Chu Zheng's premonition was correct. The consequences of Ranieri's choice to maintain the substitution adjustment of the four-back system soon became apparent.
In the 65th minute of the game, Leicester City set up two defensive fronts at the front of the penalty area. The two lines of defense and the midfield were extremely closely connected with each other, maximizing the compression of Arsenal players' passing in this area at the front of the penalty area.
Activity space.
In the thirty-meter area of the left rib, Ozil received a cross pass from Monreal on the left, and then approached Leicester City's penalty area little by little.
On Leicester City's side, the two defense lines slowly moved back as Ozil advanced, and the overall understanding was very good.
Kanter is in the left rib area at the top of the arc, and Chu Zheng is at the top of the arc in the middle.
Before Ozil entered the penalty area on the left side of the arc, he could not find a passing line to penetrate Leicester City's defense.
At this moment, Ozil saw Sanchez on the right front retreat from the penalty area line to the penalty area line, and hooked Vasilevskiy, who was playing at right back, from the back line.
Ozil immediately guessed Sanchez's intention. He raised his foot and passed the ball without thinking, and then passed Kante in front of him and pushed forward.
Kante guessed Ozil's intention to pass the ball, but he had no choice but to do it. His legs were a little shorter and he failed to intercept it. He could only watch the ball rolling towards Sanchez.
Chu Zheng, who was on the penalty arc, guessed Ozil and Sanchez's cooperation intentions in advance, but before he had time to remind him, Vasilevskiy and Kanter had already responded in time.
Kanter quickly turned around and followed Ozil who was resolutely moving forward after passing the ball, while Vasilevskiy behind Sanchez resolutely made a move.
Outside the penalty area, Sanchez, who received the ball with his back, did not stop the ball. He directly rubbed the ball to the right rear with the outside of his right foot, hoping to pass the ball in front of Ozil who was advancing.
But the ball had just left his feet one moment, and Vasilewski's foot stretched out the next moment, blocking the ball with great accuracy.
Chu Zheng was amazed by Vasilevskiy's precise timing of moving up and extending his feet.
In fact, the most important things about defense are position, judgment and timing of the kick. However, Vasilewski's defense this time was extremely perfect in terms of position, judgment and timing.
Otherwise, once the ball is passed by Sanchez, with Ozil's personal ability, once he gets the ball, whether it is a pass or a shot in the penalty area, it will pose a major threat to them.
On the sidelines, when Ranieri saw Vasilevskiy's performance, he let out a heavy breath and felt a little relieved.
On the field, the ball landed in front of the arc in the center circle of Leicester City's half.
Coquelin immediately retreated to the landing point, but the ball bounced very high after touching the ground, so he could only stand there and wait for the ball to fall.
But before the ball fell, Vardy rushed in front of him, took off directly with the help of his run-up, and hammered the ball to Chu Zheng, who was pressing up behind Coquelin.
Seeing Chu Zheng take the ball, countless Leicester City fans who were paying attention to the game immediately became excited. They hoped that Chu Zheng would stage a long-distance attack again.
The Gunners fans were equally nervous, but they were afraid that Chu Zheng would charge again.
Chu Zheng's speed and breakthrough ability left a very deep impression on them in the past sixty minutes.
On the court, Chu Zheng had just used his chest to remove the ball that bounced in front of him when he saw Coquelin in front of him turn around and pounce on him.
At the same time, Chu Zheng's talent warning also sounded the alarm, notifying him that Arsenal players were approaching quickly behind him.
But when Chu Zheng looked around, he could no longer find any of their Leicester City players except Vardy, who was three meters in front of him.
Before that, Mahrez had definitely rushed up from the right at this time, but now Mahrez is sitting on the bench.
But even in the face of this situation, Chu Zheng still did not intend to give up this opportunity to fight back.
The next second, Chu Zheng made his choice.
Before the ball hit the ground, Chu Zheng used his body to easily resist the weakling Sanchez who was chasing after him, and used his right foot to calmly pick up the ball under Coquelin's eyes.
When the ball flew over Coquelin's head, Chu Zheng stepped hard and inserted it diagonally into the unmanned area of the right rib of the center circle.
At the same time, Vardy also instantly understood Chu Zheng's intention. He took a step back, jumped, turned his back to the left and passed the ball.
But he didn't fully exert force on this header pass, allowing Sanchez, who was defending on the left side of Chu Zheng, to hit Chambers behind the center line with his forehead midway.
Chu Zheng felt very sorry. If the ball could come to him smoothly, then he would be able to take advantage of the situation and launch a surprise attack. He was sure that he would be able to rush all the way into the Arsenal penalty area, and it would not be impossible to even finish the goal.
.
Chu Zheng quickly got rid of this idea and went straight to Chambers who was about to catch the ball without slowing down.
Chambers and Chu Zheng were both young players in 1995, and they were even five months older than Chu Zheng.
But he has different fates at the same age, and his reputation and performance at the center back position are completely incomparable to Chu Zheng.
Seeing Chu Zheng charging towards him like a vigorous cheetah, Chambers felt really panicked.
Chambers clearly knows how strong Chu Zheng's tackling ability is.
In order not to lose the ball and take the blame, Chambers chose to play forward without stopping the ball.
But after kicking the ball out, Chambers's heart skipped a beat. In his haste, he failed to pass the ball accurately.
Chambers was looking for Coquelin on the arc of the front center circle, but the ball's rolling path was seriously to the right.
Vardy in the center circle saw the ball very close to him, so he rushed up and intercepted the ball directly with his right foot before Coquelin.
At the same time, Coquelin and Ramsey also flanked Vardy, and Sanchez also turned around and blocked Vardy's path.
Under attack from three sides, Coquelin poked away the ball at Vardy's feet after running less than one meter.
But it was a mistake. He saw the ball rolling to the left and past Sanchez's feet. Vardy, who was originally running sideways, turned to the left and followed the ball and rushed out of the circle of three people.
But when he saw the ball rolling toward Chu Zheng, who was unmarked, Vardy quickly gave up his plan to get the ball. He immediately picked up his speed and ran behind Chambers.
Vardy saw very clearly that after Chambers came up, Mertesacker was left in the middle of the Arsenal backcourt.
Facing this tall central defender, as long as Chu Zheng pushes the ball in front of him, he will be very sure to eat Mertesacker alive with his speed.
On the sidelines, Wenger immediately became excited after seeing this.
He was a little worried about Chambers.
However, soon his worries disappeared completely.
On the field, Chambers made extremely correct and smart defensive choices.
Seeing Vardy charging, the guy turned around and retreated without saying a word, turning a blind eye to Chu Zheng who was about to get the ball in front of him.
In the right rib area of the center circle, Chu Zheng has his back to the Arsenal goal. In front of him from right to left are Ramsey, Coquelin and Monreal approaching from the wing.
Chu Zheng knew at a glance that these three guys were going to make him into a dumpling. He knew very well that if he stopped the ball first and then turned around to play the ball, he would be directly surrounded by the three Coquelins.
So in full view of everyone, Chu Zheng turned around before the ball came in front of him.
I saw Chu Zheng standing on the same spot, using his right foot as a support, and began to turn 360 degrees backward.
When Chu Zheng completed a 270-degree turn, the ball just missed him. Then Chu Zheng turned around and swung his left foot forward suddenly, hitting the ball that was about to leave him with great accuracy.
The ball was drawn out.
"FAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"FAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"FAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"..."
Seeing Chu Zheng's action of turning around and then passing the ball, the Arsenal fans in the stands were stunned. Even many people in Leicester City were dumbfounded.
On the sidelines, Ranieri, who had always been extremely calm and could not see much on his face, felt as if his whole body was being invaded by an electric current, causing numerous goosebumps to appear on his fair arms.
Next to him, Wenger also had a ridiculous expression on his face, and Chu Zheng showed off his expression to a dull state.
Chu Zheng's pass movement, which just turned around, seemed simple, but in the eyes of people like Wenger and Ranieri, it was like a thunderous explosion.
"hiss……"
"hiss……"
"hiss……"
"hiss……"
In the LeTV live broadcast room, Zhan Jun, Zhang Lu, Sun Jihai, and Fan Zhiyi, who were delayed, all gasped after Chu Zheng's passing action appeared on the TV, and all four people's eyes were straightened.
On the field, Coquelin, Ramsey, and Monreal in front of Chu Zheng were also shocked when they saw Chu Zheng's pass.
Next to him, Chu Zheng stopped in place after passing the ball. He looked at the ball in front of him that rolled along the rib area and rolled in front of Vardy and Chambers. He was full of anticipation.
The next second, Vardy relied on his superior acceleration to overtake Chambers, who was on the right side with him.
Chambers was also very smart. Seeing that he could not get the ball first, he ran to the left and completely left the outside line to Vardy.
Vardy got the ball in front of the penalty area on the right side of the arc, but Mertesacker, who had retreated to the front of the arc, also came over.
At this moment, Vardy, who was forced to have no choice but to fight alone as he slowed down and had no one to respond, directly kicked the door open.
Vardy's choice came as a surprise to Cech.
On the line of the small penalty area in the middle, Cech saw the ball going straight to the upper corner of the goal on the right side of the post. He quickly retreated, then jumped back, made a stroke with his right hand in the air, and flicked the ball in the air with his fingertips.
"fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Seeing the ball falling from the sky and flying out of the bottom line against the upper corner of the goal, the Emirates Stadium once again let out a tsunami-like exclamation!
When the ball flew out of the baseline, Chu Zheng closed his eyes with a look of helplessness on his face.
He didn't blame Vardy for wasting the opportunity. On the contrary, Vardy's unexpected shot was very exciting.
Although he can continue to dribble into the penalty area and hit the goal, Vardy's ability to do this alone is already very good.
On the sidelines, Ranieri, who had always been nervous, turned his back the moment the ball flew out of the baseline, while Wenger next to him exhaled a breath of turbidity from his chest and abdomen again.
At this moment, Wenger's understanding of Leicester City's counterattack deepened again.
He saw very clearly just now that only Chu Zheng and Vardy participated in this attack from the beginning to the end.
There were six people on their side involved in the defense, but they couldn't prevent Chu Zheng's through ball and Vardy's hanging goal.
The efficiency of this counterattack really made the well-informed Wenger feel a little bit frightened.
Wenger put away the fear in his heart and turned his attention to Ranieri, who was in the coaching area next to him and was applauding the field continuously. He expressed his affirmation and appreciation for the players' performance. He was curious about how the Italian managed to bring famous names like Leicester City to the table.
A little-known player is trained like this.
At this moment, Wenger has great admiration for Ranieri, a coach of the same era.
The difficulty of turning a team from the bottom of the league into a leader is unimaginable, but Ranieri did it.
