After the game started, Manchester City pressed forward across the board, leaving the Middlesbrough players at a loss and losing ground.
When the game entered the 15th minute, Middlesbrough had a poor ball possession rate of only 13%.
In the 18th minute of the game, the ball was intercepted in the middle circle and the ball was quickly handed to Chu Zheng.
After Chu Zheng took the ball, he ejected it along the left rib area and entered the left rib area at the top of the key. While running, he suddenly hit the ball to the left and directly penetrated Middlesbrough's back line.
De Bruyne quickly adjusted after taking the ball on the left side of the penalty area and pushed hard with his left foot into the lower right corner of the goal.
The ball was hit with just the right angle and power, but Valdes, the former Barcelona goalkeeper of Middlesbrough, made a superb save. With a touch of his fingertips, the ball slid past the post.
In the 22nd minute of the game, Manchester City got their fourth corner kick.
De Bruyne directly drove to the front point, and Stones took the lead to rush to the landing point and take off, ferrying the ball to the back point.
The ball was a little sudden, and it bounced off the ball early.
But Chu Zheng still reacted in time, shook off the Middlesbrough left back Fred who was marking him, moved forward in time, jumped up and raised his right foot, trying to block the ball into the goal.
Although Chu Zheng's movements were a bit awkward, he still successfully completed the shot.
However, the moment the ball flew towards the inside of the post and was about to go into the goal, Valdez appeared and pushed the ball out of the baseline with both hands in a flying dive.
In the 34th minute of the game, Navas received Fernandio's pass from the right and then cut inside with the ball.
After reaching the front edge of the arc, he suddenly turned back, entered the Middlesbrough penalty area from the right rib of the arc, and then swept in front of the goal.
The ball hit the Middlesbrough player and bounced to the right edge of the penalty area.
Chu Zheng is right in front of the ball. If he doesn't stop the ball, he will just shoot coldly.
However, something went wrong. Valdez happened to be near the shooting line. He stretched out his left hand to the left and the ball was blocked by him. Then he was cleared by a Middlesbrough player.
Manchester City then continued their onslaught, turning Middlesbrough, who had no intention of setting up a bus, into a bus formation.
As time went by, the goal never came, which made Manchester City fans more and more anxious.
At this time, many fans and media who had selectively forgotten finally remembered how Arsenal was tied in the ninth round of the Premier League.
Although Middlesbrough's results are not great, they have not conceded many goals among the 20 teams in the Premier League.
Therefore, Middlesbrough's defense actually has something to offer.
Especially the frontal defense and high-altitude ball defense of the two central defenders are really good. Arsenal was beaten in this way.
When the game entered the 40th minute, seeing that the penetration attack on the ground had little effect, Chu Zheng and De Bruyne took turns to play the ball in the two ribs or on the side at a 45-degree diagonal and pass.
Soon, the goal came. In the 45th minute of the game, after Chu Zheng got the ball in the middle circle, he once again relied on his excellent foot skills and speed to break through from the center to the ribs.
After attracting the focus of Middlesbrough's defense to the left wing, Chu Zheng suddenly made a cross pass.
De Bruyne took the ball directly from a position about two or three meters away from the upper right corner of the penalty area and passed the ball across the middle at a 45-degree angle.
At the moment of passing the ball, Aguero, who was sandwiched between two Middlesbrough players at the penalty spot, successfully countered offside. He took the first step forward and then raised his foot to easily succeed.
In the second half, Manchester City continued to attack fiercely, hoping to score again and seal the victory.
Then Middlesbrough goalkeeper Valdes became more and more brave, resisting and rejecting Manchester City's shots again and again.
When the game entered the 90th minute of regular time, the score was still 1-0, and everyone thought Manchester City had won.
However, at 90 minutes and 48 seconds, a mediocre cross from the left wing of Middlesbrough revealed the true shape of Manchester City's defense.
At the back point, Kolarov disappeared, leaving the short Clichy to fight alone, and was attacked by two 190-meter tall men from Middlesbrough.
In fact, Clichy was not slow to react and jumped up in time to intercept the ball in the air with his head. However, due to his height, the ball still missed the top of his head. De Rongen, who was behind him, jumped up and hammered the ball in from close range.
Manchester City goal.
Since then, a big upset in this round was born.
This draw made countless people furious and cursed Manchester City and Guardiola.
After the game, the media also criticized Guardiola, saying that Manchester City's draw with Middlesbrough was due to Guardiola's failure to use stable defensive players.
Regarding the accusations from the outside world, Guardiola did not admit it, nor did he defend himself. He only said that Kolarov's playing as a central defender in this game was a tactical necessity.
That night, the North London derby that was the focus of this round came to an end, with Arsenal and Tottenham shaking hands 1-1.
But Manchester City fans couldn't laugh.
Because Liverpool slaughtered Watford 6-1 and Chelsea slaughtered Everton 5-0.
Since then, Liverpool has topped the Premier League with 26 points, Chelsea is second with 25 points, and Manchester City has been squeezed to third, sharing 24 points with Arsenal, which is fourth.
This big victory for Klopp and Conte has also made the two the darlings of the European football media in recent times.
Needless to say, Klopp's crazy tactics make people see the shadow of Dortmund. This guy wants to create another youth storm in Liverpool.
But Conte is a bit of a genius.
Because just a month ago, Chelsea conceded 9 goals in 6 league games, losing to Liverpool and Arsenal.
A poor start to the season almost cost Conte a delicious sack.
As the saying goes, if you are poor, you must change. In times of crisis, Conte decisively changed the formation, from 433 to 343, and reactivated original fringe players such as Moses and Alonso.
After the change of formation, the Blues were completely transformed and quickly regained their form. Not only did their offense excel, but their defense also became extremely solid.
2-0 Hull City, 3-0 Leicester City, 4-0 Manchester United, 2-0 Southampton, scored 11 goals in 4 games, but did not concede a single goal.
After this round, Conte has won five consecutive games and can be said to have secured his position as the Blues coach.
The next day, as the major Premier League stars returned to China to participate in the World Cup preliminaries in various continents, the attention of the media and fans also turned to the stadiums of their respective national teams.
Chu Zheng's return also excited the hearts of domestic media and fans.
In this round, the Chinese team's opponent is Qatar, which is second to last in Group A, and it is playing at home, so the domestic media and fans are also very confident that they can win Qatar.
On November 15th, at 19:35 BJ time, the 42,000 seats at Kunming Tuodong Stadium were packed to capacity, and there were red crowds as far as the eye could see, and the home atmosphere was strong.
When he returned to the national team, Chu Zheng was held in the midfielder position by Gao Hongbo. He was no longer as free as Manchester City and could move freely in various positions.
With Chu Zheng and Zheng Zhi around, although the Qatari players were tall and powerful, their attacks in the middle were strangled by Chu Zheng and Zheng Zhi time and time again.
But China did little on the offensive end.
Because Qatar adopted hand-to-hand tactics today, the Chinese team, which was weak in physical confrontation, fell down again and again.
However, despite getting many free kick opportunities in the frontcourt, no goals were scored.
Chu Zheng even took the initiative to take a free kick, but unfortunately he failed to hold the ball.
Until the 82nd minute of the second half, Chu Zheng won the duel in the penalty area and was about to be dragged down by a Qatari player. Before he fell, he had an idea and flicked the ball with his shoulder, passing the ball to Wu Lei.
In the middle of the penalty area, Wu Lei won the ball and jumped forward, directly hitting the ball into the penalty area.
The goal was pleasing to the eye, and it was a stroke of genius. All the Chinese fans at the scene immediately shouted Chu Zheng's name, and the atmosphere was extremely heated.
In the end, China defeated Qatar 1-0.
Two hours later, the results of the other two games came out, and domestic fans were immediately overjoyed.
Iran, first in Group A, was tied 0-0 by Syria in an away game.
The South Korean team defeated Uzbekistan, second in the group, 2-1 at home.
In this way, although the Chinese team with 8 points is still third in Group A, it is only one point behind Uzbekistan, which is second in the group.
It can be said that this is a very crucial victory.
After the game, because Yunnan and Sichuan are adjacent, Chu Zheng originally planned to go home after the game, even if he stayed for half a day to have a meal with his parents.
But the club pressed hard, and in the end even Guardiola called personally, asking Chu Zheng to return to the team as soon as possible to prepare for the 12th round of the Premier League three days later.
Chu Zheng had no choice but to give up the idea of going home and took an international flight straight to Manchester.