Four steps later.
-----
When Arsenal faced the game with a more cautious attitude, they would hardly give their opponents any chances.
They had two world-class defenders in the defensive line alone, Campbell and Ashley Cole. Touré was certainly at a first-class level now. As for the inconspicuous Lauren, he was definitely world-class in terms of defense alone. Unfortunately, the evaluation of a full-back's strength not only had to consider defense, but also the ability to assist. Therefore, his slightly inferior offensive ability made him less conspicuous. But when it came to defense alone, Arsenal's defensive line was very reassuring.
Not to mention, the defensive midfielder position had a world-class star player, Vieira. Flamini was playing in the starting lineup today. He was very excited, but he always reminded himself to be calm. Vieira would pay more attention to help him defend and fill in the position. In addition, PSV Eindhoven's offense in the middle was weak. In fact, the probability of a problem for the defensive midfielder was not high.
This made it difficult for PSV Eindhoven, who leaned towards the main offense. Even if Li Rongbiao assisted, they strived to play quickly. When the offense came to the front line and engaged in a fierce battle of sword and shield with Arsenal's defensive system, it was obvious that it was difficult for them to create excellent opportunities. Park Ji-sung could at best pass the ball in the attacking midfielder area. Any more and there would be no chance. For ball control, they had to ask Vieira first.
Farfan's footwork was good, but his positioning awareness and ability to find opportunities were weak. He could dribble the ball to spur the attack, but if only Hesselink ran in the middle penalty area alone, Arsenal's defenders could easily seal Hesselink.
Qin Xiong did his job well after the game started.
He delivered the cannonballs to Ljungberg, Pires, and Henry, strolling leisurely in the midfield to organize the work.
During the transition between offense and defense, Qin Xiong's best choice of organization was vividly displayed.
If the left-back Li Rongbiao assisted, then when Arsenal attacked, Qin Xiong would focus on passing the ball to Ljungberg. If Li Rongbiao could return in time to defend, Qin Xiong would pass the ball to Pires.
He did not overly plug forward to coordinate. Arsenal's offense was actually relatively monotonous.
There were almost three people in the front field for every attack.
It was either Qin Xiong -Henry -Ljungberg or Qin Xiong -Henry -Piré.
And most of the attacks ended at Henry's feet. Most of the time, he was surrounded and suppressed and lost the ball, causing Arsenal's attacks to fail.
Qin Xiong was very patient and not nervous at all.
He was like a ferocious beast hiding in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to strike, ready to burst out at any moment to hunt.
PSV Eindhoven seemed to be going all out. They frequently launched attacks from the flanks, and their speed was getting faster and faster. They hoped to seize the opportunity after Arsenal's attack failed to turn around and attack Arsenal by surprise!
But Arsenal had Qin Xiong, the midfield commander, in charge. He also listened well to Wenger's tactical requirements before the game and did not blindly pursue a fast pace.
Therefore, when he controlled Arsenal's offensive and defensive rhythm, no matter how fast PSV Eindhoven unilaterally increased their speed, Arsenal did not make any response. They always played the game at a slow and lukewarm pace.
This was a display of the commander's ability to control the rhythm.
The effect was obvious. Arsenal would not panic!
The players on the field stood in a three-line formation and maintained a reasonable distance.
No matter how fast PSV Eindhoven was, they could not shake Arsenal's defensive line.
When the match reached the 37th minute, Qin Xiong saw Li Rongpyo taking large strides forward along the left flank. Park Ji-sung had passed the ball to his fellow countryman. Li Rongpyo was unable to lift his leg to pass the ball at a 45-degree angle. He hesitated for a moment. He had originally wanted to pass the ball to Park Ji-sung, but unfortunately, Vieira had firmly blocked his passing path. Furthermore, he was around Park Ji-sung, while Flamini bravely rushed forward to intercept him.
Li Rongpyo's hesitation did not cause him to lose the ball. He reacted quickly and continued to dribble the ball towards the end line. Then, when he was close to a dead end, he could only pass the ball.
The pass was cleared by Campbell's header. The header was really far away. After bouncing to the ground, it was almost close to the halfway line.
Qin Xiong was there. No one marked around him, but he did not control the ball. He thought it was a very good opportunity to attack. The basic work of brewing the attack had been completed. Combined with PSV Eindhoven's defensive situation, the opportunity had already appeared.
He knocked the ball back to Vieira, who directly stuffed it to the right flank.
Qin Xiong ran forward after passing the ball. He did not look at Vieira at all. When he turned his back to Vieira and did not look back, his meaning was obvious. He did not want Vieira to pass the ball to him. He had no intention of receiving it.
That was simply superfluous. If he needed Vieira to pass the ball back to him, then why should he pass the ball to Vieira? He could just turn around and dribble the ball himself.
He was trying to reduce his presence.
The best direction to pass the ball in front of Vieira was naturally the right flank. Li Rongbiao was still a distance away from returning at full speed to defend. Ljungberg had the best environment to receive the ball and was also unmarked.
Ljungberg dribbled the ball directly forward on the right flank of the front field.
He did not hesitate to turn to cut inside the penalty area after passing the 45-degree cross.
Li Rongbiao was not there, so Cocker, one of the three defensive midfielders, had to help defend the flank. But this time, Ljungberg was too fast for Cocker to do anything.
The left center back, Bouma, had to pull the flank to help defend!
This brought about a problem. The defensive distance between PSV Eindhoven's defensive line players had widened. After all, there were three defenders.
Standing on the sidelines, Hiddink's gaze was still calm.
Of course, he had foreseen such a scene.
So, the defensive midfielder Vogel immediately withdrew to the defensive line at the same time, leaving PSV Eindhoven's defensive line with four players. Who were they guarding against?
Ljungberg?
No!
Ljungberg did not have the strength of a dragon.
But they had to guard against Henry cutting in front!
If no one withdrew to the defensive line to reduce the parallel defensive distance, Henry's anti-offside speed burst would be PSV Eindhoven's nightmare!
PSV Eindhoven had been using this defensive strategy since the start of the game, and it was effective, cutting off at least two times Pirès and Henry's cooperation on the offensive end.
But this time, they did not expect Henry to not go against the offside at all. Instead, he withdrew!
Henry withdrew from the penalty area. Alex did not dare to close in on him, fearing that Henry would suddenly accelerate forward. Van Bommel had no choice but to defend against Henry.
Ljungberg steadily passed the ball out before he was caught between Cocker and Bouma. Henry ran from the left to the right in front of the penalty area and took the initiative to meet Ljungberg's pass.
Alex and van Bommel flanked Henry from the front and back. But Henry's movement was diagonal, so Vogel was ready to come up and form a three-sided encirclement with his teammates to intercept the ball at Henry's feet.
At this moment, about four meters to Henry's right, a figure dashed past at lightning speed.
Qin Xiong!
Just as Vogel stepped forward, Henry gently slipped the ball diagonally through the gap between Vogel and Alex.
Qin Xiong, who brushed past Vogel, used his left foot to kick the ball forward and charged into the penalty area without slowing down!
PSV Eindhoven's defensive line was penetrated!
The calm Qin Xiong saw the goalkeeper, Gomes, abandon the goal and run towards him. He did not make any other unnecessary movements. He took a step forward and turned slightly to the side to shoot with the outer instep of his right foot.
He did not expect that the first time he consciously used the outer instep to pass the ball, which he had been training recently, was on a shot!
Gomes stopped when he saw Qin Xiong shoot. He did not make a save as there was still some distance between them. Moreover, the direction in which the ball flew after Qin Xiong shot made it impossible for him to make a save.
But he was puzzled. This ball doesn't seem to be going in!
So he turned his head and looked to the left of the goal.
The ball was not fast, but it had a strong spin. The angle between Qin Xiong and the goal made the ball look like it was spinning inside.
In the first half of its flight, the ball was flying outwards, but after making an arc, it was spinning towards the goal!
The ball bounced in the penalty area and bounced into the goal with a strong internal spin. A second ago, the ball looked dangerous and could miss. In fact, it was almost a meter away from the left goalpost when it crossed the goal line. There was nothing to worry about after making a small arc.
Bullseye!
Wenger happily applauded Qin Xiong on the sidelines. Qin Xiong's teammates also ran towards Qin Xiong to celebrate.
And when Qin Xiong jogged to the sidelines to celebrate with a smile, he was surprised to see a group of non- Arsenal fans cheering for him in the stands.
It was a group of Chinese fans.
They seemed to be more excited than the Arsenal fans. Some held up posters of Qin Xiong, and there was also a striking banner that surprised Qin Xiong.
After he scored, some of these people roared wildly in the stands!
The words he shouted were the slogan on the eye-catching banner.
"Eindhoven, your Emperor is back!"
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