The match resumed from the center circle.
At Wembley Stadium, the cheers from both sets of fans grew louder, but the Manchester City supporters clearly held the vocal upper hand now.
They had gone far too long without defeating Manchester United, and the taste of success they had just experienced made losing this final entirely unacceptable to them.
From the 2013-14 season to now, Manchester City had won the English League Cup three times, with the remaining two titles going to Manchester United and Chelsea.
Today, they desperately wanted to use this title to definitively prove that Manchester City was no longer the "noisy neighbors."
"Pride in battle!"
"Glory, glory, Man United!"
The massive stadium was sharply divided between a sea of red and a sea of sky blue.
Amid the passionate chants of both sets of fans, Manchester City surprisingly did not drop back to defend their lead but instead launched an even more ferocious, possession-based offensive.
They aimed to boldly counterattack with attack, suppressing Manchester United's left flank in turn to keep the captain pinned deep.
After several seasons of tactical adjustment, Guardiola had seemingly abandoned the classic tiki-taka on the surface, but its core philosophical principles remained entirely unchanged.
He was still the man completely accustomed to taking the absolute initiative.
The modern roles of the inverted full-back and the deep-lying playmaker emerged precisely because of his obsessive tactical philosophy.
With David Silva and De Bruyne acting as the twin engines, the team continuously and rapidly passed the ball across the left and right flanks.
If one observed carefully, they would notice that the ratio of vertical, penetrating passes to horizontal, safe passes fluctuated perfectly within a certain, calculated range.
In other words, Guardiola had truly integrated tiki-taka tactics with modern, dynamic player behavior!
Manchester City seemed to weave a massive, suffocating blue net, constantly shrinking Manchester United's defensive space.
Football, at its very essence, is a brutal battle for space.
The atmosphere on the pitch took a sharp turn, creating an inexplicable tension and even a terrifying sense of suffocation for the United players chasing shadows.
Clive Tyldesley: "Manchester City's possession rate is rapidly increasing, nearing 70% now. They are comfortably advancing into the attacking third time and time again."
Ally McCoist: "Their front three are all small, incredibly quick, and agile, making it so easy for them to create space with their individual technical skills. Their clear goal right now might be to frustrate Manchester United into committing rash fouls in dangerous areas."
Clive Tyldesley: "I wonder how Mourinho and Manchester United will respond to this absolute clinic in possession?"
In reality, Manchester United had two viable tactical options.
First, actively compress their defensive space further, making their defensive line incredibly compact in a deep low block to totally disrupt Manchester City's passing lanes in the final third.
Second, aggressively press forward with a high-intensity mid-block press, forcefully trying to break through and shatter Manchester City's passing network.
If it were the Mourinho from last season, he would undoubtedly have chosen the first, highly conservative approach.
But now...
When Manchester City crossed the predetermined defensive line trigger near the halfway mark, Ling shouted and immediately charged forward like a wild dog.
"PRESS!"
Manchester United's frenzied, coordinated team pressing in midfield suddenly bore a striking, terrifying resemblance to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool or Simeone's Atlético Madrid.
This was the direct, grueling result of Manchester United's recent intensive training sessions under Mourinho.
...
Meanwhile, Manchester City didn't force their way forward recklessly into the pressing trap.
Instead, they calmly passed the ball back to their own half, trying to bait and draw Manchester United out of their shape.
If Manchester United chose to turtle up in defense instead, Manchester City would be more than happy to see that.
After all, they were the ones leading 1-0. At worst, they could just keep sterile possession until the final whistle.
But sitting back and waiting for a slow defeat has never been Manchester United's proud tradition.
Even if they were to lose, they'd go down fighting.
The entire Manchester United formation pushed forward aggressively, continuing to press the City defenders.
However, Kante's positioning was very deliberate—he stayed suspiciously close to Maguire rather than joining the high press.
The exact moment the Manchester United players pushed forward, Manchester City ruthlessly changed their passing rhythm again, instantly reducing ineffective sideways passes!
After a series of rapid, one-touch passes, the ball landed at Ilkay Gundogan's feet in the center circle.
While Gundogan was looking for an outlet, Mahrez, Pogba, and Ling closed in rapidly from three sides, forming a deadly, pocket-like encirclement to steal the ball.
'Beautiful movement! I knew I wasn't wrong about this kid!' Guardiola swung his arm forcefully in excitement on the touchline.
Just then, Zinchenko made a perfectly timed, overlapping forward run, creating an unmarked, vital passing option out of the trap.
Gundogan smoothly and calmly passed the ball to the young Ukrainian.
Every young player dreams of being the ultimate hero in a cup final.
Zinchenko was no exception.
Looking up and seeing Sergio Aguero making a darting forward run between the center-backs, a bold, ambitious idea formed in his mind.
He wanted to tear apart Manchester United's entire defense with a single, spectacular long pass!
Thump!
'Run faster, Kun!' Zinchenko stared intently at the spinning ball in the air, his heart pounding uncontrollably in his chest.
Aguero seemed to telepathically hear his young teammate's thoughts and accelerated sharply!
Maguire desperately tried to turn and follow the Argentine, but his massive body felt as if it had rusted shut, moving as slowly as an aircraft carrier turning in a canal.
The defender was even prepared to commit a cynical, tactical foul, fully accepting the cost of a straight red card to stop a certain goal.
But the next second, Maguire saw a small, tireless figure dart out from nowhere.
Before Zinchenko had even made the long pass, Kante had already brilliantly anticipated the ball's trajectory based on the player's body shape and moved early to keep up with Aguero.
This was his exceptional, world-class reading of the game.
Kante didn't even attempt a risky sliding tackle.
Instead, using his pace, he gently poked the dropping ball with his toe, sending it safely back to De Gea in front of the goal just as Aguero arrived.
The Manchester United fans in the stadium broke out in a collective cold sweat!
If that delicate back-pass wasn't handled properly by the keeper, it could easily have resulted in a disastrous own goal.
Fortunately, De Gea was fully prepared.
Without a moment of hesitation, he cleared the ball with a powerful, booming kick, sending it soaring across half the pitch toward the center circle.
"Thank goodness for Kante. If it were anyone else covering, our flank would probably be torn apart right now," Ling murmured.
He immediately stopped his defensive run and turned to sprint forward on the counter.
Kyle Walker quickly followed his shadow.
Meanwhile, Manchester City was caught horribly in the midst of transitioning between attack and defense, leaving their midfield and defensive players in complete disarray.
This allowed Lukaku to easily hold off Gundogan physically and head De Gea's clearance backward into the path of Pogba.
Pogba, facing David Silva from the side, elegantly evaded the Spaniard with a slick pull-and-push of his right foot (a croqueta).
He didn't pass to Ling on the left this time because Zinchenko's reckless, failed long pass had backfired massively, exposing City's own left flank entirely!
Clive Tyldesley: "A sweeping long pass from Pogba over to Mahrez! The delivery is absolutely spot on!"
Ally McCoist: "Manchester United has brilliantly created a three-on-three advantage in the attacking third! They've caught City out!"
Clive Tyldesley: "Let's see how Mahrez handles this!"
Everyone in the stadium instinctively held their breath, almost afraid of affecting the players' actions on the field with their noise.
Lukaku charged like a battering ram straight into the penalty area, forcefully drawing Otamendi away with him, while Ling pinned down Kyle Walker tightly on the far flank.
Mahrez now faced only Aymeric Laporte on the right edge of the box!
A classic Mahrez shoulder drop and sharp cut inside created half a yard of precious space.
He shaped his body to unleash his trademark curling shot into the far corner.
"TO ME!"
Ling suddenly stopped his run to the back post, pulled back toward the penalty spot, and shouted loudly toward Mahrez.
Hearing Ling's call, Mahrez decisively abandoned the idea of a selfish curling shot.
He understood perfectly that if Ling dared to call for the ball in that high-pressure situation, it meant he had absolute, unwavering confidence he would score.
All Mahrez needed to do was... trust him unconditionally!
Tap!
The ball rolled swiftly and perfectly across the pristine grass, stopped dead by a pair of red boots near the penalty spot!
Kyle Walker, already caught off guard by Ling's sudden feint and pullback, had just managed to catch up when he saw Ling make his final move without a shred of hesitation.
Low-level dribblers rely purely on speed; high-level dribblers play ruthlessly with rhythm.
And this was exactly what Kyle Walker feared most!
Dozens of gigabytes of video footage, over a dozen pages of PowerPoint data—Ling's deep tactical understanding of Kyle Walker's defensive habits was no less than Guardiola's, or even Walker's own.
Ling's center of gravity swayed dramatically from side to side over the ball, like a massive, unpredictable pendulum!
Kyle Walker, panicked by the movement, instinctively stretched out his right foot to tackle.
In the very next microsecond, Ling pushed the ball even faster, gliding effortlessly past the committed Kyle Walker as if floating on air.
Only one man now stood between him and Manchester City's goal.
Ederson's tattooed face remained calm as water, coolly assessing Ling's body shape and intentions, ready to dive at any moment.
He, too, knew Ling's habits from film study.
'Aiming far but shooting near, dribbling past the goalkeeper...' the Brazilian keeper had even undergone targeted, specific training for this exact scenario.
On the touchline, Guardiola clasped his hands tightly together as if in prayer.
But his eyes soon widened in absolute shock at Ling's unexpected choice.
He shot for the far corner!
No tricky attempt to disguise his intention—just pure, unadulterated power and absolute confidence that Ederson simply couldn't reach it!
Clive Tyldesley: "LING SHOOTS! This ball... is IN!!!"
Ally McCoist: "What an unbelievable finish! The shot was placed with absolute perfection, grazing Ederson's outstretched fingertips and striking the inside of the right post before bouncing violently into the net!"
Clive Tyldesley: "Perhaps De Gea, with his superior traditional goal-line skills, could have saved it. But Ederson still has room for improvement in his pure shot-stopping abilities compared to his distribution. He couldn't get there!"
Ally McCoist: "In the 27th minute of the first half, Manchester United forcefully equalize the cup final!"
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator