So Azpilicueta thought he could block it this time too, but it was different.
This time, when Lin Hao stopped the ball, he actually moved a small step forward, which meant Azpilicueta's defense had to step further forward, and his deceleration would be a bit later.
Lin Hao's change of direction after flicking the ball was also quick; Azpilicueta's feeling that he had slowed down was actually at the beginning of the deceleration, not when it was completed, so it was already too late.
These tiny details determined success or failure. Lin Hao completed the flick-over and immediately continued diagonally forward.
Azpilicueta, who had been beaten, suddenly felt his face burning as if it were being roasted, a so-called blush of embarrassment.
After all, Lin Hao's so-called decent offense was compared to his other completely lacking abilities, and in the World Cup, he was playing against Mexican players. As a captain in a top League, and for Chelsea, Azpilicueta truly didn't think much of Lin Hao's offense.
Not just Azpilicueta, but all players in the top Leagues, even reserves, didn't think much of Lin Hao's offense.
But today, Lin Hao dribbled past him, and did so cleanly, leaving him no chance to chase back.
Then, as defensive players came up to cover, Lin Hao passed the ball to Aubameyang.
However, the two weren't on the same page. Aubameyang didn't think Lin Hao would pass; indeed, given Lin Hao's personality, when dribbling and defending, he was usually a lone wolf on the wing.
But unexpectedly, Lin Hao actually passed, and this attack ended in a mistake.
In the eighty-first minute, Lin Hao got the ball again. Observers might not realize it, but actual participants would understand that with twenty-two people on the field and one ball, each person's time with the ball is quite limited. As a forward, Lin Hao had more opportunities.
However, this time, during Arsenal's positional attack, the ball circulated to Lin Hao's feet. Lin Hao wasn't quite sure what tactics they wanted to play, but once the ball reached his feet, Lin Hao once again went to challenge Azpilicueta one-on-one.
This time, it was even harder.
Because Azpilicueta was stationary and fully focused, defending Lin Hao head-on.
In today's football world, players who can dribble past someone without moving are few and far between, a truly rare existence. There are really only three: Messi, Neymar, and Hazard.
Azpilicueta was serious this time too.
He lowered his center of gravity, facing Lin Hao.
But Lin Hao immediately executed an incredibly unbelievable move: the Elastico!
There's nothing particularly special about the Elastico; broken down, it's flicking the ball away with the outside of the foot and then pulling it back. In fact, almost all dribbling moves follow one principle: use a feint to create space, then dribble past.
The reason Lin Hao's Elastico was so unbelievable was the enormous range of his flick. After flicking the ball out, Lin Hao stopped by almost kneeling on one knee, nearly doing the splits.
But before that, Lin Hao had already pulled the ball back. It was precisely this defensive style of Lin Hao that made the defensive player, Azpilicueta, believe it wasn't an Elastico, so he naturally followed Lin Hao's movement. Then, Lin Hao pushed off with his right leg, stood up, and simultaneously moved in another direction, then dribbled the ball away, successfully beating Azpilicueta.
This move was essentially Lin Hao breaking down the action; the large span made the defensive player, Azpilicueta, think it was impossible to pull the ball back, but by pulling the ball back beforehand, and then using the kind of knee strength only young players possess to forcefully spring up—this also had to be fast, otherwise the defensive player would recover first and take the ball. This was also an embodiment of the 'good explosiveness' noted in the player report.
It also somewhat resembled a move that wasn't executed perfectly, a failure that was then forcefully salvaged.
After reaching the byline, Lin Hao faced Rüdiger at the edge of the box. Lin Hao shifted the ball to his left foot, feigning a cross to trick Rüdiger into blocking, then pulled it back to his right foot and cut horizontally inside, entering the box.
From the position where Lin Hao had just entered the box, he took a shot from a tight angle.
Kepa made a desperate save, actually... he was in position, but Kepa's arm span was too short. If it had been any other goalkeeper, he would have saved it. It was just that tiny bit short, and the ball went past him, then hit the far post before rebounding into the goal.
Two-two!
Around the eighty-minute mark, thanks to Lin Hao's goal, Arsenal equalized.
At this moment, the fans in the stadium were a bit stunned, whether home or away.
No one expected Lin Hao to put the ball into the net directly after only three or four attacks.
People realized a problem: Lin Hao might indeed not be a professional player trained through a professional system.
But everyone had probably underestimated his offensive ability.
Regrettably, perhaps because it was too unexpected, and it was an away game, plus Arsenal fans had just been criticizing him, and now he had scored, very few people cheered for Lin Hao.
Yet, this was Lin Hao's first goal for Arsenal, and his first club goal in his professional career.
Lin Hao himself raised his arms in triumph, ran to the sidelines, roaring and shouting.
In the eighty-ninth minute of the match, Alonso scored again, clinching a last-minute victory against Arsenal, rendering Lin Hao's efforts futile. Ultimately, Arsenal still lost.
However, those who watched this match had a changed impression of Lin Hao, but since Arsenal ultimately lost, the exposure wasn't as significant.
But within the team, it was clearly noticeable; the Head Coach was more willing to have Lin Hao practice more coordination with his teammates.
He hoped Lin Hao could be useful in crucial moments.
The next match took place on August twenty-fifth, Arsenal against West Ham United.
Lin Hao didn't get a chance to play in this match, because Arsenal had lost both of their opening two games of the season, and the Head Coach was starting to feel the pressure.
In the twenty-fifth minute of the match, Tovitsch scored a goal for West Ham United, putting them ahead of Arsenal.
However, Arsenal subsequently scored three times, completing a comeback victory and securing their first win of the season.
Then, a very important event: Lin Hao was starting school!
Lin Hao finished handling some school-related matters, though there wasn't much to do. There were no classes here, no so-called homeroom teachers or counselors, and even dorms were managed by the students themselves, which essentially meant no management.
It was simply a matter of accumulating enough credits.
In universities in England, Asian faces are not uncommon, so nothing felt particularly special.
However, quite a few people recognized him, as football is very popular here.
Most surprisingly, a girl with an Asian face called out to him in Mandarin from behind, "Lin Hao?"
Lin Hao turned around and saw a quiet-looking girl wearing glasses and a dress. Lin Hao replied in English, "What's wrong?"