Sun Jihai used
the word "unbelievable" when describing the goal he scored in Manchester City's
3-0 win over Charlton Athlectics in the first Premiership round Sunday
night.
"We were in a counterattack at that time,” recalls Sun. “When Annelk dashes
along the left by-line, I'm running on the right side to find my chance. When I
saw he didn't have a good angle, I cried to him to pass the ball to me. But he
didn't; instead, he shot.
"The goalkeeper
palmed the ball away and it rolled it under my feet luckily,” Sun continued,
adding: “Then, I drove it home at a very acute angle.
"I feel very
happy about the goal. I couldn't make it if I didn't catch the
position."
Recalling
the scene at the pitch, the Chinese international apparently could not conceal
his emotions after scoring in their first Premiership match. The goal is the
second Sun scored in four days, the last coming last Thursday when Manchester
City routed the Welsh side TNS 5-0 in the first leg qualifying round of the UEFA
Cup.
At the
beginning of this season, Man City Manager Kevin Keegan changed the formation of
his side to 4-4-2 -- the same as the Chinese national team, and which Sun Jihai
is more familiar with.
"Playing the
right back in 3-5-2 (which Man City used last season) is different from the
4-4-2. The latter fits me more," Sun said prior to the match.
Although Sun attributed his regular first team position at
the start of the season to compound factors -- both formation change and hard
training -- he also said he was by far luckier than during last season. Man City
lost 3-0 to Leeds United in the first round where Sun shot the post with his
left foot.
(by Fang Xuan, Chinadaily.com.cn)
