The most flexible point on Manchester United's offensive line was Ronaldo.
But in terms of space utilization, the Red Devils lost the effective tearing of the opponent's horizontal defense width when the two wings flew together.
This made Arsenal more and more comfortable after successfully defending three times.
Manchester United's biggest disadvantage in the game was not the absence of Ryan Giggs.
But there were too many hidden dangers in the defensive line!
He remembered that when Neville was in the lineup, Reyes could only kneel down to Neville on the left flank. But now?
O 'Shea was no match for Qin Xiong at all.
If Qin Xiong was a pure winger, then it would be fine.
But Qin Xiong was not. His cross cut and long shot was a huge threat. It was difficult for Fletcher to help O 'Shea defend to freeze Qin Xiong.
In addition, the other three defenders, Ferdinand Brown and Silvestre, were not very stable either. As a result, Manchester United's midfielders had to increase the protection of the defensive line and were unable to provide more support to the offense.
They could only invest four players in the offense, while Arsenal blocked Manchester United's offense with at least six players in two lines of defense. In the tug-of-war, Arsenal's defense began to establish an advantage and let Manchester United return empty-handed.
In the 29th minute of the game, Qin Xiong suddenly used his right foot to make an outside curveball pass in front of the penalty area on the left flank!
The football circled from behind Ferdinand to the back of the penalty area, and Yumberlé cut inside the penalty area to head the ball!
Unfortunately, his header was too straight.
Three minutes later, Qin Xiong repeated the same trick and once again used his right foot to make an outside curveball pass behind Manchester United's defensive line.
Ferdinand was already prepared. The moment Qin Xiong passed the ball, he twisted his body and combined with the trajectory of the football, he wanted to head the ball out of the siege. But the speed of the ball was too fast. He was stunned to find that he had headed the ball in the direction of his own goal!
When the football brushed the goalpost and flew out of the end line, Ferdinand broke out in a cold sweat!
Manchester United began to pay more attention to blocking Qin Xiong's left flank.
However, this was exactly what Qin Xiong wanted to see.
In the 36th minute of the game, Qin Xiong dribbled forward from the flank. After he broke through O 'Shea from the outside with his acceleration, O' Shea quickly chased back. Qin Xiong suddenly used his heel to stop the ball behind him. Then, he stopped and turned sharply, turned back to regain control of the ball and dribbled to the middle.
In front of Fletcher, Qin Xiong swayed left and right, pretending to steer towards the penalty area. After deceiving Fletcher into shifting his center of gravity, he instead dribbled the ball to the outside.
At that moment, he saw Keane, and Keane also saw him. Keane, with a fierce look in his eyes, immediately rushed towards Qin Xiong. Qin Xiong passed the ball behind Keane after Keane ran two steps. At the same time, his eyes became more and more spirited, revealing a sense of arrogance and ridicule!
When Keane looked back, he saw Fàbregas rush forward to receive Qin Xiong's pass.
In fact, this was Arsenal's real killer move in this game!
With Qin Xiong as the point of restraint on the flank, he created Manchester United's defensive center of gravity to tilt, and then turned to the middle to execute a fatal blow!
Fàbregas had already arrived in front of the Manchester United penalty area. Brown did not hold back his impulse and went forward to intercept. Fàbregas decisively sent the ball out. Bergkamp ran diagonally, and Ferdinand followed like a shadow.
Bergkamp was facing the goal sideways, and the football rolled behind him on the right side of his body. Ferdinand had already made physical contact with Bergkamp. He would not give Bergkamp any chance to raise his leg to shoot.
However, Bergkamp did not stop the ball at all. When the football rolled behind him, he used the heel of his right foot to tap the ball horizontally!
After Fàbregas sent the ball out, he ran towards Ferdinand's original position, which was the most obvious gap in the penalty area because Ferdinand was taken away by Bergkamp's running.
At this moment, the football rolled here. Fàbregas received the ball and calmly observed Carroll's position. Then, he pushed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal!
Carroll was powerless to reverse the situation. He had just run back from that side and did not expect Fàbregas to shoot in the opposite direction. Before he could adjust his center of gravity, the ball had already rolled into the goal.
The Manchester United players were thunderstruck. Some of the players looked at Qin Xiong. Keane, Scholes, and Fletcher surrounded him in a tripartite formation, but he did not run forward in the attack just now!
Ferguson had repeatedly warned before the game to be careful of Qin Xiong's insertion from the back. This was one of Qin Xiong's offensive tendencies in many of his key goals this season.
But this time, Qin Xiong knew what his task was.
He had to contain the opponent's defensive power!
He did his job well, and then his teammates also did their jobs. Their goal was born just like that!
"Arsenal has scored! The young Spanish genius Fàbregas has made a contribution to the team! Scoring in such an important game will definitely stimulate his growth. Arsenal is really lucky. They have two rising stars in the midfield that all of Europe's powerhouses covet! Qin Xiong played as a winger today and the effect was very good. He paralyzed Manchester United's right-back attack and showed a great threat in his individual possession breakthrough. This attack was instigated by him from the flank. O 'Shea and Fletcher could not intercept the ball at his feet. Keane gave Fàbregas space to plug in to defend against him. When only one defensive line faced Arsenal's attack, such a defense was definitely fragile. Bergkamp's leisurely footwork was wonderful. Another, another Arsenal -style goal! "
When Fàbregas rushed to the sidelines to celebrate after the goal, he did not know that his expression looked a little distorted. It was almost impossible to tell whether he wanted to laugh or cry!
After missing the penalty kick in the second leg of the Champions League 14 final, the psychological pressure was so great that it almost made him collapse. It was with the encouragement and help of his coach, teammates, and friends that he walked out of the shadow.
Now, on the stage of the FA Cup final, he took the lead for the team to break the goal and score a key goal. This gave him an outlet for the most negative emotions buried in his heart!
With this catharsis, he would be able to face his career better in the future.
Qin Xiong came to his side and reached out to hook the back of his head. His forehead pressed against his teammate's face, which was still distorted between crying and laughing, and shouted at him, "You scored! You can either roar out, smile and accept the cheers of the fans, or you can be a little colder! But it shouldn't be the expression you have now! Cesc, don't think too much. You're Arsenal's hero now! "
Fàbregas waved his right fist heavily and lowered his head. When he raised it again, his face was full of determination. He showed his fist to the cheering Gunners fans in the stands, and then walked back to his own side of the field with his teammates.
Ferguson shook his head as he watched from the sidelines.
Manchester United had a lot of problems in the rebuilding process. In addition to the polishing of the young players, there were still shortcomings in the configuration of the team.
Ferdinand lacked a good partner, and Keane, the iron in the defensive midfielder position, was also aging and his state had declined significantly. There was also the lack of the full backs' ability to assist. The goalkeeper was also a chronic disease that made Ferguson unable to eat or sleep in peace.
It was easier said than done to rebuild a powerhouse team that could stand at the peak of European football.
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