Chapter 695 - 129: A Winning Start! Super Scorer! Arsenal’s Number 1 Tough Guy! Wenger: Wang Shuo, You’re Just Too Good

"Wang Shuo has scored his first career Premier League goal!"

"It’s 1-0!"

The moment he scored, Wang Shuo sprinted off the pitch, shouting for De Bruyne to follow him as he ran.

Why had he specifically sought out De Bruyne for extra practice before?

It wasn’t just to look out for his young teammate. More importantly, De Bruyne’s diagonal passes were a perfect fit for him.

Both of them were two-footed.

And for Wang Shuo, those diagonal passes were an absolute dream.

Just like that last play: a diagonal pass from the right, trapped with the inside of his left foot, and then a direct shot with his right.

The same applied in the other direction.

Defenders found this kind of play incredibly difficult to stop.

In fact, it was almost impossible to defend against!

When De Bruyne rushed over, Wang Shuo swept his young teammate up in a hug.

Seeing the broadcast camera approach, he pointed emphatically at De Bruyne.

This strong endorsement from Wang Shuo left De Bruyne overjoyed.

He had always known he was good at passing, but it was only after meeting Wang Shuo that he was shocked to discover how easy it was to rack up assists.

He had already noticed it during daily training and preseason matches.

As long as he could get the ball to Wang Shuo’s feet, Wang Shuo could control it and handle it perfectly.

This filled him with admiration.

And now, with Wang Shuo recommending him to everyone on live television, he was overcome with gratitude.

Then, in the 54th minute of the second half, Arsenal executed another brilliant attacking sequence.

A diagonal switch from Alexandre Song found Hazard in the left half-space upfield.

Hazard received the ball in the half-space, faced his defender, and seeing Wang Shuo run over to support, immediately passed it off.

After passing, he made a quick diagonal run behind Wang Shuo.

As Wang Shuo ran to receive the pass, he took a touch toward the center, turned, and made a lateral pass.

De Bruyne, making a forward run, met the ball and played a through ball that landed perfectly in front of Hazard.

The Belgian winger chased the ball into the left side of the penalty area, and after catching up to De Bruyne’s pass, he faced the onrushing goalkeeper, Krul, and once again squared the ball to the center.

Walcott arrived at full tilt and swept the ball into the net.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"My God!"

"A brilliant series of passes from the Arsenal players!"

"2-0!"

"An assist from Hazard, and a goal from Walcott!"

"That combination play was simply magnificent."

"They’re running the Newcastle defenders ragged!"

"Absolutely incredible!"

"We can see that besides the two spectacular goals, Arsenal’s attack has been relentless throughout the match."

"Wenger is clearly ecstatic on the sidelines."

"Since Wang Shuo joined, his effect on Arsenal’s offense has been immediate and profound."

"In just one summer, he’s managed to link up the Gunners’ entire attack!"

...

Because Arsenal had only finished fourth in the league last season and had to play in the Champions League qualifiers, Wenger substituted Wang Shuo off in the 60th minute.

He was replaced by the French center-forward, Chamak.

But in the subsequent half-hour of the match, the difference was obvious.

Although Arsenal still maintained the advantage and possession, their attack lacked any real threat.

In the 75th minute, Hazard dribbled into the left side of the box and was tripped by Newcastle’s tracking midfielder, Barton, but the referee didn’t award a penalty.

Then, in the 85th minute, De Bruyne played a similarly brilliant diagonal pass into the penalty area.

Chamak, already in a one-on-one situation, took a heavy touch and squandered a golden opportunity.

And just before the end of the match, Alexandre Song made a sudden forward run and sent a chipped pass over the top. Chamak, again one-on-one after controlling the ball, somehow managed to shoot wide.

On the sidelines, Wenger hastily covered his face with his hands.

Wang Shuo could only shake his head as he watched.

If you had to point out the weak spots in Arsenal’s current squad, it would definitely be the backup center-forward and the left-back.

There was no problem with Chamak’s attitude on the pitch. But he wasn’t physically strong—probably about the same as Wang Shuo at this stage—and his technical skill was worlds apart, which meant he couldn’t hold up the ball at all.

The crucial thing was, his positioning wasn’t very smart either.

’How to put it? He was the type of player with a great attitude, but whose ability was just... average.’

If Wang Shuo had to rate him, he would be Arsenal’s third-choice striker at best.

’Backup striker?’

’Don’t be ridiculous.’

Last season at Dortmund, Wang Shuo’s backup was Lewandowski.

Failing that, they at least needed someone with a different tactical profile, like a physically powerful target man in the mold of Drogba.

When necessary, a player like that could even form a two-striker partnership with him.

In the end, Arsenal defeated Newcastle 2-0 away from home, securing a winning start to the season.

After the match, however, Wang Shuo had two unexpected gains.