Chapter 64 The start of the second half with a refreshed spirit
"Arsenal and Mallorca players walked off the pitch...neither Arsene Wenger nor Jose chose to make substitutions at half-time and they seemed to have no dissatisfaction with the first half. Marlowe Kaka's defense is quite solid, and they didn't give Arsenal many chances, while Arsenal occupied most of the offense, and all they needed was a goal. The whole first half was not very exciting in terms of the scene, and Ma Lorca's focus was on defense, but Arsenal failed to create any good chances. Henry was very active, but he didn't have many shooting opportunities. Bergkamp seemed very quiet... But Overmars performed well, Several forced breakthroughs along the wing also created a lot of opportunities by relying on my own speed, but this alone is not enough, I hope the second half can be better."
The ESPN commentator watched the players from both sides play while evaluating the game in the first half. In his heart, he naturally hoped that the second half would be better. After all, there were not many decent offenses in the whole first half. His commentator is also very boring...
Eto'o and Tristan walked towards the center circle side by side. Although they defended very hard in the first half, as forwards, it is still a pity that they could not score in such an important game. ...
But at this time, the two of them were very excited, because Jose told them before the start that they could launch an attack by taking advantage of the kick-off, and the midfielders gave full support to see if they could score a goal.
There is no doubt that although Jose arranged such a tactic only because the first few minutes of the game were easier to score, and had no other intentions, the fighting spirit of the two forwards was burned. .
If the first half of the game made everyone drowsy, then the situation on the field made everyone's nerves tense at the beginning of the second half!
"Mallorca fell from the backcourt and Arsenal launched a press... We have seen this scene many times in the first half. The Mallorca players have good skills at their feet. It is difficult for Arsenal to grab the ball. Going on for a while... Ngonga takes the ball... oh, straight pass! Nice pass!"
Following Ngonga's scalpel-like direct pass on the field, all the commentators immediately became excited as if they had been beaten with chicken blood!
"Eto'o got the ball, he passed it to Ibagaza who came up from the right, and Ibagaza made a cross, wonderful! Eto'o got the ball in front of Petit and forced a breakthrough! Petit Te was thrown away! Eto'o started to get the ball and go on, Mallorca started the second half ferociously!"
Obviously, the sudden attack by Mallorca made the Arsenal players quite unprepared.
During the intermission, Wenger was all thinking about how to break through Mallorca's defense. He didn't even think that Mallorca might launch an attack from the beginning-after all, Mallorca showed the kind of attack in the first half. Defense does not consider offense at all-this is also a manifestation of Wenger's general on-the-spot adaptability.
It wasn't until Eto'o broke through Petit's defense that Arsenal's defense began to defend.
Keown greeted Eto'o head-on, while Vieira quickly retreated from the side, and wanted to work with Keown to strangle Eto'o's attack together!
Everyone stood up from their seats—drowsy. It's been half the game, and it's hard to get some excitement. Is there anyone who doesn't watch carefully?
The voices of the commentators began to tremble like machine guns: "Eto'o moved forward with the ball, and Keown stopped in front of him. It seems that Eto'o wants to use his breakthrough to create opportunities. His breakthrough momentum Absolutely! Oh! The pass, he passed it! The ball was passed neatly through the gap before Keown and Vieira formed a pinch! Tristan got the ball in the penalty area-"
Amidst the high-pitched shouts of the commentator, Tristan stretched his legs with his back to the goal, hooked the ball from Eto'o, then turned around forcibly before Adams pounced to defend, and immediately swung his right foot to shoot vigorously!
Adams stretched out his defensive leg a step slower, the ball almost flew past his calf, and then flew straight to the lower left corner of the goal!
"Tristan shoots—"
Many Arsenal fans in the stands covered their mouths, while the hearts of the Mallorca fans began to beat violently!
If the ball goes in...
Seaman jumped up, but the ball had a strange outward arc as it moved forward, just passing over his outstretched hand and flying behind him!
At that moment, Ximan's heart was cold!
But also almost instantly, a crisp sound from behind brought Ximan back to his soul!
Seaman, who was in the air, took a look back at the risk of spraining his neck, and then saw the ball hit the post and bounced back to the penalty area!
"Oh!" Jose withdrew his hand that had been stretched out to celebrate, then he hugged his head and jumped up.
What a pity that such an opportunity hit the post!
If this goal can be scored, then Mallorca's next defense will be more meaningful-from having a chance to hit a penalty without conceding a goal to being able to win the game within 90 minutes without conceding a goal, this is definitely a leap progress!
It's a pity that the ball just missed and hit the post...
The ball bounced back into the box and was controlled by Dixon, who was back in the box. He then immediately passed to Vieira, who started to dribble forward.
Tristan gave Adams a hard look. His shot just now was finally touched by the outside of Adams' calf, so that there would be a strange outward arc. on the doorpost...
This Arsenal captain is really troublesome...
While Tristan was still looking at Adams unwillingly, Arsenal's counterattack had already quietly started!
After Vieira took the ball, he didn't pass the ball, but took the ball forward with big strides. Eto'o retreated to defend him, but was directly thrown away by the opponent. After a two-on-one match, Vieira passed the ball to Overmars, and then began to advance himself.
Jose, who was still remorseful, jumped up from the ground, then rushed to the sidelines and shouted loudly: "Be careful-return to defense!"
Arsenal's offense is really fast!
Although Mallorca just hit the goal post, they immediately launched a counterattack, and it was not a counterattack with a long pass, but a counterattack directly from the ground-this is the biggest thing Wenger has brought to Arsenal in recent years. wealth!
In addition to Vieira and Overmars, five or six Arsenal players rushed into Mallorca's half, Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Overmars, Par Lore, there is a central defender Keown who rushed forward after passing the ball!
Fortunately, there were quite a few players left by Mallorca just now. They did not rush up to steal, but set up a complete defensive formation and kept returning to the defense. The players in the midfield also quickly returned to the defense and launched a counterattack. Grab, to nip the opponent's attack in the bud!
With a sweep of his eyes on the field, Jose can basically see the situation on the field. After seeing the situation in the half, Jose breathed a sigh of relief—now Mallorca has no more defensive players in the half than Arsenal. There are few players, and other players are desperately returning to the defense. As long as they delay, the opponent's counterattack will not have much effect.
It is obvious that the Arsenal players are also very aware of this. After taking two steps, Overmars did not continue to dribble, but directly passed the ball diagonally to Henry who came up from the side. !
With the ball at this distance, Henry can give full play to his speed and technique!
Take the ball, go, go, go, go!
All the Arsenal fans in the stands jumped up, raising their hands and looking forward to the next scene--Henry is not the king of Highbury later, but he has made them countless times in the past season Raise your arms and cheer!
Henry dribbled the ball forward at high speed, with the wind whistling in his ears. This was his favorite situation—the world was vast, and I was allowed to gallop, and all panicked defenders were left behind by me!
However, this time, what made Henry a little depressed was that he sprinted for a long time, but he couldn't pass an opponent's player-it wasn't that there was any problem with his state, but that the group of old guys in front of him were constantly Backed away, no one rushed forward and was shaken by him...
No matter how good your skills are, you can't get rid of a guy who doesn't confront you head-on.
When Henry brought the ball to a place parallel to the penalty area line, Mallorca's four defenders basically retreated into the penalty area. Soon, they were able to make the penalty area dense again...
Henry knew that it would be difficult to break through. For a striker like him, the smaller the space, the less room to play—of course, compared to the situation where there is sufficient space...
Bergkamp was stared by Ngonga and Soler at the front of the penalty area, Vieira was a little further back, and Overmars, who entered the penalty area, was also under strict marking by the Mallorca players—— Henry's advancing speed is very fast, and there are not many Arsenal players who can keep up...
Looking up to observe the situation in the penalty area, Henry gritted his teeth and broke through to the bottom line again!
This time Olesola came up to meet him, and he didn't expect to be able to steal Henry's ball, but cautiously blocked Henry's route to cut inside the penalty area-whether the opponent's striker could not be allowed to enter the penalty area, or not It's good for them to enter the restricted area...
Henry didn't seem to want to cut inside either. After Kankan broke through near the bottom line, he dunked the ball back. When Olesola thought he was going to dribble the ball laterally, he raised his right foot , a direct cross!
Overmars from the previous point jumped up, but missed the ball!
Bergkamp and Vieira, who followed in the middle, failed to take off successfully under the defense of the Mallorca defenders!
The ball flew to the back, and just as the Mallorca fans breathed a sigh of relief, a figure in a yellow jersey rushed up from the back row, and shot towards the falling ball!
It was defender Keown who followed up and shot! He has been running forward desperately since he cleared the siege just now, and finally caught this excellent fighter!
Franco was first swayed by Overmars, and then by Bergkamp and Vieira who followed up in the middle. When he turned around, Keown had already completed the shot in the penalty area!
At such a short distance, he had no time to react!
Like Seaman, who was opposite him just now, Franco's heart is also cold at this moment!
However, when he turned his head, he saw a scene that made him extremely happy-the ball shot by Keown obviously flew very high, and it directly touched the crossbar and flew out of the baseline!
Arsenal's offense returned in vain!