Amid the media hype about the European Footballer of the Year race, Manchester City also had an important game in place as they welcomed Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals. [To see the latest chapter of this book, please go to ()]――

2 December 2009, Manchester, City Stadium, English League Cup quarter-finals, Manchester City vs Arsenal.

Manchester City have won at home to Arsenal for the second season in a row, but the two teams have 'met' each other six times in the League Cup, and Arsenal are unbeaten with five wins and one draw. The two sides have met 173 times in history, with Arsenal having the upper hand with 91 wins, 38 draws and 44 losses.

Originally, in the game between Manchester City and Arsenal, the media was still generally optimistic about Arsenal, but because of the previous league collision, Manchester City actually slaughtered Arsenal 7-1, which made the media start to be optimistic about Manchester City, but in this game, Yang Fan still has to be absent due to injury, does this mean that Arsenal wants to get one back? !

Therefore, this caused the media to be a little uncertain before the game.

In an interview before the game, Yang Fan expressed great confidence that the team would knock out Arsenal and enter the semi-finals, saying that even if he was not there, his teammates could still defeat Arsenal and advance.

In this game, Manchester City only used Barry and Bellamy to rotate De Jong and Robinho, and Adebayor continued to face his old boss.

For some reason, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal actually rotated nine players in one fell swoop, and only Alexander Song and Traore remained among the main players.

In his pre-match interview, Arsene Wenger denied that the massive rotation was an early surrender, saying that Arsenal's young people will burst with great energy in today's game.

The Arsenal of the Youth Army are now somewhat incomprehensible, when others are not optimistic, the "Gunners" are outbreaking, and when others are optimistic, the "Gunners" are down, which reflects the lack of depth and experience of the Youth Army's bench.

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Throughout the first half of the game, Manchester City dominated the field, but they have not been able to break through Arsenal's goal. This made the commentator miss Yang Fan again, saying that if Yang Fan was there, Arsenal's goal would have been pierced by a "hole".

Manchester City broke the deadlock in the 50th minute, Rosicky was tackled at the back, Bellamy passed, Tevez cut into the box on the left and 'shot' the 'goal', the ball bounced into the big 'goal' after the post.

This goal detonated the feelings of the home football 'fans', and the whole stadium seemed to explode, and the camera lenses on the sidelines were shaking.

City doubled their lead in the 69th minute when Richards passed the ball and Wright-Phillips burst into the right-hand edge of the box and fired into the far corner.

City sealed the win in the 89th minute and Bellamy also put on a long run before cutting into the left side of the box and crossing, Weiss met in the middle and fired a 'pump' shot into the bottom of the crossbar.

Three to zero!

Manchester City beat Arsenal. Manchester City also reached the last four of a domestic cup competition for the first time since 1981.

After the game, Wenger praised his young people in the face of the defeat, saying that this defeat will help the growth of young people.

This also caused the dissatisfaction of Arsenal's football 'fans', they may be able to understand Arsenal's intention to train young people with the League Cup, but after losing 1-7 to Manchester City in the league, Arsenal's football 'fans' are also extremely depressed, hoping that Arsenal can defeat Manchester City in the League Cup to avenge their revenge, but Wenger directly sent the young man, this is good, the old hatred has not disappeared, and a new hatred has been added.

Manchester City's 3-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals also eased the pressure on Manchester City manager Mark Hughes in some way.

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Just three days after the Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal, Manchester City host another heavyweight opponent: Chelsea.

Chelsea are currently the leaders of the Premier League, with former AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea leading the table from the first game of the season.

Against Chelsea, Manchester City are generally underestimated because they are always on the side of tragedy when facing Chelsea.

Chelsea have won all eight of their last eight games against Manchester City, scoring 19 goals and conceding just one. The two sides have met 24 times in the Premier League, Chelsea have the upper hand with 18 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, including 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat away, Manchester City's only win was in October 2004, Anelka, who now plays for Chelsea, scored the only goal, which is also the only win in the last 22 'meetings' between the two sides, and the Blues have won 17 and drawn 4 in the other 21 games. The two sides have met 135 times in history, with Chelsea holding the upper hand with 57 wins, 36 draws and 42 defeats.

In this game, Manchester City rotated De Jong and Robinho. Chelsea are all at full strength, and compared to last week, it was only Ballack and Deco who rotated.

Chelsea were lucky to take the lead in the eighth minute, when Frank Lampard headed in a corner, City barely cleared, Ballack's cross from the right was nodded by Drogba, Ivanovic's 'shot' was saved by Given, Anelka's subsequent follow-up 'shot' was still saved by Given, but unfortunately the ball bounced off Adebayo's back in front of the goalkeeper line and into the goal. The goal was also counted as an own goal by Bam Adebayo, which made the Togolese look depressed.

City equalised in the 37th minute when Petr Cech saved a corner, Wright-Phillips followed up on the right and fired a powerful shot into the hands of Richards, before Bam Adebayor scored from the edge of the six-yard box. Despite protests from the Chelsea players, referee Webber insisted that the goal was valid.

This caused a lot of displeasure from Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who felt that the goal should have been disallowed for the handball of the Manchester City players, but Webber did not seem to see it that way, and he verbally warned the emotional Ancelotti.

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Manchester City took the lead in the 56th minute, Carvalho was booked for a foul on Tevez in front of the penalty area, and Tevez's free kick went straight to the 'goal', and the ball passed through the wall into the bottom right corner.

2-1, Manchester City overtook the score, and the whole stadium roared with joy.

However, as long as the game is not over, Manchester City's football 'fans' will not let go, because Manchester City's games have been too strange recently, no matter how long they are ahead, they can always be equalized by their opponents, and this time against the powerful Chelsea, they dare not be careless.

Yang Fan watched the game from the stands, he had just undergone a physical examination that morning, and the team doctor told him that he was ready to adapt to the field training, Yang Fan was also 'excited', and he couldn't wait to return to the field.

Chelsea missed a chance to equalise in the 83rd minute when Onooja tripped Drogba in the box and Frank Lampard, who had converted 10 penalties in a row, fired a low shot into the bottom left corner that was brilliantly saved by Given.

Seeing that Lampard's penalty was saved, Yang Fan jumped up excitedly, to be honest, when the referee Webb awarded the penalty, Yang Fan was also cold in his heart, he thought that the team was going to get a draw again, but he didn't expect Given's to be so brave this time and save Lampard's penalty.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the whole stadium boiled, and Manchester City finally ushered in a victory after seven consecutive draws, and it was a victory over the league leaders, which made Manchester City breathe a bad breath.

As soon as the game ended, Yang Fan walked onto the court from the stands, celebrating the goal with his teammates, and he announced loudly that in order to congratulate his teammates on winning this difficult game, he paid out of his own pocket to invite the whole team to a big meal, which naturally attracted a lot of jubilation, the team finally won, and won or the leader, winning, Yang Fan invited again, this is really cool.

A photo of Yang Fan inviting the team to a big dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Manchester made headlines the next day in the local media in Manchester, and the media also praised Yang Fan as an excellent captain who knew how to encourage the team. didn't play, just invited the whole team to dinner, and was able to be praised by the media, Yang Fan also wiped his nose and smiled after knowing it, he was absent from the game for so long, but he could only be anxious when the team was in the most difficult time, and he also wanted to be a little ashamed.

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After the match, all eyes across Europe were on the upcoming 2009 European Ballon d'Or.

The Ballon d'Or is chosen by France Football magazine. Each year, the magazine pre-publishes a list of candidates, from which senior journalists from UEFA's 52-member sports media select the winner of that year's Ballon d'Or. The award is rigorous and credible, and in the eyes of football professionals, it is more valuable than the "World Footballer of the Year" award, which is voted for by the coaches of the national teams. According to the rules set by France Football, each judge can list 5 names, and the players who are included will receive 5~1 points according to the ranking order. The points obtained by each player are accumulated, and the one with the highest score will receive the "Ballon d'Or" of that year. The European Ballon d'Or was born in 1956, and before 1994, the selection was limited to European players, after 1995, it was expanded to players playing in Europe, and in 2007, the selection of players was expanded to the whole world.

Although the gold content is extremely high, it is the top honorary award in football, but, after all, it is only an award selected by a magazine, and the European Ballon d'Or is naturally not like the selection of the world footballer and also holds a large-scale awards ceremony with celebrities, at the beginning of December every year, "French football" will announce the winners in its own magazine, and then will invite the new European Mr. Ballon d'Or to Paris to participate in a small award ceremony that is not luxurious but very solemn.

France Football will notify the winners in advance before the official announcement, and there is no doubt that this is the biggest surprise for every footballer, and Kaka, winner of the 2007 European Ballon d'Or, once described himself as receiving France Football When he called to inform him of the news of winning the European Golden Globe Award, he described that he was almost stunned for half a minute, and asked several times before he was sure that he had won the award.

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Manchester, Yang Fan's residence, in the morning.

A phone call woke Yang Fan up from his sleep. He didn't answer the phone, and a gut battle with Fan Bing last night made him consume a lot of 'essence' energy, after all, this kind of thing is always more tired for men.

He looked at the phone, it was a landline call from France, this number was very unfamiliar, and he didn't want to answer it.

The mobile phone rang persistently, making Fan Bing wake up, arched his head in Yang Fan's arms, sighed comfortably, and said, "Oh, why don't you answer the phone, it's noisy." ”

Yang Fan picked up his mobile phone and answered the call.

"Hello, Mr. Yang Fan, this is the ...... of "French Football" is the selection of the World Footballer of the Year, and also holds a large award ceremony full of celebrities, at the beginning of December every year, "French Football" will announce the winners in its own magazine, and then will invite the new European Mr. Golden Ball to Paris to participate in a small award ceremony that is not luxurious but very solemn.

France Football will notify the winners in advance before the official announcement, and there is no doubt that this is the biggest surprise for every footballer, and Kaka, winner of the 2007 European Ballon d'Or, once described himself as receiving France Football When he called to inform him of the news of winning the European Golden Globe Award, he described that he was almost stunned for half a minute, and asked several times before he was sure that he had won the award.

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Manchester, Yang Fan's residence, in the morning.

A phone call woke Yang Fan up from his sleep. He didn't answer the phone, and a gut battle with Fan Bing last night made him consume a lot of 'essence' energy, after all, this kind of thing is always more tired for men.

He looked at the phone, it was a landline call from France, this number was very unfamiliar, and he didn't want to answer it.

The mobile phone rang persistently, making Fan Bing wake up, arched his head in Yang Fan's arms, sighed comfortably, and said, "Oh, why don't you answer the phone, it's noisy." ”

Yang Fan picked up his mobile phone and answered the call.

"Hello, Mr. Yang Fan, this is the ...... of "French Football"