The direct effect of Arsenal's quick free kick tactic was that Makelele and Tiago could not stop Arsenal's offense and faced Chelsea's defensive line directly!
Henry dribbled the ball like a second striker and rushed to Chelsea's penalty area. The seamless and terrifyingly stable Chelsea's defense suddenly showed signs of panic.
Looking down, the dribbling Henry had Chelsea's players in front, on the right, and behind him.
It was as if they were trapped in a situation where they were besieged on all sides.
But Henry decisively passed the ball in front of Carvalho. Pires on the left also came to the front of the penalty area. After receiving Henry's pass, he dribbled the ball back two steps. In this way, he had a very wide field of vision because Chelsea's defensive midfielders were all retreating.
Pires glanced at the offensive posture of his side and immediately passed the ball to the right in front of the penalty area.
It looked like he had passed the ball back to where Henry had passed it to him.
But Henry was no longer there. When Henry passed the ball to Pires, he plugged into the middle of the penalty area diagonally, making Terry and Carvalho nervous.
And at this moment, the man who appeared on Pires' passing line was Qin Xiong!
Carvalho saw Qin Xiong coming to his aid and immediately rushed over to block. Makelele also charged diagonally.
To Makelele and Carvalho's surprise, Qin Xiong actually missed the ball!
On his right, Ljungberg received the pass!
Ljungberg kicked the ball out and the football rolled to the middle of the penalty area. Henry was closely marked by Terry and Carvalho turned back and rushed to Henry.
Henry kicked the ball again and passed the ball diagonally behind Carvalho.
When the dizzy Carvalho turned his head to look again, he saw Qin Xiong had shaken him off and cut into the penalty area to meet the enemy alone!
Qin Xiong did not give Čech any time to react. The next action after stopping the ball was to shoot!
A low shot was blasted out and the football went straight to the lower left corner of the goal, the dead corner!
Highbury cheered!
"Arsenal broke through Chelsea's goal! This will definitely be the best goal of the round! Arsenal's teamwork was as beautiful as a painting! Henry, Pires, Ljungberg, and Qin Xiong composed the Serenade in the Shade! Qin Xiong once again scored in a crucial game. He was improving every day. After coming to the Premier League, he not only proved himself, but also became stronger here! I don't think there's a need to vote for the best player of the season. It's definitely Qin Xiong! Would his goal bring 3 points to Arsenal? What's more, this golden goal is very likely to bring Arsenal's 57th unbeaten game! "
After Qin Xiong scored the goal, he rushed to the sidelines and kneeled to celebrate. He opened his arms towards a corner of the stands.
Sylvia stood there with a group of Arsenal fans, screaming, laughing and clapping for Qin Xiong!
Henry, Ljungberg, Pires, and the other teammates also slid to their knees and hugged each other to celebrate.
Chelsea's generals felt as if they had been struck by lightning.
They fell behind in the battle for the top of the table!
They looked at the side of the field in a daze and saw Mourinho standing there like an unchanging monument and making a hand gesture.
It was a gesture to actively adjust the offense. Chelsea's own tactical changes were not rich, so the adjustment was extremely simple.
Mourinho's expression was cold and showed an unyielding spirit. This temperament infected Chelsea's generals and made them quickly pull themselves together.
Arsenal was leading the score, and Wenger also made adjustments to make the team more conservative to ensure that they won the game.
Robben and Duff were both left-footed players. Although the two had changed positions in the game, it was slightly frequent. From now on, Robben was fixed on the right flank, and Duff's main offensive method on the left flank was to pass the ball, trying to let Robben fight for opportunities in the penalty area.
After Robben switched to the right wing, he was able to fully utilize his left leg's dribbling and cutting technique.
Lampard had Tiago and Makelele actively plugging in behind to provide support, which allowed him to relieve some of his organizational tasks and put more energy into the work of looking for opportunities at the forefront of the offense.
In the last 15 minutes of the game, it was Arsenal who took the lead to play an offensive threat.
Because Chelsea's defensive line had loosened, Qin Xiong seized a counterattack opportunity to send a wonderful pass to Ljungberg. Unfortunately, Ljungberg's shot from the flank of the penalty area went over the crossbar.
Robben suddenly entered a state of madness after a few probing attacks.
His dribbling changed directions extremely quickly, and the combination of man and ball could not be better.
The Dutch Peter Pan had an unyielding stubbornness in his heart.
Especially in the Netherlands, he lost to Qin Xiong. Of course, he could see that Qin Xiong had broken the goal several times with long shots after dribbling on the flank, which was exactly the same as his offensive habits.
He wanted to take back the glory that belonged to him!
In the 78th minute, Robben cut across the front of the penalty area on the right flank. He dodged Silva's interception, and then suddenly shot an inside curveball with his left foot in the narrow gap. Lehmann's line of sight was blocked. He almost saw the football before he started to move, but it was obviously too late.
Fortunately, the football brushed the outside of the far post and went out of the end line, but it scared Arsenal out of cold sweat.
In the 81st minute, Robben changed the position of his dribbling cut. He cut directly from the position just past the half of the field into the middle. His unexpected charge caused Arsenal's defensive midfielder to be confused.
In order to contain Robben, Vieira and Silva's movements freed Lampard, who was cutting in front of the air.
Robben used the tip of his foot to poke the ball to Lampard in a pincer attack from the front and back of Silva and Qin Xiong.
In front of the penalty area, Lampard and Drogba made a one-two combination. Lampard, who charged into the penalty area, tested Lehmann with a volley shot!
"Lehmann made a wonderful save. He kept out Lampard's goal that he was bound to get! It looks like Arsenal will not only have the best goal today, but also the best ten saves! "
Chelsea's offensive became more and more fierce.
It was an outburst from Robben's point.
He stirred up the overall situation.
Qin Xiong also wanted to have an outburst, but he seemed to be lacking in stamina.
The midweek travel to and from Asia and Europe had an obvious impact on his stamina. His mistake in the 84th minute almost directly led to the loss of the ball.
He tried to get rid of Makelele. After all, he did not charge at Makelele much in the whole game. He expected that the other party might be lax. But in the change of direction breakthrough, he took the lead because of the decrease in his explosive power. Makelele reacted and directly cut his forward position, thus losing the possession of the ball.
Makelele passed the ball across, and Gallas stepped forward and kicked the ball straight.
Duff passed a 45-degree cross from the left flank. The pass landed very well. Drogba swung his head between Campbell and Touré to attack the goal. The football hit the top of the crossbar and bounced to the stands.
Drogba showed an extremely helpless look.
Arsenal's stamina seemed to be unable to keep up with the opponent's pace in the final stages of the game.
This may not only be due to Arsenal's more energetic creation in a game, but also to the fact that Arsenal's technical and tactical play throughout the first half of the season was more exhausting than Chelsea's overall.
Defensive counterattack teams were explosive, but they did not have continuous outbursts. They did not mind handing over the ball to the opponent. In fact, they were waiting for the opponent to finish a round of outbursts and fall into a small cycle of powerless physical outbursts to seize the opportunity to destroy the opponent.
Chelsea persisted in playing like this for a long time, plus Chelsea often took the initiative to reduce consumption after taking the lead and control the ball this season. Although it would be criticized for passive football, the advantages it brought were obvious. The team's physical condition was better and more stable, and it also achieved the utilitarian goal of scoring points.
Physical fitness was not a one-sided existence. Arsenal's players certainly could not be exhausted. But Chelsea was faster in a fast-paced game, which meant that Arsenal's physical fitness was not as good as the opponent's.
There was a need for comparison.
Under such circumstances, Wenger intended to make a substitution to stabilize the defense.
In the 85th minute of the game, Pires was replaced by Robin van Persie.
As for Qin Xiong, Wenger was reluctant to bring him off. He thought that as long as Qin Xiong stood in place and could send out a wonderful pass, then the threat would be enough.
Just after the substitution was completed, Arsenal launched a wave of attacks.
Qin Xiong and Ljungberg cooperated in the midfield, plus Vieira's support from behind. After the triangular pass was completed, Qin Xiong sent a straight pass to the retreating Henry, and Henry sent a diagonal pass to Van Persie.
Van Persie cut into the penalty area and kicked the goal with his left foot. The quality was good, but it was still resolved by Čech.
In any case, Arsenal still maintained the offensive threat to Chelsea.
But at this time, Chelsea also made a substitution. Mourinho replaced Duff and Gallas with Gudjohnsen and Bridge.
The battle for the top of the table at Highbury came to the final stage.
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