Volume 3: The Myth of the Gunslinger Chapter 88: Sweeping the Old Club (Part I)
Wenger sat peacefully in the coach's seat, looked at the restless Rangnick with a frown on the sidelines, and nodded thoughtfully, he now understands Rangnick's feelings, if he is in Rangnick's position, he is afraid that he will also drive Li Huan away from the team, this young man is too capable of stealing the light of others, when the German media compared Li Huan to Beckenbauer, he also thought it was a media nonsense analogy, because Li Huan's characteristics are not the same as Beckenbauer, and now he believes it, Li Huan can be compared to Beckenbauer in terms of impact on the team. However, Wenger did not have the same jealousy as Rangnick, his status and reputation in the coaching world have been established, no matter how good Li Huan's performance is, he can't snatch his share of glory, and their cooperation can make each other's honor go up a notch, which can be said to be a win-win situation.
Rangnick's command on the sidelines can not change Hoffenheim's passive situation on the field, in the final analysis, the two sides are still the difference in strength, Arsenal's midfield and left strength are obviously stronger than Hoffenheim, the right side of Sagna's attack is insufficient, but the defense is still not much of a problem, this gap in strength will become more and more obvious with the deepening of the game, this is not Rangnick's on-the-spot command can change.
In the 18th minute of the second half of the game, Li Huan assisted with the ball again, and after attracting most of the defensive forces, the ball was passed to Fabregas, who took the ball through the half and distributed it to Li Huan on the side again.
Sagna was a little flattered, easily stopped this accurate transfer ball with his chest, and then immediately dribbled the ball to the bottom, Hoffenheim's left side has been drawn to the right and the middle, and Ibetzberg's left side has no one to help, so he can only face Sagna's assist alone.
After scoring a goal in a daze, Sagna's confidence increased greatly, and then his mind became much more flexible, knowing that his cross could not be practiced in a day or two, and when he saw Ibertsberg come up to intercept, he flicked the ball and cut it towards the edge of the penalty area.
Sagna's cross-cut disrupted the defense at the front of the Hoffenheim penalty area, originally they were in the middle of the defensive method of regional man-to-man, for Van Persie, Fabregas and other players still have to be two people to defend, suddenly came a Sagna, Ibertsberg did not have time to follow, the original defenders had to draw people to defend Sagna, at this time it is inevitable to vacate other players.
Sagna was ready to shoot, but he was not confident in his footwork, and the defenders were fast, so after attracting Hoffenheim's defenders, he passed the ball back to Song behind him, who was able to take the whole picture at the back and immediately transfer the ball to the unmarked Van Persie. Van Persie took a step forward after receiving the ball and the Hoffenheim defender immediately realised the leak and flew over to fill in the position. Van Persie changed direction again, and Timoshchuk, the defender who was originally assisting Li Huan on the wing, had to pull back from the side to defend Van Persie.
Van Persie achieved his goal with these two moves, and he was originally a playmaking striker. Knowing that he was not good at shooting in that position just now, he wanted to mobilize Hoffenheim's defense, and saw that Li Huan's side defense was attracted by himself, and immediately distributed the ball to Li Huan on the side, and quickly inserted himself into the penalty area to grab points.
Li Huan could have passed the penalty area diagonally at 45 degrees before Baker came up to defend, but Li Huan felt that it was still unstable, Arsenal's attack went through a series of more than a dozen passes to transfer, and the opponent's defense was also pulled away, Li Huan was the last pass this time, he didn't want to pass in casually, so he took the ball to the bottom line.
Baker had no confidence at the moment, and when he saw Li Huan rushing towards him, he had no helper by his side, so he could only come up to fight.
Li Huan is unwilling to delay time on the side, and immediately plucks the ball on the outside of his foot to the middle, if Baker does not follow, Li Huan will really cut crosswise, continue to increase the chaos of the front defense of the penalty area, if Baker follows, Li Huan will go directly to the bottom, as an attacker, Li Huan has mastered the absolute initiative, and Baker can only passively respond.
Baker chose to follow Li Huan sideways, which was also his helpless choice, the middle was disrupted by Arsenal's more than a dozen foot transfers, Li Huan cut horizontally, and there will inevitably be loopholes at the front of the penalty area, and the side is no longer the most important at this time.
Li Huan waited for Baker to move, as soon as Baker moved, Li Huan immediately pulled the ball back, and his body made a feint to break forward, in fact, the ball under his feet did not move, when Baker came over and intercepted again, Li Huan pulled the ball over again, suddenly accelerated, and broke through from the inside.
Baker was dazed by Li Huan's continuous plucking and pulling the ball, and Li Huan's last sudden acceleration made him can't help but speed up the rhythm, but this also made him unable to maintain his body's balance anymore and fell headlong in the grass.
Li Huan quickly went down to the bottom and swept the ball directly to the goal, not dragging the mud at all, neither cutting in, nor taking a look at the penalty area, this is different from the counterattack, at this time the penalty area is full of people, Li Huan can not cause the emptiness in the penalty area even if he cuts inside, it is better to cross directly, as long as he can pass in, the probability of scoring is not small.
Li Huan's passing power is too great, the players who want to intercept and want to grab a shot in front of the goal have not touched, and the Hoffenheim ball in front of the goal does not dare to touch this ball and has to grab a point to clear, and the Arsenal players have taken various ways to shoot. In the chaos, I don't know whose foot touched the ball, or whose foot the ball touched, and suddenly the ball flew into the net. Goalkeeper Hildebrand didn't see where the ball was at all, and he didn't know it was in until he heard cheers.
3:1, Arsenal extended the score.
The Arsenal players in the box didn't know who scored the goal, but when they saw the ball rolling in the net, they jumped up excitedly, and then ran to the stands to celebrate.
The fans in the stands excitedly raised their arms to make a human wave, and the whole stand was like undulating red waves, with a huge momentum and a shocking scene.
Rangnick stood on the sidelines as a statue, carved in wood and clay, although there was still a lot of time to play, but the Bundesliga professor knew that things were no longer possible, Hoffenheim's defeat was decided, and his fate was no longer in his own hands.
Wenger walked out of the coach's box with a smile and applause, with a graceful demeanor, looking like a fat brother on the beach, but unfortunately some sharp-beaked monkey gills also have a hooked nose, and the image is not good, but at this moment, the fans will not find fault with his dignity, and when they all shouted Long live Arsenal, they also called the name of the professor.
The on-site commentator said with a smile: "The biggest coach in the Premier League is naturally Professor Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, but the common shortcoming of these two respected coaches is that they will not celebrate the goal, and the celebration of each goal is very rigid, without passion, and it cannot be compared with Mourinho at all, but today's professor seems to have changed a little, and his applause today is very tasteful, and it seems that the professor is confident about the game." But who scored this goal, and the slow-motion replay didn't make it clear? It seems to be Eduardo, it could be Van Persie, and of course it could be Simunic's own goal, but now it is still an open case, and it may have to wait until the game to analyze it slowly. ”
After 3:1, Hoffenheim was cornered, like a wounded beast surrounded by hunters, and began the final counterattack, which looked very terrifying and wild, but had lost patience and calm, not only could not give the disciplined and fluent Arsenal a greater threat, but left Arsenal with more space behind him.
In the 25th minute of the game, Li Huan's precise long pass in the backfield helped Van Persie successfully counter offside, and the Dutch Robinhero shook off the Hoffenheim back line and went straight into the penalty area, and shook the attacking goalkeeper Hildebrand in the big penalty area, and pushed the empty goal to score, turning the score into 4:1.
Van Persie's goal made all the Hoffenheim people in the scene fall into despair, and some Hoffenheim fans even began to leave the stadium, they didn't love their team, they loved their team too much, and they didn't want to see their team humiliated again, it was like cutting their own hearts with a knife.
Arsenal's players and fans celebrated wildly to sweep the defending champions at home, which was a huge honour enough to make Gunners fans who have experienced many big scenes proud, and even manager Arsene Wenger couldn't help but wave his fist.
Of course, there are exceptions, Li Huan looked at his teammates who were lost and depressed, looked at the Hoffenheim fans who began to leave, and looked at Rangnick who was sitting in the coach's seat with his face covered with his palm, his heart was also very uncomfortable, but he couldn't help but be ruthless, if Hoffenheim was given hope, in the end they would definitely fight back more crazily, he must abide by his professional ethics, this is his bottom line as a player.
After 4:1, Arsenal's offensive continued unabated, but Li Huan's momentum was obviously insufficient, although he did not become a walking man and Manchester United's dashing brother, but his lack of physical fitness also attracted the attention of the coaching staff, Paul knew that Li Huan didn't want to play anymore, so he said: "Li Huan is tired, the overall situation of the game has been decided, let him come down and rest." ”
Wenger shook his head, he also understood Li Huan's thoughts, and said to Eboue on the bench with a smile: "You warm up and replace Li Huan." ”
Five minutes later, Eboue replaced Li Huan, who scored a goal and provided three assists. The Arsenal fans in the stadium were like a routine ceremony, all of them stood up and applauded Li Huan, and sent off the new king of the Emirates Stadium to rest, and the members of the coaching staff also stepped forward to hug Li Huan, and the stars put Li Huan on the bench like a moon.
(To be continued)