Chapter 119: Falling-Leaf Shot! Robin van Persie — the Championship Repellent!
Facing Wenger's tactical change, Sir Alex Ferguson's only option was to attack as defense.
No matter what trick you try, a single punch can open the way and prevent a hundred punches to come.
After kickoff, Luís Nani began repeatedly taking the ball and driving down the left flank.
In the post-Ferguson era Nani had been one of Manchester United's problem players, but now he was the left wing wizard whom Ferguson prized.
Nani's wide bursts combined with Patrice Evra's late runs into the box caused Arsenal's right-side defense major problems.
Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla and Serge Aurier worked together to barely hold the right flank.
"Arsenal needs a defensive midfielder like a bulldog…"
In the 60th minute Evra sped up the sideline, fed the ball to Nani after winning it from Arteta.
Nani and Evra combined with a quick two-man exchange, cutting through Arteta and Cazorla. Nani then played a cross-field pass spanning the pitch width to Antonio Valencia's near post.
Under Luke Shaw's close marking Valencia couldn't cut inside and the ball moved into the middle.
Shinji Kagawa, who had been orchestrating play all night, suddenly made an attacking run and acted like a striker.
This shift was unexpected and left Arsenal's defense momentarily off guard.
Kagawa smoothly advanced the front line to the edge of Arsenal's penalty arc.
Per Mertesacker barked a quick instruction to Samuel Umtiti and stepped up to intercept.
But Kagawa had been waiting for that moment — the ball arrived at Robin van Persie at the edge of the box.
Van Persie took the ball, turned, and as Cazorla slid across to cover he saw van Persie raise his leg. Cazorla tried to shift over and block the shot.
But it was a feint!
Van Persie faked the shot, dragged the ball onto his other foot and slipped a pass forward.
Wayne Rooney, who had drifted inside into the area, met the pass with a dragged shot.
The ball skimmed the turf and sped forward!
"Rooney! Shoot!"
"A low drive!"
Martínez launched himself but the shot came in with such speed and a tricky angle that it slotted just inside the near post.
Martínez had no chance… 3:2!
Over twenty thousand traveling Manchester United fans could finally let themselves loose like the Arsenal supporters.
"Unstoppable shot!"
"With Rooney in the house, fortune and health!"
"Rooney's sudden run and that low drive were brilliant."
"You might not like Manchester United, but you can't not like a hardworking supporting player like Rooney who can rescue the team in clutch moments."
On the touchline Ferguson hugged his assistant in delight — this goal was crucial.
It turned a match that had seemed settled into something uncertain again.
The Emirates' temperature shot up; both sets of fans roared and urged their teams on.
Now the score was tight. Whoever held firm would be the winner.
On the pitch, a fired-up Rooney sprinted along the sideline celebrating…
Near the center circle, Xia Qi, Mario Balotelli, Kevin De Bruyne and others stood helplessly waiting for the restart.
Ideals are beautiful; reality is cruel.
If a fallen Manchester United was already this tough to handle, then a four-goal lead held by Real Madrid was like climbing Mount Everest.
Kickoff resumed.
After pulling one back, Manchester United's previously flagging morale surged.
The three-time-champ red machine was back.
"United's spirit is up; they're fighting ferociously."
"Nice! Kevin De Bruyne's change of direction was beautiful."
"Nani didn't give up and tracked back; his speed is impressive. De Bruyne passes."
"Luke Shaw's dribble — the 18-year-old is shining tonight."
"Wenger is good at nurturing youngsters — 18-year-old Luke Shaw, 19-year-old Xia Qi…"
Near the center circle Xia Qi, back to the goal, leaned against Michael Carrick. As the ball rolled toward him, he clipped it with the back of his heel and the ball slid between Carrick's legs.
At the same time Xia Qi turned right, slipped past Carrick and chased the ball.
Only when Carrick turned to chase did he realize the ball had slipped through his legs. He still couldn't understand how Xia Qi, facing away from him, knew precisely the gap between his legs.
In a heartbeat Xia Qi had burst from the center circle to the edge of the penalty area. Phil Jones lunged to stop him — he didn't want Xia Qi entering the box.
Xia Qi, sprinting at speed, used the inside of his right foot to pull the ball left while leaning his body left, preparing to shift past Phil Jones.
Jones didn't expect Xia Qi to execute such a "fried dumpling" change of direction at full speed; their centers of gravity were opposite and Jones couldn't mirror the move.
Just as Jones felt doomed, his teammate Shinji Kagawa arrived quickly in cover and slid in from Xia Qi's left.
Kagawa timed his tackle perfectly.
Just at the instant Xia Qi pivoted — no AI, however clever, can conjure movement from nothing.
In a flash Xia Qi's left foot nudged the ball to the right, and Kagawa's tackle clipped Xia Qi's ankle.
Human Xia Qi stamped his foot in anger in his mind — in human thinking an ankle is far more precious than a lousy ball.
But AI logic was different: it calculated that a free kick at the edge of the box was the best choice.
"Tong-ge, next time if this happens, protect your foot first!"
AI remained aloof and didn't reply.
Loud boos rose around the Emirates; after the boos Arsenal fans cheered and shouted:
"Red card!"
"Red card!"
On the pitch Phil Jones pulled Kagawa up and said, "Nice one, Kagawa!"
"Xia is a worthy opponent. He protected the ball."
That remark quieted the excitement among United players.
There are always hard men on the pitch — like the monk-like Pepe — but they're fierce to others and gentle with themselves. Xia Qi was ruthless even to himself, a startlingly rare kind.
After Kagawa's explanation, the eyes of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney toward Xia Qi wavered…
Such a ruthless player inspires both respect and fear!
Xia Qi stood expressionless, quickly rose to his feet. Captain Mikel Arteta ran over and complained, "You should have acted like you were in a lot of pain to get the ref to pull a card…"
AI–Xia Qi gave Arteta a cold look, tilted his head and in a clipped mechanical voice said, "Database shows La Masia players do that. Should CoLney do that too?"
AI–Xia Qi added: "It's deceit. CoLney doesn't need that."
Human Xia Qi covered his face, embarrassed to look up — that AI had zero social skills; what a thing to say to Arteta! Xia Qi imagined his football life might be difficult from now on.
Unexpectedly, Balotelli beside him added fuel to the fire instead of calming things: "Xia, you did right! I back you!" and then snorted at Arteta.
What an incorrigible kid! Arteta covered his face and stepped away…
The shouts for a red card were deafening, but the referee was unmoved. He pulled out a yellow and showed it to Shinji Kagawa.
At the same time he pointed to the Manchester United goal and awarded Arsenal a free kick.
The Penguin broadcast replayed Kagawa's sliding tackle in slow motion.
"Xia Qi is tough! Usually in that situation a player would jump up first…"
"Xia Qi's physical strength is impressive. After Kagawa's tackle he was fine and stood up."
"A yellow is reasonable. A side tackle that clips the foot should be booked, and since it was outside the box, a yellow is fair."
"In such a high-stakes match that affects the title race, referees are usually cautious — if they can avoid a red or a penalty, they will."
"Arsenal's free kick position is excellent — many great free-kick scorers have scored directly from this exact spot."
On the pitch Kevin De Bruyne placed the ball where the referee indicated.
On the touchline Ferguson's expression was grave. He saw who'd take the free kick — it wasn't the long-range specialist Xia Qi nor the Arsenal prince Jack Wilshere.
That uneasy feeling grew.
"Wall!"
Ferguson shouted to Rooney; with Ferdinand not on the pitch, Rooney acted as on-field captain.
Rooney relayed a hand signal to Ferguson and discussed with goalkeeper David de Gea.
They arranged three players in the front wall and five more behind them in a second row, with Shinji Kagawa lying across the turf behind the five.
That wasn't all — one player stood on each side of the goal.
Ferguson saw Rooney arm the defense to the teeth and smiled, reassured.
"United respect Ding-Ding (De Bruyne)! They copied Real Sociedad's wall setup to defend Messi's free kick."
"Ding-Ding's free kick spot is the same as Messi's that time — United get a chance to copy the homework."
"In that match Real Sociedad managed to stop Messi's free kick; we hope Ding-Ding will surprise us tonight."
Arsenal decided Wilshere and Arteta would stand in the five-man wall, while Xia Qi and Balotelli positioned themselves on each side of the wall, maintaining the required distance from goal and ready to pounce.
De Bruyne placed the ball, took a deep breath and stepped back five or six meters.
In an instant every eye in the Emirates fixed on him.
De Bruyne inhaled deeply, started his run-up. At the final stride his left foot planted heavily to halt his forward momentum, his body leaning left as he swung his right leg.
Left foot rooted, right leg windmilled through the strike.
"Boom!"
A loud crack.
The ball flew like a cannon toward Manchester United's goal.
Spinning violently, it climbed high over the heads of the three-man wall and then over the five-man wall.
Just as everyone thought the ball would fly into the stands, it suddenly dipped. Unlike Xia Qi's elevator-style strikes, this one descended like a withered leaf falling from a tree.
Drifting left and right in midair, its downward pace was nonetheless brisk.
De Gea didn't have time even for a curse. He darted and slapped at the ball with one hand.
The ball seemed to be carried by his palming motion and shifted right, narrowly evading his gloved reach.
De Gea only caught a ghost of it.
At that moment his stomach dropped; he had a bad premonition.
Sure enough,
the ball, in his sight,
fell into the net.
Beep!
The referee blew and pointed to the center circle.
The goal stood — 4:2, Arsenal led by two again.
De Bruyne raced over, leaped onto Xia Qi's back in celebration.
This free kick was Xia Qi's inspiration — he was the first person De Bruyne thought of.
Thankfully AI–Xia Qi wasn't completely lacking in social skill; he held on as De Bruyne ran across the pitch so De Bruyne didn't throw him off.
This made human Xia Qi secretly breathe easier…
Is AI becoming more human-like — is that a good thing?
The Emirates exploded into roaring cheers; some fans even chanted "Arsenal, champions!"
"Wow! Beautiful!"
"Falling-leaf shot!"
"De Bruyne at the Emirates, against Manchester United's staunch defense, produced one of the top ten goals of the round."
"That goal erased the spirit United painstakingly built."
"United clawed it back to 3–2, but De Bruyne's brilliant free kick showed Arsenal is more than Xia Qi alone…"
On the south stand Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp clasped hands and celebrated.
Fans embraced one another enthusiastically.
They all knew that with this goal Arsenal were highly likely to win tonight and could lock the Premier League title with three rounds to spare.
Before the match, the large Tifo displayed by the fans was presented again during warmups; under the mosaic the supporters passed it hand to hand from the south stand to the neighboring stand like a relay drum-beating.
Wenger stood at the touchline and gazed at the Tifo tenderly.
In the image Xia Qi, Kevin De Bruyne and others crowded around Thomas Vermaelen holding the Premier League trophy aloft.
Wenger's eyes grew moist as he forced a smile and asked Pat Rice, "When should we bring Vermaelen on?"
Vermaelen on the bench had been impatient, watching every move.
Suddenly hearing his name, he sprang up and quickly took off his coat.
"Boss! I'm ready."
Wenger didn't correct him; he nodded and sent him to warm up.
Online:
"Ding-Ding extinguished United's counterattack; Arsenal already have one hand on their fourth trophy."
"Suddenly feel sorry for Robin van Persie — whoever's absent is awkward!"
"Is it United's bad luck this season or is Robin van Persie a championship repellent? Hard to know whether to pity van Persie's ambitions or United."
"Still, thanks to van Persie — if he hadn't wanted to win, Arsenal might not have strengthened the front line and Xia Qi could still be at Manchester City."
"So you're saying we at Man City should thank that certain van person's eight generations of ancestors?"
"And us Red Devils…"
Beep!
Play resumed.
Wenger didn't take off a player immediately; he had Aaron Ramsey warm up instead.
Ferguson sat in the dugout writing something in a notebook…
(END CHAPTER)
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