Due to the importance of the game, Arsenal began to strengthen the control of the midfield after the goal, compressing the space in the middle and backfield to prevent Manchester United from scoring.
The first half of the game came to an end when Rooney fired a long shot from outside the penalty area.
Van Nistelrooy walked to the players' tunnel with a livid face. Ever since Ferguson began to focus on reforming Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy's days at Manchester United had become increasingly depressed. Simply put, there was a clear difference between the role of an inside winger and a traditional winger.
Van Nistelrooy liked teammates on the wing who played for him like Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, while Ronaldo's transformation into an inside winger was precisely to divide the center forward's right to fire. Coupled with Ronaldo's strong desire to perform, it made Van Nistelrooy's presence in Manchester United's offensive system begin to decline. Of course, he was unhappy.
Rooney wanted to integrate the connection between his forward teammates, but he found it difficult to play under the heavy encirclement of Arsenal's two defensive midfielders. Arsenal's waist was definitely stronger than Manchester United's at this stage!
At the beginning of the second half, the two teams fought for every inch of ground on the field. Arsenal's backfield defense relied on more to defend against less. There were double insurance in every one-on-one confrontation. The players' spirits were highly focused. As long as the Manchester United players were unable to stage consecutive breakthroughs in the danger zone, it did not matter even if one player was broken through, because there would be another teammate around to protect him.
Qin Xiong handed over the command to Fàbregas and coordinated on the flanks so that Fàbregas could play better with his organizational skills.
When the attacking opportunity was not good, if Fàbregas wanted to launch an attack, Qin Xiong would not move forward after the football was at Qin Xiong's feet. Instead, he would pass it back to Fàbregas. Generally, when he did this, Fàbregas would be alert and realize that his insight into the attacking opportunity was not the best, and then patiently continue to organize.
Ronaldo worked hard on the pitch and his condition seemed to be fine. However, he encountered more difficulties when he was charging on the flanks.
There was no doubt about Lauren and Ashley Cole's defensive abilities. In addition, Arsenal's defensive midfielders' ability to assist in defense was very strong. Manchester United lacked another flank to tear and contain. Ronaldo was very conspicuous on the flank. When he was in possession of the ball, Arsenal did not even need to worry that Manchester United's offense would suddenly shift to the other side to strike a fatal blow. In that case, Arsenal's partial defense against Ronaldo could be carried out decisively and efficiently.
Arsenal did not speed up the pace. They wore down Manchester United and let the passage of time become a catalyst for Manchester United's psychological pressure. By the 70th minute of the game, Manchester United's offense was clearly anxious.
In the 72nd minute of the game, Keane went forward to assist and lost the head-on confrontation with Vieira. The Red Devils captain's condition had deteriorated significantly due to his injuries and age. After Vieira intercepted Keane's ball, he quickly kicked the ball to the front right. Ljungberg began to dribble forward and cut diagonally into the penalty area in front of the penalty area.
Bergkamp cut diagonally behind Brown and completed a shot. Unfortunately, the angle was too small and the shot was missed.
From that moment on, Arsenal's offense was almost entirely launched from the right flank. Ljungberg played very well on the right flank. He constantly cut inside or went deep to feed the middle.
However, Bergkamp's kick and Fàbregas's shot from behind missed the goal by a hair's breadth.
The fans of both teams in the stands began to get nervous.
The Arsenal fans were worried that the team would concede a goal at the last minute, while the Red Devils fans were worried because the team's offense could not break the situation.
In the 78th minute of the game, Manchester United launched a wave of aggressive offense. Silvestre assisted from the left flank and Keane followed up from the middle. Manchester United came aggressively. Arsenal's defense in the backfield quickly retreated. After guarding the key area, they quietly waited for Manchester United's attack.
Manchester United did not have the opportunity to cut and pass to tear apart Arsenal's defense. In the end, they still used the method of passing from the side. Ronaldo started the ball on the right flank and van Nistelrooy rushed forward to head the ball. However, Lehmann was one step faster. He punched the ball out of the penalty area from behind van Nistelrooy.
Scholes controlled the ball on the right side of the penalty area and intended to complete a looping shot!
When the ball fell lightly to the left side of the goal, all the Arsenal players felt their hearts jump. It looked like the ball would definitely go in!
However, Lauren became the hero who saved the day. He stood by the far post of the goal and jumped to clear the ball with a header. Vieira controlled the ball's landing point on the penalty area line. When Rooney came to close in on the ball, Vieira calmly dribbled the ball one step horizontally and swung out the space to intercept a pass from the flank.
And it was from Ljungberg's side!
Sylvester went up to assist. There was a wide space in front of Ljungberg. He sprinted along the right flank and quickly pushed the attack to the front of Manchester United's penalty area. Then, he cut inside. When Brown came to intercept, he kicked the ball out of the ground in advance!
The ball rolled behind the defensive line and was still a distance away from the goalkeeper, forcing Carrol to be unable to decisively abandon the goal.
Ferdinand harassed Bergkamp in the middle, so that Bergkamp could not form the middle to outflank and shoot.
However, when the football rolled to the back of the goal, a lightning-fast figure rushed up and neatly pushed the ball into the goal!
Arsenal number 11, Qin Xiong!
Qin Xiong ran to the sidelines and then began his signature celebration under the gaze of all the cheering Arsenal fans.
Perhaps it was because of the importance of the game, coupled with the fact that Qin Xiong was loved by the fans, when he raised his right fist, the fans in the stands let out three deafening roars in succession.
“BOOM！”
“BOOM！”
“BOOM！”
After finishing the celebration, Qin Xiong turned around and did not expect to be directly pushed to the ground by Fàbregas. Then his teammates pressed on. Everyone screamed, roared, roared, and laughed to celebrate the team's second goal!
It was a goal that could almost seal the victory!
"Arsenal widened their lead! 2: 0, Qin Xiong received Ljungberg's pass from the flank and shot from behind the goal. This is a goal we often see from Arsenal in the past. They play quickly from the flank and push the ball into the opponent's goal like a whirlwind.
Manchester United exposed more problems in this game. The instability of the defensive line is one of them, and the weakness of the offense is also obvious. This could be considered as a microcosm of the Red Devils' season. They only scored 58 goals in the league, which is the record for the lowest number of goals scored in a single league season by Manchester United in the Premier League era! Coupled with the absence of Ryan Giggs in this game, the Red Devils' offense is even more affected!
Even though Arsenal also lacks the soul of the front line, Henry, their overall grasp of the game and their advantage of controlling the game, especially the change of pace after scoring the first goal, is impressive. This is one of the characteristics that distinguishes Arsenal from most of the English teams. "
The Red Devils fans were disappointed. It looked like they were going to go home disappointed in this game.
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