Chapter 682: Chapter 681: Successor of the Gun King
Once this ball was passed, Torres had a great chance of scoring.
Deng Kai, with the football in hand, approached the corner flag area and showed a four with his right hand.
Then he took a powerful kick and delivered the corner.
In the middle, Kompany, almost the tallest on the field, leapt high and thumped the football into Arsenal’s goal with his head.
"GOAL! Kompany scores with a header!"
"One to zero, Manchester City takes the lead!"
"Kompany has really improved this season, he seems a lot more robust compared to when he first joined City."
The commentary was quite high level.
But in reality, this season, when Kompany was trying to bulk up, he was stopped by the team.
The team keeps detailed physical data on each player, along with various tests.
These are updated almost every month.
They believed Kompany’s physical condition was very good, with a very high upper limit.
But precisely because of this, he shouldn’t bulk up right away.
It should be done gradually, incrementally improving bit by bit.
Even if you can handle a weight of 200 pounds,
it’s still best to progress slowly from 160, 170, 180 in stages like this.
Otherwise, talent can be damaged.
Later, several physically gifted number one picks in the NBA turned out to be injury-prone, and that’s related to them pushing their physical gifts to the limit all at once.
So... this season’s Kompany was just version 1.0.
Starting next season, he will continue to bulk up and enter version 2.0.
It should be the season after the next when he reaches his peak condition.
And in the following two seasons, his peak should still climb slowly higher.
Those who push their talent to the limit straight away don’t have Kompany’s stage of "surpassing the limit."
After conceding a goal, Arsenal quickly launched a fierce attack.
They fell behind this season, but they’ve always been able to come back.
They have this confidence.
Twenty-first minute.
Wu Xudong overlapped, using his speed to outpace Deng Kai tracking back and delivered a cross.
Henry went for a header on goal.
However, Neuer was in top form and incredibly managed to parry this header.
This was an extremely spectacular save.
It basically denied a goal.
Twenty-sixth minute.
Wu Xudong dribbled past players in the midfield, forcing Ashley Young to commit a foul, and Arsenal won a free kick in the midfield.
Pires took the midfield free kick and sent it directly to the near post area of the penalty box.
Henry accelerated instantaneously, got past Thiago Silva, and took control of the ball.
He controlled and flicked it on, carrying the ball straight into the penalty area and shaking off Thiago Silva.
However, by then his angle for shooting was very narrow, he probably would...
Bang!
Henry fired with his left foot!
A tight angle finish!
The King of Kings!
Unstoppable!
"GOAL! Henry! That is Henry!"
"Henry helps Arsenal level the score!"
"Henry is simply a perfect forward! Speed, strength, skill, shooting, he has no weaknesses! He’s top-class in every aspect!"
"Incredible! This match is a showcase of speed and passion! Both teams are attacking fiercely!"
Thirty-fourth minute.
Deng Kai made a feint to sprint down the left flank.
Wu Xudong accelerated early to prevent Deng Kai from breaking free at high speed.
Bang!
Deng Kai nudged the football and then, without interference, launched a long pass with his right foot.
At the edge of the box, Villa started just in time and found a good position.
But Campbell put enough pressure on Villa, causing him to shoot over the bar despite successfully getting a shot off.
Receiving a long ball and shooting directly without taking a touch is something Villa can do, but he’s not yet skillful and perfect at it.
Adriano might have done better in this regard.
Fortieth minute.
Wu Xudong once again drew a foul from Ashley Young shortly past the midfield, winning a free kick for the team.
Ashley Young received a warning from the main referee.
If he continued to stop Wu Xudong with fouls like that, he would receive a yellow card.
Ashley Young spread his hands as if to say, "There’s nothing I can do."
Wu Xudong was indeed a bit faster than Ashley Young.
And Ashley Young’s defensive awareness wasn’t very good either.
Wu Xudong’s offensive mindset was quite strong.
Being outpaced is quite normal.
Even if the team captain came, wouldn’t he be outpaced just the same?
Deng Kai: ???
Bang!
Eternal Yiberry took the free kick, sending it straight to the edge of the penalty area.
But this time, the Manchester City defenders made a mistake in clearing the ball.
The football bounced to the feet of Reyes, who so far hadn’t quite integrated with the team.
Reyes made a snap shot and scored.
"GOAL! Two to one! Arsenal takes the lead!"
"As expected! Arsenal hasn’t lost this season when conceding the first goal!"
"They’ve conceded first, but the chances of them winning in the end are as high as sixty-five percent!"
"Arsenal fans generally believe Reyes will become the next Henry, and Reyes seems to be working hard to achieve that!"
"He really does have the makings of Henry’s successor!"
"Of course, with Henry in his prime, Reyes would have to perform outstandingly for several seasons to claim the throne at Arsenal."
"In Wenger’s plan, the one he is truly supposed to replace is Bogkamp, who’s sitting on the bench today."
Isn’t that stating the obvious?
Arsenal hasn’t lost a single league game this season.
It doesn’t matter whether they concede first or not.
Isn’t Manchester City the same?
Yet this goal conceded does have some real impact.
That’s Reyes seemingly finding the confidence to blend into Arsenal...
As a new signing, joining a giant like Arsenal and then playing from the start in an important semi-final can be very stressful indeed.
But as they say, "It’s burst out in silence or die in silence."
Wenger’s judgment wasn’t wrong.
Reyes is the kind of player who can burst onto the scene.
However, in the forty-third minute,
a regrettable scene occurred.
Arsenal’s absolute superstar, Henry, fell to the ground in a duel, looking very distressed.
The Arsenal team doctor came on the field and quickly signaled for a substitution.
Henry was out due to injury!
Bogkamp came on as a substitute.
This news was very worrying for Wenger.
After all, based on Henry’s data from last season and so far, it’s clear how important he is to the team.
He’s not just a forward.
He’s the soul of the team’s attack!
Fortunately, the doctor later reported back to Wenger, and Wenger’s expression improved.
From this, it’s deduced that Henry’s injury is minor.
It likely won’t have much impact on the team, especially on Arsenal’s European campaign.
Also, due to Henry’s injury, there was some delay.
So the first half of the match had a full four minutes of added time.
And during the third minute of injury time,
Wu Xudong on the wing shook off Ashley Young and successfully made a cross from the bottom, delivering a high-quality ball.
Bogkamp and Mascherano both vied for the ball at the near post.
The football, it was unclear who touched it, but it bounced again towards Reyes.
With no one defending around him, Reyes raised his foot for a volley and took a swipe.
Unfortunately...
This time, the ball flew into the stands.
He missed the chance to extend the team’s lead.
The first half of the game then concluded.
Both teams carried out their motivational talks in the changing rooms.
Guardiola was emphasizing the importance of Reyes to the defenders,
Because according to the team’s analysis, Reyes’s overall performance was on an upward trend in the first half.
He was becoming more and more threatening.
They had to limit him.
Thiago Silva, Mascherano, and Company all nodded their heads, memorizing Reyes’s key areas of activity.
