Chapter 62: Xia's Blade Unsheathed — Mountain Shouts and Ocean Roars
Under the Arsenal fans' jeers,
Santi Cazorla stepped up to intercept Jones. In the purely physical contest, Cazorla came off worse and was shoved out over the touchline by Jones' backside.
Jones continued his high-speed drive forward, and at the same time Schalke 04's defensive line pushed up as a unit, ready to finish the job in one move.
André Santos closed in on Jones to defend, but at the instant he lunged, Jones flicked the ball up and into Arsenal's penalty area.
Julian Draxler, on the right side of the box, left the ball in the air without trapping it.
The ball drew a rainbow over Thomas Vermaelen's head.
"Back post!"
With Zhan Jun's surprised shout, a blue flash charged in from the outside, leapt high and headed the ball toward goal!
"Klaas-Jan Huntelaar!"
"Header on target!"
Vito Mannone was prepared in goal and, like lightning, punched the ball away.
"Mannone!"
"World-class save!"
"Unbelievable — to keep that from the goal at such close range."
Arsenal supporters' hearts were pounding.
Haha, escaped a crisis!
A little premature celebration!
The danger wasn't over.
The ball came back into the middle, and another blue flash — even faster than the red one — burst through!
"Lewis Holtby!"
"Danger!"
Holtby suddenly braked hard in full sprint, turned his body and shot with his foot over Per Mertesacker's shoulder.
The ball screamed toward goal!
Mannone was at the near post; the shot flew to the far corner and Mannone couldn't make a second save.
Despair swept through everyone at Arsenal!
Schalke 04 wasn't as weak as they'd imagined!
Boom!
The ball struck the crossbar with a metallic clang!
For Arsenal fans that sounded like heavenly music — the ball hit the woodwork and bounced out over the end line.
"Schalke 04 are worthy of being an old powerhouse; that wave of attack flowed like water, with clear layers."
"They had a pivot, a main attacker, and people attacking the channels. If Huntelaar and Holtby had been a little luckier, they'd already have equalized."
"Arsenal may be ahead, but they can't be complacent. Cazorla's defending is a bit thin; once he's beaten, Arsenal don't have many options."
Wenger stood at the sideline with a dark expression, signaling Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere to drop back a little.
Leading by one goal, it should be the opposition who are anxious — why does it feel like it's us?
When play restarted things got interesting.
Both sides seemed to reset and probe each other, unwilling to strike first.
Wiser now, Arsenal fans didn't boo their own players this time.
Often these non-bloody duels better reflect a team's tactical maturity.
Time ticked by.
Wilshere dribbled through the middle and was doubly pressed by Huntelaar and Holtby.
The ball was played back in a triangle to Jefferson Farfán; Farfán rotated it and delivered to Huntelaar.
Schalke counterattacked!
Receiving the ball, Huntelaar nudged it through Santi Cazorla's legs.
A nutmeg!
André Santos attempted to block directly.
Huntelaar laid it off; Draxler on the edge of the box let fly with a world-class strike that skimmed the post and out.
Though those two attacks didn't produce goals, they dented the swagger of the Arsenal fans; the crowd no longer dared to direct the team from the stands.
Mannone took the goal kick and, after a few passes, the ball arrived at Xia Qi's feet.
Pre-match tactics had identified Xia Qi as Schalke 04's primary defensive focus.
Now more than ever he was the focal point.
The ball reached him and two men immediately closed in.
Xia Qi didn't get entangled — he played the ball out before the press fully formed.
Wilshere received and switched to Lukas Podolski, who carried the ball forward, taking off like a man on fire toward the byline.
Christian Fuchs stuck to him closely.
In the center, Xia Qi and Mikel Arteta moved into near- and far-post positions, pushing forward quickly.
At the line parallel to the penalty-box, Podolski looked to cut inside.
Fuchs of course wouldn't allow that and moved to block, but Podolski's cut was a fake.
At full speed he stopped the ball and Fuchs ran past.
Podolski calmly looked up at the middle.
He saw Xia Qi alone in the box standing against two defenders, jockeying for a favorable position.
Arteta was three meters behind Xia Qi, perfectly placed on the edge of the big box with no marking.
Podolski didn't hesitate and hit the ball with the inside of his foot.
A dull thud.
The ball spun fiercely, flew over Fuchs' head and toward Arteta.
Joel Matip anticipated the pass was going to Arteta and abandoned marking Xia Qi to step out and intercept.
Arteta positioned himself, lifted his leg and knocked the ball forward.
The ball changed direction and flew toward Xia Qi.
Xia Qi hadn't even controlled it when the whole stadium erupted in cheers, as if the next second he would score with certainty.
Matip's decision was, strictly speaking, absolutely correct!
An unmarked Arteta at that moment was indeed the greater threat.
And after Matip left his post, his teammate Kyriakos Papadopoulos would clamp down on Xia Qi, preventing a turn.
One meter from the penalty spot, it is very hard to shoot without turning your body.
Even a bicycle-kick requires body lift to execute.
Papadopoulos clamped his elbow into Xia Qi's waist, used his shoulder and head to press into Xia Qi's back.
It looked like Xia Qi could only square the ball to a teammate — there was no other way.
But—
Xia Qi was not ordinary!
He raised his right leg, and as the ball came he used his heel to smack it hard backward.
A heel shot!
Heel strikes do appear in football, but usually inside the six-yard box.
First, such attempts tend to lack power; second, in the small box you're close to goal so there are fewer variables.
A heel strike from one meter outside the penalty area is almost unheard of.
Only an AI could calculate that trajectory; to humans it looks like a blind guess.
The ball skidded along the grass between Xia Qi and Papadopoulos at speed.
Benedikt Höwedes, rushing in to cover for Papadopoulos, saw the ball roll past and instinctively stretched a leg to block.
But his hurried brain reacted faster than his leg and he overbalanced.
Höwedes could only turn and shout at the goalkeeper: "Watch out!"
Due to the sightlines, Schalke's goalkeeper Unnerstall only realized the shot had gone through after the ball had passed Papadopoulos.
He actually spotted it a fraction earlier than Höwedes.
He dove quickly, but the heel-struck ball had the same speed as a normal shot, and Unnerstall's dive was just a bit late.
The ball crossed the line before his fingertips could reach it.
The Emirates erupted in a mountain-and-sea roar!
In the Penguin broadcast, Zhan Jun cried out:
"My God! Is Xia Qi on cheat mode? How can he see what's behind him?"
"At the 21st minute, Xia's blade is unsheathed — mountain shouts and ocean roars! Arsenal 2–0."
"That was a brilliant heel strike."
Fans in the stands buzzed and discussed:
"Has an angel kissed Xia Qi's foot? Even a blind swing becomes one of the five best goals of the round?"
"How can it be blind guessing?"
"Are you growing an eye in the back of your head?"
(▽｀)(⌒▽⌒)
"Okay, you win, but I just feel Xia Qi looked really confident when he struck that."
"Confidence is what top scorers must have."
"Xia Qi! Finish them off!"
"Xia Qi! Punch the clock for half-time; I've got a date with a girl."
(END CHAPTER)
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