Chapter 758: Tang Ye's Assist Hat-Trick and the Crown Prince of Manchester United's Pursuit

The pre-match introductions of the starting lineup went smoothly, but less than ten minutes into the game, snow began to fall at the stadium, and it was coming down heavily.

Though this was a Premier League match, it felt like a Bundesliga snow battle.

"We can see that snow has started falling at the venue."

"Yes, this will introduce some uncertainty to the match."

Normally, rain or snow favors Manchester United, a team that excels at defensive counterattacks.

But starting this season, the situation has changed slightly.

Manchester United's squad advantage is so overwhelming that they are practically crushing every other team in the league.

When the advantage is this clear, any unexpected factor actually benefits the weaker side!

Arteta, you agree, right?

Slap!

Bruno Fernandes takes a blind shot from the left flank; possession falls to Cristiano Ronaldo's feet.

"Wow!!!"

"What the fuck!"

Arteta clutches his head.

Just look at Manchester United's play here!

Receiving the ball in the central attacking third, Cristiano Ronaldo remains extremely composed.

Not rushing at all, he controls the ball and takes a quick look around.

Elneny closes in, and Cristiano Ronaldo immediately engages in a physical duel with the Arsenal defender.

Boom!

Although he's getting on in years, it's clear that Cristiano Ronaldo's physicality remains largely unaffected.

He passes back to De Jong!

De Jong feeds Dembélé!

Dembélé takes the ball and drives straight toward the byline.

Preparing to take on Tavares one-on-one!

A change of rhythm...

Slap!

He delivers a cutback cross.

Thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo's orchestration in the center, Manchester United successfully works the ball to Tang Ye in the middle.

"Oh!!!"

Trouble is brewing!

Never expecting the defensive focus on Tang Ye to be neutralized so quickly, the Arsenal fans have risen to their feet.

Slap!

A through ball is pushed out to Bruno Fernandes surging up the left flank; Manchester United's second attacking midfielder seizes the opportunity and fires a low shot.

The ball strikes inside the six-yard box, rebounds, and grazes the post before finding the net.

Ramsdale's attention was fixed on the advancing Cristiano Ronaldo and De Jong, leaving him unable to react in time to Bruno Fernandes' shot.

"Goooo——aaaa———lllll!!!"

"Goal!"

"Bruno Fernandes!"

In the 18th minute of the first half, the score becomes 1:0!

"Fuck!!!"

Ramsdale grits his teeth and starts arguing with the two defenders inside the penalty area.

Manchester United, meanwhile, pays no heed.

Bruno Fernandes sprints rapidly toward the stands.

Knee slide!

Boom!

Placing his palm over his temple and flicking it backward, Bruno Fernandes performs his signature celebration.

"Roar——!!!"

"Bruno!"

"Brilliant, Bruno!"

"Well done!!"

For this first goal of the day, the Manchester United players choose to celebrate extravagantly.

The pressure now shifts to Arsenal.

Arteta had anticipated falling behind, given the sheer strength of Manchester United's squad.

However, what Arteta didn't expect was that they would be completely dominated by Manchester United.

Everyone said Manchester United preferred defensive counterattacks, yet on the pitch, Arteta felt as though they had been attacking nonstop.

So why is this happening?

Actually, it's quite simple.

Manchester United does play defensive counterattacks, but they employ two types of counters.

The first type involves long balls to launch fast breaks; such counters either result in a goal or immediate loss of possession—very decisive.

But today Arsenal focused primarily on defense, with their entire back line positioned very deep, making it extremely difficult to execute fast-break counters.

Thus, Manchester United chose the second method of counterattack: taking possession and playing slowly.

With Tang Ye, De Jong, Dembélé, and Cristiano Ronaldo occasionally delivering clever backheel passes, Arsenal had no chance whatsoever to regain possession.

Hiss...

This is somewhat unfavorable!

Looking at it this way, Arsenal seems to have walked into a dead end!

"Mark Ronaldo!"

Arteta instructed the players.

Although his team was trailing, Arteta, as a Premier League head coach, was clearly no pushover.

He had spotted something!

"Go give Ronaldo trouble! Do you understand what I mean?"

"Don't let him receive the ball!"

All three of Manchester United's midfielders were too fierce; trying to restrict all three simultaneously was clearly unrealistic.

But there was still a way to operate.

That method was to restrict Manchester United's final finishing point, thereby annoying their midfielders.

The logic was clear and straightforward, but executing it remained somewhat difficult...

The 28th minute!

Boom!

Takehiro Tomiyasu headed the ball out of the penalty area.

"Beautiful!"

Arteta clenched one fist, cheering on his players while also comforting himself.

Although Tomiyasu had cleared the ball, in reality, the Japanese defender had not completed the entire clearance duty.

The loose ball was snatched up by Bruno Fernandes, who charged forward.

!

The Arsenal players didn't know why Bruno Fernandes had appeared in that position.

Of course, in truth, many Manchester United players didn't know either.

Slap!

Bruno Fernandes passed the ball back.

Outside the penalty area!

Boom!

Rodri headed the ball, transferring it to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo controlled the ball with his chest!

"Get up there!"

Having just brought the ball under control, Cristiano Ronaldo quickly ran into trouble as several defenders rushed at him simultaneously, applying immense pressure.

With no other option, he could only pass back to Tang Ye.

!

Seizing the gap between Cristiano Ronaldo's two feet, Tang Ye played a through ball.

Just then, Dalot made a forward run into the penalty area, easily receiving the pass delivered by Tang Ye.

Slap!

The shot was taken.

Goal!

"Beautiful!"

Unfortunately, however, this was an offside goal.

"Fuck!"

He threw out his right hand, clenched into a fist.

Such a perfect goal ruled invalid—Tang Ye now felt his head swelling with frustration.

"Why? Go to hell!"

Dalot cursed at the referee and was immediately shown a yellow card.

Okay, now he had calmed down.

"Xuuu!!!!"

"Referee, is your mother dead?"

"Fuck you!!!"

Whether or not the English FA wanted to balance the intensity of the Premier League, from the opening seven consecutive wins until now, Manchester United had faced controversial refereeing decisions in nearly every match, and each time they were the ones disadvantaged.

"..."

Pass to Cristiano Ronaldo!

Cristiano Ronaldo received the ball; Ben White and Gabriel immediately squeezed in from left and right, pinning the Manchester United striker squarely in the center.

Boom!

Cristiano Ronaldo was knocked to the ground.

"Beep beep beep beep!!!"

"Xuuu!!!"

After going up 1-0, this was the third time Cristiano Ronaldo had been brought down.

Hmm... it seems Arsenal has finally figured out how to play this match?

"Arsenal intends to constantly disrupt Manchester United's offensive rhythm, preventing Cristiano Ronaldo from linking up with his teammates behind him!"

"That is certainly a viable strategy, but Arsenal must consider their team's yellow card count, since defenders cannot keep accumulating yellow cards indefinitely."

The commentators voiced their concerns regarding Arsenal, yet in reality, this was not a matter requiring excessive worry.

In this match, the referee was blatantly biased in favor of Arsenal; for the Gunners' defenders, even trying to receive a card was no easy task.

Furthermore, following the pandemic, the number of substitutions allowed per match increased from three to five, which constituted another favorable factor.