Second watch.
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The battle between Liverpool and Arsenal had begun.
Liverpool had the home advantage in Anfield. They waited patiently and took the lead in launching an attack, which abruptly increased the pace of the game.
Alonso assumed the role of a commander in the middle and methodically spurred the offense forward. His passing success rate was very high, the direction of his passes were also very reasonable, and the timing of his passes with his teammates was just right.
This allowed Liverpool's left and right wings to frequently exert pressure on Arsenal's defensive line, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right, and to the maximum extent to tear apart Arsenal's horizontal defensive distance.
Qin Xiong did not match up with Gerard in defense. Both of them could be said to be attacking midfielders, so the starting distance between the two players was a little far when it came to attacking and defending.
Qin Xiong could not keep an eye on Gerard. The player he should pay the most attention to when defending was Alonso.
He would not give Alonso a chance to plug in and pose a threat.
As for Alonso's passing organization in the midfield and backfield, Qin Xiong could only watch the ball and sigh. He could not rush to the front field to take the initiative to snatch the ball, otherwise it would widen the distance between him and Vieira Silva and give Gerard more space to move.
Liverpool's flanks were more balanced. Whether it was the Rees-Kewell combination on the left or the Finnan-Garcia combination on the right, the threat from the two wings was relatively similar and could be said to be very high. Gerard, who plugged in in the middle, was also a midfielder who could summon the wind and rain in English football. If there was anything lacking in Liverpool's offense, it was afraid that the center forward Baroš's performance at the club was far less amazing than he was in the Czech Republic.
On Arsenal's side, when they needed to attack, Gerard tried very hard to interfere with Qin Xiong, but every time Qin Xiong switched between offense and defense, he turned his head. His distance from Qin Xiong made it so that Qin Xiong would not be caught up by him for a physical confrontation.
And Qin Xiong decisively kicked the ball out. His ability to organize and respond in the midfield was equally excellent. He constantly delivered opportunities to Pires and Ljungberg, using the flanks as a breakthrough to attack Liverpool's defensive line.
Because the flankers of both teams were very good and played the role of midfield commanders, Qin Xiong and Alonso were able to ensure that their teams' offense flowed smoothly. The center and backfield were overstabilized and they chose the best offensive direction forward. Therefore, Arsenal and Liverpool tacitly placed the main defensive area in the backfield on the field, and would not let the midfield line and the defensive line press forward to give the opponent space behind.
In the 17th minute, Alonso accurately passed the ball to Kewell's feet from the flank from the backfield. The Australian winger dribbled the ball and cut inside two steps. Without passing anyone, he quickly passed the ball to Gerard, who plugged in from the back. Gerard received the ball and blasted the goal with a heavy shot. The football flew two meters away from the goalpost and into the stands.
Two minutes later, Qin Xiong sent a scalpel diagonally in front of Alonso in the front field. Pires cut inside and did not stop the ball, but Pires' shot brushed the outside of the goalpost and flew out of the end line.
Qin Xiong and Alonso constantly delivered opportunities to their offensive side. The two players were the guarantee and source of Arsenal and Liverpool's offense!
It gradually turned into a battle between commanders!
Arsenal's defensive players were speculating where Alonso would pass the ball to when they faced Liverpool's offense.
Liverpool also paid attention to Qin Xiong's ball movement during their defense.
Even the fans in the stands felt something unusual when they watched the game.
They widened their eyes and concentrated on watching Qin Xiong and Alonso's performance. As the two men continued to spur their offense and effectively and steadily pushed their offense to the front line through the passing of the ball, they saw a contest of evenly matched talents!
Was it really like this?
Alonso would not be content to just play at the same level as Qin Xiong.
He wanted to show more offensive talent. After all, he was older than Qin Xiong.
In the 23rd minute of the game, when Alonso passed the ball to Garcia and quickly plugged forward in the front field, Qin Xiong watched Alonso's running position and the development of Liverpool's offensive situation with rapt attention.
There was a hint of excitement in his heart.
Because he had the same idea as Alonso.
As a commander, it was impossible to show too much ability beyond the passing of the ball at the beginning of the game. He had to focus on the overall situation and activate the team.
But when a stable offense could not create excellent opportunities, then the display of individual ability should be released.
Whether it was Liverpool or Arsenal, neither could tear apart the opponent's defensive line simply through the front line coordination. Therefore, plugging in from the back and mobilizing more offensive forces was the most common way to do it.
Alonso's forward plugging in to participate in the attack in the front field was not accidental. At the same time, Qin Xiong also had this intention in mind!
It was just that Alonso beat him to it.
But it was enough to make Qin Xiong excited.
He could not mark Gerard, but in terms of positioning, he wanted to freeze Alonso, who had rushed to the front field.
Qin Xiong, who paid close attention to the direction of the opponent's attack, saw the opportunity. When Gerard moved to the side with Vieira to create a gap in the middle and then passed the ball to the middle, hoping to pass the ball to Alonso's feet, Qin Xiong decisively rushed to the front of Alonso. As the football rolled over, Alonso stretched out his foot to control the ball, and Qin Xiong stretched out his foot to destroy it!
Bang!
The two men touched the ball at the same time, and for a moment, they formed a confrontation. The football went out of control in the collision and flew out of the sideline.
As Alonso exerted his strength first, Qin Xiong was prepared to attack later, causing Alonso to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Qin Xiong took the initiative to reach out and pull Alonso up, and then prepared to mark the ball on the sideline to defend.
Alonso turned his head to look at Qin Xiong, who was standing less than two meters away from his body, and thought to himself, Troublesome!
Behind the center line, he might not feel Qin Xiong's defensive pressure. Qin Xiong just blocked his passing route to the middle as much as possible, so he could only pass the ball to the side most of the time.
And when he crossed the midfield to the front field, Qin Xiong seemed to be inseparable from him, especially when he was not in a ball state. But when he began to run to support, Qin Xiong's speed burst made Alonso envious and troubled.
Alonso would never have thought of Qin Xiong, who was more confident and slightly arrogant than before.
"You can't get past the midfield!"
In Liverpool's half of the field, Alonso could organize and play to his strengths of accurate long passes. But if he wanted to participate in the attack in the front field, Qin Xiong would never let him succeed!
As far as the current game was concerned, Arsenal actually had the advantage, because in the middle of the midfield, Arsenal had not broken out with a strong offensive. In terms of the personnel confrontation, Qin Xiong, who played as the attacking midfielder in the defense, could freeze the opponent's center midfielder Alonso. Turning around, what if Arsenal attacked in the middle?
Three minutes later, Qin Xiong controlled the ball in the center line position. He turned and began to dribble forward. Alonso's face was calm. He paid attention to the distance between himself and Harman, and then slowly closed in on Qin Xiong.
Here it comes!
When he was one meter away from Alonso, Qin Xiong suddenly dribbled the ball and changed direction, to the right!
Alonso was guarding against Qin Xiong's change of pace. He immediately moved to the same side, but just after moving a step horizontally, he was shocked to find that Qin Xiong's right foot pulled the ball back to the left side!
While he stabilized his center of gravity, Qin Xiong forced a breakthrough from his side!
There were two premeditated changes of direction!
Alonso turned and immediately wanted to foul, but Qin Xiong deliberately dribbled the ball to widen the distance from him. Then in front of Harman, Qin Xiong gently pushed the ball horizontally.
Henry retreated to provide support, and Harman was alone on the defensive waist line. Henry got a chance to raise his foot outside the penalty area and decisively shot out a shot!
Hyypia used his body to block the football. His shoulder changed the direction of the shot that seemed to go straight to the corner of the goal. Henry sighed a little regretfully, and then gave Qin Xiong a thumbs up.
Qin Xiong ran to the backfield as usual, obviously running toward the position in front of Alonso, and then turned around when he returned to the center line.
Alonso looked dignified. His ball quotient was very high.
When Qin Xiong showed his individual dribbling ability to break through, even though he only passed him once, just once, this time it meant that he was completely defeated in a one-on-one defense!
He deeply understood the gap between the two, and he would not be swayed by his emotions and go one-on-one with Qin Xiong again and again.
Even if the defense was successful, it could not prove anything.
Despite his reluctance, he still made up his mind that when Qin Xiong dribbled the ball to the front field, he would retreat closer to Harman, so as to compress the space and not give Qin Xiong the space to break through.
Benítez, who had been sitting in the technical area without a smile, suddenly stood up and walked to the sidelines. He made a gesture to the players. No one knew what it meant, except for the Liverpool players.
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