Chapter 61: Little Xia's Flying Dagger — Deadly Accurate
7 November 2012, Emirates Stadium — Champions League group stage: Arsenal vs. FC Schalke 04.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Penguin Sports' live broadcast of the 2012–2013 UEFA Champions League Group B match: Arsenal at home vs. FC Schalke 04."
"Schalke 04 are an established Bundesliga force but have not performed well in this season's Champions League group stage, taking only one point from two matches.
"Schalke cannot afford to lose this match — defeat would essentially mean early elimination.
"Conversely, Arsenal hold six points; a win would open qualification prospects bright.
"Facing a must-win match, Schalke coach Huub Stevens has set up a 4–2–3–1: goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, defenders…"
"Arsenal continue with the 4–4–2 that faced Manchester United: goalkeeper Vito Mannone — Mannone made a serious mistake in the last match but Arsène Wenger still trusts him…"
…
On the pitch,
Xia Qi felt a tinge of regret that Brother Hao had gone home and he hadn't taken him for a bowl of Shanxi knife-cut noodles.
"Ding dong"
"Please choose 'Training' or 'Match' mode."
"Match."
"Please choose field position: A Forward, B…"
"A."
"The system detects the host's heart is filled with the regret of not being able to spar with mentors and close friends on the same stage; this negative emotion should be vented quickly and matches the attribute [Unstoppable]."
"Fast, extremely fast, ultra-fast — Little Xia's Flying Dagger, deadly accurate, unstoppable."
"Please choose 'Manual Mode' or 'One-Click AFK Mode'."
"Warm reminder: during AFK mode the system will automatically complete all required actions."
"One-Click AFK!"
…
Beep!
Under the running commentary of Zhang Lu in the Penguin broadcast studio, the match kicked off.
Arsenal started.
When Jack Wilshere passed the ball to Mikel Arteta, Xia Qi had already sprinted forward.
Arteta returned the pass to Wilshere, and Xia Qi had already reached Schalke's penalty-area edge.
Wilshere lofted a long pass into the box; under a squeeze from Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Joel Matip, Xia Qi sprang up and nodded the ball on to the back post for Lukas Podolski.
Podolski met the ball and lofted a deft flick; the ball sailed behind Matip.
At that moment Xia Qi darted between Matip and Papadopoulos and, before the ball fell, unleashed a shot.
Quick as lightning!
Both for the offside-beating run and the shot, it was ultra-fast.
Schalke's defenders and goalkeeper only felt their vision blur —
the ball was bouncing in their net.
Beep!
The referee's whistle sounded; the official signal pointed to the center circle — goal valid.
The LED scoreboard over the pitch showed the time: only 8.7 seconds had elapsed.
The stadium DJ screamed: "Gooooooooooooal!"
That hysterical shout woke the Emirates up and Arsenal fans exploded in stunned elation.
Countless people made meaningless screams!
At that moment in the Penguin broadcast studio, Zhang Lu had only just read "Xia Qi" as a starting forward — Podolski hadn't even been announced.
Zhang Lu and Zhan Jun exchanged glances and quickly explained: "8.7 seconds — Xia Qi's lightning goal!"
"Xia Qi's goal broke the Champions League fastest-goal record held by Roy Makaay."
"The previous record was Roy Makaay's goal in the 2007 Champions League round of 16, where he scored in 10.12 seconds for Bayern Munich against Real Madrid."
"Xia Qi shaved 1.38 seconds off the record."
On the broadcast some fans stood baffled in the tunnel, holding tickets and snacks; they hadn't even sat down before the goal.
"Honey, you wasted so much time choosing the Coke size — look, Xia Qi already scored."
"Is it my fault? I said I wanted the medium; that idiot insisted it was the large. I don't care what the store says, I want the medium…"
Actually, the late-arrival fans were not the worst off; the worst were those who had already sat and taken a swig of beer — the beer can hiding their faces — when Xia Qi scored.
A relaxing sip turned instantly disappointing; a spectacular goal had been missed.
Almost every fan in the Emirates looked up at the big screen replay…
The goal came too fast — they hadn't even had time to applaud Xia Qi.
But teammates wouldn't forget.
Podolski put his arm around Xia Qi's shoulder as they walked back, playfully claiming credit: "Nice lob from me, felt comfortable, right?"
Other teammates poured over the pair. Xia Qi remained expressionless, but the teammates were used to it — everyone rubbed his hair for luck.
On the touchline, Schalke coach Huub Stevens had barely taken his seat when the goal went in.
His stunned expression in that instant became the post-match news photo.
Wenger wasn't much better; he'd been chatting with Pat Rice and suddenly it was 1–0.
"Pat, shall we chat ourselves into a three-goal lead and knock them back home with one blow?"
After Stevens' initial shock he sprinted to the touchline: "Stay focused, don't drift."
Drift? Oh right, the players had been distracted — they thought that boy was some sort of phantom.
Schalke players, hearing their coach's shouts, snapped back to reality and accepted the most palatable truth.
"Xia Qi is in such form — after five goals and two assists against Manchester United and now this instant opener. Tonight's going to be another rout."
"If nothing goes wrong, Arsenal will have no rivals in the group. Wenger should secure the points quickly and then focus on the Premier League."
"In the Premier League the title race is the fiercest among the big five; four sides contend. Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea have deeper benches than Arsenal. Over a long season Arsenal have no real advantage."
Arsenal fans in the stand were overjoyed and started singing.
Schalke fans… cough, just a few hundred — negligible.
…
Beep!
Schalke kicked off.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar passed back to Julian Draxler, Draxler to Tranquillo Barnetta? (or a back pass to another), then to Christian Fuchs.
The ball circulated among Schalke players.
Schalke seemed unhurried despite trailing, playing the ball back in their own half; Arsenal did not immediately press high either — both sides looked to play conservatively for a moment.
"You're playing like this and ruining the Nine-Five Supreme!" Arsenal fans complained, feeling robbed and booed.
The boos grew louder and after three minutes reached a boiling point.
Spurred by the fans, Arsenal players began to press forward.
Xia Qi and the other advanced players increased their high press.
Huntelaar, Holtby, Draxler and other Schalke players seized the chance to surge forward.
Midfield and attackers swapped positions and pressed toward the opponent's goal.
Benedikt Höwedes slipped a pass behind Xia Qi as he approached.
Roman Neustädter shifted the ball slightly to the right, to intercept before Jack Wilshere, then played a cross.
Jones led the ball forward in a long stride.
After three minutes of stability, Schalke pressed and then caught Arsenal on the counter.
Only then did Arsenal fans realize they'd made a mistake: by mindlessly booing, perhaps they had forced Arsenal to press too aggressively, falling into Schalke's trap.
They roared booing again with the last of their lungs — determined to outshout the danger.
Schalke (4–2–3–1):
Goalkeeper: 36 - Lars Unnerstall
Defenders: 4 - Benedikt Höwedes, 14 - Kyriakos Papadopoulos, 32 - Joel Matip, 23 - Christian Fuchs
Double pivot: 33 - Roman Neustädter, 13 - Jones
Midfielders: 17 - Jefferson Farfán, 10 - Lewis Holtby, 31 - Julian Draxler
Forward: 25 - Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
(END CHAPTER)
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