When Qin Xiong bypassed Carroll and shot the ball into the goal from a position of almost zero angle, Gary Neville slid to the goal from the other side at full speed and tried to clear the ball from the goal line but failed. The whole of Old Trafford fell into a dead silence.
Gary Neville still hooked the ball out of the goal with the tip of his foot, but the football was clearly a meter away from the goal line.
Mike Riley's finger circled the center circle, indicating that Arsenal's goal was valid!
Qin Xiong ran past Manchester United's goal with his arms open and a wild smile on his face. He looked to his left and saw Henry and Reyes running towards him. He stared at Henry and the two men kept nodding. Along with their running steps, it seemed to be a kind of rock rhythm.
When he came to the visiting fans' stands, Qin Xiong still opened his arms to accept the cheers and greetings of the Gunners fans.
Qin Xiong scored in the Theatre of Dreams at Old Trafford!
Wenger clenched his fists on the sidelines and waved them heavily. A complacent smile appeared on his face.
Manchester United was obviously not the strongest Manchester United at this stage, but Arsenal was the strongest Arsenal. Even if the players were not complete, Wenger still firmly believed that the team's strength was better than Manchester United's!
Wenger was not surprised that Qin Xiong scored!
In the pursuit of beautiful football, the biggest change in his technical and tactical transformation this season was Qin Xiong. All his efforts and expectations were poured into Qin Xiong!
He wanted to stimulate Qin Xiong's offensive potential to the greatest extent!
To let him burst out with more brilliance than Ajax!
In Wenger's eyes, Arsenal's team configuration was the most perfect. Every player on the offensive side was a team player, including the center forward, Henry, a perfect striker who could score at least 20 goals and contribute at least 15 assists in a single season!
Qin Xiong could inject stronger midfield creativity and organization into Arsenal, so the team's feedback to him was that the forward line could stimulate his greater offensive talent!
"Arsenal has scored! # 11 Qin Xiong scored a goal from zero angle! Oh my God, from the position where he raised his foot, there was only one trajectory away from the angle of the goal, a trajectory that could allow the football to roll into the goal. If it deviated even a little to the left or right, the ball would not be able to go in, but Qin Xiong's shot made the football roll on the most correct trajectory! He opened the scoring for Arsenal! Is this a sign of Arsenal's ten-game winning streak in the Premier League? "
Ferguson was chewing gum in the technical area that was similar to the stands. His face was unusually serious.
In fact, the technical area at Old Trafford was a little strange. The technical area was not independent, but connected with the stands. It was at the edge of the field, so it was often seen that there were a large number of fans next to or behind the managers who came here.
Ferguson really wanted to get Qin Xiong, but he couldn't satisfy Qin Xiong's request.
Look at the system that Manchester United was now pushing to build. Two strikers, two midfielders on both sides, and two midfielders in the middle. How could Qin Xiong replace Scholes?
Ferguson's depression in his heart actually came from the comparison of the players.
He gave the number 7 jersey to Ronaldo, and Ronaldo's performance for more than a season made him very dissatisfied.
At this time, after witnessing Qin Xiong's performance, there was no need to compare the two players' strengths horizontally. There was no comparison. After all, they were players of different types and roles.
But the comparison was clear at a glance from the style of play.
There were already a lot of Red Devils fans at Old Trafford who were tired of Ronaldo's fancy performance.
Ferguson was also asking him to move from flamboyance to practicality.
And Qin Xiong?
On the contrary, he was based on practicality, and occasionally put on a flamboyant performance at critical moments. Flamboyance served practicality.
Just like how he rode a bicycle in the penalty area to deceive Ferdinand, instead of endlessly showing off his footwork at non-critical moments, what was the point?
Manchester United fell behind in the score at home, which aroused the blood of the Red Devils players even more.
The game became rougher than before, and the confrontational mood soared.
Rooney was perfectly blocked by Vieira in the middle, and he began to take the initiative to pull the side. When he was moving on the side, he encountered Lauren. Lauren's tackle destroyed the ball at his feet, and he could only do support work on the side.
Ashley Cole was ready to launch a counterattack after he successfully froze Ronaldo's dribbling from the side, but van Nistelrooy's tackle from behind almost caused a conflict between the two teams. Even Wenger rushed out of the technical area and angrily reprimanded the referee team!
Because the referee actually did not punish van Nistelrooy for a foul!
Reyes had been in a state of fluctuation.
He thought he could cope with the game and regained some confidence, but after trying, he was lectured by Gary Neville until he could not lift his head. This repeated, forming a vicious cycle. He was about to completely lose confidence in the game. It was as if he was invisible, and no one could see that he had any positive effect on Arsenal.
After Qin Xiong scored a goal, he was more "taken care of" by the Manchester United players.
The Manchester United players saw the clues. Henry was not in form since the one-on-one ball was destroyed by Ferdinand. Bergkamp actually played very average from the beginning of the game, and Arsenal's most active player was Qin Xiong, and his teammates were willing to create opportunities for him.
With the support of Vieira and Ashley Cole at the back and the cover of the entire offensive side in front, restricting Qin Xiong became a link in Manchester United's defense that could not be ignored.
In the 40th minute of the game, Qin Xiong received Ljungberg's pass and was about to dribble the ball forward when Scholes shoveled him from behind diagonally and knocked him to the ground. Fortunately, Scholes was rushing for the ball, so Scholes' foot kicked Qin Xiong's calf, which was protected by the shin. After Qin Xiong fell to the ground, Scholes got up and took the initiative to apologize.
Ginger's defensive ability was actually very strong, but he had one weakness that was too obvious.
He did not know how to shovel the ball!
Shoveling the ball was not something that could be done casually. The key was how to choose the timing. Scholes' shoveling technique seemed to be a layman who was born and could not be trained to learn it.
Qin Xiong accepted Scholes' apology. After Scholes pulled him up, Qin Xiong pretended to stand still. When Scholes turned around and ran back, Scholes suddenly revealed a stunned expression.
He did not see that Qin Xiong, who was standing calmly behind him, suddenly kicked the ball out.
Quick, a free kick!
Not only Scholes, but the other Manchester United players also did not expect Qin Xiong to stand in place and look like he was waiting for his teammates to move, but suddenly a free kick in the next second.
Teammates moving?
Sometimes, for a threatening attack, just one player's positioning was enough!
Henry!
In fact, it was Henry who took the lead to start from the left side of the penalty area diagonally to the front right. After Qin Xiong noticed, he did not hesitate to send a straight pass!
It was a perfect combination!
Manchester United was caught off guard.
Phil Neville subconsciously stretched out his leg to intercept the fast-rolling football, but he staggered and slipped to the ground. Silvestre's running route was once again seized by Henry.
This time, Henry took advantage of the momentum to take a step forward to the right side of the penalty area, and then raised his leg to shoot!
"Carroll has done a great job! Carroll pounced on Henry's shot. The shot was too straight. Henry's shooting today is a little bad. It's a pity that he missed this wonderful free kick coordination. Who would have thought that Henry's running position and Qin Xiong's pass could be linked together under the heavy encirclement of Manchester United's players? If we don't look at the replay, we can't be sure if that passing route really exists. "
Henry looked a little helpless after missing the opportunity. He turned back to give Qin Xiong a thumbs up.
Qin Xiong calmly turned around and jogged away from the backfield. With the experience of being honed by Ajax, his ability to understand the technical and tactical system was very strong.
The reason why Wenger needed him was that he hoped that Arsenal's offense not only had a good midfield organization as a foundation, but also had a sense of hierarchy in the offense.
He and Henry echoed each other from the front and back, and at the same time, it was an important linkage effect that tore apart the opponent's defensive line.
If the opponent focused on restricting Henry, Henry would cover for Qin Xiong. If Qin Xiong was marked by the opponent, then he would play to his talents as an organizer and provide ammunition for Henry. Together with the other teammates, the threat value of each offensive point in Arsenal's offensive system was constantly changing, and the explosive power that could not be completely restrained by the opponent!
The first half of the game was over, and Arsenal walked into the locker room with a 1: 0 lead.
Wenger went up when the referee team left the field and protested to Mike Riley about all the controversial decisions that happened in the first half.
At least he thought that van Nistelrooy's dangerous foul should have at least been a yellow card. If it had been more severe, it would not have been too much to ask for a red card to be sent off. There was also the slightly exaggerated performance of the Manchester United player, Ronaldo, to win a favorable penalty and so on.
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