Thinking this way, Pochettino actually felt less frustrated and began watching Ling with genuine interest.
He even quietly cheered for him in his heart.
Mourinho had no idea what was going on next door.
Otherwise, he would have thought Pochettino had lost his mind!
Soon, the match resumed.
Tottenham's players moved like zombies, their spirit completely shattered by Ling.
If this had been the team from two seasons ago, even in this situation, they would not have been so demoralized.
At the very least, they would have retained some sense of shame instead of drifting through the match like this.
The root cause lay in their poor results, chaotic atmosphere, and constant internal conflicts.
Of course, the 7–2 loss to Bayern had also played a major role.
As the saying went, habit becomes second nature.
As the first half drew to a close, Manchester United won a corner on the right.
Mahrez delivered the ball directly near the penalty spot.
Alderweireld looked as if his strength had been drained away. In the aerial duel, he was knocked straight to the ground by Ling's power.
Ling rose high and headed the ball home!
Gazzaniga's outstretched hand froze mid-air, his face full of helpless despair.
1–4!
"LING RISES ABOVE THEM!"
"A header now, because apparently the impossible was not enough!"
"Two years ago, he became the player with the most goals in a single match against Tottenham."
"Tonight, before halftime, he has already matched the record he once set — in half the time, with twice the cruelty!"
"Wembley is watching a record being stalked!"
Even Drury sounded as if he felt a little pain for Tottenham.
Fortunately, this was Tottenham facing Manchester United.
If Liverpool were conceding this many goals, half of Merseyside would probably be vomiting blood on the spot.
When Tottenham returned to the dressing room, they were met with silence.
Pochettino gave a few symbolic words before turning and leaving without looking back, leaving behind a strangely gloating silhouette.
"Earlier... well, I pulled a muscle while making a save and can't continue. Can someone else be substituted in?"
Gazzaniga could only approach the assistant coach and whisper.
"Sorry, you know Lloris is injured, so we didn't bring a substitute goalkeeper today."
The assistant coach's words struck like a bolt from the blue, freezing Gazzaniga in place.
After a long pause, a flash of ferocity flickered in his eyes.
Fuck, guess he would get himself sent off with a red card later.
If they would not substitute him out, he would take himself out!
He did not want to become a mere backdrop for some main character!
...
Meanwhile, in Manchester United's dressing room, Mourinho did not say much.
He simply reminded the players to stay safe.
For the fans of both teams, the fifteen-minute break was agonizing.
One side wanted to see blood.
The other side just wanted the night to stop.
When Wembley regained its roar, more than half of the white in the stands had already disappeared.
What was left to watch?
...
What followed was thrilling, yet somehow also dull.
In the 56th minute, Nemanja Matić intercepted the ball in midfield and sent a lofted long pass forward.
Ling volleyed it without letting it touch the ground.
During the finish, he even avoided Gazzaniga.
Gazzaniga froze.
'Damn it! i could not even get a red card.'
But for the sake of his future career, he could not commit an obvious foul.
Wouldn't that look like match-fixing?
Not only would the club reject him, but the FA would also investigate.
"Matić lifts it forward..."
"LING ON THE VOLLEY!"
"OH, HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN!"
"No touch to settle, no moment to think, just instinct sharpened into a blade!"
"Five for Manchester United, five for Ling, and Tottenham are no longer defending a match — they are surviving an exhibition!"
In the 68th minute, Ling fired a shot from the edge of the box. Gazzaniga caught the ball and instinctively booted it forward.
With Manchester United's entire formation pushed high, the ball sailed over the defense.
Kane watched it descend from the sky.
One-on-one.
Facing De Gea, who had rushed out of goal, he slotted the ball into the far corner.
2–5.
This time, no Tottenham player went to retrieve the ball, and no Tottenham fans truly cheered.
Instead, the neutral fans cheered for Tottenham because resistance made things interesting.
Manchester United had been ready to ease off.
But this goal ignited their ferocity, unleashing another storm of attacks.
In the 74th minute, Havertz, who had come on as a substitute, broke through the middle and passed to Alex Sandro, who was making a run down the left flank.
The Brazilian full-back stopped abruptly and floated the ball into the box.
Unfortunately, it was too close to goal and was plucked out of the air by the leaping Gazzaniga.
Or at least, it should have been.
"Butterfingers?"
"Gazzaniga can't hold it, and the ball drops to the right side of the six-yard box!"
"Mahrez isn't shooting?"
"He squares it across the middle—LING TAPS IT IN!"
"Six!"
"Mahrez has wrapped it, ribboned it, and delivered it to the king!"
"That is practically spoon-feeding history!"
Mahrez was indeed thinking exactly that.
Why?
Whether he scored in this match was irrelevant.
But every additional goal Ling scored meant the record climbed higher.
Of course, the key point was that Ling was the team's alpha.
And pleasing the alpha was what an excellent player should do, and what Mahrez happened to be very good at doing.
Just three minutes later, Mahrez cut inside from the wing and played a through ball toward Ling in the box.
Alderweireld went in with a sliding tackle.
The result was that Ling did not touch the ball, but Alderweireld did.
And it ended up in the net.
Own goal.
2–7.
"And now even the defenders are scoring for Manchester United!"
Drury almost sounded sympathetic.
"It may be irresponsible to speculate, but Alderweireld looked as if he would rather put it in himself than allow Ling another touch."
"Perhaps that is his final act of defiance."
But that defiance was shattered near the end of the match.
Inside the box, Vertonghen brought down Grealish, who had come on as a substitute.
The referee decisively pointed to the penalty spot.
There was no doubt.
Ling would take it.
If he scored, he would have seven goals in one Premier League match!
Considering Kane, second on the scoring chart, had already been four goals behind him before tonight...
Jim Beglin could not bear to continue.
When the referee blew the whistle, Ling took a deep breath, began his run-up, and struck the ball to the right.
Gazzaniga dived the opposite way.
2–8.
An eight-goal massacre of Tottenham Hotspur.
A bloodbath at Wembley on a winter night.
For a moment, even Peter Drury seemed to let the noise breathe before speaking again.
"SEVEN."
"Seven goals for Jeremy Ling."
"The Ballon d'Or winner has not merely taken the match ball tonight. He has taken the record, the stadium, the story, and perhaps the last remaining breath of Tottenham's season."
"From bicycle kick to rabona, from header to volley, from instinct to cold penalty-box murder — this is a performance beyond numbers, beyond cruelty, beyond ordinary football language."
"Wembley has witnessed many great nights."
"Tonight, it has witnessed a man become a myth in real time."
Not long after, the full-time whistle blew.
The match was over.
Tottenham Hotspur 2–8 Manchester United!
Ling had scored an incredible seven goals, becoming the first player in Premier League history to score seven times in a single match.
📰 Sky Sports: Ling Scores Seven as Manchester United Humiliate Tottenham 8–2 at Wembley
📰 BBC Sport: Ballon d'Or Winner Breaks Premier League Single-Match Scoring Record
📰 Manchester Evening News: Ling Produces Mythic Seven-Goal Performance Against Spurs
📰 The Athletic: Pochettino's Tottenham Destroyed as United No.7 Rewrites Premier League History
📰 Daily Mail: Wembley Massacre: Ling Hits Seven as Spurs Collapse
📱 @UnitedStand ✔
Seven goals. Bicycle kick. Rabona. Volley. Penalty. Header. I don't even know what to say anymore. He's not real.
| ↳ 📱 @StretfordEndTom
| Reply: Drury said "a man become a myth in real time" and honestly? Correct.
📱 @SpursTalk
I turned it off at 4–1. I made the right choice and somehow still feel traumatized.
📱 @NeutralPremWatch
The first goal was Puskás-worthy. The rabona was Puskás-worthy. Then he scored five more. This is illegal!
📱 @BallonDorWatch ✔
Some players feel pressure after winning the Ballon d'Or. Ling apparently unlocked a new difficulty level.
📱 @CNFootballRealist
Seven goals in the Premier League. First Asian Ballon d'Or winner. First player to score seven in one Premier League match. Whatever complicated feelings people have, this is history!