Wembley Stadium, with 90,000 seats, has hosted the World Cup final, the European Cup final, the Olympic final, and eight Champions League finals since 1963, including the ninth one to be held this season. It is also the venue for the FA Cup, League Cup, promotion play-offs and other competitions.
It is the second largest professional football stadium in Europe and is recognized as the greatest stadium in the world and the temple of world football.
In England, the word Wembley represents honor.
Manchester United’s most famous team song, “Glory Glory Man United”, specifically sings “We’re on the way to Wembley.”
This is Chen Xiaoliang's first time to come to this stadium. Although he has been to many famous stadiums in Europe, including San Siro Meazza, Westfalenstadion, Allianz Arena in Munich, Parc des Princes in Paris, as well as Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu, Wembley, which was renovated and rebuilt in 2007, is still the most unique one.
But what’s interesting is that the team watched the afternoon league match between Manchester City and Liverpool at home in the hotel before setting off for Wembley for pre-match warm-up.
In the last round, Manchester City drew 1-1 at home with Newcastle, who still conceded the last number of goals. Today, they will challenge Liverpool at Anfield at 1:30 pm.
Manchester City, which had a significant increase in draws in the second half of the season, was under considerable psychological pressure. Having won five league titles in six years, they were very eager to become the first team to win four consecutive Premier League titles.
Guardiola is very paranoid about the use of the starting lineup. In key battles like this, he will still choose to send out midfield cores such as De Bruyne, Rodri and B Silva. Young players such as Foden and Vega can only sit on the bench and wait for the opportunity to come on as substitutes.
This is not difficult to understand. Just as Manchester United cannot do without Chen Xiaoliang, Manchester City cannot do without De Bruyne and others to control and organize the midfield, but the latter is about to turn 33, and even Stones and Walker are about to turn 31 and 34 respectively.
It is difficult for one lineup to sustain the continuous challenges of the tough battles in the league and Champions League throughout the season.
Look, De Bruyne is injured. Although Kovacic and Vega, who were appointed to take over the team in an emergency, have worked very hard, they are completely unable to replace De Bruyne's role in the team. In addition, the 2024 European Cup will start in the summer. In order to ensure that they can play for the country, some players are very afraid of getting injured at this time.
If it weren't for Mahrez's free kick in the final moments, Liverpool would have broken Manchester City's unbeaten streak this season.
After two consecutive draws with Newcastle and Liverpool, Manchester City currently has 69 points with one more game played, one point behind Manchester United, and the gap between them and third-placed Liverpool has narrowed to four points.
With only one-third of the league left, such a result is naturally the best news for the entire Manchester United team.
All they have to do now is go to Wembley when the time comes and do their best to win the League Cup trophy.
In the last FA Cup match, Chen Xiaoliang gained 7 skill points (51→58) and 2 breakthrough points (92→94) with 1 assist.
A breakthrough point of 94 meant that Chen Xiaoliang was not far from reaching his first permanent attribute breakthrough of 20.
After a brief warm-up on the field, the players returned to the locker room to begin final preparations.
One hour before the game, the starting lineups of both teams were announced.
Since the home jerseys of both teams are red, Arsenal, who were drawn as the home team in the draw, wore the home jersey, while Manchester United wore the white third away jersey.
Arsenal's starting goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale;
The back four from right to left are Takehiro Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko;
The three midfielders are Ødegaard, Amadou Onana and Rice;
The three forwards are Saka, Havertz and Mitoma Kaoru.
Among them, Havertz was bought by Arsenal from Chelsea for 50 million pounds in the winter window. With Osimhen firmly occupying the center position, Havertz's number of appearances has dropped significantly. Both the player and the club are willing to facilitate this transfer.
Chelsea also used the money to sign French striker Nkunku from RB Leipzig, forming a duo with Osimhen at Stamford Bridge.
A tree that doesn't move will die, but a person who moves will live. Havertz, who came to London at the opening of the winter transfer window, played as a pseudo center forward under Arteta's tactics. He frequently retreated to use his height and ball control ability to help connect the frontcourt, helping his new club to draw three times with Manchester City in the league and cup. He has also achieved 4 wins and 2 draws in the recent league, catching up with the top four teams.
On the Manchester United side, goalkeeper Livakovic;
The back four from right to left are Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lima and Luke Thomas;
The double defensive midfielders are Milinkovic-Savic and Casemiro, and the central midfielder is Chen Xiaoliang;
The three forwards are Rashford, Benzema and Kwa.
Maguire, who has been away for a long time, returned to the starting lineup thanks to his excellent form in recent cup matches and training.
Ten Hag finally emphasized the tactics. The key to playing tonight is just one word - fast. Pass the ball fast, advance fast, press fast, in short, get a good start.
After taking the lead, the team will make use of its strong ability to advance in depth, and will be invincible whether it is a positional battle or a counterattack after the offense and defense transition.
Ten Hag then began to mobilize the players, and everyone in the quiet locker room listened attentively.
Ten Hag reviewed the course of this season since August, expressing that the experience the team is now creating is a rare dream performance in the entire history of football, and tonight is the footnote of the dream performance. Only the championship can make all this meaningful. Once failed, all previous winning streaks and unbeaten records will come to nothing.
After saying this, he gave the final encouragement to the team leader Chen Xiaoliang.
Just as Chen Xiaoliang stood up, he heard bursts of shouting through the door in the corridor.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"
It was obvious that Arsenal players were also mobilizing, and from the sound of it, their morale was high and they were determined to win.
Chen Xiaoliang did not follow his original idea and encourage Ten Hag again. Instead, he walked over and opened the door of the locker room directly, allowing the shouts that were echoing in the corridor to flow in more directly until calm was restored.
Chen Xiaoliang: "Did you hear that? This is the attitude of the opponent."
"Their determination to win is no less than ours, and they also want to take the championship trophy back."
"The coach has already said everything, so there is no need for me to elaborate further. However, there are two things I hope everyone can do together."
"The first thing is to remember that no one will remember who is the second place. In the 2017-18 season and the 2020-21 season, we won the league runner-up and the Europa League runner-up. Then what? Did anyone regard us as the object of the season's success? Please remember this."
"Also, the door is open now, and we are about to gather in the player tunnel to prepare for the game, but before that, I hope we can beat them with our shouts, and let them hear through the door to see who is the winner."
At this time, Chen Xiaoliang, who was speaking loudly with the door open, had attracted the attention of many stadium and media staff outside the locker room. They gathered around and watched what was happening in the locker room.
But Chen Xiaoliang doesn't care about these.
Suddenly, like the roar of a strong wind blowing through a valley, Chen Xiaoliang shouted, "We are!!!"
Everyone: "Champion! Champion! Champion!"
Chen Xiaoliang: "We! Are!!!"
Everyone: “Champion!!!”
Roaring roars, slapping tables, and stomping feet rushed out of the locker room, sweeping across the corridor like a sonic bomb, as if the sound waves had hit the door of Arsenal's locker room heavily.
As soon as Chen Xiaoliang said "let's go", there was a "bang" and the door of Arsenal's locker room across the corridor was pushed open.
Although they were far away, the firm and fierce gazes of Odegaard and Rice behind him shot towards Manchester United like beams of light piercing through the fog.
There was no more noise from either side, but they lined up in the tunnel with their heads held high and then walked onto the pitch.
The pre-match ceremony for the final was very grand and there is no doubt about the English ability in football operations.
There were more than 20 young people on each side of the field surrounding the two huge team logos lying on the grass. In addition, there were dozens of active military personnel gathered in the middle of the giant League Cup logo.
The tournament is also known as the Carabao Cup after the Thai beverage company Carabao Tawandang, whose logo of a skeletal bull head can be seen everywhere in the stadium.
The referee team for this game came over and shook hands with the players from both teams one by one. The referee David Cooper was also the referee of the League Cup final last season.
According to the half covered by the team logos before the game, the two sides separated into two sides after the ceremony, leaving only Chen Xiaoliang and Odegaard to choose who would kick off first.
The result was that the "home team" Arsenal guessed the right to kick off first.
For today's match, the tickets were sold equally to fans of both teams, with each side occupying half of the court, separated by security in the middle.
However, the current Manchester United and Arsenal no longer have the tit-for-tat confrontation they had during the period when Ferguson and Wenger were competing for supremacy, so today's security force is not as strong as when Manchester United played against Leeds and Liverpool.
In the first half, both teams' half of the field was just below the half of the stands where their own fans gathered.
Although the two teams wore home and away jerseys, the flags in the "cheer packs" that the fans in the stands received under their seats were all red, the main color of both teams.
“Beep!”
As soon as the referee David Cooper blew the whistle, the commentators from sports channels around the world officially began their work for the evening.
For a moment, the stands of both sides were filled with cheers and flags were waving. After Havertz kicked the ball to Odegaard behind him, Arsenal began to press forward as a whole.
Coincidentally, the tactical arrangement that Arteta set for Arsenal tonight was also to "get a quick start."
The last match between the two teams was in the 11th round of the league, at Arsenal's home stadium. Arsenal actually played well in that game, but because of Chen Xiaoliang's outburst and Rice's sending off, the balance of the game was completely unbalanced.
Arteta also realized that wanting to compete with Manchester United in "dragging" and patience was not in line with the personalities of his young people. Instead, it was more reasonable for him to take advantage of the enthusiasm to open the situation, then hold the position without losing the ball, and then wait for an opportunity to act.
When it comes to defending against Chen Xiaoliang, the coaches of various Premier League teams can be said to have "learned from the best of many". Every head coach facing Manchester United will study the advantages and disadvantages of the previous team's targeted tactics, and then combine them with the characteristics of their own team to "develop" new tactics against Chen Xiaoliang.
In this game, in addition to pressing and double-teaming at the first moment, Arsenal's overall tactical idea was "offense is the best defense". Through fast breaks, they pushed Chen Xiaoliang back to a deeper position to participate in defense, forcing him to stay away from his own half and goal during the offense-defense transition, thereby increasing the space and opportunities to defend him.
Then there is another point that Arteta took advantage of, and that is Rice's desire for revenge.
In the last match, the midfielder, whose total transfer value was close to 100 million pounds, was teased by Chen Xiaoliang three times, and then teased by his actions and words. In the end, he got reckless and was sent off. After the game, he was not only criticized and ridiculed by the media and fans, but he was also classified as a player who was not even worthy of carrying Chen Xiaoliang's shoes.
Any 25-year-old young man who is full of vigor and has just entered a wealthy family would not be able to stand such an evaluation.
However, he also realized that there are always people better than him. In subsequent games, he matured a lot under Arteta's training. All his accumulation was for him to burst out when he met Chen Xiaoliang again .
Obviously, he was in very good form today, at least in the opening stages.
In the 2nd minute, Milinkovic made a long pass to Benzema, but it was blocked by midfielder Amadou Onana. Rice, who was nearby, protected the ball before Benzema could grab it back, and then passed it to Mitoma Kaoru on the left before Chen Xiaoliang came over to press.
Following the advice of the coaching staff, Kaoru Mitoma did not face Wan-Bissaka, who had given him a hard time in previous matches, head-on. Instead, he cut directly inwards from the middle to challenge the defense of right midfielder Milinkovic-Savic.
All players have weaknesses, and Milinkovic-Savic is no exception. Despite his solid defense and outstanding confrontation skills, at 191cm tall, when facing a nimble winger like Mitoma Kaoru, he can only rely on positioning and retreating to contain his opponent. If he tries to rush forward to steal the ball, he will easily be dribbled past.
At the same time as Kaori Mitoma cut inside, Zinchenko came in from the left and took away Wan Bissaka.
Just when Milinkovic retreated to the flank area to prevent Mitoma Kaoru from cutting further into the penalty area, Mitoma Kaoru suddenly moved to the left, and instead of going inside, he went outside and went straight to the baseline.
At the same time, Zinchenko on the left side suddenly changed his route, rushed into the left side of the penalty area and ran inside.
Just as the two met, Kaoru Mitoma made a lateral push and pushed the ball to Zinchenko who had successfully cut inside under the noses of Milinkovic-Savic and Wan-Bissaka who were defending.
Arsenal fans immediately became excited, looking at the penalty area at the other end of the field and began shouting in anticipation.
Zinchenko took a step forward, facing Maguire and pushed the ball directly to the back post!
Saka appeared on the right!
Fortunately, Lima had followed and stood between Saka and the goal post.
Seeing that there was no shooting route, Saka thought that forcing a shot would probably only result in a corner kick, so he stopped the ball with his left foot after it landed, and made a reverse triangle move with his right foot.
Livakovic moved his center of gravity forward half a step, and when the ball reached the penalty spot, Casemiro carried Rice and rushed towards the ball that rolled back.
Since the broadcasting rights of the League Cup and FA Cup in recent seasons have been bought by a small station in the Red Country, a large number of fans have flocked to the live broadcast room of an old lady named Xiao Wang.
Xiao Wang: "Rice, grab some points!"
"It...it went in , guys! I can't believe Arsenal's start was so smooth!"
"Just before the game started, I said that Rice was almost traumatized by Xiao Liang in the last game. I didn't expect to be slapped in the face so quickly, brothers."
"Did the ball change direction? Let's watch it again and defend."
"Ouch, hahaha, it turned out that it hit Maguire's crotch, and it changed direction slightly, just passing by Livakovic's hand."
"I mentioned earlier that many fans missed Maguire. I didn't expect him to start today and have an immediate effect on the team. Haha!"
"Oh my god, I really don't want to say this. Seeing Xiaoliang speechless, I am really mumbling!"
They were trailing 1-0 less than 3 minutes into the game. It was obvious that one of the two teams, both aiming to get a favorable start, was about to succeed while the other was very close to failure.
There was actually nothing wrong with Maguire on this ball, but he was under tremendous psychological pressure.
He was ridiculed, mocked, made into jokes, stripped of the captain's armband, and placed on the bench. He waited for more than a year since he became a substitute last season. At the age of 31, he worked hard to lose 10 kilograms, practiced with a group of children much younger than himself, wanting to integrate into the tactics of the new captain and new core. He significantly improved his lateral movement speed, and was willing to rotate in the starting lineup in unimportant games. He worked diligently and finally won back a chance to start in an important game.
But at this moment, this was not the start he wanted.
Watching Rice venting his pent-up frustration with his crazy roar and flushed face, Maguire wanted to shout a few more times and ask Balotelli's famous quote: "Why always me ?"
Fortunately, after the update on the big screen, the official did not add fuel to the fire, and the goal was still attributed to Rice, avoiding the characters of "Maguire own goal" hanging in the sky like a sign of shame throughout the game.
Chen Xiaoliang didn't say anything, because talking in the locker room only took less than 20 minutes.
He clapped his hands vigorously, asked his teammates to look over, then pointed to his temple to remind everyone to stay focused, and finally made a downward motion with both hands, telling them: calm down.
At 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the whistle sounded again and the game continued.
Benzema kicked the ball directly back to Chen Xiaoliang, and then the whole formation moved forward.
Before the front could press forward much, Arsenal’s pressing came on.
The first person who rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang also startled him.
I want to ask why when Rice scored the goal just now, he was the midfielder who made the move all the way forward into the penalty area. Where was the nominal striker Havertz?
Where did he go? He was coordinating outside the penalty area and preventing Manchester United from counterattacking after the ball was passed through the middle.
At this time, he rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang from behind the center line, followed by Mitoma Kaoru.
Today's pressing on Chen Xiaoliang started from the forward line, and whoever was closer would press.
Chen Xiaoliang wanted to advance from the junction of the two people, but when he looked up, he saw Rice also rushing up. The three of them surrounded him from the left, middle and right directions, but except for Mitoma Kaoru who was close to him, the other two did not take any action. They surrounded him but did not grab him.
Chen Xiaoliang had no choice but to pull the ball, turn around and pass it back to Milinkovic.
Milinkovic-Savic made another long pass, this time to the left. However, facing Arsenal's full-line pressing, without waiting for Kvadrat to get into position, Takehiro Tomiyasu jumped directly from beside him and headed the ball away, and the ball fell at Odegaard's feet again.
Xiao Wang: "This ball was played too hastily. Millin tried to kick the ball directly to the front court twice tonight, but Arsenal was positioned so far forward and Manchester United's wings had no aerial advantage, so they wasted the ball."
"Isn't Fred gone? What's going on? Did he pass on his magical skills to Milin?"
When Chen Xiaoliang saw Odegaard dribbling forward, he immediately retreated in front of the two midfielders and participated in the defense.
Odegaard countered the move and when he saw Chen Xiaoliang returning to defend the middle, he immediately passed the ball to Saka on the right.
The 22-year-old Saka, worth 110 million euros, and Rice, worth 90 million euros, are the two most valuable players in the team. In front of him is Luke Thomas, who is also 22 years old and worth only 25 million euros.
Since Luke Shaw only played two games after returning to the team half a month after recovering from injury, his condition has not yet fully recovered. Therefore, based on the opinions of the coaching staff, Ten Hag finally chose to start the young player, also named Luke.
But opportunities and challenges coexist. The big brother Maguire over there has suffered, and now it depends on whether the young man can stop the attack of the powerful Saka.
Saka forced his way along the outside line, with Luke Thomas constantly harassing him, and then retreating.
Every move and every gesture was very effective in defense. No matter how Saka changed the rhythm or forced his speed, he could not get into the inside.
The defense along the way made Luke Shaw, Varane and others on the bench nod in praise.
But top defenders not only look at one-on-one with the ball, but also zone marking without the ball.
Saka pulled the ball and turned around in the area near the bottom line on the right, then knocked it back to Odegaard who was standing in the right corner of the penalty area.
Next to Odegaard is Casemiro who is in a defensive stance.
Odegaard did not dribble the ball, but directly passed it to Takehiro Tomiyasu who was running along the right sideline.
Luke Thomas did something extremely inexperienced. He rushed towards the Japanese international who received the ball without any teammates coming to switch defense.
He thought that Takehiro Tomiyasu was going to make a cross and was thinking about going up to block it, but he didn't expect that the opponent saw him making a rash attack and immediately passed the ball low inside, which returned to Saka's feet again.
But at this moment, Saka was on the right side of the penalty area, with no one defending him!
Left center back Lima was also shocked and immediately rushed forward to block.
But Saka, facing the baseline, stopped the ball with the inside of his left foot and gently pushed it in front of his right foot. Before Lima got close, he raised his right foot and shot towards the near post!
The frequency of this back and forth was too fast. Livakovic, who was guarding the middle area of ​​the goal to prevent the opponent from heading the ball after crossing the ball, immediately rushed to the near post, but when he was almost in position, the ball had already been blasted out!
Livakovic stretched his hands upwards and felt his fingers touching the ball!
However, when he looked back, the ball had already rolled down the net inside the goal, and Saka, who was in front of him just now, had already run to the half-court stands of his own fans to celebrate.
2 to 0!
Only 4 minutes!
Everyone was surprised! This was completely different from what they had expected. Even the odds before the game were that Manchester United would give a half goal!
Xiao Wang: "Brothers, what's going on? Brothers, it seems that Magui's small mistake just now has spread to his teammates. Milin and Luke have become reckless. The entire defense is not relaxed and feels very tense."
"Arsenal were leading by two goals in just over four minutes. This was a dream start."
"What? You're asking me who I support? Is there any need to ask? My fellow villager must support Xiao Liang, right?"
"How many brothers are in the same confused state as me now? Give a 1 in the barrage."
Immediately, the screen was filled with 【1】, which continued for a long time...
Amateur football players were confused, and professional football stars were also confused.
For this game, four famous players, Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Micah Richards and Henry, were all present to commentate on the match.
They represent Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively.
Before the game, whether they were expressing their own opinions or interviewing other celebrities present, almost all of them, except for the die-hard fans who opposed Manchester United, such as Carragher who was not at the scene but in the live broadcast room, believed that Manchester United would achieve an "overwhelming" victory, including even Henry, who is considered to be the greatest player of Arsenal, and Michael Owen, the golden boy of Liverpool.
But what he said could not cover up what he was thinking. Ferdinand frowned and said nothing at this moment, while Henry and Carragher could not help but smile while communicating via the Internet.
In addition to them, various celebrities and commentators were paying attention to this game.
The biggest highlight is whether Chen Xiaoliang can win the first championship trophy for his new club after joining Manchester United and winning the double title, as well as how many goals he can score, how many assists he can give, and how many famous scenes of flying tackles and explosive dribbles he can create in the game.
Zhan Jun wrote on his Weibo: "Arsenal's youthful momentum and tough pressing at the start, Arteta's tactics were appropriate and the players resolutely implemented them. They got off to a dream start when Manchester United had not yet entered the game. Now it depends on how Ten Hag and Xiao Liang adjust."
Zhang Lu: "It was a disastrous start, but I don't think we need to panic. Xiaoliang can often perform better when falling behind. There is still plenty of time left in the game. Manchester United's offensive power is obvious to all, and there is still a chance."
Even Guan Zeyuan said: "Manchester United ended Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten streak in the league across seasons. Manchester United has been unbeaten in 45 games in all competitions, including the league, cup and Champions League, from last season to now. It seems that Manchester United's unbeaten streak will also be ended by Arsenal tonight."
Comments:
【Shut up, dog! 】
[Just focus on your Real Madrid and stop talking about the Premier League! ]
[It’s over. I feel sorry for Arsenal for a second]
【Chuo! 】
…
While the Arsenal players were celebrating wildly, Chen Xiaoliang was waving his hands with a serious expression, calling his teammates over.
The Manchester United players immediately trotted over and surrounded them.
Chen Xiaoliang: "Why are you in such a hurry? They want to play fast, can't we play slowly? The rhythm must be determined by them?" He looked at Casemiro while saying this.
"Why are you panicking? If you can't defend the outside line of the wing, don't defend it. Let him pass the ball. There are so many people in the middle. How can these short guys compete with you, Brother Magui, for headers?" He looked at Wan Bissaka while saying this.
"Don't be afraid of passing back, don't be afraid of controlling the ball. We have two top midfielders. Are we afraid that the midfield can't hold the ball?" While saying this, he looked at Lima and Maguire.
"Also, divide the ball more, play more on the wing, and walk more on the ground. Our wing explosiveness is definitely not inferior to theirs." This sentence was directed at Kva and Rashford.
"Don't just look at the wingers in the midfield, move forward when there's a chance. Don't forget, our striker is the winner of the Golden Ball!" While saying this, he looked at Livakovic again.
Each of Chen Xiaoliang's five sentences is a reminder and criticism to the players who made mistakes, but each sentence is said while looking at other people, and the next sentence will immediately "praise" the object of criticism in the previous sentence.
He pointed out where it was necessary to point out and encouraged where it was necessary to encourage, and he calmed the players down from their panic in the fastest time.
It’s not that these five sentences have any special magic, but all the teammates realized one thing: the details of the game are in the eyes of their captain, and when he gave the countermeasures, he did not mention himself.
It was obvious that he was going to start helping the team take over the game.
Ten Hag originally wanted to shout a few words, but when he saw Chen Xiaoliang like this, he put his hands in his coat pockets, staring at the players who were huddled together listening to the captain's instructions, without saying a word.
At the reminder of the referee David Cooper, Manchester United players dispersed and returned to their positions. The time was 5 minutes and 37 seconds and the game continued.
After Chen Xiaoliang dealt with his teammates, it was time to deal with himself.
After falling behind by two goals, the BUFF of [Big Heart] was triggered, and he got the chance to randomly increase his attributes by 2 points.
But after the system that only he could see flashed for a while, he realized that God was setting a challenge for him today. Perhaps he got up too early and got a hellish start.
Corner Kick 2 → 4
These 2 points of BUFF bonus can be said to be a complete waste.
When the players gathered around him just now, he looked at each player.
It is obvious that Benzema and Casemiro's eyes are calm and determined, and Rashford, Lima and Kva are not much different, except that these three have a hint of urgency.
But Wan-Bissaka, Milinkovic-Savic, and especially Livakovic and Luke Thomas, who were making their first club final, showed their nervousness and uneasiness.
After all, not every player in this group has the belief that they will win and the experience to deal with big competitions, or to put it bluntly, they don’t have the “heart of a champion” to win the championship.
He must step up at this time, and only he can bring back the team's morale.
Benzema kicked off and passed the ball to Chen Xiaoliang, who started with the ball directly.
Before Havertz could get over, he was left far behind by Chen Xiaoliang who had crossed the center line.
As Mitoma Kaoru came over, Chen Xiaoliang moved forward directly along the right rib area. Mitoma Kaoru wanted to block him closely, but as soon as his body made contact and he stretched out his left hand to stop Chen Xiaoliang, he was knocked forward by the huge impact force and fell on the grass.
When Rice and Zinchenko saw Chen Xiaoliang was about to start the unparalleled attack, they immediately double-teamed him from both sides, with Amadou Onana also surrounding him from behind.
His teammates didn't expect Chen Xiaoliang to rush forward like this. Rashford, Kva and Benzema had not yet advanced to the empty space in the frontcourt.
Chen Xiaoliang turned around, kicked the ball back to Milinkovic, and then ran forward.
Without the ball, the three people surrounding him had no idea where to start and could only retreat with him.
Chen Xiaoliang’s words were still fresh in his mind. Milinkovic didn’t wait for Havertz to come over and press, but directly kicked the ball to Benzema who had stopped.
Benzema took two steps back to receive the ball and made a lob pass in front of Chen Xiaoliang's running route.
The ball was passed a little too far, and as it was about to fall on the head of Arsenal's left center back Gabriel, Chen Xiaoliang, who was rushing forward at full speed, jumped up and headed the ball forward, and the ball went over Gabriel's head.
Now, the number of people chasing Chen Xiaoliang increased from three to four.
Xiao Wang excitedly shouted in the live broadcast: "Beautiful! Xiaoliang! Piolion, Xiaoliang!"
Chen Xiaoliang chased the ball and it bounced up after landing almost at the baseline. He no longer had enough space to slow down his full-speed sprint, so he simply stepped on the ground with his left foot, twisted his waist, and kicked the ball with the outside of his right foot almost at the baseline!
He once scored a goal like this at a zero-degree angle from the baseline!
But today things are slightly different.
With a two-goal lead, Arsenal's morale was high, including goalkeeper Armsdale.
Moreover, at this moment, Chen Xiaoliang was the only one in the penalty area. Unlike last time, there were teammates in the middle helping Chen Xiaoliang to distract the goalkeeper's defensive attention. Amsdale didn't have to worry about anything at this moment and only needed to block the ball at the near post.
The ball flew over at an extremely fast speed!
Armsdale spread his hands and clasped them together to block the ball out of the baseline.
All I heard was a sigh of "Ouch!" from half of the Manchester United fans in the stadium, but it was followed by loud applause and cheers full of expectation!
Xiao Wang: "Oh my god! If this goal goes in, I can definitely book the Puskas Award next year. It's amazing, brothers!"
"Don't worry, brothers. Xiaoliang is going to make some moves. This game is going to be interesting, brothers."
“Beep!”
Referee David Cooper awarded Manchester United a corner kick on the right side.
The players behind, such as Wan Bissaka and Lima, all ran up. Chen Xiaoliang turned around and stretched out his hand to make them retreat, leaving only Milinkovic-Savic and Maguire to enter the penalty area to compete for the header.
He said to his teammates: "Why panic? It's just two goals."
"Hold on, we can win!"