Pellegrini stood there, stunned, as Arsenal scored with a perfectly timed run and a thunderous shot from the edge of the box!
The two teams' coaching areas were very close together, and when the Arsenal players gathered in front of Wenger to celebrate, Pellegrini was standing about 5 meters away.
He stared blankly at his ecstatic opponents.
Then their attention turned to Cazorla, who should have been a substitute but was starting!
This corner kick had a very beautiful curve and a very fast speed. Such exquisite footwork can only be achieved by the experienced Spain midfielder Cazorla within the entire Arsenal team.
Cazorla noticed Pellegrini looking at him and gave Pellegrini a flirty wink.
Hello~
"Referee, foul! They're blocking my jump height!"
Caballero charged at the referee and shouted.
"Foul! Referee! I got bumped by Giroud while I was backing up!"
Ranocchia made a complaining gesture typical of Italy towards the referee.
"Isn't that a foul? That's obstruction! I can't move at all! Koscielny is practically a roadblock!"
As a veteran Premier League player, Toure didn't care about anything else. He spread his arms wide, looking like an eagle about to devour a chick, and covered the referee in one fell swoop.
Seeing Toure's body looming over them like a dark, imposing mountain, the referee, feeling the oppressive aura, immediately took a step back and quickly reached behind him.
If you touch it, be careful the red tag on your butt might fall out.
When Toure saw the red card on the ground, he was so frightened that he took a step back.
The referee picked up the red card, reached to his left backside, pulled out a yellow card, and pointed it at Toure, saying sternly:
"Watch your language, calm down and come out, Toure!"
The referee didn't call a foul on the Arsenal player because his eyes were momentarily blinded!
The penalty area was a dense mass of people, and even the referee, bending over, couldn't see clearly; his view was completely obstructed.
The referee also had a poor view of Cazorla, who was standing near the sideline.
The only thing the two men could clearly see was that no one in the penalty area touched the ball. In the ensuing chaos, the ball reached the far post, where Ramsey suddenly surged forward, shaking off Zabaleta's defense, and headed the ball in at close range.
Arsenal scored a header in just one minute into the game, making it 1-0!
Live stream room.
- [Holy crap, can you even take a corner kick like that?]
-[Caballero is completely marked; with so many people pinning him down, he can't even jump very high, let alone catch the ball.]
[Is the referee blind? That's not a foul, Toure and Ranocchia both fell down!]
Arsenal's corner kick tactic is quite interesting; it's clearly meticulously designed. So that's what they practiced during their three days of closed training!
-[What kind of corner kick tactic is this? Isn't this just thuggish kicking? They won't let you jump, they won't let you move, they're just waiting to pick off any loose balls?]
-[666, no matter what, it's a goal! Wenger, experience counts!]
[If I had known this would happen, I would have preferred to have Tang Long and Bony return to the penalty area.]
[Who would have thought this? Tang Long and Bony were even preparing to fight back.]
Tang Long and Bony stood at the edge of the penalty area, one on the edge of the halfway line and the other in midfield, both preparing for a counter-attack.
Unexpectedly, Arsenal didn't give Manchester City a chance to counterattack at all, delivering a fatal blow in one fell swoop.
Seeing his Manchester City teammates' somewhat agitated state, Tang Long pondered for a moment, his mind rapidly reviewing Arsenal's corner kick tactics.
"Cazorla's cross was superb. Caballero, limited by his size and surrounded by defenders, couldn't jump high enough. Consequently, several of his defensive teammates in the penalty area were deliberately blocked from retreating. Ramsey then seized the opportunity to make a run at the far post. It was definitely a well-planned move."
Tang Long turned his gaze to Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger on the sidelines.
By this time, Wenger had shed the wildness of his earlier passionate celebration with Ramsey, and was now dressed in a brown coat, revealing a turtleneck sweater, looking every bit the refined professor.
He neither muttered to himself nor reached into his pockets; instead, he crossed his arms over his chest, appearing completely at ease.
This made Tang Long realize that Arsenal's secret tactics were not as simple as they seemed.
Perhaps Wenger has other secret tricks up his sleeve?
Although falling behind right from the start is not a situation Manchester City wants to see.
However, these players are all seasoned veterans; otherwise, how could they be ranked first in the Premier League standings?
So they quickly calmed down and got back into the game.
Tang Long and Gündoğan played crucial roles in this.
Against Arsenal, who voluntarily conceded possession, Gündoğan played the role of orchestrator in the backfield. Despite occasional harassment from Welbeck and Iwobi, he repeatedly thwarted the opponent's attacks with precise passing and triangular combinations.
Meanwhile, Tang Long frequently stretched Arsenal's defense by moving up and down the left and right flanks in the attacking third.
Tang Long realized that playing a defensive counter-attacking style was never Arsenal's strength. He needed to maximize the use of the width of the pitch to wear them down before seizing the opportunity to win.
"That was just an accident, everyone don't panic, continue with the existing tactics!"
Tang Long is adept at stabilizing morale; he is very skilled at using passing to motivate his teammates and stimulate their offensive desire.
17th minute of the first half.
In the backfield Kolarov, Toure, and Gündoğan formed a triangle and passed the ball back and forth seven or eight times, drawing Welbeck and Iwobi's pressing. Then, Gündoğan suddenly accelerated!
Instead of sticking to short passes to penetrate the defense, he raised his right foot and used the inside of his foot to flick the ball hard against the bottom!
The sudden shot not only fooled Arsenal's defenders, but even Pellegrini on the sidelines was taken aback – hmm, where is he going to put the ball?
Of course, we should look for Sterling on the left flank!
Even as Gündoğan made his leg swing motion, Tang Long anticipated that he was going to pass the ball to the left wing.
Tang Long has a very good habit: once he makes a prediction, regardless of whether his teammate passes the ball successfully, Tang Long will firmly continue running along his planned route without stopping!
If you're going to run, run until you die!
"Smack!"
This resulted in Sterling on the left wing, facing a high ball, originally intending to control it steadily and then have a one-on-one duel with full-back Bellerin;
But Tang Long suddenly appeared inside the penalty area, only about 10 meters away. Sterling immediately remembered Tang Long's instruction to him in training: the pass must be unexpected—
He then launched a left-footed attack, without stopping the ball, and passed it back to Tang Long inside the penalty area.
Because Gündoğan's pass was fast and sudden, Sterling's back pass wasn't very good; it was a bit too high.
So much so that Bellerin, who was positioned well in defense, thought Sterling had miscontrolled the ball under his high-pressure pressing.
Just as he was smugly proud of his solid defense, center-back Koscielny suddenly yelled at him:
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and retrieve it!"
Bellerin turned his head and was immediately shocked!
When did Tang Long appear in this location?
Weren't we just at halftime?
Tang Long's exceptional anticipation allows him to predict the next move of the situation 2-3 seconds ahead of other players.
His range of movement in midfield is so vast not because of his physical prowess or speed, but often because of his early starts.
Under the direction of the center-back, full -Bellerin quickly dropped back to guard Tang Long, while another defensive midfielder Ramsey, also came to cover, instantly creating a two-on-one situation against Tang Long.
Many Premier League managers, before matches against Manchester City, would specifically instruct their players that if two or more players double-teamed Tang Long, they must be wary of the gaps behind him!
But 20-year-old Spain full-back Bellerin clearly forgot that.
He pressed upwards, and Sterling behind him took a step back to avoid being offside, then glanced at Tang Long—
The moment their eyes met, Tang Long kicked the ball back to Sterling with his right foot!
In that instant, Tang Long and Sterling were of one mind; pressing the offside line, Sterling started again!
"Bony, near post!"
Under Tang Long's command, Bony instinctively rushed towards the front.
The winger breaks through, and the center forward runs forward.
This is a very popular tactic in modern football, aiming to receive the ball in the shortest possible time and then complete a shot.
When he played for Inter Milan, Icardi loved this move; first-touch shots at the near post accounted for 35% of his total goals.
Bony wasn't slow, but as he charged forward with great momentum, Koscielny's hand remained pressed against his back.
The Ivory Coast players understood that the opposing center-backs were trying to sense their movement in this way.
It was clear that Koscielny had already blocked the near post.
Bony suddenly stood still, pinning Koscielny firmly against his back, and then slapped his inner thigh.
"Whether you can figure it out or not depends on you, Sterling!" Bony didn't have time to shout, and could only wait in vain.
This subtle body language sent a shiver down Sterling's spine;
In that instant, countless possibilities flashed through the mind of the diminutive England striker.
He saw that Bony and Koscielny's four legs were pressed together and overlapped, forming a large crotch.
Sterling understood perfectly. He originally intended to deliver a high cross, but at the last moment, he immediately lowered his raised left foot, sweeping the ball with his boot as it scraped across the turf and struck the upper middle part of the football with great force!
This powerful cross was aimed directly at Bony's groin with the force of a shot.
Whoosh--
It pierced through both crotches!
Arsenal's other center-back, Gabriel, was tricked and, seeing the ball coming through his legs, quickly moved to block it.
But just as he stretched out his foot, a pale blue figure appeared out of nowhere like lightning!
Bang!
Tang Long suddenly appeared in the middle and unleashed a powerful shot with the instep of his foot!
Even with his tank helmet on, Cech was positioned in the center of the goal like a tank driver, but he still couldn't predict the trajectory of the incoming ball and could only watch helplessly as his own penalty area was blasted into the air!
Bang!
One shot blew up the command post!
Goal!
Tang Long unleashed a powerful shot from the center to equalize!
1 to 1!
Wenger angrily yelled at Ramsey, "Ramsey! You lost your position in the defensive midfield, you didn't mark Tang properly, you're a complete waste!"
Ramsey also looked aggrieved.
Professor, just over ten minutes ago, when I scored the goal, I jumped into your arms and you kissed my forehead. How come you're calling me useless now?