Chapter 64: Careless at Jingzhou — North London Derby vs. Tottenham
A Schalke 04 player looked at Xia Qi's retreating back with a complicated expression.
This kid —
was his shooting superb? Or...???
All three goals were fucking luck!
Each one was utterly unrepeatable!
Standing on the sideline, Arsène Wenger and Stevens both watched Xia Qi with equally mixed faces.
Wenger: How is he always Xia Qi in adversity!
Stevens: It's fucking annoying — we were weak already, and now we meet a lunatic…
Back at the center circle, Xia Qi's hair was nearly pulled clean by his teammates…
Because Xia Qi was being controlled by the AI and refused to put his foot on Podolski's knee, the Poldi prince actually lay down on the turf and kissed Xia Qi's shooting boot. When he got up, his boot rubbed back and forth on Xia Qi's boot, as if he could rub Xia Qi's luck off that way.
Well, Podolski actually rubbed off some luck.
In the 78th minute, Wilshere threaded a pass through the middle, Podolski curled a shot from the left side of the box, the ball traced a strange arc and again beat Unnerstall's ten outstretched fingertips.
4:1!
After the goal, Podolski, regardless of Xia Qi's wishes, hoisted Xia Qi on his back and sprinted around the pitch wildly…
Wilshere, trailing behind them like an abandoned little wife, shouted at the top of his lungs: "That was my assist, my assist!"
On the sideline, Stevens rubbed his face hard — tonight's match was really frustrating!
First two lucky goals, then two miraculous strikes — it was as if God was reminding Schalke 04 to focus on the league and not be distracted.
…
At the final whistle,
Schalke 04 surrendered. Both sides walked through the remaining time in mutual accord; Arsenal smoothly took the win.
…
In the Champions League group stage Arsenal had steamrolled through — three wins in three — and could now devote energy fully to the Premier League.
Bookmakers raised Arsenal's title odds by 2 points.
In this heady period,
Arsenal faced Premier League Round 11 at home against Fulham.
To ensure three points, Wenger made no rotations.
Fulham's season had been better than Liverpool's so far, sitting eighth; their match with Arsenal could be called a London derby.
But the derby atmosphere at the Emirates was not intense.
Players and fans alike were relaxed, treating it like an autumn outing.
From kickoff Fulham played on the counterattack.
But their defense only held for seven minutes.
Xia Qi received Wilshere's pass on the right of the box, drew multiple defenders into a clamp, then slipped the ball through a seam; Podolski finished from close range.
Arsenal 1:0.
After conceding, Fulham kept playing the counter.
Facing Xia Qi, who had burning soles, and Arsenal charging ahead in full force,
Fulham conscientiously set up their positions and, even trailing, were not reckless going forward.
But it didn't help much.
In the 21st minute Xia Qi received Arteta's pass with his back to goal in the penalty area, nudged the ball to his side, turned quickly and shot.
The ball screamed through, deflected off a defender's leg, deceived the keeper and nest led in the net.
2:0!
Fulham adopted a mentality that "losing a little is like winning" and continued to defend to the death.
In first-half stoppage time, Wilshere swung in a corner and Xia Qi leapt high in the box to head home.
3:0!
The Emirates felt like Christmas had come.
Because Arsenal's next game was the North London Derby.
The match against Tottenham was second in importance only to the Champions League.
Wenger saw Fulham collapsing and showing no sign of resistance.
In the second half he pulled flags down — he substituted Xia Qi, Wilshere and Podolski, all at once.
As a result, Fulham had pride hurt.
After a rousing speech from their coach, the team sounded the charge and racked up three goals in quick succession to finish 3:3.
Arsenal dropped two points, and Wenger's timing of substitutions was criticized by the media after the match.
It was said Ferguson, upon hearing that Arsenal's three-goal lead had been pegged back to a draw, clenched his fist and cheered excitedly.
This round of the Premier League, Manchester United went from losing to winning away to Villa, coming back 2:3; Manchester City edged Tottenham 2:1 at home; Chelsea drew Liverpool 1:1 at Stamford Bridge.
After 11 rounds, the Premier League table was brutal: Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City all on 24 points, with Chelsea only three points behind.
Arsenal: 7 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss = 24 points
Manchester United: 8 wins, 0 draws, 3 losses = 24 points
Manchester City: 7 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss = 24 points
Chelsea: 6 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss = 21 points
The title race was ferocious. A journalist asked Real Madrid coach José Mourinho to predict the Premier League champion.
Mourinho bluntly answered: "Manchester United 51%, Manchester City 49%, Arsenal 0%."
You could say that Arsenal not only lost two points this round, they lost face.
…
Among the many London derbies, the North London Derby is the most bitter.
Since Arsenal moved to Highbury in 1913, the two clubs have been mutually hostile from executives down to ordinary staff and fans.
You could call it mortal enmity.
They'd fought for a century; Arsenal have generally won more often.
One could even say Arsenal were the boss of North London.
But the more successful the Arsenal folks were, the deeper their hatred of Tottenham.
How much do Arsenal people hate Spurs?
Longtime fan Jack said he'd trade a championship for that hatred.
Xia Qi replied at the time: "I wouldn't!"
Jack scolded Xia Qi for not understanding Arsenal culture, grabbed his hand and painfully recounted all of Tottenham's nastiness.
Xia Qi: "Bullshit culture. Your obsession with 'lagging students' instead of focusing on real rivals like Manchester United and Manchester City is the real reason Arsenal went eight years without a title."
Jack: face red.jpg!
…
Emmanuel Adebayor grew into a "Little Beast" at Arsenal but was sold off cheaply to Manchester City, becoming an enemy of Arsenal.
Last season after scoring at the Emirates he sprinted a hundred meters to celebrate under the Arsenal fans' stand; this season he transferred to Tottenham.
The day before the North London Derby he posted a photo of that celebration in the stands on Twitter — the meaning was obvious.
If not for Xia Qi bursting into flame this season, Arsenal's paper squad would actually be inferior to Tottenham's.
Tottenham had the Little Beast Adebayor, the Saint Gareth Bale, the flash Aaron Lennon, Park, Vertonghen…
This match had many storylines:
Gareth Bale, Lennon, Xia Qi — who is the fastest in the Premier League?
Could Adebayor strike again and, if he did, would he taunt Arsenal fans?
Could Xia Qi keep scoring in every round?
Before the match André Villas-Boas said: "I've found a way to beat Arsenal."
Adebayor: "I will score. They made Manchester United cry — I'll make them cry."
Manchester United: Thanks to your whole family.
Bale: "This will be a high-quality match. We won't change our style for anyone; we'll take our pace to the extreme."
Wenger had been running around busy these days, studying lineups until dawn and finalizing winter-window transfers — he had no time for interviews.
He left one line on the Arsenal official site: Never give up; you can always trust the Gunners.
(END CHAPTER)
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