Chapter 50: Robin van Persie Is Just a Thing of the Past
In the ninth round of the Premier League came the blockbuster fixtures: Chelsea 2–3 Manchester United, Arsenal 1–0 Rangers, Manchester City 1–0 Swansea.
On the Premier League table, "the banners over the city change with the wind!"
Manchester United 7 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses — 21 points,
Arsenal 6 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss — 20 points,
Manchester City 6 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss — 20 points.
Chelsea 6 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss — 19 points.
In the Chelsea vs. Manchester United match, referee Mark Clattenburg became the central figure.
Chelsea led Manchester United 1–0 at halftime; Wayne Rooney leveled at the 53rd minute, but Chelsea considered it an offside.
Slow-motion replays did indeed show it was offside.
Then Eden Hazard scored and Chelsea led again.
Two minutes later Branislav Ivanović brought down Robin van Persie outside the box — it should have been a yellow card, but Clattenburg showed a red.
Five minutes after that, Robin van Persie became the key man, equalizing again in the 61st minute.
With the home crowd cheering them on, Chelsea — down a player — grew bolder as the match went on.
In the 82nd minute, Fernando Torres drove down the left and cut into the box; there was a tug between him and Patrice Evra and Torres received a yellow. Since he already had a previous yellow, the two yellows became a red and he was sent off.
That yellow was defensible, but it had the appearance of double standards: earlier Evra stamped on Torres's ankle — why no card then?
Why did Tom Cleverley's similar foul on Eden Hazard earlier go unpunished?
With the remaining time, nine-man Chelsea could only defend desperately; in stoppage time they conceded again and ultimately lost 2–3 — honorable in defeat.
After the match Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo spoke sharply: "I'm disappointed with tonight's match. What disappoints me isn't the players but this league.
In Serie A, Juventus often get the referee's help; tonight our opponent had the same favor. Before the match there were rumors — there's a force trying to let someone retire with dignity. Now I just want to ask the FA why not just hand that person the title directly?
Let us fight Manchester City and Arsenal for second; that would be more sporting and would make the competition more exciting and less sickening…"
Sir Alex Ferguson, chewing gum, calmly rebutted: "Only the weak complain. Referees aren't gods; their decisions sometimes favor you, sometimes don't. Manchester United are not always the beneficiary…"
After the game, the refereeing controversy dominated the headlines of the blockbuster clash, but it was an insoluble problem…
Amid the media uproar, Arsenal played in the FA Cup Round of 16.
Arsenal traveled to Reading; Arsène Wenger sent out a full reserve side:
Goalkeeper was third-choice Damián Martínez; the front three were Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin and the "Penalty-Maker" Marouane Chamakh.
Marouane Chamakh, in 2010–2011, appeared 15 times for Arsenal, of which 7 matches he spent the full 90 minutes on the bench — meaning he practically played only eight actual matches.
But he caused five penalties, four red cards and one own goal for Arsenal, earning him from fans the moniker "the Penalty-Maker."
From Wenger's selection it looked like he intended to concede the League Cup.
But Reading didn't know the social niceties. In front of over 40,000 fans at the Madejski Stadium, they demolished Arsenal 4–0 in the first half.
Wenger was willing to lose, but not in this manner.
So at halftime there was a blast of invigorating speech and a big pot of chicken soup.
In the second half, after drinking the soup and taking a beating, Arsenal showed the quality of a big club.
They came back with four goals!
The match ended 4–4 in normal time and went to extra time.
In the 93rd minute Chamakh put Arsenal ahead, but Reading quickly equalized; then Theo Walcott scored twice in succession.
Arsenal redeemed themselves and vindicated the Premier League's big six.
It was a stirring match that will be recorded in League Cup history.
Xia Qi and Alice watched the live broadcast at home, hearts racing.
When Walcott scored the go-ahead goal, the two leaped from the sofa and hugged tightly, then bounced apart as if electrocuted.
In many ways, TV viewers were more excited than those at the stadium.
Wenger and the players left the pitch wearing worried faces; this was not the result they'd wanted.
Oh!
They got ahead of themselves!
Extra time should have been…
After the match, betting sites raised Arsenal's Premier League title probability by 3 percentage points! But it still remained below the Manchester sides.
With the League Cup concluded, the Premier League moved to round 10 — the headline was Manchester United vs. Arsenal!
This was not merely a fight for the top of the table; if Ferguson were to retire at the end of this season, it would be the culmination of half a lifetime of rivalry between Ferguson and Wenger.
Its heat and influence were self-evident!
Ferguson: "Wenger is an exceptionally fine coach, and Arsenal have moved toward greatness under him.
Sunday night will be an extremely tough match, but we have home advantage and the Red Devils' spirit; we will certainly win.
Xia Qi looks excellent at the moment, having scored 15 goals already, while van Persie has only half of that.
But I don't think he's better than Robin van Persie; if time could be reversed, I would still choose van Persie.
There are always talented youngsters like Xia Qi in football, but most are meteors.
Van Persie is different: in the Premier League's twenty clubs, apart from Arsenal, van Persie has scored against every other team.
I believe on Sunday night facing his old club he will complete scoring against every Premier League side; Xia Qi might never be able to do that.
In the long history of the Premier League only Nigerian striker Yakubu did that; van Persie will become the second on Sunday night."
Online, even some Manchester United fans felt Sir Alex's remarks were hypocritical out of jealousy…
Arsenal fans flooded the Manchester United official site with comments:
Xia Qi — 15 goals in 5 Premier League games; 3 goals in 1 Champions League game.
Robin van Persie — 8 goals in 7 Premier League games; 3 goals in 2 Champions League games.
Thanks, Sir Alex, for not buying him.
Thanks, Sir Alex, for not buying him. +1
Thanks, Sir Alex, for not buying him. +1…
The Ferguson vs. Wenger, United vs. Arsenal lines are old fare — reheated food. But van Persie vs. Xia Qi was different; it quickly swept across Britain and then into Europe and the whole world.
There were many who supported Ferguson's viewpoint.
The media sought Wenger and asked him to comment.
Wenger: "Van Persie has given us passion and also tears — and that is football.
What is football?
Football is the hormones of youth and the tears of adulthood.
277 matches, 132 goals — his legacy shouldn't be only curses.
Moreover, God made up for us by sending us Xia Qi. Normally City would never sell, and in fact half the people at Manchester City were opposed to the sale.
And logically, if he were to be sold, he should have gone to another league, not sold to us.
I think this is God compensating us.
So we should not treat van Persie with a resentful heart. We must respect him: after all, he is Arsenal's past, while Xia Qi is our present and future."
Wenger was magnanimous, but would the fans be?
Arsenal fans again flooded Manchester United's site with comments:
Respect van Persie's past.
Respect van Persie's past +1,
Respect van Persie's past +1…
How could the Dutch three-pronged general swallow that?
Robin van Persie: "I will definitely score on Sunday night. When I score I will not celebrate.
On Sunday I will have more goals than that kid.
The Golden Boot is for a season; the one who laughs last is the winner…"
The media, seeing how well the sparring stoked interest, turned to Xia Qi to ask his view.
Xia Qi: "He's right. I just currently have more goals than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; until someone breaks 50 goals we really don't know who will laugh last."
The media were momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter.
Look at the magnanimity of the Wenger–Ferguson master-apprentice pair.
Pre-match mouth-watering exchange,
Arsenal → win!
(END CHAPTER)
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