บท 226: Standing Ovation from the Fans!
"Özil's move was very reckless. Lin was still far from Arsenal's goal when he had the ball—there was no need for such a foul!"
In the commentary box, Iruk Yoj shook his head, expressing his inability to understand Özil's action.
"I think he probably wanted to get back at Lin for that earlier tackle," Medraawd, who used to be a player, could somewhat understand Özil's mindset, acknowledging that players sometimes lose control of their emotions on the field.
"It's clear he paid the price for his impulsive and reckless behavior, putting Arsenal in a desperate situation. Although we often say anything can happen in football, being two goals down and a man short, there's no way Arsenal can stage a comeback."
Both commentators felt it was a pity that such a high-stakes match had lost its suspense due to one ill-advised foul by Özil.
For Arsenal fans, this may be a hard pill to swallow, but for Manchester City's players, seeing this goal probably put their minds at ease.
The first half soon ended, and during halftime, Wenger tried to calm his players, encouraging them to keep fighting and strive to create a miracle.
With ten men on the field, Arsenal had no choice but to play defensively and look for counterattacks.
At the start of the second half, Arsenal made a substitution.
Wenger decided to take off Giroud and bring on Cazorla. Without midfield support, Giroud couldn't get the ball up front. Instead of having him stand idle in the attack, Wenger opted for a playmaker in the hopes of creating counterattacking opportunities.
This substitution, forced by Özil's red card, unexpectedly made Arsenal's counterattacks sharper.
In the 63rd minute of the second half, Arsenal capitalized on a mistake by Manchester City. After intercepting the ball in their own half, Cazorla made a long, precise pass, like a guided missile, directly to Walcott, who was sprinting down the field.
Since the start of the second half, Manchester City had been relentlessly attacking Arsenal's goal, leaving their own defense wide open.
This gave Walcott ample space to accelerate after receiving the ball, quickly reaching top speed.
At full speed, Walcott was terrifying. Demichelis barely had time to react before Walcott flashed past him like a blur and was gone.
After sidestepping Demichelis with a sharp cut, Walcott took his shot.
The ball was well-placed, and despite Joe Hart's best efforts, he couldn't make the save.
Arsenal, now playing with ten men, managed to pull one back, and Walcott celebrated a brace at the Etihad Stadium.
"GOOOOAL!!"
"The match isn't over yet! Walcott scores again, pulling Arsenal back from the brink!"
On the sidelines, Wenger was thrilled, abandoning his usual calm demeanor and clenching his fists with trembling excitement.
Walcott was even more ecstatic, sprinting back to the midfield and jumping into Cazorla's arms.
This goal was largely thanks to Cazorla's precise pass—without it, Walcott would have never had such a great opportunity, no matter how fast he could run.
"Well done, Theo!"
"Great job!"
"That was an amazing shot!"
Arsenal's players rushed over, celebrating with Walcott and Cazorla.
"There's still time left in the match. Let's get another one!"
Ramsey glanced at the scoreboard, encouraging his teammates.
"Heh, I feel like I can score two more!"
Having just scored a brace, Walcott was brimming with confidence, feeling like a god on the field, capable of anything.
"Haha, if you manage to score four at the Etihad, you'll completely outshine their number 10!"
Flamini ruffled Walcott's hair with a smile.
"Haha, of course! Our little tiger has always been better than that guy!"
"Yeah, I've always thought so!"
Listening to his teammates, Cazorla hesitated. As someone who had played alongside both Walcott and Lin, he knew better than anyone else on the team just how good they both were.
Walcott was indeed impressive—his speed made him a formidable winger, like a sharp sword that could be incredibly dangerous when wielded correctly.
But Lin was on another level. He was almost like a Gundam, able to do everything on the field with terrifying strength and no weaknesses.
This was evident from the statistics of both players in the league and the Champions League.
However, saying this out loud might dampen the team's morale and could even upset Walcott, so Cazorla kept his thoughts to himself.
Although Arsenal's second goal surprised Manchester City, they didn't lose their composure.
Once the match restarted, City resumed their organized attacks.
Lin, acting as a playmaker in the front, manipulated Arsenal's defense with his passing and dribbling, always ready to exploit any gaps to set up scoring opportunities for his teammates.
This pushed Arsenal into an increasingly passive position, as if a heavy chain was weighing them down, making it hard for them to breathe.
"Lin's playmaking ability is even better than I imagined!"
Wenger couldn't help but be impressed as he watched. Even as a part-time playmaker, Lin's talent and ability in this role were already surpassing Özil's.
And when it came to attacking, Lin was in a league of his own.
Manchester City was incredibly lucky to have signed such a player! Wenger was nearly green with envy.
"Am I seeing things? Is Manchester City playing like Barcelona with their possession football?"
"It sure looks that way!"
"Arsenal seems to be getting strangled out there!"
"Yeah, this is suffocating. I have a bad feeling about this!"
The fans' instincts were spot on. After several minutes of passing, Arsenal's players started to lose track of City's movements.
This kind of possession football was almost hypnotic, making it difficult for defenders to stay focused.
And once their attention wavered, gaps would appear.
In the 76th minute, Manchester City strung together a smooth series of passes, and the ball eventually found its way to Lin.
By this time, Lin had quietly made his way into Arsenal's penalty area.
Arsenal's defense was in disarray, and when the ball reached Lin, the players panicked and rushed toward him.
Lin shifted the ball sideways, creating a bit of space, and feigned a shot.
Mertesacker, Koscielny, and others simultaneously moved to block it.
But just as they did, they realized it was a fake—the ball had already been passed to an unmarked David Silva on the right side of the box!
Silva calmly slotted it home, extending the lead to 4-2.
Arsenal, having just clawed their way back up the cliff, were kicked right back down by Manchester City.
After that goal, Wenger slumped into his seat, his hopes shattered.
Pellegrini, on the other hand, applauded his team with a broad smile, feeling thrilled by their performance.
That's exactly the effect he wanted!
With a two-goal lead and the match approaching the 80-minute mark, Pellegrini decided to make some substitutions. He took off Agüero and brought on Navas, and also replaced Yaya Touré with Javi Garcia.
Spanish players excel at possession football, and bringing on Garcia could free up Lin from his playmaking duties, allowing him to focus more on attacking.
Walcott had already scored twice, so as Manchester City's star player, Lin couldn't let his goal count fall short.
After the two Spaniards came on, Manchester City's possession game became even more fluid.
Arsenal's players started to feel a sense of despair, as if they were facing Barcelona in the Champions League!
Five years of Bayern, three years of Barça!
For Arsenal fans, Bayern and Barcelona were the last teams they wanted to face in the Champions League.
Just last season, Arsenal was knocked out in the round of 16 by Bayern.
As for Barcelona, they had been eliminated by them even more times.
Wait!
We finished second in our group, and Barcelona topped theirs. Could we be drawn against them again in the knockout stage?
This thought made Arsenal fans nervous, worrying about the upcoming Champions League draw.
With Garcia and Navas on the field, their only focus was feeding the ball to Lin.
They didn't care about scoring themselves—they just wanted to help their star rack up more stats.
Seeing his teammates so eager to assist, Lin couldn't refuse.
In the 85th minute, Lin received a pass from Navas, outmaneuvered the defenders, and scored with a precise shot, extending the lead to 5-2.
This was his second goal of the match, equaling Walcott's brace.
"Hattrick!"
"One more!"
The Manchester City fans weren't satisfied yet. They began chanting for Lin to score one more and complete his hat-trick.
Lin initially hesitated, but his teammates were relentless.
In the 90th minute, Nasri was fouled in the box while driving forward.
The referee awarded a penalty, and Nasri quickly scrambled to his feet, insisting that Lin take it.
Although Nasri was French, not Spanish, he clearly understood who the team's main man was.
With his teammates being so gracious, Lin couldn't refuse.
As Lin stepped up to take the penalty, Wenger felt utterly defeated.
He tried to warm his freezing hands by putting them in his pockets but couldn't manage to do so.
Though his pockets were right there, they seemed unreachable, as if they had shut him out.
Wenger repeated the motion seven or eight times, and the TV cameras caught it, displaying his discomfort on the big screen for all to see.
The Manchester City fans erupted in laughter, and Wenger's
face turned livid as he turned away and sat back down on the bench.
Lin calmly converted the penalty, bringing the score to 6-2.
Pellegrini then used his final substitution, taking Lin off during stoppage time to let him soak in the crowd's applause.
As Lin left the field, he clapped to the fans in all four corners, thanking them for their enthusiastic support.
The Manchester City fans all stood up, giving Lin a standing ovation.
They absolutely adored Lin—every time they saw him on the pitch, they felt a reassuring sense of security!
Shortly after Lin was substituted, the referee blew the final whistle.
In the end, Manchester City secured a dominant victory over Arsenal, not only maintaining their top spot in the league but also extending their unbeaten streak at home.
Lin's hat-trick overshadowed Walcott's efforts, leaving no doubt about who was the better player.
After this match, there was no longer any question among rational and objective fans about who was stronger—Walcott or Lin.
But it seemed Walcott wasn't ready to accept it. After all, he had scored twice at the Etihad, fulfilling his pre-match boast.
"Hmph, it's just that your teammates are better. If I had teammates as good as yours, the result might have been different!"
After the match, Arsenal's players were visibly downcast.
Before playing against Manchester City, they held onto a bit of hope, believing there wasn't much of a gap between them and their opponents.
But after facing Manchester City, they had to admit that the gap was significant.
And it wasn't just a slight difference—Manchester City was far superior. For one, Arsenal didn't have a player like Lin.
Thinking about competing for the title against such a team, many Arsenal players began to lose confidence.
Manchester City was now 16 matches unbeaten, and if you included the Champions League and cup matches, they were unbeaten in 24 games.
Arsenal didn't know how to beat such a strong opponent, especially when they were already 9 points behind in the standings. To win the title, they would have to hope that Manchester City collapsed.
"Don't lose heart. The season is still long, and losing one match doesn't mean anything. We still have a chance."
Wenger noticed the low spirits among his players and went around giving each one a hug, offering words of comfort.
One of Arsenal's problems was that their squad was very young.
Young players often struggled with mental resilience and were prone to emotional swings, which was one reason for Arsenal's frequent late-season collapses.
Another issue was their thin squad. If key players got injured, Arsenal's performance would plummet.
But with Arsenal's finances improving, Wenger now had more money to spend.
He was already working on changing this situation. Spending 50 million euros on Özil in the summer was a signal that Arsenal was finally ready to make big moves in the transfer market.
And with the winter transfer window approaching, Wenger was planning to continue strengthening the team by bringing in a top-quality forward or winger.
Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez and Liverpool's Luis Suarez fit the bill.
But both players would come with hefty price tags—Suarez's price might exceed £40 million.
Sanchez would likely cost around the same. To bring him from Barcelona to the Emirates, Arsenal might need to spend 50 million euros.
But Wenger had a plan. In the summer, he had already spoken with Suarez's agent.
The agent mentioned a clause in Suarez's contract with Liverpool, stating that any bid over £40 million would allow him to leave.
Wenger was skeptical about this, especially since Suarez's ban for biting meant he didn't pursue him in the summer.
After all, if Arsenal had signed Suarez, he wouldn't have been able to play for the first 10 league matches, and they would have paid his salary for nothing.
So Wenger prioritized strengthening the midfield, buying Özil from Real Madrid, and decided to wait and see how Suarez performed once his ban was lifted.
Now, Suarez had shown that while he might be prone to reckless behavior, he was an exceptional talent.
Since returning from his ban, Suarez had scored 10 goals in 6 matches, matching Lin's goal-scoring pace at Manchester City.
If not for the 10-match ban, Suarez might have been challenging Lin for the Premier League Golden Boot.
Suarez's outstanding performances had convinced Wenger.
He planned to reopen talks with Suarez's agent once the winter transfer window opened, hoping to lure Suarez to Arsenal.
After all, at Liverpool, Suarez didn't have the opportunity to play in the Champions League, whereas Arsenal, despite their struggles, consistently qualified for it. In that sense, Arsenal had an edge over Liverpool.
As for the bid, Wenger intended to test the waters with £40 million plus £1 to see if that clause in Suarez's contract was real.
If he could actually bring Suarez to Arsenal for that price, it would be a game-changer for the club.
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