Chapter 28 I Forgot I Could Score with Headers

Chen Yingxiong felt he had been misled. He hadn't used a header in so long that he had forgotten he could even head the ball…

Indeed, it had been quite a while, almost an entire season since he had decided to temporarily shelve headers and work hard on his foot skills. During that time, he really hadn't scored a single goal with his head.

He was stubbornly competing with his own feet.

But now, he couldn't keep competing like this. Because if he lost the chance in this match, he would never have such a chance again!

Weak foot precision! Directly obtaining a talent, relying on leveling up to improve weak foot skills—who knew how long it would take to train in this skill the regular way? Maybe even when he was thirty, his left foot might not be as agile as with a talent.

He needed this talent, very, very much, and for this he had to prematurely lift the ban on his lethal weapon.

Headers had become his nuclear deterrent, not easily revealed, but when he needed to use his head, it meant the situation was already very serious.

And now it was very serious.

Chen Yingxiong had decided to use headers to deal with Everton, but the problem now was that Liverpool rarely played high balls…

Because in order to cooperate with his focus on feet, Liverpool had established a ground ball approach at the beginning of the new season.

Now there were very few high balls in the team. The high ball Sánchez gave Suárez just now was actually an accident… because Suárez himself wasn't good at headers either.

Chen Yingxiong couldn't run over and tell everyone to pass him high balls. He could only find his friends first. On the two wings, only Sánchez was a good friend now. Charlie Adam was injured in the match against Besiktas and was still recovering, so Bellamy was currently on the left. Chen Yingxiong and Bellamy had a generally harmonious relationship, but they weren't exactly friends. If he wanted someone to help, he definitely wouldn't go to Bellamy.

He could only run to Sánchez.

"Hey, Alex."

"What's up, Hero?"

"I need a favor…"

"Name it!"

"Um… pass the ball to me, pass high balls…"

Sánchez was stunned when he heard that.

"Pass high balls?" He thought he had misheard and repeated it.

"Yes! High balls!" Chen Yingxiong nodded vigorously.

Sánchez didn't ask any further questions, but clenched his fist excitedly and swallowed. "Okay, no problem!"

He had transferred to Liverpool from Napoli last summer.

When he first came to Liverpool, he often passed high balls to Chen Yingxiong during training and matches, hoping to rack up a few assists to solidify his position and let the new coach see his abilities.

But when Chen Yingxiong saw him passing high balls, he didn't even bother to run. At the time, he was very strange, and thought Chen Yingxiong felt he hadn't passed the ball well and had some opinions about him.

But soon he discovered that no matter how exquisite his passes were, even if he smashed the football directly at Chen Yingxiong's head, Chen Yingxiong wouldn't go for the header.

Later, he learned that this was because Chen Yingxiong himself wasn't heading the ball anymore, and Martin O'Neill had also told him to pass ground balls more often.

He had asked Chen Yingxiong why he didn't use his header weapon and insisted on playing with his feet. Chen Yingxiong told him it was a self-challenge.

Although he thought Chen Yingxiong's idea was really stupid, it was his freedom, and he had seen Chen Yingxiong's stupidity when he was in Napoli, so he didn't take it seriously. Anyway, he would do whatever the coach told him to do. If he pleased the coach, would he still be afraid of not having a place on the team?

In this way, he gradually got used to the current tactics.

But for this player who had once worked with Chen Yingxiong in Napoli, he would always remember how powerful Chen Yingxiong's head was—Chen Yingxiong was the most powerful header he had ever seen!

It was a pity that Chen Yingxiong sealed his header for such a silly reason.

Now he didn't have to sigh and feel sorry for Chen Yingxiong! Because Chen Yingxiong had decided to lift the seal on his head!

That's right, that's right! Being caught by the opponent for his left foot weakness, Chen Yingxiong was devastated and helpless? No! This was definitely not Chen Yingxiong!

The one in front of him who would do anything to score goals was!

※※※

Everton's defenders had never been so relaxed as they were today. They only needed to focus on Chen Yingxiong's right foot. As long as they could force the football to Chen Yingxiong's left foot, they could sit back and watch the show.

Distin, as the team's main center back, had been the main defender of Chen Yingxiong in the past three Merseyside derbies. Those three times had left him with a very deep impression…

He felt powerless against Chen Yingxiong.

As a center back, this feeling was really terrible. Watching the opponent score goals in front of him time after time, each goal was like a slap in the face.

For example, in the Merseyside derby in the first half of the season, Chen Yingxiong scored twice, killing Everton.

At that time, Distin never dared to imagine that one day he would be able to face Chen Yingxiong so easily.

And the thought that such days could continue made him feel especially happy.

These were really Distin's happy days…

Distin fantasized in his mind about how he would humiliate Chen Yingxiong when he met him in the future.

At this moment, Liverpool's attack came over.

He quickly came back to his senses from his fantasy, and stared at Chen Yingxiong intently. As soon as the football was passed to Chen Yingxiong's feet, he would immediately pounce on his right foot.

But this time the football wasn't passed to Chen Yingxiong's feet.

He even followed Chen Yingxiong into the penalty area, but the football still wasn't passed over.

This situation didn't surprise him either. This was how the game had been from the beginning. Chen Yingxiong ran into the penalty area, but the football wasn't necessarily passed to him. But you had to follow him, because if there was no one around him, he could start his right foot.

So even if he knew that he was creating opportunities for his teammates, Distin had to follow him all the time.

At the same time, he didn't forget to use the corner of his eye to observe the situation on Sánchez's side.

Just as Distin glanced over, he saw Sánchez use a nimble shake to get rid of his teammate Drenthe.

Then he unhesitatingly kicked the ball in for a cross!

Cross?!

Distin suddenly felt something was wrong, because this ball was not a low, flat ball, but a high cross!

Who was this for?

Suárez wasn't good at headers at all…

Just as Distin was puzzled, Chen Yingxiong beside him suddenly jumped high!

"Hero!"

The commentator cried out in a broken voice.

※※※

How long had it been since Chen Yingxiong had soared in front of the goal like this? Like a fighter jet, like a rocket.

In short, everyone used to look up to him, and then everyone looked down on him. Now everyone in the penalty area raised their heads again and looked up at Chen Yingxiong, who was already in the air!

Time seemed to freeze, in order to allow everyone to see Chen Yingxiong's heroic appearance in the air more clearly.

The process of the football flying from Sánchez's feet to the front of the goal was very long…

Distin, the Everton defender who should have been following Chen Yingxiong, looked up with his mouth wide open, and looked at Chen Yingxiong in the air with some tongue-tied.

He used to be very familiar with this figure, but now it was so strange…

Chen Yingxiong flew in the air, the wind blowing his hair, and he felt that the time was so abundant that he could even leisurely observe the surrounding situation and see the surprised expressions on those people's faces.

The football was flying towards him "slowly".

He adjusted his posture in the air, so that he would look more handsome—how could his first goal after lifting the header ban leave an imperfect figure in the cameras of the photographers below?

※※※

"Hero—!"

With the commentator's roar, the football flew to Chen Yingxiong's forehead with a whoosh. He saw his whole body flying in the air. After adjusting his center of gravity and posture, he twisted his waist and shook his head, and opened his arms!

Hero shakes his head!

With a muffled sound, like a hammer hitting everyone's heart.

Goalkeeper Howard was completely frightened. When the football flew towards him, he didn't react at all!

But even if he had time to react, he couldn't save the ball.

The football almost brushed the goal post and flew into the goal!

How could the first ball of the returning Flying Bear be easily saved by anyone?

※※※

When the football flew into the goal, the scene fell into a very short, but very strange silence…

Everyone was frightened—not only Everton players and fans, but also Liverpool players and fans.

Even Sánchez, who knew the inside story, was stunned, because he didn't expect that Chen Yingxiong had just greeted him, and his first cross actually scored a goal…

Before everyone could react, Chen Yingxiong had already landed.

He clenched his fists and punched the stands hard, raising his arms and shouting!

The talent had already been obtained, and then it depended on how many levels he could raise.

But what made him so excited was not this reason, but… the feeling of scoring a goal with his head was really good! You bastards have forgotten that I can still score with my head, right?

How ridiculous!

You thought that by grabbing my left foot, you had grabbed my fatal weakness. Now let me show you that there is no fatal weakness for me, Chen Yingxiong!

※※※

Chen Yingxiong raised his arms and shouted beside Distin, while Distin himself held his head in his hands—damn it! I forgot he could head the ball! Damn it! He hasn't been using his head to score goals before, why is he suddenly using his head to score goals now?

Not only Distin, but everyone reacted—Chen Yingxiong actually scored a goal with his head! Yes, he can still score with his head!

Moyes saw Chen Yingxiong celebrating the goal so wildly in front of the team's goal, and suddenly felt that the fortress he had painstakingly built was collapsing…