Chapter 815: Europa League battle, bursting with confidence
In the 35th minute of the first half, Nicolas Pepe was brought down in the penalty area.
The referee's whistle sounded and Arsenal was awarded a penalty kick.
Arsenal soldiers are excited!
Here's their chance to score!
But just as the Arsenal players were celebrating excitedly, the referee changed the decision-the penalty kick was cancelled!
Due to the serious resistance of Villarreal players, the referee decided to watch VAR.
It is clear from the video replay that although Pepe was tackled in the penalty area, his handball reappeared and the penalty was still not valid.
The Arsenal players were very reluctant, but there was nothing they could do.
It's true that there was a handball just now, so there's nothing wrong with not giving a penalty kick.
What a shame...
Countless Huang Qian fans in the stands shouted "Long live VAR!" and enjoyed the joy of surviving the disaster.
With a two-goal advantage, Huang Qian ended the first half.
In the second half, Arsenal changed sides and fought again. Arsenal's offensive was obviously much faster, and their midfield press became harder.
But something bad happened again.
In the 57th minute of the game, during a cooperation by Huang Qian, Arsenal midfielder Ceballos fell to the ground and shoveled, fouled recklessly, and knocked down his opponent.
Watching the opposing player fall to the ground and roll around, he knew he was in trouble.
Sure enough, the referee ran to him and showed him his second yellow card of the game.
Two yellows turn one red, end!
Walking off the field frustrated, Ceballos knew his future at Arsenal was over.
In the summer of 2019, he came to Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid. In two seasons, he failed to secure his position as Arsenal's main team.
And this reckless foul cost him the chance to stay.
He himself doesn't know what the future holds...
Ceballos doesn't know what his future will be, but Arteta knows it very well.
Arsenal are in trouble.
Already two goals behind and one player missing, we were in complete trouble.
Still want to score a goal?
too difficult.
Regarding Ceballos's yellow card, teammate Thomas Partey strongly protested and eventually received a yellow card.
Arteta shouted to the players on the sidelines to calm down.
If one more person is sent off, then we should simply admit defeat and surrender.
Five minutes later, Arteta finally made a change.
He admitted his mistake.
The 20-year-old Martinelli came on as a substitute, replacing Odegaard who was a guest forward.
Odegaard's performance on the front line was extremely poor in this game, and he did not do what a forward should do at all.
Less than ten minutes after Martinelli came on the court, he helped the team create an excellent opportunity.
He caught the ball with his back in the penalty area and turned around to pass!
Paulo Torres takes a shovel!
Martinelli falls to the ground!
The referee's whistle sounds!
Penalty kick!
This time, even if the Huang Qian players protested, the referee was no longer entangled!
It's a penalty kick, you can see it clearly!
Arsenal finally got their wish.
As the team's second penalty taker, Pepe plays his part in the absence of Karazette.
A push shot and the ball hit the net!
2 is better than 1!
Arsenal gets a goal back!
Even with one less player, the tenacious Arsenal still scored important goals!
Not long after the goal, Huang Qian also received the second yellow card of the game due to a defense and was also sent off.
Arsenal saw an opportunity!
At the last moment, attack with all your strength!
Huang Qian's momentum weakened, and they retreated across the board, resisting tenaciously!
Even though Arteta successively replaced offensive players such as Aubameyang and Willian, and even Aubameyang played injured, he still failed to equalize the score.
In the end, Arsenal lost this game away from home, losing 1-2.
But it’s not a bad result, after all, it was only one goal behind and an away goal was scored. Not bad.
In the second leg back at home, Arsenal launched a fierce attack.
However, Huang Qian did not give up the attack. They sent out many fast horses and focused on defensive counterattacks today.
Both sides created many good opportunities, but in the end they failed to convert into shots.
The highest score of the game after the game was Arsenal defender Pablo Mari, which proves everything.
In the end, Arsenal failed to score at home, and a score of 0-0 made them leave the Europa League bitterly.
Villarreal successfully advanced to the Europa League final.
Their opponent is Manchester United, who is also from the Premier League.
In fact, it's interesting to think about it. Manchester United and Villarreal both advanced on the corpses of the other league teams in the knockout stages.
Manchester United swept Granada and Villarreal defeated Arsenal.
The two sides meet in the final, which is a contest between the Premier League and La Liga.
Before this game, countless media created momentum, and fans also took the lead in starting a war on the Internet.
The most uproar was from the English media and fans.
"The Times": "Manchester United made it all the way to the final. But Villarreal stumbled to the end. Based on this analysis, Manchester United has a higher winning rate."
"The Guardian": "Manchester United is full of superstars. They are not a Europa League team to begin with. It is only because of bad luck in the Champions League that they regrettably fell. The final is still their shining stage."
And English fans are also crazily calling for their team online.
Among the many words expressing confidence, one sentence has the highest number of likes.
"Second in the Premier League VS seventh in La Liga, do we still need to consider the outcome?"
There is indeed nothing wrong with what you say.
The Premier League's status now exceeds that of La Liga, and many fans think so.
Look at the Champions League and Europa League this season.
The Champions League final is Manchester City VS Chelsea, and the Europa League final is Manchester United VS Villarreal.
The Premier League accounts for three-quarters.
What else is there to say?
This confidence and momentum to win excited countless media and fans.
Manchester United fans have prepared fireworks and fireworks for the championship celebration.
Even Manchester United has been thinking ahead about how to arrange it at Old Trafford.
This sentiment infected the Manchester United soldiers.
The Manchester United soldiers who are preparing for the game in Poland have been very excited during training these days, as if they have already grasped the final.
Solskjaer also kept encouraging the players and cheering them up.
But Xia Xing was a little worried.
He did not go to Solskjaer directly, but found Carrick to communicate the current situation.
"Xia, what can you do?"
"I don't feel good about the current situation of the team."
"What aspect are you talking about?"
"Mental aspect."
"Oh, do you think everyone is a little too confident?"
"I'm not worried about everyone's high confidence. What I'm worried about is that they underestimate their opponents because they are too confident, and that will be troublesome."
"Xia, I understand what you are saying. Let me ask you sincerely, how confident do you think we are of winning this final?"
"Fifty-fifty."
"Aren't you a bit conservative?"
"This season we faced Arsenal, but we didn't take advantage, right?"
"Yes."
"But Villarreal did it, they eliminated Arsenal. For this reason, we must not underestimate them!" (End of Chapter)
