The match between Arsenal and Manchester City was the last match of the ninth round of the Premier League.
Before this, the other eighteen teams in the Premier League had all completed their ninth round matches.
There were no surprises for Arsenal in this round of matches.
Chelsea and Manchester United, the two biggest title contenders, both secured victories.
Chelsea secured a 2-0 victory at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers, achieving a record of 6 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses after nine rounds, accumulating 19 points and ranking second in the League.
Manchester United defeated Stoke City 2-1 away, achieving a record of 4 wins and 5 draws after nine rounds, accumulating 17 points and ranking third in the League.
After losing the match against Arsenal, Manchester City achieved a record of 5 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses after nine rounds, accumulating the same 17 points as Manchester United, but ranked fourth in the League due to goal difference.
Arsenal, on the other hand, achieved an undefeated record of 8 wins and 1 draw after nine rounds, accumulating 25 points and holding a significant lead at the top of the table.
October 28th.
Arsenal welcomed Newcastle United for their English League Cup Round of 16 match.
For this kind of minor competition, Wenger's idea was very simple: abandon it directly and field youth players and substitutes.
Szczęsny also finally got his chance to perform in this competition.
Although Arsène Wenger had previously heard Fly suggest making Szczęsny Arsenal's starting goalkeeper, he did not directly put Szczęsny in for the League and Champions League matches.
Instead, he started him in the English League Cup to assess Szczęsny's level.
If he performed well in the English League Cup, Wenger would gradually start him in the League as the goalkeeper.
Of course, if they could secure first place in their Champions League group and qualify early, then letting Szczęsny play the last two group matches wouldn't be out of the question either.
In the match against Newcastle United, Szczęsny performed excellently, making high and low saves, completing 5 saves, and ultimately helping Arsenal keep a clean sheet against their opponent.
On the Arsenal side, the returning from injury Little Tiger Walcott scored two goals.
Nicklas Bendtner, who had almost completely lost playing time since Fly was promoted to the first team, added icing to the cake.
Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul made a mistake and scored an own goal.
Ultimately, Arsenal defeated Newcastle United 4-0 and advanced to the next round.
Wenger wasn't concerned about this result.
Since they could advance further using only substitutes and youth players, Arsène Wenger naturally wouldn't say much more.
In Wenger's plan, unless the English League Cup reached the final, he would absolutely not field even one starter.
Furthermore, if the situation for Arsenal in both the League and Champions League was particularly difficult when the English League Cup final was being played, he might even field a full team of substitutes and youth players in the English League Cup final.
After all, compared to the League and the Champions League, even the English League Cup final is not worth mentioning.
October 30th.
Premier League Round 10, Arsenal hosted the challenge from the Hammers, West Ham United.
For this match, Arsène Wenger once again fielded a 4-4-2 formation.
"Goalkeeper: Fabiański."
"Defenders: Sagna, Varane, Koscielny, Clichy."
"Midfielders: Blaise Matuidi, Alexandre Song, Nasri, Fabregas."
"Forwards: Fly, Arshavin."
"West Ham United fielded a 4-4-2 formation for this match."
"Goalkeeper: Green."
"Defenders: Jacobsen, Gabbidon, Manuel da Costa, Ilunga."
"Midfielders: Noble, Scott Parker, Boa Morte, Behrami."
"Forwards: Obinna, Piquionne."
In this match, Fly seemed to be stuck in a system glitch, completing 8 shots throughout the game but failing to score a single goal.
Three hit the post, one hit the crossbar; this was Fly's shooting data for this match.
If not for Fly's strong breakthrough past three players in the final stages of the match, making a cutback pass to Alexandre Song at the top of the box who scored Arsenal's only goal of the game.
This match was definitely one that would be used as a negative example since Fly's debut; Fly himself was disgusted by his own performance.
Although his post-match rating was still quite high, likely because of the high number of shots and hitting the post multiple times, with all these threatening attacks being converted into bonus points.
But Fly himself was extremely dissatisfied with his performance this time.
Of course, when Wenger was interviewed at the post-match press conference, he still highly praised Fly: "It's undeniable that Fly was quite unlucky in this match."
"He hit the post three times and the crossbar once; this isn't an issue with his shooting technique, it's simply pure bad luck."
"I'm not here to defend him; in fact, Fly told me after the match, 'Boss, I played terribly in this game.'"
"But I told him, it's okay, you were just unlucky in this match. As a forward, you can still create a lot of threats."
"It was clear that West Ham United's defenders were sticking tightly to Fly throughout the match, never leaving his side, like bodyguards."
"This kind of situation, which should appear with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, appeared with a teenager who is not even 18 years old."
"Without a doubt, even in the eyes of the opponents, Fly has already become a superstar."
"These things don't need to be said out loud; you just need to see what the opponents are doing to know."
"Our performance in this match was good; the reason we didn't score earlier was simply because luck wasn't on our side."
"Of course, the final result was good; we won this match 1-0 and took all three points, and that's enough."
When a reporter asked about Fly's streak of scoring in 11 consecutive matches coming to an end, Wenger showed a shocked expression and then said with great surprise:
"Oh, my god, has Fly already scored in 11 consecutive matches?"
"My heavens, these are stats that only a football god could achieve."
"12 matches, 26 goals? Oh, that efficiency is still the highest in football history."
"Without a doubt, even though Fly didn't score in this match, his goal-scoring efficiency is still far ahead of everyone else."
That evening, news about Fly's streak of scoring in 11 consecutive matches coming to an end quickly spread throughout England.
For a time, countless fans couldn't help but express their emotions.
"Scoring in 11 consecutive matches, god, is this still a human?"
"Cold knowledge: Fly didn't score in this match; Hot knowledge: He has played 12 matches this season and scored a total of 26 goals!!!"
"I think government agencies should detain Fly; we need to thoroughly check if this guy is actually from Earth!"
"Honestly, guys, I think Fly is an alien. You know, Ronaldo, whom we call 'The Phenomenon' (or 'alien'), couldn't achieve such crazy goal-scoring efficiency."
Just as football fans throughout England began calling on the government to detain Fly and using all sorts of so-called evidence to prove his alien identity.
Fly was at home, talking on the phone with Taylor.
"elder sister, how are your new album sales? Is it selling well?"
Taylor on the other end of the phone said with a cheerful laugh, "Mhm, it's doing quite well. It has sold 1.14 million copies so far."
"1.14 million copies in the first week, isn't that the rhythm of taking off?" Although Fly didn't know much about the music industry, he had the most basic concepts.
In the music industry, selling 1 million copies of an album earns the title of 'Platinum Album'.
And Taylor's third album, 'Speak Now', achieved Platinum status in its first week.
It must be said, she truly lives up to her reputation as the female singer with the strongest earning power in the United States music scene today.
Although currently, in terms of status alone, Taylor still can't compare to the global superstar Beyoncé, who has been famous for many years.
But in terms of earning power, Taylor is no longer inferior to this superstar.
Fly remembered that although Taylor's album in his previous life also achieved Platinum status in the first week, it definitely didn't reach as many as 1.14 million copies.
Fly guessed that it was very likely he contributed to those extra sales figures.
After all, in this life, because Taylor collaborated across fields with Fly, her fame is now even greater than it was at the same time in his previous life!
Especially in Europe, after all, football is still paramount in Europe, and many people who don't listen to music choose to watch football.
This is even more true in the United Kingdom, where the football atmosphere is strongest.
Fly believed that some football fans who originally didn't know Taylor might have come to know her and eventually liked her songs because of him.
Or perhaps they were simply his fans who spent money to support their idol, as an album doesn't cost much anyway.
Fly guessed that there shouldn't be too few such people; there were definitely at least tens of thousands.
This way, Taylor's album sales would gratuitously increase by tens of thousands of copies compared to the same period in his previous life.
Although these figures didn't play a decisive role, they at least made Taylor's earning power seem higher than expected.
However, at this stage, Fly is still in a position where he benefits from his girlfriend's popularity.
Because Taylor's fanbase and popularity are far greater than his.
Especially in North America, Taylor's popularity and fanbase crush him by a hundred streets.
After all, Fly grew up in the United States in this life, and his network is also in the United States, so he still values his base in North America highly.
Although English football is a niche sport in the United States, Fly hopes to increase its influence in the United States through his own efforts.
At the same time, a better football atmosphere can also benefit him.
However, all of this requires Fly to make a name for himself in the world of football.
At least at this stage, with him having not yet achieved anything, wanting to use his influence to boost the popularity of football in the United States is almost a pipe dream.
However, it is undeniable that due to Taylor, Fly's popularity in the United States is not particularly low; at least Taylor's fans know Fly as their idol's boyfriend.
Taylor's fans also call Fly 'brother-in-law', which indirectly further spread Fly's fame across the land of North America.
Although these people don't watch football, they will at least casually follow Fly's social media accounts.
Just this much is enough for Fly; he doesn't ask for too much.
...
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