The Emirates Stadium Dressing Room, Half Time.
Faced with Arsène Wenger's earnest, almost broken plea and hearing the crack in his aged voice, the Arsenal players couldn't help but be moved.
This white-haired old man had devoted over twenty years to Arsenal.
He had revolutionized English football.
Yet now, his own fans were shouting, "Get out of our club!" in his own stadium.
How absurd and ridiculous it was.
A surge of boundless anger welled up in their hearts—anger at the fans, yes, but mostly anger at their own inadequacies.
They had let him down.
Hector Bellerín, whom Wenger had personally poached from La Masia at 16 and treated like a son almost tear up.
He recalled Wenger's earnest guidance, the trust placed in him when others doubted.
He suddenly stood up, slamming his hand on the bench.
"We won't let you leave like this, Boss! Not today!"
Petr Cech, the veteran, pulled his helmet back on, his face set in stone.
"The match isn't over yet. 2-0 is nothing. One goal changes the atmosphere. We equalize, we overtake them!" he declared firmly. "Let Manchester United know that no one takes three points easily from the Emirates Stadium!"
"LETS GOOO!!!"
Angry, primal shouts erupted one after another in the locker room.
It wasn't the tactical precision of Guardiola or the psychological warfare of Mourinho; it was raw emotion.
Wenger stared at his players, his "children."
He suddenly doubted his earlier fatalism.
Maybe the iron-willed spirit that Arsenal relied on to survive the "Invincibles" era wasn't dead.
It was just sleeping.
'There is no creation before destruction', he thought. He nodded.
"Go."
...
The fifteen-minute break passed quickly.
Soon, both teams returned to the pitch.
The second half officially began.
Substitution: Arsenal replaced the shell-shocked Shkodran Mustafi with Alex Iwobi, shifting to a more attacking shape.
They were going for all out attack.
From the whistle, the roles reversed completely.
Arsenal became the pressing monster.
The players, fueled by adrenaline and guilt, frantically contested for every ball, disregarding their physical exertion.
They were everywhere.
In competitive sports like football, skill determines the baseline, while spirit determines the ceiling.
This inherent unpredictability is the greatest charm of the game—superior strength on paper doesn't guarantee victory against a team possessed.
At this moment, the Arsenal players embodied the power of that spirit.
Using relentless, wave-after-wave attacks, they pinned Manchester United deep in their own half, rendering Mourinho's counter-attacking machine immobile.
The Emirates Stadium grew loud once more.
The toxic atmosphere vanished, replaced by a wall of noise.
Arsenal fans seemed to relive the past, witnessing the resilient Gunners of 2004 who thrived in adversity.
This ignited a fervor within them despite the cold wind, channeling their emotions into roaring cheers.
"ARSENAL! ARSENAL! ARSENAL!"
But Arsenal wasn't attacking recklessly.
Without a target man, they avoided compressing the opponent's defensive line with crosses.
Instead, they focused their possession in areas just outside the box, probing, moving, creating triangles.
Simultaneously, Arsenal switched to a fluid 4-2-3-1, frequently deploying Alexis Sánchez to drop deep into the central circle to receive and organize play alongside Mesut Özil.
The Chilean maestro used his robust, bulldog-like physique for ball protection and relied on expert body control to evade challenges, driving the team's offensive momentum.
As Manchester United's defensive line grew increasingly flat under pressure, Arsenal immediately pushed Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey forward to create more vertical space.
It was total football.
Under these circumstances, Ling and Lingard were forced into servitude.
They had to contribute significantly to defense, tracking back to their own corner flags, assisting their teammates in maintaining a solid defensive structure.
Ling felt these ten minutes were more exhausting than the entire first half.
His lungs burned.
Yet, his tactical mind remained active.
He consciously adjusted his positioning, searching for that one counter-attacking opportunity.
However, Arsenal's onslaught was too intense; even when United won the ball back, they had no outlet.
Occasional clearances often landed near opposing defenders, and despite Ling's desperate efforts to chase them down, he was outnumbered 3-to-1.
'Football isn't an individual game', he thought grimly. 'Without the team moving up, I am useless.'
Still, he refused to give up.
'If opportunities didn't come to me, I will create them myself.'
In the 56th minute. Arsenal's attack surged again.
It felt inevitable.
Alexis Sánchez received the ball on the left. He faced up Antonio Valencia and Victor Lindelof.
With a burst of acceleration and a drop of the shoulder, he split them, dribbling into the box.
Before Smalling could close him down, Sánchez cut the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box.
Alexandre Lacazette, dropping deep as a false nine to drag the defenders away, had left a gap.
He played a first-time, cushioned lay-off into the path of Aaron Ramsey.
The Welshman, making one of his trademark late runs, met the ball with a powerful, first-time side-footed strike.
It wasn't aimed at the corners; it was aimed through the keeper.
From such close range, even David De Gea couldn't make the save.
The power beat him.
1-2!
As the ball nestled into the net, the Emirates Stadium erupted.
It was a release of pure, unadulterated relief and joy. Arsenal fans seemed to lose themselves in delirium, roaring with hoarse voices.
"COME ON!!"
Martin Tyler: "RAMSEY! GAME ON! The Emirates is rocking! Arsenal have found a way back!"
Gary Neville: "It's been coming, Martin! It's been all Arsenal for ten minutes! United have stopped playing! They're just sitting back and inviting pressure, and you can't do that against this quality!"
...
[Our Arsenal is invincible! The spirit is back!]
[Gunners fans, how can you not be moved to tears! Look at Bellerin screaming!]
[Is this really Arsenal? They are winning every 50-50 duel!]
[Are we going to lose this? United look rattled.]
[If Arsenal really build momentum, it's hard to say who will win. The momentum is a powerful thing.]
[Honestly, as an Arsenal fan who's been mocked for so many years... seeing this fight... it's enough.]
[Sigh, if only Ling could be at Arsenal. Imagine him with Ozil.]
..
On the pitch, Ramsey didn't celebrate.
He fished the ball out of the net and waved for his teammates to quickly return to their own half.
"Back! Back! We go again!"
They had no time to waste; they needed to keep attacking until they equalized, or even took the lead.
The smell of blood was in the air.
The Manchester United players nearby seemed fired up as well, but in a different way.
They were angry.
Each man gritted his teeth, fierce determination in their eyes.
Ling was no exception.
Being pinned back despite a two-goal lead ignited a fire in him.
He hated feeling helpless.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to calm his emotions.
'Arsenal were the ones trailing; they should be the anxious ones. We just need to hold.'
On the sidelines, Arsène Wenger couldn't remain composed either.
His usual gentlemanly demeanor was cast aside. He pumped his fists wildly, shouting instructions.
'That's it! Fight!'
He would choose to die standing rather than live on his knees.
Mourinho, watching him, sighed silently.
He felt a newfound, grudging respect for his old rival.
'He still has fire.'
Then, he turned to the touchline to issue instructions.
"Stay compact! Don't lose your heads!"
Soon, the match resumed.
The tension on the pitch grew thicker, transforming the game into a physical brawl.
Neither side gave an inch as they battled fiercely for possession.
But it's important to remember that in football, the team constantly defending expends more energy—mental and physical.
The Manchester United players had to grit their teeth and withstand Arsenal's attacks, sometimes resorting to tactical fouls just to disrupt the rhythm.
In the blink of an eye, another five minutes passed.
Marcos Rojo, struggling with the pace, received a yellow card for pulling Ramsey back by the shirt.
As Arsenal launched wave after wave of attacks, Manchester United fans held their breath, terrified they might concede another goal at any moment.
The "Wengerball" was flowing.
Unable to break through the final line of defense, the Arsenal players grew increasingly impatient.
They began firing long-range shots from outside the box, trying to crack the parked bus with brute force.
Ramsey, Xhaka, Sánchez, Lacazette... everyone took a turn.
Never mind if there was space—just put power behind it and hope for a miracle or a deflection.
And then... there was David De Gea.
The Spaniard became the busiest man on the field as he transformed into a thousand-armed deity.
65th Minute: Lacazette shoots low... De Gea saves with his feet!
68th Minute: Sanchez curls one... De Gea tips it round the post!
71st Minute: The double save. Lacazette from point-blank range... Saved!
Sanchez on the rebound... SAVED AGAIN!
"UNBELIEVABLE!" Martin Tyler screamed. "DAVID DE GEA IS A WALL! HE IS NOT HUMAN TONIGHT!"
Ling watched from the halfway line with hands on his knees.
'Dave is keeping us alive. I need to help him. I need to get the ball.'
---------
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