Jagged Wings

Chapter 147 Miserable!How miserable!
In 2008, Manchester City was acquired by an Arab consortium from the Middle East. The new team owner invested heavily in the team and expanded its army. In recent years, Manchester City has become a strong team that can compete for the Premier League and other major championships, and won the 2010/11 FA Cup The championship became Manchester City's first championship in nearly 35 years. In the 2011-2012 season, Manchester City won the Premier League championship in one fell swoop, and won the English top league championship again after 44 years!

But in the 2006-2007 season, this Manchester City team was still a "hanging silk team" that uncles did not love and grandma did not kiss!Although they have been staying in the Premier League, the biggest luxury every year in terms of performance is just success in relegation.Last season, the bottom three in the Premier League were relegated, and Manchester City, which finally ranked 15th, was only 5 points higher than Portsmouth, which was almost relegated. It can be said to be a thrilling relegation!

In the new season, Manchester City's strength has declined steadily. They sold the team's main striker Andy Cole and the main goalkeeper James. saxony.

With such a configuration, what can they intend?

Facing last season's European Champions Cup champion Arsenal, Manchester City kept their stance low. Although they were playing at home, their goal was only one point.

What about in the Arsenal team?A strange atmosphere is spreading...

They won four games in a row at the beginning, and one even allowed them to win the UEFA Super Cup, which most Arsenal players did not expect before.Although they feel that their strength is not weak, after all, they are in a period of transition from old to new, and the old players are old and the new players lack maturity.This season they are training. After one or two seasons, they will accumulate experience and maybe they will become mature.

None of them thought of all this now!Now all of this seems to them like a dream that is so wonderful that it is unreal!

Of course, there are still some people who remain sober, such as Reyes, Xiaofa, and Gilberto, but these are only a few people after all. Captain Henry may have noticed it, but his introverted personality made him ashamed to speak out, so he could only Just staring at these...

The result is that most players are inexperienced and overwhelmed by victory for a while.

Under such circumstances, Arsenal visited Manchester City Stadium in the third round of the league to challenge Manchester City.For Manchester City, even Wenger himself doesn't pay much attention to this team that has been relegated every year.Now that the Premier League has played three rounds, Manchester City has not won a game and scored the bottom of the ranking. They are even the only team in the top four leagues of the Premier League that have not scored. This is definitely the rhythm of relegation!

"Manchester? I only know that there is a Manchester United team. When did a Manchester City team appear?" Hleb's pre-match interview expressed the feelings of most players.

Wenger followed the 11 men used to beat Sevilla, which is a contest between two young teams in the Premier League. The average age of Manchester City's squad is 23 years old, while Arsenal's is 23 years old.

Everyone is young and full of vitality.In this game, the two sides let go of the attack and dedicated a very good game to the fans.But for Arsenal, this is a bitter game.Because they finally lost, and they lost badly.

As soon as the game started, the Manchester City team, who had said before the game that they would "learn and learn", launched a fierce attack.This is not learning, this is definitely a life-threatening rhythm!

In the 4th minute, Barton made a free kick from the left. The Italian center Corradi, who joined the team in the summer, beat Henry and headed into the far corner.

1: 0!

Conceding the ball prematurely caused Arsenal to mess up their own position, and the players were a little confused on the court.Although Reyes worked hard to bring his teammates back to their senses and focus on the game, after all, he was not in a good state, so what he could do was very limited.

Manchester City took advantage of this opportunity to launch a massive attack on Arsenal's defense and continued to exert pressure.

In the 22nd minute, after Dikov turned on the right to get rid of Eboue, he kicked the ball with his left foot, and Corradi headed the hammer 6 meters in front of the goal and missed the right post!
Arsenal also had a chance. In the 39th minute, Reyes volleyed with his left foot on the left side of the penalty area and hit the left post and bounced back into the field. After 1 minute, Arsenal, who missed many chances, finally paid the price!Sinclair unloaded the ball on the right side of the penalty area and was knocked down by Hoyt who flew back to the defense. Penalty kick!

Barton volleyed the middle with his right foot, and the ball hit the lower edge of the crossbar and bounced into the goal. Manchester City led 2-0!

Conceding two goals in a row woke Arsenal up like a dream, and the team regained control.Just 4 minutes after the opponent scored, Reyes dribbled the ball on the left side. He made a gesture to break through, but stopped suddenly, buckled the football back with his left foot, and then broke into the penalty area, but a strong shot hit the side netting !
Reyes, who lost two chances in a row, covered his head and looked ahead in disbelief!

At this moment, he was full of confusion!
During the intermission, Wenger criticized the team's performance very severely, thinking that everyone was sleepwalking.He asked the team to strengthen their offense in the second half!

In the second half of the game, Wenger made adjustments and replaced the confused Reyes with the unconfused Rosicki.

This is the second consecutive game Reyes has been replaced by the midfielder, and the person who replaced him is the same Rosicky.If Rosicky performs better in this situation, then the main candidate for the left midfielder will really change...

After replacing Rosicky, Arsenal stepped up their offensive.In the 46th minute, Rosicki passed the ball and Fabregas shot vigorously from the front of the penalty area. The goalkeeper of Manchester City did not dare to hold the ball directly and punched the ball out. Gilberto who followed closely also made a volley. The shot flew straight into the stands.

Rosicky, who came off the bench, lived up to expectations. Just 2 minutes after playing, Rosicky kicked the ball from the left, Torres jumped high in the penalty area and scored his second goal of the season!At the same time, Rosicky also completed his second assist after joining Arsenal!

Although Arsenal pulled back a goal, they did not regain their disadvantage on the scene, facing waves of fierce attacks from Manchester City.They can only parry and have no power to fight back!

In the 57th minute, Richards sent the football to the goal from the right side of the penalty area, and the responding striker Dikov shot a low shot with his right foot 15 meters in front of the goal and scored Lehmann's goal.

In the 58th minute, Jordan volleyed high from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area.

In the 66th minute, Barton took a corner kick, and the Arsenal players were not far away. Sinclair stepped in and hit the goal at the front of the penalty area. Vassell intercepted the ball in the small penalty area, and then he was defended by two Arsenal players. , suddenly turned half-turned and shot with an undercut. The goalkeeper Lehmann couldn't react in time, so he could only watch the football go in!

3: 1!

In less than 10 minutes, the score was already 2:1.The two sides scored a total of four goals. For the audience, such a game is of course a good game.But for Arsenal players and fans, they are still a little at a loss!Why did they, who had won four consecutive victories at the beginning of the season, face Manchester City's onslaught, but they were powerless to fight back, and were completely led by the nose by their opponents?
Reyes, who was on the bench, shook his head helplessly when Vassell scored the football with a beautiful barb.It's not just him, the whole team is out of shape, no matter how hard he and Henry try, football is a collective sport after all!
Everyone was dazzled by the victory and completely ignored Manchester City.As a result, they all forgot that although Manchester City is not a strong team, they must have their own style of play if they can stay in the Premier League for a long time!
If you underestimate such an opponent, you will have to pay the price!
On the other hand, Arsenal's continuous attack finally paid off.In the 71st minute, Fabregas launched an offensive. After getting the ball in the midfield, he did not give it to Rosicky on the left or Ljungberg. Instead, he chose a sudden long-distance direct pass!
The ball penetrated City's midfield and backline and ended up at the feet of Torres, who was knocked into the penalty area by City defender Distin just as Torres turned to shoot, and was awarded a point by the referee The ball, and also gave Distin a yellow card.

The penalty kick was taken by Gilberto, who kicked the football into the Manchester City goal, and the score was tied 2:3!

Next, the head coach of Manchester City replaced the forward Vassell with the defensive midfielder Mills, strengthened the defense, and wanted to keep the advantage of this ball!
But Arsenal is still attacking, and there is only one goal difference between the two sides. Arsenal saw the hope of equalizing the score or even winning the game.

In the last 10 minutes of the game, Manchester City caught Arsenal's heavy pressure.The psychology of eager to equalize the score. Two cities in a row within 4 minutes, and finally the score was fixed at 5:2!

When the whistle for the end of the game was blown, the Manchester City Stadium, which can accommodate 2 people, burst into enthusiastic cheers and applause. Manchester City fans were happy to see the latest talking point team fall their feet.

No matter how powerful Arsenal is, they have to bow down in front of our Manchester City!
The veteran team Manchester City, who played at home, gave the champion of the Champions League a sap!
Looking at the painful expressions of the players because of the loss, Wenger sighed in his heart: "The team is still too young and too inexperienced."

But losing at the beginning of the season is better than losing at the end of the season. I hope the loss in this game can let them learn something!

He turned and headed down the corridor, where the press was waiting to interview him in the mixed zone.He knew what questions the media would ask. Many people were waiting to see his team's jokes. Now that they saw it, how could they let him go?

(End of this chapter)