Chapter 407: 30 minutes left before the championship is won?
In the 33rd minute, Manchester United once again used the set-piece tactic. Maguire, who was particularly excited to return to the starting lineup today, received the free kick from Chen Xiaoliang. He won again in a one-on-one battle with Saliba and headed the ball hard towards the goal, but this time it was blocked by Ramsdale. Gabriel then cleared the ball before Benzema's follow-up shot.
Maguire didn't just play this game for Ten Hag, he wanted to prove to him that he would still be an excellent choice for the central defender position. At the same time, he also wanted to tell England national team coach Southgate who was watching the game in the stands that he had enough strength and condition to participate in the European Cup which would start in three months.
Southgate certainly saw this. He led the team to two World Cups, one to the semi-finals, one to the quarter-finals, and one to the runner-up in the European Cup. In this European Cup, with the younger generation of weapons such as Bellingham, Saka, Rice, and Grealish and Rashford entering their golden age, England is a considerable favorite.
Not only on the offensive end, Maguire also performed well on the defensive end today. This is related to both his condition and Arsenal's layout.
Arteta used Havertz as a pseudo center forward, so that there was no center forward in the penalty area most of the time. Saka and Kaori Mitomata exploded from both wings, and both had full-backs and defensive midfielders as the first line of defense, which reduced Maguire's defensive pressure a lot.
Many commentators noticed this. Henry said that Arsenal was able to be equalized so quickly because of Benzema.
Although he is already 36 years old, the French legend used his running and support in the middle to tie down too much defensive pressure on Arsenal, preventing the central defender from making up for the deficit immediately when the defensive midfielder was passed by Chen Xiaoliang.
Henry's words were like a prophecy. In the 42nd minute, Kva suddenly cut inside while advancing on the left, and then passed the ball to Benzema who retreated to the top of the arc.
Seeing that he had no chance to receive the ball and turn to face the goal, Benzema knocked the ball back to Chen Xiaoliang on the left flank.
Chen Xiaoliang dribbled the ball to the right, and Rice and Odegaard ran from both sides and tried to double-team him. Chen Xiaoliang pushed the ball forward and kicked it back to Benzema, then immediately ran to the right, running in the opposite direction of Rice. When Rice slowed down and turned around, he had already been thrown off by Chen Xiaoliang.
Benzema leaned on Saliba behind him and cleverly passed the ball back, which just hit Chen Xiaoliang in front of him.
Chen Xiaoliang rushed towards the penalty area with the ball as if drawing a circle with Benzema as the center. Zinchenko and Amadou Onana rushed over. Chen Xiaoliang kicked the ball to the left and passed it to Benzema again.
Benzema seemed to be standing still, turned around to receive the ball, and then made a two-on-two pass with Chen Xiaoliang, pushing the ball to the right side of the penalty area, still in front of Chen Xiaoliang's forward route.
The fans of both teams in the stands were almost wet with excitement. The temperature in London in March was only 3-10 degrees Celsius, but the intensity and tension of the game made them stand, jump, shout and sigh, as if they were in the hottest days of summer.
At this time, the wonderful cooperation between Chen Xiaoliang and Benzema aroused the emotions of the fans of both teams.
One side shouted: "Got it, got it!"
The other party exclaimed: "It's over!"
Saliba wanted to intercept Benzema's pass to Chen Xiaoliang, but Chen Xiaoliang got there first, moved the ball forward, and caught up with the ball near the baseline.
He kicked the ball to Kwa at the back post before Saliba's foot could reach him.
Kva was on the left side of the small penalty area, far away from the goal and unable to shoot when he received the ball. He used his left foot to kick back and made an inverted triangle pass to Benzema who turned around and made a run. Benzema pushed the ball with his right foot and the ball flew towards the right side of the goal!
Saliba, who had just fallen to the ground, struggled to get up and almost blocked the shot with his face. Then Ramsdale, who dived to the side, was quick to press the ball to the ground and hold it tightly.
"oops!"
Manchester United fans and players sighed at the same time. It was such a wonderful combination, but unfortunately the final shot did not score a goal.
Xiao Wang: "I saw a fan leave a message saying 'blame it on Benzema'. Haha guys, it looks like this joke won't work."
"Just now Ramsdale dived to the left side of the goal to prevent Kvara from shooting, so Benzema's choice to shoot to the right was a reasonable choice. It can only be said that his luck was a bit bad."
The game after the first half basically turned into a one-way attack by Manchester United. From 2-0 to 2-2, the mentality of Arsenal players collapsed. They were eager for quick results in offense and were impatient. Basically, the ball was lost after two or three passes. Either the pass was too long or the route choice was unreasonable and was intercepted by Manchester United players.
But after Benzema missed the great opportunity just now, facing Arsenal who were retreating on all fronts, Manchester United failed to use the remaining ten minutes to score another goal and reverse the lead.
During the half-time break, in the locker room, the head coaches of both teams did the same thing, which was to point out the key points of the second half to the players, but the direction and form were completely different.
On the Arsenal side, which had lost a good opportunity, Arteta did not talk much about tactics.
He himself was once a member of Arsenal and wore the captain's armband under the legendary coach Wenger. He knew that in the current situation, talking more about tactical arrangements with the players would be like talking to a deaf person and the players would not be in the mood to listen at all.
He chose to stimulate the team members, uncover the biggest scars, and pierce the deepest pain.
That was the league championship that we lost last season when we led almost the entire time but were finally reversed by Manchester City.
Tonight we were leading by 2 goals and had a perfect start but were equalized. It was just like that moment.
He told the players that since Wenger left the team, it has been six seasons now and the team has only won one FA Cup and one Community Shield . Tonight's opponent Manchester United has also won two League Cups, one FA Cup, two Community Shields and one Europa League in the 10 seasons since Ferguson retired.
But because of Arsenal's lead last season, the outside world feels that they are very close to success, while Manchester United is always described as a loser.
He questioned the players, saying that last season when they were defeated by Manchester City, they could find an excuse that the team was young and inexperienced, but what would be the excuse if they lost today?
He even roared, looking at those players who did not return to defense in time and were still pressing forward desperately. Why did they think that they would win the game just because they were leading by two goals, and that they would definitely be able to score the third or fourth goal?
He even said something very unpleasant: " We lost to Manchester City last season. If we lose to Manchester United today, the label of loser will never be torn off us! When people discuss Arsenal in the future, they will still think of it as a fake giant that only cares about fighting for the top four!"
Arteta used the method of provocation, while Ten Hag used the method of motivation.
He loudly praised the players' performance in the comeback, and gave a final mobilization to several players who were scheduled to play in the second half, telling them that they were arranged to play at this time not because they were not as capable as the starters, but like the third and fourth runners in a relay race, they are the sprinters and finishers who maintain the advantage to the end and win the victory.
What remains is personal guidance for Cesco.
The Slovenian center forward has almost finished warming up, and Ten Hag plans to replace him in the 55th minute. This is not only to hope that he can conserve his energy and go on the court to make a charge, but also to let him watch from the sidelines how Benzema connects the frontcourt, how he runs without the ball, and how he assists and makes passes for his teammates in actual combat.
This cannot be seen in low-intensity confrontations during training, and can only be felt most intuitively at the scene of such an important final.
Manchester United has long established a rule not to buy players over the age of 28, but for the sake of a very small number of high-level players, the club is willing to make exceptions, such as Casemiro, Ronaldo, and of course Benzema.
But offering a big contract to this 36-year-old veteran is not only to allow him, who still has a good competitive level, to help the team play a role at critical moments, but also to provide his rich experience to young players.
As a center forward, Cesco is naturally the focus of study.
He nodded to Ten Hag, indicating that he was ready and would use all his energy in the game.
In the second half, both sides returned to the court and changed sides to continue the game.
After the whistle sounded, the mental outlook shown by both sides was obviously different from that in the first half.
Arsenal, who learned from their mistakes and then became braver, were stimulated by Arteta and began to become more patient.
They themselves also understand that the reason they were reversed by Manchester City last season was actually more due to their own problems. They did not seize the leading advantage, they failed to control their mentality when they were ahead, and they blindly believed that the championship was no longer suspense, which led to their mental collapse when the score gap was narrowed.
The same was true for tonight's game, but fortunately Arteta made them realize that tonight's situation gave them a chance to make up for their regrets. Although last season's Premier League trophy was destined to be missed, if they can take the lead again tonight and finally win the trophy, they can get rid of the demons in their hearts and comfort themselves and the fans.
The same thing happened on Manchester United's side. They underestimated their opponent and because of the one-sided public opinion before the game, they felt that Arsenal was not something to be feared. However, they were beaten 2-0 in less than 5 minutes, which woke up all the players who underestimated their opponent.
Having finally equalized the score, they would not give their opponents any more chances.
This is a cup match where the winner is decided by one game, and there is no room for squandering.
Therefore, under the influence of these two mentalities, the red and white fronts in the second half were like a guerrilla war, where when the enemy advanced we retreated, and when the enemy retreated we pursued.
In the 48th minute, Saka held the ball on the right. In addition to Havertz and Mitoma Kaoru in the frontcourt, midfielders Rice and Odegaard also came up to support. But unlike the first half, of the five defensive players in the backcourt, only the two full-backs Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu pressed forward appropriately, but they did not cross the midfield line. The rest of the players stayed firmly in the back and never took risks.
On the Manchester United side, except for Benzema, all other players retreated to their own half, taking positions in the back and pressing in the front.
So the two sides started to test each other between pressing and passing. After Saka and his teammates passed the ball several times and held the ball steadily, Manchester United's overall formation was fully recovered, and Arsenal's midfielder Amadou Onana and two full-backs began to cross the center line.
Finally, Kaoru Mitoma received the ball after moving inwards on the left, and wanted to make a diagonal pass to Havertz, and then pass the ball directly behind him to the vicinity of the small penalty area, but was intercepted and cleared by Lima.
The retreating Chen Xiaoliang got the ball next to Odegaard, who came up to harass him immediately, but Rice, who would have rushed towards Chen Xiaoliang recklessly, did not linger this time and ran directly to his own half.
The same thing happened to the rest of the midfielders and backcourt players. The first thing they did was to run back without even turning their heads. Only Saka, Kaori Mitoma and Havertz retreated while trying to press or intercept Manchester United's passing routes, trying to prevent the opponent from launching a quick counterattack.
Seeing that Arsenal was retreating quickly, Manchester United's Kvadrat and Rashford were not in a hurry to move forward. They started to support Chen Xiaoliang by running and received the ball and participated in the pass.
By the time Manchester United took control of the ball and got into formation, Arsenal's players had already retreated to their positions.
Finally, it was Kva who dribbled forward and passed the ball to Chen Xiaoliang who was running in the middle. As Chen Xiaoliang's shooting space in front was blocked by Rice, he passed the ball directly into the penalty area, hoping that Rashford who was running in diagonally would receive the ball, but Zinchenko cleared the ball out of the baseline first .
If the two sides played a "grabbing" game in the first half, then the two sides played a "steady" game in the second half.
It feels like whoever loses the ball first is the grandson.
In this state where the entire team is determined to implement tactics and is highly focused on defense, general offensive tactics are unlikely to be effective.
Everyone knows how to make diagonal passes, straight passes, crosses from the sides, and combinations of the sides and the center. If a defensive formation is set up but can be easily broken through, then there is no qualification to compete for the championship trophy .
At this point, the only thing that can influence the outcome of the game is the super moments of the stars.
With Kaori Mitoma on the left never getting the upper hand against Wan-Bissaka and both Odegaard and Rice in the middle having to get past Chen Xiaoliang before they could attack, Saka on the right became Arsenal's trump card in the second half.
On Manchester United's side, it is naturally Chen Xiaoliang.
In the 57th minute, Saka received the ball on the left side of the ribs and passed it to Havertz at the top of the penalty area. Havertz passed the ball back to the middle, and Saka followed up with a powerful shot, which slightly missed the left post.
Then in the 60th minute, Chen Xiaoliang dribbled past Zinchenko on the right, squeezing and speeding up, completely unreasonably eating the ball, and pushed it into the bottom line. He passed the ball in front of the goal before Rice and Gabriel arrived for defense. Cesco, who had just come on the field, made a cross to the front point, but was blocked by Saliba's strong foot. The ball hit the outside of the post and bounced out of the bottom line.
In the 63rd minute, Saka also made a strong breakthrough on the right. Luke Thomas obviously began to feel a little tired after competing with his opponent for most of the game.
Casemiro came over to make up for the defense, Saka passed the ball back to Takehiro Tomiyasu who followed, Tomiyasu then passed it horizontally to Havertz who retreated to meet the ball, Havertz then passed it to Odegaard who followed, Odegaard faced Milinkovic's blockade and shot directly from 28 meters away from the goal, Livakovic jumped up and dragged the ball over the crossbar.
Arsenal's corner kick was then headed out by Maguire and Manchester United started a counterattack, but unlike the first half, Arsenal had 5 players left behind to defend, and Manchester United's counterattack did not form an equal balance. Chen Xiaoliang dribbled the ball to the frontcourt and was double-teamed by three people. He was forced to pass the ball to Kva on the left. After receiving the ball, Kva failed to get rid of Takehiro Tomiyasu at the first try and was closely defended by the Japanese international, which slowed down his advance. When he passed the ball again, Arsenal already had 7 players defending and a counterattack was out of the question.
Finally, Chen Xiaoliang forced a shot from the right side outside the penalty area, but the ball hit Saliba and bounced back, and was unsuccessful.
On the sidelines, the head coaches of both teams were preparing to make substitutions. Arsenal's Ben White, Martinelli and Nketiah were ready to come on, while Manchester United's Timberwolves and B Fee were ready to take over.
However, just when the substitution was made, the score was changed.
After Chen Xiaoliang's shot was bounced back, Arsenal launched a counterattack. Odegaard made a long diagonal pass from a long distance and passed it directly to Kaoru Mitoma who had already run back to Manchester United's half on the left. The latter ran along the left rib for a while and rushed directly to the top of the arc, attracting the blockade of Milinkovic-Savic and Casemiro.
Just before approaching the top of the arc, Kaoru Mitoma passed the ball to Saka on the right flank. Luke Thomas, with his hands behind his back and bent over, was waiting for Saka to dribble over. Unexpectedly, the latter took a step to the left and shot a powerful long shot with his left foot!
The ball had almost no curve or rotation and flew straight to the upper left corner of the goal.
The suddenness prevented Luke Thomas from making a blocking move, and also prevented Livakovic from adjusting his position on the goal line.
Although Livakovic tried his best to fly to his right side to save the ball, it was still half a meter away. The ball almost hit the 10-point corner and rushed into the goal between the post and the crossbar.
“Yeahhhhhhhhhh!”
Arsenal fans went crazy. Half of the Wembley stadium seemed to collapse. The ground was shaking, thunder was roaring, and bombs were exploding. It felt like their team was almost finished. They couldn't even hold on to a 2-goal lead and would most likely be swept away by Manchester United in the second half. But suddenly they took the lead again and felt the excitement of regaining hope.
Arteta celebrated with his fists pumped, but came to his senses after just a few beats. On the one hand, he asked assistant coach Stuivenberg to continue making substitutions, with Martinelli replacing Mitoma Kaoru, Nketiah replacing Havertz, and Ben White replacing Tomiyasu Takehiro. On the other hand, he called the players and loudly warned them not to make the same old mistake of forgetting their own weight after scoring a goal in the first half.
Ten Hag had no choice but to adjust his substitution strategy due to the change in reality.
Originally, he was going to stabilize the situation and wait for the chance to score the winning goal, but now he has to score two goals in the remaining time to reverse the victory. Milinkovic-Savic was replaced by the versatile Timberl who came on as a defensive midfielder. He was originally going to replace Luke Thomas' left-back position, and Luke Shaw came on to add a crossing point on the left, while Rashford moved to the left. Kwa, who was in average form tonight, was replaced by B Fee as the right winger, who was actually tasked with being the free man in the frontcourt to pass the ball to Chen Xiaoliang.
Arsenal's celebration is over, substitutions are completed, and Manchester United is ready to kick off.
Chen Xiaoliang looked up at the time on the big screen: 65 minutes and 44 seconds.
The second half lasted 20 minutes with both teams attacking and defending, but Saka's shining moment changed the score.
If we continue playing like this, there is no guarantee that the team will score a goal even after 20 minutes.
After all, Arsenal are playing it safe at the moment and their mentality is very pragmatic. If they push hard to equalize the score, they might be counterattacked and lose another player before they can even score.
He had already used all the conventional means in this battle, but he knew that he still had some unconventional methods.
So he clenched his right fist and raised it high, then lowered it and gently patted the top of his head.
This is the team's tactical code.
What I mean is - do everything you can to pass the ball to me next.
He was ready to use his abilities to end the game.
