206 Tough Half Pitch

On 18 April 2019, the English FA Cup semi-finals began, and the first shot was fired by the dark horse Reading at home to league leaders Arsenal.

What seemed to be a one-sided contest was a surprise in the course of the game.

It was Arsenal who opened the scoring before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang flicked a through ball past the goalkeeper and smashed the deadlock into the empty net as the first half drew to a close.

But their lead didn't last long. Just nine minutes into the second half, McCully equalised on the edge of Boisson's pass.

After the equaliser, Reading became more and more courageous, and attacked Arsenal's penalty area one after another. Arsene Wenger saw that the initiative in the midfield was gradually lost, and decisively sent Sun Xiang, who was placed on the bench, to save some of the midfielders' initiative.

At the end of 90 minutes, neither side could go any further, and the game went to extra time.

For Arsene Wenger, who is aiming for the treble, this game must be fought until the last minute. He didn't replace his main players, even though it was the second leg of the Champions League four days later.

Finally, after besieging Reading's defense for half time in extra time, in the 105th minute, Sun Xiang finally scored a goal and successfully killed the game.

In the afternoon of the second day, Liverpool lost 1:2 away to Aston Villa, so the two teams in the FA Cup final were decided, namely Arsenal and Aston Villa.

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"Sun Xiang is on the side to get the ball, he is waiting for his teammates to come and pick him up!"

"Mesut Ozil came up, and Sun Xiang shook it and passed the ball out."

"It's Ozil's right foot, and he dunked it and switched to a left-footed cross!"

"Lacazette!! It's a pity. ”

Lacazette looked helplessly at the lawn beneath his feet, as if complaining that the lawn was a little uneven.

Mesut Ozil's well-placed cross failed to help Alexandre Lacazette score, and the crowd were ready to cheer.

'A close-range shot flew wide and it was the best chance of the first half.' He Wei was extremely disappointed, knowing that Arsenal had firmly occupied the initiative on the field for nearly 40 minutes, but only one hit the target came from Sun Xiang's long-range shot from outside the box.

This is the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Ligue 1 side Monaco take on Arsenal away. The Gunners selected all of their main players and attacked fiercely in the opening period, intending to take advantage of home advantage to score a goal in the opening game.

Contrary to expectations, Arsenal, who had an absolute advantage, besieged Monaco for dozens of minutes, and it was not an easy matter to get into the box.

Arsene Wenger anxiously discussed tactics with his assistant, occasionally looking inside the pitch.

There was no change from the start, with all 21 players except the goalkeeper in the Monaco half.

This situation made Wenger very depressed, obviously pressing them to play, but there was no threatening attack, is their defense so good?

Monaco played a 4-3-2-1 line-up, with almost half of the defenders at the back, and they relied on counter-attacks to overcome the Gunners.

"Their right side is a breakthrough." The assistant drew circles on the tactical board and used graphics to convey the situation to Wenger in the most visual way.

"That's Sun?" Arsene Wenger tilted his head and said, "I know they have a problem on the right side, but they don't have the conditions to attack. ”

As he spoke, Wenger took the pen from the assistant's hand and drew it for a while.

'I know Sidibe a bit of a player, he's a fast boy and he's very strong. He then added, "Sun is not the fastest, and his body lacks strength, which may be a common problem in Asians, or maybe he just doesn't know how to use his body." But apparently this approach is somewhat unworkable. ”

Sun Xiang is a little difficult to break through Sidibe from the front, Wenger thought.

Sun Xiang, who played as the left wingback in this game, has always tested each other with the defenders on the right side, and Sun Xiang has not really tried to break through.

"What then?" The assistant asked.

"Let the game be done and there will be time at halftime."

Arsene Wenger cast a deep gaze on the pitch, and his assistant's suggestion was not out of his mind.

If Sun Xiang can create something, it may really be an opportunity.

Five minutes later, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the half. The two sides exchanged a goalless sheet at half-time.

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At the beginning of the second half, the coaches of both sides redeployed the team's tactics at half-time, and the new mental outlook was written on the faces of every player.

"Saw them have a good half-time." He Wei said with a smile, and then he got a set of data that he had just received, that is, the detailed statistics of the first half.

Arsenal crushed their opponents with 73 per cent possession, while Monaco made the most clearances of the two teams with 12 times.

"You can look at the current situation based on these two stats, I wonder if the coach's words at half-time can impress the players and make them work harder in the second half?"

As soon as the referee's whistle blew, Monaco kicked off.

Falcao is the heart of the team's attacking line, and how to defend him will be a big problem for the whole Arsenal team, and the Colombian 'Little Tiger' made a big impact on them in the first leg.

In the first half of the game, the Gunners' defensive focus was all on either side of Falcao, using their positional help to prevent his runs and intercept their forward passes. This approach has proven to be successful.

In the second half, when defending, Arsenal continued to follow this policy, marking Falcao in front of the field.

At this point, the game came to the 51st minute, Jovetic replaced Keita on the wing, used the Montenegrin striker as a lone arrow, and Falcao dropped back to become a free man at the front of midfield.

It looked like it was Jardin's tactic, and he made the change in the second half when the team was still passive, with Falcao getting under siege in front of him and not being able to get the ball, which left the team with one less point of possession. In this way, Jovetic was replaced to increase the fulcrum of the frontcourt, and at the same time liberated Falcao, so that the position of the 'little tiger' was more free, and it was more successful to kill one stone. ”

Falcao, who dropped back from a position, had plenty of time to get the ball, so that Arsenal's backline was no longer easy and they needed to keep two men on their feet.

Montenegro striker Jovetic is also a quality player. He debuted with Partizan Belgrade, successively traveled to the English, Spanish and Italian leagues, and finally joined Monaco from Inter Milan for 11 million, and has scored 19 goals on all fronts this season.

'Jovetic is a player who is good at attacking and daring to dribble and they are ready to attack. Arsene Wenger glanced back at the bench and Cazorla and other players were looking at him. It's not a good thing, they don't have any strikers available.

Since Giroud's departure, the team has been lacking a high striker who can be used as a fulcrum. Son Xiang was once Giroud's replacement, but his weak body prevented him from competing with Premier League defenders.

Just when Wenger was struggling to solve his urgent needs, the situation on the pitch suddenly took a turn for the better.

Sun Xiang fell in the penalty area, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.