Hleb heard Wenger's shout and immediately ran towards Arsenal's half.
Gilberto, who had the ball, saw Hleb waving at him for the ball. Seeing that Bale, who had been entangled with him, had not followed, Gilberto passed the ball to him.
But to their surprise, not only did Hleb hear Wenger's shout, but Mascherano, who was standing slightly to the right of the center circle, also heard it.
So just as Gilberto's pass was rolling along the grass toward Hleb, Mascherano rushed out from midfield and intercepted the pass halfway through.
After intercepting the ball, Mascherano took a couple of steps forward and then passed it to Ibrahimovic on the edge of the penalty area.
After receiving the ball and turning around, Ibrahimovic faced Senderos's pressure. He simply used his left foot to push the ball to the left front, and with a simple dribble, he got past Senderos who was making too much of a tackle.
However, Arsenal's attack was just a normal advance, so their defense remained solid after the ball was intercepted, and both full-backs quickly retreated to the vicinity of the penalty area.
Kolo Toure, seeing that Senderos had been beaten by Ibrahimovic, called over Clichy to take over marking Torres and immediately rushed over to face Ibrahimovic.
Facing the onrushing Toure, Ibrahimovic, who had already accelerated, suddenly stopped and slowed down. Then, he used the outside of his right foot to flick the ball to the right, creating space by changing direction, and then raised his right foot as if to shoot.
But Kolo Toure had already caught up. He fell to the ground, making a gesture as if he was going to dive and block the shot. But Ibrahimovic didn't intend to shoot. Instead, he flicked the ball above the goalkeeper with his right foot and completely got rid of Kolo Toure's defense.
While Ibrahimovic and Kolo Toure were entangled, Senderos, who had just been beaten by him, rushed back and blocked Ibrahimovic's shooting path again. However, because he rushed back at a fast speed, his body center of gravity was leaning towards the goal.
Seeing Senderos's situation, Ibrahimovic immediately made a move to pass the ball to Torres on his right front, and the flustered Senderos immediately stretched out a leg to try to block Ibrahimovic's passing route.
But after he fully extended his leg, Ibrahimovic used the inside of his right foot to flick the ball towards the left side of the penalty area.
This dribble completely outmaneuvered Senderos, and then, before Kolo Toure, who had just gotten up from the ground, could rush over, he dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Facing Lehmann, who was already rushing out to block his shooting angle, Ibrahimovic dribbled with his left foot, trapping Kolo Toure on his right side, and then unleashed a low shot. The ball sailed over Lehmann's outstretched fingers and skimmed the grass towards the right post of the goal.
"Bang!"
With a crisp sound as the football struck the post, Ibrahimovic's brilliant individual performance came to a perfect end!
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!! What the hell did I just see?!" Eddie Gray instantly raised his voice to the ceiling, his hoarse voice bursting from the stadium's speakers. "You're telling me this is the kind of football a 1.95-meter giant from Northern Europe can play? He single-handedly took on Arsenal's entire defense! Kolo Toure and Senderos, Arsenal's two center-backs, were each beaten twice in those short ten seconds! Even Lehmann, who had extended his defensive coverage to the maximum, couldn't stop this magnificent goal! Zlatan! Zlatan Ibrahimovic! Thank God Lee brought this guy all the way from Italy to Elland Road!"
With Eddie Gray's almost frantic commentary, a deafening roar erupted from the stands at Elland Road as all the Leeds United fans celebrated Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal, the word "Zlatan" echoing throughout the stadium!
Ibrahimovic first enjoyed the praise from the fans near the corner flag before running to the Leeds United bench and embracing Li Shiguang for a good celebration!
Arsenal kicked off the second half, and the referee blew the whistle to end the first half. Leeds United went into halftime with a slight lead, 1-0!
Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and resumed play.
Wenger truly lives up to his reputation as a tactical mastermind; he immediately adjusted Arsenal's formation in the second half.
The midfield, which was originally in a diamond formation, became a trapezoid after Fabregas dropped to the defensive midfield position. This allowed Fabregas, who had dropped deep, to comfortably organize attacks under Gilberto's protection.
Seeing this situation, Li Shiguang remained calm.
He simply had the four midfielders stand laterally at the center line, and he specifically instructed Toure and Mascherano that as long as Fabregas did not cross the midfield, he could do whatever he wanted, but as soon as he crossed the midfield, whether he had the ball or not, the two of them had to immediately move up and mark him closely!
The second half continued in this manner for almost 30 minutes. Wenger, unable to equalize the score, finally got anxious and substituted Ljungberg and Van Persie for Hleb and Gilberto respectively, sending a message to Li Shiguang that he was going all out with three forwards!
Seeing Wenger make his move, Li Shiguang also made timely substitutions, replacing Pique and Silva, whose stamina had dropped significantly. He even moved Bale and Camoranesi back to their full-back positions, refusing to participate in the game and adopting a defensive posture to the very end!
However, Li Shiguang's behavior of transforming into Mourinho angered Wenger, who had always had a good impression of him, and he cursed loudly on the sidelines.
In the final 15 minutes, Arsenal pressed forward with all their players, their three forwards taking turns attacking Leeds United's defense.
Leeds United, on the other hand, stubbornly defended their own penalty area, refusing to come out. After several interceptions, they didn't mount any counter-attacks, instead launching long balls directly to their two forwards. While the play was somewhat unsightly, this prevented Arsenal from finding a way to penetrate Leeds United's penalty area.
Finally, the three minutes of stoppage time in the second half came to an end after Arsenal completed their final corner kick attack.
After seeing Ljungberg's corner kick headed out of the penalty area by Kompany, the referee blew the final whistle.
Amid cheers from the surrounding fans, Leeds United secured a hard-fought victory against Arsenal at home, earning three valuable points!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
