Team Spirit

Chapter 282 Waltz Duel: Substitutes Use Surprise Attacks

In the third minute, Henry received a through pass on the wing, dribbled past several defenders, and then crossed into the penalty area.

Fabregas dribbled past Green Gunners' defense and attempted a shot, but it went wide.

The linesman raised his flag the next moment, indicating that Fabregas was offside.

In the fifth minute, Green Gun retaliated.

After receiving a pass from Vardy, Lu Kai dribbled laterally and passed the ball to Barton on the right flank before moving forward into the right side of the penalty area.

Barton lobbed a pass to Lu Kai.

Lu Kai swept through.

Dzeko gets a shot on goal from inside the six-yard box.

The ball was too close to Lehmann and was blocked by his body.

The linesman also raised his flag.

Lu Kai was offside when he received a pass from Barton.

In the twelfth minute, Arsenal scored in the attacking third, with Fabregas delivering a through ball.

Van Persie takes a long-range shot.

The ball hit Vidic's shin and went just wide of the far post.

Wenger, whose view was obstructed from a distance, thought the ball had hit Vidic's hand and kept signaling that there was a handball, before being warned by the fourth official.

If he keeps talking nonsense, the referee will give him a card.

The Green Guns coaching staff were all amused.

Zidane remarked, "In just a few years, Mr. Wenger has visibly aged."

Southgate: "So leading a team with no money is really exhausting."

Guardiola: "I will only have one requirement for coaching in the future: the owner must be willing to spend money to build the squad I want, instead of just making do with whatever is available."

Arsenal then took a short corner, sending the ball directly to the edge of the penalty area.

Rosicky took a long-range shot from the edge of the box, but unfortunately it went high and wide; his touch was clearly off.

In the 24th minute, Ribery broke into the penalty area on the right wing and finally got rid of Clichy's entanglement before delivering a cutback cross from the byline.

Vardy controlled the ball with his chest at the far post and then unleashed a powerful shot.

Toure bravely blocked the shot at close range with his body, a move reminiscent of his brother in Barcelona.

In the 36th minute, Senderos received a pass from Lehmann but was then pressed hard by Green Gunners in the attacking third.

He hurriedly passed the ball to the young man in front.

But without a scope, the shot was actually aimed at Lu Kai next to Xiao Fa.

Lu Kai stopped and dribbled, launching a counter-attack in the attacking third.

Senderos rushed out to try and recover from the mistake, but Lu Kai, on his second touch, slightly shifted to the right and completed the inside cut and dribble past his opponent.

Arsenal's defense was completely exposed.

Lu Kai is positioned on the left side of the arc, capable of both passing and shooting.

Klich and Toure moved toward Lu Kai from the left and right at the same time, neither daring to let go of the world's number one player.

Lu Kai chipped the ball with the back of his right foot, successfully sending it into the right side of the penalty area.

Ribery caught up with the ball near the six-yard box and fired a low shot.

Lehmann failed to prevent the goal.

"GOAL! One to zero!"

"Datford took the lead at home."

"Lu Kai assists Ribery!"

"Arsenal's young center-backs made mistakes, which is a problem Arsenal needs to address this season. Their defense as a whole is too young and makes mistakes in unexpected places."

In the 39th minute, Arsenal immediately had an excellent opportunity.

Bergkamp turned his teammate's interception into a fast break, sending a through ball down the wing.

Rosicky rushed out and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Dartford's defense is relatively slow.

Even Li Weifeng, who started as right-back today, wasn't as fast as Ashley Young.

They have yet to catch up with Rosicky.

However, Filho on the left was extremely fast, keeping pace with Henry who was making a forward run on the other side, thus cutting off Rosicky's possibility of connecting with Henry via a long cross pass.

As Rosicky penetrated into the penalty area, his angle of attack began to narrow.

While Cech stabilized in the first half, he suddenly launched an attack in the second half, further narrowing Rosicky's shooting angle in a short period of time.

Rosicky's final lob shot, though it dodged Cech, went wide of the far post.

"Datford made a successful defensive play."

“Cech performed quite well. He is not as good as Neuer in terms of absolute control, but he is more reliable than Neuer in terms of overall save ability.”

Boos erupted from the stands, and the fans were putting pressure on Arsenal.

In the 45th minute, Lehmann launched a long ball.

Henry leaped high near the midfield line and headed the ball across Vidic before he could reach it.

Hleb on the right made a through pass without stopping the ball.

Bergkamp made a forward run down the middle and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Considering Kompany's pursuit, Bergkamp dribbled slightly to the right, taking a straight line to avoid being caught.

He eventually broke into the right side of the penalty area and delivered a cross.

Rosicky, who was following up on the left, pounced on the opportunity and scored.

But the linesman raised the flag once again.

"Wait, this... Rosicky wasn't offside?"

"Oh, it's Bergkamp. He was offside when he received the ball."

"Bergkamp complained a bit, he seemed to think the linesman took too long to blow the whistle."

In this era, offside is usually called as early as possible, unlike later when it's called after the attack is over.

In cases like this where the first opportunity to raise the flag has been missed, sometimes the linesman simply doesn't raise the flag to avoid causing trouble for himself.

Fortunately, this was Dartford's home ground, and when Dartford's players saw that the Arsenal players were about to cause trouble for the linesman, they immediately rushed over and protected the linesman.

There was a slight disagreement between the two sides.

The first half was completed smoothly.

Fifteen minutes later, the two sides switched sides and resumed play.

Wenger made some adjustments.

Bergkamp moved to the number nine and a half position, hiding behind Henry.

This approach conserves energy while allowing him to utilize his skills and passing ability.

The downside is that it takes a lot of energy from Henry, requiring him to carry the team on both flanks.

In the 49th minute, Hleb cut inside from the right and found Bergkamp.

Bergkamp turned and pulled the ball to the left at the top of the arc, causing Kompany to follow up.

He then flicked the ball to the right, making a shooting motion.

This directly forced Vidic and Kompany into a defensive stance.

Kompany also slipped and fell.

Fake shot!

Bergkamp easily passed the ball to the left, sending a through pass.

The series of movements were fluid and graceful.

boom!
Rosicky did not disappoint Bergkamp this time, curling a shot that bypassed Cech's outstretched fingers, hitting the far post and bouncing into the goal.

"GOAL! One to one!"

Arsenal have equalized!

Who says Wenger's in-game management is bad?

"His adjustments this time were incredibly effective."

"Is Bergkamp really retiring? His spinning figure remains perfect to this day, forever etched in everyone's hearts."

The big screen continuously replayed Bergkamp's series of actions.

The waltz remains as captivating as ever.

In the 53rd minute, Ribery crossed from the byline.

Lu Kai makes a diving shot at the near post.

The football grazed the post and went wide.

In the 61st minute, Lu Kai received a long pass from Kompany with his back to goal.

Motta dribbled forward for two steps and then delivered a through pass.

Vardy accelerated and launched a half-one-on-one attack.

However, when he cut into the penalty area, Toure circled around and caught up with him.

Toure kept applying pressure, and Vardy stumbled a bit before finally adjusting his footing on the left side of the six-yard box and firing a low shot with his left foot.

Lehmann blocked the ball back from close range.

Vardy's follow-up shot was blocked by Toure's leg and went out of bounds.

In the 64th minute, Fabregas received a pass from Gilbert Silva in the backfield.

After receiving the ball, he suddenly made a long pass to the right front, connecting with Henry.

Henry used his physical advantage to overpower Phil to get the ball, and then accelerated to cut inside, leaving Phil behind.

He took a low shot after entering the penalty area.

boom!
Cech successfully parried the ball to the other side.

Li Weifeng had Bergkamp behind him, but the ball flew over his head, putting Bergkamp in a more advantageous position.

Bergkamp turned and stretched out his leg, using a soft touch and precise judgment of the ball's trajectory to hook it back.

This creates a lobbed shot over the top of the court.

At the same time, he turned back and sprinted towards the goal, pulling Li Weifeng aside and catching up with the falling ball before unleashing a powerful shot.

Swish!
Cech made another save, bringing the ball down.

But the football flew from the inside towards the side netting.

"GOAL! Two to one!"

"Bergkamp helped Arsenal take the lead."

"It's amazing! The Ice Prince changed the situation in a short time with a goal and an assist."

"Did that shot just now remind you of his legendary turn of the century?" "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, but the Dutchman who can't fly can still dominate the field!"

Li Weifeng was quite frustrated.

He takes full responsibility for being outplayed like this by a veteran player who is about to retire.

The ball was mainly due to perfect timing and location, and Bergkamp's response was top-notch.

The few Red Gunners fans in the stadium cheered wildly.

Commentators from all sides are demanding that Bergkamp play for another year.

All of this reminds one of that peak Arsenal team.

That's right.

Many people can actually feel Arsenal's decline, especially the core members of the unbeaten Arsenal.

Without a sudden burst of form from a player, they are almost no match for top teams anymore.

In the 67th minute, Wenger made substitutions.

Van Persie replaced Bergkamp, ​​the hero of the day.

Green Guns fans also applauded the Ice Prince at this moment.

Defensive midfielder Flamini replaced Rosicky.

Although both substitutions were one-on-one, the intention to strengthen the defense was quite obvious.

In the 72nd minute, Dartford also made a substitution.

Duff replaced Vardy.

In the 74th minute, Barton committed a tactical foul, pulling down Van Persie and receiving a yellow card.

Dartford substituted Chen Tao for Barton.

The situation of green attacking and red defending is very clear.

In the 77th minute, Duff received the ball on the left and advanced to the edge of the penalty area.

Arsenal deployed two defenders.

Duff passed the ball back to Lu Kai.

Lu Kai lobbed the ball into the middle with the outside of his foot without stopping it.

Dzeko's volley deflected off Lehmann.

Ribery attempted a follow-up shot, but Senderos cleared the ball with a sliding tackle.

The scene was quite exciting.

Arsenal then made their third substitution.

Baptista replaced Hleb.

They set up a 4-3-1-2 formation.

Gilbert Silva, Flamini, and Baptista form the defensive midfield trio.

Dartford also went all in, bringing on Ashley Young to replace Li Weifeng.

Motta then initiated a series of passes in the midfield and backfield, attempting to lure the opponent out.

Young Van Persie and Flamini were still fooled.

They participated in the looting.

Baptista is also a beastly attacking player.

Although he played well as a defensive midfielder, he initially came to Arsenal aiming for the center forward position!
The three men "rebelled".

Fabregas and Henry can only participate together.

Vidic launched an attack with a long ball from the backfield.

While his long passes weren't as good as Kompany's, they weren't nonexistent either.

He tried to connect with Duff on this play.

However, Senderos was in a better position, turning as he retreated to meet the ball and prepare to pass it to Baptista, who was coming back to receive it.

This is almost enough to launch a counter-attack.

However, the difficulty of the sequence of movements—stopping suddenly, turning, receiving the ball, and passing it out while running—exceeded Senderos's expectations.

He overestimated himself.

Especially myself, who played for eighty minutes.

Senderos made a mistake in controlling the ball and passing it, falling down and only sending the ball two meters away.

Duff rushed over and immediately accepted the pass; it was practically a perfect stop for him.

He dribbled into the left side of the penalty area, where he could pass or shoot.

Toure was in a real bind, and could only prioritize defending against shots on goal.

Duff then made a cross pass.

Dzeko pounced on the loose ball in front of the goal and slotted it home.

This time, Lehmann was unable to block the ball with his body.

"GOAL! Two to two!"

"Datford have equalized!"

"Duff assists Dzeko!"

“Senderos made another mistake; it was a bad day for him.”

This Swiss international has proven with his actions why his peak market value never exceeded ten million euros.

Wenger was somewhat angry.

The favorable situation created by Bergkamp's explosive power was completely negated by Senderos's reverse explosive power.

"Hold on! You must hold on!" Wenger shouted to the players.

But at the same time, from Henry to Van Persie and Baptista, most of the midfielders and forwards were encouraging each other: "Score another goal!" "We must win!" "Beat them!"
The generals' thinking has completely changed.

Wenger was somewhat taken aback.

He said to hold on because as long as they draw or get points, it would help Arsenal maintain their fourth place in the Premier League, and that would be considered a success.

But the players clearly wanted to beat their arch-rival team.

In the 82nd minute, Arsenal's attack was indeed fierce.

Baptista demonstrated through his actions why he was able to rise from a defensive midfielder to become La Liga's top attacking midfielder and then move to the Premier League as a center forward.

He won two consecutive headers, threatening the goal.

Especially the second time, it was almost a struggle for possession of the ball with Cech's hand.

If it were any other goalkeeper, Baptista might have scored.

But Cech was very tough, showing no signs of being affected by his previous injury, and forcefully took the ball before being knocked to the ground by Baptista.

The referee showed Baptista a yellow card.

In the 86th minute, Arsenal continued their relentless attack.

Robin van Persie was dispossessed in a one-on-one battle with Ashley Young, but then actively fought back to win the ball back.

More and more players from both sides are getting involved.

Chen Tao ultimately won possession of the ball with a looping motion.

Ashley Young immediately moved forward.

Chen Tao delivered a through ball over the top.

Ashley Young made a half-breakaway run on the right flank, quickly made a run down the wing, and delivered a cross.

Unfortunately, Dzeko wasn't physically fit enough.

Touré clears the ball with a powerful header over Duff.

But at the edge of the penalty area, Lu Kai, who had rushed past, immediately turned around and ran back, hooking the ball with his foot.

Senderos rammed into Lu Kai from behind, applying pressure.

Lu Kai steadied himself, flicked the ball over the top of the head several times, and then turned and slipped past it.

Bergkamp, ​​standing on the sidelines, stood up in surprise: "This is..."

Rosicky stared in disbelief: "A waltz?"

boom!
Lu Kai, having completed a historic turn, volleyed the ball as it came down from the edge of the penalty area.

“GOAL!!!”

"Three to two!"

"Lu Kai's decisive strike!"

"This is a waltz of the highest quality!"

"Lu Kai killed Arsenal with Bergkamp's move!"

Wow!
The scene instantly exploded.

Green Guns fans cheered wildly.

"Although Bergkamp is about to retire, the waltz will never end! It will live on forever in the world of football!"

At that moment, Bergkamp on the bench gave a bitter smile.

It's a good thing that there's a tradition of inheritance.

But it's hard not to feel disappointed when you're defeated by tradition.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Arsenal continued to attack, trying to equalize.

Wenger saw it all and was furious.

If we had listened to him earlier, none of this would have happened.

This team is truly beyond saving. The veterans should leave, and with the newcomers in charge, Wenger is confident he can rebuild an invincible Arsenal.

But what Wenger didn't know was that today's young people are different from those of the past.

In the final minute of stoppage time, Vidic intercepted the ball and passed it to Motta, who then passed it to Lu Kai, who launched a counter-attack.

Ashley Young quickly surged up on the right flank; his stamina as a substitute was evident.

Lu Kai passed the ball to Ashley Young.

The latter went on a rampage, overpowering Clichy and displaying strength comparable to Ashley Cole, who was absent from the game.

Yang: ? ? ?

boom!
Ashley Young delivered a cross with a scimitar cut, and Duff, on the far side, also accelerated past Toure and slotted home.

"Four to two!"

Dartford have scored again! They've sealed the game!

"Arsenal took the lead at one point, but the situation took a sharp turn for the worse after Bergkamp was substituted."

"Theoretically speaking, it would be appropriate to substitute the Ice Prince, but football is sometimes just unreasonable. Perhaps the only way to beat Green Gun today is to let the 37-and-a-half-year-old Bergkamp play the full match."

(End of this chapter)