On Saturday afternoon, April 9, six games in the 32nd round of the Premier League started at the same time.
Among them, the game between Chelsea and Arsenal kicked off at the same time.
The suspense of how Arsenal and Chelsea would line up in the league was finally revealed.
Mourinho's Chelsea put out most of the substitutes at Stamford Bridge and let the main squad rest in order to break out a stronger fighting power in the second leg of the Champions League.
Wenger led the team to the Riverside Stadium and let the main squad continue to fight!
The two managers were the bosses of the team. No player would object to the decisions they made. In fact, the trade-offs and the considerations of profit and loss were not something that could be understood from the players' standpoint.
There was no choice to maximize the benefits, and there was no foolproof choice without taking risks.
The players certainly wanted to get the best results in all the games, but the reality was that the physical exhaustion of sprinting at the end of the season would seriously affect the on-the-spot play in key games.
After Qin Xiong rested for two days, the physical fitness that he had just recovered would all be used up in the battle at the Riverside Stadium.
Middlesbrough, led by McClaren, did not expect Arsenal to send all the main players. They thought that Arsenal would have to take care of the Champions League and thus restrain themselves in the league tournament, giving the main players a chance to catch their breath and recharge their energy for the big game in four days.
Middlesbrough's home game was good this season. They played a solid defensive counterattack in front of Arsenal, while Arsenal took the advantage of the field with Qin Xiong as the core of the midfield organization and launched an extreme oppressive attack.
Arsenal constantly attacked Middlesbrough's goal with long shots, individual breakthroughs, and the threat of place kicks. Under the continuous efforts, Vieira, Pires, Ljungberg, and Ashley Cole showed their threat with long shots.
In the 43rd minute of the first half, Qin Xiong received a pass from Vieira in front of the penalty area and a long shot hit Southgate, which was deflected and flew into Middlesbrough's goal.
The goalkeeper, Schwarzer, felt helpless. His prediction was correct. He did not dare to say that he could block Qin Xiong's long shot 100%, but he had a lot of confidence. He did not expect the football to hit Southgate's shoulder and fly directly to the other side of the goal. Schwarzer could only look at the ball and sigh.
"Qin Xiong opened the scoring for Arsenal! He scored a crucial goal! "
The Gunners fans who came with the team to the away game cheered for Qin Xiong, but Qin Xiong himself felt that he was getting tired faster than usual.
He had not rested enough and had to fight another tough battle. He could not think about whether he could face the Champions League in a few days' time in a full physical and mental state. The thing in front of him now was to win this league tournament!
There were only seven rounds left!
Middlesbrough continued to resist tenaciously at home and threatened Arsenal's goal with counterattacks.
In the second half of the game, Wenger was thinking about whether to make a substitution on the sidelines. However, a score of 1: 0 was not enough. He needed to be sure of winning the game.
Arsenal continued to put offensive pressure on Middlesbrough. In the 71st minute of the second half, Qin Xiong made a pass for Pires, and Pires shot a long shot diagonally towards the goal. After Schwarzer saved and let go, Henry shot the ball in front of the goal!
"Arsenal has secured victory! 2: 0, Henry scored his 28th goal in the Premier League this season! Now he is not only the number one scorer in the Premier League, but also the top scorer in the European top leagues! He is very likely to defend the European Golden Boot! "
After scoring this goal, Wenger decisively made a substitution. Qin Xiong, Henry, and Pires were brought off. The game had only been played for more than 70 minutes, but Qin Xiong felt that he was close to the point of physical exhaustion.
The continuous physical exhaustion in the recent stage was too serious.
In addition to the third game in seven days, he had previously played in the world qualifiers in Asia and was tired from the travel back and forth between Asia and Europe. The jet lag itself would make his physical state fragile.
Moreover, every game in this recent game, regardless of the strength of the opponent, was a race for points or a key battle. The investment would be greater than in the first half of the season.
After Qin Xiong came off the field, he sat between Henry and Pires. The three of them were sweating profusely. They watched the game intently while drinking water.
Arsenal began to defend with all their strength to reduce the pace of the game. Although Middlesbrough fought back with all their strength, their ability to attack was limited. It was difficult for them to do anything in Arsenal's dangerous zone. The team's offensive creativity was limited, so Arsenal's goal was always daunting but not dangerous.
When the game was over, Qin Xiong saw his teammates and the coaching staff whispering to each other.
He seemed to have heard Chelsea's name, and then he was shocked. He took Henry's arm and asked, "What? What happened? "
Henry stood up directly, grabbed Qin Xiong and hugged him with joy. He shouted excitedly, "Chelsea was forced to a draw by Birmingham City at home! Now our two teams have the same points, but our goal difference is three more than Chelsea's! Arsenal is back at the top of the table! "
When Qin Xiong heard this, he immediately hugged his teammates and jumped to celebrate.
This relaxed their taut nerves.
The leader's throne, which had changed owners in the middle of the season, was now back in the hands of Arsenal!
Wenger showed a look of great joy after a game, which he had not seen for a long time.
Stamford Bridge was shrouded in a fog of worry.
Birmingham City had no desires, but it did not mean that Birmingham City would kneel in front of Chelsea and hand over the three points without a care!
In addition, Chelsea did not use their main force in the round. When they encountered Birmingham City's tenacious resistance, they appeared to be unable to break the goal and lost a victory that everyone thought should be in their hands!
Mourinho said after the game that Chelsea had not lost the initiative to fight for the title, because there was still a league game between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. At that time, as long as Chelsea beat Arsenal, they would be able to return to the top of the table.
Wenger gave Mourinho a sentence that Mourinho had once said after the game: Arsenal would not give Chelsea any more chances.
The Times focused on the battle report of the game between Chelsea and Arsenal.
"At the end of the 32nd round of the Premier League, Arsenal and Chelsea have raised their points to 81 points at the same time! Both teams broke through the Premier League championship average of 80 points at the same time! In the history of the Premier League's restructuring of 20 teams, 80 points is very close to or guaranteed to win the title. But now the problem is that both teams have 81 points! This season is undoubtedly the most competitive and brutal season since the establishment of the Premier League! With six rounds left in the league, we have no doubt that Arsenal and Chelsea will cross the 90 points mark at the same time. What does that mean? From the 9596 season to the 0304 season, only Manchester United had won the title with 91 points in a season. Arsenal won the title with 90 points last season. In the other seven seasons, as long as a team got 90 points, it was bound to win the title! Now, Chelsea and Arsenal are bound to have a team whose record surpasses seven, or even eight, or nine champions in the past nine years, but can only settle for second place! This is a cruel fact, but this season's Premier League is unprecedentedly fierce and cruel! "
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