The Last-Gasp Winner and the Trophy! A Light Leap Over Four Players, Then He Carried the Ball Right Into the Goal!
Just as Manchester City's players were preparing to launch a final 10-minute attack to plunge Arsenal into the abyss, a sudden wave of intense fatigue washed over everyone.
Sterling's forward run on the wing began to slow down, and after completing one run, he couldn't help but bend over, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
Toure's physical abilities had reached their limit.
His attention was somewhat distracted, and he even misjudged a simple header!
Kolarov on the left flank is clearly exhausted.
In the 83rd minute, after Tang Long played a through ball, Kolarov's unmarked cross from the wing somehow flew into the stands, drawing boos from the Arsenal fans.
Tang Long also felt a wave of fatigue!
His heart was pounding so hard that even when he was standing still, he could clearly feel the thumping in his chest.
This is the effect of not sleeping well at night.
Last night, enthusiastic Arsenal fans used off-field tactics such as setting off firecrackers and activating smoke alarms to keep Manchester City players from getting a good night's sleep.
Despite the Manchester City team's united determination from the start, aiming to defeat their opponents and render all these underhanded tactics futile;
However, after 80 minutes, the opponent's underhanded tactics finally showed their effects.
Even Tang Long himself made two passing errors, failing to connect with Agüero had just come on.
Although Agüero hadn't slept well the night before, he had just come on the field and there were no issues with his stamina, so he immediately jumped up and down in a panic.
"Tang, what's wrong? This isn't like you at all!"
Tang Long gave the first 10 minutes, when he was at his most energetic, to center forward Bony. Unfortunately, the Ivory Coast star was disappointing. Although he scored a goal after receiving an assist from Tang Long, he wasted at least three clear scoring opportunities.
In such a crucial match against a strong team, Bony's composure was still inferior to Agüero's, after all, the latter had experienced the miracle of 9320 and possessed a stronger heart.
However, this mismatch in physical fitness meant that Agüero had fewer opportunities after coming on than Bony, who was substituted off.
Large beads of sweat seeped from Tang Long's forehead.
The sweat trickled down his cheeks and into his eyes; the saltiness even caused a slight pain.
He gritted his teeth and wiped the sweat from his face with his hand.
But at that moment, he also recalled a sentence his agent, the famous football star Ronaldo, had once told him—
The outcome of the game will be decided in the final 10 minutes!
He gritted his teeth, and with a surge of power from his leaden legs, he charged forward...
"Hold on to them, they can't run anymore!"
Off the field, Arsenal substitute player Podolski was shouting from the sidelines.
He is a veteran with over 100 appearances for the Germany National Team. Although his physical condition has declined with age, his rich experience allows him to keenly observe the comparison of the players' conditions on both sides of the field.
Realizing that Manchester City's players were approaching their physical limits, Podolski believed his chance had come!
He immediately asked Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger for a chance to play.
The master and apprentice shared the same opinion.
Finally, when the opponent reached his physical limit, Professor Wenger decided to make a slight tactical adjustment, replacing Cazorla with Podolski.
"Since Pellegrini has cracked my set-piece tactics, there's no point in keeping Cazorla on the field. Bringing on Podolski and pushing forward on the counter-attack might have a surprising effect!"
In the 85th minute, Podolski came on as a substitute.
He ran onto the field full of fighting spirit and excitement, and when he passed by Tang Long, he was in stark contrast to his former teammate, who looked exhausted and whose jersey was soaked with sweat.
"Podolski is on the field!"
"He just brushed past his former Inter Milan teammate Tang Long, and the two did not exchange a word."
"Podolski's physical fitness is definitely not a problem, which is an advantage for him."
"It seems Wenger held onto his last substitution until the 85th minute, keeping a backup plan!"
Will Podolski change the game? Let's wait and see!
Seeing that his team couldn't break through his defense, Pellegrini was getting a little frustrated.
In particular, Toure's physical abilities had reached their limit.
Normally, he would bring on Fernando;
However, this player had already been benched by the team due to his conflict with Tang Long. Pellegrini glanced at Delph on the bench and still felt uneasy, wanting to keep Toure on the field and grit his teeth to get through these last few minutes.
Pellegrini quickly made his final substitution.
Sterling, who was exhausted, was substituted and replaced by Iheanacho.
Change the single striker to a two-striker formation.
Iheanacho is taller and stronger, and is positioned as a target man at center forward.
Meanwhile, the shorter, more agile, and faster Agüero ran around Iheanacho.
At the same time, Pellegrini also asked Tang Long to stand as close as possible to the three of them in a triangular formation, and that there must be a chemical reaction between the three of them.
Clearly, the Chile team is going to dominate Arsenal; they don't want extra time, they want to kill the game within 90 minutes!
This adjustment has completely revitalized Manchester City's attacking line!
With two newly introduced forwards displaying excellent stamina and tireless running, Manchester City's attacking momentum has returned.
87th minute.
Iheanacho pulls wide!
This move by the center forward wide instantly drew the opponent's Koscielny out of the penalty area, which was exactly the effect Iheanacho wanted.
After drawing the opponent's center-back out of position, he immediately passed the ball to Tang Long in the middle.
Tang Long didn't stop the ball, but instead gently flicked it with the outside of his foot.
This unconventional move made the ball's trajectory extremely unpredictable. But
Agüero, however, understood perfectly. He rubbed his scalp against Tang Long's back and executed a one-two pass in mid-air.
"You can't get through!"
Gabriel had anticipated Agüero's intentions and immediately rushed towards Tang Long, disregarding everything else, to clear the ball with a diving header.
However, although Gabriel has above-average anticipation skills as Premier League center-back, he is still far behind Tang Long's anticipation of three seconds in advance. When his head was still 50 centimeters away from the ball, Tang Long turned his back, raised his right foot, and performed a scorpion kick with a sideways whip kick!
With a snap, the football flew towards Iheanacho on the left.
In this series of passes, the football made three impacts in the air, all of which were single-touch touches.
Wenger, watching from the field, was horrified!
As the first manager to implement possession-based, beautiful football in the Premier League, Wenger was all too familiar with this style of play.
During Arsenal's heyday, this kind of intricate, needle-thread-like passing was their signature move, especially in front of the penalty area. Players like Van Persie, Fabregas, and Henry were all masters of this technique.
But now, with the loss of talent, Arsenal has had no one capable of producing such a combination this season.
On the Manchester City side, Tang Long was still able to perform such a difficult move even when he was severely exhausted.
Moreover, both the timing of the pass and the technique were extremely precise, without the slightest error.
Although each move was extremely beautiful, in Wenger's eyes, it was like a knife piercing his heart!
Until Iheanacho broke into the penalty area, and his shot at the onrushing Cech hit the far post – that thud was a sound of despair for Iheanacho, but for Wenger, the Arsenal players, and tens of thousands of Arsenal fans, it meant a sense of liberation!
Just as Manchester City players were lamenting their missed opportunity for a close-range goal, Arsenal immediately launched a counter-attack.
Ramsey, who received the ball in the defensive midfield position, could see Podolski waving one hand from afar, almost running to the center circle.
Without thinking twice, Ramsey used all his strength to curl a shot into the air!
The moment the ball was deflected, Ramsey fell to the ground.
Podolski made a quick run down the ball's path, with Kolarov, the last full-back, positioned beside him.
Podolski's dribbling moves are not flashy; they rely mainly on rhythm and changes of direction.
After receiving the ball, he first flicked it with his heel, feigning an attack towards the center;
Just as Kolarov finally managed to shift his weight, Podolski flicked his foot in the opposite direction with the outside of his foot!
This back-and-forth movement caused Kolarov to fall to the ground.
Kolarov tried to climb, but he couldn't get up no matter what he did; his calves were cramping violently!
"A brilliant sudden stop and change of direction! Podolski has gotten past Kolarov!"
"That dribble was sharp! It had the flair he had when he was young and playing for Cologne!"
"Podolski takes a long stride, dribbling the ball towards Manchester City's penalty area!"
"Ranocchia is still lagging behind and hasn't returned to defend. Otamendi is chasing, but he's clearly exhausted!"
"The distance between the two sides is getting farther and farther!"
"The only obstacle standing in Podolski's way now is goalkeeper Caballero!"
With each step Podolski took, the cheers from the fans grew louder and louder, everyone anticipating a game-winning goal.
On the sidelines, Wenger clenched his fists in excitement, with a row of Arsenal substitutes already standing behind him.
They all believe in one thing: teams that waste opportunities will be punished!
Just now, Manchester City missed a one-on-one opportunity, and half a minute later Arsenal launched a counter-attack. This is the best punishment for Manchester City!
"Caballero, attack!"
"Podolski moves to the right flank and gets past Caballero!"
"Oops, I touched the ball too lightly!"
"Caballero reached out and tackled the ball, Podolski fell to the ground!"
"Caballero caught the ball and unleashed a powerful volley towards the attacking third!"
Just as Wenger was stomping his feet in frustration, and the Arsenal fans at Wembley Stadium were all letting out mournful sighs, Caballero's precise long volley flew back into Arsenal's half!
Tang Long was startled, thinking, "This pace is too fast! 20 seconds for this round trip?"
However, when Tang Long saw the ball flying steadily towards him, he knew that Caballero was definitely targeting him on purpose.
In the final moments of the match, the Argentina goalkeeper still managed to deliver the ball precisely to his feet, and Tang Long calmly controlled it with his chest.
Iheanacho had a lot of space on the left flank, Tang Long deliberately passed the ball heavily to guide him forward.
Having learned his lesson from his previous indecisive one-on-one situation where he missed, Iheanacho is now making the same mistake again.
Regardless of whether the ball was on his non-dominant left foot, he lowered his foot and crossed the ball from the bottom, attempting to get it past Koscielny and into the feet of Agüero at the far post.
The ball went around, Agüero a shot!
With a clang, Agüero's shot hit the target, but due to the tight angle, Cech a diving save, and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out of the penalty area!
In just a few dozen seconds, Arsenal and Manchester City had three shots on goal, and any one of them could have easily scored. However, dramatically, none of the three shots went in!
"Tired..."
Having barely slept all night, Tang Long was feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and his body was beginning to show signs of oxygen deficiency.
But Pellegrini insisted on keeping him on the field so that he could be the one to decide the outcome of the game!
Facing the ball that had just hit the crossbar and was flying out, Tang Long, who was standing at the top of the penalty area, used the last bit of strength in his body to raise his leg high and turn to the side, looking like he was going to unleash a volley!
Tang Long, positioned at the edge of the penalty area, is one of the most threatening players in the Premier League, whether it's passing or shooting.
Seeing this, Arsenal's players disregarded the possibility of the ball hitting their heads. Ramsey, Koscielny, and another center-back, Gabriel, all charged towards Tang Long with all their might, the three of them rushing out like three vicious wolves.
They moved in perfect unison to block the shot; some fell to the ground, some jumped up, and some even thrust their chests directly at Tang Long's Tang Long, using their flesh and blood to completely shut down the path of his shot.
"Hallelujah, please let Tang's shot be blocked!" Wenger's heart was pounding in his chest.
Strangely enough, even as the ball flew towards him, Tang Long was still dizzy and his heart was pounding.
Just as he was judging the distance of the ball and making the corresponding leg swing, his heartbeat suddenly slowed down.
"Bang, bang, bang--"
The moment my thigh pulled my lower leg back, my heart rate dropped from 170 to 120!
As I focused my gaze on the ball and prepared to strike, my heart rate dropped from 120 to 90!
When Tang Long caught a glimpse of the three Arsenal defenders bravely blocking his path out of the corner of his eye, his heart rate dropped from 90 to 80!
As his heart rate dropped, his entire body began to cool down rapidly.
His heart began to pump blood at a slower rate, but his mind became calmer and clearer.
The moment his right instep touched the ball, his heart rate dropped from 80 to 68, and he even felt a chill. The frequency of everything around him also slowed down as his heart rate decreased.
Call--
Tang Long exhaled, and his right foot, which was originally aimed at the middle of the football with a heavy blow, suddenly pulled back!
His body language instantly changed from shooting to controlling the ball with the instep!
The football slowed down, stuck to his feet like cotton, and then bounced off the ground.
"Ah???"
This scene left everyone in the audience speechless.
Wasn't he going to shoot?
Why did you stop the ball?!
Wenger, watching from the sidelines, looked completely bewildered.
What happened next completely bewildered him, and for the first time in nearly 30 years of coaching, Wenger discovered that football could be played like this in front of the penalty area!
Because Tang Long unexpectedly stopped the ball, Koscielny, Ramsey and Gabriel, who came to block, were caught off guard. Their already prepared diving blocking motions lost their balance and they were completely unable to move.
Before the three of them could even get up from the ground, they saw Tang Long lightly leap forward from the bouncing soccer ball he had just removed. Like a nimble deer, he and the ball soared over their heads!
It wasn't until this moment that Arsenal's goalkeeper Cech finally woke up from his daze!
They're coming straight for me!
He rushed out of the penalty area to block Tang Long's one-on-one chance.
At a distance of about 1.5 meters from Cech, Tang Long pretended to push the ball to the far corner, luring Cech to fall to the ground. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he and the ball flew over Cech again!
Arsenal's defenders surrounded the penalty area, but none of them could stop him. He dribbled the ball twice, leaping over numerous obstacles, and at the last moment, he leisurely brought the ball inside the goal line!
Seeing this, China fans watching the live stream were in an uproar!
[Oh my god, what did I just see?!]
-[Tang Long actually dribbled the ball into the goal???]
- [What the heck? Am I really watching football?]
[Replay it quickly, I want to see the replay, how did he get past me!]
- [Wait, weren't you about to shoot? How did you control the ball and dribble past someone?]
-[Did anyone see clearly whether it was a mistake or intentional?]