Under the night sky!
Sixty thousand fans at Etihad Stadium erupted in a roar!
In front of Manchester City's goal—
Joe Hart leapt desperately to defend the net!
But the English goalkeeper didn't even get close to the ball!
Kai's thunderous strike from outside the box was unstoppable—fierce and precise!
Like a cannonball, it blasted straight into City's net!
Boom!!
The net bulged dramatically!
In an instant—GOAL!!!
The entire Etihad Stadium boiled over with noise!
1:0!!
The Manchester City fans were stunned!
What just happened?!
Hands clutching their heads, they had no idea what transpired in that long, tense ten seconds!
> "WTF!! The Crystal Palace prodigy just pulled off a dazzling solo run! And that final rocket shot from outside the box left Joe Hart helplessly watching it fly in!"
The commentators howled in disbelief!
Their expressions contorted with anguish!
Behind them, the home fans erupted into chaos.
What had they just witnessed?
It looked like a routine turnover in play…
But Manchester City's star-studded midfield had just been humiliated by a 16-year-old kid!
Their captain, Kompany, had even thrown in a wild, comical flying tackle—only to be stylishly dodged!
Kai's smooth, elegant dribbling cut through them effortlessly.
The proud Manchester City fans were left in a speechless daze!
The Etihad's thunderous roar faded into uneasy silence.
And from the away stands, Crystal Palace fans exploded with deafening cheers!
> "Kai!!"
"Kai!!"
On the pitch—
Crystal Palace players sprinted to their captain in a frenzy!
Vaughan, unable to believe it, grabbed Kap in a tight hug.
> "Am I dreaming? Did we just witness our own Maradona?!"
Klein rushed in too.
> "Forget Maradona! Kai is himself! Our captain isn't anyone's shadow—he's the one and only genius of this era!"
> "Captain, you can do that too?!"
The eyes of every Palace player were filled with astonishment and awe!
They were actually leading!
It was unbelievable!
Against the mighty Manchester City, and not through some fluke—but through a solo wondergoal!
Kai's goal had ignited the spirit of the entire Palace team!
Yeah!
So what if it's City?
They'd already achieved miracle after miracle this season!
Toppling Premier League giants in the FA Cup—maybe it wasn't impossible after all!
And once again, their young captain had performed a miracle when the team needed him most!
After the goal, Kai raised his arms and roared towards the stands!
The City fans were silent.
They stared blankly at the sharp, dark-haired figure who had just pierced their hopes.
Under Manchester's night sky, Kai was swarmed by teammates after the goal.
He shone brightly in the crowd—radiant, confident, and unstoppable!
The Blue Moon faithful were dazed.
Maybe... this is what a true genius is supposed to look like?
Even the Manchester press were in utter shock!
They couldn't comprehend how the match had flipped so drastically, so suddenly!
City, who had bombarded Palace's goal from the opening whistle, had just been struck down in the blink of an eye!
On the sidelines, Holloway and Millen embraced, disbelief etched across their faces.
It was like a scene from a movie!
The Manchester media felt a tinge of disappointment.
Their very own Balotelli had been utterly overshadowed by Kai in this golden-boy showdown!
Those two flashy shots from Balotelli earlier, which had been hyped by the local press?
Now they looked more like an embarrassment.
> "Boss, forget City's coaching staff being stunned—even we don't know how to react! Maybe that's what makes him a super genius. He's never predictable!"
Millen shouted, pumping his fists and riling up the Palace fans in celebration!
Not far away, over at City's bench—
It was pure chaos.
City's analysts were flipping through every report and stat they'd collected on Kai.
They must have missed something crucial.
How could a player they supposedly had "figured out" suddenly become so unstoppable?
Or maybe… this is just what genius is—a glow you can't analyze?
On the touchline, Mancini stood still.
The cold Manchester wind cut through his coat, sending chills to his bones.
But quickly, he began clapping and shouting encouragement at his players on the pitch.
It was just one goal.
For a team like Manchester City, packed with stars…
This was nowhere near a death sentence!
On the pitch, City's midfielders stood with hands on hips.
Kompany got up from the turf, brushing dirt and grass off his kit.
As City captain, he momentarily forgot the embarrassment of that ridiculous sliding tackle.
He shouted across the pitch:
> "Forget that goal! This is the Etihad! From now on, we'll show them what Premier League football really means!"
City's morale started climbing back.
But Mancini, glancing at the field, suddenly cursed in frustration.
On the pitch, Balotelli stood dazed, seemingly deaf to his teammates' encouragement.
He hadn't moved.
In the opening stages, he had been so confident—thinking he'd be the first to score and end the "golden boy" debate before it even began.
But the script had taken a drastic turn.
Balotelli had all the physical talent in the world—from the neck down.
His brain, unfortunately, was another story.
He couldn't grasp how things had gone so wrong.
He stood there, lost in thought, contemplating life.
In the stands, Raiola was fuming:
> "During halftime, I swear I'm going to slap that pig-headed idiot upside the head!"
On the pitch—
The noise at the Etihad surged on and on.
"Tweet!"
The referee blew his whistle!
The match resumed!
Balotelli kicked off again from the center circle.
Tevez received the pass and spun to feed it back to midfield.
This time, Balotelli didn't charge straight ahead like before.
His movement in the forward zone was hesitant, even passive.
> "Mario, what the hell are you doing?! Don't you want that Golden Boy award?!"
David Silva shouted angrily at him.
Balotelli nodded reflexively.
> "I want to score..."
Silva ran past him and gave him a light smack on the back of the head.
> "Then move! There'll be plenty of chances to score. We're Manchester City! We're going to hammer their goal before long!"
Balotelli, always an emotional player, finally snapped back into it.
He began moving energetically again.
The City fans in the stands lit up with hope.
Their Italian prodigy seemed to have found his fire again. Was he ready to take back what's his?
For the City supporters, it was a good sign.
And sure enough—
Manchester City launched a furious counterattack!
With a squad worth hundreds of millions, their individual skill and tactical coordination were far superior to Palace!
The crowd roared with rising anticipation.
By the 30th minute of the first half, City equalized!
The Blue Moon ripped through Palace's flank!
The powerhouse left-back Kolarov bulldozed past Ambrose with sheer strength and pace!
Silva overlapped, receiving the ball and whipping in a cross!
The keeper managed to punch it clear above the box.
Tevez, lurking near the back line, controlled it and turned inside.
Kolarov came to support—they executed a quick one-two pass!
Then, Tevez unleashed a sudden low strike to the near post!
GOAL!!
1:1!