Smolling was responsible for defending Chen Hero in this game because his height was closest to Chen Hero's.

Of course, it's not like they just threw Chen Hero to him alone. He definitely couldn't defend Chen Hero by himself; he needed the help of his teammates.

Smolling kept thinking about how to deal with Chen Hero. He was almost completely crushed in this game, but the young center back didn't give up.

He suddenly remembered what Ferguson had told them before: Chen Hero's weakness was his left foot.

Later, Manchester United successfully used this trick to deal with Chen Hero once, but that was all last season.

Later, some teams wanted to imitate Manchester United's tactics to contain Chen Hero, but they didn't expect Chen Hero to lift the ban on his headers, which made things lively. Those teams who focused on how to contain Hero's right foot, forcing him to use his left foot, all died miserably under Hero's aerial bombardment...

But Smolling felt that this matter should be viewed differently.

Just because other teams couldn't do it didn't mean Manchester United couldn't either.

Moreover, in terms of headers, he was 1.94 meters tall, only two centimeters shorter than Chen Hero.

Even if he couldn't win against Chen Hero in headers, he could at least interfere with him. In that case, if he could force him to use his left foot to control the ball, wouldn't his defense be considered a success?

Although there wasn't much time left in the game, and Manchester United wasn't in the lead, for center back Smolling, if he wanted to help the team, he couldn't rush to the front to charge and score goals. What he could do was to stabilize the team's defense and prevent Chen Hero from scoring again—a draw was different from a loss; three points difference still offered some hope, while six points difference meant despair. Solving the team's worries at the back was all he could do for the team.

He planned to force Chen Hero to the point where he could only use his left foot.

The opportunity came quickly.

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"The game's injury time has unknowingly reached almost two minutes. Liverpool is still more than two minutes away from forcing a draw against Manchester United at their home ground... but obviously, a draw cannot satisfy Liverpool. Beating Manchester United away is more attractive!"

Liverpool really thought so. Even though there was very little time left in the game, they were still pursuing victory.

Now, they have launched an attack...

The ball didn't stay in Liverpool's backfield for long. It only took two passes to get from the backfield to the front.

Gerrard got the ball in the frontcourt, and Chen Hero was supporting him, but he didn't pass the ball to Chen Hero. Instead, he directly transferred it to Sanchez on the right wing.

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Smolling became nervous when he saw Sanchez get the ball on the right wing.

It wasn't that he thought Chen Hero's threat was greater if Sanchez passed the ball from that side. He only needed to defend Chen Hero's headers now.

Because it wasn't easy to shoot directly with the right foot from a cross from the right, unless he stopped the ball. If he stopped the ball, Smolling planned to force Chen Hero to only use his left foot. The specific method was explained in detail in the disc Ferguson had shown them before, and he still remembered it.

If Chen Hero wanted to shoot directly, he could only use his head.

If he did enough work in the air, interfering with Chen Hero so he couldn't hit the goal, that would be a successful approach.

In this way, it was actually the best way for Smolling to defend.

He was nervous because he wanted to see if he could successfully force Chen Hero to use his left foot to control the ball... He was like a child who had put on new clothes, eager to show off to his companions—look, I have beautiful new clothes!

If he succeeded, he would become a hero, putting him in an advantageous position in the competition with other defenders. Ferguson would definitely remember his eye-catching performance at the end of this game!

He rubbed his hands together in his heart, keeping one eye on Sanchez, who had the ball, and paying close attention to what type of cross he would deliver—a low cross or a high cross? He would naturally have different ways to respond to different types of crosses.

The other eye was watching Chen Hero, lest Chen Hero escape his control.

Fortunately, Chen Hero didn't seem to want to suddenly run away.

Sanchez crossed the ball.

Direct cross!

The ball wasn't too high, so it was a bit awkward to use his head, and a bit too high to shoot directly with his foot.

Smolling was confident. Chen Hero would definitely have to find a way to stop the ball. As long as he forced him to use his left foot to control the ball, the problem would be solved...

Chen Hero wasn't good with his left foot, whether it was stopping the ball or shooting.

So Smolling planned to put pressure on Chen Hero's right foot, preventing him from using his right foot to stop the ball or shoot. That way, he would only be able to use his left foot to control the ball.

To this end, he took the lead, wedging himself in front of Chen Hero and blocking Chen Hero's right foot.

This way, even if Chen Hero wanted to control the ball with his right foot, he couldn't lift it. If he forcibly lifted it, he would only kick Smolling. Then Smolling would scream and fall to the ground, and that would be an offensive foul by Chen Hero.

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"Sanchez passes the ball, and the ball flies straight into the penalty area..."

"Look at this ball—"

The commentators all raised their voices.

The ball flew over.

Smolling's muscles all tightened, and he entered a state of combat.

To prevent Chen Hero from甩开 (shuai kai - shaking off) him and going behind him to head the ball—although the ball wasn't very high, he could still use his head, a diving header. Even if the ball was very close to the ground, someone could still head it, so he didn't dare to be careless—he stretched his hands back and firmly grabbed Chen Hero's clothes. Anyway, Chen Hero wouldn't fake a fall; even if he grabbed his clothes, he wouldn't fall to the ground on purpose.

The time from Sanchez passing the ball to the ball flying over was very short, less than a second. In this fleeting moment, two thoughts flashed through Chen Hero's mind.

He had initially wanted to shoot directly with his right foot, but Smolling was in front of him, and he couldn't lift his right foot. By the time he lifted it, the ball would definitely have flown past, so he gave up this idea.

Then he planned to dodge Smolling, completely get rid of him, and go behind him to directly perform a diving header. It wouldn't be too difficult for him to head the ball like that.

But he found that his clothes and arms were being tightly grabbed by Smolling, and he couldn't break free for a while. It wasn't that he couldn't break free at all; if he really exerted force, he could still break free. But that would take some time, and even if it only took an extra tenth of a second, he might not be able to accurately head the ball, and he couldn't ensure that the ball would be headed into the goal by him.

So these two attempts were rejected by him.

So how could he shoot?

Was he just going to watch the ball fly past in front of him?

It was already the second minute of injury time, and there was very little time left. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when the next chance to break into the penalty area would come?

He didn't want to miss this good opportunity.

Then he had to think of another way...

He watched the ball fly towards the left side of his body... fly over... left side?

That's right, the left foot!

What exactly had he been working so hard to practice with his left foot for more than a year? Just to show a slight increase in his left foot proficiency in the data?

Isn't it at this time that it should shine!

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Chen Hero raised both hands and grabbed Smolling's left shoulder, who was facing him.

Smolling was quite happy, which meant that Chen Hero hadn't escaped his control...

But he quickly stopped thinking that way.

Chen Hero raised his left foot high, his body falling to the right, and at the same time, his hand also pulled Smolling to the right.

Was he going to shoot directly?!

The sound of "goooooooAL" was in the throats of many commentators, ready to burst out at any time.

But no, Chen Hero didn't shoot!

His left foot was raised high, blocking in front of the ball, and hooked the flying ball, and the ball flew over Smolling's head!

From left to right!

This was a stopping and adjusting of the ball!

Then Chen Hero pressed Smolling down slightly with both hands—he didn't deliberately press down on Smolling; this was entirely a accompanying action when he was rotating his right leg, a manifestation of his body coordination: when you raise your leg, your arms will definitely move, otherwise you won't be able to maintain your balance.

Smolling felt his body being pressed down by Chen Hero. He was about to open his arms to indicate that Chen Hero had pushed him, but he suddenly saw the ball!

Yes, the ball was right in front of him! He only needed to jump forward a little to head the ball out and clear the danger!

Just as he was about to do so, he saw a foot also appear in his field of vision, and it was opposite to the direction of the ball!

The two were about to meet...

This meant... this was a shot!

"Hero—!!"

The commentators' voices rose another level, even higher!

Everyone saw that Chen Hero first raised the ball high, stopping the ball on the right, and then swung his right leg and slammed it towards the ball.

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At the moment when Chen Hero's foot hit the ball, Smolling felt as if ten thousand golden lights were radiating from the point of impact, and he couldn't help but close his eyes...

"Bang!"

But this muffled sound echoed in his ears.

He knew that Chen Hero's most skilled right foot had solidly hit the ball...

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Less than ten meters from the goal, Chen Hero's right foot volleyed the ball, and David de Gea didn't have time to react at all. He didn't even wave his hand. When the ball shot past him, he stood there like a wooden chicken, like a statue.

It wasn't until the ball hit the net behind him that he turned his head. It was as if his movements had been delayed before...

The ball brought up the net behind him, and the force of the forward rush was finally intercepted and exhausted by the net, and it fell down.

The ball was indeed in Manchester United's goal!

"A last-minute goal—! This is a last-minute goal!! In the ninety-second minute, Hero scored a last-minute goal against Manchester United!"

Old Hartson's sharp voice suddenly rang out, like a thunderbolt, exploding in everyone's hearts and ears.

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ps, today is five updates!