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Chapter 541 A Whistle

The locker room structure of the Velodham Stadium is the same as that of most stadiums. After the player passage enters the end, two passages lead to the home team and the visiting team's locker room, forming an inverted "herringbone" structure. Between the two locker rooms is the referee's lounge.

When the intermission was about to end, the roars of the players from both sides rang out in the two locker rooms, and then almost at the same time, the doors of the two locker rooms were slammed open. The players from Newcastle and Arsenal rushed out of their respective locker rooms like two torrents, and then met in the center of the player tunnel, but came to the pitch clearly.

The last 45 minutes!
The players on both sides must have burst out with all their courage, passion and fighting spirit in the last 45 minutes, making their sweat collide with brilliant sparks on the court, but there will still be only one winner in the end, not all efforts will be rewarded, and there are only a few lucky ones on the football field.

Of course, no one wants to be the person who has worked hard but has not been rewarded. The title of "Uncrowned King" is very beautiful, but only those who have it know how helpless they will be after getting this title.

"It was us who kicked off in the second half! Get the ball and put pressure on them!" Taylor yelled.

"Beep—" Following the referee's whistle, Long Bisheng pushed the ball to Messi, and then ran forward by himself.

Messi passed back to Gerrard, Gerrard then passed to Essien, Maicon from the wing had already run up, Essien immediately transferred the ball to his feet.

Long Bisheng has already run into Arsenal's half, Messi is a little behind him, Ribery on the left has penetrated into the 30-meter zone of Arsenal, and Bale is ready to go near the center circle.

Coupled with Gerrard and Bostock following up in the middle, Newcastle's entire attacking formation has taken shape.

"Did they want to attack from the very beginning?" Wenger stared, then hesitantly thought: "Or... just want to gain the advantage of possession and suppress us within the half court?"

As an old opponent of Newcastle and Mourinho, Wenger deeply knows that when Newcastle presses forward and plays positional warfare, their ability to suppress and transfer the ball may not be inferior to Arsenal!Just as Arsenal, which is known for its gorgeous offense, is also very good at quick counterattacks, Newcastle, known for its solid defense and strong counterattacks, is definitely no worse than some teams with excellent midfield organization and attacking ability in controlling the offense in the midfield!

This is the characteristic of world-class giants in modern football. They have their own characteristics, but they have no obvious weaknesses. The current professional football world is not like the 80s. European teams have better skills, South American teams have better discipline and tactical execution capabilities.

Of course Mourinho will not think that only relying on defensive counterattacks can solve Arsenal, and Wenger will not simply think that attracting Newcastle to attack will make their defense lose its power.

If you want to play a fast break, you have to bear the possibility of being suppressed and make mistakes. If you want to suppress the offense, you have to bear the possibility of being counterattacked after being intercepted. The football field is fair.

Maicon dribbled the ball past halftime, and he was immediately entangled by Wilshere. Relying on his own physical fitness, Maicon forced a breakthrough on the wing, but Wilshere was still close by his side. Seeing that there was no good opportunity to break through, Maicon dunked the ball back and handed it to Bostock who came up to respond.

"It seems that I want to play to control the ball." Wenger thought in his heart. Of course, the offense after letting the opponent control the ball is also very dangerous, but as long as Arsenal's defensive formation is stable, there will be no major problems.

Just as Wenger was thinking this way, Newcastle had already quickly attacked from the right to the left. Bell received the ball at a relatively far distance, looked up to observe the situation in the penalty area, and suddenly lifted his foot and hoisted the ball far into the penalty area!
The accuracy of such a long-distance cross is not easy to grasp, but this time Bell accurately found the top of Long Bisheng's head. Long Bisheng squeezed into the penalty area while looking up at the ball's landing point, and then jumped high in front of White.
The ball landed on the top of Long Bisheng's head, then jumped up, and flew to the back of the goal. Originally, Long Bisheng thought that Long Bisheng would be stunned for a moment by Wustari, who was ferrying the header from this distance, and then he immediately moved back two steps like crazy, and jumped up high!

The ball, which Long Bisheng leaned back against the goal like this, actually drew a weird arc in the air and flew straight to the dead corner of the goal!

Fortunately, Ustari's footsteps were not slow. He stretched out his hand and held it under the ball dangerously. The ball, which had already started to fall, jumped up and flew out of the baseline.

"Phew! What a risk! Newcastle unexpectedly made a direct long pass attack. Long Bisheng hit a lucky drop ball with his back to the goal, and almost broke the goal of Arsenal! If the goal is broken by the opponent in this way, Arsenal's morale may be greatly affected!"

Wenger was also taken aback. Fortunately, Ustari responded in a timely manner. Otherwise, if Newcastle scored a goal like this, it would have a huge blow to Arsenal's morale as the commentator said. However, Newcastle was able to complete this attack.

But it was Arsenal's luck not to be scored by the opponent like this.

"Hold this corner!" Fabregas shouted loudly. His defensive position was not inside the penalty area, but at the front of the penalty area. At the same time, he was also the first starting point in Arsenal's quick counterattack.

Bell took a corner kick. Newcastle had four high points in the penalty area, including two central defenders who assisted forward. Arsenal's defensive players appeared to be much shorter.

The violently trembling net gave the Newcastle fans an illusion. They cheered for a while, and then regretted it after a while.

After resisting the two waves of Newcastle's attack, Arsenal began to counterattack. Newcastle's players did not press directly in the frontcourt. In the first half, their game rhythm was fast and their energy consumption was high.

However, when Arsenal pushed the ball into Newcastle's half, the resistance began to become fierce. Almost every Arsenal player who rushed to the frontcourt was surrounded by Newcastle players.

Nasri, who was holding the ball, was slammed by Essien fiercely. Under the impact of the Ghana buffalo, the thin Nasri could barely control the ball, and the teammates observed in his vision could not come up to respond. In desperation, Nasri turned around to block Essien behind him, and then passed the ball back to Fabregas near the top of the center circle.

When Newcastle returned to the defense in time, Cesc Fabregas sat behind to avoid the opponent's close defense, and used his overall view to manage the offense and defense of the entire team. This was Wenger's tactic.

Since this tactic is effective, then continue to do it.

Near the arc top of the center circle, Fabregas was far away from the opponent's 30-meter defensive area, and Fabregas' side was very open, and he didn't feel any pressure. When Nasri passed the ball, Fabregas ran two steps forward, intending to receive the pass.

Just when he was about to get close to the ball, Cesc Fabregas suddenly sensed the danger instinctively. He quickened his pace to hook the ball, and then flicked to the side. Just when he pushed the ball away, a long leg stretched out from behind him, almost poking the ball away.

Although he controlled the ball, Cesc Fabregas was still in a cold sweat. He had already seen that the one who almost broke the ball was Long Bisheng who didn’t know when to run from behind, and on the two wings, Messi and Ribery were already ready to go.

Regardless of whether he was surprised or not, Long Bisheng did not stop after a failed steal, but directly entangled him. He had an absolute advantage in terms of physical fitness. Fabregas almost lost his balance when he was squeezed, so he had to pass the ball to Eboue on the side as soon as possible.

"Okay! Just do it!" Pei Wei shouted from the audience.

After falling down a few times, Arsenal reluctantly passed the ball back to Fabregas' feet. Fabregas noticed Long Bisheng's movement this time and took the ball more calmly.

The referee warned Long Bisheng, Long Bisheng shrugged his shoulders, he would not get a yellow card for this level of foul, as long as he was not too reckless.

"It actually made Long Bisheng return to the defense." Wenger looked at Mourinho thoughtfully, which he did not expect, but considering Long Bisheng's physical fitness and stamina, he is really the only suitable one when other midfielders cannot move.

Although Long Bisheng's speed is not fast, Cesc Fabregas is not fast either. In this way, Fabregas can't get the ball smoothly in the backcourt. After spending part of his energy to deal with Long Bisheng's harassment, Fabregas' organization has to be greatly compromised.

"What a troublesome guy." Wenger thought to himself.

Arsenal, who had been in possession of the ball for a long time, finally showed their flaws. When Wilshere was about to cut in from the wing, Bell quickly poked the ball away. Bostock, who was preparing on the side, immediately got the ball, and then quickly passed the ball to Gerrard in front. Newcastle launched a counterattack.

Gerrard made a direct pass and passed the ball to Long Bisheng in front of him. Fabregas wanted to take revenge and intercepted the ball, but was blocked by Long Bisheng's huge body. After successfully receiving the ball, Long Bisheng did not forcefully turn around and break through.

The defensive Arsenal were not chaotic at all. With Cesc Fabregas in command, they returned to the defense quickly. Sagna tightly entangled Messi on the wing to prevent him from cutting in, and successfully forced Newcastle's counterattack into a positional battle.

"Here!" Gerrard yelled, Newcastle had been prepared for the possible blocking in the fast break. Messi saw that he could not cut inside, and immediately passed the ball back to Gerrard, allowing him to organize the attack again.

At the beginning of the second half, the confrontation between the two sides on the field became intense. Although this kind of game made fans of Newcastle and Arsenal frightened, it made neutral fans feel extremely enjoyable.

This back-and-forth attacking situation lasted for about ten minutes. After Fabregas was entangled by Long Bisheng, the threat of Arsenal's offense weakened a lot, and Arsenal also defended Newcastle's offense quite tightly.

The scene has entered a stalemate. This kind of stalemate is what Mourinho would like to see, but it is not what Wenger wants to see.

The two head coaches are well aware that Newcastle's overall strength is indeed higher than Arsenal's. If this stalemate continues, the possibility of Newcastle's offense will be higher than Arsenal's.

Wenger wants to do something to change the current deadlocked situation, but it is not something he can do. The Arsenal players on the field have already performed extremely hard, and have even reached their limit.

However, there is a saying that has been said indiscriminately and will be said forever, that is: football is round.

After 15 minutes in the second half, Arsenal withstood a wave of Newcastle's offensive with difficulty, and then launched a counterattack.

Fabregas took the ball in the middle circle, and Long Bisheng entangled him after returning to the defense, but Fabregas did not entangle him too much, but passed the ball to Nasri in front, and then rushed up by himself.

Seeing that Fabregas, who had been dispatching in the backcourt just now, moved his position forward, Long Bisheng hesitated for a moment. According to the tactical arrangement, he did not need to return to defense, but seeing Fabregas suddenly move his position forward and start a frontal attack, Long Bisheng instinctively felt the danger.

After a moment of hesitation, Cesc Fabregas had gone too far, and Long Bisheng ran back. It is always right to be careful—but he was still a step too late.

After receiving the pass from Fabregas, Nasri immediately planned to break through the penalty area with the ball, trying to use his personal ability to open the gap. Essien, who was guarding the front of the penalty area, naturally would not let him break into the penalty area so easily.

After drawing Essien away from the front of the penalty area, Nasri immediately returned the ball covertly, Fabregas received the ball at the front of the penalty area!

Since Fabregas had not been involved in the attack in the backcourt just now, Newcastle's defense had underestimated Fabregas' forward penetration. In that brief moment, Newcastle's defense appeared chaotic.

Before Long Bisheng had time to defend Fabregas, Gerrard was restrained by Song, who was on the attack, and Dawson could only leave his marking target Bella and rush forward to interfere with Fabregas.

Seeing Dawson rushing forward, Fabregas pushed his foot to catch the ball-a wonderful through ball!
Bella receives the ball in the penalty area, unguarded!
Bostock, who returned to defense in the penalty area, rushed up and tackled the ball directly in front of Bella, intending to stop Bella's shot from the middle.

When Bostock tackled the ball, Bella stopped his shooting action for a while, and then shot the ball powerfully.

Bostock, who had rushed over his head, raised his hand subconsciously, and then he immediately felt a vibration in his hand. When he looked up again, Bostock found that the ball was bouncing in front of him. Without any thought, Bostock immediately stood up, and then kicked the ball far away with a big foot before Bella shot.

Just as the fans of Newcastle were lucky to block Arsenal's attack, a clear whistle came from the stadium.

"Bostock, who returned to the defense in time, blocked Bella's shot, and Newcastle escaped... Wait! The referee's whistle blew, and he ran into the penalty area and pointed to the penalty spot! Penalty kick! What happened in just a moment? Let's take a look at slow motion... That's it!

"See you!" Mourinho slammed the lawn and roared, "How could this be a penalty? What a joke! It was definitely an unintentional handball!"

His voice was drowned in the huge cheers of the Arsenal fans in an instant. The Arsenal fans were cheering, cheering that they had an excellent opportunity to surpass the score!The Arsenal players were also celebrating, and Vela turned around and hugged his strike partner, no matter how angry the Newcastle players were at this time.

(End of this chapter)