Chapter 699 - 130: God of Slaughter! Consecutive Fierce Battles! Targeting Arsenal! Wenger Loses His Cool Again! Four Ovations at the Emirates Stadium

Lichsteiner, having come from Serie A, was not yet accustomed to the team’s style of play. He needed more time.

How should I put it?

He was just holding back!

The left flank was the focal point of Udinese’s counterattacks tonight; they were all targeting the space behind Traore.

As a result, Traore didn’t dare to push too far forward.

So, Arsenal dominated possession but couldn’t find the back of the net.

This continued until the 42nd minute of the first half, when Alexandre Song, seeing that the attack had stalled, carried the ball forward himself and sent a through pass to Wang Shuo’s feet.

Wang Shuo used his body to shield the ball from Benatia. After controlling it, he turned and was about to accelerate.

But Benatia reached out and grabbed Wang Shuo’s jersey, committing the foul.

Yellow card and a free kick.

The ball was placed dead center, 27 meters from the goal.

Udinese formed a three-man wall in the Arc Top District.

Arteta, Hazard, and Walcott all walked over toward Wang Shuo.

Interestingly enough, all three of them had taken free kicks before and were quite good at it.

"What’s this? You guys want to take it?" Wang Shuo grabbed Hazard’s and Walcott’s hands to pull himself up from the ground, asking with a grin.

The three of them felt a chill down their spines and quickly shook their heads.

"No, no, no, we just came over to ask if you need any help. I can act as a decoy," Hazard was the first to react.

Wang Shuo was a man who could take free kicks with either foot!

Would they dare take it from him?

"Me too," Walcott added with an apologetic smile.

Wang Shuo nodded, glanced into the distance, and said, "I’ll use my left foot!"

All three of them were astonished.

They all knew Wang Shuo was right-footed, but his left foot was also incredibly strong.

But taking a free kick with one’s Inverted Foot was exceptionally rare.

This was the first time any of them had seen it in person, so it was a novel sight.

"I’ll be the decoy," Arteta volunteered.

The wall was in position. Wang Shuo and Arteta placed the ball, then both backed away.

Back when he was at Everton, Arteta had been the team’s designated free-kick taker.

Watching for a signal from Wang Shuo, he quickly began his run-up.

The moment Arteta started his run, Wang Shuo began his as well.

After the Spanish player ran past the ball, Wang Shuo arrived right behind him, planted his right foot firmly, and swung his left. With the boost from [Domain Skills: Blasters], all his body’s strength was channeled into his left foot, unleashing even greater power.

Everyone heard a loud BANG as the ball shot forward with incredible speed. It cleared the top of the wall before dipping sharply.

Tracing a graceful arc, it slammed into the right side of the net.

Handanovic dove for the save, but he couldn’t get there in time.

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!"

"2-1!"

"In the 43rd minute of the first half, Wang Shuo scores from a 28-meter direct free kick, breaking through Udinese’s goal to turn the score around for his team!"

Wang Shuo excitedly ran toward the sideline, leaping into the air and pumping his fist to celebrate the goal.

The Arsenal players all chased after him, mobbing him in celebration.

...

The first half ended 2-1.

During the halftime break, the suspended Wenger couldn’t return to the locker room, but Primorac could go in and relay Wenger’s instructions.

The team hadn’t done well in some areas during the first half, for example, with their midfield interceptions and defensive cover.

Since Wenger couldn’t enter the locker room, a lot of things couldn’t be communicated clearly.

But Guidolin was sure to make tactical adjustments, so Wenger’s message was to lock down the defense in the second half.

He placed heavy emphasis on controlling possession and the tempo of the game!

Wang Shuo, for his part, gave the motivational speech in place of the head coach.

With his current standing on the team, he had no problem delivering a motivational speech.

And just as Wenger had predicted, Udinese ramped up their offense in the second half.

Arsenal’s strategy was to hold a firm defensive line while looking for opportunities to counter-attack.

The two teams fought fiercely, but in the end, neither could get the better of the other.

Especially after Arsenal brought on Aaron Ramsey and Pogba for Walcott and Hazard, the team largely managed to control the game.

The final score was 2-1, a comeback victory away from home against Udinese!

Unfortunately, after the match, Udinese provided stadium video footage and filed a complaint against Wenger with UEFA.

The reason being: he had been directing the team through Primorac!

Arsenal immediately issued a rebuttal. Wenger stated that he never touched Primorac’s phone, nor did he contact the team during halftime.

But would UEFA believe him?

For Christ’s sake, Primorac was over there on the phone, and you, Wenger, were right next to him chirping away. And you’re telling me you weren’t in contact with Pat Rice during the match?

And another thing: Primorac went to the locker room at halftime. Are you telling me you didn’t have him relay any information?

UEFA quickly announced via their official website that the Disciplinary Committee was imposing an additional punishment on Wenger.

Banned for two more matches!

And as for Arsenal, a fine of 10,000 euros!

When Wenger received the fine, he was so furious he erupted in a string of curses on the spot.

To be fair, he didn’t curse out Platini this time.

He cursed out the Disciplinary Committee!

"Who the fuck doesn’t know that the Disciplinary Committee is full of Italians!"

"These damn bastards just want to keep us out of the Champions League group stage! They just want to hog that 30 million British Pounds for themselves!"

Thirty million British Pounds?

As long as Arsenal qualifies for the Champions League group stage, they stand to earn thirty million British Pounds in revenue.

Wang Shuo witnessed the normally gentle and refined Wenger completely lose his composure on the spot, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

’He really hadn’t expected it.’

Everyone thought that only a boisterous manager like Klopp would fly into a rage and start cursing, but they never expected that the mild-mannered Wenger would be no exception.

’But then again, it was to be expected.’