Arsenal's relentless attack finally paid off in the ninth minute.
Mascherano's lateral pass to Alves was intercepted by Hleb.
Hleb dribbled the ball to the vicinity of Leeds United's penalty area and then passed it to the center.
Fabregas received the pass in the middle and immediately took a long-range shot.
This well-placed shot caused Neuer to fumble, and Adebayor, lurking in the Leeds United penalty area, seized the opportunity to score on the rebound!
"Adebayor!! Emmanuel Adebayor!!" Martin Keown shouted, raising his arms. "He opened the scoring for Arsenal! He helped Arsenal secure this crucial away goal! Now the initiative is in Arsenal's hands, and Leeds United's pitiful advantage has vanished!"
After scoring, Adebayor didn't care about his former club.
He ran straight to the corner flag, and his Arsenal teammates followed. The group hugged each other and celebrated the goal amidst the deafening boos from Elland Road.
"Leeds United are in trouble..." Seeing Lineker's sullen reluctance to speak, Jon had no choice but to liven up the atmosphere in the studio. "The aggregate score is now 1-2. It is foreseeable that Arsenal, who have the advantage, will most likely return to a defensive posture. Wenger's five-man defense will come in very handy at this time!"
“I don’t know what Silva is doing.” After Jon finished speaking, Lineker angrily slammed his headphones on the table. “Even if Arsenal’s attack is fierce, there’s only one striker in the penalty area. Can’t the Brazilian see such a tall, black guy? How could he let someone through like that?”
····
The Arsenal bench was also very excited.
When Adebayor scored, Wenger and Primorac rose from the bench and rushed to the sidelines, waving their arms vigorously as if to release the pressure in their hearts.
After a celebration.
Primorac looked at Wenger.
"Arsène, we're in the lead! Should we let them ease up?"
Wenger's face was full of smiles.
Everything is exactly as he predicted! They scored within ten minutes of the start, and now Arsenal have complete control of the game.
He glanced at his disciples, who were celebrating wildly in the corner area.
Wenger shook his head: "Don't panic. Leeds United are completely out of form, while we're on fire. Tightening our defense will affect morale. Let's try to score another goal, then we'll retreat and defend!"
····
At this moment, on the other side of the field.
Li Shiguang also pulled Rivaldo and Simone aside for a small meeting.
"Boss, I think they'll definitely retreat to defend next. Should we try to motivate the players and get them to push forward as much as possible?" Simeone said somewhat anxiously.
“Not necessarily.” Li Shiguang shook his head, his face expressionless. “Arsenal will definitely emphasize defense today, but I don’t think that’s the time. Arsenal is on a roll right now. If it were me, I would definitely take advantage of this momentum and crush our opponents!”
I thought about it for a while.
Li Shiguang first turned to look at Wenger, who had stopped celebrating and was also standing on the sidelines talking to Primorac, before looking at Rivaldo.
"Ferreira, go tell the players to leave only Didico up front, and have Gareth and Fernando drop back to the midfield to help with the defense. If they press forward like they did before, then use the gaps behind them to launch counter-attacks!"
····
After the game restarts.
Just as Li Shiguang had guessed.
Arsenal continued to apply high pressure on Leeds United's backline, not only as aggressive as before the goal, but even more so.
But that's normal.
Wenger did not give any instructions to drop back, and the team had just scored a goal and was in high spirits.
In the hearts of Arsenal players.
They are incredibly strong now!
Under Li Shiguang's command, Bale and Torres have both retreated.
Leeds United have increased their midfield options.
Today, Alonso, acting as the commander, naturally has more options for passing the ball.
Although Arsenal maintained their high-intensity pressing, Leeds United were no longer repeatedly dispossessed by the sprinting Arsenal.
Not only that.
As the match progressed, the drawbacks of Arsenal's high-pressing tactics gradually became apparent.
High pressing is a tactic.
Players need to keep running and rushing upwards, and it's not just one person rushing upwards; all the players on the team, except the goalkeeper, need to maintain the same pace of rushing upwards.
This ensures that once the opposing player with the ball retrieves it and passes it to another player, their own teammates will immediately rush in to intercept and tackle them.
It is precisely this relentless, tidal pressing that causes opponents to become flustered and make mistakes when dribbling or passing the ball.
However, this tactic also has limitations, namely, it is extremely taxing on the players' physical strength, and it is almost impossible to maintain this level of pressing intensity throughout the entire match.
Twenty-five minutes before the start of the match.
As long as Leeds United have possession, no matter who gets the ball, two or three Arsenal players will immediately swarm around them, almost as if the ball is there and the players are there.
But after 25 minutes, Arsenal's young players started to feel the strain.
It was under these circumstances.
Leeds United have finally found their chance.
The match has reached the 29th minute.
Mascherano receives the ball in the Leeds United backfield.
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