Soon, the game continued, and West Ham United took advantage of the kick-off opportunity to press directly to the front of Manchester City's penalty area to launch an attack.
But with the lack of frontcourt attackers such as Payet, Carroll, and Lanzini, it can be clearly seen that West Ham United's current players on the field do not have a good solution.
Several attempts were made to cross from the wing for high-altitude bombing, but all were blocked by Zabaleta, Clichy and others.
Even the long-range shot from outside the penalty area at the top of the arc was blocked by Chu Zheng and Fernandinho.
Less than 3 minutes after taking possession of the ball, West Ham United, with a poor possession rate of only 24%, soon lost the ball again and ushered in a new round of aggression from Manchester City.
Under the rapid penetration and passing of Manchester City in the frontcourt, West Ham United's defense looked shaky.
Soon, the second goal arrived.
In the 31st minute of the game, Fernandinho passed the ball from the center circle to the right side of the field.
After Sterling picked up the ball from the wing thirty meters away from the West Ham United goal, he took advantage of the fact that the West Ham United players had not fully retreated and started to cut inside.
But he failed to get rid of Masuaku who was marking him. After entering the ribs, he was forced to carry the ball back diagonally.
But before he could run very far, he was tripped by Ashley Fletcher who was returning to defense, allowing Manchester City to get a free kick to the right of the center, about 35 meters away from the goal.
On the line of West Ham United's penalty area, five players from Manchester City came up to participate in the set-piece attack, including Chu Zheng.
West Ham United has 6 players. It seems that they have determined that Manchester City, who are not good at high-altitude operations, cannot threaten their goal.
In the area at the top of the arc, Chu Zheng and Aguero stood next to each other, surrounded by Kouyate, Winston Reid and Ogbonna.
Stones, Fernandinho and Otamendi in the left rib area at the top of the key were also closely guarded by West Ham United.
De Bruyne positioned the ball and then stepped back with measured steps.
Originally I thought he wanted to give the back spot and look for Stones and Otamendi, the two high points.
But after the referee Marina blew the whistle, he suddenly saw Chu Zheng retreating to the middle area between the two groups of people, and no one from the three Ogbonna people went to follow Chu Zheng immediately.
Immediately, De Bruyne changed his previous idea, and after a run-up, he swung the ball towards the center of the penalty area.
The next second, like a wild horse, Chu Zheng rushed to the left side of the penalty spot and soared forward, his forehead accurately meeting the ball from De Bruyne in the air.
Bang!
A muffled sound!
The ball turned into a white light and went straight to the left side of the goal.
Adrian soared to the right and reached out to block the ball.
But the ball was too close. Chu Zheng used all his strength and the ball was as fast as lightning.
When Adrian reached out his hand to the flight path of the ball, the ball was already behind his palm, and then hit the lower edge of the crossbar and plunged into the West Ham United goal!
"Goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" At the moment of the goal, Martin and Smith jumped from their seats for the second time.
"Chu Zheng!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"2-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
“Chu Zheng’s third Premier League goal this season!!!”
"The roc spreads its wings and soars upwards. Even if there are people around Chu Zheng, he can't compete with this kind of bounce!"
In the LeTV live broadcast room, Zhan Jun, Zhang Lu and Fan Zhiyi also became excited instantly and shouted one after another.
On the field, after Chu Zheng scored, he ran to the right and turned toward De Bruyne, who was rushing over.
After getting close, Chu Zheng jumped on De Bruyne and hugged De Bruyne's head to express his gratitude.
De Bruyne also had a smile on his face at this time.
Although his passing was beautiful, Chu Zheng's running and pushing were even more beautiful.
Looking at Chu Zheng with a bright smile in the camera, Zhan Jun smiled and said: "One goal in each game, one assist in each game, Chu Zheng's state is just as terrible as when he was in Leicester City!"
"From a height perspective, West Ham United has an absolute advantage!"
"But Manchester City's dwarfs lined up in a row during this set-piece attack. It seems there is no high point, but in fact there are contact points during the interspersion."
"Yes! The leakage of people in the middle was too great! No one paid attention to Chu Zheng at all!"
"And the landing point of De Bruyne's 45-degree inswinging arc ball is so precise that it's outrageous!"
Fan Zhiyi nodded and said with a smile: "The ball was passed accurately, but Stones, Otamendi, and Aguero's fake runs back and forth also stunned several tall players from West Ham United."
"Totally confused!"
"Ha ha!"
"It's time for Bilic to think about something. Manchester City has already pushed West Ham to the brink of collapse even before they use the backcourt tactic of apparation!"
On the field, Bilic in the coaching area pinched the bridge of his nose, then shook his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
But after standing there for a while, he went back to the coaching bench and sat down, whispering to his assistant, as if discussing how to adjust the team's offense during halftime.
Chu Zheng's goal was also the last goal in the first half.
Although Manchester City's attack was fierce in the rest of the first half, West Ham United relied on good luck to prevent Manchester City from expanding the score.
After the fifteen-minute intermission, players from both sides returned to the field through the tunnel.
Soon the fourth official on the sidelines raised the substitution sign, and No. 22 Sam Byram replaced No. 17 Gokhan Trey.
"Oh! Bilic took the lead in making substitution adjustments!"
"Replace a midfielder with a right back. It seems there is no change in formation. We still have to stick to the five-back system!"
After Zhan Jun finished speaking, Zhang Lu smiled and said: "Bilić should push Antonio to the full midfielder position."
"Antonio has body, speed, and strong attacking ability."
"Although West Ham United was beaten by Manchester City in the first half, Antonio still caused several problems for Manchester City on the wing. With Clichy's condition today, it should be difficult to keep an eye on him!"
But after the whistle sounded in the second half, Bilic's substitution adjustments did not show effect.
Manchester City still played against West Ham United.
In the 47th minute of the game, Sterling broke through from the wing and the tortured Masuart made a helpless move. He directly hugged Sterling to prevent him from running away, and gave up another position to create the second goal for Manchester City.
Pretty much a free kick.
It was De Bruyne who took the penalty.
But this time the West Ham United players defended Chu Zheng tightly.
De Bruyne drove directly to the center, or he made an inswinging curve ball.
In the middle, Aguero grabbed the first shot, but he missed it accurately and bumped the ball to the back point.
Nolito followed up and succeeded with a shot from the near corner, but unfortunately the linesman's eyes were sharp and he raised the flag to indicate that both Aguero and Nolito were offside.
In the 53rd minute of the game, Sterling broke through from the wing, forcing the tortured Masuate to commit a tactical foul again.
This time the referee was not polite and gave Masuart a yellow card.
Outside the upper right corner of the penalty area, De Bruyne comes back with his right foot.
At the front point, Chu Zheng was in place, but after taking off, Chu Zheng was squeezed with his back to the goal. His center of gravity was unbalanced and he was unable to directly attack the goal.
In desperation, Chu Zheng responded to the situation and directly touched the ball to the upper left corner of the small penalty area at the back point.
Nolito outflanked the ball from behind and with no one to defend him, he raised his foot and hit the near corner.
But it was still a little missed, and the ball hit the side netting directly.
In the 59th minute of the game, West Ham United rarely successfully advanced from the backcourt to the front of Manchester City's penalty area.
However, as the ball moved from the left to the center, it was grabbed by Fernanho in the left rib area at the top of the arc and successfully intercepted the ball.
After Nolitone received the ball in the middle, he failed to rush forward and was stuck by Antonio. He didn't even have a chance to pass forward to find Aguero.
Helpless, Nolito had no choice but to use the outside of his right foot to push the ball back to Chu Zheng in the front area of the left rib at the top of the arc.
Chu Zheng did not stop the ball, raised his left foot and sent it forward, which immediately brought Manchester City's counterattack to full speed.
In front of the arc in the center circle, De Bruyne turned his back to pick up the ball.
But Antonio's ghost lingered and he quickly came back.
De Bruyne took the ball and turned around. Just as he was about to start, he saw Antonio approaching from the left.
De Bruyne knew very well that he couldn't outrun Antonio, so he had to pull back with the outside of his right foot, turn 360 degrees on the spot, and then quickly hit the ball across the middle to Nolito who was following up.
At the same time, Aguero, who was on the penalty spot, smelled the one-on-one ball and started to run between Winston Reid and James Collins in front of him.
Seeing that Nolito was unmarked, Winston Reid quickly stepped up and passed Aguero in the opposite direction.
Chu Zheng could see clearly behind Nolito.
Seeing that Nolito crossed the center line before passing the ball, he stopped immediately and stopped running. He was so angry that he almost lost his temper.
Sure enough, the linesman raised the yellow flag again the next second, realizing that Aguero was in an offside position when Nolito passed the ball.
"Today's linesman is really sharp-eyed. From the beginning of the game to the present, every one of the several offside calls was extremely accurate!" Zhan Jun said with a smile after watching the replay.
"So if you want to seize the fleeting passing opportunity like Chu Zheng in the ever-changing game, you really need talent and super game reading ability!"
"Yes! If Chu Zheng had been the one to pass the ball, he would never have taken that extra step!" Fan Zhiyi quite agreed with Zhang Lu's words.
"Actually, the problem with West Ham United is not that there is no one at the front, but that the midfielder has been completely crushed by Manchester City and cannot handle it at all!"
"The way Manchester City plays now, he accelerates very quickly when attacking forward in the midfield and backfield."
"If this area cannot be penetrated, it will be passed back or transferred quickly, but the ball rotates very quickly, which is completely different from the previous Pellegrini period.
"Yes, most of the starting and preparation stages of Manchester City's current attack are completed by Chu Zheng in the midfield. Once the speed reaches the West Ham United back line, you can no longer hold him back."
"It's like if you block this car after the inertia has gained, you will definitely be knocked away." Fan Zhiyi patted the table and smiled happily, "So if you want to control Manchester City, you can only invest troops in the midfield.
Limit the starting point of the attack. Just like in a race, when the starting gun sounds, reach out and take off the opponent's spikes, so that when Bolt comes, he will have to kneel and call daddy!"
"Haha!!" Fan Zhiyi's image metaphor instantly made Zhan Jun, Zhang Lu and countless domestic fans laugh.
However, Zhan and Jun were soon slapped in the face, and the effect of Bilic's substitution was unexpected.
In the 63rd minute of the game, West Ham United's attack in the middle was cleared, and the ball returned to the feet of Collins on the right side of the center circle.
After Collins got the ball, he quickly moved to the other half of the court.
Masuaku took the ball from the left side of the penalty area and faced Zabaleta and Sterling at the same time.
Zabaleta, in particular, was staring at his left foot, preventing him from finding a chance to pass the ball, so he had an idea and passed back along the wing.
After this pass, Sterling followed him out, leaving Zabaleta alone.
Soon, the ball returned to Masuaku's feet.
Taking the ball again, Masuaku dribbled the ball diagonally toward the penalty area, feinting left and right continuously along the way, and his body was extremely flexible.
When he came to the baseline, he finally found a chance to kick and quickly passed the ball to the back post.
In front of the goal post, Antonio took his position, jumped in front of Clichy in front of him, bumped his forehead, and the ball flew into the Manchester City goal after grazing the post.
"pretty!!!"
"West Ham United recovered a goal!!! The suspense of the game is back!!!!"
"This is the Premier League, you never guess what will happen next second!"
"This is Bilic's best trick. He goes low over there and sends a tall man over here to beat the opponent's thinner full-back!"
In front of the coaching bench on the sidelines, Guardiola, who was explaining the tactical requirements to Kolarov, saw this goal. He immediately turned around and kicked the air. His expression and behavior showed extremely angry and dissatisfied.
"Guardiola was a step late. It seems that he had guessed that Clichy was going to be targeted and was ready to replace Kolarov, but it was too late!" Zhan Jun shook his head and smiled.
