Chapter 115: A Disappointing First Half
Arsenal won the game once again, once again beating their north London rivals; Arsenal look incredibly strong at this point and they are now getting closer to the league title. Arsenal now have a whopping 15-point lead in the table, which is enough to keep Arsenal from a huge lead to the league title early.
Xiao Qing is very happy that the team has achieved such results, and he looks forward to the team's more achievements; It's really good for Arsenal at the moment, they've done enough good this season and they're confident that they can do even better this season.
Arsenal want to do better, and although they are proud of this result, Arsenal still have to keep going; For the Gunners, they still need to continue to win, with perhaps only three rounds left, and they will soon be able to produce brilliance, and they are already close to winning the title undefeated!
After completing the make-up match with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal did not rest immediately, they still have the task of the league; Now Arsenal are starting their season with almost three games left in the league and the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City just around the corner. Of course, the most important thing is the upcoming Champions League quarter-final match with Bayern Munich.
It has not been an easy time for Arsenal, although Arsenal are very close to success, but this is a test they must accept on the road to success, although Arsenal is very good, but have to admit because of such a dense schedule. Even Arsenal's record this season has been exceptionally good. But it will still affect the performance of the Gunners to a greater or lesser extent.
The 31st round of the Premier League begins. Arsenal take on Blackburn Rovers at Emirates Stadium; This is a good opponent, although Blackburn is only in the middle of the standings, but Arsenal still need to be careful, the strength of these guys is really good, once Arsenal has any carelessness, maybe it will really be overturned by Blackburn.
In order to better prepare for the next Champions League game, Arsenal selectively suspended Fabregas and Van Persie in this game; They obviously don't have Xiao Qing's physical fitness, at least Xiao Qing's injury risk is not so big. And during this time, Xiao Qing took advantage of their participation in the national team to take a break. At this time, Xiao Qing naturally has more and more adequate physical reserves.
In this game, Arsenal's main goalkeeper Almunia was on the back line, and on the back line were Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, and Klicy; In midfield, Alexander. Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin; Single striker Xiao Qing is alone at the front.
Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Robinson; Salgado, Samba, Nelson, Olsen on the back line; In midfield, Emerton and Jay. Jones, Phil. Jones, Nzunzi, Hoylet; Also a single striker Santa Cruz.
Blackburn really don't have much ambition and it's really not an easy thing to win the game at the Emirates Stadium; And Arsenal have been on the offensive this season and they have always been able to score in games. Although Blackburn Rovers would love to be the focus of the win over Arsenal, such an upset is unattainable, and the first thing Blackburn needs to do is strengthen their defense. Because Arsenal's attack is really terrifying, Blake didn't want to be a footnote to another big win for Arsenal in the game. They don't want to be the object of ridicule from Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium.
Although it is not surprising that Blake wants to defend and counterattack in this game, this will definitely have a certain impact on Arsenal, although they will snipe Arsenal's attack with all their might, but the Gunners are not worried about facing such a defense, they are still very confident of winning the game. Although Blackburn Rovers have been heavily packed in central midfield, the Gunners believe they will get on the scoresheet; Although the defensive intensity of the opponent may not be weak, Arsenal are more confident of using their superior attacking ability to break down their defence.
Arsenal controlled the tempo of the game from the very beginning of the game, and for Arsenal, who emphasised possession, they could use the constant passing to find attacking opportunities; The Gunners will not be taking this game lightly and will be looking for more chances to score. Since Blake looks conservative in this game, but Arsenal will not be polite, they will let Blake know that even if it is a bucket formation, but once they meet Arsenal, then they will still be torn apart by Arsenal.
In the fifth minute of the game, Arsenal fullback Sagna suddenly inserted a cross from the right, and Blackburn's two major defenders Samba and Nelson were firmly restrained by Xiao Qing, and some panicked in the battle with Xiao Qing and made a mistake in the cooperation and almost sent the ball into their own door; After that, Arsenal instigated the ball on the sideline, Arshavin went straight into the gap in the penalty area on the right, and Xiao Qing inserted a one-handed shot from a small angle and was bravely saved by Blackburn goalkeeper Robinson.
Xiao Qing, who grinned his teeth, clapped his hands vigorously, although he failed to score, the team's offensive quality looked very good; Although they missed the chance to open the scoring this time, Arsenal are confident that they will be able to score in the next games. For Arsenal, it is not a problem to score goals at the moment, they just need to continue to press in the attacking end, and they will still be sure to find the back of the net against a fearless Blackburn Rovers.
Blake really didn't want to be beaten by Arsenal in this game, so they defended quite resolutely in the game, they had a defensive strategy that caused the Gunners a lot of headaches in the game, and their movements were really not small.
In the twelfth minute of the game, Blackburn defender Olsen hit Sagna with his knee when he scrambled near the halfway line, and both fell to the ground in pain. Two minutes later, Nasri received a cross from the left and flicked his header to the top of the goal, and the Frenchman collided with another Blackburn defender, Nelson, who was hapless enough to hit a large bag on his forehead and went to the sidelines to be treated by the team doctor, bandaged and played again.
Arsenal's players are feeling the pressure, these guys are really fierce defensively, which makes it really difficult for the Gunners to get more offensive opportunities, and the Gunners have to fall into a hard battle now; Although they controlled the pace of the game, they were hurt by Blackburn's ferocious defense time and time again, which made the Gunners a little impetuous.
In the 27th minute, Arsenal's tactical corner kick cooperated, and Xiao Qing's powerful volley from outside the penalty area caused Robinson to save the ball, but no teammates followed up to shoot. A minute later, Nasri knocked on the right side of the penalty area, Xiao Qing stabbed in front of the goal, Robinson once again barely blocked the ball out of the goal, and Arsenal missed a big opportunity.
Xiao Qing is on the same page as Robinson, Xiao Qing has repeatedly created good opportunities in the game, but unfortunately Xiao Qing is still a little far from the goal; Although Xiao Qing's strength is very good, although Xiao Qing is very strong and is impacting Blackburn's goal, but now it seems that Blackburn is performing better, at least their goalkeeper has made good saves again and again, and he has repeatedly blocked Xiao Qing's inevitable goals out of the door.
Arsenal's attack looked to have been frustrated, and although they were attacking Blackburn's goal again and again, they unfortunately did not achieve enough good results; Arsenal played lively, but they had nothing to do with Blackburn. Although Blackburn, who is defending and counterattacking, is now struggling on the defensive end, their overall performance is still very good, they can keep the goal from losing, and they can withstand the ferocious impact of the first striker Xiao Qing again and again.
Arsenal's attack was temporarily frustrated, and Blackburn Rovers also seized the opportunity at this time; They look solid in defence, so when the time comes, they can also try to attack Arsenal's goal.
In the 32nd minute of the game, Blackburn quickly counterattacked, Olsen shot from outside the penalty area, Almunia made a mistake to save and got off, but fortunately, the ball bounced off the bottom line, and Emmorton crossed a corner kick to Samba's header, and this time Almunia confiscated the ball.
Almunia's performance was shocking, and the reason why he was taken off by Arsene Wenger was not only because of injury, but also because his ability really couldn't play the team's needs; Now Arsenal's goalkeeper is not strong enough, Szczesny and Courtois are still too young, and Fabianski looks a little embarrassed; So Lehmann, who was signed back as a firefighter, was probably better, at least he was a reliable presence for most of his career.
In the 36th minute of the game, Hoylet's long-range shot was also received by Almunia. In the 40th minute, Walcott dribbled the ball inside on the right and fired a diagonal shot into the far corner. In the 44th minute, Samba received a long-distance pass from Robinson and headed back, Almunia was too slow to attack, and Samba almost headed the ball into the empty net.
In the first half, the two teams were tied, and although Arsenal repeatedly attacked Blackburn's goal, the effect was mediocre, and they did not score; And they were still seized by Blackburn Rovers to come with a couple of dangerous counter-attacks, and it can be said that Arsenal did not take advantage of anything in the entire first half.
It was a disappointing first half as the Gunners were hoping for an even better game as they looked to get a good home win and make a sprint to the legendary title. But unfortunately, the Gunners felt helpless in the first half, they had nothing to do with Blackburn, and Arsenal didn't see any style of the top team in the first half! (To be continued......)