113: Is it a shady plot or a stupid move by Wenger?
November 30, 2016, Emirates Stadium, North London, England.
What is happening here today is the quarter-finals of the 2016-2017 English League Cup. The two teams facing each other are the home team Arsenal and the visiting team Crystal Palace.
The starting lineups for both sides are as follows
Home team Arsenal, head coach Wenger, formation 4231
Goalkeeper Damian Martinez
Back four from left to right Gibbs, Holding, Gabriel and Jenkinson
Double defensive midfielder Elneny and Coquelin
The front three from left to right Iwobi, Ramsey and Adelaide
Lone forward Lucas Perez
Visiting team Crystal Palace, head coach Tong Yi, formation 4213
Alisson
The back four from left to right is Theo, Upamecano, Van Dijk and Achraf.
Double defensive midfielder Witsel and Kante
Single attacking midfielder De Bruyne
The front three from left to right Salah, Jimenez and Asensio
Seeing this starting lineup, Tong Yi knew that Arsenal did not value this game as much as they said before the game. Because most of Arsenal's starters are young and substitute players, they don't seem to take it seriously at all, and they seem to want to give up this game.
The expressions on the faces of Webster, Delvestri and others in the stands were very ugly. They felt that they had been tricked by Wenger.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to sink Crystal Palace completely.
But Arsenal actually stopped!
What does it mean?
You don't want Crystal Palace to sink like this, and you want to give Crystal Palace a hand? Let Crystal Palace easily overcome this difficulty, then rise strongly and continue the winning streak like before?
Webster and others hated Wenger's actions very much.
In their view, this is a good opportunity to crush Crystal Palace under their feet.
They have never thought about it. Arsenal's main purpose is to focus on the league. If they give up some unnecessary games, they will give up. The league is the foundation.
What's going on with Arsenal's micro-league plans?
However, Webster and others are just unhappy!
At this time, if you don't do everything you can to bring down Crystal Palace, then you have a problem.
You just want to win over Crystal Palace!
Tong Yi on the sidelines was indeed a little surprised when he saw Arsenal's starting lineup. He did not expect Wenger to give up the game.
However, Tong Yi did not underestimate this Arsenal team, reminding the Crystal Palace players to take it seriously.
The Crystal Palace players nodded in agreement.
They also know very well that the recent external criticism is very unfavorable to Crystal Palace. There are a lot of people waiting to see their Crystal Palace joke, and they won't let these guys succeed.
If you say our Crystal Palace is going to collapse, is it really going to collapse?
joke!
The players of Crystal Palace played very proactively on the court and were very fierce when pressing in the high position. These young players of Arsenal were in a hurry. For example, Elneny and Adelai
De and others were indeed a little panicked under the crazy pressing.
In an instant, Arsenal fell into a passive position!
Webster and others in the stands looked even more ugly!
He even had some doubts, was this game a match-fixing? Otherwise, how could Wenger field such a starting lineup? There must be some dirty dealing behind this.
Wenger, you must die a good death!
The Arsenal fans at home were very nervous from the beginning of the game, and their faces were ugly.
Because of passivity, Arsenal is very passive on the court.
At this moment, Crystal Palace succeeded in pressing the frontcourt. De Bruyne stole the ball directly from Elneny's feet, and then immediately pushed the football to the wing with a diagonal kick. After Asensio received the ball on the wing, he asked the forward Achraf to attract the attention of the defensive players. Then he suddenly cut in laterally and shot directly into the far corner from the corner of the penalty area!
The ball speed is very fast!
Asensio's left and right feet are balanced, both feet are dominant feet. The arc of this foot is very beautiful, like a rainbow hanging in the sky above the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal fans' eyes widened and they screamed in horror.
Danger, too dangerous!
Arsenal's substitute goalkeeper Martinez was obviously half a beat too slow and soared into the air without touching the football. He thought the ball would definitely go in, but the ball flew slightly over the crossbar and out of the baseline.
The Arsenal fans breathed a sigh of relief, so suspenseful!
Martinez also breathed a sigh of relief, so suspenseful!
At this time, Martinez is still very immature and is far from the main goalkeeper of the 2022 World Cup champion Argentina national team. Now he has almost no place in Arsenal. These days, he has been a substitute on the bench at Arsenal, or he has been frequently loaned out to lower-level leagues.
Later, when Martinez became famous, he also said that he had been a substitute or on loan at Arsenal for more than 10 years.
Now that he appears in the starting lineup for this game, we can actually see Wenger's attitude towards this game.
No wonder Webster and the others are so angry.
Wenger's starting lineup, isn't this equivalent to giving Crystal Palace a victory directly?
However, Arsenal's next attack still caused trouble for Crystal Palace's goal.
After the full-back Jenkinson broke through with the ball continuously, he then made a pass from the wing. Perez, who advanced in the middle, directly slid to the bottom and shot the ball quickly towards the Crystal Palace goal.
This made Arsenal fans excited, very excited.
There is a chance!
However, the football was directly held firmly by Alisson who jumped out from the side.
Alisson's reaction was really fast, and the ball was caught easily. Arsenal fans were instantly disappointed. This was a good opportunity.
Unfortunately, they were not sure.
After that, Arsenal fell completely passive again.
There was also a rumbling sound in front of the door.
In the frontcourt, another steal in the frontcourt.
Salah on the wing directly cut off the football from the feet of the opponent's full-back Jenkinson under the high pressure, and then he cut directly into Arsenal's penalty area. The Assen fans were frightened, it was dangerous!
After Salah made a horizontal movement and shook the center of gravity of Arsenal's defensive players, he quickly buckled the football back and immediately swung his leg to volley from a small angle to the near corner.
With a clang, the football hit the goal net pole hard.
Missed, this shot was slightly missed.
However, this opportunity is still very good. The Crystal Palace fans are very excited.
Crystal Palace will definitely win this game.
Moreover, the state and morale displayed by Crystal Palace in this game were completely different from what the media reporters said before the game. How does this Crystal Palace look like it is collapsing? This state is in such good shape, crushing Arsenal from the beginning of the game. Will such a team collapse?
Websters, are you crazy?
The faces of Webster and others were naturally very ugly.
In their view, if Wenger had not surrendered before the game and gave Crystal Palace a victory, your Crystal Palace would have collapsed!
If Arsenal played with all their main players, could Crystal Palace perform as well as they did today?
Your Crystal Palace has been beaten to pieces a long time ago. Why are you so arrogant?
The Crystal Palace players in the stadium ignored this at all and continued to attack crazily, besieging Arsenal's goal. The Arsenal players could only parry.
At this time, Kanter in the midfield intercepted the football from Ramsey's feet.
Yes, Ramsey was a little out of shape today. This is not the first time he has had the ball stolen. Arsenal fans saw that they had no extravagant hopes at all. This game showed signs of defeat from the beginning, and they could still see clearly.
After stealing the ball, Kanter held the ball forward. Seeing the opponent's midfielder Coquelin rushing up, he passed the football across the ball. Witsel did not stop the ball and directly sent the football forward with one kick. The football was directly Rolled to De Bruyne's feet.
De Bruyne took advantage of the situation and passed the ball past the somewhat reckless Elneny.
Seeing this, Wenger frowned. What was this kick?
Elneny was still too impatient and reckless.
How do you defend like this against De Bruyne? To be honest, Wenger still has high expectations for Elneny, but this guy's recent performance has really disappointed him. But he felt a pity to give up completely, so Wenger was also very entangled.
At this time, Wenger involuntarily turned his head to look at Tong Yi and thought to himself, "How can this guy succeed every time he finds new people? What's the secret of this guy?"
This young man Tong Yi is really awesome!
With a bang, in the stadium, De Bruyne directly passed the football to Jimenez in the penalty area!
Jimenez directly carried the young Holding with his body, and Holding was instantly
It bounced away, and then Jimenez directly swung his leg and launched a heavy shot, slamming the football towards Arsenal's goal.
The ball speed is very fast, like a heavy cannon.
Many Arsenal fans can’t stand it anymore, it’s dangerous!
The ball was very fast, and Martinez had no confidence in front of the goal, but he was lucky. He actually touched the football, and the football immediately changed direction and rolled out of the baseline.
Bang bang bang!
Arsenal fans all applauded Martinez. Martinez's performance this time was very good and deserves encouragement.
Corner kick, Crystal Palace got a corner kick opportunity!
Arsenal fans and players are very nervous and worried, because they know very well that corner kicks and set kicks are one of the important means for Crystal Palace to score goals. Therefore, this corner kick is still relatively dangerous. Arsenal's players are ready to prepare. They don't want to concede the ball at this time!
The Arsenal fans at the scene were also cheering for the Arsenal players.
If we can withstand this wave, we at Arsenal will have a chance.
Theo rushed into the corner kick area, looked towards Arsenal's penalty area, and directly raised his right hand to remind the Crystal Palace players in the penalty area. Before the Arsenal players could figure out what the problem was, Special Olympics rushed towards the football with a run-up, and then drove the football directly to the front of the penalty area with an arc.
De Bruyne rushed up from the front of the penalty area, ignored Elneny who rushed out, and directly kicked the goal with a heavy kick.
With a bang, the football flew out quickly, hitting the back of Elneny hard as he jumped up. It changed direction and shot directly towards the upper right corner of the goal!
De Bruyne's long-range shot was originally heading towards the upper left corner of the goal, but Martinez also flew sideways immediately. This time, Martinez was completely out of luck.
Martinez, who was flying into the air, turned around and looked over, and he saw the football flying straight into the upper right corner of the goal.
Lost the ball!
Arsenal lost the ball!
Martinez closed his eyes in despair!
He had guessed before the game that he would definitely concede the ball in this game, but he did not expect that he would concede the ball like this.
Martinez felt very helpless.
Elneny fell backwards, feeling very regretful.
One to zero!
In the 33rd minute of the first half, the Crystal Palace team, which had been under attack for a long time, finally broke through Arsenal's goal, scored and took the lead.
Seeing this, Webster in the stands cursed.
Although when he saw Arsenal's starting lineup, he knew that Arsenal would definitely have no chance in this side and would definitely lose. But when he saw the ball lost, he still couldn't hold it back, his face was very ugly, and he scolded Wenger and the Arsenal players in his heart!
You guys are just playing match-fixing, you just want Crystal Palace to win.
Wenger, you will definitely pay the price for your evil deeds in this game. You missed the perfect opportunity to drive Crystal Palace into the abyss. You missed the perfect opportunity to bring Crystal Palace to its knees.
