Chapter 160: First Manchester Derby Ends in a Draw, Xia Qi's Fault Sparks Criticism of Wenger
"Shortly after Rooney's goal, Xia Qi scored his second to give Arsenal a 3–2 lead over Manchester United."
"You might not see Xia Qi for long stretches of a match, but whenever he appears there's a goal. Tonight Xia Qi looked more like an assassin."
At Old Trafford, United fans felt the same way David de Gea did — a sort of "what the hell just happened" feeling.
Turning twenty-five meters from goal, and then an overhead volley!
That thought process is quite a leap!
Opponents, teammates, attack and defense… all bypassed, a cold arrow fired — one strike to settle it!!!
Up-leveled thinking, god's-eye perspective!!!
Think about it closely and it's terrifying!
The huge Old Trafford fell silent…
On the pitch, Xia Qi ran toward the Arsenal supporters' stand; at that moment countless cameras focused on him — lights and flashes couldn't outshine him!
At that instant he was the most dazzling figure in the world!
After play resumed, the United side who trailed launched fierce attacks on Arsenal again.
But the Arsenal side, buoyed by the lead, counterattacked with confidence.
Whenever United's pressure built, Arsenal's counters could immediately threaten United's goal.
For example: Ryan Giggs broke down the wing and crossed, Robin van Persie leapt at the penalty spot to threaten the Arsenal net.
A minute later Kevin De Bruyne looked for Xia Qi's spot; Xia Qi laid the ball on, Mario Balotelli met it on the edge of the six-yard box with a quick dink that went just wide and threatened United's goal.
In short, for the next stretch both sides traded blows energetically but neither could score.
After a few rounds Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't sit still — he began making substitutions, bringing Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia on for Wilfried Zaha and Giggs.
With the two fresh substitutes, United used their fitness to make frequent runs and apply pressure on Arsenal.
Wenger's in-game management was indeed a step behind; he didn't immediately react to Ferguson's changes.
On the pitch United quickly regained the upper hand, but United players' mentality had already suffered — their play was too simplistic, often just hoofing it when a moment opened.
You can't get past Arsenal's defense by guessing luck.
Long-range attempts from van Persie, Rooney and Lingard looked like they just lacked luck, but in fact they helped Arsenal hoof the ball clear.
Time quickly reached the 80th minute.
The game grew ever more intense. United knew they had to give everything in the remaining minutes.
Arsenal also knew that if they could hold on for those minutes they'd have 11 consecutive wins.
After receiving a return from Lingard in the middle, Klavili played a 45-degree through ball that rolled along the grass into Arsenal's box.
Rooney burst forward, shook off Samuel Umtiti's challenge and struck a thunderous shot; 18-year-old Luke Shaw threw himself in front of the ball without regard for his own safety to block.
Boom!
Just hearing it makes you wince!
The ball hit Luke Shaw squarely in the stomach and rebounded out for a throw-in.
Luke Shaw refused his teammates' calls for the physio; he knew if he came off Wenger might not put him back on.
A Manchester Derby without him wouldn't be complete.
He clutched his stomach and stayed on the turf for a long time before rising and returning to his defensive position.
When he stood up, applause rang out through Old Trafford.
Luke Shaw is not only an Arsenal player in this story but also an England international — a tough defender the United fans took pleasure in seeing fight on.
Play continued.
From United's corner, on Wenger's instruction, every Arsenal player returned to defend.
Xia Qi tracked back and settled into marking Rooney, who was coming into good form.
Rooney glanced at Xia Qi beside him and his fighting spirit flared.
He was United's number two but hadn't accepted the attitude of a subordinate; he saw himself as the team's spiritual leader.
At least after Cristiano Ronaldo left he thought of himself as the leader. (van Persie: I spit!)
He would not allow anyone to trample the Red Devils' dignity at Old Trafford.
A full restorative tonic! I spit!
Rooney sneered at Xia Qi, then signaled to the corner taker Lingard.
Have Lingard pick out the near post,
then fake a run backward.
Sure enough, Xia Qi was still young!
Too easy to fool!
He followed him in the backward run.
At that moment Lingard delivered the ball,
Rooney stopped on a dime and lunged toward the near post.
Although his move was sudden and deceptive, Xia Qi tracked Rooney's movement solidly.
At the near post,
the two rose almost together. Rooney was in front but Xia Qi jumped far higher.
In the air Xia Qi's upper chest pressed against Rooney's head — half of Xia Qi's body was already above Rooney.
It looked like Xia Qi was about to head the ball clear,
Rooney couldn't let Xia Qi have it his way; he gritted his teeth, summoned all his strength, and tried to bump Xia Qi off and head the ball himself.
In the air Xia Qi headed the ball out of the box; on the descent, the shell-controlled AI didn't bother to protect the shell and didn't tuck the head in.
Rooney put his full force into his header and his whole face came into contact.
Boom!
Concussion!
The two fell like crashed planes amid teammates' and fans' screams!
But both were tough as iron!
Unlike some South American players who roll on the ground, they both got up immediately.
Rooney didn't check for injury; snarling defiantly at Xia Qi, he spat, "Taste that, kid!"
In AI mode Xia Qi ignored him, shooting forward like an arrow.
"Watch out!"
"Get back!"
Vidic, sprinting back, was stunned — why kick it out for a throw?
Wouldn't putting it forward or passing to the goalkeeper be better?
In that hesitation Xia Qi barreled past; Vidic turned to block but suddenly saw Xia Qi's face streaming with blood and felt chilled.
That one sight was alarming.
He froze for a step; Xia Qi zipped by him, raised his right foot to meet the dropping ball,
and at that instant the referee's whistle blew.
The referee finally noticed Xia Qi was bleeding.
By the rules, a bleeding player must leave the pitch immediately, even if advantage favors an attack…
Play was paused, but hearts still surged; an image lingered in everyone's mind:
A resolute face, smeared in blood, still fighting on.
Is this the Arsenal "dough" we knew?
This man… should be of the Red Devils' lineage — damned Manchester City, we are sworn enemies!
The whistle sounded,
AI-controlled Xia Qi halted his on-foot actions and exited one-click AFK mode.
Taking back his body, Xia Qi didn't feel pain in his brow so much as dizziness and nausea — likely a concussion.
He didn't want to vomit in public and make a scene, so he immediately switched into one-click AFK mode.
In close-up the black-haired youngster's determined, handsome face flickered with pain, but he quickly recovered his composure.
So you can be hurt too — everyone's first reaction — then they felt pity for the boy's toughness.
"This is football. This is why I love football."
"If our national team were this iron-willed, even if they lost I could accept it."
"What are you talking about — their defenders just hoof it clear and stroll back on defense… dream on."
A sigh…
Xia Qi walked off expressionless; Arsenal players ran over to slap his backside and ruffle his hair…
At that moment the LED screen on the sideline began replaying Xia Qi and Rooney's aerial duel.
In slow motion Rooney's whipping head motion looked vicious; Arsenal fans angrily called him an "executioner!"
Wenger stormed over to the fourth official and protested furiously.
A scene that moved everyone unfolded at the sideline:
There, Xia Qi and Rooney sat side by side.
Both had wounds between their brows, blood staining their shirts, one on the left and one on the right.
The two teams' medics crouched beside them and treated their wounds.
Xia Qi was in one-click AFK mode, looking cool and annoyed Rooney.
"Kid! I'd advise you to take the anesthetic — whether you play or not, you'll probably lose anyway."
If they took anesthetic they couldn't return — one-click AFK Xia Qi of course wouldn't choose that.
Seeing Xia Qi so brave, Rooney couldn't show cowardice either.
Neither took anesthetic; the medics stitched their wounds shut with wound-closures right there.
On-field stitching without anesthetic is not uncommon, but the two getting treated together was rare.
Photographers swarmed and flashes popped constantly.
In the photos, Rooney looked fierce but Xia Qi was calm and detached — the contrast was brutal!
Compared to Xia Qi, Rooney's toughness seemed slightly inferior.
Rooney, having experienced the pain, admired Xia Qi's stronger endurance.
"Hey kid, don't keep that face on — if it hurts you can cry out, no one will mock you."
Xia Qi remained like an iceberg. When the medics signaled the wounds were treated he took the spare kit man's new shirt.
After changing he stood quietly at the touchline awaiting to be substituted on.
Rooney did the same, giving Xia Qi a familiar arm-around-shoulders and said, "Don't keep that sour face. Don't forget we're national teammates; only because we're opponents now did I give you that hard one…"
Their whispered repartee provided photographers with lots of frames.
That photo will become precious archive material for the England national team.
Two England forwards waiting to re-enter the game — their gestures looked like a passing of the torch between old and new strikers… when Xia Qi surpasses Rooney to become England's main man, that photo will be an eternal classic.
Soon,
by the referee's signal, the two returned to the pitch.
The match had reached the 88th minute; six minutes of added time were indicated, and United had little time left.
United threw everything forward.
Rooney and Lingard combined in midfield and broke through; before being tackled by Mikel Arteta, they slipped the ball to Valencia.
Valencia worked the ball wide and crossed; van Persie's diving header was pushed out by Emiliano Martínez, Lingard followed up with a rebound, Martínez made another miraculous save and cleared the ball out of the box.
Time quickly hit the 94th minute of added time. Klavili burst into the area, feigned a shot, then chose to pass.
Van Persie darted to the byline and dragged Luke Shaw with him; at the right side of the box van Persie feigned a pass and turned to look into the area.
Luke Shaw expected a cross, shifted his body to challenge.
But van Persie cut it back to the penalty spot; there Rooney — playing on despite injury — suddenly slotted in from the left to meet the delivery and hit a volley on the run.
The ball arced like a rainbow and headed for the far corner.
The angle was impossibly tight — an absolute top-corner strike. Martínez dived but could not reach!
The ball swished into the net!
"Goal! Equalizer!"
"The scorer is the injured Rooney!"
"Having little Rooney at home brings comfort and well-being."
"In the 94th minute, United draw 3–3 with Arsenal!"
"Maybe neither side is satisfied with the draw, but looking at tonight's match a draw is a fair result."
After scoring Rooney pumped his fist and raised it high; Old Trafford became a sea of red amid tsunami cheers…
On the touchline Ferguson jumped and shouted, showing none of his heart condition.
Both sides were unhappy with a draw.
In the final two minutes they still pressed fiercely…
During a scramble van Persie and Umtiti each picked up a yellow card.
Unfortunately, no more goals came before the final whistle.
In Premier League round 11 Manchester United drew 3–3 with Arsenal at home.
Arsenal's winning streak stopped at ten consecutive wins, but they remained unbeaten.
In this match Wayne Rooney, who scored a brace, was named man of the match; Xia Qi, who also scored a brace, only received an 8.5 rating.
That score might be high for many, but it was the lowest in Xia Qi's professional career.
The "Assassin Nie Yinniang" attribute didn't bring Xia Qi the limelight this time, mainly because his teammates had grown used to treating him like a free forward up front.
Suddenly becoming a ghost striker was jarring — he lacked the corresponding combinations.
Everyone assumed he was fatigued.
After the match the media uniformly criticized Wenger's rotation plan, arguing he was overworking Xia Qi in the transitional period…
England manager Roy Hodgson praised both Xia Qi and Rooney for their toughness, joking that the grimacing Rooney looked like a child next to Xia Qi.
He then tactfully urged club managers to preserve their internationals' fitness during the World Cup year and avoid overuse.
Although he didn't name Wenger, everyone knew the criticism was aimed at him.
For a time the media debated: is Wenger a master at nurturing youth or a youth-killer?
Note: Arsenal's injury count has been among the league's highest; doctors once took the blame — now the media point the finger at Wenger.
(END CHAPTER)
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