Volume 3 The Myth of the Gunslinger Chapter 335 Performance
Until the end of the first half, Arsenal still pressed Manchester City to play, Mancini did not find a way to defeat the enemy, they did not want to attack aggressively, but after falling behind by two goals, the players' mentality was impatient, and the forward line led by Tevez and Balotelli almost became an enraged Bull, taking the ball only to the bottom line, and not cooperating with teammates at all, so that the midfielders could not find the direction of the ball, and Arsenal's defense was less difficult.
Football is a contradiction between offense and defense, more defense, less attack, more attack, less defensive pressure, Manchester City can not put pressure on Arsenal in attack, Arsenal's offensive can not be contained, and the situation of them being beaten passively cannot be changed. Of course, Arsenal's failure to give up after scoring was also an important factor in City's inability to organize a counter-attack.
After half-time, Manchester City made adjustments to the starting lineup, Balotelli, who was impetuous and carried a yellow card, was replaced by Dzeko, for the midfield and backfield, Manchester City has not changed, De Jong, Bari, Yaya Toure is Manchester City's strongest player, in order to counter Arsenal's technical advantage, Mancini specially sent three iron-blooded backs, Silva is the only technical midfielder, and it must not be down. As for the back line, although Kolarov was blown up by Li Huan and Arshavin, but in the face of Li Huan and Arshavin, who are like wolves, which defender can maintain his innocence, Mancini also has self-knowledge, so he didn't change at all.
Arsenal is the leading side, naturally there will be no substitutions, these players on the field are playing very well, and the lead has not reached the point where they can go on the field to perform, how can an old Jianghu like Wenger do such a stupid thing.
After the start of the second half, Tevez's impatience was a lot less, Dzeko easily got such a chance to play in such a major game, his running was very positive, almost from this penalty area to another penalty area, the two defensive forwards played a major role in Manchester City's attack and defensive quality improvement, although Arsenal did not relax the attack, but Manchester City did not fall into the disadvantage on the field, much stronger than the passive beating in the first half.
Midfield, the battleground, Manchester City's success this season depends on a tough and tough midfield, and Arsenal's midfield advantage is technology and dexterity, Cesc Fabregas and Wilshere are players with high passing skills, although Arshavin is a winger, he is more active in the midfield, so that Li Huan can insert assists, so the entire Arsenal midfield is a combination of small and fast.
In the first half, Arsenal's midfield completely suppressed Manchester City, and Li Huan's assist made the game extremely tilted, which caused Arsenal's two goals in the end, and in the second half, Dzeko and Tevez's active defense greatly weakened Arsenal's midfield advantage.
The two sides were at a stalemate, with most of their respective attacks being defused in midfield, and a few attacks that hit the opponent's penalty area, but because there were too few people to threaten much.
In the face of the stalemate, the two managers behaved and felt very differently, Wenger looked calm, said that there was no pressure on the stalemate, and even hoped that such a stalemate would be better until the end of the 90 minutes, and the two-goal advantage would allow Arsenal to win the FA Cup, which is the only trophy they have not won since last year.
Mancini had a sad face, it was so difficult to score a goal, and the equalizer was not even more fantastic, but now the players on the pitch are already the best players in Manchester City, what can they do if they are replaced by others? Who can break through Li Huan's defense, who can block Li Huan's attack, even if he can block it, who can guarantee that he will not foul thirty meters in front of his penalty area, at this moment, Mancini feels that it is so difficult to play with the team with Li Huan, especially in the final.
However, the stalemate did not last forever, the role of the star is used to break the deadlock, when Li Huan completely penetrated the left side of Manchester City, Arsenal's creative offensive cooperation continued to dedicate, and Manchester City's defense fell into infinite darkness.
In the 65th minute of the game, Manchester City's left-back and midfielder Barry finally couldn't stop Li Huan's stormy impact, and the two joined forces to close the door but did not shut Li Huan out of the door.
At this time, Manchester City's penalty area was immediately like a turtle's nest, chaotic, and two or three midfielders and defenders rushed to Li Huan to surround him.
However, in the siege of everyone, Li Huan actually found a passing route and passed the ball from the penalty area to the top of the penalty area, and it was Cesc Fabregas who stood in front of the top of the penalty area.
The Spaniard's big-picture vision and delicate footwork were evident at this time, and he didn't stop and passed directly to left-back Klich on the right side of the box.
At the moment, Klich was blank in front of him, most of the empty goal was exposed in front of him, and the players and goalkeepers were crowded into the middle and right, and even their left winger Walcott moved to the middle.
If you don't shoot now, when will you wait!
As a defender, there are very few opportunities to shoot, and the average defender may not be able to score a goal in a season, even in a team like Arsenal that advocates attack, the defender who is good at assists will not score more than five goals, of course, Li Huan is an exception, whether in Arsenal or in other places, no one is serious about him as a defender, he is a bug on the field.
Klich didn't waste that great opportunity, he took a step forward and fired into the top right corner of the box.
Although Chrisy is a defender, he will not shoot the ball away when no one is marked and most of the goal is empty, let alone he pushes with the arch of his foot.
Joe Hart's fast-moving save, and Lescott's flying save didn't touch the ball. The ball grazed the post and flew into the net.
3:0.
“goalgoalgoal…… The game is over! The game is over! Arsenal left-back Klich scored, the score became 3-0, Manchester City can no longer have a chance to reverse, the game is no longer any suspense, the following time turned into garbage time. Although it was not Li Huan who scored the goal, it was Li Huan who created this attack, it was he who singled out the opponent's two people, and passed the ball out in the 10,000 horse army to have this goal, the appearance of a superstar is needed at a critical time, and now the deadlock has been broken, and Li Huan's light shines on the whole field......"
The Arsenal fans in the stands let out a tsunami of shouts and the goal reassured them that the champions were not running and that it was time for them to celebrate.
The City fans in the stands fell silent after 35 years of waiting for the silver medal, but within 70 minutes, the trophy was getting farther and farther away, and now sane fans were sure they couldn't touch it again. At this time, the hardcore Manchester City fans stood up and continued to cheer for their team after being silent, some fans with poor psychological tolerance, and some fans with strong self-esteem quietly stood up and left the stadium early, and it was difficult for them to be in the mood to watch the opponent go to celebrate the cup.
Arsenal's third goal was a huge demoralisation blow to Manchester City, and the weakness of the nouveau riche and the ragtags was immediately apparent after the goal conceded, with the players complaining to each other, rushing to attack, everyone wanting to go forward and score goals, and no one wanting to defend from behind. The two fullbacks also ignored the speed of Li Huan and Walcott, and all pressed to the front to assist. It is useless for head coach Mancini to shout steady and steady off the field, at this time, who still cares about him as a manager.
For Arsenal, who are good at attacking, the last 20 minutes were simply wonderful, and City's backfield was almost their racetrack, and they couldn't touch a single person with the ball in 10 metres.
Just five minutes after the third goal, Walcourt latched on to Cesc Fabregas's pass and slotted straight into the City box, but his shot was sloppy and saved by goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Two minutes later, Van Persie successfully countered offside again, forming a one-on-one trend, this time the central striker did not waste the opportunity, he rewrote the score to 4:0.
At the time of eighty minutes, Li Huan ran wildly with the ball from the backfield, sprinting along the side with a 100-meter sprint, all the way to the bottom line, he saw that no one kept up with the point, even the opponent's defenders did not keep up, Li Huan cut into the penalty area and shot at a small angle, rewriting the score to 5:0.
After Li Huan scored Arsenal's fifth goal, even the hardcore Manchester City fans couldn't stand it, and they also left the stadium one after another, and the original proportion of Manchester City and Arsenal fans on the pitch almost became all Arsenal fans in the 80 minutes.
Arsenal's players didn't want to attack anymore after scoring five goals, with Arshavin replaced by Nasri and Cesc Fabregas replaced by Rosicky and ready to keep the score until the end.
But City's players are already red-eyed and continue to press with all their strength, wanting to score a goal to save a little face. Facing the almost undefended defense of the opponent's backfield, Arsenal is really embarrassed not to score, and if they don't score, it will be a little suspicious. Arsenal's players had to be forced to score.
In the last ten minutes, Manchester City not only did not score a goal as expected, but was scored by Arsenal two more goals, turning the score into a 7:0 massacre, Li Huan scored the third goal of the game, completed the hat trick of the final, forever engraved in the history of the world's oldest competition.
(To be continued)