Chapter 87 of 100

Chapter 87

18 min read4,575 words

In the changing room, the players were incessantly complaining, grumbling about the referee's red card and especially about the disallowed last attack by Kaká. If Kaká had been given just one more minute, the score on the field could very well have been 2-2!

Qiao Wanxian, however, remained calm and asked indifferently, "What are you all complaining about?"

Ramos, with a face full of anger, said, "Boss, this main referee must have been bribed or involved in match-fixing. He's manipulating the game!"

Qiao Wanxian waved his hand, "You're like those who cut off their testicles to please the gods, pleasing neither side!" Seeing everyone slightly stunned, he smiled and said, "Kaká's last ball, it's better that it didn't go in! Haven't I said before, we Chelsea don't play counter-attacks. We want to score goals right in front of them, making them admit defeat with no complaints! The red card in the first half... hmm, this isn't a weakening of us Chelsea, but a humiliation of Arsenal! Think about it, if the Arsenal that hasn't lost in 56 games is completely defeated by a 10-man Chelsea, what would be the result?"

"Haha, they would definitely stick their heads between their legs!" Terry said with a sly remark, and the changing room burst into laughter.

"Make them admit defeat with no complaints!" Little Rooney waved his arm, speaking with great confidence, but no one responded.

Terry gave him a look and laughed, "Little Fatty, do you want to seize power? I'm the captain! Hehe, make them admit defeat with no complaints!"

"Admit defeat with no complaints!"

Everyone shouted in unison...

In the second half, Arsenal kicked off first. During the halftime break, Wenger had already redeployed the team's tactics, tightening the defense and looking for counter-attacks!

Clearly, Wenger had already noticed that although Chelsea was down one man, each player was in excellent form, especially Rooney, Kaká, Lampard, and Makelele, who were all displaying the brilliance of superstar players!

Rooney's feint, Makelele's fierce tackles, Kaká's long runs, and Lampard's precise passes... thinking about these players' performances on the field, Wenger's heart ached as if pierced by a needle. So, he decided to endure the humiliation! For the victory of the match, to continue Arsenal's legendary record, he decided to adopt a counter-attacking strategy in his home ground, with one more man, a biased referee, and a leading score!

However, in reality, Wenger's carefully planned counter-attacking tactics on the field did not last more than 3 minutes before he changed his approach.

Because...

At the start of the second half, Makelele and Joe Cole surrounded Reyes, successfully dispossessing him and quickly launching an attack. Joe Cole made a through pass, and Kaká, like a tall center forward pulling out of the box, took the ball with his back to the goal, made no adjustments, glanced to the left, and with a subtle and delicate pass from his right foot, directly penetrated the Arsenal defense, which was still a bit dazed at the start of the half!

Rooney cut in from the wing, ran to an open space, and unleashed a powerful shot!

"Rooney! Rooney again!" With the commentator's roar, Rooney blasted a powerful shot. The ball, without any spin in the air, flew like a bomb, hurtling towards the Arsenal goal.

Although goalkeeper Lehmann guarded the near post, at this position, goalkeepers usually lower their center of gravity to block low shots. However, Rooney's shot was relentless, skimming over Lehmann's head and flying into the net at an astonishing speed. Lehmann only symbolically reached out his hand, then turned back in a daze, staring in shock at the ball rolling in the net...

"Gooooooooooal! A miracle, indeed a miracle! Rooney, Rooney scores twice, helping Chelsea level the score! Faced with Makelele's fierce tackle, Arsenal was helpless! Faced with Rooney's powerful shot, the goalkeeping god Lehmann could only sigh in despair! Coach Qiao, Coach Qiao's team is truly worthy of its name!"

"This Chelsea team seems almost invincible, 10 against 11, not at a disadvantage on the field, and even able to level the score after being two goals down. We can no longer describe this thrilling match with words. In the first round of the Premier League, Qiao Wanxian defeated Ferguson's team. Is Wenger's team also going to fall? It's hard to imagine that Chelsea has only 10 men!"

After scoring, Rooney was very excited. He turned and pointed to Kaká, who had passed him the ball, and Kaká laughed and pounced on him! Rooney is Kaká's good partner on the field and a good friend off the field. The cooperation between Kaká and Rooney on the left wing is much more frequent than with Joe Cole on the right.

The Chelsea players all rushed over, hugging Kaká and Rooney, celebrating the goal, and laughing loudly. The Arsenal players could only stand on the field, looking at their opponents in a daze, their faces even more grim than when Chelsea was two goals down in the first half!

The score being leveled was a situation Wenger did not want to see at all. Now, in the league, Arsenal is already 8 points behind Chelsea. If they couldn't win with the home advantage and the extra man, the league title would be handed over!

At the start of the second half, he directly rejected the tactics he had deployed at halftime and used the first substitution of the match, bringing on 10, Bergkamp, for 8, Ljungberg!

Bergkamp, with his unparalleled awareness, exquisite footwork, and outstanding talent, is considered the most perfect forward in the world. Although the Ice Prince is 34 years old, as long as he is on the field, he is the backbone of Arsenal's attack!

Seeing Bergkamp come on, the crowd at Highbury Stadium burst into applause. The Arsenal players on the field, seeing this, clearly understood their coach Wenger's intention: to attack fiercely!

The scene that millions of fans around the world had been waiting up for finally appeared: an all-out attack. The two most offensively brilliant teams in the world finally engaged in a fierce battle under the watchful eyes of the world.

Look, on the green pitch, sometimes a blue storm sweeps forward, and sometimes a red whirlwind suddenly arrives. Both teams, with their full arsenal, pressed their lines forward recklessly, not caring about the other's strong attack, just to put pressure on the opponent.

For a moment, several breathtaking scenes appeared on the field, such as Kolo Touré and Cannavaro setting up their defenses within 20 meters of each other; Ramos and Ashley Cole dueling on the wing, each trying to outdo the other; the clash between the two elegant and handsome men, Kaká and Bergkamp, and Rooney's thunderous breakthrough, Henry's solo charge...

Time passed slowly, but the fans in front of their televisions felt that time flew by. The excitement of this match far exceeded that of the Spanish Clásico a month ago!

In the blink of an eye, it was the 68th minute of the second half, and the score on the central scoreboard was finally changed again: 3-2. Chelsea, after being two goals down, scored three consecutive goals and took the lead!

Because Arsenal's defense was pushed forward, and a switch between Kaká and Rooney left their markers, Lauren and Vieira, momentarily confused. In that instant, Joe Cole, who had moved to the attacking midfield position, made a through pass that penetrated Arsenal's defense. A diagonal through pass from the center of the field to the left, with a sufficient lead.

After the switch, Kaká and Lauren raced for the ball! The result was clear: Kaká got the ball first and directly broke into the penalty area!

"Kaká!"

In the commentator's exclamation, a blue shadow darted out from the red and white defense like a ghost!

Facing the covering Campbell, Kaká, who had used Source 1, after seeing Rooney's feint, rarely played a trick, a light step-over move to bypass Campbell. Facing the advancing Lehmann, he flicked the ball with his toe, and the ball drew a beautiful arc in the air, dropping into the goal!

"Kaká! Kaká has put the team in the lead, incredibly, Chelsea, down one man for 60 minutes, has actually taken the lead! 3-2, we are about to witness a miraculous comeback! If Chelsea really wins this match, it will undoubtedly be the most classic match in the Premier League in the past 10 years, the most classic comeback!"

On the field, Kaká was already buried under a pile of Chelsea players, while the Arsenal players...

Henry stood in the center circle, hands on his hips, anxiously waiting for the restart; Bergkamp had a strange expression, his eyes secretly glancing at the Chelsea bench; Ashley Cole was wiping sweat with his shirt, Lehmann was still sitting on the ground, sighing deeply, and Vieira was rubbing his thigh in pain...

In the 70th minute of the match, Arsenal made a substitution. Vieira, who had pulled his thigh from too many tackles with Makelele, was replaced by a 17-year-old young player!

He wore the number 15 jersey, young and handsome, named Francisco Fabregas!

Normally, when a substitution is made on the field, the broadcast camera would focus on the two players involved. Strangely, this time the camera drifted to the Chelsea bench, landing on Qiao Wanxian, who was clapping!

Seeing this, the crowd at Highbury Stadium burst into applause, for Vieira, for Fabregas, and also for Qiao Wanxian, who had the broad-mindedness to applaud the opposing player.

Qiao Wanxian was clapping, thinking to himself, "This combination worked well, it looks like we can win this match..." Then he was surprised to find that the substitution was already complete, and the applause in Highbury Stadium continued. Why? The big screen showed his own image, and he was stunned: "What's going on? Do the English have a masochistic fetish? I beat Arsenal, and they don't boo me, but applaud me?"

Wenger walked to Fabregas and whispered something to him, then patted his shoulder. Fabregas took a deep breath and sprinted onto the pitch. Wenger then glanced to the side and made eye contact with Qiao Wanxian, his face calm, and nodded lightly.

"What is Wenger doing? Is he giving up the match? Sending on a 17-year-old kid, can he withstand a water buffalo like Makelele? This is nonsense, absolute nonsense!" In the broadcast booth, Adams roared, "Even if Vieira is injured, there's Edu on the bench. What is Wenger thinking? Uh... Wenger is nodding friendly to Coach Qiao? Oh God, after Benítez, is Wenger also going to flatter Coach Qiao?"

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