Guardiola was clearly upset, and in response, he made his signature gesture of touching his bald head on the sidelines.
Faced with Arsenal's rapid counter-attacking tactics, even he began to have some trouble.
Before the match, he had made arrangements to have the team's midfielders slow down their counter-attacks. However, things didn't go as planned. Less than halfway through the game, his team had already received three yellow cards, which made the midfielders more and more cautious, to the point that they dared not make any effective interceptions.
Thinking about it carefully, it's amazing how all of this is miraculously related to that Arsenal goalkeeper!
This guy is impossible to ignore! He can't even be a proper goalkeeper, and he has to come out and negotiate with the referee. How do you know so much?!
While Guardiola marveled at the omnipresence of Arsenal's goalkeeper, Wenger on the other side had a broad smile on his face.
This hard-won goal made Wenger very excited.
Seeing the players' form, he seemed more confident about the match.
Don't underestimate the power of a single goal lead; in crucial matches like these, it can sometimes determine the outcome of the entire game.
After the game restarted, Arsenal did not change their tactical strategy, continuing to focus on counter-attacks and never releasing the ball immediately if they could stall for time.
This made the Arsenal players, who had already tasted success before, quite happy playing.
Compared to Manchester City's attacking anxiety, Arsenal's motivation is obviously much simpler; they just need to defend well and then launch counter-attacks.
Manchester City, on the other hand, needs to strengthen both their attack and their defense against Arsenal's fast counter-attacks. To achieve this balance, the players simply cannot do so without running around.
As a result, by the end of the first half, several Manchester City defenders were clearly feeling their energy levels were running low.
This feeling is particularly clear to people like Kompany and Otamendi.
During their breaks, they didn't want to say a word; they just wanted to take advantage of the interval to rest and recover their strength for the second half of the duel.
Guardiola kept reviewing Arsenal's first-half strategy in the locker room, hoping to make a complete change in the second half. The players listened attentively to the manager's words, and 18-year-old Foden, as a substitute, was also on the list.
Although he knew very well that he might not have the chance to play in such an important game, for him, participating in such a crucial game was a valuable experience.
Throughout the first half, he kept a close eye on the opposing goalkeeper captain and found him to be truly formidable. Although the man looked to be around the same age as him and was quite inexperienced, the domineering presence he displayed on the field impressed Foden greatly.
......
"What did I say before? Arsenal, who mainly play a defensive counter-attacking style, is an absolutely terrifying force for Manchester City. As you all saw, this game was incredibly difficult for Manchester City."
"Throughout the first half, although our Arsenal were less efficient in attack than our opponents, we had a high possession rate. But that's precisely why I feel like I might have been asleep if it weren't for that goal in the 38th minute!"
In Lao Jiu's live stream, in an effort to perk himself up, Lao Jiu once again imparted new knowledge to his viewers.
At this moment, the live stream was also flooded with comments like "Old Nine, who watches the game while sleeping".
Previously, Lao Jiu had often fallen asleep in front of his computer while watching matches because his eyes would droop. Some observant netizens who followed his live stream noticed that he almost always woke up the next day.
His sleep quality is excellent, but netizens are worried that he will easily get a stiff neck if he sleeps like that. They have advised him to watch less games. If you fall asleep as soon as you watch a game, what's the point of watching it?
Of course, Lao Jiu would jump out and retort: "That's because I don't watch my idol's games, so I'm prone to dozing off! Whenever there's an Arsenal game, I'll watch the game with my eyes wide open."
"My idol Lei was amazing in this game. Look at the replays of the negotiations on camera. It's not hard to imagine that even our referee couldn't argue with Lei! No wonder he reluctantly pulled out three yellow cards."
"Haha, three yellow cards! Manchester City is in a tough spot. I feel like Arsenal has this game in the bag again!"
In the live broadcast, the second half of the match between the two teams had already begun. Although some Manchester City players had already received three yellow cards, Guardiola did not intend to substitute them off the field at this time, considering that they were all midfielders. However, in the 65th minute of the match, he had to make the first adjustment of the game.
Kompany received another yellow card after tripping Aubameyang in front of the penalty area during a challenge, and Guardiola promptly substituted him.
The main reason for substituting him off so early was that Guardiola sensed that Kompany's stamina was almost depleted, and substituting him off at this point was the most appropriate decision.
When Toure came on as a substitute, he took over Kompany's team and continued to defend Arsenal tightly.
He was full of energy when he came on, and Sanchez and Aubameyang were both targeted by him to varying degrees, which prevented them from playing effectively together in the following game.
After bringing on Toure, Guardiola expressed his approval of his performance. Although Toure is getting older, it must be admitted that he is still an indispensable member of Manchester City.
Just look at how he limited Arsenal's attacking players after he came on; you can see that he is still one of the best defenders.
What makes football football is its unpredictability.
In the second half, Manchester City showed improvement after stabilizing their defense. As they attacked more often, they earned several corner kicks.
At this moment, Stones, who had just come on the field, after deeply absorbing the knowledge imparted by the head coach, cleverly ran up to Lei Ming and tried to get close to him before the corner kick even started.
"Hey bro, you're so tall! I'm actually so much shorter than you!"
"Your shoulder looks so reassuring, can I lean on it?"
As he spoke, he actually leaned closer to Lei Ming in surprise.
Damn it, you piece of trash, get the hell away from me!
Lei Ming was speechless. He never expected to encounter Manchester City's shameless tactics again. The opponent took advantage of the time before the ball was kicked off to affect him in various ways, just to distract him!
What left him even more speechless was that Stones actually grabbed his gloves, wanting to take a look.
"These gloves are nice, they're completely different from my big dog's. Let me see which manufacturer made them!"
"Damn it, get the hell away from me!"
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