Chapter 697 - 130: God of Slaughter! Back-to-back Bloody Battles! Sniping Arsenal! Wenger Snaps Again! 4 Ovations at the Emirates Stadium

Although Udinese’s number one star, Chilean winger Sanchez, had transferred to Barça, their overall strength remained.

In recent years, Udinese had done quite well in terms of scouting and youth training.

"Just in case, we still need to aim to score first right from the start. With an away goal, it will be easier for us to find our footing."

"I understand."

Wang Shuo nodded in agreement.

Then, looking at Wenger, he gave a confident nod and a smile. "Don’t worry, I’ve got this!"

Wenger, Primorac, and Pat Rice all broke into laughter.

It had been a long time since anyone at Arsenal dared to say something like that to Wenger.

It wasn’t that Wenger was too overbearing.

It was that none of them had the stature to do so!

After seeing Wenger off, Wang Shuo took advantage of the break to enter the Ball God System.

After the away game against Newcastle, he had received two system notifications that were quite surprising.

One was the post-match summary for every game.

The surprise came from the Passive Value.

Back in the Bundesliga, Wang Shuo had averaged around 9 points of Passive Value per match.

Occasionally it would be a bit more, but it was usually in that ballpark.

Sometimes it was even less.

But now in the Premier League, after playing just 60 minutes in his first match away against Newcastle, he had actually received 10 Passive Value points post-game.

Premier League defenders not only liked to foul, but their actions were also rough.

Sometimes they even made it clear they were trying to intimidate you.

’If I play a full match, I’ll probably get even more,’ Wang Shuo thought.

The other notification was an Achievement reward from the system for scoring his first Premier League goal, which gave him 50 Passive Value points.

With that, Wang Shuo’s Passive Value had accumulated to 134 points.

So, he then upgraded his Spiritual Light passive skill to the Intercontinental Level.

With that, aside from the three passive skills Inverted Foot, First Move, and Insight, all his others had been raised to the Intercontinental Level.

Wang Shuo decided he would upgrade these three as soon as possible, too.

After all, Messi and Ronaldo had already thrown down the gauntlet on Twitter.

The "Ball King Wager" would continue with the start of the new season!

And Wang Shuo had already accepted the challenge.

Even though he had just arrived in the Premier League and Arsenal was undergoing a major overhaul, surrendering or showing fear before the fight had even begun was something Wang Shuo would never do!

...

The match at Friuli Stadium kicked off with a defensive error on the left flank just over a minute into the game.

Arsenal had changed two positions in the starting lineup for this match.

At left-back, Armand Traore had replaced Kieran Gibbs.

In midfield, Alexandre Song was playing deep, partnered with Matuidi and Arteta.

As a result, just 1 minute and 16 seconds into the game, while Wang Shuo was leading the team in a high press, Udinese launched a long pass behind the left side of the defensive line. Traore failed to get back into position in time.

Udinese’s right midfielder, Isla, made a quick run in behind, received the ball, broke into Arsenal’s penalty area, and sent a low cross in front of the goal.

Di Natale followed up quickly, connecting with a sliding shot right in front of the goal, and sent the ball into the net before Subotic and Vermaelen could react.

The entire Friuli Stadium erupted!

No one had expected that just over a minute into the match, Udinese would be the first to break through Arsenal’s defense.

And it came from the left flank, the very area Wenger had repeatedly warned them about before the match!

Wang Shuo hadn’t expected a mistake to happen so early in the game either.

But at this point, words were useless.

"All right, everyone, pull yourselves together! Stay composed, and let’s counter-attack!"

"Armand."

While Udinese was celebrating the goal, Wang Shuo jogged over to the young left-back, cupped his head in his hands, and then patted his cheeks.

"It’s okay. Get your head up. Don’t lose your composure."

"They’re clearly targeting your side. Be careful!"

Armand Traore was indeed stunned by the sudden attack.

After hearing Wang Shuo’s words, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

As Wang Shuo ran back to get ready for the kickoff, he called out to Matuidi.

"Blaise, keep a closer eye on the left side!"

Matuidi nodded emphatically.

"Mikel, you pay more attention to the center." Wang Shuo walked over and high-fived Arteta.

"We have to equalize as soon as possible!"

"Right."

"Alexander, the midfield is in your hands!" Wang Shuo pointed toward Alexandre Song.

The Cameroonian midfielder said nothing, simply forming a fist with his right hand and thumping his chest firmly.

"Come on, lads, let’s get our heads in the game!"

"Yeah!"

The match restarted.

Arsenal immediately returned the favor.

Wang Shuo dropped back to the bottom of the center circle in his own half to receive the ball. He passed it to Matuidi, pointed to the left, then turned and quickly pushed forward.

Matuidi sent a through ball to Hazard, who carried it quickly down the left wing. Facing Ekstrand, he executed a skillful feint before suddenly cutting the ball toward the byline.

Hazard dribbled to a spot near the byline on the left edge of the penalty area and knocked a cross toward the center.

The series of moves leading up to it was beautiful, but the cross itself was poor—far too close to the goal.

The goalkeeper, Handanovic, had the entire area covered and simply dove to smother the ball.

Following Udinese’s opening goal, the match immediately fell into a fast pace.

Arsenal was playing the first leg away, while Udinese had the home-field advantage; both teams were determined to win this match.

Although Udinese had scored on a surprise attack and began to focus more on defense, they didn’t dare let their guard down.

This was Arsenal they were facing, after all.