Chapter 30: Playing with Heartbeats, Chasing the Last-Gasp Winner (Part 1)
Arsène Wenger made a decisive substitution,
bringing on Brazilian left-back André Santos for Lukas Podolski.
Obviously the Professor had given up hope of three points; he only wanted to hold on to one.
On the pitch, Manchester City rode a tide of momentum.
Between the 72nd and 82nd minutes they had produced at least four extremely threatening shots.
Arsenal had produced none.
The relative strengths were plain to see!
"Arsenal still can't break through."
"Xia Qi lacks support; he's held the first line but not the second or third supports — two fists can't beat four hands!"
Just as the fans were crying out for Xia Qi's injustice,
another dramatic moment suddenly unfolded on the pitch!
In the 85th minute, Santi Cazorla's long clearance to disrupt David Silva's pass took an unexpected bounce and struck the referee,
ricocheting high into the air,
just as Edin Džeko had dropped back to collect; the ball glanced off him to Sergio Agüero.
That deflection was unexpected by Arsenal — normally possession would be returned to midfield to reorganize.
Agüero seized the moment, quickly stretching wide and dropping a deep run.
His ten-meter sprint pierced young fullback Kieran Gibbs in a flash.
Before Per Mertesacker could cover, Agüero feigned a shot; as his left foot came down he instead pushed the ball into the middle.
Arsenal's defensive line misread it again.
Vincent Kompany, who had been invisible, appeared from nowhere and thundered into the box, delivering a low, powerful strike!
In the panic, one of Laurent Koscielny or Vito Mannone did their best to block — one trying to close the angle, one diving across — but the ball still skidded across the turf into the net.
Roberto Mancini used the Italian coach's favorite trick — a defender joining the attack to assist — and stubbornly turned the score around.
4–3!
The deafening roar at the Etihad could be felt across the city of Manchester.
Except for Xia Qi, every Arsenal player was crestfallen; they never thought they would one day taste the same feeling AC Milan endured in the summer of 2005.
What unbelievable luck… damn it!
Xia Qi was actually the most disappointed — half a year of happiness traded for this?
The match continued.
The swaggering Mario Balotelli no longer had the legs to chase Xia Qi up and down the whole pitch.
Mancini set his team to zonal defense on Xia Qi, which made Xia Qi's direct breakthroughs somewhat easier.
In the 88th minute, Xia Qi made a diagonal run into the box. Mikel Arteta played a precise through-ball on the ground; under tugging and grappling from Gaël Clichy and Joleon Lescott, Xia Qi barely pushed the ball into the center.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain burst from the pack and fired a powerful shot that flew up into the stands.
City answered with another attack.
Balotelli ferociously shoved the newly introduced Santos aside and smashed a near-post shot; the ball rattled the post and was cradled by Vito Mannone.
City missed a chance to seal the win.
The ninety minutes of normal time concluded with Manchester City having come from behind to lead Arsenal 4–3.
When the LED board showed five minutes of stoppage time, City fans booed the referee with all their might, grateful to the official who had helped bring them luck.
Faced with this result, Xia Qi was of course unwilling.
The AI seemed to sense Xia Qi's mood; his movement both offensively and defensively became even more frequent.
Balotelli, Touré and the others gasped for air, helpless but envious as they watched Xia Qi's figure move away.
At a time like this, how could he still keep running?
What they didn't know was Xia Qi was actually overdrawing his stamina, but this time he did so willingly — he didn't curse the system.
Xia Qi's effort moved his teammates.
Saturated shirts clung to soaked hair; every jersey was drenched and every heavy breath could be heard from afar — everything said: I am tired.
Yet despite such exhaustion, he kept running, chasing every possibility on the field.
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott finally understood where they fell short compared to Xia Qi.
They stopped conserving energy and strained to create chances for him.
In the 92nd minute, Balotelli again charged into the box. After drawing Arsenal's defensive focus, in a surprising show of intelligence he flicked the ball back with his heel.
Both brilliant and deadly, Džeko arrived in the middle and thumped a ferocious shot. Mannone made two successive saves, but the power forced him to spill the ball.
Was heaven delivering a filled pie? Was fate taking from Arsenal?
City's forward line swarmed forward, but Mannone reacted fastest.
He made two saves to secure the ball, but he did not wait for the melee in front of the goal to disperse before rising.
Instead he sprang up and threw the ball forward like a strongman…
and cried to the sky:
"Xia, go! Run!"
A figure leapt high, headed the ball on to control it, then, landing, drove forward with the ball at his feet toward City's goal…
Mancini's face changed dramatically as he sprinted to the touchline.
He ran shouting: "Defend!" "Back, defend quickly!"
In the stands, City fans who had been singing suddenly panicked, shouting: "Foul him!" "Take his legs out!"
In the small pocket of Arsenal supporters at the Etihad, fans jumped to their feet, waving fists and screaming: "Go!" "Go…"
Earlier City had committed most of their men forward — almost ninety percent of their force — and now their backline was down to Gaël Clichy and Joleon Lescott.
Clichy told Lescott to fall back, then sprinted at Xia Qi, trying to see if he could stop Xia Qi with a red or yellow card.
As he ran, Xia Qi glanced back and then looked at the goal.
Joe Hart had been City's best performer tonight besides Balotelli — he hadn't given Xia Qi room to chip the keeper.
Since that option wasn't there, then go on the attack!
The two approaching players wrote their intentions plainly on their faces.
As they neared each other, Xia Qi pushed the ball behind Clichy.
Clichy saw the pass and assumed Xia Qi wanted to run at him; he launched himself like a pouncing beast to bundle him down.
It would have been a red-card tackle, but in that moment it was worth it.
However, Xia Qi had calculated that Clichy would act like that.
He took a wide arc and performed an outside-over speed burst.
Clichy lunged and missed.
Xia Qi drove to the edge of the penalty area where Lescott lurked, eyes fixed on denying his route.
While running, Xia Qi placed the ball a step away from Lescott.
In a flash, Lescott had no time to consider whether it was a trap; meat that's put to your lips is hard to refuse.
Instinctively he stuck out a leg to reach the ball.
Instinct!
But at that moment a foot not belonging to him descended and clipped the ball, changing its direction.
Lescott, thankful his defensive experience hadn't been expended, didn't overcommit and instead changed his approach, charging toward Xia Qi.
But Xia Qi's other foot deftly pulled the ball back.
At the same time Xia Qi's body leaned into the direction he wanted to roll the ball.
Lescott's internal alarm bells sounded — that was Xia Qi's intended breakthrough direction.
But knowing it now was too late.
He forced a change of direction and with a thud, fell over.
"Huff, huff, huff…"
City fans grew afraid; they didn't want to be excited in vain and booed Xia Qi furiously, even threatening him.
"You kid, if you dare break through I'll snap your legs…"
"This is your mother club, kid — be careful of thunder from the sky."
"Kid, stop now, or I'll hit you every time I see you!"
(To be continued)
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