Chapter 120: The Red Devils' Swan Song — The Gunners' Fourth Crown
Sir Alex Ferguson was furious,
furious to the point of exploding!
He admitted that trailing by two goals in the 68th minute was a significant deficit.
But,
you Arsenal fans are already cheering the title,
you Arsène Wenger are already in tears —
what kind of meaning is that?
Ferguson's hairdryer treatment unleashed like a machine gun.
First, he kicked a water bottle on the touchline toward Jesse Lingard.
"Jesse, what are you staring at? Get warmed up."
Ferguson paused, trying to rein in his temper a little: "Rio (Ferdinand), I need your help — can you still fight?"
Lingard, though he hadn't been hit by the bottle, was startled and then overjoyed. He hurriedly took off his jacket. When Ferguson spoke to Rio Ferdinand in a completely different tone, Lingard's eyes sparkled with envy; he longed for the day Ferguson would "respect" him like that.
Ferdinand thumped his chest and said, "Boss, I promise you won't regret it after the match."
Then he patted Lingard on the shoulder: "Come on, kid! When you need to save the day, don't dawdle!"
Having arranged the substitutions, while Arsenal celebrated, Ferguson gathered his players and launched into another tirade.
"You lot of soft boys, you're a pile of rubbish. You're the worst squad I've ever coached. You want an old man on the verge of retirement to save you? Rio, you've had the misfortune of having teammates like these for eight generations."
"Time's short. Do you accept defeat and let the opponents step on our corpses and lift the trophy? Or do you rise like men, fight back, and teach Arsenal a lesson? Choose!"
"Boss, we want to fight!"
"What did you say? I can't hear you!"
The Manchester United players shouted loudly: "Boss, we want to fight!"
"A bunch of women, your voices are like mosquitoes."
So the United players shouted even louder: "We want to fight!"
The motivational routine was crude and clichéd, but it worked superbly.
After a few roars, United's morale visibly returned.
"If you're still men, let their half-time cheers become our Milan half-time champagne!"
"Go fight! Men!"
Under Ferguson's hairdryer blast, the United players' eyes showed a flash of ferocity. His words ignited their anger — Red Devil glory could not end in their hands. From now on, lower your posture, give everything, fight to the last.
"Arsenal, clean your necks!"
The united shout carried across the pitch.
Uncle Rice — Pat Rice glanced toward United, nervously asking Wenger: "Really not changing tactics? Wilshere and Luke might be running out of stamina…"
"Pat, our opponent isn't them; our opponent is Real Madrid. Being four goals down needs iron will and unity to work a miracle at the Bernabéu. United's counter-attack is the first step in tempering us into steel. No one's more suitable for that."
"But if they beat United tonight we're champions. Even if we lose we'd still lead by three points, but… what if the cost is too high?"
"Phoenixes must be reborn in flame; it's a painful process. If one title can harden these kids, it's worth it."
Pat Rice sighed. "Alright, hope you're right. Look — Ferguson's nose looks crooked with rage…"
"That's nothing. I'll bet a drink that when the final whistle blows, he'll refuse to shake my hand and then announce he's postponing retirement at the post-match press conference."
"Haha, I can't wait — don't let me win that bet or I'll hate you for life."
"Oh, by the way, Aaron Ramsey and Thomas Vermaelen are still warming up."
"Let them warm up. Don't let Ferguson know I intend to sound the retreat — imagine how he'd keep his fury then."
"You're evil — but I like it."
Beep!
The match restarted. Jesse Lingard and Rio Ferdinand came on, replacing Patrice Evra and Rafael da Silva respectively; United switched to a back three.
Arsenal, surprisingly, made no substitutions. Ferguson stared at Wenger for two or three seconds, saw no reaction, then turned his head back to the pitch.
After the whistle, Lingard played to Robin van Persie, who laid it back to Shinji Kagawa.
United's formation spread rapidly.
"Ferguson has made his move. United are now playing a 3-6-1. There's only van Persie as a lone striker; the apparent attacking strength is reduced, but in truth, he who controls midfield controls the game."
"It seems United haven't given up — Arsenal are in for a big test."
On the field, United's midfield pressed Wilshere, Kevin De Bruyne and Mikel Arteta with tight passing and penetration.
Wayne Rooney, dropping back, was like a wolf among sheep; his physicality, combined with the Premier League's unique style of contact, completely overran Arsenal's midfield in individual duels.
"Arsenal need a Fat Tiger or Professor Busquets."
Penguin commentator Zhang Lu once more hit Arsenal's weakest point on the nose.
His solution was distant water — useless for the immediate blaze.
The Arsenal defenders, seeing the danger, hurried to bolster the link with midfield. Especially the two full-backs, Luke Shaw and Serge Aurier, who began making more frequent overlapping runs.
But it was too late.
Rooney had momentum — that unseen force that's elusive but real.
At this moment Rooney, combining with van Persie, Kagawa, Lingard… everything they did worked: interchanging runs, short pass penetrations, triangle attacks, stretching wide support…
They were masterful.
Arsenal's midfield belly was in turmoil.
Ferguson looked at Wenger again. When their eyes met, Ferguson arrogantly lifted his chin.
The meaning was clear: I changed the plan and took control — impressive, right?
Even honest men have moments of mischief, and in those moments they're asking for a smack. Wenger, who usually kept his composure, suddenly made a small gesture toward Ferguson: the number six.
Ferguson's face instantly flushed.
Both hands shook harder; he snorted and stopped looking at Wenger, fixing his gaze on the pitch. His heaving belly betrayed his mood.
Clearly, he was a little mad at Wenger.
On the pitch, Rooney charged and barreled through. Once a tank gets up speed it's deadly. Santi Cazorla, desperate, had to pull and hold — earning a yellow card.
Wenger's expression changed — his worst worry had come true.
On the pitch Arteta broadened his sweep and tried to shoulder more of the defensive midfield duties.
Arteta initially played as an advanced central midfielder at Arsenal, but the team lacked a proper defensive midfielder. Cazorla is better suited as a creative midfield—not a defensive shield.
Wenger had little money, so he often used a makeshift double pivot to compensate.
But football is not a math equation: pairing Arteta and Cazorla was a workaround; in high-level games their weaknesses would be exposed.
To make matters worse, Cazorla picked up a yellow card. Just as Wenger and the fans felt anxious,
Arteta stepped up and took on more responsibility — a positive attitude and a transformation.
On the touchline Wenger and Pat Rice exchanged a smile. United's grinder had first sharpened Arteta — just when they were about to doze someone handed them a pillow… Ferguson, you are a good man!
Transformation takes time — and United weren't going to give them any.
They began rapid switching, trying to tear Arsenal's defense apart in the shortest time possible.
"Hold it!"
"The left is empty. Wilshere, Aurier, don't go out to double up — you two drop back to defend."
"Kevin (De Bruyne), let Rooney in. I'll handle him."
"Cazo, go help Luke…"
Unconsciously, Arteta took over the match and became Arsenal's on-field commander.
Under his direction Arsenal plugged several gaps, but their midfield was still being torn piece by piece…
This season was the Red Devils' last glorious stand; they were top-tier in the Premier League and second only to the Real/Bayern class in the world.
Arsenal recoiled under United's relentless assault!
Suddenly,
Arteta's pupils contracted — a white streak like a shot-arrow zipped past his cheek.
"What?"
"Was that a football?"
Arteta turned to look at the goal and saw Martínez stunned — he had just moved a step and before he could dive the ball was already bouncing in the net.
"Fuck!"
Martínez's face darkened; he waved his hand and muttered angrily.
"World-class strike!"
"From the recently introduced Jesse Lingard — a long-range shot."
"A shaft of light through the clouds, an army meeting on the field. After Rooney's cut-back to the edge of the box this sudden cold arrow came from nowhere; Martínez never saw it coming."
Kevin De Bruyne, who had been defending Lingard, immediately raised his right hand to indicate to teammates that it was his fault.
Lingard's touch and shooting motion were minimal and very disguised; after the ball flew De Bruyne only then reacted.
"It's the 75th minute — Manchester United have pulled one back. The overall score is now 4–3!"
"Wenger should make a change."
Ferguson thought the same and turned to look at Wenger again.
But Wenger was calm, as if travelling through another world…
The match resumed.
After conceding, Arsenal collectively pressed higher, increasing their intensity and even engaging United physically — a version of Arsenal that was not typically timid.
Facing United's boisterous contact, they no longer shied away but collided head-on.
For possession and rhythm they played not like Arsenal!
Arsenal's desperate play made Shinji Kagawa… passive and frustrated.
After repeatedly being flattened, Kagawa's ingrained hesitancy around stronger opponents surfaced; he began hiding from challenges.
Ferguson jumped around on the touchline in fury. If he had a substitution left, he'd have hauled Kagawa off.
Kevin De Bruyne's football intelligence quickly spotted United's flaw and marked Kagawa tightly.
On the touchline Wenger smiled again.
"Arsène, United's second grinding blade is Kevin."
"I always felt Kevin shouldn't just be a raider — Chelsea's development had the wrong direction; he should have aspired to more…"
On the pitch De Bruyne pressed United's weakness, hovering around Kagawa and applying huge pressure.
The more Kagawa feared De Bruyne stealing the ball, the faster he released it, and the faster he released it the less organized he became.
Without organization, even the bravest players become a loose pack.
United fans saw the midfield chaos — their earlier momentum had turned to a flock of headless flies.
As seasoned supporters they knew the dire consequences of losing midfield control.
They began asking who the ball-looking-anime-character guy was.
In the Arsenal team Xia Qi was the brightest star, then Martínez, then Wilshere; though less flashy, the pedigree was solid. Then the once-globally-famous Balotelli…
De Bruyne, among so many stars at Arsenal, didn't stand out visually, but Wenger and Pat Rice knew his energy was more than the eye could see — his altitude was in the stratosphere.
Ferguson heard someone shout behind him: "Find someone to help that Japanese guy."
Ferguson cursed inwardly: "Fools! Do you think I don't know that? The problem is De Bruyne isn't Arsenal's absolute core. If you overload two vs one, United will lose out somewhere; better to… "
With Scholes aging, Ferguson had long favored wing-driven attacks, bypassing midfield organization.
At this point Ferguson wanted to play a trading tactic: abandon midfield organization and let Nani, Lingard, Valencia — pull wide for direct runs and occupy the center on rebounds.
The idea was actually correct.
After changing tactics United immediately created chances. Valencia burst down the right and crossed; van Persie headed at goal but Martínez collected it.
Two minutes later Arsenal answered: Xia Qi received Wilshere's through ball on the right of the box, feinted a shot then passed into the area.
Balotelli struck powerfully but United keeper David de Gea saved.
De Gea quickly released the ball; Nani breezed past De Bruyne and Arteta and sent the ball into Arsenal's box along the byline.
Rooney timed his run and broke the offside line, creating a one-on-one.
Over twenty thousand traveling United fans cheered.
Rooney slightly slowed his sprint and hammered a shot.
But Samuel Umtiti tracked back and arrived just in time; as Rooney decelerated Umtiti slid in decisively, and the ball hit his thigh.
"Umtiti's heroic clearance! Rooney wastes a golden chance to level!"
Rooney pounded the turf in frustration — sometimes choice matters more than effort.
Two minutes later Wilshere advanced with the ball, but Michael Carrick intercepted and played a direct pass to Lingard.
Lingard combined with Valencia down the right and released van Persie into space.
Van Persie burst through the crowd, but Mertesacker also surged and positioned himself between van Persie and the ball.
"Beautiful marking!"
"Ferguson is a master; under his guidance United are thriving. Wenger's in-match tactics look a bit stiff — he seems caught off guard by Ferguson's reshuffle."
Zhang Lu misread Wenger — Wenger was simply allowing United to sharpen his players. Now the defenders were being tempered.
Time flowed between attack and defense; before they knew it, it was the 85th minute.
Arteta intercepted in his half, and with United's formation pushed up he sent a long pass toward Xia Qi.
Balotelli in the center immediately surged forward as Arteta released the pass. Xia Qi out-jumped the Ferguson-trusted Rio Ferdinand and headed the ball to Balotelli.
Balotelli beat Phil Jones to the ball, took it under control, shifted it from left to right to create space from Phil Jones.
He spread his arms to keep Jones away, then rotated and pulled the trigger with a side-foot strike.
The ball flew like a cannon toward United's goal. De Gea, overthinking, misread Balotelli's intention.
He expected a near-post shot.
Balotelli, however, took the unexpected route — the ball smashed into the center of the goal.
De Gea dived the wrong way.
Arsenal led again by two.
5–3!
"It's the 85th minute, less than ten minutes to go. Arsenal lead by two. Balotelli has killed the match."
"United fought bravely tonight, but Arsenal showed even more resilience…"
After scoring Balotelli ran berserk to the corner and danced wildly.
Far away Lingard watched, entranced; many of those moves flashed through his mind...
At this point Wenger finally brought on Vermaelen and Aaron Ramsey.
Xia Qi and Wilshere were substituted.
Under Wenger's instructions Arsenal switched to full-side defending.
Eight minutes later the referee blew for full time.
"Congratulations — Arsenal win the club's fourth Premier League title…"
(END CHAPTER)
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