Chapter 382: When old enemies get together, will the Gunners rekindle their hopes of winning the championship, or will the Red Devils widen their lead?
In this game, both head coaches kept some backup plans on the wing positions.
On the Arsenal side, Thomas played as right back, which confused the Gunners fans.
The 30-year-old Ghanaian midfielder is not young, but after a summer rest, he finally chose to stay at Arsenal. After Rice, Amadou Onana and others joined, he played almost all positions in the midfield and backcourt this season, becoming a veritable jack of all trades.
Since Manchester United did not let Kva play in the last Champions League group match, Arteta could guess with his little finger that Ten Hag was saving his strength for this round of the league. Therefore, he did not choose Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and others to play as right back, but chose Thomas to match up with Kva, and Odegaard in front of him.
In the defensive midfielder position, starting Amadou Onana instead of Rice was also a smart move by Arteta.
The 22-year-old Belgian black midfielder is 195cm tall, has a strong body and is good at defending and controlling the air. Although his skills still need to be polished, he can perfectly disrupt the long passes from Manchester United's backcourt when Cesco retreats to act as a fulcrum to receive high balls, without the need for Arsenal's central defenders to follow Cesco.
As for Chen Xiaoliang, Arteta knows that the new Ballon d'Or winner cannot be defended by simply sending a few people or doing a few double-teams, so his tactic tonight is to "focus on myself", using simple and fast offense, plus the advantage of home court, to fight a fierce offensive battle with Manchester United.
On this side, Kva meets Thomas, and on the other side, it's Kaoru Mitoma's old enemy Wan-Bissaka. After the opening, both sides played a wonderful offensive and defensive battle on the left.
On the Manchester United side, B Fee did not stick to the right side, but kept switching positions with Chen Xiaoliang.
Zinchenko, who has relatively average speed ability, probably met the strongest opponent he has ever encountered in his life. Chen Xiaoliang's unreasonable speed and "two-legged monster" kicking style that made it impossible to tell which foot was the main foot made him not know how to defend at all.
Generally speaking, when we encounter wingers, there are mainly two types.
One type is the wingers who play on the left, such as Beckham in his early years, Di Maria who played on the left at Real Madrid, and Bale who played on the left at Tottenham. Their main attacking routes are more likely to be from the bottom, or to break into the penalty area diagonally from both sides of the penalty area.
For this kind of winger, the main defensive direction of the full-back is to guard the outside line, prevent going down the bottom line, prevent crosses, and prevent the speed from breaking into the penalty area and passing the ball in front of the goal.
The other type is the inward-cutting wingers like Robben on the right and Hazard on the left.
Especially for a striker like Robben, the right foot is basically rarely used. The main move is to cut in from the wing, attack from the flank or pass the ball directly into the penalty area.
To defend against such a winger, you have to defend the inside, prevent him from cutting inside, and prevent him from cutting inside and shooting directly.
Are there any wingers who are good with both feet? Yes, Son Heung-min, Neymar, Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele, and Pedro during Barcelona's six-time champion period are all players who mainly play on the wing but are very skilled with both feet.
This type of player is very difficult to defend against, as they can go both ways and are often both fast and flexible. But in the final analysis, they still have main players. It is obvious that the crosses from the left by players like Son Heung-min and Dembele are obviously less threatening than their direct attacks after cutting inside.
Is there Bale's speed, Gerrard's long shot, Beckham's cross, Robben's cut-in, and Drogba's body?
If we give the microphone to Zinchenko now and ask him this question, he will definitely shout out the three words "Chen Xiaoliang" and then be accompanied by an expression of "I can't do it" from netizens.
However, even if Zinchenko was beaten, shattered, and crushed tonight, apart from Xhaka in the middle who kept retreating to help Zinchenko return to defense, Kaoru Mitoma in front would not come back no matter what.
The same goes for Saka on the other side. No matter whether Thomas is at a disadvantage or advantage against Kvadrat, all the backup defense and double-teaming are left to Odegaard, and Saka stays in front, ready to receive the ball and attack at any time.
Arteta, who was standing on the sidelines with his hands folded on his chest, not only lacked a microphone, but also a chair, so that he could sit down and confidently say: "What is a standard attack?" and then make a tactical retreat.
Chen Xiaoliang is strong. Instead of spending energy and using several people to deal with Chen Xiaoliang, it is better to play the role of Tian Ji in horse racing.
Tonight, Kaoru Mitoma and Saka did not attack the wing, especially Kaoru Mitoma. Brighton played against Manchester United four times last season. The popular Japanese "Three-Goal King" has deeply experienced the power of Wan-Bissaka, so after several feints tonight, his main target became Eriksen.
Coincidentally, Saka on the other side also attacked Manchester United's other midfielder Fred tonight.
One had a serious heart injury, the other was a dual-being and extremely unstable, and with Martinelli roaming around the center, tonight's game was completely open, and it was extremely exciting and full of climaxes.
In the 3rd minute, Chen Xiaoliang changed to the right winger and received the pass from B Fee. He first opened up the width to the wing until it was close to the sideline, then made a feint forward, flicked the ball from his right foot to his left foot, and immediately accelerated to overtake from the inside.
Zinchenko knew that he would definitely lose in a speed contest, so he stretched out his left hand to try to hold down Chen Xiaoliang's right hand. In the end, he held down everything, and the expression on his face looked like he was beating a beautiful disc.
Chen Xiaoliang broke into the penalty area and headed straight for the bottom line. Arsenal's left center back Gabriel blocked the ball from the bottom, and Chen Xiaoliang swept the ball across the goal with his right foot.
Cesco in the middle failed to touch the ball under the double pressure of Ben White and Amadou Onana, while Kwa at the back point kicked the ball directly away due to the interference of Thomas, wasting a good opportunity to score a goal at the beginning of the game.
Turning around, the caddy immediately threw the ball to Ramsdale, and the England goalkeeper kicked the ball directly towards Kaoru Mitoma who was waiting on the left center line.
Chen Xiaoliang was still in Arsenal's penalty area, so Kaoru Mitoma didn't have to worry about being chased back by him to defend. He dribbled the ball all the way and started to challenge Eriksen one-on-one. Xhaka stood to the left, as if he was ready to find an opening at any time, so Wan Bissaka didn't dare to double-team Kaoru Mitoma easily.
Kaoru Mitoma pressed the ball with his right foot, lowered his shoulder on the right side, made a fake move to break through to the inside, shook off Eriksen's center of gravity, and then broke into the penalty area directly from the left side of the penalty area.
No matter whether it was a god or a ghost tonight, Fred, with a positive attitude, immediately retreated, but this one retreat immediately gave Saka, who was wandering behind him, a large space.
Kaoru Mitoma made a back pass, the ball passed through the top of the arc and came to the right rib outside the penalty area. Saka shot directly. The ball was a little straight, but the speed was very fast. De Gea stood up to save the ball, and he used his right hand to lift the ball under the crossbar, and the ball flew out of the bottom line.
Lou Yichen: "Ouch! Let's see! In just 30 seconds, both sides used their personal abilities to launch two extremely threatening attacks, both of which were almost enough to score!"
Liu Yue: "From the opening, we can see that today both coaches set the main attack route on the wing, especially when Xiaoliang switched positions to the wing, the defensive pressure on Zinchenko will be very high. Let's see who can break through the window paper first."
But soon, Manchester United fans began to miss Casemiro.
Without him protecting the front of the penalty area, and Chen Xiaoliang's forward pressure on the right side unable to retreat to defend here, the area around the top of Manchester United's penalty area became Arsenal's key breakthrough area. The two full-backs Wan Bissaka and Luke Shaw had a lot of skills, but they could only watch Fred and Eriksen's awkward defense again and again and sigh.
In the 17th minute, Kaori Mitoma once again dribbled past Eriksen with the help of Xhaka. This time he chose to shoot directly with his right foot, and De Gea once again made a flying save to keep the goal safe.
At this time, Ten Hag had already seen that something was wrong, but given that Chen Xiaoliang's advantage on the right side of the frontcourt was too great, he also wanted to take a gamble, hoping to knock on Arsenal's door first and take the initiative.
However, Arteta on the opposite side also thought so. Both sides thought the same thing and believed that "the advantage is on me."
Arsenal took a corner kick from the right side. Due to Martinelli's interference, De Gea was not 100% sure of getting the ball, so he had to punch the ball out with one fist. However, the ball was not high enough and fell to the left side of the penalty spot. Amadou Onana jumped up and headed the ball. It was not known whether it was intentional or accidental, but he headed the ball towards the back post.
Thomas, who was just about to retreat, immediately ran back and shot the ball. No matter how good De Gea was, he couldn't save this shot that was so close.
Arsenal 1-0 at home!
Arteta pumped his fist to celebrate, and the Emirates Stadium was filled with cheers!
"What Golden Globe Award? BULL-SHIT!"
"Go back! You can't even think of getting a single point here!"
Behind Manchester United's bench, passionate Arsenal fans roared at Manchester United's substitute players and coach.
On the Internet, Arsenal fans changed their evaluation of this season and changed the abbreviation of Arteta from "Brother Tazi" to "Saint Tazi".
Look, Amadou Onana was used instead of Rice, and Thomas was used as the right back. This formation, which was criticized by fans before the game, actually led to a goal.
If this is not the Pagoda Saint, then who is the Pagoda Saint?
Ten Hag was also getting a little impatient, so he asked McTominay to come down and warm up. If Eriksen continued to be targeted like this, he would have to make a substitution.
Arteta clearly saw Ten Hag's intention, and with a gesture, Arsenal's main focus began to shift from Kaori Mitoma to Saka and Martinelli.
Gunners fans were confused again and started raging on their keyboards:
[The three-goal king was playing well, why did he suddenly stop attacking?]
[That’s right, if Eriksson continues to be attacked, he will completely collapse.]
[The script can't be so blatant! ]
…
It didn’t take long for the slap in the face to come.
In the 36th minute, after , Arsenal suddenly exchanged the offensive ball to Kaoru Mitoma.
Odegaard made a precise long diagonal pass in the midfield, and Martinelli received the ball on the left and cut inside.
After attracting Wan Bissaka's defense, he made a straight pass to Kaoru Mitoma who was running along the left side.
This time, Kaoru Mitoma chose to go down the bottom and kick the ball directly to the right side of the penalty area. Odegaard, who came in from behind, didn't wait for the ball to land, but kicked the ball directly at a 45-degree angle to the near corner. The ball was saved by De Gea again, but the electronic bracelet of the referee Michael Oliver vibrated!
This is the sign that the ball has crossed the goal line as a whole!
"Beep!" He blew the whistle and pointed to the center line, and thousands of people at the Emirates Stadium celebrated again!
The Manchester United fans who came to London with the team remained silent in the stands.
After leading by two goals, Arsenal began to focus on retreating to defend, especially Chen Xiaoliang. Zinchenko was as embarrassed as Eriksen, but relying on the joint efforts of the midfield and backcourt to double-team Cesco and Kva, Chen Xiaoliang's several crosses from the bottom and breaks into the penalty area failed to help them break through Arsenal's goal.
The halftime whistle sounded soon and both sides returned to the locker room.
Recall that Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten streak across seasons was ended by Manchester United. Will Manchester United’s dream of being the best this season also come to an end at the Emirates Stadium?
Even Liu Yue, the commentator, noticed it:
"Arteta seems to be consciously reducing the players' frontal attacks on Eriksen. It feels like after hitting him once or twice, he deliberately lets Eriksen take a breath, then hits him once or twice again, and then lets him take a breath again."
"Once the ball is in the air, McTominay, who is warming up, will come on. Although his ability is not that strong, at least in terms of defense and physical fitness, he is much better than Eriksen."
Lou Yichen: "When you put it that way, it feels a bit like you're just keeping the enemy for your own benefit."
Liu Yue: "Yes, that's what I mean. But I think after this half, Ten Hag must make changes in the midfield, otherwise he will play too passively."
"Today's test proved that Xiaoliang's lethality as a right winger is very great. He was unstoppable on the wing, but Gabriel, Amadou Onana and others blocked his direct route to the goal, forcing him to pass the ball. Then other players double-teamed the remaining two points of Manchester United to reduce the effect of the cross."
"Although there was some panic in front of the goal, the final score of 2-0 proved that they still held on."
Ten Hag did not lose his temper in midfield, especially towards Eriksen.
It is difficult for him to play in this position. With Casemiro's help in defense, his shortcomings would not be so obvious, and he could also play to his strengths in organizing the attack. But now Fred is busy with his own affairs and has no time to help Eriksen with defense.
He originally thought about letting Lima play as a defensive midfielder. When he was at Ajax, both he and Ten Hag could play as a defensive midfielder. But seeing that Maguire was the only one left at the central defender position, Ten Hag gave up.
Arsenal's front three are very fast and flexible, and putting Maguire on the pitch would be tantamount to suicide.
Moving Chen Xiaoliang back is the best way . With him around, the front of the restricted area can be kept safe.
But the problem is that we are now two goals behind. If we switch the player with the strongest offensive ability back to defense, who will go on offense?
Rashford is also very fast, but he does not have Chen Xiaoliang's ability to cut inside or cross the ball from the bottom. He can not send many threatening balls after breaking through from the right side.
After much consideration, the only option is McTominay.
Faced with the ball possession style that Arsenal would inevitably adopt after taking the lead in the second half, Ten Hag rearranged his tactics.
As the players left the locker room one by one, he patted Chen Xiaoliang on the back:
"I want you to come inside more and attack the goal directly."
Chen Xiaoliang nodded: "That's exactly what I was thinking."
"Beep!" The referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle and the second half began. Manchester United only had 45 minutes left for a comeback!
