Chapter 1 A Lead at Last

When many Liverpool players heard the words shouted by vice-captain Carragher, they were stunned at first, and then smiles appeared on their faces, their eyes shining with excitement.

Now that things have reached this point, why are we still thinking about getting a point? We've already got the point! Now we're going for three!

Let Manchester City howl, tremble, and cry in our storm of attacks!

Victory will belong to the glorious Liverpool!

They defended Manchester City's powerful throw-in attack and then kicked the ball to the front.

After Chen Hero stopped the ball with his chest, he protected the ball because his teammates were too far away.

Now, as soon as Chen Hero gets the ball, Manchester City becomes collectively nervous, whether it is the players on the field or the fans watching the game in the stands.

Kompany pushed hard from behind, almost committing a foul, but Chen Hero remained motionless. He stepped on the ball, leaning his body against Kompany, who couldn't even reach the ball to try to steal it now…

When Adam Johnson and Bellamy ran up to meet him as if they were sprinting in a 100-meter race, Chen Hero passed the ball out, and Liverpool launched another attack.

The Manchester City players retreated quickly, like a tide. Chasing them were the Liverpool players.

With only a few minutes left in the game, the Liverpool players went crazy and launched a fierce attack.

Seeing this scene from the sidelines, Dalglish was startled at first, and then he jumped up from his seat.

"What are they doing! Aren't they afraid that the space behind them will be exploited by the opponent by doing this!" he shouted at his assistant, Sammy Lee.

Sammy Lee shrugged. He didn't understand why the Liverpool players would suddenly attack so frantically…

"Damn it! Didn't that bastard Carragher convey my words?!"

Despite the scolding, Dalglish had no other choice but to be anxious. He only hoped that Liverpool's suicidal pressing attack would not lead to a tragic result.

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The TV commentator also saw that Liverpool's attack was very crazy. "As the game is about to end, Liverpool has launched an attack like a huge wave. After falling behind three times, this time, Liverpool wants a lead!"

Those Liverpool fans who did not travel with the team to the away game were all gathered in pubs all over Liverpool at this time, breathing rapidly and with red faces, staring at the TV.

After hearing the commentator say this, they raised their fists and shouted, "Yes! It's our turn to take the lead once!"

"Go to hell! Manchester City nouveau riche!"

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The Liverpool fans in the stands at the stadium sang that famous song at this moment—

"When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high… Don't be afraid of the dark, at the end of the storm, there's a golden sky, and the sweet song of a lark… Walk on through the wind! Walk on through the rain! Though your dreams be tossed and blown… Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart… And you'll never walk alone—you'll never walk alone—!!"

The Liverpool fans' loud and clear singing even suppressed the desperate boos and terrified screams of the Manchester City fans.

In the singing, Liverpool's attack became even fiercer!

For Liverpool fans, just like the song sings, Liverpool, who suffered three setbacks in the away game, really seemed to have just walked through a storm. Now is the time for them to hold their heads high and pursue hope. In front of them, the golden sky is filled with the joyful singing and dancing of larks.

As long as they work a little harder, they can step into this wonderful world…

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The fourth official stood on the sidelines, holding an electronic sign in his hand. He was about to announce the stoppage time for this game.

The ninety minutes of the game were coming to an end, and there wasn't much time left for the crazy Liverpool players!

At this moment, Adam Johnson suddenly cut inside on the wing! This greatly exceeded Clichy's expectations, who was defending him. Helpless, he could only trip Johnson.

The referee's whistle sounded.

A free kick was awarded to Liverpool.

The position was slightly off to the side, and the Manchester City players thought that Liverpool would take an indirect free kick, pass the ball into the penalty area, and then let a header expert like Chen Hero compete for the ball.

So everyone squeezed into the penalty area at the beginning, preparing to defend Chen Hero's header. Kompany even planned to defend him closely, so that he could pull his jersey and do some dirty tricks at a critical moment.

But he couldn't find anyone no matter how hard he looked…

Later, he found his target—Chen Hero was outside the penalty area. He was holding the ball and talking to Charlie Adam and Bellamy.

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"Leave it to me." That's what Chen Hero said to the two of them.

In the Liverpool team, in the absence of Gerrard, Charlie Adam is currently the number one free-kick taker, followed by Bellamy.

No matter how you rank them, it's not Chen Hero's turn.

He usually never takes free kicks in the team.

But now, at this critical moment, he is stealing his teammates' business.

Chen Hero has scored three goals in this game, and the team's chance to compete for victory is entirely due to Chen Hero, so neither Charlie Adam nor Bellamy can directly refuse him.

Charlie Adam said to Chen Hero, "I was planning to pass the ball to you…"

Bellamy also pretended to be strange and said, "I haven't seen you practice free kicks after training!"

Chen Hero thought to himself, I practice in the copy at home, of course you can't see it…

"I feel like I'm in great shape!" He insisted on taking the free kick himself, and didn't mean to give the ball to others.

He was full of confidence in himself because of what Juninho had said to him a few days ago: "You've graduated, Hero."

He couldn't wait to try his results in free kicks. He had worked hard for more than a year! Now is the time to reap the fruits of victory, right?

Chen Hero's popularity in the team is really too good… Charlie Adam and Bellamy looked at each other and finally chose to let Chen Hero take the free kick. Even if the ball didn't go in, even if it eventually led to the team not winning, they would be willing. After all, Chen Hero fought the entire game and equalized the score three times for the team. This free kick… let's just take it as a reward for him.

The two of them stepped aside, leaving Chen Hero alone there. He carefully placed the ball on the grass.

Although the angle is a bit off, it doesn't matter. When he was training in the copy, he practiced free kicks from all angles.

He even had the whim to practice free kicks from zero angles… Of course, Maradona was constantly nagging beside him during practice—Maradona is also a free kick master, and he said that if Chen Hero wants to learn free kicks, he should practice with him.

Chen Hero didn't pay attention to him.

After placing the ball, he stood up and stepped back. After retreating to the distance for his run-up, he stopped and turned his head to look at the referee.

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"Chen Hero is going to take this free kick…" the commentator said somewhat unexpectedly. Chen Hero rarely takes free kicks. It's not that he hasn't scored goals with free kicks, but those were all flukes. He is definitely not good at free kicks. Chen Hero himself admits this.

So everyone was surprised to see that Chen Hero was taking the free kick at this critical moment.

According to their ideas, if Chen Hero lurked in the penalty area and Charlie Adam or Bellamy passed the ball in, he might still have a chance to score by jumping up and competing for the header. But if Chen Hero stood behind the ball, posing as if he was going to shoot directly, they would all feel that this attacking opportunity was wasted…

Manchester City was also very surprised, not only Kompany, Chen Hero's defender, but also the Manchester City players who formed the wall.

They hesitated for a moment, but still built the wall.

The referee confirmed that the wall was set up, then stepped aside and blew the whistle in his mouth.

Because Chen Hero had been turning his head to look at the referee, he did not wait for the whistle to sound, but started his run-up when he saw the referee's cheeks bulge… When the whistle had not yet fallen, he kicked the ball!

With a muffled bang, the Manchester City wall heard it clearly…

Then the ball flew over their heads.

Straight to the far corner!

Twenty-eight meters from the goal, the ball hardly rotated in the air, but the speed was surprisingly fast!

When Joe Hart saw the ball flying over from behind the wall, the ball was coming towards where he was standing, so he would be able to control the ball easily.

So he adjusted his center of gravity to the right, intending to block the far corner.

But in the next moment, he found that the ball had changed direction! It suddenly turned towards the near corner!

Although this change of direction was very small, it was fatal to the goalkeeper! Because it was completely opposite to the direction of his center of gravity shift! It was simply going in the opposite direction!

In addition, the ball was fast, and it had already flown over in the blink of an eye.

His body couldn't adjust his center of gravity in time, and the result of forcibly adjusting his center of gravity was that his body froze in place…

Then he watched helplessly as the ball flew into the goal not far from him…

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The huge Etihad Stadium fell into a strange silence at the moment the ball flew past Joe Hart and into the goal. The entire stadium was as quiet as a morgue.

Even the Liverpool fans were stunned this time.

They had thought of many ways for Liverpool to reverse the defeat, and some bold people even guessed that Chen Hero might score another goal, but no one could have imagined that Liverpool's first lead in this game would be achieved in this way…

It was the old Liverpool commentator who reacted first. He raised his arms and shouted, "gooooooooAL!! Goal! 4:3! 4:3! After falling behind three times, Liverpool finally took the lead for the first time in stoppage time!! It's a winner! A winner—!"

He lengthened his voice and roared, his face flushed red from his forehead to the root of his neck.

He wasn't worried that being too excited would put a burden on his body, because he felt his heart beating powerfully in his chest!

Hu Die Lan