When Qin Xiong was released from suspension and returned to Arsenal's starting lineup, Arsenal seemed to have returned to the familiar image in the eyes of the outside world.
Their offense was smooth, their ground passes were sharp, their speed of advancement was lightning fast, and their attacks were imaginative, as if they were invincible.
And the outside world would also overlook and forgive the mistakes of one of Arsenal's players.
After the victory over Sunderland at Highbury, Arsenal received some good news.
At Old Trafford, Chelsea, led by Mourinho, was defeated by Manchester United 1: 0. This allowed Arsenal to lead Chelsea by four points after 12 rounds of the Premier League.
The FIFA match in November arrived.
This time, Qin Xiong did not need to return to China. It was not that he did not want to participate in the national team's matches, but the World Cup would be held in Europe next year. The China team planned to play a friendly match in Europe in November. Qin Xiong only needed to rush from the United Kingdom to Norway.
The long-distance travel affected the China team's state. Although the China team itself was not strong in the eyes of the European football world, Qin Xiong felt that the adjustment of the time difference and the travel made the China team not play well in the friendly match as a whole. In the end, they lost 2: 3 to their opponent at home in Norway. The main reason for the failure was the lack of tacit understanding in the rear defensive line and the high number of mistakes.
The other friendly match was against Scotland. The performance in this game was much better. Qin Xiong led the China team to a 1: 1 draw with Scotland in the away game. Although they did not obtain a victory in the two games in Europe, the training was still meaningful.
At the end of the national team match, Ali Khan said to the outside world that the China team needed to play more European teams in the first half of next year. Even if the opponents were not strong and had no chance of the World Cup, the China team had to pay attention to them. This was the most important training to prepare for the World Cup.
The journey back to London from Scotland was shorter. Qin Xiong did not consume much energy on this match day. His energy was mainly focused on the league tournament.
In the 13th round of the Premier League, Arsenal was the guest to challenge Wigan Athletic. Qin Xiong and Henry teamed up to crush Wigan Athletic's defender, De Jeu, but the process of the game was not easy at all.
In the 14th minute of the first half, Qin Xiong received Henry's ball and forced a breakthrough from De Jewu's side. After he succeeded, he assisted Van Persie, who was outflanked from the back, to break the goal.
Seven minutes later, Wigan Athletic's long pass caused Senderos to make a mistake, and then striker Kamara scored to equalize the score.
Before the end of the first half, Henry started from De Jeu's side. Qin Xiong sent a straight pass over the top. After Henry successfully reversed the offside position, he volleyed the ball into the net from a small angle.
Arsenal led with a score of 2: 1 in the first half.
But at the start of the second half, Silva's interception failed in the midfield. Wigan Athletic suddenly instigated a wave of aerial bombing attacks. Kamara's header was blocked by Lehmann, and Brad followed up with a follow-up shot to equalize the score again.
After returning from the FIFA match day, the state of the Arsenal players fluctuated, especially in the away game, which affected their play.
In the 73rd minute of the second half, Qin Xiong continued to attack De Jeu. He sent a wonderful pass to Hleb. After Hleb successfully reversed the offside position, he was knocked down in the penalty area by De Jeu. Arsenal was awarded a penalty kick.
Henry's penalty kick was successfully blocked by the goalkeeper, Pollitt, and the ball that went out was obtained by Fàbregas. He sent a threatening straight pass, and Van Persie cut into the penalty area to shoot, which was blocked again.
One shot after another was blocked. When the Wigan Athletic fans were extremely excited, Qin Xiong took possession of the ball in front of the defensive midfielder, Francis, on the outside, and followed up with a looping shot to send the ball into the goal.
Arsenal took the lead for the third time!
Although Arsenal had blown up De Jeu, one of the Wigan Athletic defenders, if Wigan Athletic had any sense, they should have gone to fill in the gap.
But the game had reached the final stage, and Wigan Athletic did not think so much. They firmly believed that they could equalize the score again. Arsenal never killed the game, even if they looked more threatening on the offensive.
Qin Xiong took the initiative to retreat and participate in the defense. In the 85th minute of the game, after a successful defense, he sent a super-long pass from the middle of the backfield to attack.
The football flew from the backfield to the left flank of the front field. Hleb quickly plugged in during the counterattack. When he touched the ball, he was already near the Wigan Athletic defensive line. After he did a one-two with Henry, he easily went alone.
Hleb, who had missed a lot of opportunities when he first came to Arsenal, calmly shot the football into Wigan Athletic's goal to help Arsenal secure the victory.
Although the final score was 4: 2 and Arsenal won the game, it was still a thrilling game.
Wenger was enraged after the game when the media questioned the performance of Arsenal's rear defensive line.
His attitude was gentle at first, saying that it was normal for the players to have ups and downs in their condition.
But the media was relentless, and Wenger finally said, "I can't conjure up Maldini or Nesta."
His anger reflected the reality that everyone had long understood: Arsenal lacked the ability to make heavy signings in the transfer market due to financial constraints.
In the hearts of the vast majority of Gunners fans, Wenger was like God, because perhaps without Wenger, Arsenal would not have the glory at the end of the last century and the club's development at the beginning of the new century. Building a new stadium was a grand plan that took a huge leap forward.
And with or without Wenger, Arsenal's financial situation would be the same as it was now, or even worse, because it was not something any manager could do to surpass Wenger's leadership of Arsenal and overturn Manchester United's rule.
Wenger spent a lot of money to do big things and led the team to glory with difficulty. The fans were more understanding, and at the same time, they supported him without limit.
In the 14th round of the Premier League, Arsenal won the game at home with ease.
Blackburn Rovers wanted to "rebel" at Highbury, but was completely destroyed by Arsenal's rapid passing and fierce offensive.
Qin Xiong used 40 minutes in the first half to assist Fàbregas, Henry, and Ljungberg to score, completing a hat-trick of assists.
In the second half, Pires provided an assist for Qin Xiong, who scored the last goal of the game.
Arsenal sent Blackburn Rovers away with a score of 4: 0 at home.
By the 14th round of the Premier League, Arsenal's new season started with great momentum. No one would think that Arsenal had a problem without looking at the process of the game and only looking at the results.
A record of 12 wins and 2 draws was dazzling in the entire European football world.
In the fifth game of the Champions League group stage, Wenger simply sent all the substitutes on the field and let the main players rest.
Thun still had a chance to surpass Ajax and advance to the top 16 of the Champions League. Their aggressive offensive was exchanged for Arsenal's crazy counterattack. In the end, Arsenal defeated Thun with a score of 3: 0 and achieved five consecutive wins in the Champions League group stage. Not only did they advance to the top 16 of the Champions League ahead of time, but they also locked in first place in the group.
Arsenal's opponents in the group stage were not strong, but Arsenal's performance once again shocked Europe because not only did they win all five games, but they also did not concede a single goal!
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
