"Beautiful save!!!"
Wright Atkinson shouted from the stands.
Gasps and cheers erupted simultaneously in the stands.
Fans from both sides were gasping and cheering, and for a moment, Wembley Stadium became noisy.
Wenger raised his hand in disappointment, but he immediately applauded his team's attack.
When he saw Gao Bo push Hassan Ali forward, he roughly guessed what the opponent was thinking. Luton's pressing in the front field indeed prevented Arsenal from organizing their attack.
Under Wenger's guidance, Arsenal has consistently played a cohesive passing and control football, creating offensive threats through passing and control combinations. However, there is more than one way to attack.
Luton used high pressing in the midfield to limit Arsenal's offensive organization, and Wenger immediately made a change, instructing his players to kick the ball more to the flanks.
Arshavin's individual ability is very strong. In this situation, Arsenal can certainly choose to leverage the advantage of their players' individual skills. Facing Arshavin's breakthrough, Sol Davis is unable to stop him; the gap in their abilities is too large.
This offensive threat was also created by Arshavin; Sol Davis had no way to deal with it.
If they continue to play like this, and Luton's left flank defense is not strengthened, their defense on this side will be breached again sooner or later. And if they put their defensive strength on this side, the other side will be open!
Wenger sat back, confident. His team had too great an advantage. When Arsenal got serious, he couldn't really think of any chance for Luton to win.
Gao Bo frowned. Arsenal had broken his pre-match plan. It now seemed that Hassan Ali was working hard, but the pressing in the front field was not very effective. Arsenal's passing accuracy was very high, and there had been no mistakes so far, which made Hassan Ali a headless fly in the front field.
Furthermore, Arsenal kept attacking the right flank with Arshavin, consistently using direct long passes to find him. Gao Bo recalled the scene a few minutes earlier when Wenger called Fabregas over. It seemed that Wenger had also immediately reacted to Luton's tactics.
Fabregas's long passes are very accurate, which is a prerequisite for Arsenal to execute this kind of attack. If the long passes are not precise enough, even if Arshavin receives the ball, he will eventually be surrounded by Sol Davis, Lewis, and Kante.
Gao Bo looked at Fabregas. At this moment, Arsenal's throw-in came out. Fabregas immediately received the ball and turned. This time he didn't look for Arshavin because Luton was already wary of that side; Lewis had already returned. So he passed to Nasri on the left. The Frenchman's footwork is also good; he easily controlled the ball and was facing Mitchell Phelan!
Arsenal's two wide players were spread very wide; they deliberately wanted to create one-on-one opportunities against Luton's two fullbacks!
Nasri created space and then crossed from the byline!
However, this cross was a little too deep. Arsenal's two forwards couldn't get to the ball, and it went out of bounds on the other side. But the Luton fans were still frightened.
"Arsenal's attack is gradually picking up! If the match continues like this, it's only a matter of time before Luton concedes a goal," Wright Atkinson said from the commentary box.
Gao Bo looked at the composed Wenger. Indeed, dealing with such a well-known coach would never be easy.
It seems that the consecutive victories had made him underestimate the heroes of the world, thinking that some strange moves could cause Arsenal some trouble...
He originally hoped that an extra defensive player in the front field would participate in the pressing, making it difficult for Arsenal to play the ball out from the back, while perhaps also capitalizing on Arsenal's mistakes.
However, Arsenal didn't really organize their attack well in the first ten minutes or so,
But they didn't make any mistakes either! They were in excellent form.
And then Wenger immediately made adjustments, which rendered Gao Bo's pre-match arrangements completely ineffective – the opponent went directly for long passes to the wingers. What use was it to have more players in the front field?
Gao Bo quickly adjusted his mindset. Regardless, the gap in strength between Luton and Arsenal was huge! This had to be faced.
While the goal kick hadn't been taken yet, Gao Bo made a gesture.
This was a gesture Gao Bo had planned before the match. Gao Bo was a cautious person, and he always had at least two plans ready.
His instruction for Hassan Ali to press in the front field initially caused some confusion for Arsenal, but Luton didn't score as a result, and Wenger's adjustment immediately broke Luton's high pressing tactic.
Long passes bypassing the midfield, directly sending the wingers to go one-on-one with the fullbacks. Wenger was targeting Luton's relatively weak fullbacks!
The players on the field also saw this gesture. It was a signal for them to retreat as a whole. Previously, Luton had been pressing in the front field, but now Gao Bo wanted the team's formation to be more compact, falling back to the midfield and defense.
However, the ball possession was with Luton at the moment, and when there was a chance to attack, Luton was willing to try.
Drinkwater received the ball in the center circle and faced Alexander Song's pressure. He lifted the ball, and it flew over Alexander Song's head towards Arsenal's backfield.
Drinkwater attempted to play a ball in behind directly, but Kolo Toure headed it back, and it fell at Alexander Song's feet.
Drinkwater immediately went in for a tackle and knocked the ball out for a throw-in on the other side.
At this point, Luton's formation began to retreat as a whole.
As Hassan Ali was retreating, Gao Bo called him over.
"Do you see Fabregas?" Gao Bo put his arm around Hassan and whispered in his ear, "Mark him!! Like glue!!"
"Remember! Like glue!! Even if he wants to go to the sideline to relieve himself during the match, you have to follow him!"
Hassan nodded vigorously. Perhaps Hassan's greatest strength was not his stamina, but his unquestioning and thorough execution of the coach's tactics. Any coach would like to have such a player in their team.
Hassan Ali went up to mark Fabregas. Wherever Fabregas appeared, he followed him all the way!
Fabregas quickly realized he was being targeted. Hassan Ali completely ignored everyone else and followed him like a shadow.
This made Fabregas very uncomfortable, and relatively, Arsenal's previous pattern of continuous long passes to the flanks could no longer be executed.
On one hand, Fabregas, who was most accurate with long passes, was being marked tightly by Hassan Ali, reducing his opportunities to get the ball. Even if he did get the ball, it was difficult to turn.
In the twentieth minute of the match, Fabregas did try to turn forcefully while being marked tightly by Hassan Ali, preparing to get past Hassan by force.
However, Hassan Ali's action was decisive. He directly reached out and pulled the young Spanish player to the ground.
The talented player encountered a tenacious opponent, which made Fabregas increasingly frustrated. The hot-headed Fabregas was preparing to get back at him, but Wenger saw this inclination. He shouted loudly from the sideline, telling the other Arsenal players to go and help.
This still left Gao Bo a little regretful. If Fabregas had gotten caught up in a personal battle with Hassan because of this, it would undoubtedly have cut off an arm of Arsenal's attack!
The fact that Fabregas didn't have opportunities to get the ball didn't mean Arsenal's attack was paralyzed. Fabregas is a midfield conductor with unparalleled offensive talent, but Wenger didn't put all his eggs in one basket.
With Fabregas being targeted, Van Persie dropped back from the front line to the midfield to get the ball!
After Luton retreated, the area in front of the penalty box became much more crowded. Even if Van Persie got the ball, it was difficult for him to turn.
However, Van Persie protected the ball very well; he didn't lose it easily and then distributed it to the flank!
After receiving the ball, Arshavin took on two players. He attracted the attention of two Luton players, Sol Davis and Lewis, who came to double-team Arshavin!
The Russian star's breakthrough ability was simply too strong, which forced Luton to take extra precautions against him.
And Luton's retreat also allowed Arsenal's defensive line to push up. Eboué charged forward; this fullback is very fast!
Arshavin chipped the ball to the flank, and Eboué directly ran forward. On the left side of the edge of the penalty area, Eboué received the ball and immediately crossed!
The ball flew past the near post. Adebayor in the center jumped high, but he didn't head the ball!
"Van Persie!!!!"
At the far post, Van Persie had already made a run and adjusted his steps!
"Don't let him shoot... Damn it!!!" Gao Bo's voice suddenly rose on the sideline.
Geoffrey rushed forward in a hurry, but he was still a step late. Van Persie's choice not to control the ball but to volley directly was to exploit this timing difference!!
Van Persie volleyed with his left foot!!!
The ball, carrying an unstoppable force, went into the top right corner of the goal!
One to zero!!!
Colliding with the net along with the ball were the Arsenal fans who had jumped up from their seats in the stands...