Wenger was expressionless as he stood on the sidelines. No one could tell if he was dissatisfied with the team's performance.
It could only be said that the current Arsenal was not the dream team he wanted to build.
However, looking at the reality, with the departure of a mainstay player, the team did not bring in a new player of similar ability, so it was normal for the team to go through one or two over-adjustment periods.
If it were not for Chelsea's strength, Arsenal might not have been forced to this point.
Even if he knew that an over-adjustment was needed, Wenger might still be stubborn.
But the more risks he took, the more likely Arsenal's losses would be!
The futures of Henry and Qin Xiong were still up in the air, so Wenger had to use the results to retain the players.
Now he could only face the game with a rare guilty pleasure: Mourinho, counter-attack? It was Arsenal's leftover!
Arsenal's counter-attack had once overturned the Red Devils and became the foundation for Wenger to become the dominant player in Highbury.
Now that Arsenal had formulated a strategy of attacking and counter-attacking, Wenger saw it as a small "step back," so he could not be happy.
This kind of defense and counterattack limit was very unreasonable.
It made the public feel a huge sense of disappointment in the expectation of a strong team meeting.
The combined value of the two teams was more than 500 million pounds, but they were playing counter-attack and did not pursue the more beautiful side of football. They presented a classic offensive feast to the outside world, which was unreasonable in the eyes of outsiders.
In a situation where Arsenal did not give Chelsea space to fight back and Chelsea did not take the initiative to attack, it was difficult for both teams to hit high-quality shots in their attacks. The most typical phenomenon was that the two teams did not shoot from inside the penalty area. Shots from outside the penalty area also faced heavy obstacles, which was enough to reflect the characteristics of the game on both ends of the offense and defense.
The first half ended with 0: 0.
Chelsea's players looked helpless as they walked towards the players' tunnel.
Before the game, they had lofty ambitions to overturn Arsenal, but in the game, they could not use all their strength!
Although this was not Arsenal in the Community Shield, as long as Arsenal challenged Chelsea according to the tactics in the Community Shield, Chelsea's players believed that they had a chance to destroy the Arsenal!
The Arsenal players, on the other hand, were calm.
It could be said that it was because of Vieira's departure that they were able to put down their arrogance in the dialogue between the strong, accept reality, and work hard to win the greatest benefits in a pragmatic way.
Wenger did not have much to adjust during the halftime interval. He just emphasized some small details, such as paying more attention to Chelsea's winger's individual breakthrough, and so on.
In the second half, the two teams switched sides and fought again. The atmosphere of the game still did not change. The two teams were attacking without much pain and making impeccable defenses.
"This is almost a replica of the second match between the two teams last season! Could Mourinho's team accept losing a point to Arsenal at home? But Chelsea seemed to lack courage. They had willpower and were an iron-blooded army. But when Chelsea's opponent contended against them with a solid defense, their lack of adventurous spirit was exposed. Chelsea was too steady. They were so steady that they didn't have a chance to counterattack, which made people feel that they were at their wit's end. Don't Mourinho's team practice positional play and attack? They have so many good players, but they have always been on the path of defensive counterattack. If Arsenal can take away a draw in the away game, Wenger will be very happy. "
Arsenal was more creative than Chelsea, but under the premise of playing with fewer players and without space, it was very difficult to shake Chelsea's defensive line, which had at least seven players after compressing the defensive space, with only four players in the attack.
In the 61st minute of the game, Robben cut into the inside line from the right flank. He dribbled the ball at a fast pace and stopped abruptly to change directions horizontally to get rid of Silva's defense, but Fàbregas, who rushed out after him, intercepted the ball successfully!
Fàbregas felt slightly more relaxed in this game than against Newcastle United. He did not need to run back and forth to expose the defensive gaps behind him. There was also less pressure because Chelsea did not put in a large number of offensive players. As long as he remained calm in the defense and did not drop the ball at critical moments, he could do his defensive work well.
Robben helplessly signaled to his teammates to attack. Not only could he not find a receiving point, but he also had no teammates to help him cover. This made his breakthrough route clear at a glance, making it easier for the opponent to predict and intercept.
After Fàbregas intercepted the ball, he decisively instigated a counterattack to the front field.
Qin Xiong ran forward in large strides. He ran to the left side of the midfield, and Essien immediately followed. Fàbregas' pass was looking for Qin Xiong. A half-high ball was sent out at a very fast speed.
Qin Xiong ran to the outside. The football flew to the right side of his body, and Essien followed like a shadow.
In a split second, Qin Xiong lifted his right foot in the direction of the football as he ran. The outside of his right foot lightly padded the ball. He controlled his strength to the extreme and perfectly unloaded the football!
This was already on par with Dennis Bergkamp's mid-air unloading of the ball when he was at his peak.
And this perfect stop surprised Essien. Qin Xiong's next move was very smooth. Essien intended to intercept Qin Xiong when there was a pause in Qin Xiong's stop of the ball, which was broken through by Qin Xiong!
Because he unloaded the ball with ease and directly accelerated when the football landed at his feet, the football had just been flicked forward by Qin Xiong, and Essien's intercepting foot landed on the ground. It was empty!
After Qin Xiong passed Essien, he took a step to the inside line and blocked Essien behind him. Lampard rushed from the side to intercept, but Qin Xiong decisively sent out a straight ball after observing the situation.
The outer instep of his right foot rubbed out an outer arc, and Terry retreated deeper. The ball flew diagonally from two meters in front of Terry into the penalty area. The half-high ball's flight trajectory showed that the ball was likely to bypass Carvalho, and then Arsenal's frontline killer was rushing in between Carvalho and Gallas!
Henry!
The hearts of the Blues fans were about to jump out.
But in the nick of time, before the football had bypassed behind Carvalho, someone kicked the ball in the direction of Chelsea's end line.
Makelele!
There was an uproar.
Makelele made a flying tackle to clear the siege, but he shoveled the ball towards his own goal!
Čech hurriedly fell to the ground and blocked the ball with his left foot. The football changed direction and refracted, rolling out of the end line from the side of the goal post!
All the Chelsea fans were relieved. This ball was too thrilling!
If Makelele did not come to the rescue, Henry and Qin Xiong would stage another tacit pass and shoot coordination.
Makelele's desperate rescue almost caused a blunder, which really made all the Chelsea people break out in a cold sweat.
Qin Xiong scratched his head and swept his eyes over Chelsea's formation. He understood a fact in his heart: even if he seized the opportunity to counterattack and play fast attacks, it would be difficult to destroy Chelsea's defensive line!
Chelsea's defensive line was very tight, and the replacements had already formed their own system.
This game was too difficult.
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