"In traditional soccer, the center forward position is fixed and easy to understand: poaching goals and finishing attacks.

"In my mind, players who truly fit the classic center forward role include Alan Shearer, Vieri, Guðjohnsen, or Klose and Trezeguet.

"But with the development of modern soccer, this kind of static center forward has been abandoned. They’ve been replaced by more technically complete players who can poach, assist, and even dribble and break through individually. When the team needs it, they also have to fall back in defense and become the team's first line of defense.

"In Guardiola's tactical system, there's no concept of a tall center forward.

"So, I don’t know if Zhao Gang, as the lone striker up front, can fulfill Guardiola's tactical requirements.

"Shooting, heading, speed, trapping, anticipation, poaching, holding the ball with his back to the goal – all of these techniques are what a center forward needs to master in Guardiola's tactical system.

"Right now, Zhao Gang really meets Guardiola's requirements for a center forward, except for heading."

The fans, and even Everton's players and coaches, were a bit dazed by this unexpected arrangement.

Guardiola announced the starting players in advance, but the formation wasn't confirmed.

Everton's coach had been studying for half a month, trying to figure out how to limit Zhao Gang's breakthroughs and passes. When the formation came out, he was dumbfounded.

Guardiola had pushed Zhao Gang to the front, which meant that Zhao Gang would basically no longer be the team's organizing core, distributing the ball, breaking through, and looking for opportunities as before. Instead, he would become the finisher, and he would have far fewer chances to get the ball.

"Guardiola's definitely got something wrong in his head."

The Dragon Country fans were also shocked.

Zhao Gang's speed and passing were extremely threatening as a winger, attacking midfielder, or attacking midfielder.

Putting him at the front was like cutting off his own arm? It was a waste of Zhao Gang's attacking talent!

"Guardiola's gone crazy?? There's no need for that, right?"

"How are we supposed to play like this? Letting Zhao Gang, who's so good at passing, go and poach goals??"

"Zhao Gang's characteristics of breaking through, distributing the ball, and organizing passes are all going to be erased. Guardiola's gone mad himself, but he doesn't need to ruin Zhao Gang, does he??"

"Can Zhao Gang even poach goals??"

"Damn, are these people who say Zhao Gang can't poach goals only watching Premier League games?"

"They definitely haven't seen Zhao Gang in his early Championship days!"

"When Zhao Gang made a name for himself, it was because of his poaching and shooting!"

"That's right. If the Norwich's regular midfielders hadn't been injured and there was really no one else to use, Zhao Gang wouldn't have dropped back to organize the attack."

"He was originally a striker. Brothers who watch soccer, he was later transformed into a midfielder by Farke."

"You think Zhao Gang is like Messi, playing as an attacking midfielder or winger? Actually, when he debuted, he was more like Ronaldo. Except for the height difference in headers, hehehe..."

"Ah? Is there such a thing??" For fans who had only recently started to learn about Zhao Gang, they really didn't know that Zhao Gang in his early Championship days was at the front, just never as a lone center forward in that position.

Everton's players were obviously confused by this formation.

They had made a lot of arrangements targeting Manchester City's previous style of play.

The coach even said that he had thoroughly studied it and had a good way to limit Zhao Gang. The two defensive midfielders on the field, Barry and McCarthy, had received detailed instructions from the coach, preparing to give Zhao Gang a hard time on the field.

Now the two of them took a look, and this guy was standing in the defensive line. Should the two defensive midfielders still defend according to the original plan??

Everton's coach stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed. Let's take a look first. What if he can't play center forward and runs back to midfield later??

Guardiola was just playing randomly, there was no good outcome.

Manchester City won the coin toss, and Everton kicked off.

Big bald head, beer belly, Lukaku has to kick off.

The Little Beast stood in front of the ball, making an incredibly classic weak-footed kick.

Lukaku was strong, fast, and a sharp weapon for the team's counterattacks.

Everton could no longer satisfy his talent and ambition. This season was considered a forced year of keeping Lukaku, and he would definitely leave next season.

For the sake of the team and himself, Lukaku performed as fiercely as ever. After seven rounds of the league, he had already scored eight goals and provided four assists, performing quite brightly.

Moreover, his ability to distribute the ball and assist was quite strong. If he wasn't at Everton, his stats might have been even better.

In this game, Manchester City's most important defensive target was him.

Everton was playing away, and they were also a bit in awe of Manchester City's hot form, so they didn't go all out at the start.

Those who had played against Manchester City before were already unable to take care of themselves, so it was most important to defend well and stabilize the formation.

Crystal Palace, Norwich, and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League had already proven one thing to the Premier League teams: defending and counterattacking was the only way to defeat Manchester City.

Teams like Arsenal, Manchester United, and West Ham United, who were not afraid of death and pulled open their formations to fight it out with Manchester City, all died miserably.

Zhao Gang was at the very front of the team, so he was closest to Everton's backfield.

He wasn't going to give Everton a chance to directly rush over and grab the ball!

Sterling, who hadn't had many opportunities to perform, started this game and was of course even more active. The two kept pressing the players who had the ball.

Forcing the opponent to pass the ball quickly.

As a result, Manchester City's formation was very far forward, and Gündoğan and Fernandinho could also join the high-risk pressing.

Everton's formation was directly pushed further back, and at the beginning of the game, a large space appeared in Manchester City's half.

But Everton only had one Lukaku in the frontcourt, and the defenders couldn't directly find Lukaku, so Everton was basically blocked in their own half.

The ball was likely to be taken away at any time.

The fans at the Etihad Stadium kept shouting to cheer for their players.

Everton's players were unwilling to just kick the ball out of bounds and hand the ball over to Manchester City.

After being compressed, the defender forcibly passed the ball out. Although the pass between Coleman and McCarthy was dangerous, there were no problems.

But when McCarthy wanted to find Barkley after being double-teamed, a huge mistake occurred.

The soccer ball was intercepted by Sterling, who had been actively rushing back!

In an instant, the fans at the Etihad Stadium shouted loudly.

Sterling took a few steps forward, handed the ball to Silva, and then quickly moved to the right, directly taking away Barry, who was in the defensive midfielder position.

Silva was in the heart of the field, and there wasn't a single defender around him!

"Barry's sense of position is very poor! After being taken away by Sterling, he didn't return to defense in time. Silva dribbled the ball forward five or six meters from the center without anyone interfering!"

The commentator couldn't believe it. Everton's defense had such a serious problem.

Zhao Gang, who had been advancing parallel to the defensive line, suddenly accelerated. Silva made an over-the-top pass, directly into the penalty area!

"Zhao Gang's movement is very clever! Silva's pass is also extremely precise! The ball arrives as he arrives, header..." Zhan Lu became excited, commentating on the game through gritted teeth.

Zhao Gang, who had rushed to the front of the defensive line, looked up at the soccer ball flying over, jumped up, and headed the soccer ball!

Although Everton's center back reacted quickly enough and rushed over, there was no interference at all when Zhao Gang shot!

Facing the goalkeeper directly!

Everton's goalkeeper Howard looked nervous, it was too late to attack, he could only prepare to make a save!

Most of the fans at the Etihad Stadium stood up. The timing of this run, the speed of this run, the ability to poach, absolutely a super center forward!

The fans tightened their bodies, waiting for Zhao Gang to head the ball in, and then they could all cheer!

Zhao Gang's physical fitness was extremely strong, and he jumped up high, in a classic "looking back at the moon" pose!

"Zhao's header! The ball... ah??" The Manchester City commentator's eyes almost fell to the ground.

"Oh, this ball, Zhao Gang didn't head it!!??" Zhan Lu covered his mouth in shock. In the absence of defense, he ran into position, jumped high, and the ball passed in front of his head and fell to the ground!

This sense of the ball...

After Zhao Gang jumped up, he headed into the empty space and fell directly to the ground. The two center backs were terrified that they had made a big mistake and tried their best to chase back, but the soccer ball bounced once and was hugged by Howard, who had landed.

The center backs breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly.

Howard and Zhao Gang were lying on the ground, staring at each other.

Howard smiled kindly, unexpectedly, Zhao Gang, you also have this kind of operation!

He missed the ball!

In the stands of the Etihad Stadium, all the fans were dumbfounded.

Even Sterling could have headed in this kind of ball!

In the absence of defense, the most stable link in Manchester City didn't even head the soccer ball?

Guardiola covered his head and almost knelt down.

He twitched the corner of his mouth, it was reasonable, but this was too much.

He didn't even head it, so why did he jump so high??

"Ah? This..."

"Damn... this action is really handsome, but..."

"Pfft..."

"Although I blindly support Zhao Gang, I just want to laugh??"

Zhan Lu coughed twice, his emotions were up, but he didn't expect Zhao Gang to play such a trick.

"This... In the past, some netizens said that there was a problem with Zhao Gang's headers. He has never successfully competed for a header, and there have been several headers that were very outrageous. Zhao Gang's headers may indeed have some problems.

"No wonder, no wonder Zhao Gang's price is 70 million pounds. His dribbling, poaching, passing, age, breakthrough, body, and the comprehensive performance in all aspects, the price should be 100 million pounds. It turns out that after adding the header, the price shrunk to 70 million."

Director Zhang laughed lewdly beside him.

On the field, Zhao Gang got up from the ground and gave Silva a thumbs up to express his apology.

Silva's expression was extremely serious, nodding.

When he turned around to prepare to return to defense, he immediately covered his face, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

It was really that Zhao Gang's movement after running and taking off was incredibly handsome, and the final lion's head shake was even more domineering.

As a result... he didn't head the ball...

This contrast was too interesting.

The camera was given to Agüero on the bench, Agüero grinned and slapped his legs hard, laughing so hard that he leaned forward and backward.

The opportunity for this ball had already been run out. If he had stopped the ball, the defenders behind him and even the goalkeeper in front of him would have basically had enough chances to destroy this opportunity.

So heading the ball was the best choice. Silva, as a professional player, passed the ball very quickly. Zhao Gang's judgment of the landing point was very accurate, but his header sense was a little poor and he didn't head it at all.

Everton's coach on the sidelines broke out in a cold sweat. It was only three minutes into the game and there was such a dangerous attacking opportunity.

Barry, as a defensive midfielder, was directly taken away, leaving the entire abdominal position completely empty!

And there were also loopholes in the defenders' marking. If there hadn't been a problem with Zhao Gang's header, the consequences would have been disastrous.

This guy's movement and timing were indeed suitable for playing center forward, but his heading was a bit crotch.

Without interference, he would actually misjudge.

But this was just Everton's luck. What if Silva passed a ground ball and the defender didn't stop it, what if it reached Zhao's feet?

With this guy's foot skills, even if there were two Howards standing on the goal line, he would be done for!

Everton's coach didn't relax for a moment and roared, telling the players on the field to concentrate on defense.

Everton still gave up possession and prepared to play a defensive counterattack.

And after experiencing the crisis just now, they defended more attentively, and there were no major problems in a short period of time.

The compression of the formation led to a large number of people in the entire backcourt, and it was difficult for Manchester City's peripheral passes to find a suitable opportunity.

A relatively casual pass from Gündoğan was suddenly intercepted by McCarthy, who had been actively pressing.

Lukaku, who had been waiting for an opportunity in front, saw an opportunity and stretched out his hand to ask for the ball. McCarthy made a long-distance pass to the wing.

Lukaku, who was on the wing, spread his legs and quickly chased after it.

Zabaleta quickly followed, and Lukaku showed his famous move.

First, a classic burst of speed, and then he used his body and speed to squeeze in front of Zabaleta, dribbling the ball towards the center.

This was Everton's defensive counterattack, simple and efficient.

Using Lukaku's body and speed to break through one-on-one on the wing, choosing to pass or shoot.

There was a lot of space in front of Lukaku, and his teammates were also on their way quickly. Lukaku dribbled the ball and rushed forward, and Zabaleta tried to keep up behind him, putting pressure on him.

Stones in the middle faced his former teammate and had considerable defensive experience. He didn't approach Lukaku rashly, but ran towards him, interfering with Lukaku's dribbling rhythm, preventing him from breaking through further, and also blocking his shooting angle.

Only leaving him with the passing route.

As for Lukaku passing the ball to find his teammates, there would naturally be other Manchester City players to defend.

Stones squeezed Lukaku's forward position, the middle was completely empty, but Lukaku couldn't get past, and there were no teammates poaching, Lukaku could only slow down, and this counterattack was considered a failure.

There was no way, Manchester City gave too much pressure, and it was difficult for Everton's teammates to give Lukaku enough attacking support.

Once Lukaku couldn't face the goal directly to shoot, there was basically no chance.