Although a mistake occurred at the beginning, Manchester United's defense was not upset because of it. Under the shouts of head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer outside the field, they quickly started to defend according to the pre-match plan, and soon the entire defense line quickly stabilized. down.
Maguire still has some abilities as a central defender. He blocked Arsenal's crosses twice in a row.
Zhan Jun watched the live broadcast and said with emotion: "It seems that Maguire is indeed capable of being transferred from Fox City to Red Devils Manchester United at a high price. If his price is lower, it may be more affordable."
Director Zhang chuckled: "Absolutely, because Maguire needs the help of his teammates in front of him, and if he is left to defend a small and fast opponent alone, he will definitely make mistakes."
Zhan Jun said with a smile: "So, whether Maguire can be used well will test the mentality of the head coach. Of course, it will also test the mentality of the fans."
Director Zhang laughed and said: "But Arsenal should not be too optimistic. If you want to win, you cannot always wait for the opponent to make mistakes. I feel that Solskjaer must have carefully studied Arsenal's offense."
.
Soon, Manchester United was under pressure and could only move the football forward to find forward Rashford.
Even though there is a high possibility of losing the ball, they don't dare to make any more mistakes in the backcourt.
Because once there is a transmission error, Arsenal's forward will seize the ball and face the goal.
Without incident, Arsenal's backcourt grabbed Manchester United's long pass, and then they immediately started to attack.
Because Fang Fang did not play, the offensive direction of this game was mainly on the right side. As soon as everyone got the ball, they would look at Saka on the right and want him to tear apart the opponent's defense.
Saka did pose some threat in the first few minutes.
The whole audience's attention was focused on him,
After experiencing a lot of games this season, Saka has lost some of his youthfulness and his style of play has become smarter.
Now, many people in the outside world often compare Saka and Fang Fang. Many people discuss that they are the most powerful young players in the Premier League and who is most promising to become the leader of the new generation.
The local Premier League fans actually prefer Saka.
After all, Saka is a well-established youth training player.
Although Fang Fang has been in Arsenal's youth training for several years, he is still an outsider after all. At most, his identity is more of a sense of belonging than a mercenary.
This is an objective fact. Under the banner of Zhengmi, it is also a place that pays attention to one's origin.
Because the bench was very close to the fans' stands, Fang Fang could occasionally vaguely hear some comments coming from people who were envious of Arsenal's youth training.
.
On the field, although Saka faced the opponent's targeted defense,
But he still spared no effort to come back and attack,
It seems that Saka entered the game first. His running range covered the right center frontcourt, much like the active little black bull.
The relationship between Arsenal and Manchester United can actually be considered hostile. After all, the two teams have often competed for the top spot in the Premier League.
Since we are running into an old rival, we must go all out.
Arsenal is missing its core midfielder, and Saka rarely becomes the focus of the game.
but,
Manchester United will definitely not let Saka continue to indulge like this at the Theater of Dreams.
Pogba suddenly withdrew, stretched his legs from behind, and brought Saka down in the right corner of the penalty area.
Anyway, he knows very well that Fang Fang is Arsenal's free kick master. Since Fang Fang is sitting on the bench, he would rather foul than let Saka in at this position.
Sure enough, after the lack of equational free kick tactics, Arsenal did lack opportunities to score direct free kicks.
Xhaka, as captain, takes the free kick.
He kicked a curve ball. Although it flew over the wall, the height was not suppressed and the football flew high over the crossbar.
but,
Xhaka kept Pogba's foul on Saka in mind.
Then when Manchester United won the ball, Pogba received a pass from his teammate.
When he was about to advance with the ball,
Suddenly, Xhaka rushed up from the side and knocked Pogba to the ground.
At this moment, huge boos erupted in the stadium.
The Red Devils fans were furious. No one could tolerate Xhaka making such a rude foul at their home ground.
"Send him off, this is Old Trafford!"
"Dirty thing, is this your beautiful football?"
"Let me in, I'm going to beat him hard."
Then, Xhaka looked calm when faced with the yellow card shown by the referee.
Anyway, that's how he plays. He can't bear to see his teammates suffer, let alone himself.
Pogba lay on the ground for a while before rubbing his waist and getting up. Fortunately, his hair was not messed up, otherwise he would have had a big fight with Xhaka.
However, the foul was just an episode.
The referee of this game was Anthony Taylor. His several whistle blows effectively stopped the foul thoughts of both teams.
Anthony Taylor is a relatively neutral Premier League referee.
Although he is sometimes criticized by fans as a blind monk, every strong team has suffered losses at his hands. Therefore, from a certain perspective, his whistleblowing scale is fair.
Subsequently, Manchester United lost possession of the ball and they once again shrunk their defense, waiting for the next counterattack opportunity.
Arsenal's frontcourt is still a bit unadapted to the lack of a playmaker.
Because Equation is on the court, he can take quality long-range shots, be creative with short passes, and at the same time make opponents afraid of free kicks.
Although Ronaldo's ability to seize opportunities and shooting skills are first-rate, and his passing is also good, so far, he still lacks the ability to break through with the ball.
It is because of the lack of this breakthrough ability that Manchester United's defense is not in a very passive situation.
As a result, Arsenal's sides were quickly targeted by help defense.
Lacazette struggled a bit in the middle of the penalty area, and was stared at by Maguire and Lindelof.
He was already somewhat isolated.
In fact, Maguire is not afraid of fulcrum forwards like Lacazette.
Maguire has height and can fight, but he is only afraid of his opponent's quickness.
As long as he has teammates in front of him to help defend, Maguire's defensive performance has always been very stable.
Saka once again made a breakthrough from the wing, not believing that he could not create a chance.
However, Luke Shaw still did not fall behind even half a step and chased Saka closely.
There was no other way, Saka could only kick the ball in the middle when it was about to leave the baseline.
"Saka passed the ball, and although Luke Shaw followed closely, the ball still slipped through his feet. This was a rare offensive opportunity."
"Lacazette grabbed points in the penalty area!"
Zhan Jun immediately explained loudly.
However, goalkeeper De Gea was very focused. When he saw the path of the ball, he immediately moved forward and attacked.
At the same time, Maguire got ahead of Lacazette and strode forward, blocking the forward position.
By the time Lacazette dragged Lindelof to grab the point, he was already too late.
The passed ball was smashed down by goalkeeper De Gea.
"Oh, Lacazette, he was held back by Lindelof. Saka's cross was indeed a bit threatening, but they lacked support in the penalty area and could not threaten the goal." Zhan Jun analyzed carefully With.
On the edge of the court, head coach Wenger naturally noticed this and frowned slightly.
After the team got rid of the breakthrough in the frontcourt without the equation, it was never able to create a truly threatening pass.
In addition, once Martinelli and Saka get the ball, they will be defended by two people, or even double-teamed by three people.
This resulted in Arsenal rarely threatening Manchester United's goal in the first half.
Manchester United's bus defense did a good job indeed.
"Do you want to change to Equation?" Arteta walked out, covering his mouth with his hand, and asked Wenger.
Wenger thought for a while and said: "This is the only way, but wait a little longer."
After all, the first half is not over yet. If substitutions are made at this time, it will seriously damage the confidence and dignity of the young players.
Time slips away unconsciously.
Seeing that the first half was coming to an end, Lacazette and Xhaka made a mistake when they hit the wall in the middle.
Pereira stopped the ball in the middle and was about to hit Arsenal's counterattack.
However, Martinelli also ran over immediately and made a decisive sliding tackle from the side to grab the ball.
Pereira was looking upfield, still thinking about finding forward Rashford with a long pass, and completely ignored Martinelli coming from the side.
Pereira's ball movement was slow, and he was brought to the ground by the sliding tackle. He still didn't understand what happened.
The football rolled right in front of Ronaldo,
S Luo met him with a volley.
There was a bang——
Lindelof sacrificed himself to block the door.
The whole place was in an uproar.
"It's a pity that Ronaldo's shot was blocked. This is a rare opportunity to score!" Zhan Jun couldn't help but said with regret.
Director Zhang said calmly: "We still have to change the equation. Don't look at Arsenal's attack around Manchester United. So far, it has always been thunder but little rain. The key is that they have to be careful of Manchester United's quick counterattack."
At this time, head coach Wenger looked a little anxious on the sidelines.
I thought this was a rare opportunity, why didn't I take it?
immediately,
Wenger anxiously gestured with his hands to the players on the field.
It's like saying that we need to speed up the interspersed running, and the full-backs must get in time.
However, under the leadership of Suo Zi, Manchester United also plays defensive counterattacks. The forwards have speed, and the entire Manchester United team has become accustomed to this efficient style of play.
Solskjaer crossed his arms and was not in any hurry. It seemed that the rhythm of the game in the first half was as expected by Suo Zige.
Just with the last minute left,
Pereira rushed to pass the ball and was directly entangled with Ronaldo who was receiving the ball.
There was a hidden little movement on Pereira's hand, which made Ronaldo feel uncomfortable.
Immediately afterwards, the ball at Ronaldo's feet was accidentally poked out by Pereira.
Pogba grabbed the ball. He is a World Cup winning midfielder and his pass is very accurate.
He kicked a long diagonal pass and found Rashford who was counterattacking quickly on the left side of the front court.
While running, Master La stopped the incoming long ball angrily. Then Master La took the lead and dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Gabriel was half a body behind. He really wanted to foul, but it was too late.
Goalkeeper Leno immediately abandoned the goal and attacked, trying to block Master La's single-handed ball.
However, Master La was very calm and immediately used his left foot to steadily push towards the goal and hit the same shot as Nunez into the far corner.
Then, the football slid past.
There was a sigh in the audience instantly.
"Don't you think this push will go in?"
"What kind of smelly feet are these! Go home and wash them, *%&"
"Oh my God, this is the most promising single goal in the game."
Seeing that the goal was not scored, Master La held his head in his hands and couldn't believe that he made a mistake in pushing the far corner.
Head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer only felt that his whole body was not well. He closed his eyes in anger and could only take a deep breath.
Fang Fang watched with amusement on the bench. Needless to say, this push shot really had some charm.
Haaland next to him was puzzled and whispered: "This can be a challenge or pass the goalkeeper. Why push it to the far corner?"
Fang Fang was happy, who could know such a thing.
At the same time, the Premier League director gave a shot of Arsenal's bench, indicating that Arsenal's offensive core has not yet played, and the situation may change in the second half.
When Director Zhang saw this shot, he smiled and said: "Rashford did not score this goal, and he made a big mistake. In the second half, Equation will definitely come on as a substitute. By then, Arsenal will have more offensive routines, and Manchester United will Whether we can hold it any longer is a big question.”
Zhan Jun also agreed: "Arsenal did not score in the first half because Lacazette lacked support and needed teammates to take away the defense around him, otherwise even replacing Haaland would be useless. By the way. , Teacher Zhang, do you think Du Wenliang can come on as a substitute in the second half?"
"It's difficult. Solskjaer has never given him a chance to come on as a substitute. Now in this important game against Arsenal, it is even more impossible for him to come on." Director Zhang answered without thinking.
At this time, the referee blew the whistle to end the first half.
The head coaches of both teams immediately turned around and left the field, walking in silence toward the locker room.
It can be seen that the head coaches of both sides are not satisfied with the 0:0 score.
Fang Fang stood up and saw Du Wenliang on the bench opposite, so he walked towards the latter.
"Are you confident to play as a substitute in the second half?" Fang Fang asked after approaching.
Du Wenliang said easily: "I didn't think so much. Anyway, I have been learning things and making progress slowly during training in the team."
Fang Fang agreed with this idea and said: "Yes, learn more, and what you learn is yours. In the end, there will be no chance to play, so we will think of other ways."
Du Wenliang hummed and joked: "Brother Fang, if you go up in the second half, don't make our score too ugly."
Fang Fang waved his hand and refused the poisoned milk, "No way, I'm still injured. It would be good if I'm still in good condition."
However, that being said, at the beginning of the second half.
Head coach Wenger made substitution adjustments, replacing Equation with Ronaldo.
Facing this talented midfielder, Fang Fang gave him a friendly hug before running towards the playing field.
Only one minute passed. Fang Fang was running vertically when he suddenly received a direct pass from Thomas.
McTominay rushed up and tried to interfere with the equation, but his foot slipped and he accidentally fell!
The entire audience screamed. How could he fall down without contact?
Fang Fang didn't have time to be surprised. He made a decisive move and dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
In response to this, Wan-Bissaka's eyelids jumped, and he quickly gave up the wing and defended Fangfang.
But it's too late,
Lacazette leaned on the defender not far away from the right side,
So, Fang Fang kicked the ball and asked Lacazette to help him with the ball, thus dodging Wan-Bissaka's defense.
The next second, Lacazette tapped the football back and rolled it in front of the equation, on the only way.
The equation is facing the goal,
Although Lindelof is blocking the front, it is useless to him.
Fang Fang faced the football and kicked a dagger.
The football made a loud bang, bounced in a small arc, and headed straight for the far corner of the goal.
Goalkeeper De Gea's vision was blocked, and by the time he reacted and made the save, it was already too late.
The football hit the net instantly!
(End of chapter)
