In the midst of the celebratory crowd, Leon patted Trippier on the head affectionately, he now liked this new teammate who played with his head too much!

In the process of scoring this time, he and Kroos grasped the crucial pass in the end.

But in terms of merit rewards, Trippier's previously clever incision has to account for at least three successes!

Trippier may not be as good as Bertrand in terms of a strong undersea and one-on-one passes, but his attacking options are much smarter than Bertrand's.

He can complete the usual task of a full-back attacking forward, and can also dribble the ball down the middle to complete key advances in important moments, helping to lighten the tactical burden of Leon and Kroos.

This kind of teammate who is well-balanced offensively and defensively, and has the ability to read the game is so likable, and Leon makes no secret of his admiration for Trippier.

After Lao Mu celebrated passionately off the field at the moment, he also subconsciously looked at Bertrand, who was cheering on the bench with other rotation players.

To be honest, whether it is Mourinho himself or the other coaches in the Chelsea coaching staff, they actually like Bertrand.

This guy may make some small mistakes on the pitch at times, but his attacking combination with Eden Hazard on the wing has also made a real contribution to Chelsea's resurgence.

And Bertrand has always been a bit inconsistent on the defensive end, but he is obedient enough to do whatever the coaching staff tells him to do.

Mourinho was annoyed that he made many mistakes and was not motivated some time ago, but now when he thinks of Bertrand's merits, he finally relents.

He decided to give Bertrand more opportunities to adjust his performance in the following games.

Cesar Azpilicueta played very well on the left flank, but in attack, he and Eden Hazard were not as well coordinated as Bertrand.

The Chelsea coaching staff have not yet set the exact starting positions for the two wing-backs.

If anything, there is only one full-back who can start at Chelsea, and that's Cesar Azpilicueta.

Who can make the Spanish defenders play left and right, and in terms of defensive strength, Mourinho is the most reassuring.

Aside from him, Kieran Trippier and Bertrand are both in Mourinho's scrutiny period.

At most, Kieran Trippier is now ranked higher in Mourinho's mind.

As long as Bertrand himself still has enough energy, it is not impossible for him to return to the main lineup later.

Thinking of this, Mourinho's eyes at Bertrand also softened a lot.

However, he will definitely not directly communicate with Bertrand about the subsequent appearance adjustment at this time.

After making up his mind to have another private encouragement talk with Bertrand, Mourinho returned to the game.

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's team's "obsession" with attacking football caused them to concede the goal.

This is Pep Guardiola's insistence, but it is an important cautionary tale for Mourinho.

As the Chelsea players returned to half-time after celebrating, Jose Mourinho made a tactical gesture to continue to solidify the defence in the face of Leon.

Li Ang nodded calmly to show that he understood, in fact, he didn't need to explain to Mu Shuai, he would also ask his teammates to continue to defend well.

They played away from home today, after all, and Manchester City were in better attacking form than usual with the help of their home team.

Chelsea can of course play against Manchester City and they have the quality.

But it is not cost-effective to go to the death against the pressure of Manchester City's full firepower.

It's better to base yourself on defense first and play a good counterattack more securely.

Not to mention, the whole Chelsea squad could accept a point from the Etihad Stadium today, they can not win this duel against Manchester City, but they must not lose!

Without taking too much risk, it's the fight for a draw that matters most to Chelsea.

After all, the league is not a one-shot deal, they don't have to decide the winner or loser, the season is still long.

As long as they can keep putting pressure on Manchester City, the whole Chelsea team is convinced that they will still be the winners!

After the resumption of the game, Chelsea, who put on a stubborn posture, undoubtedly gave Guardiola a lot of headaches.

But no matter how difficult it feels at this moment, the whole Manchester City team has to grit their teeth and press forward!

It can't be helped, Chelsea could accept a draw away from home, but they can't think like that.

What they are trying to do today is to win at home and use that win to break their habit of losing to Chelsea.

If Pep Guardiola gives a tactical order to suspend the attack at this time, his players will be directly in a mood of questioning the tactical thinking of the coaching staff.

So Pep Guardiola and Manchester City's coaching staff have no choice at this point, they have to withstand the pressure and continue to give confidence to the players on the pitch.

However, in terms of offensive tactics, Guardiola can still make some timely adjustments.

For example, asking Aguero to withdraw from the box more often to pick up his teammates.

Sterling should stop blindly rushing down the wings, but should take the ball in an appropriate position to contain the Chelsea defenders, and also make room for Kolarov behind him to plug in.

City should be more patient in attack, and City's starters are capable of playing more delicately in attack.

The more difficult the backward link, the more we must not panic and hurry.

Fortunately, the experienced veterans accounted for the vast majority of the Manchester City players who started today, and the only one who was really inexperienced was Raheem Sterling.

So Pep Guardiola's tactical changes were quickly supported by his players.

Manchester City pressed fiercely on the pitch, but their attacking organisation was not impatient, but rather methodically pulled Chelsea's backline horizontally.

The average strong team is pressed by Manchester City in the half, so constantly involved in the back, the defenders may not last 15 minutes and have to expose a lot of holes in the defense.

However, Chelsea were still firmly in control of the defensive tempo.

Their backline is very tight overall, and even if someone is out of position on occasion, nearby teammates will alert him or help him out.

Chelsea were able to show such composure in the face of City's heavy pressure.

Mourinho's mastery of defensive training is one of the reasons, and the other reason is of course Leon's ubiquitous coverage and interception!

If City's attack is mainly on the wing, then Leon will not pay too much attention to it, but as long as Manchester City has the slightest idea of penetrating in the middle, they must pass him first.

This defensive style is exactly the same as when Jose Mourinho led the team to play Barcelona.

Anyway, it is not to let the team led by Guardiola play the midfield advantage!

If Manchester City can really force the wings and rely on the individual ability of the attacking players to break down the Chelsea defence, then Mourinho and the Chelsea players on the pitch will admit it.

But it turns out that relying on muscle bandits and a group of highly motivated defensive players to camp in the middle, such a simple style of play can be a good way to restrain the technical flow of the team!

After all, playing the middle penetration also requires space for technical display, Manchester City wants to open up the situation, Chelsea just don't give them space to open the situation!

Break the rhythm and disrupt the flow of the game... Chelsea, who played "ugly football", did not care about the mood of neutral fans.

Leon and Nemanja Matic directly incarnated into foul masters in the final moments of the first half of the game, and their frequent fouls with small movements made Manchester City's attacking players miserable!

But if you want to appeal to the referee team, their little action is not enough to eat cards, at most it is just interrupting the rhythm of the game and constantly disgusting Manchester City fans.

Leon and Nemanja Matic, who played like the old oily men of the stadium, saw the blood pressure of the home Manchester City fans rise sharply.

At the end of the short halftime break, as soon as the second half began, Li Ang, who trotted out of the players' tunnel, received a tsunami-like "friendly greeting" from the scene.

However, Li Ang just laughed at this, and now this kind of scene of wild boos in the audience has not affected his mentality at all.

After the start of the second half, Leon still led his teammates to shrink the half court to consolidate the defense.

Amid the overwhelming boos and taunts at the Etihad Stadium, the whole Chelsea squad fell on deaf ears and instead ran harder to get up and down.

Manchester City's attacking players are certainly not to be outdone, the main players of both teams are fighting much more on the field, and the smell of gunpowder on the field is getting stronger and stronger.

The referee on duty suddenly became the most nervous person on the field, and he didn't dare to forget the "feat" of Li Ang in front of him to retaliate for a foul and angrily eat a red card.

So Li Ang soon felt that the referee was wary of him, which made him cry and laugh a little.

Yes, he did something to get revenge on his teammates for kicking people and getting a red card, but that was because the opponent moved too much first.

He himself is not a violent maniac, as long as the opponent does not provoke him, why should he take the initiative to take the red card and be banned from the game?

Li Ang felt that the referee was a little too worried, but he also couldn't imagine how "important" he was to the FA now!

The FA is now more worried about the damage to his external image than he is for fear that he will make some foul actions that violate the rules of the pitch.

After all, he is a "Mr. Golden Ball" who came out of the Premier League after Ronaldo, and Li Ang now represents the face of the Premier League.

Can the referees who have been told by the FA's hierarchy before every game not be nervous?!

Fortunately, Leon behaved very sensibly today, and there has been no large-scale clash with Manchester City's attacking players.

The referee was relieved when he saw this, but he still did not dare to relax his strict control of the law enforcement scale.

Gradually, the players of both teams began to receive yellow card warnings.

On Chelsea's side, Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah were carded, while at Manchester City, it was mainly Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho who received yellow cards.

The Argentine striker still couldn't control his temper well.

He was not baddened by pressing too much against the Chelsea defenders, but because he was unhappy with the referee's constant chatter about certain decisions, and was eventually shown a yellow card in front of the referee.

Pep Guardiola stood on the sidelines and involuntarily covered his forehead, and he was now only glad that Otamendi missed the strong conversation today due to an injury.

Otherwise, in the current hot duel atmosphere, he really doesn't know what amazing moves the equally short-tempered Argentine central defender will do.

Game time doesn't stop with these fragmented fouls, it continues to pass fast.

In the 70th minute of the second half, Mourinho quickly replaced Matic, who received a stern warning from the referee for a tactical foul.

Van Ginkel came off the bench, while Leon and Kroos dropped directly back to the midfield position.

In the 76th minute of the game, Kroos made a tactical foul and pulled down Sterling, who was advancing with the ball, and the referee immediately showed Kroos a yellow card!

But Manchester City's players on the pitch were not satisfied with the referee's decision this time, and they began to collectively put pressure on the referee, believing that the referee connived at Chelsea's ugly fouls that constantly disrupted the rhythm of Manchester City's attack!

Leon: I wish it was as big as possible.

He first separated several Manchester City players who were asking the referee, and then when Aguero pushed him violently, he decisively sat down on the turf!

Seeing this, Aguero seemed to be more energetic, and he was still chattering about leaning over to grab Leon's collar.

The referee looked at it and paid it back?!

He immediately blew the whistle and resolutely signaled the players on both sides to retreat first.

Then, under the nervous gaze of tens of thousands of Manchester City fans at the scene, he called Aguero aside and showed him another yellow card!

Two yellows turn into one red!

Aguero was sent off directly by the referee because of his irrational performance!

Guardiola stood on the sidelines with his hands on his hips, not knowing if he was angry, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

He was a little annoyed by the strict standards of today's law enforcement referees, and even more annoyed by Aguero's superior behavior.

You say that you push people, forget it, it is inevitable to push and shove on the football field, but there is something hidden!

In front of the referee, he overthrew Li Ang, who had just maintained the majesty of his referee?

What a stupid action this special code is!

Guardiola didn't even bother to appeal to the fourth official.

Aguero was still defending himself in disbelief, but under the firm decision of the referee on duty, he could only walk off the pitch in dissatisfaction and anger.

Manchester City's home fans booed with strong dissatisfaction!

But it aroused the anger in Aguero's heart, which is equivalent to indirectly making him punished by the referee, but at this time, he covered his mouth with his teammates with a smile on his face.

Regret and self-blame?

No, no, no!

Li Ang will not feel guilty at all for contributing to Aguero's sending off, on the contrary, he is very happy!

Because Chelsea will once again "capture" Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Aguero himself has to die to bury the team's last hope, how can he be blamed?

Mourinho was also overjoyed to see Aguero sent off, and he quickly made the final tactical adjustment, replacing defenders one after another, and firmly holding a one-goal lead!

In the end, after the referee's whistle blew three times, the whole Chelsea team ignored the overwhelming boos and hugged each other to celebrate!

Of course, Li Ang, who once again became the absolute focus of attention, did not escape the interview requirements of the reporters on the scene.

However, when asked by a Sky Sports reporter whether he deliberately annoyed Aguero, Li Ang shook his head again and again.

"I just don't like the way they collectively put pressure on the referee, as for Aguero? He's going to have to pay for his own impulsiveness, and I don't have any inducing fouls!

When you watch the live broadcast of the game, it is very clear that he directly pushed me down, and I did not choose to fight back, in this case I am the victim, I chose to forbear for the smooth progress of the game, this is the truth! ”

The reporters at the scene looked at Li Ang's confident appearance of talking eloquently, and they all complained about his cheekiness in their hearts.

"And what do you think of the boos that the Manchester City fans booed you throughout the game?"

Another reporter dug a pit for Li Ang, but Li Ang responded with a smile:

"It's their freedom to do whatever they want, I don't think so, but I would like to give a word of advice to the City fans at this point:

I know you're in a hurry today, but don't worry......"

It's the last day of 2023, and I wish all the book friends and bigwigs to leave behind the troubles and regrets of the past year, and they can live happily, succeed in their careers, and make their wishes come true in 2024!

(End of chapter)