Chapter 148: A Stalemate Game

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“Jimenez! A crucial interception! His sudden forward penetration helped Arsenal gain precious time to return!”

Dixon also praised: “As a central defender, it is not a conservative retreat defense. Sometimes you need to have such aggressive performance. Of course, you need to have enough judgment for this, and Jimenez is obviously very talented in this aspect!”

Both commentators praised Jimenez loudly.

Mourinho off the court also applauded fiercely and cheered loudly.

In fact, when he brought Jimenez to Arsenal, he hoped that Jimenez could play this kind of scene.

But due to some defensive requirements and some psychological factors, it has not been able to meet expectations.

In Arsenal's continuous winning streak, Jimenez's confidence was also kicked out.

This is why this scene appeared.

So, these influences complement each other.

"Well done!"

After retreating, Lekai patted Jimenez's back hard to encourage him.

If it weren't for Jimenez's decisive destruction, this attack would be really dangerous.

Jimenez was in pain, but there was a smile at the corner of his mouth. Obviously, he was quite satisfied with his performance.

"Keep playing like this, you can perform better. Don't be influenced by others and make decisions according to your judgment."

Lekai encouraged Jimenez.

Jimenez is the core player of Arsenal's defense in the future. As Hummels gets older, Jimenez must carry the banner of the defense in the future.

So, Jimenez's performance directly affects Arsenal's future.

Manchester City's sideline ball.

Since the Arsenal players have retreated, they can no longer make a quick counterattack.

The full-back throws the ball to the back, mainly to control the ball.

Guardiola's team is a team that plays passing and controlling, so they have a high demand for ball possession.

In the past, when they faced Arsenal, they always suffered heavy losses in the midfield, which is why they could never compete with Arsenal.

But as the cooperation of the midfielders became tacit and their state began to gradually improve, their control in the midfield became stronger.

For this reason, Arsenal no longer competed with Manchester City in the midfield.

Although it is not without capital, it is not worth it after all.

They have a more effective way.

Kante and Lukay retreated to a defensive line, and Arsenal began to build a defensive network in the midfield.

Lukay was no longer obsessed with attacking, and he found that playing against Manchester City was of no benefit to them at all.

After all, attacking is what Manchester City is good at, and what Arsenal needs more is stable defense, and counterattack on this basis.

Now the most important thing is to build a defensive network and stabilize the back line.

Manchester City's offensive pace is still going on, but unlike before, this time they are not so easy to penetrate.

After Lukay and Kante retreated, Manchester City's offensive starting point encountered great restrictions.

Especially De Bruyne, no matter where he moved, he would be targeted by Lukay or Kante.

After being targeted by these two people, the result is self-evident.

De Bruyne's performance in the frontcourt began to be restricted, which forced De Bruyne to retreat to a certain extent, which also made him away from the goal, and his threat was also reduced a lot.

"De Bruyne was forced back. Obviously, under the dual restrictions of Kai and Kante, it was difficult for De Bruyne to find opportunities. He could only retreat and slowly guide the ball to pass backwards. Arsenal also focused more on defense, and after attracting a large number of Manchester City players to advance, they waited for an opportunity to counterattack!"

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As soon as the voice fell, Arsenal got a chance to counterattack.

But this time it was not an opportunity in the backcourt, but in the frontcourt.

Dembele was actively running, and he cooperated with Giroud to complete a press.

After completing the press, Dembele directly transferred the ball and passed it to Aubameyang on the other side.

Aubameyang stopped and passed, and the action was completed in one go, passing Zinchenko and cutting inside.

When facing Otamendi, Aubameyang did not choose to shoot, but made a reverse triangle pass.

The ball came to Giroud who had just entered the penalty area.

Giroud met the ball and shot it hard.

The ball flew to the upper right of the goal. Manchester City goalkeeper Moraes flew to save it. His fingertips flicked the ball, which made the ball slightly deviate from the track and hit the goal post and flew out of the penalty area.

David Silva stopped the ball and turned around.

But he found that Wilshere had rushed in front of him and pressed him.

"This guy!"

David Silva retreated step by step under the pressure of Wilshere.

While protecting the ball, he was looking for the direction to pass the ball.

But his teammates around him had not followed up yet, but Aubameyang had already retreated quickly and rushed towards him, obviously wanting to cooperate with Wilshere to complete the steal.

In the critical moment, David Silva was also very experienced. He turned sideways to face the ball and shot at a small angle. The ball was aimed at Wilshere's supporting leg. After the collision, it flew directly out of the sideline.

Manchester City not only guaranteed the ball, but also completed a clearance.

"David Silva is very experienced, but this way of clearing also shows that Arsenal has given them a lot of pressure in the front court."

"If every time it is passed in this way, then Manchester City's midfield line will be suppressed."

Arsenal is very good at using this pressing method to put pressure on the opponent's midfield.

Unless their midfielders have extremely strong ball holding ability, or the cooperation is really impeccable.

Otherwise, it is difficult to find an offensive opportunity in Arsenal's pressing.

But Manchester City has a way to deal with it.

David Silva, Fernandinho, De Bruyne and Sterling who retreated.

These players all have strong ball holding ability and can even fight alone.

Guardiola has high requirements for players. Not only must they have good passing ability, but they must also have sufficient footwork.

For this reason, Manchester City players have strong personal abilities.

Even David Silva, who is a little older and in a declining state, is the same.

He can't get rid of it alone, but with the help of his teammates, he can still make a wonderful pass.

Manchester City sent out a sideline ball again.

Arsenal pressed again.

But this time the pressing obviously didn't work as well as before. When Manchester City players had the same number of players in the midfield, Arsenal's pressing was difficult to play a role under their passing and running positions.

However, Manchester City also has its own troubles.

That is, the ball has been unable to advance.

Once it comes to Arsenal's half, the pressing pressure will increase geometrically.

Arsenal can let them play pass control in their own half, but it doesn't mean that they can play the same way in Arsenal's half.

After several rounds of attacks in the early stages, the game fell into a stalemate for 10-20 minutes.

The two teams seemed to be wrestling with each other, and neither would relax their control over the key areas.

While ensuring their own rhythm, they were also trying to disrupt the opponent's rhythm.

But this is not an easy thing.

For this reason, the game became stalemate.

The situation on the field kept changing in just 20 minutes, and the two teams also showed extremely high tactical performance and ability.

This also made the game quite exciting despite the lack of goals.

Whether it was Manchester City's ball control penetration or Arsenal's defensive counterattack.

They were constantly attacking the opponent's weak points while ensuring their own stability, trying to open up the situation.

Both sides knew it very well.

The first goal is the key.

Once the first goal appears, the balance will be broken.

At that time, no one can know in which direction the game will develop.

But it is clear that the first team to score a goal will gain the initiative.

For this reason, both teams are desperately looking for each other's weaknesses and trying to pry open the gap to score the ball into the goal.

In this process, the confrontation and psychological game between the two sides are also sharp.

Both sides are engaged in different levels of games at all times. Even if there is a problem in one link, the impact will continue to expand and eventually lead to a loss of the ball.

For this reason, they dare not relax at all.

Try to maintain your own rhythm and seek to score at the same time. This is the most fundamental task in the first half.