Chapter 567: The Devil Who Protects Four Can No Longer Protect Four
After the game, Guardiola became depressed again.
Originally, I saw that Chelsea performed poorly and the gap between the two sides narrowed, so I started to feel excited again.
Unexpectedly, although we were determined to beat Manchester United, we still failed to achieve our wish.
Chelsea won this round, and the gap between the two sides was widened to double digits again.
Come on, just continue lying down!
Don't worry about gains and losses! As soon as I calmed down, Manchester City won the game.
In the 27th round, Manchester City defeated Sunderland 2:0 away from home.
In the 28th round, Manchester City beat Stoke City 1-0 at home and won two consecutive victories.
Chelsea has been on a strong momentum recently. Since being tied by Burnley in the 25th round, they have won three consecutive games in the next three rounds.
In the 29th round, Chelsea won again, a streak of four consecutive victories that completely discouraged the pursuers behind the Blues.
The league has entered its final stage, with only a few games left, but Chelsea's advantage is enormous.
They are 10 points ahead of second-placed Tottenham and 12 points ahead of third-placed Manchester City.
Yes, Manchester City lost points again.
Before this round of home game against Liverpool, they had just defeated Monaco 2:1 away in the Champions League, eliminating their opponent with a total score of 7:3 in two rounds.
Although we won in the end, the Champions League match was too close to the 29th round match.
After experiencing huge consumption in the Champions League, Manchester City drew with Liverpool at home.
The game ended in a draw for both teams, with neither side gaining an advantage, and instead the other teams reaped the benefits.
However, Manchester City is already quite satisfied with getting 1 point. After all, it was only 2 days since the last Champions League game, and most of the players have not recovered their physical fitness. They also faced a strong team like Liverpool, so it was already very good to play like this.
But for Liverpool, this result was not what they wanted.
Liverpool is now 16 points behind Chelsea and has basically no hope of winning the championship.
Therefore, the most realistic goal for them is to strive to get a place in the Champions League next season.
The team that is in a tight race with Liverpool for fourth place in the league is none other than Arsenal, a team that is experienced in defending the top four.
Originally, Arsenal unexpectedly lost to West Bromwich Albion in this round, and Manchester City had just experienced a tough away battle, which gave Liverpool people an opportunity, so they tried so hard to take all three points from Manchester City.
But Manchester City was a tough nut to crack. Even though they were not in their prime due to physical problems, Liverpool tried their best but still couldn't beat them in the end.
As a result, Liverpool missed a great opportunity to widen the gap with Arsenal.
The two teams currently have 56 points each, splitting the fourth and fifth places.
The two teams have the same goal difference, but Liverpool has scored more goals, so they are currently ranked fourth, but this lead is almost negligible.
In addition, Arsenal is obsessed with maintaining the fourth place. When it comes to fighting for the fourth place in the league, no one in the entire Premier League dares to say that they are more professional than them!
So everyone in Liverpool was a little nervous, and they became more and more nervous as the game progressed.
Fortunately, there is good news for Liverpool. Arsenal will face Manchester City at home in the next round.
This is a great opportunity for them to sit back and watch the fight. If Manchester City loses, they can narrow the gap with Manchester City.
If Arsenal lose, then they can leave Arsenal behind.
It would be best if the two teams drew!
…
In the 30th round, before Manchester City's turn to play, a shocking upset had already occurred.
Chelsea, the leader, lost 1:2 to Crystal Palace, the bottom-ranked team, at home, while Tottenham Hotspur beat Burnley 2:0 away, narrowing the gap between the two teams to 7 points! There are still 8 games left in the league, and the 7-point advantage is still huge, but if Chelsea loses one or two more games, the result will be hard to predict.
So, because of Chelsea’s unexpected loss, the Premier League has become lively again.
The championship battle, which seemed to have no suspense, started to become suspenseful again.
Compared to Chelsea winning the championship, if a quasi-giant club like Tottenham, which has not won a championship for many years, could win the championship, the sensation it would cause would probably be even greater.
By then, it is possible that Tottenham fans will start to sing like serfs rising up and ride on Arsenal's head and act tyrannically.
Arsenal, stimulated by the news, launched a crazy attack on Manchester City at home as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
Manchester City was delighted when they saw this! What they fear least is that others will attack them head-on. Since you, Arsenal, are looking for death, don't blame us for being ruthless.
So Manchester City quickly took countermeasures and counterattacked with offense.
In the 5th minute of the first half, Manchester City immediately launched a counterattack after completing an interception in the midfield and backcourt. De Bruyne made a long pass to Lin Quan on the right side, and Lin Quan dribbled towards the penalty area.
The opponent's goalkeeper chose to attack, and Lin Quan passed the ball after the opponent attacked. Aguero, who rushed over, shot the ball into the empty goal. Manchester City took the initiative and scored the first goal.
Arsenal were obviously a little surprised and did not expect such a result.
They took the initiative to launch a fierce attack, but in the end it was Manchester City who scored the first goal!
But Arsenal had no intention of giving up. Since they were already behind, they had to attack even more.
For a time, Arsenal launched an offensive like a tide, even forming a siege on Manchester City.
Once Wenger's Arsenal team plays out their passing and cutting skills, it is truly a pleasure to watch.
But the prerequisite is that they have to be able to play well, but Manchester City's formation in this game was relatively tight, not giving them much space for passing and cutting, so that Arsenal's side had a lot of noise but little action, and the attack was very lively, but there were actually few threatening shots.
On the contrary, because of the large number of soldiers pressing forward, their rear was left very empty. As long as Manchester City launched a counterattack, Arsenal would be in a mess, and sometimes they even had to use tactical fouls to stop the opponent's attack.
For this, Arsenal paid the price of several yellow cards.
Especially Xhaka, who has been playing the role of both father and mother during this period, taking care of both offense and defense, and is as tired as a dog. But no matter how diligent he is, he can't resist Manchester City's sharp counterattack by himself. On the contrary, after Xhaka received a card, it posed a considerable hidden danger to Arsenal's defense.
As the first half of the game is about to end, it still depends on the little tiger Walcott at the crucial moment.
In the 40th minute of the first half, after receiving a pass from Mustafi, the little tiger broke through the wing alone, and with his extraordinary speed, he shook off the defender and scored the key goal to equalize the score.
This goal was a beautiful one and it really boosted our morale.
The Arsenal fans at the Emirates Stadium were extremely excited, shouting Walcott's name and paying tribute to the team's veteran player.
Since joining Arsenal in 2006, the little tiger has played for Arsenal for 11 years!
In the entire team, there are almost no players with more experience than him.
Although he has suffered a lot of injuries, although Sanchez is now the real thigh of Arsenal.
But when Walcott is healthy, he is always the most reliable support in the hearts of Arsenal people! On the sidelines, Wenger couldn't help his excitement, waving his fist fiercely, muttering something in his mouth.
After he took over Arsenal, due to lack of money, he had to turn his attention to young and promising players.
Over the years, Arsenal has scooped up many young players from the transfer market.
Some of them succeeded in making it, while others remained unknown and lost in the crowd.
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Walcott is definitely one of the best. Over the years, Walcott has made great contributions to Arsenal, and it only cost 5 million pounds to buy him. How cheap! Even so, I want to get rid of him because of Walcott's high salary (140,000 pounds a week), coupled with his age, many injuries and declining form.
Thinking of this, Wenger couldn't help but sigh, he is really not a human being! Arsenal has an unwritten rule that for veterans over 30 years old, Arsenal often signs them for one year. In this way, if the other party is not in good condition, Arsenal can immediately clean them up to save salary expenses.
There's no way. I'm really afraid of being poor and I want to spend every penny carefully.
Fortunately, the team’s debts have been mostly paid off in the past few years, and life is a little more affluent now.
But in today's Premier League football, the level of money spent is no longer comparable to when he took over Arsenal.
With just the little money in his hands, and without capital injection from the club's major shareholders, he can't afford to spend as much as Manchester City, Chelsea and other big clubs.
In this case, don't be too ambitious.
Arsenal are destined not to win the title before I retire.
Thinking of this, Wenger temporarily gave up the idea of cleaning Walcott.
Walcott didn't know that he had gained such benefits from this goal. He seemed very excited after scoring.
While rushing to the sidelines, he kissed the team logo on his jersey, expressing his love and loyalty to the team in this way, and also begging the professor not to clean him out.
Obviously, Walcott had heard the rumors that the team might want to purge him, so he was full of a sense of crisis and fought so hard in the game.
…
As it turned out, Arsenal were too happy too early.
They thought Walcott's goal sounded the clarion call for a counterattack, but unexpectedly, less than two minutes after Walcott scored, Manchester City immediately responded.
It was almost the same way as the first goal, but the assist was made by David Silva and the goal was scored by Lin Quan.
Arsenal's backup goalkeeper Ospina had no way to deal with this. The opponent's shot was too tricky. Even if Cech was on the field, I'm afraid he would be powerless! If Cech hadn't been injured in the previous game and couldn't play, Wenger would definitely trust Cech, the experienced veteran, in such a crucial game.
The Emirates Stadium seemed to be poured with a bucket of cold water. The Arsenal fans, who had been so noisy before, became silent as if they were being strangled by the neck.
Some fans who were more psychologically fragile had already started crying at this time.
If Arsenal lose this game, they will be 3 points behind Liverpool.
There are not many games left in the league, and for a top team like Liverpool, 3 points is a gap that is difficult to make up.
Although Arsenal has extensive experience in maintaining fourth place, no one can guarantee that they will be able to do so successfully this year.
After all, the competition in the Premier League this year is unprecedentedly fierce.
With the gradual recovery of Chelsea and Liverpool, the quiet rise of Tottenham, and the still strong Manchester City.
The competition for the Champions League spot in the Premier League is becoming increasingly fierce. Compared to these teams, Arsenal does not actually have an advantage. In terms of absolute strength, it may even be weaker than the above four teams.
Their only advantage probably lies in their rich experience in maintaining the top four, and they can always create miracles in the second half of the league!
But if we lose this game, it’s hard to say whether a miracle will happen.
So Arsenal really can't afford to lose. Since the unexpected loss in the last round, they can't afford to lose a single game, not even a draw.
In the second half, Arsenal went crazy and attacked Manchester City like mad dogs.
They knew they had no way out, and they couldn't lose this game no matter what! Under heavy pressure, Arsenal's players rarely collapsed under pressure like they did in the past, but instead played their own highlights.
In the 52nd minute of the second half, after a series of amazing passes and cuts, the dead man made a fatal pass, Sanchez rushed over and shot the ball before the defender cleared it, but Manchester City goalkeeper Navas made a great save and fell to the ground to save the ball.
The Arsenal fans in the stands held their heads, expressions of shock and regret on their faces.
What a pity this ball!
If it goes in, it will be the best goal of this round of the Premier League!
Arsenal's attack was not over yet. The dead man stood in the corner area and after observing the positions of the players from both sides in front of the goal, he chose to bypass the front point and kick the ball to the back point.
Mustafi noticed his teammates' intention, shook off the defender, jumped high, headed the ball and scored.
The Emirates Stadium was once again plunged into carnival, with countless people crying with joy because of this goal.
It was not easy, it was really not easy! Many people thought they were going to lose, because if they played at the pace they did in the first half, Manchester City would definitely win.
But unexpectedly, the players equalized the score again with wonderful cooperation and tenacious fighting spirit.
Arsenal fans no longer expect to win this game. They just hope that the referee can end the game quickly and they will accept a draw.
But Manchester City didn't accept it! After Arsenal scored, Manchester City immediately launched a full-scale counterattack.
Arsenal's previous attack was so fierce that the players consumed a lot of energy, while Manchester City's consumption was relatively small, so according to Guardiola's plan, they should have taken over the game around the 60th minute! And now, it's time! (End of this chapter)