Arsenal's Thuggish Corner-Kick Tactics! They'd Got Manchester City's Players Seeing Red!

There are many Arsenal fans in China.

With the big match about to begin, Arsenal fans in China are gathering in small groups to watch the game against Manchester City.

Some die-hard fans even booked out an entire movie theater.

One hour before the start of the match.

In front of the huge MAX screen in the cinema, a reporter from CCTV- 5 interviewed an Arsenal fan.

"Little friend, which team are you a fan of?"

"I'm a fan of both teams, Beijing Guoan and Arsenal. Tonight I support Arsenal! We Arsenal are invincible! We are the champions!"

A bright red scarf fluttered on the child's chest, and his facial expression was as bright as the scarf itself.

The other fans behind him were also inspired by the boy's strong belief.

Many people peeked out from behind the cameras on TV5, shouting into the lenses:

"Yes, Arsenal is invincible!"

"We have complete faith in Professor Wenger in domestic cup competitions!"

"Even with Tang Long on the team, Manchester City is no match for Arsenal!"

"Manchester City, go win the league title! Don't try to take the EFL Cup from us Arsenal!"

The little boy was also moved by the cheers of the fans behind him.

He sang his heart out in the tone of the Beijing Guoan song!

"We Arsenal are invincible, woohoo~ invincible!"

"We Arsenal are invincible, woohoo~ invincible!"

"Aww~ Yay!"

Wembley Stadium.

Manchester City's team bus slowly pulled into the parking lot. Amidst the astonished gazes of numerous reporters, the players, wearing masks and frowning, disembarked, carrying their bags. The stench was so strong that the reporters who had been surrounding them immediately backed away. In contrast, Arsenal's team bus drove in, looking sleek and professional, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of a group of Arsenal fans.

There's nothing we can do; this is London, Arsenal's de facto home ground.

Inside the locker room, Professor Wenger was making final preparations for the match.

He quickly practiced the secret tactics he had developed in training once again on the tactics board, and specifically reminded each key player of their positioning, movement, and actions.

Finally, everyone gathered around, Giroud, the tallest of the group, led his teammates in a triumphant shout—

"Defeat the opponent, win the championship!"

When Pellegrini received the starting lineup for the opposing team in the locker room, he immediately spotted Giroud's name.

Assistant coach Rayne leaned over, glanced at the list with a look of astonishment, and said to Pellegrini:

"Goodness, I knew Wenger was going to throw out a smokescreen. Look, Giroud is in the starting lineup now!"

Pellegrini nodded confidently and said, "That's not surprising. I've known Wenger for many years. He's a veteran. He can fool the reporters with a smokescreen before a match, but he can't fool me."

"It's just that Sanchez isn't in the starting lineup, Cazorla is in that position, which seems a bit strange to me."

This season, Sanchez is the second-highest scorer after Giroud.

His skillful footwork and passing combinations in the middle are a crucial part of Arsenal's possession-based tactics in the midfield and attacking third.

He was also the player Pellegrini had the whole team practice marking extensively before the match, but he wasn't in the starting lineup, which really surprised Pellegrini.

Rayne said, "I don't think this is a tactical consideration. Sanchez may be injured, otherwise Wenger would not have left Sanchez out of the starting lineup. He is the most dangerous player in the attacking third after Giroud."

"Yes, you're right," Pellegrini said with some relief. "Cazorla is not the same Cazorla as last season. His stamina is far worse than before, and he can't replace Sanchez at all. It seems that our chances of winning this game have increased significantly, which is a good thing!"

Starting lineup for this match:

Arsenal: 4-2-3-1

Giroud

Cazorla / Iwobi / Welbeck

Ramsey / Elneny

Monreal / Koscielny / Gabriel / Bellerin

Cech

Manchester City: 4-2-3-1

Bony

Sterling / Tang Long / Navas

Toure / Gündoğan

Clichy / Otamendi / Ranocchia / Zabaleta

Caballero

Manchester City made some personnel changes for this match.

Although it was the EFL Cup final, Pellegrini rotated some of the team's key players to rest because they had just played a Premier League a few days earlier.

Bony started again, replacing Agüero.

The defensive line saw more frequent adjustments, with three rotation players – Clichy, Otamendi, and Zabaleta – getting a chance to start.

However, Tang Long in the attacking midfield position and Gündoğan in the defensive midfield position are two positions that Pellegrini dares not touch.

After all, they were facing Arsenal, not some Premier League relegation team. It was simply impossible to beat them with a completely reserve lineup.

Pellegrini did not let his guard down completely.

The referee blew his whistle, and the match began!

Wembley Stadium was the main venue for the 1948 London Olympics and hosted the football finals of both the 1948 and 2012 Olympic Games!

"The 1966 World Cup witnessed England's glorious victory!"

"This stadium has 90,000 seats, making it the largest stadium in all of England!"

"But we can tell from the colors captured by the broadcast cameras that at least three-quarters of the 90,000 units are wearing Arsenal jerseys!"

"Both Manchester City and Arsenal play beautiful football and are renowned in the Premier League for their possession-based systems. Let's see who truly reigns supreme in possession football in the Premier League!"

However, no sooner had Zhan Jun finished speaking than he saw Arsenal, who had received the ball first, pass it around in their own half only three times before Ramsey launched a long pass directly to Giroud in front of the penalty area.

Giroud was matched up against Ranocchia, Manchester City's tallest center-back.

Giroud bumped into Ranocchia a few times, then took a step and turned to try to get past him. However, although Ranocchia was halfway through the deception, he used his signature lunge step to intercept. With a thud, Giroud was blocked on the ground, and the ball deflected past Ranocchia's feet and rolled out of bounds.

"Ah, Arsenal started very directly, unlike their previous matches. It doesn't seem like the style of a possession-based team at all."

"Before the match, Arsenal held closed training for three consecutive days, and some media outlets pointed out that Professor Wenger might be developing a mysterious tactic. Now it seems that he is going to play a high-pressing, direct style of play against Manchester City?"

Ranocchia's defensive play drew enthusiastic applause from the Manchester City fans in the stadium.

Although they were outnumbered, their shouts were just as loud as those of the Arsenal fans, who outnumbered them; in fact, they were even louder.

It's not surprising, given that Manchester City currently leads Arsenal by more than 20 points in the Premier League standings, Manchester City fans are naturally more confident.

Just one minute into the game, Arsenal won a corner kick on the right side of the pitch.

Cazorla stood in front of the ball.

Cazorla simply raised one hand and waved it, flashing a V-sign at his teammates in the penalty area.

New signing Gündoğan found this scene somewhat amusing.

What, you're already celebrating your victory after only one minute into the game?

Isn't this a bit too early to celebrate?

But when Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger saw Cazorla make the V sign from dozens of meters away, his heart jumped into his throat.

This is a hint or suggestion from Cazorla.

"We've been practicing for so many days. If we can succeed on the first corner kick, it will be a huge boost to the players' confidence!" Wenger thought to himself.

Inside the restricted area.

In this match, Manchester City employed their usual man-marking tactic.

Each player has a pre-assigned defensive opponent.

Center forward Giroud Ranocchia.

Toure was positioned to closely mark the tall center- Koscielny.

Welbeck and Gabriel were marked by Otamendi and Kolarov, respectively.

These players all share a common characteristic: they are all over 185cm tall, making them key attacking threats in set-piece tactics. Manchester City, of course, cannot afford to be complacent.

Tang Long positioned himself in front of the penalty area to protect the top of the box, and was also the first choice to orchestrate the counter-attack by transitioning from defense to offense.

Bony, positioned outside the penalty area, pressured Arsenal's full-back Bellerin, who wasn't heading into the box, while also providing Tang Long with options for passing options during counter-attacks.

In terms of positioning during this corner kick, Manchester City's players all fulfilled their roles and responsibilities.

However!

The moment Cazorla took the corner kick, chaos erupted in the penalty area!

Three Arsenal players, Giroud, Welbeck, Koscielny, suddenly squeezed in front of the goalkeeper!

Manchester City's three man-marking players Ranocchia, Toure, and Otamendi, quickly moved with their respective defensive targets.

Six players suddenly gathered in front of Caballero.

Caballero is only 1.83 meters tall, which is not particularly noticeable, not only among goalkeepers but also among non-goalkeepers on the field.

When six tall players suddenly crowded in front of him, Caballero felt as if six mountains were surrounding him.

Although he anxiously shouted for the ball to move aside, when he managed to see half of it flying towards him through the gaps between the players, Caballero was startled and quickly jumped up to tip the ball away.

Although Caballero is not physically imposing, goalkeepers like him all share one characteristic: excellent jumping ability.

So even when surrounded by towering mountains, Caballero managed to touch the ball with his fingertips, but he couldn't control where he would flick it.

In the chaos, Ranocchia wanted to retreat and try to break free;

The moment he took a step forward, his body was firmly pressed against Giroud's back!

Toure correctly predicted the ball's trajectory, but while moving, he was also pushed aside by Welbeck, blocking his path!

Aside from Caballero instinctively brushing the ball with his hand, no player from either side was able to reach it as it floated through the air.

The ball flew straight to the far post!

"They're here!"

Standing at only 1.78 meters tall, Ramsey appeared like a ghost at the far post, diving to head the ball into the near corner!

Manchester City players were completely dumbfounded!

How did that short guy manage to score?

After scoring, Ramsey sprinted forward, pushing aside his teammates who tried to pat him, and ran up to Wenger, jumping on him!

"Professor, we succeeded!"

Wenger's smile stretched from ear to ear as he planted a heavy kiss on Ramsey's forehead.

"Well done, kids! We did it!"