73. Bloody fouls
'Is West Ham playing football or rugby? So boorish! Constant fouls! Paul Merson, who was on the commentary stage, said angrily.
Martin Taylor frowned slightly, Bilic's side have rarely played as rough this season, and when the previous dead goal, the young referee Michael Oliver admonished West Ham United captain Mark Noble and it didn't seem to make a difference, although in the 23rd minute Chek Kouyate tripped Alex Sanchez again and in the 36th minute he was pulled to the ground by Winston Reid and showed yellow cards respectively, but West Ham continued to foul continuously.
What was the Slavic purpose in doing this? Stir up the wrath of the Arsenal players and make them make mistakes? Taylor thought to himself.
Arsène Wenger angrily protested to the fourth official several times about West Ham's brutal fouls, but Slav Bilic mocked Arsenal as a girl, causing the two to quarrel several times, and the fourth official had to appease the two, and Oliver also interrupted the game at one point, running to the sideline to warn the two.
Qiansheng frowned and touched his faintly aching calf, as long as he got the ball, he would be kicked, once or twice was nothing, but if it continued like this, even the Buddha would have fire.
Due to West Ham's foul tactics, Arsenal struggled to organise an effective attack, and for the first time since playing the main centre-forward, it was the first time that they did not score in the first ten minutes. The two sides have been entangled in the midfield many times, constantly fouling, losing the ball, fouling, conceding the ball, where is this football game, it is simply basketball, rugby. Even Oliver felt like his mouth was tingling.
David Beckham and his wife in the box looked at the four children who scolded the Hammer Gang for their shamelessness with a helpless wry smile, especially Xiao Qi in Victoria's arms, who shouted to defeat the evil Hammer Gang.
At this time, there was a sudden change of wind on the field, Danny Welbeck received a pass from Nacho Monreal with his back, and just about to turn around, Mikhail Antonio stepped forward to get close, Welbeck leaned on him with his strong body, but Noble rushed over and made a sliding tackle, knocking Welbeck to the ground with the ball.
Nearby Mesut Ozil and Mohamed Elneny raised their hands to signal for a foul on Noble, but Oliver's position was just in time to see that Noble touched the ball first and hit Welbeck because of inertia, and Noble did not blow the whistle because of the rules.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Arsenal player signaled to the referee, Antonio grabbed the ball, turned on the speed and ran with the ball. The England winger, who was transformed from a left winger to a left-back by Bilic, was very fast, coupled with a diagonal run, and he rushed to the top of the penalty area without being marked for a while.
Because the Egyptian midfielder did not return to the defense in time, Francis Coquelin wanted to stare at Dimitri Payet, and seeing that Antonio, who was empty in front of him, decided to shoot from a distance, he slowed down, swung his left foot, and was about to kick the ball, when suddenly a figure rushed out diagonally, hooked him to the ground with a kick, and Antonio, who was caught off guard, fell into the mud.
The audience burst into boos and shouts, and Antonio got up angrily to settle accounts with the person who had caused him to eat grass.
This guy is a ruthless character who threw Enrique Dill down, so it's better to stay away.
Qiansheng saw that his teammates were "bullied" so badly, and his legs were kicked painfully, he was angry for a while, and when he saw Antonio with the ball, he chased him, and with the speed of catching up from behind, he flew into a sliding tackle to hook him down when he swung his leg to shoot.
Seeing Qiansheng's foul, Noble and other West Ham United players took the opportunity to put pressure on Oliver, and Arsenal captain Lawrence Koscielny and others also rushed up to intercede for Qiansheng.
Bilic rushed to the fourth official and reprimanded Qiansheng for a bad foul and should be sent off with a red card, and Wenger also rushed over, accusing the referee of not being strict and unable to control the scene.
For a while, there was a conflict inside and outside the stadium, but fortunately, Oliver, who had been taught a lesson in the previous game, was not bewitched by the West Ham United players, he solemnly ordered the players on both sides to separate, walked to Qiansheng, looked at Qiansheng with a cold face, and Oliver, who was furious in his heart, took out a yellow card from his chest and raised it in front of Qiansheng, and then said in a gentle tone: "Qian, please control your temper, don't be influenced by the other party, you have to focus on playing your ball, do you still want to suspend the game and damage the interests of the team?" β
Qiansheng pursed his mouth and said disdainfully: "Mr. Referee, I want to concentrate on playing football, but do they kick people or kick football?" Can you be tougher as a referee? β
The corners of Oliver's mouth twitched, and he laughed dryly, Nima, do you think Lao Tzu doesn't want to be tough.
Oliver said angrily: "I don't need to say how I enforce the law, you control yourself, don't foul again." I'll enforce the law fairly. After speaking, he turned around and saw that Noble was still chattering, and he felt unhappy in his heart, so he walked over and said to him with a cold face: "Mark, although you didn't foul just now, but I saw these small actions of yours, this time it's best to restrain me, in order to avoid conflicts, you tell them, don't give me face, if you foul for no reason, don't blame me for giving more cards!" Don't forget, there are some fouls, and I can have punished a few of you! β
Seeing the referee's hair, Noble had no choice but to relent: "Mr. referee, don't worry, we will play seriously and will not deliberately make trouble." β
In the box, Xiao Qi saw Qiansheng shoveling down the other party, and shouted with a fist: "Brother Qian, do a good job, defeat the evil enemy!" Her three elder brothers also couldn't stop applauding Qiansheng's actions. Seeing the children's appearance, the Beckhams couldn't help but laugh and cry.
Pavel Nedved nodded approvingly: "Arsenal have rarely been able to stand out for their team-mates like this since Patrick. This Chinese kid has the potential to be a captain. β
Beckham on the side said: "Well, not to mention whether the man's long-range shot is threatening, if Arsenal doesn't return the foul just now, I'm afraid it will greatly affect morale." β
Nedved said thoughtfully, "I don't think I'm as impulsive and reckless as a young man, am I?" I heard that before he got a red card in White Hart Lane last time, there was a yellow card, it seems that he deliberately rushed into the opponent because he gave his teammates a head, right? β
"Yes, the foul just now, it looks like he was impulsive, but his bloodiness and momentum are what Arsenal need the most at the moment." Regarding the inquiries of Lu Xiaoyou and Liu Xixi, Martin Taylor said with a smile.
Paul Merson and Charlie Nicholas, the two Arsenal legends, nodded approvingly.