensive focus was still on him.

Chen Hero thought of this. The opponent's defensive attention was all on him, which was indeed not conducive to him scoring. But it was beneficial to his teammates getting opportunities…

Thinking of this, Chen Hero didn't choose to fight Rahimic head-on. When Kerzhakov passed the ball to him again, he didn't shoot, but passed it to the wing.

This stunned Rahimic, who wanted to fight him physically.

Once was a coincidence, but what about three or five times? Then it wasn't a coincidence.

Gassayev noticed that Chen Hero was always passing the ball to his teammates, and he realized his defensive strategy was successful!

He didn't expect that just letting Rahimic stop that kid. Gassayev felt that Chen Hero's so-called long-range shooting was nothing more than that, and it seemed that Radic had exaggerated… In fact, he should have thought of it earlier. Whether a player's ability is strong or not depends on goals. His headers are great? Look at the goals. Nine goals were all scored with headers, so his headers are indeed great!

Long-range shooting is great? Look at the goals, how many long-range goals has he scored?

Not a single one…

What kind of greatness is that!

He felt that he had been misled by Radic.

This person… used to underestimate the guy extremely, now he valued him extremely, even too much.

It seemed that his decision to add an assistant coach was correct…

Radic sat on the coach's bench, unaware that head coach Gassayev was becoming increasingly distrustful of him. All his attention was still focused on Chen Hero.

This person had scored another goal in the game against the Central Army. Every goal he scored was like a slap in Radic's face—although he didn't make such a celebratory gesture.

Radic could imagine that after the game, the media would definitely dig up old dirt and use the way they belittled him to elevate that kid.

So he especially hoped that the Central Army could win this game. In professional football, the loser has no say. At that time, the news media would be full of praise for the winning Central Army, and who would mention the defeated Zenit St. Petersburg?

Seeing that long-range shot just now, he was a little worried, because obviously the Central Army players hadn't taken his pre-match warnings to heart… These fools!

He cursed inwardly through gritted teeth.

Ever since that incident, he felt that his prestige in the team had dropped a lot.

Ultimately, it was all that arrogant bastard's fault!

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Chen Hero kept passing the ball to his teammates, creating opportunities for them.

Dominguez also saw it—Chen Hero was being closely marked by the opponent, and it seemed impossible to shoot from long range.

In fact, passing the ball to other teammates might be more threatening… Because the Central Army's defensive focus was still on Chen Hero, they lacked enough attention on Kerzhakov…

This was an opportunity!

When Dominguez got the ball, he was pressed by the opponent, but with his good ball control skills, he still protected the ball and had time to look up and observe the situation ahead.

The Central Army's defensive midfielder Rahimic was still lurking very close to Chen Hero. If he didn't pass the ball to Chen Hero, he wouldn't go up. Once the ball rolled towards Chen Hero, he would definitely pounce on him immediately.

Dominguez looked at Kerzhakov.

He was leading the attack, stuck in the position between the two center backs. There was no gap there now. But… what if he passed the ball over, behind the opponent?

The situation would immediately be different.

Dominguez didn't delay for too long. He flicked his ankle and sent the ball out.

This time the ball didn't pass to Chen Hero, but rolled straight towards the gap between Ignashevich and full-back Berezutsky!

Since Chen Hero became famous, when everyone talked about Zenit's scorer, they would first think of Chen Hero. As for Kerzhakov, who had once won the Russian Premier League Golden Boot, they had intentionally or unintentionally ignored him…

You should know that Kerzhakov was also a shooter who became famous at a young age!

Seeing that Dominguez didn't pass the ball to Chen Hero, but passed it into the gap between the center back and the full-back, Kerzhakov knew what was going on—Chen Hero had helped him attract a lot of defensive forces, and now it was his turn to shine!

He suddenly cut diagonally, passed behind Ignashevich, and instantly appeared behind CSKA Moscow's defense line.

Ignashevich and Berezutsky's attention was all on Chen Hero. Who would have thought that the opponent would actually… make a through pass!

When they turned around and saw Kerzhakov receiving the pass, they raised their hands, signaling the linesman and the referee that this brother was offside…

Kerzhakov didn't care if he was offside or not. He didn't even turn his head to look at the linesman. He let the ball pass, adjusted his direction, and faced the rushing goalkeeper Akinfeev, shooting low directly!

The ball rolled into the goal from under Akinfeev's armpit!

"Goal… Goal! Goal—scored!! Zenit St. Petersburg leads CSKA Moscow 2:1 on the road! Not offside! Not offside! Look at the referee's gesture—the goal is valid! Great!" Shiryayevski shouted.

"Aleksandr Kerzhakov!! When everyone's attention was focused on Hero, he suddenly exploded! Caught CSKA Moscow off guard! Beautiful!"

Rahimic was standing next to Chen Hero. He was stunned when he saw that the person who scored the goal was Kerzhakov, not Chen Hero.

Chen Hero shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, looking innocent, then opened his arms and ran towards Kerzhakov. Like him, other Zenit teammates rushed towards Kerzhakov after he scored.

They were in the lead!

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ps, the bonus chapter for 1700 monthly tickets has arrived~

Everyone, keep up the good work!

I'm also working hard!