September 19th.
Arsenal traveled to the Stadium of Light to play away against the Black Cats Sunderland.
Due to his agreement with Wenger before the Champions League, Fly was back on the bench for this match.
What was originally thought to be a match where they would comfortably secure three points ended up with Arsenal being dealt a heavy blow.
In the 13th minute of the match.
Fabregas played a one-two wall pass with Arshavin, then scored with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, giving Arsenal a 1-0 lead.
Arsenal fans originally thought that with a goal scored so early in the match, they would surely secure the win.
However, the content of the match over the next few dozen minutes completely broke the spirits of all Arsenal fans.
In the 23rd minute of the match.
Wilshere committed a foul with a sliding tackle on future Liverpool captain Henderson, receiving a yellow card.
Immediately following, in the 29th minute.
Fabregas pulled a thigh muscle during a challenge, forcing Wenger to make a substitution.
In the 38th minute of the match.
Alexandre Song received a yellow card for pushing an opponent during an aerial challenge.
In the 55th minute of the second half.
Alexandre Song fouled Welbeck during his breakthrough, receiving another yellow card, which resulted in two yellows turning into a red, and he was sent off directly by the Main Referee.
Arsenal immediately faced the predicament of playing with 10 men against 11.
And that wasn't the end of it.
In the 74th minute of the match.
Sunderland defender Richardson committed a handball inside the penalty area, and Arsenal was awarded a penalty.
As a result, Rosicky, who came on as a substitute for Fabregas, hit the goalpost with his shot, losing the chance to extend the lead.
Ultimately, Arsenal was punished for missing this penalty.
In the 90th minute of the match, just as regular time ended.
Sunderland forward Darren Bent capitalized on a passing error by Arsenal goalkeeper Almunia, scoring the goal and securing a dramatic equalizer!
In the end, Sunderland held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at home.
Fly watched from the sidelines, feeling anxious, and even proactively volunteered to play, but Arsène Wenger simply wouldn't allow it.
In his words, it was: 'Trust your teammates, you don't need to play in this match'.
And when the match ultimately ended in a dramatic draw, Wenger's expression was also very grim.
At the post-match press conference, facing the collective grilling from Fleet Street, Arsène Wenger calmed his emotions and slowly said:
'There were too many unexpected factors in this match, and the reason we didn't win is simply because luck was on their side.'
'I have nothing more to say. My biggest concern right now is Cesc (Fabregas)'s injury.'
'The team needs him very much, and I hope this injury is not serious.'
When asked why he didn't let Fly play, Arsène Wenger had a ready answer and spoke frankly:
'Because Fly needs rest.'
'He came to me during the second half hoping to play, but I refused.'
'I told him to trust his teammates and not to rush.'
'Although the final result of the match is regrettable, I don't believe I made the wrong decision.'
'You must know that just three days ago, Fly just completed a four-goal haul in the Champions League and played the full match.'
'I cannot let a child under 18 play another high-intensity Premier League match within 72 hours.'
'Although Fly told me his physical condition was perfectly fine, I still didn't want to take the risk.'
'If I had played him in this match and we had won, but it ultimately resulted in him getting injured.'
'What would you media say then?'
'Arsène is eager for quick success? Using young players to death without considering their physical condition?'
'I know you too well; no matter what I do, you can find fault.'
'In short, I don't regret today's decision. Fly is the future of Arsenal, and he needs the best protection.'
After hearing Arsène Wenger's statement after the match, the bit of resentment in Fly's heart completely vanished.
There's nothing to be done! Age is a fundamental limitation.
Given that the matter of the cheat cannot be revealed to the outside world.
No one would believe that a young player under 18 could stay healthy during prolonged periods of high-intensity continuous play.
If it weren't for Fly knowing he had a cheat, he wouldn't have this confidence either.
It can only be said that this match was a strategic sacrifice after returning from the Champions League.
Playing two matches within 72 hours is indeed somewhat superhuman.
Having figured this out, Fly felt much better.
Looking at the results of the other teams in the fifth round of the Premier League, Fly couldn't help but sigh.
'Come on, beat Chelsea!' As soon as Fly saw that Chelsea had hammered Blackpool 4-0 again, maintaining their perfect record in the League, his mindset became a little unstable.
However, thinking back to Arsenal's 9-0 massacre of Blackpool at the start of the season, Fly couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head.
What exactly was he hoping for?
How could a trash team that could concede 9 goals to Arsenal possibly stop Chelsea?
Then, Fly saw that Manchester United had defeated Liverpool 3-2 at home, securing the first victory in the derby this season.
'The Stylish One' Berbatov scored a hat-trick, and his name echoed throughout England for a time.
Some Manchester United fans even started clamoring that Berbatov could surpass Fly and become the Premier League Golden Boot winner this season.
But Fly, who knew Berbatov's stylish nature well, just found such talk amusing.
Although Berbatov did indeed win the only Premier League Golden Boot of his career in this season in his previous life.
But that was only because Van Persie was injured and sidelined for half a season, allowing him to seize the opportunity.
One must know that in his previous life, Van Persie only played half of this season but still scored 18 goals, just two less than Berbatov.
It can be said that if Van Persie had spent less time on the sickbed, the Premier League Golden Boot would have been a certainty!
Berbatov, a Premier League Golden Boot winner who 'didn't score much'.
Looking across the entire history of Premier League Golden Boot winners, that's a truly unique case!
He played 149 matches for Manchester United throughout his career, scoring only 56 goals.
A main forward for a top club with a goal-scoring efficiency of less than 0.4 goals per game.
No wonder they all say Sir Alex Ferguson is amazing; leading such a subpar squad, he still managed to clinch a Premier League title in his final year of coaching.
You have to admire him!
If it were the numerous successors at Manchester United afterwards, securing Champions League qualification would have been good enough; challenging for the Premier League title? Forget it.
Thinking of this, Fly felt regret for Wenger again.
If it weren't for Arsène Wenger's entire coaching career largely overlapping perfectly with Sir Alex Ferguson's, the number of trophies he could have won would definitely have doubled!
After all, a top manager like Sir Alex Ferguson who could stay at a strong team for over 20 years is truly unique in the European top 5 leagues.
Even if other Leagues encountered a very difficult opponent for a period of time.
They could still 'outlast' them, waiting for the opponent to self-destruct and collapse.
But you couldn't outlast Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson's era!
He stayed for 26 years; how could you outlast that?
Most football managers don't have such a long coaching career in their entire lives.
While feeling regret for the Professor, Fly also saw the Scottish Old Man's statement after winning the derby:
'Hodgson cannot help Liverpool; today's Liverpool is a pseudo-strong team wearing the guise of a top club.'
'Apart from showing some fighting spirit when facing us, they look like cowards against other teams.'
'Look at their record this season; they actually lost 1-4 to an Arsenal led by a child, and then were completely thrashed 3-0 by our noisy neighbors.'
'Winning against such a poor team, I can no longer feel the excitement I used to.'
'As for Arsenal, they were just held to a draw by a very weak opponent, which completely validates my earlier prediction.'
'Today's Arsenal squad is very weak, with a large number of young players lacking match experience, which will directly lead to their inconsistent performance.'
'Arsène's post-match statement is even more ridiculous!'
'He actually put the outcome of a match on a child under 18; it's simply laughable.'
'Although Fly just scored four goals in the Champions League a few days ago, don't forget, his opponent was Braga, a Portuguese team.'
'If he had faced a Champions League team from one of the European top 5 leagues, he absolutely wouldn't have scored so many goals.'
'Look at Dimitar (Berbatov)'s performance in this match; he scored 3 goals against Liverpool. Can that child do that?'
'In my opinion, the Premier League Golden Boot this season is very likely to go to Dimitar.'
'....'
Fly didn't read the subsequent comments about Chelsea because he couldn't hold back anymore after reading this far.
Sir Alex Ferguson, this is truly beyond endurance!
Fly swore that when he faced Manchester United this season, he would thoroughly kick Manchester United's ass!
Read more chapters at Patreon.com/brainiacc