Hello, viewers in front of the screen, welcome to the 17th round of the 2010-2011 Premier League season. Today's match is between home team Manchester United and visiting Arsenal.
Let's first take a look at the starting lineups for both teams.
Manchester United is using a 4-4-2 formation today.
Goalkeeper: Van der Sar.
Defenders: Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra.
Midfielders: Anderson, Fletcher, Park Ji-sung, Carrick.
Forwards: Nani, Rooney.
Arsenal is also using a 4-4-2 formation today.
Goalkeeper: Szczęsny.
Defenders: Sagna, Varane, Koscielny, Clichy.
Midfielders: Alexandre Song, Wilshere, Fabregas, Nasri.
Forwards: Fly, Arshavin.
Alright, the match has started. Let's see which team will have the last laugh in this strong showdown between the Premier League's first and second-placed teams!
2nd minute of the match.
Manchester United came out strong. Right from the start, Carrick hit the post with a long-range shot, as if telling the entire Arsenal team whose territory this was!
5th minute of the match.
Arsenal and Manchester United engaged in a midfield battle. Ultimately, Arsenal gained the upper hand. Fabregas controlled the ball and immediately passed it to Wilshere.
Wilshere saw Clichy pushing up on the left and passed the ball to him, then quickly made a forward run.
Clichy received the ball and sent a long pass over the top. The ball flew over Manchester United's defense towards the edge of the penalty area.
Fortunately, the evergreen Van der Sar came out in time, disrupting Arsenal's sudden attack.
12th minute of the match.
Fly completed the first shot of the match. Fabregas's quick through ball went through the gap between Rafael and Rio Ferdinand. Fly quickly chased down and controlled the ball.
Then, with not much space, he forced a shot. The ball was saved by Van der Sar.
Arshavin, who was making a run through the middle, couldn't get a rebound shot. The ball was cleared away by Vidic first.
18th minute of the match.
Rooney crossed from the wing. Fletcher headed the ball, but unfortunately, the contact point was too high, and the ball went over the crossbar and into the back netting.
25th minute of the match.
Wilshere slipped while attempting a dribble. Anderson immediately launched a counter-attack after gaining possession.
Unfortunately, Nani, who received the ball on the wing, also slipped the moment he accelerated to dribble past, and this counter-attack ultimately came to nothing.
It must be said that playing in low temperatures is a huge test for players' willpower and physical coordination!
Up to now, there have been multiple instances of both Arsenal and Manchester United players slipping on the field.
Some players even accidentally slip when running without the ball.
Fly noticed this, which is why he played extra cautiously in this match.
Although in such a crucial match, the system's task would certainly not be absent:
[Task Name: Facing Red Devils Manchester United on Taylor's Birthday]
[Task Content: 1. Help the team defeat Manchester United]
[2. Score a goal personally or provide an assist]
[3. After scoring a goal, show affection to Taylor Swift in the stands and celebrate your girlfriend's 21st birthday in front of cameras worldwide, letting everyone watching this match know that today is Taylor's birthday]
[Task Reward: Each task completed grants 100 Intermediate Soft Rice Points. If all three tasks are completed, an additional 100 Advanced Soft Rice Points will be rewarded]
[Additional Task: After defeating Manchester United, perform a birthday celebration at Manchester United's home ground Old Trafford that will shock the world. This news must reach the top three trending topics in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the China]
[Additional Task Reward: Obtain an item card and an exclusive skill]
Honestly, the task rewards this time are indeed very generous. Completing the additional task directly gives an item card and an exclusive skill.
This was the second time in Fly's career that he had a chance to obtain an item card. The last time was in his Champions League debut against Braga.
At the same time, he could also get another exclusive skill. Based on the five skills he currently possessed, gaining a skill was a huge boost to Fly's personal abilities.
It was absolutely impossible to say that Fly wasn't tempted by this reward.
But for today's match, Fly could only play by ear.
Although he had already boasted to his girlfriend before the match, the harsh environment still exceeded Fly's imagination.
Honestly, he never expected the pitch at Old Trafford to be so slippery. Fly really felt that he could fall head over heels with just a slight acceleration.
He didn't know if he could adapt to this match. If not, then defeating Manchester United would just depend on fate.
Fly wouldn't set such a high tone for himself. He needed to adapt to the environment bit by bit and then wait for an opportunity.
If there was an opportunity, he definitely wouldn't let it go.
But if there wasn't, he wouldn't force it.
33rd minute of the match.
Nasri pushed forward from the wing to the edge of the penalty area. After receiving a through ball from Fabregas, he took a first-time shot, and the ball, along with the frost on the ground, flew towards the goal.
Unfortunately, Manchester United's 40-year-old veteran goalkeeper Van der Sar was experienced. Although his reaction might have been a bit slow, his positioning was excellent, and he easily blocked Nasri's long-range shot.
Evra immediately launched a counter-attack after getting the ball. After passing the ball to the South Korean player Park Ji-sung, Park Ji-sung sent a first-time through ball to Nani on the wing.
Facing Sagna's tight marking, Nani accelerated towards the center, forcing his way past the defender to cut inside and shoot.
Unfortunately, this shot ended up going way over. Rooney saw that he had finally found space, but Nani just shot it over the bar, and he completely lost it.
"Shit! Pass the ball! That damn Portuguese, always so selfish."
As soon as Rooney thought that Nani, this selfish player, was from the same country as the guy he hated, his mood became very bad.
In his eyes, Portuguese people were all selfish and didn't know how to share or how to fight together with the team.
But at least the original Portuguese player was exceptionally skilled. Even if he was selfish, he could score goals and help Manchester United win matches.
As for this current Portuguese player, Rooney couldn't even be bothered to complain anymore.
He truly didn't have Cristiano's ability, but he had Cristiano's disease.
Nani ignored his teammate's complaints. It was the same old story; he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did.
Forwards shoot whenever they have a chance. Could that possibly be wrong? What a joke!
Nobody ever told him during training from childhood that it was a sin for a forward to shoot.
Therefore, Nani naturally chose to shoot himself rather than pass the ball to the better-positioned Rooney.
38th minute of the match.
Arsenal defensive midfielder Alexandre Song won the ball from Carrick in midfield and immediately passed it to Fabregas.
As soon as Fabregas received the ball, he felt the pressure from the player behind him, so he quickly passed it to Wilshere.
Wilshere received the ball and dribbled past a player again. This time he didn't slip but took the opportunity to get past Anderson.
Facing the South Korean player Park Ji-sung a few steps away, Wilshere faked a dribble and made a real pass, giving the ball to Sagna who was pushing up on the right wing.
Sagna received the ball and immediately sent a through pass. The Tsar Arshavin on the right side of the attack controlled the ball.
Facing the defense of Evra, Arshavin feinted right and went left, tricking Evra's defensive balance and forcefully broke into the Manchester United penalty area.
Just as Vidic was about to come up to defend, Arshavin kicked the ball towards the top of the penalty area.
Fabregas, who had already made his forward run, met the rolling ball and shaped to shoot like drawing a bow and nocking an arrow.
Rio Ferdinand thought Fabregas was going to shoot from distance and immediately took a large stride forward, preparing to use his body to block Fabregas's shooting angle.
But at the moment of shooting, Fabregas gave a slight flick with his ankle. The ball, like a mischievous sprite, rolled past Rio Ferdinand's right leg, just five centimeters away.
"Not good!" The moment he noticed the ball rolling past him, Rio Ferdinand realized something was wrong.
Because he had subconsciously overlooked one of the most threatening players on the field.
After all, this player had been in a state of quiet anonymity for the past few dozen minutes.
Apart from a very difficult shot, he hadn't done anything else.
This caused Rio Ferdinand to subconsciously forget about him.
"Rafael, watch out for Fly!!!" Rio Ferdinand immediately shouted to remind his teammate.
Rafael didn't need Rio Ferdinand's reminder; he had already lunged towards Fly.
But unfortunately, with his preparation, Fly, who had already accelerated, could not possibly be beaten by other defenders starting later.
Did they really think that his max-level dual speed, with a 100m time of 9.69 seconds and the world's fastest time for the first 30 meters, was a joke?
Almost at the moment Rio Ferdinand shouted the warning, Fly had already reached the path of the incoming ball.
Facing the goal just inches away, Fly didn't hesitate at all and simply pushed the ball gently with the inside of his foot.
From this distance, less than 10 meters from the goal, the shot didn't need much power at all. As long as it wasn't hit directly at the goalkeeper, it was basically a guaranteed goal.
Van der Sar had already seen the unmarked Fly a second before Rio Ferdinand's warning.
His body quickly shifted horizontally towards the left side of the goal. Facing Fly's point-blank shot, he threw his entire body out.
But while in mid-air, Van der Sar's eyes widened because he saw that Fly didn't shoot towards the near post but flicked his ankle and aimed for the far corner.
Aiming near and shooting far, this was the shooting trick Fly was using.
It looked simple, but in reality, there were truly very few players in the world who could master this set of moves.
The player Fly remembered most vividly from his previous life, who played this set of shooting actions most masterfully, was none other than Director Mbappé.
In this life, Fly had specifically practiced this shooting action. It can only be said that it was very practical, and basically, even the most formidable goalkeeper could only surrender when faced with this move.
The ball, having deceived Van der Sar, flew straight into the bottom right corner of the goal without any surprise. Following closely behind was Vidic, who slid into the net. Vidic's attempt to save the ball was unsuccessful.
Arsenal 1:0 Manchester United, they scored the first goal!