Everything had been going according to the Chelsea people's dreams.
But when Qin Xiong received Pires' pass and skilfully flicked the ball past Johnson, Chelsea's nerves inevitably tightened.
Even Mourinho was no exception.
Qin Xiong's breakthrough was straight to the point!
When he chose to use Johnson instead of Huth, Mourinho considered that Johnson's assist ability was stronger and could provide support on the right flank for Chelsea's flank attack.
But the price was also obvious. His defense was a weak link.
He expected Arsenal to take advantage of this. There was no other way. Chelsea did not have a world-class full-back. Whether to defend or to attack, they always had to make a choice. Behind the choice was to pay a certain price and bear some risks.
But Mourinho didn't think he would be too worried if Pires took advantage of this, because Pires' creativity wasn't at a frightening level.
On the contrary, Qin Xiong did not go to the right flank. Instead, he snatched Henry's territory and stirred up trouble on the left flank, which made Mourinho uneasy.
Qin Xiong turned the steering wheel toward the goal after cutting into the penalty area near the end line. His dribbling rhythm had slowed down, and the person who came to defend him head-on would be Henry.
Tiago and Carvalho joined forces to block Henry, who moved from the right flank of the penalty area to the middle.
Makelele did not immediately return to the penalty area. Instead, he stayed outside to prevent Qin Xiong from passing the ball to Pires, who cut into the front waistline to pose a threat.
Qin Xiong challenged Terry one-on-one!
When the two men were two meters apart, Qin Xiong's right foot looked like it was going to complete a pass with the instep of his foot.
Terry was extremely vigilant. He predicted that Qin Xiong would send Henry a ground ball or a half-high ball. He would rub an outer arc with the instep of his right foot. Then, the football would be slightly out of Čech's control after bypassing the right side of his body. As long as Henry could grab the point, then no matter what method he used, he might be able to send the football into the goal as long as he hit the football.
With such worries, Terry deliberately paid attention to protecting one side of the baseline. His body's center of gravity tilted slightly so that he could have a larger area to intercept Qin Xiong's pass.
Qin Xiong's right foot feinted half a circle in front of the football. When he made this move, Terry was instantly alerted: It was a fake move!
That was right!
Qin Xiong stepped on the bicycle with his right foot and feinted half a circle in front of the football. Then, his left foot hooked the ball to the front right of his body. At the same time, he pulled his leg and burst out to the front right. Even though Terry was aware of it, his body's center of gravity had already leaned to the other side, so his hasty movement was a beat slower than Qin Xiong's!
Terry had mixed feelings in his heart. If he hadn't studied Qin Xiong's technique of passing the ball with the outer instep of his right foot and paid special attention to it, how could he have made such a preconceived mistake?
There might only be a small gap in Chelsea's penalty area. The gap created by Qin Xiong's breakthrough of Johnson and Terry, as well as Pirès's forceful suppression of Makelele in front of the penalty area, was seized by Qin Xiong!
He swayed to create a small space to shoot, and then shot a powerful shot diagonally at the goal!
The football was like a cannonball that went straight to the upper right corner of the goal. Čech did not make any save at all. He could not react in time. The distance was too close, and the speed of the ball was as fast as a meteor. It was impossible to capture the flight trajectory of the football in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the ball was in!
Qin Xiong waved to Henry after he scored the goal. Because Henry was the closest to the football in the goal, Henry also rushed into the goal and ran to the backfield with the football in his arms.
"Qin Xiong pulled a goal back for Arsenal! This was his wonderful personal performance! He deftly broke through Johnson and made a smooth feint in front of Terry to confuse the Chelsea captain. He swayed out of the shooting angle and decisively shot the ball into the Blues' goal! Now the first half is almost over. Chelsea beat Arsenal 2: 1. The total score is 4: 4. Chelsea rely on the away goal advantage to get the priority to advance. Arsenal want to advance, they must continue to score! "
The Arsenal fans in the stands at Stamford Bridge saw hope. Qin Xiong's goal ignited the fire of hope in their hearts. They firmly believed that as long as Arsenal scored another goal, they would be able to seize the initiative!
Mourinho's heart, which had just calmed down, was in turmoil again. Even if Chelsea had a stable and frightening defensive strength, it was absolutely whimsical to want to win against Arsenal without bloodshed.
The first half was almost over. Chelsea continued to shape the favorable situation on the field with a stable defense. They used up the time and walked into the locker room with a lead, waiting for both managers to adjust the arrangement in the midfield.
Back in the locker room, Qin Xiong found that many of his teammates were the same as him. They only played for 45 minutes in the first half, but the severity of the physical exhaustion was slightly alarming. It seemed that once they entered a resting state, they did not want to run anymore.
If they were given a bed, everyone would lie on it and fall asleep immediately.
At this time, Wenger gave an impassioned motivational speech, hoping to stimulate the players' mental state to relieve their physical condition.
"We persevered for a season. For what? Victory, championship! We are in an extremely difficult game, but this is the Champions League, the most dazzling battlefield in the club arena. We have the ability and the confidence to overcome all the difficulties! Are we worse than Chelsea? No! Will we concede defeat at Stamford Bridge? No! We have written a new record in the top European league and created new history. Maybe no one will be able to break it in a short time. This is our pride, but we can do more! Everyone has the same idea as me. We all want to go to the final stage of the Champions League, see the glory of the Big Ears Cup with our own eyes, and touch and pick up the championship trophy that can make us go down in history! Don't give up, don't be discouraged, don't give yourself a reason to relax. We can defeat any opponent if we unite! "
Wenger's speech received a response from the players. Everyone roared to encourage each other, and Qin Xiong was no exception. He knew that there was a need for some mental stimulation to get his mental state excited, and then extend to the mobilization of his physical state.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
Chelsea still had the initiative to advance, so they still played conservative defensive counterattack.
Qin Xiong repeated his old trick as soon as he came up in the second half. He moved to the left again, received Pires' pass, and charged at Glen Johnson's defensive line.
This time, he stopped the ball in front of Glen Johnson and then leaned his body to the outside. Glen Johnson passively followed the direction of Qin Xiong's body movement, but the football did not move in place. Qin Xiong then changed direction and moved directly in the direction of the penalty area, using a fake to directly get rid of Johnson's defense.
But just after Qin Xiong took a step with the ball, Makelele cut across in front of Qin Xiong, seized his position, and directly intercepted the ball successfully!
During Chelsea's halftime interval, it looked like Mourinho had made targeted defensive adjustments!
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