Football's No. 1 Prodigal Son

The game was a big success, but the team was still young.

Manchester City's starting lineup for this game is Van der Sar, Sun Jihai, Stam, Distin, Evra, Essien, Makelele, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka and Eto'o.

Robben will be out for about ten days due to ankle contusion, so Van Gaal simply moved Ronaldinho and Kaka up together.

As for Arsenal, their starting lineup is the classic unbeaten lineup.

Goalkeeper Lehmann, defense line Lauren, Kolo Toure, Campbell, Ashley Cole, midfielder Ljungberg, Gilberto, Vieira, Pires, forward Bergkamp and Henry.

On paper, Arsenal's three lines have almost no weaknesses, no wonder they can achieve an unbeaten record this season.

Especially Pires, Ljungberg, Bergkamp and Henry, the attacking group members, after running in for several seasons, their tacit understanding is really unmatched.

But Van Gaal did as he said before the game, and did not conservatively choose to defend and counterattack, but directly started to attack them!

And his attack focus is the right side guarded by Lauren!

Lauren is a right back transformed from a right winger. Although his defensive ability is very strong, there is still some gap in the face of Ronaldinho's explosive ability.

The gap between the central defender line and the midfield in the 442 formation is easy to be used, and Ronaldinho's playing style of inserting from the left side to the ribs will indeed make Arsenal very uncomfortable.

In the tenth minute, Manchester City got a good opportunity first.

Ronaldinho passed Lauren and cut inside into the 30-meter area, and Kolo Toure had to move forward to intercept him.

But Ronaldinho first looked up to the right and pretended to move to the right.

Kolo Toure subconsciously took a step to the left, preparing to press his passing route.

But Ronaldinho turned his ankle and sent a straight pass!

This was his signature feint to the east and attack to the west!

Eto'o understood and started to move at the moment he passed the ball, grabbing the ball before Campbell!

He accelerated with the ball and flashed out of the shooting space!

He slightly adjusted his steps, shot with his left foot, and the ball went straight to the far corner of the goal!

The 34-year-old German goalkeeper quickly got to the ground and blocked the ball with his toes!

The direction of the ball was slightly changed and rolled out of the baseline!

Eto'o hugged his head regretfully and gave a thumbs up to Ronaldinho behind him.

Ronaldinho shook his head and showed his signature smile.

Yang Luo in the stands also felt a little regretful. The two players cooperated well in this ball, but the result was not satisfactory.

Wenger on the sidelines also breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but look back at Van Gaal, but saw the Dutchman shaking his hands in frustration.

Arsenal, who escaped this disaster, also launched his counterattack. The strong midfield allowed them to quickly gain the advantage on the field.

In the 21st minute, Pires rushed forward with the ball on the left, attracting Sun Jihai to make up for the defense.

The Frenchman wanted to shake him off with a change of direction, but Sun Jihai's defense did not lose position at all, but stuck to him tightly.

Pires frowned slightly, he looked at the situation in the frontcourt, suddenly took a step forward, and then chose a big cross pass.

Bergkamp appeared on the passing line. After he stopped the ball beautifully, he made a pass, and the ball just passed Stam's head and was handed to Henry's feet!

After Henry unloaded the football, he took advantage of the situation and the tall Stam was immediately stuck behind him.

He took another step and rushed into the penalty area.

Distin wanted to come over to defend, but Henry suddenly pushed the ball with his arch of his foot, and the football went straight to the far corner of the goal as if it had eyes!

This ball directly hit an extremely tricky angle. Van der Sar stretched his body to the limit, but it was still a little short!

The football went into the net along the goalpost!

One to zero, Arsenal, who played away, broke the deadlock first!

Wenger on the sidelines clenched his fists excitedly. As long as they scored first, everything would be fine!

And Yang Luo couldn't help shaking his head. There was really no way to deal with this ball. Henry is now at his peak, and his shooting feeling is still much stronger than Eto'o's now.

The slight difference in personal ability has caused a different change in the score.

But there is nothing to do about it.

Van Gaal on the sidelines desperately shouted to the field: "Come on, keep attacking!"

Wenger gestured to the ball

The players should control the rhythm and wait for the opponent to make mistakes again.

Compared with Manchester City, they are a more mature team and know that blindly attacking and rushing will only consume themselves faster.

But Manchester City is now invincible with youth. The oldest of the four players in the front court is only 23 years old, which is the age of vitality.

So, in the following time, Manchester City unexpectedly took the advantage on the field.

Ronaldinho and Kaka's successive attacks made Arsenal's defense miserable, which forced Wenger to let Gilberto Silva retreat a little to protect the back line.

The two Brazilian juniors were not afraid of the big brother of the Brazilian team. They used their completely different attacking styles to make Gilberto very uncomfortable.

In the 30th minute, Ronaldinho and Kaka's cooperation tore through Arsenal's defense. Kaka took the ball to the top of the arc and chose to shoot directly. Lehmann flew to save the ball from the bottom line.

This ball was quite threatening, and Wenger on the sidelines couldn't help but frowned.

It seems that these guys have a lot of firepower!

If they just passively take the beating, something will go wrong sooner or later!

So he waved his hand and said, "Attack me!"

Since you want to play like this, I'll accompany you!

So, in the next fifteen minutes of the first half, the two sides launched a fierce offensive battle.

The offensive and defensive rhythm of both sides was very fast, and because both sides had two strong players guarding the midfield, they often bypassed the midfield and advanced from the two sides.

For a while, the scene became very beautiful, and the fans on the scene were very excited.

Henry just made a blast shot here, and Ronaldo completed a header over there.

Ljungberg just completed a push shot from the top of the arc here, and Ronaldinho completed an inbound shot over there.

However, the high-intensity offensive and defensive conversion also means that physical strength is consumed quickly. In the last few minutes of the first half, the older Bergkamp was already a little unable to run.

Wenger on the sidelines noticed this and frowned tightly.

Fortunately, Manchester City failed to seize any opportunities in the last few minutes. Until the whistle sounded at the end of the first half, the score was still 0-1, and Manchester City was behind at home.

The data for the first half also came out. Both sides completed 15 shots in total, Manchester City 8 and Arsenal 7.

Judging from the data, it was indeed a fierce offensive battle!