Seeing Ling Feng and Mahrez come to the sideline, ready to come on as substitutes, the Leicester City fans who followed the team away immediately erupted into enthusiastic cheers.
“Beautifully done, Pearson!”
“Should have let Ling play earlier!”
“Mahrez is also not bad, the two of them coordinate with great tacit understanding…”
In the sea of blue, Big William, wearing a Leicester City fan jacket and a Blue Foxes knit hat, was also among them.
As a member of the “Foxes Society”, the largest grassroots fan organization of the Leicester City club, Big William was a native Leicester local and a loyal Blue Fox.
Since watching a Leicester City match for the first time at the stadium at age five, he had become a Leicester City season ticket holder and their most loyal supporter!
He would be there to watch every home match.
Rain or shine!
As long as time permitted, he would drive his small truck to every away match, shouting and cheering for the team from the stands.
He was properly the team’s twelfth man!
And at this moment, his face flushed, waving the Blue Foxes scarf in his hand, he loudly shouted the name of Ling Feng who was about to come on:
“Ling Feng!
Ling Feng!!
Ling Feng!!!”
Many Leicester City fans around him also joined in calling the name of this young genius produced by their own academy in unison.
In their eyes, Ling Feng was the team’s secret weapon to break the deadlock!
And the hero to lead the team to a comeback victory when trailing!
The extreme enthusiasm of the away fans made the commentator also couldn’t help but joke:
“Leicester City is preparing to make substitutions.
Number 23 Ling Feng and Number 26 Mahrez stand on the sideline, ready to come on…”
“In the last match against Derby County, Ling Feng assisted Mahrez to score the team’s third goal…”
“And that was already the third assist for this eighteen-year-old youngster in two matches…”
“No wonder the fans welcome him with such a warm attitude…”
“Perhaps he will become the hero of this match, or maybe he will be injured by the thorns of the White Roses, let’s wait and see…”
Facing the cheers and jubilation of the away fans, the home fans were not to be outdone.
With piercing boos and curses filling his ears, Ling Feng stood with a slight frown, his expression calm.
Beside him, Mahrez also wore a serious expression.
Although his English was not very good, he could also hear the foul language from the home fans.
He didn’t quite understand why the Leeds United fans would have such great malice towards Ling Feng.
Is this the football atmosphere of England?
“Ling, are you okay?”
Facing the concern from Mahrez beside him, Ling Feng changed to a bright smile and replied loudly:
“Very good!”
Regarding the fans’ vile behavior of greeting him and his family with insults, Ling Feng didn’t care at all, treating it just as a flock of ducks quacking in his ears.
Because he knew very well that this is one of the daily realities a professional player must face.
If he wanted to shut the fans up, he had to show some real skills on the pitch!
“Boo, boo louder!
I will make you all shut your mouths!”
Swearing silently in his heart, Ling Feng high-fived the substituted starting player, and trotted onto the pitch.
Similar to the previous match against Derby County, when Ling Feng came on, Leicester City’s formation changed from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1.
Facing the substitution adjustments made by Leicester City, Leeds United, who held the advantage on the pitch, did not make any changes.
Leeds United manager Brian McDermott just shouted from the sideline, “Keep a tight mark on Number 23, give him some physical pressure!” and then sat back down on the bench.
In his opinion, football is a team sport, and how strong one person can be is limited.
And an eighteen-year-old kid, no matter how good his passing is, as long as they give him more physical pressure, he wouldn’t be able to play many beautiful passes.
Now the situation on the pitch was very favorable to them, as long as they kept attacking, they would score soon!
Leeds United’s style of play was very fierce and direct.
Often initiating attacks from the back with a long pass to the forwards up front, and then continuously pounding the defensive line through the forwards’ individual abilities.
Fortunately, Leicester City’s defensive line could be considered second to none in the league.
The starting two centre-backs, Captain Wes Morgan and Wasilewski, were both tall defenders over 1.9 meters.
Although slow to turn, their frontal interception and aerial abilities were excellent.
In tangles and physical battles with Leeds United forwards, the two did not fall behind in the slightest!
The first encounter between the two sides at the King Power Stadium ended in a nil-nil draw. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
And this time, leveraging their home advantage, Leeds United was determined to end Leicester City’s winning streak.
And then take three points to stride into the playoff positions.
And this proactive approach allowed Leeds United to control the initiative in the first sixty minutes, continuously suppressing Leicester City and consecutively creating threats against the goal guarded by Schmeichel.
Leicester City’s goal was tottering, seemingly about to be breached at any moment.
But that final layer of paper just hadn’t been pierced!
However, after Ling Feng and Mahrez both came on, the entire situation suddenly underwent a massive change!
Ling Feng’s passing accuracy and success rate were the highest in the whole team.
And Mahrez’s dribbling and ball control were in a league of their own within this Leicester City squad.
The introduction of the two made Leicester City’s ground passing combinations much smoother.
With the two energetic players frequently combining with passes and runs, Leicester City kept ball possession firmly at their feet, greatly reducing the defensive pressure on their backline.
And under Ling Feng’s passing orchestration, the Leeds United players surprisingly found that no matter how they pressed, they couldn’t win the ball back at all!
Without possession, Leeds United’s fierce attacks came to an abrupt halt.
Conversely, Leicester City, under Ling Feng’s direction, slowly grasped the rhythm of the match.
Watching the time slip away bit by bit while the opponents continuously passed the ball around, the Leeds United players, anxious for a win, were finally agitated.
Especially Leeds United’s midfield enforcer, Michael Brown!
This former Manchester City veteran, who had fought for many years in English football, was famous for his ferocious slide tackles and numerous red and yellow cards.
He once made media headlines for a two-footed flying tackle on Manchester United legend Giggs.
And this time, this thirty-six-year-old midfield thug set his sights on Ling Feng, whose age was half of his!
Seeing Ling Feng receive the ball with his back to the goal again, Michael Brown revealed a fierce glint in his eyes and unhesitatingly pounced forward.
“Little brat, let’s see you pass!”
Feeling the pressure from behind, Ling Feng directly made a lateral knock, passing the football at his feet back to Drinkwater in midfield.
However, to his surprise, the other party did not intend to let him go!
Perhaps due to a drop in stamina and an inability to control his body’s momentum, or perhaps deliberately giving Ling Feng a show of strength, Brown did not stop his footsteps but crashed straight into Ling Feng.
“Damn, trying to cheap shot me?!”
Before Ling Feng could dodge, he felt a pushing force assault his back.
His whole body instantly lost balance and he was sent flying!
(END CHAPTER)