Chapter 720 - 133: 17-Second Wondergoal! Epic Comeback! Watch Out, Wang Shuo Is Here! We Witnessed a Miracle

It was just like having Nesta mark a third-rate forward—he would look exceptionally elegant doing it. But when tasked with marking Ronaldo, even he would be left floundering helplessly.

"Our strategy was right!" Wenger held his head high, watching Wang Shuo celebrate his goal on the pitch, feeling a profound sense of pride in his summer decisions.

With Wang Shuo scoring, Arsenal’s prospects were looking far brighter. And the match unfolded exactly as Wenger had anticipated.

Riding the momentum of Wang Shuo’s opening goal, Hazard orchestrated a brilliant breakthrough down the left flank in the seventh minute. He cut a low, driving pass back to the edge of the six-yard box. Wang Shuo, who had been lurking there in wait, executed a swift turn and unleashed a left-footed volley, sending the ball soaring past Diego Lopez into the net once more. The biggest contributor to this goal was undoubtedly Hazard!

Two to zero! In less than ten minutes, the Gunners had already secured a two-goal lead.

The rest of the match saw them surge ahead with unstoppable momentum, leaving Villarreal completely overwhelmed. In the sixty-ninth minute of the second half, substitute Aaron Ramsey made a late run into the box and unleashed a furious strike that found the back of Villarreal’s net, sealing the victory for Arsenal.

However, in the eighty-eighth minute, Villarreal lobbed a free kick into Arsenal’s penalty area, sparking a chaotic scramble. Amidst the frenzy, former Manchester United player Rossi managed a toe-poke finish, breaking through Arsenal’s defenses. But by that point, it was nothing more than a consolation goal that didn’t affect the overall outcome!

Still, conceding that goal exposed a fatal shortcoming for Arsenal: defending free kicks! Since last season, half of the Gunners’ conceded goals had stemmed directly or indirectly from set pieces. Defending these situations had always been their chronic weakness.

Ultimately, the Gunners defeated Villarreal three to one on the road.

After the match, Wenger repeatedly emphasized the team’s issues with set-piece defense, demanding that all players maintain absolute focus in those situations. Currently, Arsenal employed a zonal marking system for defending set pieces. Since the start of the previous season, many pundits, media outlets, and fans had been urging Wenger to make adjustments.

Back when Benitez was still at Liverpool, his team had also spent years leaking goals from set pieces while utilizing a zonal marking system. Because of this, zonal marking had drawn heavy criticism. In reality, though, the problem had very little to do with whether a team used zonal marking, man-to-man marking, or a hybrid system.

The crux of the issue was the personnel!

Defending set pieces was entirely different from defending in open play. The most glaring difference was that defending set pieces almost exclusively involved tight, physical combat. In Wang Shuo’s opinion, the nature of attacking and defending set pieces was actually closer to basketball than it was to football.

Therefore, looking across the globe—from Real Madrid to Barça, to Arsenal, or even Benitez’s Liverpool—every team with abysmal set-piece defense fundamentally shared the same flaw: their players were terrible at close-quarters physical combat! And this exact issue would soon force Arsenal to pay a heavy price.

Elated, Arsenal brought their three-to-one victory back from Spain. Upon returning to the Premier League, they faced the fifth round of the league—an away match against Blackburn.

With the first four rounds concluded, Blackburn currently sat at the very bottom of the standings. Facing consecutive matches, Wenger wanted to implement some appropriate squad rotation while giving the younger players a chance. Traore replaced Gibbs, and young Jenkinson stepped in for Lichsteiner, who had been playing non-stop. The adjustments in the midfield were minimal; Alexandre Song continued to hold the defensive midfield role, with Arteta and De Bruyne partnered in front of him.

Having secured exceptional starts in their last two consecutive matches, the Gunners were riding high on this successful formula and immediately launched a blitzkrieg right from kickoff.

The team did not disappoint Wenger. Just nine minutes into the match, De Bruyne threaded a brilliant through ball. Wang Shuo made another late surging run, successfully beating the offside trap. He received the ball to go one-on-one with the keeper and calmly volleyed it into the net, opening the scoring for the Gunners.

One to zero! Another opening goal! This was now their third consecutive match doing so!

However, Wenger’s joy was short-lived. As the team sought to press their advantage and maintain their momentum to extend the lead, the defensive line failed an offside trap in the twenty-fourth minute. Traore lingered too far back, and Blackburn striker Yakubu seized the opportunity, beating the trap to score from a one-on-one situation.

One to one! They were tied!

But it was fine! Just ten minutes later, Arsenal launched an attack down the right flank. Walcott utilized his sheer pace to force a breakthrough, driving to the byline before crossing it into the penalty area. Inside the box, Wang Shuo, with his back to the goal, laid the ball off perfectly. Arteta, charging in from behind, unleashed a furious strike that pierced through Blackburn’s goal.

Two to one! Arsenal took the lead once again! And they maintained this scoreline until the end of the first half.

Throughout the entire first half, the Gunners racked up eight shots, boasted a staggering sixty-eight percent possession rate, and achieved a passing accuracy of nearly ninety percent. In stark contrast, Blackburn only managed three shots. The situation still looked incredibly favorable.

Yet, who could have anticipated that after swapping sides for the second half, Blackburn would earn a free kick just outside the left side of Arsenal’s penalty area in the forty-ninth minute? While defending, Alexandre Song shockingly deflected the ball into his own net.

Two to two!

Even more absurdly, in the fifty-eighth minute, Arsenal conceded a corner on the right side. Blackburn delivered it to the far post, where an unmarked N’Zonzi headed it back across the face of the goal, allowing Yakubu to score with an effortless tap-in.

Three to two!

And not long after, a rapid counterattack from Blackburn saw them bypass Jenkinson and cut a pass squarely across the goalmouth. Szczeny rushed out to make the save but failed to secure the ball, letting it slip right underneath him.