Chapter 468: Everyone wants the best of both worlds

So it's very rare for a game like this to start at two o'clock in the morning, not to mention that Arsenal, the only European giant that Chinese players play, has a very staggering number of fans in China. So everyone is surprised that the FA, a guy who has no discipline, doesn't take care of Chinese fans

But it's not a big problem, because it's the weekend, and I don't have to go to work and school anyway, so I can sleep in the next day.

When the media got the starting lists of both sides before the game, everyone was surprised and somewhat expected.

On the side of the away Manchester City, the injured David Silva continues to miss the game. Dzeko was in the starting line-up, and when Negredo was outstanding, it's hard to say who was the main striker and who was the substitute.

In midfield, Montenegrin striker Jovetic was still decent after recuperating and adapting to an injury at the beginning of the season, so he was pulled to the side to play as a winger in this game. On the other side, of course, the winger is the Spaniard Navas, who has been shining in this season's table, and the experienced English midfielder James Milner is in the midfield. Aguero has just recovered from injury, and Chilean engineer Manuel Pellegrini does not dare to let him play lightly, and the former captain of Arsenal, Nasri, one of the four French swans, can only play the role of a substitute with rich bench thickness!

In midfield, Manchester City's big man Yaya Toure was also given a chance to rest, in this game defensive midfielder Fernandinho alongside Xavi Garcia. Captain Vincent Kompany was not absent as he formed a centre-back pairing with youngster Nastasic, with Kolarov on the left of full-back on the bench and replaced by Klich and Zapaletta on the other side. The Argentine's excellent performance has left the relatively young England right-back Richards, who has only made two league appearances for Manchester City so far this season, both of which were due to Zapaleta's injury

Manchester City's squad is a regular and mixed squad and it looks like they don't want to give up either this league or the Carabao Cup final two days later. Therefore, such a lineup is adopted, but I believe that if such a lineup does not achieve the desired result, the Chilean engineer will use the three substitutions in his hand to replace all the main players.

On Arsenal's side, Li Zihan did not appear in the starting line for two consecutive games after the previous game. However, he was selected for the 18-man squad, and I believe that in the case that the situation cannot be opened, Wenger can only replace Li Zihan and rely on his personal ability.

Olivier Giroud started as a central striker, followed by midfielder Mesut Ozil, wingers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski. In midfield, Arsenal were almost identical to the previous game, with Mikel Arteta's Alex Flamini starting the game and Aaron Ramsey continuing to sit on the bench.

The defender went to Vermaelen's partner Koscielny, and in the last game Koscielny was given a chance to rest, and in this game Wenger switched back to let Merdessat rest a little. With such a long season, Arsenal only have three centre-backs and they are very tired in this position.

Spain international Monreal started at left wing-back, with Sagna on the right. In the last round, teenager Jane Kinson replaced Sagna, so Sania did not rest in this game.

Looking at the starting line-ups of both sides, Arsenal and Manchester City are hoping for both sides.

However, it is also necessary to take into account the problem of injuries, the league is about to enter April, and at this time, if you are not careful, you will end the season early. If the core player is injured, it will undoubtedly be a disaster for the team, especially the team that competes for the championship and relegation.

The game started quickly, only in this game neither Arsenal nor Manchester City launched a ferocious attack from the start. They are all playing conservatively, and the arrangements of the coaching staff of the two teams are unknown, but in terms of players, they are indeed mainly safe.

It's not like Arsenal and Manchester City at all, it's more like Chelsea, focusing on defending first and then counter-attacking.

A commentator told the truth: "Although the opponent standing opposite is their opponent in the league title race, neither Arsenal nor Manchester City have shown the momentum of looking at death. Perhaps considering that summer is getting closer and closer, and the pace of the World Cup is getting faster and faster, no one wants to be injured at this time, otherwise the next World Cup will have to wait four years later, but for many players, four years is enough time to change a thing! ”

Although it was relatively conservative, no one refused to attack. After a full 10 minutes of probing, Arsenal, who were sitting at home, began to struggle.

Flamini stabbed Xavi Garcia out of the ball with a sliding tackle in the midfield position, and the Spaniard's place was very average, not to say that he was replacing Yaya Toure.

Arteta didn't dribble the ball himself, he stuck to Arsene Wenger's advice to play a defensive midfielder, and the attack had little to do with him.

The vice-captain handed the ball to Ozil, who had withdrawn to pick it up, and before Ozil could turn around, he handed the ball to Oxlade-Chamberlain on the touchline, and then turned and cut forward.

Instead of speeding up immediately after receiving the ball, Oxlain made a pass to Ozil with a swing of his leg, and the two played a coordinated feint.

Arsenal are good at playing such attacks, and Klich, who stands in front of Oxlade-Chamberlain, was also an Arsenal player, and it can even be said that he is half of Arsenal's academy. So he knew very well that there was a good chance that Oxlade-Chamberlain would return the ball to Ozil, after all, Ozil rushed past Fernandinho's defence when he turned.

Chrissy immediately stretched out his foot to cut off Chamberlain's pass, thinking he had guessed what was going on.

However, Chamberlain did take the ball in stride, and the ball rolled quickly between Crich's outstretched legs, and then Chamberlain set up his pace and rushed past Crich's defence without the ball.

"Well done!! Chamberlain's feint was very well done, and the experienced Chrissy was deceived by him! ”

Wenger, who saw this scene on the sidelines, smiled silently, Pellegrini, Pellegrini, I have long known that you will send Klich, who is familiar with Arsenal, in order to rotate, so that the main fullback Kolarov will have a chance to rest. But while Klich is familiar with Arsenal, can he be familiar with what I know about him?

That's exactly what happened, Oxlade-Chamberlain got the ball behind Chrissy, and that's the way it is.

Chrissy immediately turned around and chased back, but where was his speed the match for the fast horse Chamberlain?

Soon Chamberlain directly opened up this side, and Kompany naturally couldn't let Chamberlain be like a fish in water here, so he immediately came to fill the position.

But before Kompany arrived, Oxlade-Chamberlain passed the ball out. The ball flew diagonally from the touchline towards City's penalty area.

Giroud, who was only watched by Nastasic, was very aggressive, and he jumped up against Nastasic. The Serbian centre-back could only follow suit, but neither he nor Giroud could get their hands on the ball.

The ball flew over the heads of the two and Oxlade-Chamberlain's target was not Giroud at all.

"This is the back point!!"

Podolski quickly followed from the other side, then reached out to unload the ball, glanced at the goal, adjusted it a little and hit the goal.

Just by doing so, he missed the perfect moment when the ball just flew out from under his feet. Porti suddenly had an extra pair of feet in front of him, and then the ball was directly blocked by those feet.

Fernandinho, who was the last to defend, pressed Ozil behind him with his body, grabbed the ball early and cleared it immediately.

"Zabaleta!! The timing of the Argentine's appearance was very good! Directly blocked Podolski's shot, Porti's shot was a little verbose, he should have shot directly when the ball came, his extra adjustment just gave Zapaleta time and opportunity to defend, without such a suddenness, this goal is difficult to threaten Manchester City's goal. ”

"If this ball is handled by Li Zihan or Cazorla, it will be different, and the two of them will not waste such a good opportunity!!"

Podolski glared at Zabaleta very angrily, and it was clear that he was very unhappy with this bald "uncle" who had ruined his good deeds. Zabaleta was not a gentleman either, and immediately glared back viciously.

The "eye contact" between the two of them happened to be captured by the camera, which amused the commentators.

Later, Arsenal and Manchester City seemed to have agreed, one side attacked, and the other side immediately retreated to defend. Then, after a while, the defender and the attacker immediately reversed directions.

It's just that the difference is that Arsenal's attack is focused on his "old friend" Klich, and it has been very successful in creating a lot of threats. On Manchester City's side, the attack was more difficult, they were not able to advance on the wing, whether it was Sagna or Monreal's interception, Navas and Jovetic were very uncomfortable. What's more, Wenger also asked Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski, who were in front of the wing, to take on some tasks when defending.

On Sania's side, in particular, Navas, who had always been excellent, went straight out. Keylor Navas was known for his speed, but after being beaten by Chamberlain, his speed was no longer advantageous. And Oxlade-Chamberlain's defensive ability is still good, and he once played full-back when he was in the youth team. His physical condition is even better, and the thin Navas has no fight at all.

In terms of feints, with experienced Sania, Navas's feints are simply ignored.

One of the characteristics of Navas's feints is that his body amplitude is relatively large. It gives the impression that the ball is a little uncoordinated with his movements, the ball does not move at his feet, but his upper body moves more heavily.

In this case, Sania didn't say a word, and directly stretched out her foot to poke the ball away.

Then Chamberlain, who retreated, immediately took the ball and began to counterattack, using his speed to directly eat this side!