February 5th.
The 26th round of the Premier League kicked off, with Arsenal visiting St. James' Park to challenge Newcastle United.
What was initially seen as a one-sided match by outsiders turned out to be a thrilling, classic game.
Anyway, Fly was completely stunned by this match...
Arsène Wenger was also nearly sent to the ICU, almost dying of anger from this match.
Since Jerome Boateng and Suarez had just arrived at the club and were still undergoing medical examinations, they didn't have time to train with the team.
Therefore, Arsenal still started with their full squad for this match!
The first half of the match went smoothly, with everything proceeding according to the script the media had speculated.
The 1st minute of the match.
Fly provided a lightning assist for Walcott to score, giving Arsenal an immediate opening goal and a 1:0 lead.
The 3rd minute of the match.
Walcott completed a steal in the attacking third, and Arsenal counterattacked on the spot.
This time, Walcott returned the favor; facing a near one-on-one situation, he chose not to shoot directly but passed the ball to Fly, who was at the far post.
Facing a wide-open half-empty net, Fly easily pushed the ball into the goal with a tap-in.
Arsenal led 2:0, and it seemed like this match was about to be a rout.
The 10th minute of the match.
Walcott assisted Van Persie again for a goal, and Arsenal had already taken a significant 3:0 lead against Newcastle United less than 10 minutes into the game.
The 26th minute of the match.
Sagna delivered a cross from the flank, and Fly leaped high, scoring a rare header, something he wasn't particularly good at.
Arsenal led Newcastle United 4:0; the match was completely blown open...
It could be said that at this point in the match, many media outlets had already prematurely predicted that Arsenal would extend the European top 5 leagues' longest winning streak to 19 consecutive wins.
Fleet Street journalists had already written their news articles, just waiting for the final whistle to publish them immediately.
But what happened next completely shocked all the fans, media workers, and even the players on the Arsenal and Newcastle United benches who were watching the match...
During halftime, Arsène Wenger, seeing the team leading by four goals, directly substituted Fly, bringing on defender Djourou to strengthen the defense.
However, it was this seemingly very reasonable substitution that directly led to the subsequent collapse.
The 48th minute of the match.
Djourou, who had just come on as a substitute, pulled a hamstring while challenging a Newcastle United forward and was forced to be substituted.
With no other option, Arsène Wenger had to bring on Squillaci, a defensive liability.
After all, in his opinion, they were already leading by four goals, so it didn't matter even if they brought on this defensive liability...
Anyway, one or two mistakes wouldn't cause Arsenal to be overturned.
But what happened next nearly caused Arsène Wenger to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage.
Only two minutes had passed, in the 50th minute of the match.
Diaby, who had finally gotten a starting spot, was red-carded after stepping on an opponent during a challenge.
The 69th minute of the match.
Arsenal goalkeeper Szczęsny rushed out and fouled Newcastle United forward Leon Best, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty awarded by the Main Referee.
Newcastle United's primary penalty taker, Joey Barton, took the ball and scored, helping Newcastle United pull a goal back.
1:4, Newcastle United still trailed by three goals.
Initially, no one had any particular thoughts about this conceded goal; most people just thought it was a goal for Newcastle United to save face...
But what happened next left everyone completely stunned!
The 70th minute of the match.
Walcott was substituted, and Rosicky came on as a substitute.
The 73rd minute of the match.
Newcastle United made a substitution, with Lovenkrands being replaced by forward Ranger.
The 75th minute of the match.
José Enrique, the Spanish defender who would later join Liverpool, assisted Leon Best for a goal.
Newcastle United 2:4 Arsenal, pulling back two goals!
It was at this moment that many people suddenly felt something was wrong with the situation on the field...
It seemed like Newcastle United had a chance to equalize the score!
The 79th minute of the match.
Arsène Wenger also felt that the situation on the field was not right; Newcastle United had started to press Arsenal.
With one player less, Arsenal's two-goal lead was not secure.
So, Arsène Wenger substituted Wilshere and brought on Eboue to strengthen the defense.
At this point, Arsenal had set up a six-man defense.
Varane, Koscielny, Sagna, Clichy, Squillaci, Eboue...
Arsène Wenger, who had initially thought this defense was as solid as a mountain, was immediately proven wrong!
The 83rd minute of the match.
Sagna was shown a yellow card and conceded a penalty by the Main Referee for an unintentional handball in the penalty area.
This decision immediately sparked controversy among the Arsenal players on the field.
Arsène Wenger on the sideline unleashed a barrage of complaints at the Fourth Official.
But whether it was due to receiving instructions or other reasons.
The Main Referee firmly awarded the penalty, completely ignoring the protests from the Arsenal players on the field.
Arsène Wenger was also warned by the referee on duty, who demanded that he immediately return to the technical area, otherwise he would be red-carded and sent to the stands.
Arsène Wenger realized that this match had definitely been artificially interfered with due to some well-known reasons.
He could only shake his head in frustration and say to the assistant coach beside him:
"We were set up in this match..."
"I never expected the Football Association and the Premier League to dare to artificially manipulate the outcome in a match where a 4-goal lead had been established so early. It's truly an eye-opener!"
Arsène Wenger felt that his years in the Premier League had been in vain...
Although he had always known that the Premier League liked to manipulate matches.
But those were basically done when the score hadn't been widened yet.
And in a dominant match like this, where a 4:0 lead was established within 30 minutes, they were actually preparing to forcibly intervene to make the trailing side perform a 'miracle' of 'coming back from four goals down to equalize'.
This was simply outrageous!
Because a match like this would inevitably attract attention from the global football world.
At that time, every frame of this match would be put under a microscope for examination.
Many media outlets would also start nitpicking to prove the 'conspiracy behind the miracle'.
As is well known, this kind of 'conspiracy theory' is what the media loves to do the most.
Therefore, even if the Football Association and the Premier League wanted to manipulate a match, they wouldn't choose such a seemingly absurdly dominant match to do it.
Arsène Wenger originally thought so too...
But looking at it now, he, Arsène Wenger, was still too young.
The Premier League and the Football Association actually intervened in such an ordinary match where no one would have expected any surprises.
"It might be difficult to get away unscathed today..."
Arsène Wenger muttered a couple of sentences, then walked back to the bench and sat down.
All the substitutions had been used, and Arsène Wenger knew very well that the outcome of this match was no longer something he could decide.
Without any surprises, an artificial 'miracle' was about to unfold...
And Arsenal, the king's army that had just achieved an 18-match winning streak in the Premier League, was the backdrop for this 'miracle'.
Look, what a beautiful, unimaginable plot!
Apart from Arsenal, the party involved, other onlookers would definitely have a massive climax...
Fly, sitting on the bench, also realized this and said to Blaise Matuidi and Griezmann beside him:
"We're probably done for in this match... Those damn bastards seem determined to use us Arsenal as a backdrop."
"They're truly sons of bitches!"
Blaise Matuidi and Griezmann were not football rookies; they naturally understood the meaning behind Fly's words.
Griezmann thought for a moment and whispered to Fly:
"Fly, I think the main reason is because you came off early."
"If you were on the field, those bastards wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous..."
Hearing this, Fly glanced at Griezmann with a strange look, and the latter could only laugh awkwardly under his gaze.
Fly knew what Griezmann meant; he was just saying that with Fly on the field, at least the Main Referee wouldn't dare to openly cheat.
Now that he was off, the Main Referee was completely unrestrained...
Fly did not deny this, because it was a fact!
Both Fly's background and his strength were the reasons he had privileges on the football field.
Fly accepted this calmly; he was just a little surprised that Griezmann had figured it out.
"Antoine (Griezmann), I know what you mean, but I can't always be on the field!"
"After all, the team was leading 4:0 at halftime, and Boss substituted me early to protect me. What can I say?"
"I can only say that Arsenal is still not strong enough... If we were strong enough, even if we encountered biased refereeing, it wouldn't matter much."
Griezmann thought for a moment, nodded, and felt that Fly made sense.
Ultimately, it was because Arsenal wasn't strong enough; otherwise, what was so great about encountering biased refereeing...
Could they still be brought back from four goals down to equalize?
It just felt absurd to think about...
Back on the field.
When the Main Referee awarded another penalty to Newcastle United, deafening cheers erupted at St. James' Park.
Joey Barton took the ball again, and with the cheers of tens of thousands of Newcastle United fans, he struck the ball into the net with a powerful shot.
Newcastle United 3:4 Arsenal, only trailing by one goal!
It was at this moment that everyone knew something big was going wrong...
Newcastle United, it seemed, was truly about to create a miracle.
The 88th minute of the match.
Accompanied by a thunderous long-range shot from Tioté, the future Chinese Super League star, Newcastle United equalized against Arsenal at 4:4, completing the 'miracle' of coming back from four goals down to equalize.
The fans in the stadium immediately erupted in passion as if it were the end of the world.
In contrast, the Arsenal players all looked dejected.
Even Fly was extremely frustrated now...
After all, a match that should have been worth 3 points was artificially manipulated to only 1 point. Could Fly be happy?
Finally, as the Main Referee blew the final whistle of the match.
Newcastle United miraculously held Arsenal to a 4:4 draw at home, giving the latter their second League draw of the season.
After the match, news about the game quickly spread, causing countless people to be shocked and discuss it.
Read 70+ more chapters at patreon.com/Brainiacc