Perhaps Qin Xiong, who was enjoying the cheers of the fans and showing himself to his heart's content under the gazes of tens of thousands of people, did not realize what his position and importance in the team had become.
Henry, Pires, Ljungberg, Fàbregas, and the others were not excited when they saw him send the football into Wigan Athletic's goal. Instead, they felt relaxed and relieved.
Once, twice, thrice. When Qin Xiong stepped forward at the crucial moment, even if the team was not in a precarious situation, he would score goals for the team, create excellent opportunities for the team, and break the deadlock, everyone was already used to it.
Subconsciously, there was a sense of dependence.
Henry might have carried the team forward alone and his shoulders were too heavy. He felt gratified to have teammates to share the burden.
But the other players were really used to Qin Xiong's prominence and brilliance.
After it became a habit, they naturally gathered around Qin Xiong, hugged him, congratulated him, shared his joy, and rejoiced together for the team's success.
Qin Xiong looked around the stadium. Perhaps he did not have any sentimental attachment to Highbury, nor was he in awe of the somewhat narrow stadium. But he still enjoyed being the center of attention, being stared at by tens of thousands of pairs of eyes. Those eyes were filled with different expressions, worship, gratitude, excitement, adoration, and so on.
This was not his Highbury. He did not leave a legend in Highbury. In just two years, he had grown here, but he did not become a monumental figure like Henry.
Arsenal had reached the turning point of fate and was about to move to a new stadium, the Emirates Stadium.
He waved goodbye to Highbury in his heart and looked forward to the arrival of the Emirates Stadium era. He was ready to play a more important role in the new era.
Wenger was ecstatic on the sidelines. He certainly did not want the championship battle to be the finale of the Premier League.
To be able to end the Premier League war in Highbury and under the special background of Highbury's farewell game, the Premier League title would be the perfect ending for Highbury.
1:0
Arsenal walked into the locker room with the lead.
Wenger urged the players not to slack off and work hard for another 45 minutes. After they won, the Premier League's long-distance race would be over. Then, everyone could prepare for the Champions League final wholeheartedly.
In a game like this, the first goal was always difficult because the first goal completely changed the situation on the field. It could be said to be the turning point of the game.
But this game was an exception. Wigan Athletic had no desire. A loss was a loss.
The success in sniping Arsenal was nothing more than to prevent themselves from becoming part of Highbury's background.
If they could not snipe, then there was no need to take it to heart.
Therefore, after Arsenal took the lead, they did not change their attitude in order to equalize the score. They hoped to leave Highbury with dignity. Losing less would be considered a win.
Arsenal slightly changed their game attitude and was slightly more conservative. Qin Xiong and Fàbregas controlled the situation in the midfield to ensure that they did not give Wigan Athletic a good opportunity to attack or counterattack.
Arsenal's change of attitude was not as crazy as the first half. In fact, Arsenal's offensive efficiency had improved. First, Wigan Athletic's will to resist had begun to decline. Second, the players' mentality had eliminated their nervousness. In a more relaxed state, they played better in the game.
In the 66th minute of the game, Arsenal had been attacking in the midfield for more than two minutes. In fact, they had been shaping the offensive situation, constantly tearing up Wigan Athletic's defensive line by moving the ball horizontally.
When Qin Xiong saw that the defensive line between Taylor and Brad had diverged and expanded due to the lateral movement from the left and right, he firmly broke through from this point after receiving Henry's return pass.
Wigan Athletic seemed to have been bewitched by Arsenal's way of controlling the ball. When Arsenal accelerated with a point, their defensive players always seemed a beat slower and it was difficult to keep up with Arsenal's rhythm.
Qin Xiong forced a breakthrough from Brad's side and immediately passed the ball to Pires. Then he quickly plugged in behind the back of the defender, De Jesus.
Pires kicked the ball straight into the path of Qin Xiong's running position. De Jesus turned and retreated when Qin Xiong rushed over, but Qin Xiong suddenly braked halfway and turned back to take the initiative to receive Pires' pass.
In this change of rhythm, Qin Xiong swayed and created a gap in the penalty area.
When Henry Coutts saw that De Jesus was unable to mark Qin Xiong, he immediately ran to Qin Xiong to make up for the defense. But just as he ran in front of Qin Xiong, Qin Xiong used the tip of his foot to pass the ball between his legs.
Henry Coutts did not look back. He knew that the game was over!
There was no other way. If he let Qin Xiong shoot diagonally towards the goal, there was a high probability that he would lose the ball. He had to come to help defend.
But if he came to help defend, it would free a frightening killer in the penalty area: Henry!
As expected, cheers rang out from the Highbury Stadium's spectator stands, and the sky was filled with cheers.
It must be a goal!
Henry received Qin Xiong's pass and did not hesitate to shoot into the lower left corner of the goal. The goalkeeper, Pollitt, did not react at all!
"Henry helped Arsenal expand their lead! This is his 33rd league goal of the season! Looking at the five major league scoring charts, Henry's goal tally is still at the top. He is three goals ahead of Luca Toni, who is in second place. Now he has a good chance to win the European Golden Boot for the third consecutive year. He is Europe's number one godly striker!
Qin Xiong has also increased his individual league assists to 28. He has no difficulty in defending his title as the Premier League's assist king. It should also be the second season in a row that he will be the European assist king. Why is Arsenal so strong? In an unusually difficult season, they are leading the Premier League and Champions League with great momentum. That is because they have Europe's most frightening striker and the most creative midfielder! "
After Henry scored, he walked towards Qin Xiong. The two of them raised their hands in tacit agreement to celebrate.
Although they had not worked together for long, they had already written the legend of a combination!
They were Europe's most efficient offensive combination and the most lethal combination in Arsenal's history.
It was legendary.
The legendary combination of Europe's best striker and Europe's best assist king seemed to be invincible!
Wenger's heart was set. With two goals in hand, Arsenal's title was in sight!
At the same time, when the news of Arsenal changing the score to 2: 0 reached Stamford Bridge, the atmosphere at the Stamford Bridge stadium was like a funeral, even though Chelsea was also leading Manchester United, who was determined to train their players, at home!
With five minutes left in the game, Mourinho took the initiative to walk to Ferguson's side. In the British coaching circle, he was a sworn enemy of Wenger and did not have any contact with Benítez. Only Ferguson was his friendship.
Mourinho naturally chatted with Ferguson for a while, intending to say goodbye. Ferguson could probably guess Mourinho's fate.
After the game, Mourinho did not walk onto the field. He walked into the players' tunnel alone. His behavior was elegant, but his back was unusually lonely!
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