Chapter 69: Mixed zone

This is what happens when you anger a hero!

Thanks to Chen Yingxiong's two goals, Zenit St. Petersburg won the game away from home. The final score was 2.1, with the visiting team Zenit in front and the home team CSKA behind.

This defeat actually had no impact on CSKA Moscow; it just delayed their pace of winning the championship. There was no big suspense about who would win the championship; this season's league championship would definitely be theirs. The points didn't lie.

But for Zenit, it was very important. This victory allowed them to move up one place in the rankings and return to the fourth place in the league.

Previously, due to Chen Yingxiong's sudden goal drought, the team's performance became unstable, and their league ranking dropped from fourth to fifth.

Although the fourth and fifth places could both qualify for the League Cup, fourth was always safer than fifth.

But this was not the focus of discussion about this game.

Chen Yingxiong broke his goal drought and scored two very beautiful goals in the game, but this was also not the focus of discussion.

The focus of discussion was Chen Yingxiong's celebration after scoring the goal and the reaction of CSKA Moscow fans.

As soon as the game was over, Chen Yingxiong was surrounded in the mixed zone. The reporters refused to let him leave and insisted that he answer questions.

"Hero, how did you come up with the idea of ​​using... uh, using bananas..." The reporter himself didn't know how to talk about this topic, and he tried his best not to use the word "racial discrimination."

"I heard a bunch of monkeys calling and I thought they must be craving for bananas."

Chen Yingxiong's answer surprised many reporters - they thought Chen Yingxiong would criticize the racial discrimination and then loudly protest. But Chen Yingxiong was so tough that he confronted the CSKA Moscow fans after the game.

Radimov next to him added. "This is because CSKA fans instigated the discrimination in the first place..."

"Even if the opposing fans did this, is it...excessive for Hero to respond like this?" the reporter asked Radimov.

This question was directed to Radimov, but Chen Yingxiong snatched it away.

"Excessive? You were robbed while walking, and you fought back in self-defense. The police came and didn't arrest the robber, but thought that you were excessive in self-defense. What do you think of this?" he asked back.

"Uh..." The reporters realized that this was a stupid question.

Chen Yingxiong ignored the speechless reporter and raised his arms high. "Actually, this matter is very simple. The fans of CSKA Moscow attacked me throughout the game, so I scored two goals in the game and helped Zenit beat the team they supported. I think the fans' expressions must be very interesting now. Anyway, I am very happy now! You can write this - this is the result of angering Yingxiong!"

After saying that, he turned and left the mixed zone, leaving a group of stunned people behind.

Even a reporter with rich interview experience might have never seen such an arrogant person.

"Who does he think he is?!"

"Oh my god, he can really say such words..."

"Actually, I think this title is great! I'm going to use this sentence!"

"Ha! I think I'm beginning to like this guy..."

Reporters' reactions were mixed, with some criticizing Chen Yingxiong for his arrogance and others praising his straightforwardness.

Now that the protagonist was gone, the media could only pull other players over to hear their opinions on the matter.

Arshavin expressed his protest to the media. "I think everyone saw and heard what happened on the field. The behavior of CSKA Moscow fans is very bad! Racial discrimination should be completely eliminated from the football field!"

Anyukov also came up to express his agreement. "I hope the referee can write this in the match report. This is very shameless!"

At the post-match press conference, Advocaat angrily criticized the behavior of CSKA Moscow fans. "This is a shame for Russian football! How can such a situation be allowed to appear openly on the football field?"

As for Chen Yingxiong's reaction, Advocaat naturally supported his disciple.

"I think Chen Yingxiong's response is normal. It is impossible for anyone to not be angry after being besieged for a whole game. He is still an 18-year-old child. His actions may not meet our expectations, but the fault is definitely not his. It is the fault of those provocative fans!"

"The Football Association should severely punish those fans, but my players showed no problematic behaviour at all!"

Racial discrimination was a big problem and it was one of the crimes in stadiums that FIFA had been cracking down on.

So, as long as it came to racial discrimination, it was basically one-sided.

It was impossible for anyone to dare to speak for those fans. Even CSKA Moscow's head coach Gasaev criticized the fans' behavior. "I don't think they can represent the fans who truly love CSKA. These people are not welcome in any team..."

The excitement always came after the game, when the media was hyping up the scene that happened in the stands and under the stands. The St. Petersburg Zetni Club also issued an official statement, expressing strong anger and condemnation for the scene that happened in the stands of the Dynamo Stadium.

"... When we face some ugly phenomena, we are always used to being silent. But silence is inappropriate for some situations. Such things happened in the match between Zenit and CSKA. We believe that the stadium is not a place for racial discrimination. These things will make fans forget the wonderful scenes in the game and prevent newcomers from appreciating our sport. We also know that there are many fans in Moscow who really love football. We believe that most fans respect the players. So for such things, we hope that the Russian Football Association and CSKA Club can deal with them seriously."

Racial discrimination was very serious on Russian football fields, as the country had a tradition of xenophobia.

But this did not mean it could be tolerated.

The media also fiercely criticized the actions of CSKA Moscow fans. Of course, some Moscow media believed that Chen Yingxiong's response was not calm enough and he intensified the conflict.

After the game, the Russian Football Association quickly imposed relevant penalties. The Russian Football Association was also shocked by such blatant idiocy. At least keep it in the bars and don't display it so openly… You think Russia will ever host the Champions League final if it keeps accumulating these instances?

CSKA Moscow was fined 500,000 rubles for racial discrimination by fans at home, and was banned from playing two home games. This meant that when other teams went to Moscow to challenge CSKA, there would only be fans of the visiting team, not the fans of the home team.

Such a punishment was quite harsh, and it also showed the attitude of the Russian Football Association - that is, there would be no tolerance!

The matter was thus resolved, but many people realized what kind of person Chen Yingxiong was through this incident—he was definitely not the kind of person who would just sit there and take it in silence if you slapped him. Even if he didn't respond at first, it was because he was waiting for an opportunity, holding back a lot of bad intentions, to find the right time to cause trouble for the other party.

The fans of CSKA Moscow brought shame upon themselves because they lacked a correct understanding of the situation.

After the game, the photo of Chen Yingxiong rushing up to them and feeding them a banana made the front pages of major media outlets.

Now the whole of Russian football world knew of this guy!

He was unruly and young, he dared to confront the extreme fans who booed him, and he used bananas to provoke the fans. Of course, he could also score goals. His long shot and header were both very beautiful.

Such an awesome person suddenly appeared without anyone knowing their approach beforehand!

He scored five goals in three games, didn't score in four rounds, and then scored twice against a strong opponent like CSKA Moscow, basically defeating the defending champions by himself.

This kind of player was just like his personality, flamboyant and eccentric, making it impossible to reason with him.

One newspaper wrote. "...The Russian Premier League may change because of this guy..."

While the outside world was in an uproar, this guy who may change the Russian Super League was being tortured to death by Yesenin in the copy.

"Okay, take a rest!" As soon as these words came out of Yesenin's mouth, Chen Yingxiong immediately collapsed to the ground.

The scene around him was changing rapidly, and soon he was back in his dormitory and lying on the floor.

He was soaked in sweat and the floor was all wet.

His breathing was as heavy as if he was pulling a bellows. After experiencing such training, he began to have a feeling - his team's normal training was as easy as playing house!

"Hero," Yesenin shouted.

Chen Yingxiong turned to look at him.

"How did you come up with that banana idea?"

"Don't monkeys all like to eat bananas?" Chen Yingxiong said after taking a breath.

Yesenin laughed. "But I think you should not do this next time."

"Why?"

"Nothing is more powerful than counterattacking with a goal," Yesenin said.

Chen Yingxiong nodded. "So if we can respond with something else on top of the goal, it will be even more powerful!"

When Yesenin heard what Chen Yingxiong said, he curled his lips.

Chen Yingxiong sat up from the ground. "Sometimes, some things are hard to change, Mr. Aurora. If I change them, I'm not Chen Yingxiong. Shall we continue?"

Yesenin was a little surprised. "You only rested for a few minutes?"

"Too little time, and too much experience is needed to upgrade. You know what, Mr. Aurora? After the match with CSKA, I felt great. They all looked down on me, despised me, mocked me, and then in the end I beat them all to death. I like the feeling of beating people. In order to be able to beat those people better, faster and more, I must upgrade to gain stronger abilities."

Chen Yingxiong stood up and said to Yesenin.

"There are always many people in this world who are self-righteous and bossy about other people's affairs. The purpose of my existence is to tell them. Don't pretend to be cool, or you will be struck by lightning!"