The Young Lion

Thank you Thieves for your reward!

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The rhythm of the game at the beginning of the second half was exactly the same as the whole first half, dull.

When the game came to the 60th minute, the Gunners fans in the stands became a little anxious.

Millwall is their archenemy for the title. Their strength has declined in the new season. With the absence of Nedved and Ronaldinho in today's game, this is a good time for Arsenal to win a key battle. This battle is worth 6 points!

Wild Lions fans are comforting themselves. Our strength has declined, but we are not inferior on the scene. Today, the team performed well in an away game.

Wenger was tangled and looked at Aldridge frequently. He hoped that Millwall would attack.

You are behind in points, don't you want to fight for the half-time championship?

Arsenal's positional battle has no advantage in the midfield. The two teams are completely paired in the midfield. Millwall strengthens the midfield and loses a striker. Arsenal does not have much space for positional warfare or counterattack. , not the slightest threat.

The same is true for Millwall. The offensive force is relatively small, and it is tightly restricted by Arsenal's defense.

After another 5 minutes, Millwall made a substitution, two at a time.

Aldridge was still sitting, and Klinsmann led Henry and Larson to the sidelines to prepare for substitutions. He held a tactics book in his hand and told them some tasks after going on the field. The two nodded while listening carefully.

Seeing this scene, the narrator was excited.

Millwall is going to have two heavyweights coming in. Larsson is back from injury and Hall is going to give him 25 minutes or so to see what he can do. Henry has been in good form lately and he's a threat on the pitch. Quite intuitively, it looks like Millwall is going to make a late effort.

More excited than the narrator was Wenger.

He stood up and reminded the defense to pay attention.

Millwall finally couldn't hold back and wanted to attack!

Is this a good thing?

Wenger seems to be a good thing, as long as the opponent attacks. Provide firepower to the striker, so as long as Arsenal can withstand the offense, the counterattack after turning from defense to offense is their forte.

Larsson comes on to replace Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Henry came on to replace Glenshire.

Hall looks like he's using a counter-substitution, but there should be a change in attack, with Larsson at the center and Henry at the winger. The two can switch positions in the attack, and Van der Meyde provides the firepower for both on the other side. support.

Wenger thought that Millwall would attack aggressively after the substitution, but he was wrong, standing on the sidelines frowning and depressed.

Millwall is really a counter-substitution, and the tactical play has not changed.

The role of Henry replacing Glenciel is no different, relying on individual combat, Larsson is on the front line and the mediocre Ruud van Nistelrooy is the same, without fire support, as for Van der Meyer, his biography It's useless to hit the ball accurately. Larson was double-teamed, how could he get the spot?

Wenger didn't understand. If he didn't change his style of play and invest more troops in the offense, what would Millwall do with substitutions?

The game time is getting less and less, and Aldridge watched the game with a tepid look from beginning to end.

He found. In fact, as long as the goal is set lower, he himself will not have any pressure.

Let's see who can hold his breath!

Millwall's first goal today is not to concede a goal, so what if Arsenal lead? When the depth of the bench is tested in the second half of the season, Millwall's main force will return to the team one after another. Arsenal will rely on this group of people to see who can survive to the end!

Wenger is really in a hurry. Arsenal can't win Millwall at home and may be separated by Manchester United.

Even if Aldridge declared in front of Fleet Street that he would win the league title this season, would Wenger believe it? Who knows if this is psychological warfare!

In order to boost the morale of the team, Aldridge set a high goal for the players to fight for. In fact, this season is just training young people?

Let Ronaldinho, Ruud van Nistelrooy, van der Meyde, Duff and other players grow and improve further, and the real strength will be next season. No matter in terms of player ability or technical and tactical maturity.

To defend the title, Arsenal must win this game, morale and points, both need them to win!

Wenger made the team play more adventurous and direct.

But Millwall's defense was impenetrable. In the 83rd minute, Arsenal pushed forward from the wing and turned to the center. Pires' pass was successfully intercepted by Gattuso. Turning around, Millwall's counterattack came!

After Lampard handed the ball to Van der Meyde, he immediately went forward. In front of him, only Petit was on the defensive line.

Van der Meyde hit the ball to the center immediately after receiving the ball, Larsson who retreated received the ball, and Arsenal's defense line was on the verge of a formidable enemy.

Larsson didn't wait for Adams to press up and passed the ball back to Lampard who was plugging in. The latter kicked the ball and then hit the left side of the penalty area.

Henry!

Henry cut inside and took the ball, and the Arsenal fans in the stands seemed to smell death.

But Henry passed the ball diagonally to the other side of the penalty area. Who is this ball for?

Adams stared at Larson, but his eyes were full of disbelief. Henry's ball was not passed to Larson!

Aldrich's eyes flickered, and he focused on this attack.

Larson's position as a center forward is just a cover. He has just returned from injury, so the actual threat will be greatly reduced. However, as long as he plays, he can attract the opponent's heavy defense. It may be difficult for him to directly threaten Arsenal's goal.

So Aldridge let him play is actually supporting in the middle.

As for Henry, the person Wenger named and promoted in Monaco, wouldn't Wenger focus on reminding the defense before the game?

There are only a few people left who are threatening in Millwall's offense. Will Henry, the king of summer transfer bids, be ignored?

When Henry has the ball, the Arsenal defense will definitely pay attention to him.

It is easy for this golden line of defense to defend against one person, and it is no problem to defend against two persons, but above all, Larson and Henry are the real killers of Millwall under the guise of Larson and Henry. The real threat is created when the third person appears!

Henry's diagonal pass hit the back of Arsenal's defense and rolled straight to the point behind the goal.

There, there was a person outflanking him. Push the ball into the top corner of the goal.

The goal was scored! Van der Meyde became a hero! The Dutchman didn't enter the penalty area once in more than 80 minutes! Not even once! But this time, he outflanked the goal and scored the ball. The ball leads the defending champion Arsenal, this ball is really unexpected, but this ball reflects the characteristics of Millwall's fast counterattack, and the team cooperates tacitly. The attack point is unexpected, and we all think that Henry or Larsson will be the terminator , even Lampard who is plugged in may be focused on by Arsenal, but Van der Meyde, who is usually more inclined to assist, has become the finisher. This must be Hall's tactical arrangement before the game, otherwise Van der Meyer will not risk Leaving a lot of space behind them and risking their way into the box, they know how fast Arsenal can counterattack!

Aldridge finally stood up after scoring the goal, his arms vibrated up and down slightly in front of him with force.

Wenger shook his head angrily.

Millwall's tactics have not changed, but the offensive focus has changed.

No one could have imagined that Aldridge's replacement of Henry and Larson was actually a cover for Van der Meyde!

In the stands at Highbury, the Gunners fans were depressed.

Is this Christmas going to be tragic?

Wild Lions fans were thrilled.

Good guy. Not a bad Christmas present.

They think a draw is good, after all, it is an away game, and the team really lacks a few generals.

But now there are less than 10 minutes left in the game, and the victory is in sight, which makes them overjoyed.

Got a goal lead, Aldridge gestured to the team. Let them stabilize, concentrate on defending well, and at the same time attack more cautiously, and control the ball first if there is no good opportunity. When Arsenal presses up and rushes, the space will be even greater.

Wenger stood on the sidelines with his arms folded and his face serious, his mind spinning rapidly.

According to the conventional style of play, Arsenal seems to be unable to break through the gate of Millwall.

In terms of the thickness of the bench, Arsenal is not as good as the opponent, especially the surprise players who can play. Even less and less.

There are not many personnel transfers he can make, so he can only change his tactics.

He gestured to the players.

In the last 3 minutes of the game, Arsenal's style of play completely changed.

Seeing the situation on the field, Aldridge rushed to the sidelines to gesture to Lampard. Let him go back to the restricted area!

Arsenal actually played a long pass again!

And their players have good footwork. The pass is not to find someone's head, but to pass directly to the area behind the defender, allowing Bergkamp to grab the landing point. Bergkamp's stopping technique is a master.

If it is normal time, Millwall is not afraid of the opponent's long pass.

However, 85 minutes before the game, Arsenal had been playing ground pass and cut cooperation. The Millwall players were subconsciously accustomed to the opponent's style of play. The sudden change of the opponent would definitely make Millwall uncomfortable, just like Arsenal. Suddenly facing Van der Meyde's advance forward, he was caught off guard!

Just three seconds after Aldridge adjusted, before Lampard ran back to the penalty area, Pires made a long diagonal pass from the left. The half-high ball bypassed the space between the defenders. Bergkamp touched the ball, and Ferdinand, eager to defend, rushed over and stretched out his foot to destroy the ball, but Bergkamp's foot stopped too far, the ball rolled out of the baseline, and Ferdinand kicked Bergkamp. Pu's feet.

Bergkamp fell to the ground in the penalty area, the referee blew his whistle and pointed to a penalty!

Arsenal got a penalty! The game was coming to an end, they got a penalty! Ferdinand was appealing to the referee, he thought Bergkamp made a mistake in stopping the ball, and he was not a foul.

Aldridge went to reason with the fourth official, and he also felt that it was not a penalty.

The ball goes out of bounds first, and the referee can call Ferdinand a foul without the ball, but it's not a penalty. He can be given a red card! But the game should be in a static state!

Not all fouls in the penalty area are penalty kicks. For example, if the ball is thrown out of bounds and there is a foul between players in the penalty area, the referee can award a foul, but it is not a penalty kick.

This is a matter of opinion. If the referee thinks the ball is out of bounds, the game will be suspended. At this time, Ferdinand's foul does not interfere with the progress of the game, but simply hurts Bergkamp.

However, in the blink of an eye, the referee pointed to a penalty.

Aldridge couldn't accept it, and argued with the fourth official for a long time, and finally talked with Wenger on the sidelines.

The level of refereeing in the Premier League must improve, it must, otherwise it will hinder the overall level of progress in the league.

I agree with that.

He also didn't want to argue with Wenger about the penalty kick.

Bergkamp himself took the knife and scored the penalty overnight.

Both teams were slightly conservative in the final stoppage time, and no one was afraid of conceding another goal. The two teams finally shook hands 1:1.

Aldridge waited for the referee to leave the field together after the game. They communicated with each other. The referee insisted on his judgment. He believed that the foul happened before the ball went out of bounds. At the same time, the action between Bergkamp and Ferdinand was Consecutive, not absolute technical fouls.

Aldridge has nothing to say about this, and he can't tell the referee: You go and watch the replay. ()