Chapter 927: An Unpredictable Substitution
Arsenal dominated the pitch, but it was Manchester United who scored first.
Watching Wayne Rooney rush into the stands with his arms raised and shouting at the fans in the stands, the Arsenal could only shake their heads and sigh, complaining about God's injustice.
Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray sighed: "Rooney is really related to Arsenal, his first Premier League goal is the stunner Arsenal, this time Arsenal obviously has the upper hand, but Rooney's follow-up shot gave Manchester United the lead, but Rooney's goal also has to thank Gao Xiaodong and Hernandez, without Gao Xiaodong's beautiful overhead pass, without Hernandez's clever forward shot, Rooney could not have this chance to score." ”
Rooney did not forget Gao Xiaodong and Hernandez, and after celebrating with the fans, he immediately turned around and hugged Gao Xiaodong and Hernandez who ran over.
Ferguson on the sidelines was very satisfied with the goal, but his expression was not as excited as the assistant coaches and substitutes, Manchester United was full of injuries, and Arsenal was very strong in attack, a goal could not determine the final result, and it would be more difficult later.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is very disappointed, Manchester United has injured so many people, and there are 6 defenders, the first goal is actually Manchester United, this game is really unplayable, Wenger thinks Ferguson's luck is really good, whether it is the league or the Champions League, he can always turn evil into good luck at critical moments, Made, did this old guy save the earth in his last life?
The game continued as Arsenal, who had fallen behind, attacked Manchester United even harder.
Although Manchester United is playing at home, but the defeat of the last double red club gave Ferguson a deep lesson, in the case of the injury of ten generals, Ferguson behaved very pragmatically, not only sent 6 defenders, Gao Xiaodong was also given a very heavy defensive task by him, in short, Arsenal can cross from the side, but never give him the opportunity to break through in the middle of the penalty area.
Arsenal has a lot of good offensive players, but there are too few players who can grab points, although the Dutch goalscorer Van Persie is strong, but there are two central defenders watching him, Gao Xiaodong also comes over from time to time to help defend, Van Persie basically can't even touch the ball, let alone shoot.
Even so, after Manchester United scored, Arsenal still got two chances on goal through their delicate combination, but Van Persie's shot from the middle of the two central defenders was blocked by Gao Xiaodong with his legs, and then, Nasri received Wilshere from the ribs into the Manchester United penalty area, and when Smalling cleared the ball, Nasriso took a penalty, but referee Foy ignored it.
United then launched a counter-attack, only Wayne Rooney made a mistake with a pass under pressure from two defenders and the ball was tackled by Arsenal.
In the first minute of stoppage time, in which neither United nor Arsenal were able to form a dangerous attack, referee Foy blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
At half-time, Arsenal made no substitutions, while Manchester United, who were leading the scoreline, made changes.
Defender O'Shea, who played in midfield, was off and 18-year-old rookie midfielder Paul Pogba came on.
Under normal circumstances, it is not tossed to win, but Ferguson, who is leading the score, has made substitution adjustments, not to mention that fans can't understand it, even Ferguson's old opponent Wenger didn't understand it.
"What kind of tricks does this old guy play? He turned on a child? He looked down on Arsenal and trained a newcomer? No, there must be a conspiracy. ”
Arsene Wenger is aware of the characteristics of his compatriot Pogba, but does not think Pogba's characteristics can make much of a difference against a team like Arsenal.
On-site commentator Andy Gray said: "Judging from the first half of the game, although Manchester United led the score, the scene was very passive, and it was very difficult to get the ball, maybe the lord wanted to use Pogba's possession and breakthrough to help the team, but Pogba can control the ball and break through the ball when he is against a low-level team, and I don't know if it is useful for a strong team like Arsenal?" Maybe the lord just wants to use Pogba's running ability to make up for Scholes's shortcomings, after all, O'Shea is also older, and he can't run, anyway, the lord's adventurous spirit is very admirable, and the average coach will definitely not move when he is ahead, let alone replace a young man like Pogba. ”
After Pogba came on the pitch, Manchester United fans paid more attention to him than Gao Xiaodong, and everyone wondered what role the 18-year-old could play in this strong conversation.
Is it as blockbuster as Rooney back then, or is it frequent mistakes and mediocre performances.
Arsenal had a superb chance to score from the start of the second half.
Arsenal poured the ball down the midfield, passed it on the flanks and in the middle, and when the ball reached Wilshere's feet again, Arsenal centre-back Koscielny suddenly cut in from the back to the ribs of the United penalty area, Wilshere had a good view of the big picture, and he immediately sent a through ball to Koscielny.
Manchester United's midfield defense is basically a turnip and a pit, everyone has someone to defend, central defender Koscielny inserted and no one marked, and it was too late for Pogba to fill this position, Koscielny slipped the ball into the box and shot at goal.
Koscielny did well to get forward like an attacking midfielder, but the shot was completely out of shape and the ball went straight to goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
It was too close for Van der Sar to react, and the ball hit him and bounced in front of Koscielny.
Koscielny fired another shot into the near corner, but goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar made a fantastic save to keep Koscielny's must-score goal off the line.
"God!
The United fans in the stands let out an exclamation, and Ferguson shouted nervously at the pitch.
Pogba was a little frustrated, feeling that Koscielny's dangerous shot was the result of his own mistake.
Gao Xiaodong saw Pogba's worries, and came over to comfort him: "It doesn't matter, the defender is inserted, and the old players are difficult to judge, don't be afraid of mistakes, I'll show you, go ahead, defend this corner well." ”
Pogba heard Gao Xiaodong say this, his mood was a little better, and he also had some confidence, and hurriedly ran to the penalty area to defend the corner.
Pogba is 1.9 meters tall, and Ferguson sent him up to compete for the high point, after all, the front court Gao Xiaodong, Scholes, Rooney and Hernandez are all short, with Pogba, a big tall man, he can fight for the ball forward, and he can increase his air defense ability backwards.
Pogba is targeting Arsenal's main defender Koscielny.
Koscielny also wanted to bully Pogba's youth and resist Pogba's header, but Pogba's strength did not suffer, he stuck his position and cleared the ball with a header.
Pogba's confidence rose after this clearance, and then he took advantage of his height and long legs, not only grabbing the ball in the air against Arsenal before the centre-backs, but also using his long legs to complete two tackles.
Although Ferguson didn't just use Pogba on the pitch to defend himself, Pogba's ability to play a role in defense can be regarded as meeting Ferguson's basic requirements.