Chapter 55: Bicycle-Kick Relay — The Archrival's Lament
1:2!
In the 4th minute of the match,
Arsenal had come back to lead!
But what excited Arsenal fans even more was Xia Qi's stance under Rio Ferdinand's threat.
"If you're going to break my legs, then do it now! I won't wait a moment."
A quick-thinking pitch-side photographer captured the image of a cold-faced Xia Qi, standing on the ball amid the crowd.
Not far from the frame, Rio Ferdinand was roaring behind his teammates, and that ordinary photo became vivid in an instant.
Xia Qi's action and Ferdinand's bluster—this Double Red clash would go down as an eternal classic.
That photo would join memories like Inter Milan's Marco Materazzi with his arm over Milan's Rui Costa sharing fireworks—an everlasting image.
Arsène Wenger glanced oddly at Sir Alex Ferguson. In Wenger's mind, Ferguson should have been pacing the touchline with his hairdryer on full blast, pumping the Red Devils' fighting spirit into his players and trying to provoke Arsenal's men.
Wenger didn't want his players to fall for provocation, so he'd put veteran captain Thomas Vermaelen in place; yet he very much wanted to see what an infuriated Xia Qi would be like.
So, when players pushed and shoved, Wenger and Pat Rice did not step forward.
But the person who knows you best is your old rival. Ferguson seemed to see through their curiosity and didn't behave as usual.
Play continued.
Xia Qi's solo run had exposed cracks in Manchester United's defense; after all, Xia Qi wasn't Lionel Messi — he was a "junior" with only five Premier League games.
United, bullied by this junior, began to play with a touch of panic.
In a duel between old and new Arsenal captains, Thomas Vermaelen narrowly won, taking a kick on his backside from Robin van Persie and then cutting the ball to partner Per Mertesacker.
Mertesacker's pass found Jack Wilshere, who sent the ball into the box.
Inside the area, Xia Qi sheltered off Rio Ferdinand to receive the ball with his back to goal.
They had just had some unpleasantness on the pitch; now they were face-to-face again.
The stadium temperature shot up 107°C.
This was raw physical contest — no technique, just man-to-man primal confrontation.
Such pure, primitive battles get fans wildly vocal; they don't care if their throats go hoarse.
On the pitch:
Rio Ferdinand, using his experience, got into a very favorable position and grabbed about an inch of flesh at Xia Qi's waist with his hand — but still couldn't pin him down.
Seeing Xia Qi about to turn, he urgently called Jonny Evans over to help.
"Pffft…"
The Arsenal fans' jeers burned on Ferdinand's face, but then Manchester United fans offered applause that soothed him a little.
United fans were briefly disappointed, then they reasoned this was restraint, tactically wise — so they applauded.
The AI driving Xia Qi's body still seemed to want to take on two men head-on, and Xia Qi's bones creaked, muscles strained; it was painful to watch.
Luckily Patrice Evra charged in from the front…
Evra → a good guy!
The AI then didn't pull back; the ball arrived at Lukas Podolski's feet.
He, standing on the edge of the box, didn't hesitate: he launched a long-range strike.
The ball hit Jonny Evans' thigh; Rafael cleared it; the ball flew onto Jack Wilshere's head and started toward Antonio Valencia.
Wilshere turned quickly, back to goal, arched his body and attempted a bicycle flick.
On the live broadcast,
Zhan Jun from Penguin Sports shouted, "Bicycle-kick shot!"
But it wasn't a shot — it was a hooked flick aimed for Xia Qi.
When Xia Qi passed to Podolski he had already turned to face goal; when the ball ricocheted out of the box he'd already turned his back again.
Seeing the ball coming back,
Xia Qi lunged forward, planted his feet, leaped, and arched back in a full inverted posture — like a handstand with legs apart.
Left foot swung down, right foot up; as the ball approached, the raised right foot quickly swung down to transfer force to the left, and the left foot snapped up to strike the ball.
"Bicycle-kick relay!"
"Xia… Qi… Qi… Qi!"
Because of the broadcast angle, viewers at home could only see two segmented bicycle-kick frames.
Those in the stadium were lucky — they saw the full sequence: Wilshere and Xia Qi, quick and precise, executing a connected bicycle-kick finish.
The ball drew a flat arc over Ferdinand and Evans, skimmed past David de Gea's fingertips and the post, and squeezed through the gap between fingers and post!
1:3!!!
"Goal!"
"Beautiful bicycle-kick!"
"A rare bicycle-kick relay finish!"
"Xia Qi completed a hat-trick in the 5th minute."
"Xia Qi's hat-trick broke two Premier League records: the fastest opening hat-trick in a match (previous record: 16 minutes), and the shortest interval between goals in a hat-trick. Xia Qi's first and third goals were separated by only 198 seconds, while the previous record was Robbie Fowler's 4 minutes 33 seconds." (Note ①)
Manchester United fans felt as if their hearts had sunk to the ocean floor. They were bewildered — how could their team, which had the fastest opener in this derby, be two goals behind three minutes later? What on earth had happened?
Amid Arsenal fans' songs, Valencia restarted play for United.
United attacked more urgently; Ferguson shouted twice and it backfired.
When the forwards rushed, the midfield, scolded by Ferguson, slowed and lost touch with the front line.
Michael Carrick's through ball was too short; Santi Cazorla intercepted and, scanning, saw Jack Wilshere tightly marked and passed to Aaron Ramsey.
The ghostly Ramsey sprinted wide and sent a cross into the box from the right, parallel to the penalty-area line.
Xia Qi leapt in the center, and Rio Ferdinand elbowed him down from the air, then failed to reach the first drop of the ball despite the full-energy elbow.
"Pffft…!"
"Red card!"
"Red card!"
"Penalty!"
"Penalty!"
The referee, faced with the roar of 10,000 Arsenal fans, simply shrank his neck — he heard nothing.
What a joke! Down 1–3 at home, are you giving United a red-and-penalty package? Want to lose your job?
The ball flew to the back post.
Podolski, under Rafael's interference, forced a shot that struck the post and rebounded.
Then a flash of lightning charged in and, meeting the ball, powered a diving header that flew over David de Gea's head into the goal.
1:4!
That flash was the same Xia Qi who had just been elbowed.
Arsenal fans rose as one to applaud — not for the goal alone but for Xia Qi's grit in continuing to fight after being struck!
It was only the 8th minute; the time from Xia Qi's first goal to his fourth was only 6 minutes.
Arsenal fans could hear sobbing from the rival stand!
To hear the archrival cry in their heart was fucking delightful!
It's absolutely the sweetest music in the world.
Note ①: Sadio Mané's 2 minutes 56 seconds (176 seconds) remains the Premier League's fastest interval between goals.
That record was set in 2015.
Mané also holds the record for the fastest opening hat-trick, achieved in 16 minutes.
I originally wanted to find earlier fastest-opening records, but the stats are hard to track—there's Kevin De Bruyne's 24 minutes, but that's later too.
Due to time constraints and update issues, I used Mané's 16-minute opening.
As for why Xia Qi didn't beat Mané's 176-second mark, that's to leave some room for the future.
(END CHAPTER)
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