Chapter 150: The Taboo Patch Pack Takes Effect — Even AI Has a Temper
"Blazing the diamond, smoke scours the elder…"
AI lost!
Sadio Mané, with his outstanding offside-breaking runs and explosive pace, pulled one back for Liverpool!
Mané scored!
Overcome with excitement,
he spread his arms and ran with his head tilted back, let the rain wash his face as if that would help him calm down.
…
After Liverpool equalized, their morale soared and they turned the pressure back onto Arsenal.
Arsenal first felt a stab in the back from their own kid fans, then another blow to the stomach from the "smoke-stinging elder" — morale evaporated after the whistle, and they were forced to shrink their defensive block and pray for halftime.
In the last five minutes before the break Arsenal's goal looked like a small boat on stormy seas, always in danger of capsizing — but somehow they survived without disaster.
It was 1–1 at half-time.
Both managers were satisfied with that result — after all it was a match between the league's first and second, and a draw was acceptable.
But Arsenal fans were not happy.
They blamed the referee, called him trash, a biased ref…
They felt Walcott's one-on-one should not have been blown dead; the kid's stray ball did not affect play — it was a wrongful decision.
So the instant the whistle blew, Arsenal supporters did not rush with the players into that sense of relief; instead they expressed strong dissatisfaction.
They answered with thunderous boos and chanted, "xxx, biased ref!" "xxx, biased ref!"
Under the jeers the referee scooped up the match ball and, face dark, hurried into the tunnel.
During the interval Arsène Wenger first praised his players' performance with a gentle manner, then offered comfort: "Forget that one-on-one. I was naughtier than that when I was a kid…"
Gossip is a good balm for anger and disappointment.
Xia Qi and the others could hardly imagine the urbane Wenger being a troublemaker as a boy… if he wasn't telling a white lie, that would be explosive!
Wenger told one or two embarrassing childhood stories in a quiet voice and the dressing room dissolved into laughter… the little fire that had nested in the players' hearts slowly died down.
The 15-minute half-time passed quickly.
Neither manager felt the first-half tactics were at fault, so no changes were made.
Jürgen Klopp is a fiery coach, and his half-time pep talk packed a bit too much punch.
At the restart Liverpool players treated the Emirates like their own ground; from the whistle they came out like tigers down the mountain, bristling with life…
Xia Qi and his teammates were stunned…
They naturally switched to defensive counter-attacks.
This was a moment to see whether Wenger's summer work had paid off.
Xia Qi and Gustavo's combined sweeping around twenty meters from the penalty area made Arsenal's goal as solid as a fortress.
In Klopp's eyes there were stars — he knew Xia Qi could organize from an attacking midfield role, but he never expected Xia Qi to perform so well as a defensive midfielder.
On the pitch,
the two sides stalemated like this.
The game slipped silently through six minutes in a tussle of attack and defense.
Pat Rice: "Should we remind Xia Qi or tell him to organize a counterattack?"
"Pá, you're overanxious — Theo and Serge are already making forward runs."
Worrying only makes things worse!
Pat Rice, unsettled, only noticed Xia Qi defending and ignored that Xia Qi didn't want the wingers to cover…
Clearly Xia Qi was holding back a big move! If Pat Rice wasn't so anxious he would have seen Xia Qi's intention.
In the 55th minute Gustavo again made a fine defensive action, a 1v1 stop on Mohamed Salah, and successfully poked the ball to Santi Cazorla.
Cazorla lightly flicked the ball with his toe and the ball flew over Philippe Coutinho's head.
It dropped toward where Xia Qi was standing.
A burst of warm applause rose in the Emirates.
At that moment Arsenal fans only saw Gustavo's tidy defense and Cazorla's precise switch… but Wenger and Pat Rice saw the next second, and they both rose from the bench and stood on the touchline.
Steven Gerrard lunged at Xia Qi, but tonight Xia Qi had matched with Ronaldinho's attributes.
Ball control world-class Ronaldinho doesn't need much space to pass; Gerrard's lunge failed to stop Xia Qi from swinging his right foot at the ball.
The ball spun violently, skimming the turf past Gerrard's left foot with speed, piercing Jordan Henderson and Martin Škrtel,
and landed behind Van Dijk…
At that moment in Liverpool's penalty area, Van Dijk and Škrtel were standing roughly parallel left and right.
When the ball reached behind Van Dijk it curved, dropped through the gap between Van Dijk and Škrtel, and rolled to Mario Balotelli.
An n-shaped pass (U-shaped pass).
This kind of pass that curves automatically with set positioning — Kevin De Bruyne is the master of it.
But the passer here was Xia Qi!
Xia Qi matched with Ronaldinho's attributes!
In an instant,
the Emirates' roar became a tsunami — it was so intense that the rain seemed to stop.
"Ding ding's n-shaped pass — at this moment Xia Qi fights with De Bruyne's spirit!"
"Balotelli is sprinting…"
One second before!
"Ding dong — [Telepathic Synchrony] attribute triggered…"
In the middle Balotelli sped forward,
Van Dijk turned — wait, where's the ball?
Simon Mignolet and Škrtel stood stunned; the ball seemed alive, like a little puppy!
They suddenly realized they weren't spectators — and their spirits scattered…
Mignolet: "Defend!" "Stop him!"
Škrtel: "Van Dijk!"
Balotelli, in full sprint, lightly nudged the ball and sent it behind Škrtel, then bulldozed Škrtel aside like a tank.
He burst into the penalty area, and facing the closing Mignolet fired toward the far post!
One second earlier,
Mignolet had not stayed glued to his line — he had rushed out with Balotelli's run,
and seeing Balotelli swing his leg he dived across, but he caught nothing.
The ball skimmed past his fingertips and continued toward the far post.
In the penalty area,
in an instant,
Van Dijk lurched toward the far post with a grimace,
Walcott slid low toward the far post,
Facing Mignolet at close range, Balotelli did not blindly try to beat the keeper, instead he played a shot that was half-pass, half-shot.
In the Emirates,
both sets of fans uttered a simultaneous "Ah!" — their hearts skipping a beat; in that instant they were torn between extremes.
Arsenal fans → ecstatic → slightly crestfallen → praying the ball will stay within the frame.
Liverpool fans → fearful → then overjoyed → praying the ball will clip the post and go out.
On the pitch, at the far post
Van Dijk was as fast as a firebolt,
Walcott like lightning,
Van Dijk reached first and kicked the ball out over the goal line, and leapt high.
Walcott missed the tackle, and his left foot struck the post.
"Van Dijk to the rescue!"
"He seized on Balotelli's indecisive shot and cleared the danger first."
"Balotelli wasted Xia Qi's exquisite pass; such a great chance and at the crucial moment he choked…"
"In hindsight, better to just blast it and hope to beat Mignolet in a footrace."
"Hey, call the physio? Walcott injured?"
Walcott, who had clipped the post with his sliding tackle, sat on the turf holding the sole of his left foot; he felt his exerted left leg muscles and fascia go numb and sore…
Balotelli and the others wore heavy, grim faces; Xia Qi remained as calm as ever, though inside he was cursing…
Arsenal's physio ran onto the pitch with the medical kit, examined Walcott, and Wenger made a substitution.
On the touchline Wenger kicked a water bottle in anger — a rare outburst in his career.
When Walcott was carried off the stretcher, the internet exploded.
[Shit, Arsenal's got bad feng shui — he missed the ball but injured himself.]
[Proved — Arsenal's been hexed, is this the third one?]
[If you count Szczęsny and Rosický it's the fifth…]
[Can Arsenal not hire a proper physio? No matter how short of cash, don't hire a "vet"!]
[Pity Xia Qi…]
[Pity +1!]
…
On the bench, the players grew tense.
Wenger looked toward the bench — a positional substitution would mean Aaron Ramsey, but Ramsey's link-up with Xia Qi wasn't great.
A like-for-like change could bring Mikel Arteta on and free Xia Qi up, giving him more space?
Grind Xia Qi into the ground?
In the end Wenger dared not overuse Xia Qi — he didn't want to burn him out…
Aaron Ramsey began warming up.
…
Before Aaron Ramsey came on, Arsenal were a man down on the pitch.
Van Dijk hoofed it away and Arsenal won a corner on the right side.
Cazorla took the corner,
and Xia Qi tussled with the notoriously grabby Van Dijk in the box.
As Cazorla swung the corner in, Xia Qi surged forward to attack the header.
At that moment Van Dijk grabbed Xia Qi's shirt from the side.
AI-Xia Qi ignored it and kept charging. To break the grip he increased his force output; but the human brain is also a high-level calculator.
Van Dijk, seeing Xia Qi boost his effort and judging it wasn't a feint, immediately let go.
AI-Xia Qi burst out; he made contact with the ball but the point of contact was different and the ball flew out of play.
AI vs human again — out-calculated.
Xia Qi picked himself up from the muddy turf and walked silently to the center circle; Van Dijk felt a chill — something bad was wrong.
If Xia Qi had cursed at him or even glared back, Van Dijk wouldn't have felt uneasy; instead this blankness felt foreboding.
Van Dijk shook his head to try to throw off the thought, but Murphy's law is everywhere.
In the 68th minute Arsenal had the ball.
Xia Qi broke through centrally, with Gerrard coming up to press.
Xia Qi glanced at Serge Gnabry not far to Gerrard's right, then lifted his right leg…
Gerrard charged over, intending a 1v1 stop, but Xia Qi was about to pass.
Acting on a "try anything" principle, Gerrard stuck a leg out to intercept.
When Xia Qi's right foot struck the side of the ball his ankle made a cross-twist; the ball changed direction and slid through Gerrard's legs.
Computation is AI's forte — whether static or dynamic calculation, it only loses to the human element.
Gerrard was shocked and turned to chase back, but Xia Qi had already carried the ball away…
"A nutmeg through the legs!"
"Oscar owes Xia Qi a little golden statue."
"Xia Qi can fool Gerrard not only with acting — his twisted-ankle strike is a brilliant technique. Fewer than a handful in the world can do it well, and the master user is Ronaldinho…"
On the pitch Xia Qi strode forward with the ball.
"Xia Qi on a quick break."
"Van Dijk marks Xia Qi."
Seeing Xia Qi charge at him, Van Dijk's earlier unease vanished.
Stomping on someone is not scary!
"Eat him up!"
"Haven't seen you do a full one-on-one run in ages!"
"This tall one's best fried — make a fried meatball!"
"Xia, kebabs are delicious, nutmeg him and then shoot after!"
The Arsenal fans cheered loudly for Xia Qi — lines of black veins crawled across Van Dijk's forehead.
Eat me?
As if!
Just before the box line,
Xia Qi executed a "Messi shoulder drop."
He dipped his left shoulder; Van Dijk did not bite and did not commit to Xia Qi's right side; instead he subtly moved left, preparing to slide in hard if Xia Qi cut right.
Xia Qi didn't fall for it either.
In a flash they exchanged moves, neither getting the upper hand.
AI-Xia Qi, seeing both sides blocked, suddenly stopped and spun — the move surprised Van Dijk, who expected a stop-and-lateral-pull change.
Was Xia Qi about to play a reverse triangle pass?
Just as Van Dijk hesitated, Xia Qi spun again — actually he spun to Van Dijk's left.
At that point Xia Qi was no longer facing Van Dijk directly.
Simultaneously Xia Qi continued his spin — this time dragging the ball along with the turn.
"A Romário spin!"
Judging by the final movement alone, Xia Qi executed a Romário-style turn to beat his man.
But Xia Qi had set it up with two earlier turns.
"Beautiful! Consecutive turns and he got past him. Reminds me of the great's Abidjan turn — even more than the Marseille turn, the intent is the same: to beat the man. Xia Qi's spin is the same."
"It's like a joseki in Go — you must adapt it, not copy mechanically. Football is the same; if one spin won't beat the man, chain three."
"I suggest we rename this spin; fans can think about it."
Xia Qi got past and faced the keeper 1v1, and Mignolet had not expected Xia Qi to cut inside — he had not left his line.
"Danger!"
Orange alert!
Van Dijk's internal alarm bells rang; he immediately turned and slid decisively, no hesitation, no half measures!
At the instant he committed, he saw Xia Qi wink mischievously over his shoulder.
Van Dijk's sense of triumph vanished.
As Xia Qi executed the Romário spin to beat him—
"Ding dong — the stadium taboo patch pack took effect."
Last season, after completing a double over Manchester United, Xia Qi received a taboo patch pack. With the patch applied, in AI mode Xia Qi could pull shirts, elbow out… small fouls of that sort.
Human Xia Qi never imagined the first intended little foul would be designed to make Van Dijk get a red card.
Xia Qi's turn left him in front of Van Dijk; when Van Dijk went in with a tackle it was a tackle from behind — and inside the penalty area…
Otherwise, with AI-level calculation, he would have made Van Dijk miss cleanly.
AI-Xia Qi went down as human Xia Qi shouted, "My foot!" and rolled on the ground.
Wenger's heart leapt into his throat on the touchline.
Wenger didn't care about the red-card combo; he cared about Xia Qi's health.
Strange things had been happening recently — players kept getting injured… they simply couldn't afford it!
Wenger's mood reflected that of Arsenal fans.
So when Xia Qi went down there was no shout of "Red card or penalty?" from Wenger.
The referee reacted quickly; the whistle blew as Xia Qi fell.
AI-Xia Qi writhed on the turf clutching his foot.
Wenger stormed to the fourth official: "This is football, not bloody American football…"
Arsenal players swarmed the referee: "Red card! Penalty! There was no one behind him."
Liverpool players also clustered: "Van Dijk didn't mean it…" "Xia Qi is diving."
Balotelli ran to Xia Qi: "You okay?"
AI-Xia Qi winked at him —
balanced and understood!
"Alright, brother! You're getting as clever as I am."
Human Xia Qi wanted to ask: do you have this thing?
But he couldn't open his mouth!
The referee pushed through the players and walked to Van Dijk, raised his arm, and held a red card aloft.
Van Dijk looked at the red card, shook his head and muttered self-deprecatingly: "Damn sixth sense."
When he'd tried the little trick earlier to make Xia Qi mis-head, he'd had a premonition… a man's sixth sense is pretty accurate!
Slow-motion replay showed Xia Qi did not dive — Van Dijk had indeed slid into him.
But the replay also revealed Xia Qi's wink and the curl at the corner of his mouth.
What on earth was going on?
It left imaginations running wild.
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Bankai10