Chapter 84 — One-on-One with the Keeper Never Takes the Usual Path
Bayern began to counterattack, but they didn't use their usual wing play to get Arjen Robben airborne. Instead they used short passes in tight spaces, peeling Arsenal's defense layer by layer like an onion.
This wasn't their typical method.
Wenger smiled. On the surface the veteran coach Jupp Heynckes looked calm and unconcerned, as if Arsenal weren't worth his worry. In reality he'd prepared many tactical variations for tonight's match.
He assigned Toni Kroos to mark Xia Qi,
didn't play the familiar two-wing expansion,
and those choices were meant to stop Wenger from predicting them.
That showed Heynckes still took Arsenal very seriously.
When Bayern's attack reached the edge of Arsenal's penalty area, the organizer wasn't their usual forward conductor Toni Kroos but Bastian Schweinsteiger.
That was another special arrangement.
Heynckes had clearly burned the midnight oil for this match.
At the edge of Arsenal's box Schweinsteiger switched the ball to the right for Arjen Robben.
Wenger frowned on the touchline — after making so many changes, why would they return to old patterns?
Wasn't that redundant?
It didn't make sense!
Wenger pondered briefly, then saw through Bayern's trick.
He dashed out of the technical area, shouting as he ran: "Watch Lahm!" "Lahm!!!" "Lahm!!!"
On the pitch,
Robben received the ball on Arsenal's right flank, nudged it outward — Kieran Gibbs, defending him, naturally covered the inside and not the outside.
They were close to the byline; Robben dropping deeper was something both sides could accept.
Robben dropped two or three steps, then without warning clipped the ball, using his weaker foot — the right — to cut and pull, moving the ball onto his stronger left. He changed direction inward as his left foot pushed forward, sliding past Gibbs on his right.
Gibbs had been guarding the inside and not the outside, anticipating Robben's cut. In the end he was left empty-handed.
Gibbs, beaten by Robben, wanted to slap himself.
"Danger!"
"Robben has cut into the box."
Zhang Lu's commentary echoed most viewers' reactions.
But Wenger said no!
He'd run from the bench shouting, "Watch Lahm!" "Lahm!!!"
Across the sideline Heynckes laughed. Honestly, he admired Wenger — he'd seen through it so quickly.
So all the changes he'd made were worth it.
Robben slid past Gibbs. Arsenal's two center-backs quickly closed, corralling Robben outside the danger zone; nobody dared let Robben shoot.
So who was defending the near post? It was Philipp Lahm, surging from deep.
The final strike would come from a defender!
It's common in Italian coaching circles, rare for Bayern to use, reserved for high-level matches — yet here it was.
So was Arsenal honored to face it? Or privileged?!!
Wenger's call,
Lahm's arrogance,
saved Arsenal.
Arsenal's defensive midfielder Santi Cazorla heard Wenger's shout and rushed toward Lahm.
Robben pushed the ball across the middle,
Lahm made a late run from the far post. He couldn't control and shoot instantly like Robin van Persie might; he had to settle the ball first instead of striking right away.
This was "the eagle's first hand!"
He actually wanted to set his comfortable angle — outrageous!
Who did he think he was insulting?
Cazorla galloped in; both struck at the ball at the same time.
In the box,
their boots met!
"Boom!"
The ball popped high.
Per Mertesacker, the steady pillar of Arsenal's defense, was first to the dropping ball, but he didn't clear it with the boot at once.
Instead he chested it down.
To everyone around this was also "the eagle's first hand."
Wenger on the sideline cried out in alarm.
He wanted to storm onto the pitch and shout at Mertesacker: Brother, this is the penalty area!
Bayern surged forward to pounce.
Mertesacker chested the ball down, half-turned and, in one motion, before the Bayern swarm could interfere, passed the ball into Xia Qi's path.
Bayern: defender shoots!
Arsenal: defender assists!
Fair enough!
"Xia, fly!"
With Mertesacker's roar,
the eagle's first hand instantly became a godly touch.
Attack and defense reversed!
"Get back!"
"Hurry back!"
Toni Kroos immediately raced toward Xia Qi, filled with regret.
He regretted not sticking closer to Xia Qi.
Xia Qi shot forward like an arrow. Only Jerome Boateng and Dante could possibly save Bayern now.
As he sprinted, Xia Qi slowed to control the ball.
"Beautiful!"
The ball sat in front of Xia Qi. He accelerated and actually didn't let Kroos close the gap — he widened it instead.
Boateng signaled his partner Dante to step up while he stayed back to cover.
One ahead, one behind — the best defensive plan at the moment.
Dante didn't hesitate; he stepped in front of Xia Qi to block his path.
Soon Xia Qi was face to face with him. After a slight deceleration, Xia Qi performed a "Messi shoulder drop," leaning his body right while keeping the ball on the outside of his right foot.
What was there to hesitate about?
That incline that works for Messi because he's short — Xia Qi is 1.89m tall. Could that be a feint??
I'd stand on my head on live now if that were true!
Dante, confident, stretched a leg to tackle.
But Dante didn't know:
AI handles all the disobedient types!
The ball vanished right before Dante's eyes.
What?
Am I live streaming???
Getting past Dante was easier than getting through a deserted street at 4 a.m.
Dante's eyes watered — was he done for?
No time to mourn; he spun to chase back immediately.
He told himself not to give up — there's still a chance if Boateng could buy him a second.
Boateng was stunned.
He'd stayed back to cover and to read the action in front — but he'd seen nothing.
The ball and Xia Qi came at him together.
Boateng reflexively reached to intercept, when suddenly a thigh not belonging to him touched the ball first.
Fuck!
It was a trap!
The supposed "big step" was actually a pitfall!
In an instant Boateng felt a chill down his back, grateful he was "experienced."
If he hadn't been distracted, he'd have thrown himself in; with his weight already committed he'd have become the second Dante.
Cunning has nothing to do with age.
Mom was right: forwards can't be trusted! Especially pretty forwards — the most deceitful.
Boateng's alarm bells rang. He told himself to defend this lad like defending Messi or Ronaldo.
He steadied himself.
Eyes on the ball, he slowly retreated sideways,
denying Xia Qi the chance to dribble past, waiting for Dante to return.
But AI wouldn't let him be satisfied. Xia Qi let the ball stick to him and nudged it toward Boateng.
Boateng backed to the edge of the box.
Seeing the white line at his feet, he panicked.
He was on a tiger's back with nowhere to go.
If he retreated into the six-yard box he feared Xia Qi might trap the ball between his feet and barge into him — the old diver trick.
He couldn't risk it.
So he dug in for the duel.
Xia Qi tapped the ball left — another Messi shoulder drop — and when Boateng moved right, Xia Qi clipped it back and pushed the ball right.
Boateng, not a fool, almost matched the change of direction with his body.
But Xia Qi rapidly, fluidly, cut the ball sideways again — a third change of direction.
A flash of moves — a triple strike!
Boateng's brain tried to keep up with the AI rhythm, but his body couldn't.
Each of Xia Qi's shoulder drops was committed; Boateng needed to set his center of gravity or Xia Qi's feint would become real.
Two changes were Boateng's limit. On his third attempt, with effort, he slipped — a top-class centre-back lost composure without physical contact.
The stadium erupted!
Jaw-dropping!
At that moment,
Manuel Neuer burst from his line like a lightning hammer.
He's a sweeper-keeper; handling one-on-ones is his specialty.
But AI's calculations for human reactions were precise — only human emotions could throw it off.
Like just now, Boateng had a brief lapse and fell out of AI's prediction; otherwise he wouldn't have fallen for a "big step" decoy.
Neuer's rush was accounted for by the AI; the less space he left for Xia Qi, the more precise the AI's solution became.
Against a human keeper who rushes out, AI's handling always surprised people and sent Wenger's blood pressure through the roof.
As Neuer lunged and fanged to one side, Xia Qi suddenly spun and booted the ball hard toward a charging Dante.
(Boateng had fallen; the first to chase back was the unlucky Dante.)
The ball struck Dante's knee.
Dante, first, genuinely couldn't stop his momentum to make a tackle; second, he never expected such a flashy move from Xia Qi.
What sort of thing would a normal human do?
The ball grazed the advancing knee and bounced toward the goal. Xia Qi quickly turned, ran past the downed Neuer, leapt high behind him, and powered a header into the net.
All this looked "lucky" but it was under AI calculation. From the AI's perspective this maneuver was the most secure — success probability 99.99999%. But
from a human perspective, you're fucking crazy.
Just like Mario Balotelli's one-on-one circle-finish — utterly mad!!!
"Xia Qi knocked down Boateng!"
"One-on-one!"
"Chance!"
"Neuer! True to form — he came out in time!"
"Xia Qi turns, passes!"
"Pass... holy shit! Fucking hell!... Goal!"
"Fuck! Xia Qi's finish never takes the usual route! It's a heart-stopper."
Zhan Jun's profanity won unanimous praise from fans online.
[Xia Qi's one-on-one cannot be summed by one 'fuck'!]
[Fuck! I thought I knew the ending but not the process.]
[Fuck! Can someone tell me — is this a divine strike, or has Xia Qi precomputed it?]
[Fuck! Even if it was designed, you can't do that! Too damn anti-human.]
[I'll stand no barrier — respect to Zhan Jun's call, it's perfectly expressed.]
[There are two things that never disappoint me: Zhan Jun's commentary and Xia Qi's one-on-ones. I don't know why you're swearing — when has a human ever handled Xia Qi's one-on-one?]
[Holy shit, listening to the folks above I realize they're right — my mind was small. If you pass it back behind, Xia Qi has done that before...]
At the Allianz Arena,
after Dante's knee assisted Xia Qi's goal, the stadium fell silent; Bayern fans seriously wondered whether they were watching a Japanese anime or an Indian soap opera.
A one-on-one finish played that way?
Using an opponent defender as a pivot? Who dreamed that up??
Even when the referee blew for a valid goal, they couldn't snap out of it.
Wenger fumed red-faced like Guan Yu.
Pat Rice hurriedly slipped away to celebrate with the substitutes on the bench.
Per Mertesacker watched Xia Qi with a touch of grievance — his assist had been overturned.
Mario Balotelli sprinted to Xia Qi, grabbed his neck and shook him hard: "So cool, man. I've got an idea that's no less than yours — pass me the ball."
In AI mode Xia Qi couldn't reply, or he'd advise Balotelli to drop the inspirations.
AI "wild plays" are built on lots of calculation, and yet still sometimes errors occur.
Humans are better off staying human.
Suddenly it went dark before Xia Qi's eyes — Boateng shoved him hard to the ground.
Boateng was standing up for Dante and Neuer.
Xia Qi? That was a goal?
To Boateng that was sheer brazenness!
Too much bullying!
Boateng pointed at Xia Qi's nose and roared: "Don't show off your footwork again or I'll make you regret it."
Balotelli, furious, shoved Boateng down: "Hey man, it's art! Don't you think it's awesome?"
Balotelli spoke sincerely, but his sincerity rode on someone else's wound.
Dante charged, forehead to forehead with Balotelli. He didn't throw a punch, but his eyes could eat you alive.
Robben, Schweinsteiger...
Cazorla, Mertesacker...
Both teams quickly surrounded them.
The Allianz echoed with boos.
[After tonight, Neymar won't be the most hated man by defenders anymore.]
[Xia Qi's choice is also a kind of helplessness — Neuer had blocked almost every angle; Xia Qi could only... get past the keeper. Okay, I can't continue making excuses. Xia Qi deserves a scolding, but I like it!]
[I like it too. Not taking the usual path, every match has surprises. Watching Xia Qi is like betting — always thrilling.]
Fans didn't know Xia Qi wasn't like Neymar; Neymar really deserved a boot in the backside, while Xia Qi bore the AI's burden.
From AI's viewpoint there was no mistake — it didn't consider emotion, only data.
On the field,
the referee booked Boateng and Balotelli with yellow cards.
Dante and Xia Qi were not punished — fair enough.
But Bayern fans were displeased; the booing at Allianz was louder.
That angered Xia Qi. He'd planned not to celebrate, but now his temper flared.
He strode to the Bayern fans' stand, put a finger to his lips, shushing them.
Bayern fans responded with louder boos.
Xia Qi turned and pointed his jersey name and number at them, thumbs down toward his name.
The Allianz erupted in outrage...
From then on Xia Qi became the most unpopular man at the Allianz Arena.
(END CHAPTER)
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