章節 228: Chapter 228: Hat-trick Victory Over Arsenal, Standing Ovation from the Fans!
Chapter 228: Hat-trick Victory Over Arsenal, Standing Ovation from the Fans!
"Ozil's move was very unwise. Lin Quan was still far from Arsenal's goal, no need for such a foul!"
In the commentary box, He Wei shook his head, unable to understand Ozil's actions.
"I think he probably wanted to get back at Lin Quan for that earlier tackle," Xu Yang, a former player, somewhat understood Ozil's mindset. Players sometimes lose control of their emotions on the field.
"Clearly, he paid the price for his impulsive behavior and put Arsenal in a desperate situation. Although we often say football is unpredictable, coming back from two goals down with one player less is almost impossible."
Both commentators felt it was a pity. A strong contest lost its suspense because of Ozil's irrational foul. This would be hard for Arsenal fans to accept, but for Manchester City players, the goal must have been a relief.
The first half quickly ended, and during the break, Wenger comforted his players and encouraged them to keep fighting and try to create a miracle.
With only ten players, Arsenal had no choice but to play defensively and counterattack. At the start of the second half, Arsenal made some adjustments. Wenger substituted Giroud for Cazorla. Without midfield support, Giroud was just standing idle upfront. Instead of letting him stay up there, Wenger brought in an organizing midfielder, hoping to seize counterattacking opportunities.
This substitution, initially a helpless move after Ozil's red card, surprisingly made Arsenal's counterattacks more effective. In the 63rd minute, Arsenal capitalized on a Manchester City mistake. After intercepting the ball in their half, Cazorla made a wide pass, like a precision-guided missile, accurately finding the fast-running Walcott upfront.
With Manchester City focused on attacking Arsenal's goal, their backfield was wide open. This gave Walcott plenty of space to accelerate. Walcott at full speed is terrifying. Demichelis barely reacted before Walcott's shadow flashed past him and he was gone.
Using a feint to bypass Demichelis, Walcott chose to shoot. The shot was very tricky, and Joe Hart couldn't save it despite his best efforts. Arsenal, with one player down, surprisingly pulled one back. Walcott scored his second goal at the Etihad Stadium.
"GOOOOAL!!"
"The game is not over yet. Walcott scores again, bringing Arsenal back from the brink!"
Seeing this goal, Wenger was overjoyed. He ignored his usual graceful image, clenched his fists, and shook with excitement. Walcott was even more excited. He ran back from the front and jumped onto Cazorla. Over half the credit for this goal went to Cazorla's precision pass. Without it, Walcott wouldn't have had such a good chance.
"Well done, Theo!"
"Great job!"
"What a fantastic shot!"
Arsenal players rushed up to celebrate with Walcott and Cazorla.
"We still have time, let's score another one!" Ramsey said to his teammates, glancing at the scoreboard.
"Haha, I think I can score two more!" said Walcott, brimming with confidence after his brace.
"Hehe, if you score four goals at the Etihad, you'll completely outshine their number 10!" Flamini laughed, ruffling Walcott's hair.
"Haha, of course! Our little tiger is better than that guy!"
"Yeah, I've always thought so!"
Hearing his teammates, Cazorla hesitated. As someone who had been teammates with both Walcott and Lin Quan, he knew their abilities better than anyone at Arsenal. Walcott was indeed good; his speed made him a deadly weapon on the field. But Lin Quan was different. Lin Quan could do almost anything upfront, like a versatile Gundam without any weaknesses, excelling in every aspect. This was evident from their stats in the league and the Champions League.
However, saying this might hurt morale and offend Walcott, so Cazorla kept silent.
Arsenal's second goal caught Manchester City slightly off guard, but they didn't panic. After the game resumed, City continued to organize their attacks methodically. Lin Quan played the role of a playmaker upfront, using passes and dribbles to manipulate Arsenal's defense. Whenever Arsenal showed a flaw, Lin Quan would exploit it with a threatening pass, creating opportunities for his teammates.
This put Arsenal in an increasingly passive position, as if a heavy iron chain was tightening around their necks, suffocating them.
"Lin's playmaking ability is even better than I imagined!" Wenger couldn't help but admire. Even as a part-time playmaker, Lin Quan's talent and skill exceeded Ozil's. In offensive capabilities, Lin Quan completely overshadowed Ozil. How did Manchester City get so lucky to sign such a player? Wenger was envious.
"Am I seeing things? Is Manchester City playing Barca's tiki-taka?"
"It sure looks like it!"
"Arsenal seems to be getting strangled!"
"Yeah, this is suffocating to watch. If this continues, things look bad for Arsenal."
The fans' intuition was spot on. After a few minutes of passing, Arsenal's players began to struggle to keep up with City's rhythm. This style of play is very hypnotic, making it hard for defenders to stay highly focused. Once their attention drops, gaps will appear.
In the 76th minute, Manchester City executed a fluid passing move. After multiple passes, the ball reached Lin Quan, who had unknowingly advanced into Arsenal's penalty area. Arsenal's defense was in disarray. Seeing the ball at Lin Quan's feet, they rushed at him in panic. Lin Quan shifted the ball sideways, creating an angle for a shot. Mertesacker, Koscielny, and others instinctively tried to block.
But as they raised their legs, they realized Lin Quan hadn't shot. It was a feint. He passed the ball to the open right side of Arsenal's penalty area! David Silva appeared there and easily scored, making it 4-2. Just as Arsenal had taken a step back from the cliff, Manchester City kicked them back down again.
After this goal, Wenger slumped into his seat, feeling defeated. He knew his team was done. Pellegrini, on the other hand, applauded with a smile, thrilled by the team's performance.
This was exactly what he wanted!
Two goals ahead, and the match was approaching the 80th minute.
Pellegrini decided to make some substitutions. He replaced Aguero with Navas and Yaya Toure with Javi Garcia.
Passing and possession football is something Spanish players excel at. By bringing Garcia onto the field, Lin Quan could be relieved from some of his organizational duties and focus more on attacking!
Walcott had already scored two goals, so as Manchester City's star player, Lin Quan couldn't be outdone.
With the two Spanish players on the field, Manchester City's passing and possession football became even smoother.
Arsenal's players started to feel a bit hopeless, like facing Barcelona in the Champions League! Five years with Bayern, three years with Barca! For Arsenal fans, the teams they least wanted to face in the Champions League were these two.
Last season, Arsenal was knocked out by Bayern in the round of 16.
As for being eliminated by Barca, that happened even more frequently.
Wait a minute! We advanced as group runners-up, Barca as group winners, does that mean we'll face Barca again in the knockout stage? Thinking about this, Arsenal fans started to worry about the upcoming Champions League group draw.
After Garcia and Navas were brought on, their main focus was to assist Lin Quan.
They would rather not score themselves and help the team leader boost his stats.
With such enthusiastic teammates, Lin Quan felt it hard to refuse.
In the 85th minute, Lin Quan received a pass from Navas, maneuvered past a defender, and scored, extending the lead to 5-2.
This goal was also his second of the match, matching Walcott's brace.
"Hattrick!" "One more goal!" The Manchester City fans at the stadium weren't satisfied yet and started to cheer for Lin Quan to score one more and complete a hat-trick.
Lin Quan initially declined, but his teammates were determined.
In the 90th minute, Nasri dribbled into the penalty area and was tripped by an Arsenal player.
The referee awarded a penalty, and Nasri quickly got up and offered the opportunity to Lin Quan.
Although Nasri is French, he clearly knew who the big brother in the team was.
With such courteous teammates, Lin Quan had no choice but to accept.
Seeing Lin Quan step up to the penalty spot, Wenger felt hopeless.
He tried to put his nearly frozen right hand into his pocket but couldn't.
Though the pocket was within reach, it seemed to be locked away.
Wenger repeated this motion seven or eight times, and even the cameras noticed, capturing this awkward moment and displaying it on the big screen.
The Manchester City fans burst into laughter, and Wenger, with a grim face, turned and returned to his seat.
Lin Quan calmly scored the penalty, making it 6-2.
Then, Pellegrini used his last substitution to bring Lin Quan off in stoppage time to receive the fans' applause.
As Lin Quan exited, he clapped towards the stands, thanking the fans for their enthusiastic support.
The Manchester City fans stood up collectively, giving Lin Quan a rousing applause.
They absolutely adored Lin Quan. Every time they saw him play, they felt a sense of security!
Not long after Lin Quan was substituted, the referee blew the final whistle.
In the end, Manchester City achieved a big win over Arsenal at home, not only defending their top spot but also extending their home winning streak.
Lin Quan, who scored a hat-trick in this match, thoroughly outshone Walcott.
After this match, any rational and objective fan would have no doubt about who was better between Walcott and Lin Quan.
However, Walcott himself didn't seem convinced. After all, he did score twice at the Etihad Stadium, fulfilling his pre-match boast.
"Hmph, it's just that your teammates are a bit better. If I had teammates as strong as yours, the match outcome could be different!"
After the match, Arsenal's players were generally very downcast.
Before facing Manchester City, they had some hope, thinking there wasn't a significant gap between them and City.
But after the match, they had to admit, City was indeed stronger.
And not just by a little. For one, they didn't have a player like Lin Quan.
Thinking about competing for the title against such a team, Arsenal's players felt a lack of confidence.
Their opponent had gone 16 rounds unbeaten. Including the Champions League and cup matches, they were unbeaten in 24 games.
They didn't know how to defeat such a strong opponent, especially being 9 points behind. To win the title, they could only hope for a City collapse.
"Don't be discouraged, the season is long. Losing one match doesn't mean anything; we still have a chance."
Wenger, seeing the players' low morale, hugged each one, comforting them.
One issue with Arsenal is that their players are generally too young.
Young players have less psychological resilience and are more prone to emotional swings, which is one reason for Arsenal's annual late-season collapse.
Of course, another reason is the thin squad. Once key players get injured, Arsenal's performance plummets.
With Arsenal's financial situation improving, Wenger had more money to spend.
He had already started addressing this issue. Spending 50 million euros to bring in Ozil in the summer was a sign that Arsenal could finally make big moves in the transfer market.
With the winter break approaching, Wenger planned to strengthen the squad by signing a strong forward or winger.
Barca's Sanchez and Liverpool's Suarez fit his criteria.
However, both players were expensive, with Suarez likely costing over £40 million.
Sanchez's price would also be high. Bringing him from Barca to the Emirates might cost around €50 million.
But Wenger had a plan. In the summer, he contacted Suarez's agent.
The agent mentioned a clause in Suarez's contract with Liverpool that any offer over £40 million could trigger his release.
Wenger was skeptical and didn't buy Suarez in the summer due to his biting incident and subsequent ban.
If he had bought Suarez, the Uruguayan would have missed the first ten league matches, costing Arsenal two and a half months' wages for nothing.
So Wenger prioritized signing a midfielder, bringing in Ozil from Real Madrid, and decided to monitor Suarez's performance post-ban.
It turned out Suarez, despite his on-field antics, had strong personal ability.
After his suspension, Suarez scored 10 goals in 6 matches, rivaling Manchester City's Lin Quan in scoring efficiency.
Had he not been banned for 10 matches, he might have competed for the Premier League Golden Boot with Lin Quan.
Suarez's impressive form made Wenger determined.
He planned to resume contact with Suarez's agent in the winter transfer window, aiming to persuade Suarez to join Arsenal.
Without Champions League football at Liverpool, Arsenal, known for always making it to the Champions League, seemed a better option.
As for the bid, Wenger planned to test the £40 million clause with a £40 million plus £1 offer.
If successful, bringing Suarez would significantly boost Arsenal.
(End of this chapter)
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