Honk!

The referee blew the whistle to start the game.

Dongfang Chen in the middle circle lightly touched the football, and Van Persie directly passed the football back to the middle.

The fans on both sides immediately erupted in hot cheers, the sound was very loud, and they couldn't suppress the excitement in their hearts.

It's the final!

The final of the English FA Cup!

A winner-or-loser match!

This is a very big pressure for both sides, and the players on both sides have to be a little cautious, with Stoke City standing out in particular.

Despite showing their confidence before the game, Stoke City are well aware that they are no worse than Arsenal in terms of quality.

It's not a fact that the people of Stoke are arrogant.

Against an Arsenal side who were a cut above them, the Stoke City players took a more secure approach to the game, which was to defend and then counter-attack.

And the advantage of the Stoke City team is that it is a high-altitude ball, and there is a certain advantage in counterattacking.

Crouch on the forward line is very tall, and Kalou's height is not low, and they still have a certain advantage in the first point of control.

Behind these two, Pennant, Esselington and Charlie Adam are also speedy men. The Stoke City team's configuration up front is a counter-attacking configuration.

These guys are not as good as the Arsenal players in terms of individual strength, but when they are together, this power should not be underestimated.

Stoke City's manager Palis also seems to be able to threaten the Arsenal team with this attacking configuration, and even win the Arsenal team.

They showed their high altitude advantage in the race four days ago and they will continue to show it today.

This game is also a lot of pressure on the players of the Arsenal team, after all, this is a final, it is a game to win or lose, there is no second game, a little careless, it is very likely to miss a thousand hatreds.

The Arsenal players are very careful on the pitch, very cautious.

Of course, the Arsenal players did not give up on attacking because of fear and caution, Arsenal's strength is attack, they are now the second most attacking team in Europe, if they don't attack, they really don't know how to play?

However, the Arsenal team did not blindly attack, blindly passed the ball and reversed the ball, and they were very familiar with this set of attacks of the Arsenal team.

Cesc Fabregas was the master of the game in midfield, using his skills, organisational skills and big-picture vision to put pressure on the Arsenal players.

And Dongfang Chen put a lot of pressure on the players of the Stoke City team on the front line, although Dongfang Chen did not have any decent appearance in the last meeting between the two sides, but the defenders of the Stoke City team did not dare to despise Dongfang Chen at all.

Dongfang Chen is the top scorer in the Premier League and the English League Cup this season, and he is currently ranked first in the FA Cup.

Such a powerful shooter, no one dares to underestimate it.

Stoke City's central defender Hutter and midfielder Delap followed Dongfang Chen in turns, so that Dongfang Chen's side was not empty for a moment.

From the beginning of the game, Dongfang Chen noticed the two people around him, and he could feel how closely the Stoke City team defended him today.

It's been a few minutes since the game started, and Dongfang Chen really didn't have many opportunities to get the ball, even if he got the ball, it was a pass, and he rarely could threaten the goal of the Stoke City team head-on.

'In the first few minutes of the game, Stoke City defended very well and it was clear that they had a targeted set-up today. Arsenal's attacking core, Dongfang Chen, didn't have many opportunities to get the ball today. Sky Sports guest commentator Martin Taylor said.

"Yes, as it stands, Stoke City have done a good job defensively, but the game has just started and Stoke City may not be able to defend the whole game." Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray said.

At the start of the game, Arsenal controlled the ball and passed it back and forth, and the ball always passed back and forth at Cesc Fabregas's feet.

Cesc Fabregas was in charge of the Stoke City defence, but the Stoke City defence was very well positioned, very close to each other, and the distance and movement between each other were very good, like a fortress, difficult to break.

In this way, the Arsenal team only reverses the ball back and forth in front of the Stoke City team's big penalty area, and rarely sends through balls, because the Stoke City team's defense is really good at this time, and no one is out of position.

Stoke City's defense in this section is very good, and the Arsenal team does not seem to want to kill the opponent with a stick, so the game looks very dull, and the fans on both sides are a little drowsy.

Arsenal are really not in a hurry right now, they firmly believe that Stoke City will not be able to maintain such a high level of unity throughout the game, and there will always be a time when the Stoke City defence will be porous. All the Arsenal players have to do is grab the ball and score the ball when the hole appears.

Although the Arsenal team is not in a hurry to beat the Stoke City team to death, the Arsenal team still slowly moves forward, layer by layer, and they have to give the Stoke City team enough pressure, under such pressure, the Stoke City players are much more likely to make mistakes.

At this time, Dongfang Chen not only stayed in the front court or in the penalty area, he also often retreated, retreated very deep to get the ball and pass, he wanted to attract the defenders of the Stoke City team and forcibly disrupt the defense of the Stoke City team.

However, the Stoke players are very clear at the moment, they don't care how you get the ball when you're away from their box, but once you get the ball in front of their box and in the depths, they make vicious interceptions and presses.

Stoke City have been well prepared and have been very well organised in their defence so far and have not given Arsenal any chances.

In terms of attacking and counter-attacking Stoke City, they don't have particularly good chances, they don't press lightly, they still focus more on defense.

Therefore, this game is really boring, and the fans who watched the scene were sleepy. If this is not a championship game, everyone will think that it is a tacit ball.

When the fans are bored, it's time for the players on both sides to compete.

At this time, the players on both sides are nervous, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake, and once the opponent makes a mistake, it will be their best chance, even a fatal one.

Dongfang Chen walked back and forth in the Stoke City team's penalty area, sometimes cutting forward, sometimes retreating, disrupting the Stoke City team's defense.

However, the Stoke City team's defense still maintains a high degree of unity, without any disorder, and today the Stoke City team is really excellent.

"Wow! Today's Stoke City team was really good, their defense was simply too tight. Even an attacking team like Arsenal didn't have the slightest solution in front of them, and it was clear that Pulis was very well prepared today. Sky Sports commentator Martin Taylor said appreciatively.

"Yes, Stoke City defended well today. However, Arsenal have not yet launched an onslaught, and if Stoke City cannot maintain their current defensive form when Arsenal do not launch an onslaught, they will still lose this game. Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray said.

"I don't think so! Now the Stoke City team's defense is very tight, which will make the Stoke City players more and more confident, and when their confidence accumulates to a certain extent, their counterattack may be coming, Stoke City team has a certain offensive strength, and their counterattack should not be underestimated. At that point, it will not be the seemingly strong Arsenal team that will not win, but the Stoke City team that will play better on the field. Sky Sports guest commentator Martin Taylor said.

Yes, at this time, the players of Stoke City are waiting for their chances, waiting for Arsenal to make mistakes, waiting for opportunities to counter-attack.

Although Comrade Crouch also retreated to his own half of the court when defending, he was always ready to counterattack, which was the order he received in this game, and he will be a very important point in the counterattack of Stoke City.

At this time, he was on the defensive, waiting for an opportunity, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

At this time, 267 minutes have passed in the first half, and the two sides have only three shots on goal combined, all three shots are from Arsenal, and Stoke City has not had a single shot on goal.

Although the Arsenal team had three shots on goal, most of these three shots were very reluctant, and even two shots were very long-range shots, which were ridiculously off.

When you see these numbers, you can see how boring the game was before the first half, and the fans on both sides in the stands were still frantically cheering for the players on both sides at first, and the shouts and singing were never heard.

However, by this time, the fans on both sides did not have that mind, and some guys even kept yawning, and even an old fan with gray hair had fallen asleep in the stands.

The first nearly 30 minutes of the game was really uneventful, and neither side seemed to have made up their minds to fight hard, and it seemed that both sides were very cautious and did not want to lose this game.

At this time, some neutral fans on the stadium couldn't stand it anymore, and directly booed the players on both sides in the stadium with crazy boos, they were ashamed of the conservative minds of both sides, Nima was so conservative, and he played a fart game? Whoever wins the penalty shootout will be the champion.

By this time, the boos at the scene were indeed a little louder. However, the players on both sides in the stadium were indifferent and continued to play according to the previous rhythm, which meant that we were going to end the game like this and shoot directly into each other's penalties.

This made the fans at the scene naturally very dissatisfied, and the boos of those neutral fans became louder and louder.

However, at this time, Cesc Fabregas in the Arsenal team suddenly burst out, and suddenly accelerated and rushed to the Stoke City penalty area with the football.