Chapter 278

The match resumed after the restart.

The Monaco players, trailing by one goal, were as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

I don't know what ideology Ya Ding instilled in his disciples during daily training.

The youthful storm he coached is incredibly resilient!

"All units, press forward!"

"Even Fabinho has moved up to a position parallel with Bernardo!"

"Monaco's attacking firepower is not to be underestimated!"

"Arsenal had better watch out!"

Li Kang returned to the defensive midfield position.

From a high-angle overhead view.

Arsenal's formation seemed to gradually retreat with his movement.

The passage of time seemed to accelerate.

The camera panned back and forth, the focus always on the Monaco players.

Can Arsenal's defensive line withstand the firepower of Europe's top five?

It can.

Not to mention Li Kang and Cazorla's defensive midfield partnership protecting the backline, even the defensive attitudes of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sanchez are very proactive.

Even if the football penetrates through several layers of encirclement.

Koscielny also possesses a certain one-on-one ability.

In the front.

Welbeck's clownish stick... its strategic role has been demonstrated.

This guy has no intention of competing with Morata for the front point of a counterattack; instead, he's clinging to Bernardo like a fool, disrupting the opponent's passes.

Although he always gets embarrassed, he has also annoyed the genius midfielder for quite a while.

"Welbeck got juked again!"

"Looking utterly disheveled."

"Complete and utter mockery!"

"Eh? Bernardo's pass was again disrupted and sent out of bounds!"

"Wenger's low defensive line now has an additional disruption point, interception effectiveness greatly increased!"

Bernardo is very annoyed.

He can only gesture for Fabinho to shorten the distance between support positions.

The opponent didn't understand at first.

He helplessly shouted: "Get closer!"

Fabinho understood from reading his lips.

The poor Brazilian defensive midfielder, throughout the match, was beaten by Li Kang to the point of being somewhat dazed.

He secretly made up his mind...

Cannot afford another mistake.

Having his value shattered, how can he still join Liverpool!

Mbappe is roaming the right flank.

According to past Ligue 1 matches, he can single-handedly take on the entire backline alone.

17 years old, single-soldier attacking power is explosive.

But Arsenal's low defensive line is tough enough... a glance reveals nothing but dense feet.

His teammates behind him are constantly having their passing lanes disrupted by the opposition.

The Monreal before him has defensive ability somewhat stronger than Barcelona's Alba.

"The match is gradually transitioning into a positional battle phase."

"Arsenal has endured three consecutive tough battles; Wenger may be considering avoiding injuries, thus almost abandoning counterattacks, leaving only Morata up front."

"According to Group C's standings, even if this match ends in a draw, it won't significantly affect their qualification prospects as group leaders."

"Next week is international match day."

"Li Kang hasn't been called up by the Spanish national team for a long time; many fans look forward to seeing him perform alongside the midfield maestros again."

Duan Xuan found the scene somewhat boring and couldn't resist inserting some off-field commentary.

After CTV5 acquired the Premier League broadcast rights, the station's commentators all scrambled to commentate Arsenal's matches, forcing simultaneous live broadcasts on sub-channels.

Now Li Kang is extremely popular in Asia, even influencing the general public's aesthetics; increasingly more film and TV male leads are no longer overly sweet, and there are even mute protagonists!

Thoughts drifted far away.

He couldn't help but recall a moment: years ago on a variety show, face-to-face teasing Messi's height.

Instantly his face flushed red, embarrassed beyond measure.

Match time passed second by second.

Monaco struggled to break open the situation.

Ya Ding shouted until his voice was hoarse, anxious and pacing back and forth.

Although the night air was slightly cool, he was so hot he took off his jacket.

On the other side.

Wenger sat back on the coach's bench.

He felt this Monaco team's style was not bad; although they were behind, they played very cleanly.

No need to worry about players getting injured.

But remind Verbeke to pay attention to defensive positioning.

73rd minute of the match.

A sudden change occurred.

B席 finally shook off Verbeke, dribbled forward, surged into the 30-meter area, and delivered a precise through pass.

The ball instantly pierced through the right flank space of Arsenal's defense.

What does "rib area" mean?

It stems from an early translation error.

el.

A common description in match commentary, generally meaning: "the dynamic gap between the center-back and full-back on the defending side."

If the opponent deploys five defenders, three defenders, or even two defenders plus wing-backs in an unusual formation, how should this rib area be defined? To put it simply, it's a lengthy discussion.

This issue can spark thousands of comments on sports forums, with no one convincing anyone else, and official explanations fail to unify fans' opinions.

Usually at this point, commentators resort to another static field division... a relatively lazy, convenient, and non-rigorous usage.

Referring to the usage, not saying the noun is wrong.

Half zone.

Halfspace.

The ball penetrated the gap between Koscielny and Monreal.

A short, sturdy figure appeared in Arsenal's penalty area.

Falcao.

Former Atlético Madrid sharpshooter.

The man who competed with Messi and Ronaldo for the Golden Boot.

Once ranked third in the world.

Touted as a top striker with "no flaws except height."

Despite his small stature, he possesses extraordinary leaping ability and heading prowess.

Although his form has declined significantly, he still retains his usual composure in ball control.

"Danger!"

"Cech remains calm, quickly adjusting his position."

"Falcao didn't shoot himself, choosing to lay off the ball!"

"Mbappe!"

With a bang.

Just as Arsenal's defense tightened.

Falcao delivered a superb diagonal short pass, finding Mbappe making a run to the top of the penalty arc.

Mertesacker quickly closed in to block.

In the blink of an eye.

The ball slipped through his trousers.

Looking back.

Xiao Heidan had already struck the shot!

"Oh dear."

"Mertesacker's turn wasn't fast enough!"

"Mbappe found a shooting opportunity in the crowd!"

"Did Cech have time to adjust?"

No way.

Falcao's pass was too wicked.

The whole sequence unfolded too quickly.

In that brief moment, Cech simply couldn't jump from the right post to the left!

He's not a flying man.

Thud!

Accompanied by a crisp sound.

The ball screamed toward the top-left corner of Arsenal's goal.

Cech gave it his all.

Arsenal's net hadn't been shaken in a very long time.

1:1!

!

Louis II Stadium instantly ignited.

Monaco fans erupted in joy.

"Equalized the score!"

"Young Mbappe, returning the favor!"

"His future is limitless!"

"Falcao fiercely patted his chest, announcing to the world he still belongs on the Champions League stage!"

"Even in the final stages of the match, suspense remains!"

"Let's look at the goal replay."

"No problem! Falcao wasn't offside, Bernardo's pass was highly concealed and penetrating!"

Duan Xuan was a bit dazed.

Could it be that on the night of the Côte d'Azur... Arsenal's winning streak this season is about to be ended?

Live broadcast room.

-【Monaco is not bad, they've caught up to our army's pace!】

-【Terrifying fun fact: this season, only Liverpool and Monaco have broken through Arsenal's defense in all of Europe!】

-【Wenger: I was thinking of winning easily, but you guys still dare to fight back?】

-【Haha, the professor wouldn't think that way!】

-【This Mbappé is really fierce... no, wait, if this match ends in a draw, Barcelona really will have a hard time advancing.】

-【Still thinking about Barcelona advancing?】

-【Impossible to draw, Arsenal has a high probability of scoring after 80 minutes this season, I'm all in!】

-【To be honest, although we equalized, Monaco is still at a disadvantage when facing a team with abnormal midfield control, Mbappé and Falcao, such genius strikers, rarely get many touches on the ball.】

-【Lemar isn't just being marked out of existence, is he? Modern football is just that cruel.】

Falcao is still enjoying the applause.

Mbappé just dove into the net to pick up the ball.

This action means: Monaco not only wants to equalize, but also to overturn the deficit!

The home fans are wildly cheering.

"Rise! Risk! Repeat!"

Cech immediately switched between French and German, comforting Mertesacker and Koscielny.

It's not that Arsenal's defense has a problem.

It's that the opponent's attack is too tricky.

Li Kang's expression remained calm.

Tactics cannot completely determine the course of the match.

This Monaco team is not weak at all, especially in attack.

But it's fine.

Li Kang's God's perspective has already deconstructed how to counter the attacking patterns of the butterfly 4-4-2 formation.

Sideline of the pitch.

Ya'er Xiang Guang Kuangre.

Exaggerated gestures, continuing to point toward Arsenal's half.

Defense cannot hold.

Must continue attacking.

Either get blown apart, or achieve a comeback!

The other side.

Boerde looks a bit dejected.

"Boss..."

Wenger patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Not as difficult as imagined, Li Gang just missed by a step in blocking Mbappé's shot, we must believe in him!"

"After the match, the coaching staff must find time to communicate with him, Arsenal may no longer need to insist on low-position defense in the future."

The center circle restarted play.

Arsenal, having regained possession, launched a stormy offensive under Li Kang's impetus.

A series of smooth passing and cutting combinations.

Gradually weakening the momentum of Monaco's fans...

What's going on?

How is Arsenal becoming more and more fierce?

Monaco's players this time did not retreat, they displayed a desperate ball-winning spirit in the midfield and front.

"In Arsenal's lineup, only Cazorla and Li Kang can maintain stable passing and control under high pressure..."

"Oh, Bellerin moving forward also allows him to form a triangular passing point with the two!"

"Morata also dropped back!"

"This way, Monaco simply cannot weaken Arsenal's midfield control!"

Unexpected things often occur on the green field.

Welbeck just made a silly mistake.

He received Li Kang's pass in the forty-meter zone of Monaco's half, but in a daze forgot his teammates were wearing away jerseys... just like Bayern's Thiago, he passed the ball to B席 wearing red-and-white jerseys...

"Oh no!"

"A fatal mistake!"

"Related data analysis: Monaco's transition attack speed is also among the best in Europe!"

"B席 didn't drag his feet this time!"

"He immediately seized the gap in the pass!"

B席 had already observed Mbappé's position early on.

He surged forward.

As long as we charge forward.

We can turn the score around.

With Messi-like dribbling in a low-tier version, covering the weakness of insufficient attacking range after a few steps, he's about to advance to the mid-tier Messi...

With a slap.

The anticipated transition attack... came to an abrupt halt!

B席 suddenly collided with a wall.

Li Kang.

Monaco players fell into a frenzied counterattack state, so much so that they failed to notice Arsenal's number 10 making a frontal interception.

Arsenal regained possession.

The spectators hadn't yet recovered from these two rapid turnovers...

On the green field, a black storm had already risen.

"A crucial interception."

"Li Kang directly accelerated."

"The Gunners in their deep blue second away kit, like a storm, are eroding Monaco's territory!"

"Mercury-like passing and cutting!"

"The Arsenal's strongest attacking method!"

"Or we should fiercely attack Fabinho's flank!"

The football is like a mischievous sprite.

Sometimes skimming low and fast, sometimes bouncing in midair.

It seems Arsenal's number 10 has found its optimal attacking path.

Monaco's defense line quietly collapsed.

Welbeck's footwork is not bad.

His physical coordination is also not bad.

As long as he doesn't serve as a frequent passing hub, he can adapt to the passing and cutting system.

Wenger's signings won't be wrong.

Thirty-meter zone.

He strode forward with large steps, shaking off Fabinho.

He then stopped Li Kang's lofted pass.

"Fabinho is about to break down!"

"Again, Li Kang's lofted pass pierced through his back!"

"Welbeck!"

"Man and ball separated!"

"This move is a bit excessive! There's no defender in front!"

Arsenal's midfield and forward players are active near Monaco's penalty area.

They've widened the attacking width.

When Welbeck dribbles toward the byline.

Li Kang quickly slipped into the gap between Monaco's two center-backs.

Morata suddenly had an epiphany; he and Li Kang appearing together in the opponent's penalty area always makes him especially sharp—he instantly understood, quickly vacating central space, diagonally inserting to claim the far post... if Welbeck's lateral pass doesn't go wrong.

Monaco's formation instinctively contracted the penalty area.

The butterfly 4-4-2 can never escape the trait of low-position defending.

Stade Louis II had 17,000 seats removed, now accommodating over twenty thousand fans.

Yet at this moment, they forgot to breathe.

Watching Welbeck send out a pass...

That rough trajectory.

It let Monaco fans breathe a sigh of relief.

It ignited Arsenal fans' fury.

"Welbeck directly swept across the front of the goal, Sanchez and Morata covered the near and far posts!"

"Yet he chose to pass toward the arc of the penalty area..."

The moment Li Kang trapped the football, he again reversed the joy and sorrow of twenty thousand people.

In his vision, the phantom of a diminished Modric reappeared, condensing against the sea wind.

Bakayoko reacted the fastest.

He fiercely charged toward Li Kang.

Yet he had to retreat following the opponent's steps.

Still, he had to win it!

No fear, plenty of teammates behind.

Be decisive!

At the moment of extending his foot.

Only Li Kang's left foot, using the top of his foot, gently pushed the ball.

The tall and sturdy Bakayoko immediately showed regret on his face, instinctively wanting to withdraw his foot... adjust his blocking position.

He couldn't adjust it.

Instead, he lost his balance and sat down on the grass with a thud.

Li Kang planted his left foot on the ground.

The angle of his right foot's shot was blocked by the calm Hotmercel and Glick!

Monaco's dark horse demeanor was not solely shaped by relying on attack.

Yardin trembled all over.

He knew Li Kang had no space to shoot with his right foot... but he faintly felt something was off.

What happened next confirmed the Monaco head coach's guess.

He hadn't guessed wrong!

Under the gaze of everyone present.

After the golden left foot landed, it lifted off the ground again.

The ankle locked tight.

The toes curled inward.

Following the motion, he flicked upward.

Or was it the outside of the foot!

Thwack!

The football kicked up grass clippings.

With an astonishingly violent spin, it arced toward Monaco's goal!

Subasic stared in disbelief.

It seemed as if he had returned to the midsummer of France.

He leapt with all his might.

His fingertips could just touch the football... but it suddenly plummeted rapidly, dropping into the net.

1:2!

!

"Beautiful!"

"Outside-of-the-foot shot!"

"Li Kang again!"

"This goal is extremely extremely crucial! It shattered Monaco's belief in a comeback!"

"Inside-of-the-foot dribble, outside-of-the-foot shot!"

"Euro step, reverse layup!"

"Nonchalant!"

"Elegant!"

"The wild wind of the Côte d'Azur, as if cheering for him at this very moment!"

"The substitute Werbelk, who came on, continued the wonderful chemistry with Li Kang!"

Live stream.

-【Handsome to the point of stupidity.】

-【Awesome, although Li Mingdeng's outside-of-the-foot shot hasn't reached the pinnacle of perfection... but the power under his feet is fierce! The downward speed from the spin is too fast!】

-【Armory +2!】

-【The game developer will cry again, having to assign Li Mingdeng a skill patch, can it be fixed in time?】

-【Bought a draw, happy for no more than five minutes!】

-【I've said it before: Monaco can't come back, Arsenal's two hundred million wasn't wasted, Little Li put on the number 10 jersey, not wearing the captain's armband, showing he's just here to win.】

-【Fabinho and Bakayoko's transfer values are about to be wiped out, Liverpool and Chelsea are regretting overnight! Cancel pre-orders!】

-【The drop isn't that severe, the opponent is Li Mingdeng, after all, even "World's Best Defender" Boateng has suffered...】

-【Politeness: Do you Boateng?】

Li Kang stared blankly.

The phantom in his vision had long since vanished without a trace.

Mo's outside-of-the-foot technique had completely merged with his muscle memory.

Suddenly.

A tremendous force surged forward, making him stagger two steps, nearly falling.

Werbelk was so excited he spoke incoherently, saliva flying.

"Li, I..."

The little black egg who completed the assist was quickly shoved aside by teammates.

"I just knew passing to Li would score!"

In the remaining little match time.

Yardin's butterfly 4-4-2 couldn't flutter its wings.

Under the command and dispatch of Arsenal's number 10, their high-pressure press was firmly contained!

The armory unleashed a wave of fierce counterattacks.

Fabinho was about to be tortured mad...

Minute 89 of the match.

Morata was brought down by Subasic on a breakaway.

The main referee blew the whistle, pointing to the penalty spot.

Penalty kick!

Li Kang's Baggio curse reappeared, and Zidane's phantom did not appear to help this time.

The spectators also did not see the anticipated spoon penalty kick.

After some communication.

Sanchez stood at the penalty spot and scored in one go.

1:3!

!

The 94th minute of the match.

Injury time.

After Arsenal gained possession of the ball, they did not waste time.

Li Kang sent a long through pass.

It again pierced through the space behind Fabinho.

Cazorla volleyed and shot, breaking through Subasic's five-finger gate.

1:4!

!

Beep! Beep beep~

The main referee blew the whistle signaling the end of the match.

Under the night sky at the Stade Louis II, only the Arsenal fans' revelry remained.

Li Kang lay on his back on the grass, basking in the sea breeze.

He was not very tired.

He just wanted to look at the moon and stars by the seaside.