August 25 at noon, Sunderland Stadium of Light.

In the fourth round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged the black cat Sunderland away.

Steven Gerrard's closed entry against Chelsea forced him to retire with an injury, and with a trip to Monaco in midweek for the UEFA Super Cup tie with Sevilla, Benitez was rotated appropriately.

The goalkeeper is Reina, and the backline is Reese, Hyypia, Carragher and Arbeloa.

The midfield duo was Mohamed Sissoko alongside Xavi Alonso, with Benayoun being dropped up front.

The front trident is a combination of Yang Yang, Volonin and Pennant.

Sunderland are not a strong team, but they are certainly not underdogs, especially under the management of Manchester United legend Roy Keane, who are still very competitive and have a number of young players on loan from Manchester United, again on their home turf.

Liverpool took a decisive preemptive approach on the road, and just 25 seconds into the game, the Reds organised a ferocious press up front, allowing the Sunderland defender to return a ball to the goalkeeper for a mistake.

Yang Yang forced a breakthrough after getting the ball, got rid of Sunderland central defender McShane one-on-one, dribbled the ball into the penalty area from the left rib and formed a single knife, and pushed the shot, but due to the small angle of the shot, it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper Gordon.

Although it failed to directly form a scoring opportunity, Liverpool started the game with a reversal and took the lead, which was still very deterrent.

Since then, the Reds have been chasing Sunderland and have been creating chances.

Sunderland's style of play is very similar to that of Roy Keane, tough and even a little rough.

In the sixteenth minute of the game, Hyypia was hit by the opponent's elbow in the nose during a tussle, bleeding profusely, according to the preliminary diagnosis of the team doctor Mark Waller, it is suspected that the bridge of the nose is fractured.

Benitez had to replace Hyypia with Daniel Ager, using up an early substitution.

Using Liverpool's substitutions, the back line was not stable, Sunderland launched a wave of attacks, creating several opportunities, but they were all thrilling, failed to directly threaten Liverpool's goal, but in the 37th minute, the Red Army played a quick counterattack, Yang Yang took the ball on the left side, single-handedly forced through the opponent's two players, and after entering the penalty area, he suddenly knocked back.

Mohamed Sissoko stepped in from the back and fired straight into the back for his first goal of the season.

The excited Mali midfielder was the first to run to Yang Yang, who provided him with an assist, and he was also very positive in this game.

After Mascherano joined the team, everyone could see that the Argentine midfielder was better than Mohamed Sissoko in terms of strength and performance, especially in the consistency of passing and receiving.

But as a professional player, Sissoko finally came to Liverpool, how could he be willing to admit defeat in the competition like this?

This goal undoubtedly represents his challenge to Mascherano!

……

After the rematch in the second half, Liverpool launched a quick attack.

Xavi Alonso, Pennant, Benayoun and Volonin combined in succession, and Yang Yang hit the bottom right corner of the goal with a right-footed push from the left side of the penalty area, which was a very simple goal, and Yang Yang grasped the opportunity steadily.

It's 2 to 0, and there is basically not much suspense in the game.

Yang Yang was soon replaced by Kuyt and began to stay in the Super Cup in midweek.

However, during a defensive in the second half, Carragher collided with goalkeeper Reina, and the Liverpool vice-captain went off injured as a result, and the initial diagnosis was suspected to be a broken rib, which is bound to seriously affect Liverpool's subsequent line-up.

So, even if in the end, Liverpool defeated Sunderland 2-0 away, won four consecutive wins at the start of the new season, and created the best Premier League start in Liverpool's history, the team is still worried.

Because after the game, the diagnoses of both players also came out.

Hyypia fracture of the nasal bridge, Carragher rib fracture plus pneumothorax and lung damage, the latter being more severe.

However, the good thing is that there will be two weeks of international breaks going into September, when the league is suspended and Carragher can recuperate.

……

After playing Black Cat Sunderland away, the major media throughout the UK unanimously praised Yang Yang's outstanding performance.

He has been Liverpool's most decisive player in three consecutive games, bringing three wins to the team.

After one pass and one shot in this round, Yang Yang has increased his personal goal tally for the season to six, leading the Premier League scorers' list, and only three goals have been scored in second place, namely Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Bolton Wanderers' Nicolas Anelka.

But Yang Yang scored six goals and one assist in four rounds, and this report card is absolutely amazing, attracting unanimous praise from the British media.

In addition to Yang Yang leading the scorer list, Liverpool also leads the Premier League standings with four consecutive wins in the opening game, and Chelsea is in second place, with Manchester City both getting nine points.

After playing Sunderland away, the team returned to Liverpool and after a two-day break, they travelled to Monaco without stopping.

The UEFA Super Cup will be held at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.

But ahead of this match, Yang Yang and Steven Gerrard were invited to UEFA's annual Champions League group stage draw and award ceremony.

…………

…………

"From the information I've gotten so far, AC Milan are doing their best to help Kaka.

As soon as Liverpool arrived in Monaco, Yang Yang's agent Raiola was already waiting at the hotel.

Recently, he has been running around for Yang Yang's affairs, after all, he also hopes that his player can become the world footballer, which is definitely a great honor.

In a way, this award is equivalent to a gold medal for avoiding death.

After getting it, no matter how much your career develops, in the end, it will still be worry-free.

Of course, those who can get this honor are all the best in the world.

If Yang Yang wins the award, it will be a huge boost to himself, his agent, and everyone around him.

Raiola is naturally very concerned about this, and has been running for Yang Yang for a while now.

"I can say that purely from the point of view of results, you have no doubt, and there is no suspense about the award, but the problem is that you are from a weak football country, and Liverpool is also seriously inexperienced in this aspect, which has led to Kaka now faintly coming from behind."

Yang Yang nodded silently.

When he was an ordinary fan, he thought that the World Footballer of the Year or the European Ballon d'Or were more fair, and whoever performed well would be given to whomever he did, but in fact this was not the case.

Just as Hollywood's Oscar winners are always full of all kinds of unspoken rules of operation, the same is true of the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or.

"In this regard, all teams in the Premier League can basically be said to be seriously inexperienced, but Serie A and La Liga, especially Real Madrid and Barcelona, are masters in this area."

"With your performance, if you were at Real Madrid or Barcelona, winning the prize was almost a certainty, but at Liverpool, it wasn't necessarily the case."

Yang Yang understood what Raiola meant, and he had figured it out early on.

If he doesn't win the award this year, it will definitely be a pity, but he will not be discouraged by this, he will continue to fight hard, strive for the top, and break this damn cage.

"This UEFA award ceremony has been hailed as a precursor to the competition, and according to what I have received before, this time UEFA has specially adjusted Kaka's place to win the award."

"What do you mean?" Yang Yang didn't understand.

"According to the previous statement, Kaka should belong to the striker, but you scored thirteen goals last season and you are the champion, and the best striker gives you a run, and if you don't give it, the authority of the award will be ruined, so they moved Kaka to the midfield and gave him a best midfielder."

Raiola smiled bitterly, this is UEFA's own consideration.

"What about the best players?" Yang Yang asked with concern.

Raiola shook her head, "That's the biggest suspense at the moment, and I haven't gotten any news either. ”

The best player is the most important award in this upcoming awards ceremony, and it is also the award that everyone cares about the most.

In fact, at the level of Yang Yang and Kaka, no matter who you give it to, you can find a lot of good reasons, and you can also find a lot of reasons to question it.

Although there is no first, there is no second, and the game has a win or defeat, but the problem is that the game is the result of a battle between eleven people, and a player is singled out to comment, which is a bit of a Guan Gong vs. Qin Qiong.

But one thing is certain, after winning this award, it will be a big boost to the next two individual awards.

Yang Yang shook his head and smiled bitterly, he himself has always focused on playing football, but he never thought that even if he concentrated on playing, it was impossible for him to worry about these things without being distracted.

Unless you don't pay attention at all.

But when it comes to playing football, who can really be indifferent?

Yang Yang is not a saint, he will also have his own vanity and sense of honor, so he will also want to fight.

"Don't worry, it's not without good news." Raiola knows he's under a bit of pressure right now, "I've received the news that the British media have reached a consensus that they will do their best to support you in your bid for the World Footballer of the Year and the European Ballon d'Or, so they will do their best to build momentum for you in the coming period." ”

"The British media is still very influential in the world media field, and behind this, Liverpool also has a lot of help, Alan Hansen and Dalglish and others are also helping you out, so you don't need to worry too much."

"I'm going to continue to work for you in the Italian media, and the rest of Europe is going to be a long-term war, and what you need to do is keep your current state for a while."

'As long as you can score consistently on the pitch, as long as Liverpool can be invincible, I believe this award will be yours.' Raiola encouraged.

Yang Yang nodded heavily, this is also the only thing he has mastered and worked hard to do.