Four more.
-----
Anfield's cheers were getting louder and louder. It was not difficult to understand the excitement of the Red Army fans.
Any team with a little strength in the Premier League playing at home, even if they were not ahead in the score, would have one thought: to end Arsenal's unbeaten streak!
What's more, Liverpool was still in the lead.
Liverpool's offense was unusually fierce. Gerard was very active. In the 41st minute of the first half, he quickly plugged into the penalty area. Kewell tried to send a wonderful pass to Gerard through a straight pass. Unfortunately, Touré's decisive tackle made his idea come to nothing.
Touré passed the ball directly forward after the successful interception. At this time, Qin Xiong was behind the center line, facing his own penalty area. He did not look at the ball before he touched the ball. Instead, he stared at Vieira. When the two men's eyes met, Qin Xiong nodded slightly.
When the football rolled over, Qin Xiong turned directly and took advantage of the momentum to dribble the ball forward.
His acceleration with the ball meant that Arsenal would play an unusual offensive.
Alonso quickly retreated to the back waistline to form a parallel defense with Harman.
Qin Xiong strode forward with the ball and got closer and closer to Liverpool's back waistline. He seemed to be rolling in the wind and his momentum was monstrous!
It felt like he was brewing a wave of ultimate acceleration to break through with the ball.
Liverpool put their attention on Silva during the probing attack and finally defeated Silva. That was their success.
But did Arsenal not have a backup plan?
Was there no brewing and foreshadowing of a real threatening offensive?
How could it be?
As an excellent offensive organizer, Qin Xiong did not drive the attack with great momentum at the beginning of the game. That was because Arsenal had a long expedition to the Netherlands and played consecutive away games. Naturally, their energy and stamina were not as good as Liverpool's.
And he did not know if Liverpool were aware of his foreshadowing in the previous attack!
Did they think that his dribbling forward to break through was the final trump card?
When he was only two meters away from Alonso and Harman, Alonso and Harman slightly changed their positions. Alonso was ready to move forward while Harman was waiting for a chance. They were waiting for Qin Xiong to break through.
Alonso could be bypassed, but Harman would seize the opportunity to intercept Qin Xiong when he broke through the first pass.
Qin Xiong swung the ball to the right. Alonso stepped forward but did not put his foot down. Instead, his body's center of gravity changed with Qin Xiong's change of direction. Alonso had something to rely on in his heart: Harman, it's your turn!
But as soon as Harman moved, he was shocked.
Qin Xiong's next move after he kicked the ball was not a continuous breakthrough. Instead, he used his heel to kick the back of his body!
Vieira, who seemed to have descended from the sky behind Qin Xiong, suddenly arrived!
Alonso was shocked, and Harman immediately turned his attention to Vieira.
The first time Vieira touched the ball, he passed the ball diagonally to the flank, and then decisively inserted into the penalty area!
Harman and Alonso immediately retreated. Both of them were worried that Vieira's insertion would pose a huge threat.
But at the moment of retreating into the penalty area, Alonso suddenly thought: Where is he?
Qin Xiong did not enter the penalty area!
Alonso suddenly turned back and saw Ljungberg pass the ball back to the middle of the penalty area. Qin Xiong was there, less than 30 yards away from the goal. No one was marking him. It was a perfect opportunity for a long shot!
Alonso headed out again, and Gerard chased Qin Xiong at full speed behind him. He was only three meters away from interfering with Qin Xiong, but it seemed that it was too late.
It was the first time that Liverpool played against Qin Xiong. But for a manager who pursued perfection in details, how could he ignore Qin Xiong's ability?
Benítez had emphasized: restrict Qin Xiong from taking a long shot from the outside!
But at this moment, they could not stop Qin Xiong from taking a long shot. Hyypia and Carragher retreated inwards, trying to reduce the angle of Qin Xiong's shot. Harman also moved in front of Qin Xiong. They were trying to block Qin Xiong's vision with their bodies.
Unless your long shot is extremely tricky and you hit a world-class shot, then we have nothing to say. Otherwise, there is an 80% chance that this long shot will be blocked by our bodies!
When Qin Xiong's right foot touched the ball, everyone in Liverpool's defensive line was stunned!
A challenge pass!
It was an extremely nimble and visually wonderful challenge pass!
The middle of the penalty area was overcrowded, but there was a huge gap on the side of the penalty area. Qin Xiong's challenge pass flew diagonally, bypassed the defenders' heads, and fell to the right side of the penalty area.
Ljungberg got rid of Riise, cut straight inside and successfully reversed his offside position. He faced the goal diagonally to meet the falling football. The only person blocking him was Dudek in front of the goal line!
Ljungberg did not hesitate to head the ball. He pressed the ball down with his head. The football bounced on the ground and then flew towards Liverpool's goal. He did not expect Dudek to jump on the spot and block the ball with one hand!
The Anfield Red Army fans did not have time to cheer for Dudek before they saw someone in front of the goal shoot the ball into the goal!
Henry!
When Ljungberg headed the ball into the goal, Hyypia came to his rescue. Henry, who was originally sandwiched by Carragher and Hyypia, was freed. He rushed towards the goal with his instinct as a striker. Whether it was a rebound shot or receiving Ljungberg's header, he should have done so. In the end, he swept the ball into the goal in front of Dudek!
The Liverpool players felt as if they had been hit hard and felt extremely unreconciled!
Alonso looked at Qin Xiong with admiration.
The visual enjoyment brought by Qin Xiong's kick was extraordinary. From the feigned long shot to the moment it touched the ball, it suddenly turned nimble and ingenious, as if it could freeze the opponent's thoughts in an instant. Unbelievable!
His ability to see the big picture was really extraordinary. In that situation, he could see the situation clearly and pass the ball to his most threatening teammate. This ability was worthy of admiration!
Qin Xiong high-fived Vieira on the way as he ran towards Henry.
"Arsenal equalized the score before the end of the first half! Qin Xiong instigated a fast attack in the middle. In the end, he used his artistic aura to send a pass to Ljungberg. Unfortunately, Ljungberg's header did not score the ball. Fortunately, Henry was in front of the goal and it was not wasted. This time, Arsenal's fast attack was pleasing to the eye! "
Wenger breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines, while Benítez frowned slightly. He took out a small notebook and wrote something in it intently.
The first half ended in a draw and the two teams walked back to the locker room.
Wenger did not make any adjustments to the offense. He focused on the defense. Although Silva's body had not recovered to its peak, his good mentality, willpower, and experience were indispensable and irreplaceable. If it was a younger defensive midfielder under the impact of the first half, he might have collapsed and would not know how to face the game.
When the second half returned to the field, the two teams changed sides and fought again.
Liverpool still tried to focus on attacking Silva in the opening stages of the second half, but the support of Vieira and the defensive line made Liverpool unable to achieve better results.
Qin Xiong hoped to suddenly launch a surprise attack and launched a fast attack at the beginning of the second half. He was keenly aware that Liverpool did not seem to focus on restricting his long shots from the periphery. Instead, they stopped him from stepping into the penalty area, compressed the space in the penalty area, and cut off his connection with the two wings.
Benítez probably saw that it was impossible to stop Qin Xiong from shooting long shots from the periphery. Instead of letting the players concentrate too much on him and find ways to restrict his long shots, which would be used by Qin Xiong, it was better not to do so. It should be more effective to take the risk of the opponent's long shots, cut off the other players' play, and cut off Arsenal's offensive formation.
Qin Xiong tried two long shots from the periphery. One of them missed and the other was successfully saved by Dudek.
He wanted to see if Liverpool would change their defensive strategy because of the threat of his long shots.
As a result, he saw that Liverpool's defense did not change. They still focused on compressing the space and cutting off his connection with the two wings.
However, the threat of his long shots made Benítez stand up from the technical area. Benítez walked to the sidelines with his hands in his pockets as if he had done nothing. He just looked at the field and then calmly walked back and sat down.
But Liverpool's offense began to take a drastic turn!
Alonso still did not go to the front to coordinate. He sat in the middle and backfield to organize, but his organization seemed to have lost its highlight.
He actually lofted the ball into Arsenal's penalty area with a long kick!
And even if he went to the flank, the full backs, Riise and Finnan, would kick the ball at a 45-degree angle, while Kewell and Garcia were more inclined to pass from the bottom!
They were, of course, looking for Baros or Gerard to break into the penalty area.
But playing like this seemed to have returned to the English long pass tactic.
It may have been a tactic Liverpool used at one time, but the effect was not very good. It just faded into the crowd and made the team lose its uniqueness in the Premier League.
Qin Xiong was a little confused for a moment.
He did not understand!
Would the Spanish manager, Benítez, let the team play like this?
But Liverpool was so determined to adopt this style of play.
Although Baros was 184 centimeters tall, he was not strong enough. If he could make waves in front of Touré and Campbell, then he would not have scored so few goals in Liverpool in the past two years.
What was Liverpool trying to do?!
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