Chapter 52: Flying Hero!

When Chen Yingxiong scored, Porter still rushed up to cheer, it was like a conditioned reflex, but he soon realized a problem, so he turned his head to look at Advocaat who was also cheering. Feeling the gaze of his assistant, Advocat certainly knew what Porter meant by looking at him.

"Three goals," he said to Porter.

Yes, for the fans of Zenit St. Petersburg, this goal was enough for them to celebrate for a while. For the players of Soviet Wings, this loss of a goal could make them feel uneasy and depressed for a long time. But for Chen Yingxiong, this goal was of no help at all!

He still had to score two more!

As mentioned before, if the difficulty of scoring a goal in a game is 100, then the difficulty of scoring two goals is 100 squared, which is 10,000.

…

After the game resumed, Zenit took advantage of the Soviet Wings' low mood after losing the ball and launched a fierce attack. They planned to use the opportunity to score another goal. If Chen Yingxiong could score the second goal in this wave of offence, then a hat trick would not be far away.

But Hussin and Booth were like a heavy gate that was tightly closed. Facing Chen Yingxiong's attack, again and again, they guarded the goal behind them like a pair of dogs. 

Until the end of the first half, Chen Yingxiong was unable to score, and the score remained at 1:0.

During the halftime break, those reporters who had previously confidently declared that Chen Yingxiong was not in good condition were now frowning, thinking about how they would reverse the story in the newspaper the next day. They had previously said that he was not in good condition, but he scored again in this game, scoring in three consecutive games. This had nothing to do with "not in good condition", right?

But if they say that Chen Yingxiong was in good shape, wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting that their previous accusations that Chen Yingxiong's condition declined due to hanging out in nightclubs were groundless?

Was that okay? This was about their reputation, it would be too embarrassing to say this!

After much thought, these reporters finally came up with a plan, which was to claim that scoring a goal did not mean that the player was in excellent form. Some players sleepwalked on the field for 89 minutes and scored a goal in the last minute. Could this be considered excellent form?

Absolutely not!

Chen Yingxiong was actually the same. Before he scored, his performance was not outstanding. He obviously encountered huge resistance in his attack. Booth and Husin both caused him a lot of trouble. It could be seen that Chen Yingxiong, a rookie, was inexperienced in dealing with these defenders.

So if there hadn't been this goal in the first half, Chen Yingxiong's performance would not have been considered outstanding.

Even that goal... many people would attribute it to a "lucky goal". In everyone's opinion, Chen Yingxiong jumped up, collided with Matthew Booth, and then the ball flew into the goal...

What is this? God knows who crashed into it. Even if it was Chen Yingxiong, it only means that he was lucky, not that he was in good condition...

As expected of a writer, they made the original unreasonable thing reasonable. It seemed that Chen Yingxiong had really scored this goal because of good luck only.

"To be honest, scoring three goals in three consecutive games... I don't believe it's not luck, he's 18 for god's sake!" The old reporter with wrinkles on his face, who looked knowledgeable, shrugged and said with a puff of smoke.

…

During the half-time break, the atmosphere in the locker room of Zenit, which was leading, seemed a bit weird.

Advocaat said, "I think you are all experienced professionals, except for one person." Everyone knew who that person was.

"You can see the weakness of the opponent's defence, right? So I am disappointed with your performance in the first half, but I know you have your reasons. So one thing that makes me happy about this incident is that the team is very united."

"What else can I say? You all know what to do next, right?"

After saying that, Advocaat opened the door of the locker room and walked out, leaving the rest of the time to the players themselves.

Chen Yingxiong became the protagonist, and he thanked his teammates who supported him one by one in the locker room.

This game was so important to him that he even thanked the Koreans...

"Good job, it's just one goal, not enough, more to come!" Arshavin patted his arm.

"Yes, score more goals against them! Goals, goals!" Denisov shouted loudly.

…

Denisov's words were still ringing in my mind, but they were just wishes.

After the start of the second half, Chen Yingxiong faced greater defensive pressure.

Gadiev absorbed the experience and lessons of the first half. Booth and Hussin joined forces to defend and built an almost insurmountable wall in front of Chen Yingxiong.

Ten minutes later, the score was 1:0, with Zenit St. Petersburg taking the lead at home.

Twenty minutes later, the score was still 1:0, with St. Petersburg leading.

Thirty minutes passed and the score on the big screen didn't change, as if it had fallen asleep.

"It's been 75 minutes in the game and the score is still 1:0. Soviet Wings has started to launch some counterattacks. They obviously don't want to lose by a small margin away from home. If there is a chance, they still want to score a goal to equalize the score, or even turn defeat into victory in the end!"

Commentator Shilgeyevsky was right. Soviet Wings did have this idea. Since the score had not changed for 30 minutes since the second half, it meant that their defence was successful. If the defence succeeds... they didn't need to be taught what to do next. They were all professional players.

They fought back! They were only one goal behind, which was a great temptation. As long as they could score one goal, they could tie the score. If they could score two goals, they could turn defeat into victory! Zenit St. Petersburg had been besieging them for so long. It would be wonderful if they were the ones to take the three points in the end! At this time of relegation, they desperately needed every point.

…

Chen Yingxiong's white Zenit jersey with blue edges had been splattered to green and brown. He had initiated countless physical contacts with the two central defenders during the match, and this was the only solution he could think of. As a result, there was no part of his body that didn't hurt...

No, it didn't even hurt anymore. It was just numb.

And still, he had not yet been able to score his second goal.

There were fifteen minutes left in the game. If he couldn't score two goals in these fifteen minutes, he would not be able to complete a hat trick. He knew better than anyone what the consequences would be if he failed to do so.

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, being able to score in three consecutive games is already very remarkable. But no one knows what Chen Yingxiong is pursuing behind his tenacious charge against the Soviet Wings defence line again and again.

Hat trick, this crazy idea, took up more and more space in his mind. Now, he didn't think about anything except scoring a goal and completing a hat trick.

Zenit fans in the stands were still cheering and cheering for the team. Chen Yingxiong knew that the score of 1:0 was very dangerous, and the opponent could score a goal at any time through a counterattack to equalize the score. At that time, it would definitely be a heavy blow to Zenit's morale.

As a striker, he needed to step forward at this time, score goals as soon as possible, stabilize the morale of the team, and strike a blow against the arrogance of the Soviet Wings.

Go for a goal! Go for a goal! Go for a goal!!

…

Anyukov broke through the wing and then made a cross, but the ball was blocked by the Soviet Wings full-back. He had been close to Anyukov before and did not make a rash move. He made a defensive move at the last moment.

This was also one of Gadzhiev's adjustments - strictly guarding the two flanks, preventing Zenit St. Petersburg from easily kicking the ball from the flanks, directly cutting off the blood supply to Chen Yingxiong, thus greatly reducing the chances Chen Yingxiong had. This was also a major reason why he failed to score a goal in the first 30 minutes of the second half.

Advocaat saw it all from the sidelines.

He has already discovered that the impact that Chen Yingxiong brought to the teams in this league after his debut was gradually fading, and more and more teams were paying attention to him. It was not difficult for interested clubs to get the videos of these three games, especially those giants in the capital.

Through video analysis, they could easily see Chen Yingxiong's weakness, which was that he was useless in everything except heading... It was not difficult for those experienced coaches to deal with such a single-characteristic striker.

What should we do then?

Advocaat didn't have time to think about this problem too much because the current game was more important. But in the future, he would have to make a decision.

…

Anyukov's breakthrough cross was blocked by the opponent's full-back, which gave Zenit a corner-kick opportunity.

This was a good opportunity for Zenit to score.

Denisov was worried about Chen Yingxiong off the court. He even stood up involuntarily and looked into the penalty area of ​​Soviet Wings.

Chen Yingxiong, as the centre forward, stood in front of the goal and raised his hands to show his position to his teammates. However, this also attracted the defenders of the Soviet Wings.

Matthew Booth and Andre Hussin sandwiched him in the middle.

This was their usual way of defending Chen Yingxiong in the second half. In the last game against Vladivostok Light Energy, Chen Yingxiong still created scoring opportunities for Arshavin despite being double-teamed. But that was because the opponent's two central defenders were too poor...

They all double-teamed him, but the strength of the guards was now very different.

Despite this, Chen Yingxiong still did not give in. He just stood there, waiting for his teammates to pass the ball to him.

Anyukov saw Chen Yingxiong raise his arms and knew that he was asking for the ball. But...

According to what they had practised in previous training, Chen Yingxiong would draw the ball and then pass it to the penalty spot, providing the defender who came in from behind with a chance to head the ball. But today, these were not using this tactic because they had to find a way for Chen Yingxiong to complete a hat trick.

Chen Yingxiong noticed Anyukov's hesitation. He put down his hand and turned his head to look around - there were people on both sides, so it would be difficult for him to let Anyukov pass the ball to him to compete for the header...

His natural talent gave him a strong header ability, but he couldn't do everything. He still had to rely on himself to solve some problems. For example, now...

He thought about it, turned around and ran out.

Matthew Booth and Andre Hussin looked at each other - was this guy trying to dodge their defence?

Hussin decided to follow him out. But at this moment, he found that Chen Yingxiong did not stop at any point in the penalty zone, but ran directly out!

Hussin hesitated. He couldn't follow him all the way out. There would be only Booth in front of the goal... If he did that, wouldn't he just fall into Zenit's trap? The opponent's No. 99 must have done that to create space - he didn't know that Anyukov would not pass the ball to anyone except Chen Yingxiong, so he could have actually followed him out without any worries.

But now, he hesitated, then turned and ran back.

What was the use of a central defender who left the penalty area during a corner kick?

…

When Denisov saw Chen Yingxiong run away, he frowned.

"Is this bastard going to give up?"

Not far away, Advocaat looked at Chen Yingxiong with interest. He was very interested in the boy's sudden choice. What was the plan?

…

"Ah... let's see what happened. Hero suddenly left the penalty zone. As a centre forward, he retreated! What is he doing? So far away from the goal, what threat can he pose?"

The commentator Sergeyevsky asked in surprise from the TV.

But when Yesenin, who was sitting on the sofa, saw this scene, he laughed.

He was not sure what Chen Yingxiong was going to do, but he was sure that something would happen...

…

Chen Yingxiong retreated to the outer edge of the penalty area and looked towards the corner flag. Anyukov was also looking at him, with a surprised and questioning expression on his face.

Chen Yingxiong made a gesture to him: Pass the ball to the goal as planned!

Although An Yukov didn't know what Chen Yingxiong wanted to do, it seemed that he had no choice but to pass the ball as previously arranged...

So he took a step back and prepared to kick.

Just as he took a run-up and kicked the football, Chen Yingxiong, who was originally standing outside the penalty area, jumped on the spot, took a deep breath, and rushed straight into the penalty area as if he was sprinting for a penalty kick!

In front of him was one of his teammates...the Korean guy Li Hao.

Chen Yingxiong took a slight step away, then put his hands on Li Hao's shoulders while sprinting at high speed!

Push hard with your feet!

Hero takes off!

Li Hao only felt his body sinking, and before he could react to what had just happened, a figure flew past him...

"Oh——" the commentator Shilgeyevsky exclaimed. At this moment he knew why Chen Yingxiong just did that... A plane needs a runway of sufficient length to take off, and the same goes for a hero!

Seeing the football flying towards the goal, central defenders Booth and Hussin jumped up, one in front and one behind, to ensure that the ball would not slip through.

At this moment, Booth caught a glimpse of a black shadow suddenly appearing from the air out of the corner of his eye!

There was a huge cheer from the stands of the Kirov Stadium, and the sudden sound startled him.

Something was...going to happen?

Chen Yingxiong's body was almost tilted in the air, with his head at the front and his feet dragging behind. In this posture, he headed the football!

There were still two people in front, the same two people, like a tightly closed city gate.

He had been defeated before, this time, he had to... blast this door open!

Chen Yingxiong's accurate judgment of the ball's landing point allowed him to head the ball first!

After kicking the ball out, he crashed into Booth and Hussin. His shoulder hit Booth's chest, and then his waist swung, and his thigh and knee hit Hussin's body. It was like a car hitting a wall, deforming and twisting, and then releasing all the energy!

Three people fell to the ground, but what about the football?

Already in the goal!

The second one!