Chapter 79: Imprisoning the "Chieftain"
The 28th round of the Premier League match between Blackburn and Arsenal is to continue to keep up with the league leader Arsenal, but for Arsenal, it is only after the 2:10 defeat to Bayern Munich.
Obviously, this game is more important to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger than Blackburn, but it is not clear from the scene that Arsenal wants to tear apart the spirit of the Roses.
Anthony Martial received the ball and Coutinho simply reversed his feet before breaking diagonally down the right. Xhaka immediately blocked Anthony Martial's path straight into the box, and Martial was in no hurry to break through, playing nimbly with the ball with both feet, which spun at his feet like an obedient pet.
Facing Xhaka, Martial tentatively used his bike to confuse the opponent, but Xhaka stood firmly, he knew exactly what he should do, and lowered his weight to watch Martial make a feint.
Without any feints, Anthony Martial suddenly pushed forward with the outside of his instep, and his two long legs kicked in quickly, and he stepped to Xhaka's side in just two steps.
Xhaka was shocked, it was the first time he had played against Anthony Martial, and this sudden start, Xhaka immediately realized that he had made some mistakes in his prediction.
After getting past Xhaka, Anthony Martial came up with Monreal's defence. After the latter was stuck, his arm slammed into Martial's chest with a ground-to-ground movement, which happened to be numb and crispy, making Martial almost fall.
But Anthony Martial didn't throw in easily, pinning Monreal with his hands and elbows, pushing and shoving, and shoehorning Deli Ali.
Deli Ali and Arsenal defender Mustafi dragged each other and forced his car into the box from the outside, and Mustafi did not show weakness, and the tackle left Deli Ali with the ball.
Deli Ali raised his arms to signal the referee for a penalty, but the referee only glanced at it twice and ignored it, and Mustafi took the opportunity to clear the ball and finally prevent Blackburn's onslaught.
This game was not easy for Blackburn, although the Arsenal players were not in a mood, but the strength remained, far more difficult than Leicester City.
However, for the current Blackburn, isn't it more difficult to have the thrill of conquest?
When Anthony Martial picked up the ball again, he moved closer to the left according to the old routine, and before he could get close to the penalty area, Xhaka was already quickly close to the defense.
Martial's eyes suddenly swept to the position of Sterling on the right, due to Martial's frequent tilt to the right, and his own depression, at this moment Sterling on the right has become a guy that no one cares about.
Anthony Martial pretended to break through, and the nimble dribble at his feet made Xhaka secretly complain, and Martial pretended to pass the ball to Coutinho inadvertently, Coutinho took two steps with the ball, stuffed it into Martial, and then let go of his speed and rushed to the baseline.
It's an old routine between Anthony Martial and Philippe Coutinho, with Arsenal players moving to corners on the left.
At that moment, Anthony Martial did not immediately plug the ball through, but picked up his right foot and struck the lower middle of the ball, and with a sharp and flat wide shift, the attack was shifted to the feet of Raheem Sterling on the right.
"Good time!" Raheem Sterling brought Anthony Martial's pass to a steady halt and sprinted into the Arsenal penalty area. Watch ·
Sterling faced Gibbs, the feints at his feet became more and more flexible, constantly probing, flashing a space, and quickly got up to pass the ball to Jesus in the middle.
Gabriel Jesus stopped the ball with ease, his eyes on his team-mates, and suddenly made a push with his right foot to the left.
The defender subconsciously raised his foot to block, but unexpectedly it was just a feint by Jesus, Jesus wiped the soles of his left foot, and the football changed direction and drilled between the opponent's legs.
Gabriel Jesus broke through quickly and sprinted down the middle to the top of the box before a long-range shot was struck hard by the defending Koscielny and deflected in front of Deli Ali.
Gabriel Jesus cut forward quickly, Deli Ali returned the ball and the ball flew straight past Mustafi with a volley of his foot.
The ball flew into the box and Koscielny and Ospinazi came out to block the ball, but Deli Ali was the first to touch the ball between the two.
With a flick of Deli Ali's long legs, the ball flew towards the back of Ospina's head.
The ball flew in a wonderful arc and flew into the goal from the very center.
1:0!
Deli Ali laughed and began to celebrate with his team-mates, and although he is only 22 years old, he has a maturity beyond his years, not only representing the future of Blackburn, but also becoming one of the main players of Blackburn Rovers right now.
De Lee Alli was the first to break the deadlock for Blackburn Rovers, and the situation on the pitch immediately changed, and the Arsenal players clearly refused to accept being humiliated by Blackburn Rovers at home, and they were in a bit of a hurry and fought fiercely up front.
Casemiro made a steal at the back and passed straight to Deli Alli in the frontcourt. Before Deli Ali could catch the ball, Ramsey crashed into him and pinned him to the ground.
"This is looking for trouble!"
Phil Jones, as the captain of the field, rushed up like a big brother to push Ramsey away.
Although Blackburn Rovers are now following the technical stream, on the pitch, Blackburn players have never been intimidating.
Following the protest of the Blackburn Rovers, the referee showed a yellow card to Ramsey In fact, although Ramsey was undoubtedly a foul, it was not a yellow card, and it is still up for debate.
Ramsey's foul not only gave Blackburn a free-kick in midfield, but also paid a yellow card.
Just when the Arsenal players protested and slowly returned to the defense, Coutinho took advantage of the good opportunity when the opponent's defense was not in place, and immediately served quickly.
The Arsenal players were walking slowly, but they didn't expect Coutinho to be so deceitful and protested to the referee again.
But Coutinho did not violate the rules of football at all, and the referee had no reason to stop the game, but ran forward after Coutinho's pass.
In desperation, Gibbs had no choice but to rush to Sterling, who received the ball, intending to foul first and delay Blackburn's attack.
Who knew that Sterling had already known Gibbs's plan, and just when the latter just rushed up, Sterling knocked his right foot horizontally and crossed the middle, and Ben did not give the opponent a chance to foul.
When everyone was worried about whether the Blackburn players would be able to catch the football, suddenly a figure quickly stepped forward and got the ball.
Jesus!
Gabriel Jesus immediately changed the course of the ball as soon as he touched the ball, while also shaking off Koscielny, who was about to get up.
Gabriel Jesus quickly passed past Koscielny, which surprised all the Arsenal players, because now Jesus stabbed alone!
In the face of the attacking goalkeeper, Jesus did not hesitate and stepped on the penalty spot with a burst of shots.
Monreal, who came from the right side, fell to the ground and slid to block Jesus's shot, but unfortunately the speed was a little slower, and goalkeeper Ospina quickly fell to the ground to save, which was also a beat too slow, and the ball rolled past Ospina's fingertips.
Gabriel Jesus had a powerful shot and a very fast shot, and the ball slid into the bottom corner of the post against the turf.
The moment he watched the football enter the goal, Gabriel Jesus couldn't help but wave his fist in celebration.
2:0!
The two-goal lead gave Blackburn a morale boost to the top and bottom, while Arsenal's players were a bit sluggish, and the Gunners' performance at the Emirates Stadium was a nightmare when Arsene Wenger himself didn't know how to adjust.
In the 37th minute, Casemiro made a tackle in front of the field, and Anthony Martial's powerful shot from 25 yards on the left was blocked by Ospina.
One minute later, Xhaka was booked for a tackle on Deli Alli at the back and Coutinho's direct free-kick from 30 yards was blocked.
In the 42nd minute, Blackburn Rovers made a comeback, Danny Rose passed the ball and Sterling's powerful shot from 25 yards was blocked by Koscielny.
Despite Blackburn's ferocious attack, they were just a fraction away from scoring and were never able to break through the Arsenal goal, which was on the verge of collapse.
Everyone knows that once the first half is conceded by three goals, then Arsenal may relive a 5-1 nightmare in this game.
At half-time, Blackburn ended the first half with a 2-0 lead, which was both a misfortune for Arsenal and a blessing for them.
At half-time, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Anthony Martial and Deli Ali were discussing whether they could create more chances in the second half and everyone scored.
Naturally, others would not refuse, and Klopp knew that Arsenal was not as wicked as maliciously hurting people, so they simply let them go.
As soon as the second half began, Blackburn's front four started attacking aggressively and had a good start from the start.
Blackburn Rovers remained patiently in control in the second half, while Arsenal's attacking approach changed little.
Gabriel Jesus' private scramble up front led to two misguided passes for Arsenal, with Raheem Sterling latching on to Deli Alli and first delivering a brilliant cross for Anthony Martial.
It's a pity that Ospina didn't want to be a shame again, and actually lifted Anthony Martial's close header out of the bottom line, which made the French youngster regret it.
Anthony Martial resisted the urge to hit the post with his head this time, but the fact that he kicked the post twice with his foot was still a sight to tell anyone that he was in a hurry to score and frustrated.
Soon, though, Anthony Martial got another great opportunity.
Gabriel Jesus received the ball down the middle and shook off Koscielny's block and slotted it away to Anthony Martial, who was in a better position.
Anthony Martial latched on to Gabriel Jesus' cross and moved quickly to shoot a furious shot that was blocked by Monreal, who once again used his speed to take advantage of his speed and stabbed the ball first, stumbling over Mustafi's subsequent block as he burst into the box.
Anthony Martial sat on the ground and raised his arms high and shouted, "This is a damn foul!" ”
Later, through the slow-motion replay, it is still impossible to tell whether Mustafi's supporting leg was in the penalty area when he tripped Martial, because when viewed from different angles, two completely different results will be obtained.
But the players on the pitch couldn't see the replay and they still surrounded the referee in the hope of asking for a penalty.
After interrogating the linesman, the referee decisively pointed to the penalty spot, and then showed a red card to Mustafi.
Penalty + red card!
Arsenal got the worst result!
When Mustafi fouled Anthony Martial, there were no other defenders in front of Martial other than Arsenal goalkeeper Ospina, so the red card was not a big problem and there was nothing to argue.
With Harry Kane, Antoine Griezmann, Neymar and Gareth Bale all not on the field, Black's current first penalty taker on the pitch is Philippe Coutinho, and Anthony Martial chose to take the penalty himself after consulting with the other side.
Anthony Martial's penalty was so powerful that Ospina judged the right direction but couldn't keep the ball out of the net.
3:0!
Seeing his team once again beaten into a sieve, Wenger seemed to have become numb, without a thunderous roar or a dancing command, just replacing Mesut Ozil with Mertesacker to make up for the void in the backline after Mustafi's red card, and there were no more instructions.
Is Arsene Wenger a top coach?
This issue is debatable.
Is Arsene Wenger a good coach?
The answer is absolutely yes.
The question is asked in reverse.
Are Arsenal a good team?
The answer is also an absolute yes.
Is Arsenal a top team?
The answer to this question is easy: no!
In terms of practical level, in fact, Arsenal is also the level of La Liga Sevilla and Serie A Roma, not to mention winning in the Champions League, it is almost impossible to compete for the title in the Premier League.
In terms of the team lineup, Ozil and Sanchez are known as the "double kings" at Arsenal, but compared to the other teams in the Premier League championship group, they are too far behind, and even in the current Blackburn, Ozil and Sanchez cannot become the absolute main force.
Four minutes later, Blackburn had another good chance when Philippe Coutinho crossed from the edge of the box but Deli Alli fired wide from 22 yards to be less than 20 centimetres away.
Seeing that the team was in a predicament on the field again, and the goal distance was lost again, Wenger still took the initiative to make adjustments, replacing Sanchez, who did not work in this game, with Oxlade-Chamberlain, hoping to use the new force to change the score on the field and strengthen the attack.
Arsene Wenger didn't have the luxury of dreaming of an equaliser, just hoping to save face by scoring a goal at the Emirates Stadium.
It's a pity that Blake could have been angry for Ranieri in the last round of the league, but this game was destined to sweep away Wenger's last cover.