After the match began, Manchester City's players quickly joined the counter-pressing battle.
Faced with the expected reaction, Arsenal's players handled it calmly.
Full-back Bellerin dribbled forward and played a one-two with Mtasilyan before making a long pass in the opposite direction to Xhaka, who was in open space on the other side.
After Xhaka received the ball, he reorganized the attack, and Manchester City's players had to start moving in his direction again.
"Damn gunmen, do they think they can stop us like this? Don't even dream about it."
"These cowards don't dare to fight back against us at all. Where has the beautiful Arsenal football gone!"
"Exactly, exactly, what kind of rubbish is that?"
Since the start of the match, the jeers from the Manchester City fans in the stadium have never stopped.
When Premier League leaders Arsenal faced them, everyone expected it to be a thrilling attacking match, but the result was unexpected: such ugly football right from the start.
Arsenal never went toe-to-toe with Manchester City; they just kept stalling for time. Whenever they had the ball, they would just pass it around without attacking. Even when they did attack, it was just a feint. They would pass the ball to the wing in front of the goal, only to have it pass back to the other side of the defense.
Manchester City, who were originally full of confidence, were all very angry because of this tactic of kiting their opponents.
Less than half an hour into the match, friction between the two teams began to increase. As a result, Lei Ming ran out from in front of the goal several times to protect his teammates' rights.
Thanks to his tireless efforts, Manchester City received three yellow cards, a result that surprised Guardiola on the sidelines, who repeatedly protested to the third referee, arguing that such friction was within the normal range.
However, the referee did not change his decision at all.
Today we've finally met our match. Arsenal's captain, for some reason, is incredibly adept at the rules, and he admitted to feeling a lot of pressure.
As a result, Manchester City's three midfielders, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, and Gundogan, each received a yellow card, which gradually calmed them down.
Although the gains were significant, Lei Ming felt that continuing like this might be a waste of the goalkeeper's time.
Don't run out of energy before the game is even over.
However, with Arsenal controlling the pace of the game, the situation quickly changed.
In the 38th minute, Manchester City had a very good chance. Kompany played a very imaginative through ball that pierced Arsenal's defense. Aguero got to the ball and was one-on-one with Arsenal's goal. Unfortunately, his shot was blocked by Lei Ming's foot.
Such a close-range, incredible block earned Lei Ming another round of enthusiastic applause and cheers from the home fans.
"See that? This is our captain, the man we can rely on the most!"
It was precisely this block that created Arsenal's opportunity for a quick counter-attack.
The ball bounced right to Ramsey's feet, and almost without thinking, he launched a long pass from a distance the instant he received it.
The reason for this was that he knew very well that there would definitely be someone to support him in that position at this time, since they had practiced this offensive strategy in more than a dozen training matches before the game.
When he looked up, he saw that the team's number 14, number 7, and number 9 were running hard, and the three-on-three attacking frenzy had broken down Manchester City's not-so-solid defense.
When Aubameyang won the first ball, he didn't choose to shoot directly himself. Instead, he made a feint and passed it to Lacazette in the middle. Unexpectedly, Lacazette let the ball slip by with great imagination, leaving Manchester City's last defender, Otamendi, dumbfounded.
The ball rolled to Sanchez on the other side.
Faced with such a comfortable ball, Sanchez even adjusted the shooting angle quite leisurely before completing the shooting motion.
At this point, due to the two consecutive adjustments he had made, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson had already exhausted all his energy. Facing Sanchez's shot, even if he wanted to stop it, he was powerless and could only watch helplessly as the ball rolled into the goal in front of him.
"Boom!"
The entire Emirates Stadium was filled with deafening cheers from the fans.
They had been waiting for this moment for far too long since they entered the venue!
To be honest, they were quite dissatisfied with the team's attacking strategy before, because even their home fans thought it was shady, ugly, and unpopular.
A relentless defensive approach, a constant reliance on delaying tactics, and an excessive stalling of time resulted in a very unsightly performance.
But as parents, they also understand that this is a tactical arrangement that the team must implement, and even if it looks bad, they have to watch it carefully.
And then, the surprise finally arrived.
Regardless, they are in the lead at this moment.
Football has always been pragmatic. While beautiful football is certainly pleasing to the eye, who cares about the process as long as a goal is scored!
But actually, their goal was also quite spectacular, not only because of the captain's incredible save, but also because of the perfect attacking combination of the trident, especially Lacazette's missed shot, which was simply wonderful.
"Goooooooooooooooooooal~~~"
"Sanchez seized the opportunity given to him by Lacazette and completed the counter-attack with a clean and decisive shot."
"We can see that this counterattack is characterized by its sharpness, speed, and tacit understanding. We can sense that this was definitely a premeditated and well-prepared counterattack."
"This was also a very brilliant counterattack!"
"Also, we can't forget the ball's primary function. If it weren't for Ray's outstanding performance, all of this would have been nonsense."
"Our thunder is absolutely amazing!"
"All I want to say is that this season, the professor's decision to bring Ray to London was the wisest one in Arsenal's history, and he will definitely grow into one of our greatest captains once again."
The on-site host kept praising the outstanding performance of the attacking players, his excitement overflowing.
His praise resonated with many fans watching on television, who felt he was absolutely the strongest goalkeeper they had ever seen.
The previous generation of goalkeepers have gradually aged and retired from the historical stage. The emergence of a goalkeeper like Lei Ming at this time undoubtedly gives fans who love goalkeepers a new hope.
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