Chapter 125: The Patch Smells Great — Don't Let a Grudge Sleep, Disable 272 Immediately
The score was 4:5; although Arsenal still needed two more goals to advance!
But the pressure had actually shifted to the opponents.
"Right now, the one panicking is that 'too clever for its own good' magic bird!"
Wenger thought this and glanced over at José Mourinho.
At this moment Mourinho indeed had lost the composure he showed at the start.
But he wasn't exactly in a panic!
A strange thought rose in Wenger's mind: if he went over and argued with him now, could he achieve a breakthrough of zero? Embarrassingly, after all these years fighting Mourinho he'd never won an argument!
On the other side of the pitch,
"Boss, should we double-team Xia Qi?"
"We're a man down. If we double-team Xia Qi there'll be gaps elsewhere. A player who can shoot like that probably can pass well too, and Xia Qi is slippery and hard to defend."
"So what do we do?"
"If we can't stop him, just take him out! What about bringing on Kaká?"
Mourinho's assistant rolled his eyes — what was this but "What do you think, Yuanfang?" Would you and Dige Lao listen?
But after thinking it over, he couldn't just be on the payroll and do nothing, so he said, "Xia Qi's destructive power is huge; three at the back suffers. Let's change to a 2-3-4…"
Although Mourinho wanted to replace defense with attack, he didn't make a substitution immediately. The first half was almost over; making changes now would give Wenger time to react — Mourinho wouldn't make such a basic mistake.
On the field, Real were passing around at the back. Having scored three, Arsenal weren't in a hurry to press forward.
Fans thought the remaining time of the half would just pass in tacit understanding.
But suddenly!
Xabi Alonso played an ultra-long pass from the back. Cristiano Ronaldo launched down the right.
"Cristiano!"
"Alonso's long pass from the back! Real launch an attack."
"Cristiano's acceleration is lightning fast; that burst put him past Mikel Arteta."
On the pitch, Cristiano sprinted after the ball at top speed. When Luke Shaw moved up to cover, a change of direction plus acceleration and Cristiano used sheer speed to blow past Luke Shaw.
"Luke Shaw's still young! He's almost defenseless against Cristiano."
"That's not about youth; it's because Cristiano is just too strong!"
"Luke Shaw turns and chases back!"
"But what can you do to chase someone in Golden-Edged-Ronaldo mode?"
Online:
"Cristiano used a single change of direction and acceleration to blow up Arsenal's left flank."
"Brutal, that mule!"
"I thought Lu Bu was invincible — turns out there's someone even fiercer."
Per Mertesacker told Samuel Umtiti something and rushed at Cristiano. He didn't mark tightly but blocked Cristiano's left side to prevent a direct shot.
That was a savvy defensive move!
Cristiano's cut inside and shot are a continuous motion.
When he cuts in, his right leg plants and the left leg swings back — if there's no one in front, he follows with a windmill-like thunderbolt shot.
From that distance Cristiano believed no keeper could stop his blast.
But Mertesacker used his body to block the shooting lane. Cristiano's left foot could only land on the ball, turning his ankle; with the instep he nudged the ball to the right.
It went out for a throw.
That choice was better than a direct shot, but not by much.
Cristiano had lost the shooting angle.
He looked into the box and saw Karim Benzema tightly marked by Umtiti — not a good option.
At that moment Cristiano saw 272 making a run into the left half-space of the box.
With no better option, he picked him!
Without hesitation Cristiano curled his right foot and lofted the ball.
The ball rose from that side of the box to the other.
"Nice switch."
"Mertesacker's too afraid of Cristiano; he should've stuck him tightly and not given him passing space."
272 saw the pass and sprinted forward.
"272's been left unmarked!"
"Danger! If he gets it it's a one-on-one!"
"Xia Qi's back too!"
"They're both sprinting!"
Two lightning flashes raced toward the ball — initially the white figure was ahead, but the next second the red figure overtook him.
"Beautiful!"
"The monkeys on both shores cry without stopping; the little boat has already passed ten thousand mountains!" (poetic commentary)
"Xia Qi is so fast!"
Xia Qi surged past 272, reached the ball, but instead of booting it away he artfully trapped and turned.
272 wouldn't even concede a corner opportunity — malice rose in his chest!
He slid in low at Xia Qi; not only a slide but the notorious "scissor tackle."
Xia Qi used his right foot to pull the ball back, escaping 272's left leg, but 272's right leg still caught Xia Qi's left foot.
If it had been before, Al-mode Xia Qi would have stood solid as a rock and absorbed the tackle, and the human Xia Qi would have quietly licked his wounds afterward.
But,
United had been double-bested!
The Man United double defeat dropped the "Stadium Taboo Patch Pack," and since then Al wasn't "pure" anymore.
"Ding dong: Stadium taboo has been activated. The system applies damage according to the opponent's level of maliciousness. Also, the current referee's line of sight has a blind spot and the host's favorability rises to intimate friend."
On the pitch, Xia Qi's plant left foot was clipped; his body naturally launched forward and he fell.
At that moment 272 slid with legs spread and was directly underneath the airborne Xia Qi.
272 didn't yet sense the danger; a smug smile lit his face.
The next second, Xia Qi's knees hit the ground — and he landed kneeling right between 272's legs.
"Ah!"
A horrible scream!
It made every male's spine shiver and reflexively clamp his legs together.
Human Xia Qi couldn't help but offer a three-second moment of mourning for 272's wife, sincerely hoping their neighbor Old Wang would offer condolences…
Beep!
The referee ran over to check the injury.
272 writhed on the ground with pain and couldn't answer.
The referee waved for the medics.
Al-mode Xia Qi stood expressionless to one side. While the referee questioned 272, Xia Qi was surrounded by Real players and Pepe pointed at his nose threateningly — but none of it changed his iceberg calm.
Arsenal players of course wouldn't let Xia Qi face it alone; they came over, shielding him and accusing Real of dirty play.
Both sides exchanged words but didn't come to blows — they're veterans and know the rules.
Wenger, unable to bear it, once more surged at Mourinho and the two erupted into another shouting match.
After dealing with 272, the referee turned to Xia Qi. Xia Qi didn't answer; he raised his hand and pointed to the big screen.
The screen displayed a slow-motion replay of the sequence.
In the replay, 272 slid into Xia Qi, sending him flying. Xia Qi's landing was due to gravity; hitting 272's crotch was purely coincidental.
As they say, the evildoer gets his comeuppance!
"This kid — that's just really unlucky." Someone muttered, voicing what many felt.
Many nodded…
But Real's players quickly reacted, shouting at the referee, "He did it on purpose!"
"Nonsense — how is that intentional? If 272 hadn't slid or hadn't committed, would he have been injured?"
"Referee, that scissors tackle deserves a card."
The referee snorted. "You telling me how to do my job?"
Seeing Arteta clamp his mouth shut, the referee shouted, "All clear out, or I'll show cards."
Once the players spread out, he chased down 272, who lay on a stretcher, and showed him a yellow card.
Then he called Mourinho and Wenger over and warned them.
"My player is injured; the injurer didn't get carded; the injured got a yellow. I'm on the bench being accused by a maniac, and as the victim I get warned — where's the fairness?"
"Sir, tell me where Xia Qi is at fault? 272 slid him; Xia Qi's downward fall was uncontrollable and within the rules.
I booked 272 because of the scissors tackle — you should know FIFA disallows such actions. Yellow is the lightest punishment.
I warned you to control your players' tempers. You've had a back-of-the-leg chop and a scissors tackle — do you want to be a taekwondo coach?"
Mourinho flew into a rage. "You're blatantly biased! I'll appeal…"
In the live stream:
"272's action was despicable; even a yellow felt light."
"His injury was an unlucky result unrelated to Xia Qi. Xia Qi didn't intentionally land on him."
"Evil gets its comeuppance — this isn't superstition but stadium metaphysics."
Online:
"272 is such scum! A scissors tackle! Feeling so sorry for Xia Qi — every time he's fouled he stands up tough and never rolls around begging for sympathy."
"272 has no class. Can't outrun someone so he scissor-kicks them! Thank the heavens — three cheers for that."
"What's happened to Real tonight? So alien."
"Seeing 272 get divine retribution I laughed like a pig. Weak question: is 272's wife pretty? Where does she live? Old Wang, I'm moving next door."
"Why wait? I already live next door to him last week. My surname is also Wang."
On the terraces Arsenal fans fumed. They ran up to the player tunnel above and shouted at 272 as he was carried off to the dressing room for treatment:
"Executioner! May you never rise again!"
"Go to Thailand, you beast!"
"…"
272 covered his face with his hands as the medics quickened their steps…
…
Mourinho stood on the sideline ordering his players to defend; at this time Real had only nine players on the field.
But the referee assessed that a lot of time had been wasted in the first half and added five minutes of stoppage time.
Mourinho stomped his foot in fury!
Fortunately,
in the remaining time both sides had a fire in their bellies; each thought they'd been wronged and wanted to stand up for teammates.
The pitch became a lumberyard — tackles flew and people kept getting thrown down; no cohesive attacks could form, let alone goals.
Before long, aside from the goalkeepers, no player's kit was clean; everyone had some mud on them.
By the time the first half ended, the score remained 0:3!
(END CHAPTER)
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