"He's isolated him!" Gary Neville shouted. "He's gone past Delph like he wasn't there!"
"The cutback is perfect!" Martin Tyler screamed as the ball rolled across the box. "Lingard is arriving... AND IT'S THERE!"
"MANCHESTER UNITED LEAD IN THE DERBY!"
"The buildup to this goal is absolutely unbelievable," Neville analyzed breathlessly. "It starts with Rojo's brave header at the back. Then Ling—one-on-one—he tears through City's flank. And look at the composure to pick out the pass. Jesse Lingard slots it home in one swift motion!"
"In this top-of-the-table clash, the Red Devils draw first blood!"
In the gantry, Neville looked down at the pitch with pure awe.
The replay of Ling's breakthrough played on the monitors.
It satisfied a primal desire for conquest, showcasing the raw speed and power of the Premier League.
If he wasn't on air, he would have been screaming along with the Stretford End.
...
Twitter (X) Trending: #MUNMCI #JLINGZ
@RedDevil_99:LING IS UNREAL! He hasn't played for two weeks, how is he this fast?! ⚡️
@TacticalTim:Mourinho masterclass. He knew Delph was the weak link. He put Ling on the right specifically to target him. Tactical genius.
@CityZen:I am done with Delph. I'm actually done. He's a midfielder playing left-back and it shows. He just got cooked.
@UnitedStand:Look at the replay! Lingard bullied Fernandinho to get to that spot. Fighting spirit is BACK at Old Trafford! Tears in my eyes.
@StoreMUFC:Update: We are sold out of 'LING 7' jerseys. Please stop refreshing the page.
@PunditPat:Don't celebrate yet. City are wounded animals now. Pep will have tricks up his sleeve.
...
Old Trafford erupted like a volcano.
"Glory, glory, Man United!""As the Reds go marching on, on, on!"
Despite the bitter winter cold, the fans felt a fire coursing through them.
Some shed their heavy coats, waving their arms and screaming the anthem into the snowy sky.
On the pitch, Jesse Lingard sprinted over to Ling, high-fiving him violently.
"Ling! That dribble was sick, but my finish was slicker!" Lingard laughed, adrenaline pumping.
"Aren't you going to dance today?" Ling asked with a grin, feigning confusion.
"Oh, I almost forgot the main event!"
Lingard snapped out of his daze.
He pulled Ling toward the corner flag, and together they broke into Lingard's signature, quirky hand-sign dance—the 'JLingz'.
The rest of the United squad swarmed them, burying them in a pile of red shirts.
As the huddle broke, Ling turned and waved enthusiastically toward the VIP box.
Nearby, the Manchester City players looked dazed.
As the pundits predicted, their record-breaking winning streak had bred a hint of complacency.
This goal was a bucket of ice water.
"Come on! Heads up!" Vincent Kompany roared, clapping his hands to rally his troops. "We do not fall here!"
Fabian Delph wore a troubled expression.
He wiped sweat from his forehead. If they didn't adjust the tactics, he was going to be torn to shreds.
That explosive acceleration... just thinking about it made his legs feel heavy.
Sterling and Sane glared at United's number 7, a flicker of defiance rising in their eyes.
On the sidelines, Pep Guardiola buried his face in his hands.
He understood Mourinho's trap now.
Pep had planned to pin United back, forcing Ling to defend deep, which would protect Delph.
But he hadn't anticipated United's resilience, Pogba's press-resistance, and most of all—Ling single-handedly destroying the flank.
But Pep recovered quickly.
He strode to the touchline, barking orders.
Attack. Attack more.
There was no turning back now.
On the other bench, Jose Mourinho pumped his fist.
He had been stewing over the media criticism all week.
Now, he felt vindicated. His boys were executing the game plan perfectly.
But more than the goal, he loved the aggression.
Mourinho's eyes drifted to Romelu Lukaku.
The big Belgian was quiet.
'He needs to be meaner,' Mourinho thought. 'He's letting Otamendi bully him. If he doesn't wake up, Zlatan comes on in the second half.'
...
"Well done! I told you the lad would create something, but none of you listened!"
Sir Alex Ferguson led the applause, his eyes twinkling as he watched Ling's sprinting figure.
It reminded him of the old days.
The Giggs days. The Ronaldo days.
Beside him, Paul Scholes shifted awkwardly.
He had been critical of Mourinho in the press recently, but Jose was currently on a 20-match unbeaten run in the league.
It was getting harder to complain.
"He's got the United DNA," Ferguson murmured.
Ling Changzheng was waving his arms excitedly.
Since Dalian Shide disbanded years ago, his passion for football had died.
But watching his son gallop across the turf at Old Trafford? The fire was back.
"Thank you for sending him to Manchester United," Ferguson said, extending a hand toward Ling's father.
Ling Changzheng froze.
He hurriedly shook the hand, overwhelmed.
'Holy crap,' he thought. 'That's Sir Alex Ferguson. The Godfather. And he's shaking my hand? No one back in China is going to believe this.'
Yan Lanxia watched them, her heart swelling with a pride she had never known.
...
The match resumed, and the dynamic shifted instantly.
Stung by the goal, Manchester City shifted gears.
They stopped using the wings and began to overload the center.
David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne began to link up at frightening speeds, swapping positions and playing one-touch passes that defied logic.
The famous "Pep-ball" was in full flow.
United's man-marking system began to crack.
The half-spaces were flooded with blue shirts.
Ling was forced to drop all the way back to his own penalty area, acting as a second right-back to help the team survive the onslaught.
City were relentless.
They used horizontal passes to stretch United, probing for a gap, finding space between the lines.
The equalizer felt inevitable. The United goal was living on borrowed time.
Beep! Beep!
Referee Michael Oliver blew the halftime whistle.
The collective sigh of relief from the Manchester United players was audible.
They had scored in the 37th minute, and though only eight minutes had passed since then, it had felt like an eternity.
HT: Manchester United 1 - 0 Manchester City
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