Chapter 1,135 The Gunners Fight the Red Devils

The focus of the battle between Manchester United and Arsenal is the last game of the third round.

Prior to this, the other seven games had just ended. Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City had all won. Among them, the smoke of the battle between Manchester City and Tottenham had not yet cleared. Manchester City's shocking away game against Tottenham 5:1. The opening three consecutive victories announced to the world that the era of Jinyuan football has begun.

Manchester United are really feeling the pressure from their "noisy neighbours".

This is not brought about by Manchester City's opening three victories, but by Manchester City's strong strength and even stronger potential. Manchester United may still have a chance to suppress Manchester City this season, but what about next season? What about next season? Facing the money-waving boss of Manchester City, the only thing Manchester United can count on is that its young guards are as strong as the Class of 92.

In the game against Arsenal, Manchester United was short of major generals and had an empty defense. They had no intention of fighting a big battle. However, Manchester City's victory gave the Manchester United soldiers extra excitement. They all believed that this game would be a must-win. We must play vigorously and let Manchester City and the other top three understand that the Premier League belongs to Manchester United.

Of course, the important reason why Manchester United has this confidence is not only that Arsenal is short of major generals, but that the veteran Evra has returned. There is a veteran in the back line, which is great news for Manchester United, so that they can play in the frontcourt. There are no worries when attacking.

Sunday 4pm

The focus battle between Manchester United and Arsenal has finally begun.

Manchester United has a traditional formation of 442, with goalkeeper No. 1 De Gea; defenders: 12 Smalling, 4 Phil Jones, 6 Evans, 3 Evra; midfielder: 13- Park Ji-sung, 17-Nani, 11-Giggs, 10-Gao Xiaodong; forward: 7-Rooney, 14-Hernandez

Arsenal has a 433 attack formation, with goalkeeper No. 13 Szczesny; defenders: 25-Jenkinson, 20-Jolu, 6-Koscielny, 30-Traore; midfielder: 16- Ramsey, 39-Coquelin, 7-Rosicky; forwards: 14-Walcott, 10-Van Persie, 23-Arshavin

Arsenal kicked off first. Although they lost most of the team, they still adopted an offensive-oriented style of play. After the return pass, the players pressed forward in an orderly manner and penetrated into Manchester United's defensive third zone.

Manchester United and Manchester United fans, Arsenal and Arsenal fans are not surprised at all about Arsenal's offensive style. Although Arsenal are weak now, their staffing cannot play defensive counterattacks. Besides, they have never done so before. Defensive counterattack, if they want to get a good result at Old Trafford, they must take risks and replace defense with offense.

Arsenal have only won 1 game in their previous 10 visits to Old Trafford, with 2 draws and 7 losses in the remaining 9 games. Facing Arsenal, Manchester United has a strong psychological advantage. Although Manchester United is determined to win a big victory today, The players were not in a hurry for success. Gao Xiaodong and Giggs controlled the rhythm in the midfield. Park Ji-sung, Rooney, and Nani ran desperately, cutting off Arsenal's passing lines and forcing players with the ball.

Manchester United played very targeted. They surrounded and suppressed midfielder Rosicky, retreated to contain wingers Walcott and Arshavin, and then let Arsenal's young boys handle the ball.

Manchester United's move was very poisonous, and it happened to address Arsenal's weakness of a large turnover of personnel and many young players. Arsenal's old players were looked down upon, while the young players were inexperienced and eager to make contributions. They made frequent mistakes after the start.

In the third minute of the game, Walcott wanted to pass Smalling with the ball, but Smalling was tall and had long legs.

He actually stretched out his foot and touched the ball.

Walcott passed by, but the ball was touched by Smalling and passed to center back Jones who came to cover.

Jones is getting more confident now as he plays more. After he grabbed the ball, he did not pass it to Gao Xiaodong and Giggs, but directly passed it to Nani, allowing Nani to attack the space behind Walcott.

At this moment, this choice is not wrong, but a young substitute defender takes the initiative to decide the timing and direction of the attack. To put it nicely, it is called confidence, but to put it worst, it is a bit inflated.

Nani has a strong personal breakthrough ability. It is difficult for a full-back to block his attack. Arsenal's midfielder Ramsey rushed to the wing to help prevent Nani from going under or cutting inside.

When Jones launched a counterattack, Gao Xiaodong quickly moved forward and moved closer to the wing to meet Nani. Rooney and Hernandez rushed into the penalty area as quickly as possible.

After Ramsey filled in, a space appeared at the front of Arsenal's penalty area. Gao Xiaodong originally moved closer to the wing to support Nani. When he saw the space in the middle, he immediately ran towards the space at the front of the penalty area.

It is best to move secretly, but Gao Xiaodong was worried that Nani would burn his brain and act blindly, and he did not care about being discovered by his opponent. He raised his hand to ask Nani for the ball while running.

"Nani! Nani..."

When Gao Xiaodong raised his hand to ask for the ball, Nani also saw the space left by Ramsey. He rubbed the arch of his foot and passed an overhead ball past Ramsey and into the space.

When Nani is not burning his brain, he is at the level of a superstar. He has excellent vision and footwork. The ball is passed very accurately. Gao Xiaodong can volley directly when he arrives, or he can stop the ball and play again.

Arsenal center back Koscielny also discovered this gap. When he saw Nani passing the ball, he quickly gave up on Rooney and rushed to block Gao Xiaodong's shooting route.

Gao Xiaodong was ready to hit the volley, but Koscielny's sudden attack made Gao Xiaodong change his mind because his shot might be intercepted by Koscielny.

Gao Xiaodong gave up the shot. He turned sideways, jumped up and stopped the ball with his chest, and then passed the ball to Rooney who was left open.

Rooney was in an unguarded state because Hernandez took another central defender Joelu to the small penalty area. Rooney was not offside. As long as Rooney got the ball, there was a chance to shoot in the penalty area.

Obviously, as Arsenal has long been ranked among the top four teams in the Premier League, the strength of its players is still guaranteed. When Gao Xiaodong passed the ball, Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny quickly attacked, rushed to Rooney's head and punched the ball. go out.

The ball flew out of the penalty area, and Rooney was also pressed into the penalty area by Szczesny.

Rooney lay in the penalty area and hammered the turf angrily, secretly hating why he was so short. If he were as tall as Berbatov, he might have headed the ball before the goalkeeper.

Although Manchester United's counterattack failed, it was only three minutes into the game that they were able to complete cooperation inside and outside Arsenal's penalty area and almost formed a shooting opportunity. This was already rare. The Manchester United fans at the scene were not stingy at all in giving Manchester United a try. received warm applause and shouted Gao Xiaodong’s name.

The on-site commentator was Gary. Neville said: "Xiaodong's ball can actually be played directly without passing it. Even if it is blocked by Koscielny, it may be refracted. Passing it to Rooney is a bit complicated."