January 22nd.
The twenty-fourth round of the Premier League began, with Arsenal hosting Wigan Athletic at home.
There was virtually no suspense in this match.
In the 22nd minute of the match.
Van Persie received an assist from Alexandre Song and struck the ball directly without stopping it, sending it into the net, giving Arsenal an early lead.
In the 58th minute of the match.
Fabregas's through ball assisted Van Persie, who had made a forward run, to complete a one-on-one goal, extending Arsenal's lead to 2:0.
In the 66th minute of the match.
Fly, who had activated Gods Eye, received a through ball from Wilshere and easily broke the offside trap for a one-on-one opportunity. Facing the charging Wigan Athletic goalkeeper, he chipped the ball over him and into the net, putting Arsenal ahead 3:0.
In the 71st minute of the match.
Fly dribbled the ball down the flank, broke through three players, and was then fouled, earning Arsenal a penalty.
When Fly took the ball, the entire stadium collectively shouted "Fly" at the top of their lungs.
This was because, as of now, Fly had scored a total of 43 goals in the Premier League this season, just one goal shy of the single-season record in the European top 5 leagues.
If this penalty was converted, Fly would equal the single-season goal record in the European top 5 leagues.
Many Arsenal fans stood up to cheer for Fly for this historic moment.
The Fleet Street media at the scene were also incredibly excited; they all wanted to see Fly break the single-season goal record in the European top 5 leagues as soon as possible.
If possible, doing it in this match would be the best...
Placing the ball on the penalty spot, Fly took a deep breath. Facing the well-prepared Wigan Athletic goalkeeper, he didn't hesitate. The moment the Main Referee blew the whistle, he took a few quick steps, used a clever shot to deceive the goalkeeper's center of gravity, and then pushed the ball into the middle of the goal.
Fly scored his 44th goal in the Premier League this season, officially equaling the single-season goal record in the European top 5 leagues, just 1 goal away from breaking the record.
In the subsequent minutes of the match, Fly wanted to score another goal.
But unfortunately... fate did not cooperate. Perhaps god saw that Fly's career was already going very smoothly and didn't want him to continue getting everything he wished for.
Furthermore, after Gods Eye was deactivated, Fly's stamina dropped significantly, which also affected the accuracy of his shots.
Ultimately, Arsène Wenger saw that the outcome of the match was decided, and after asking Fly if he wanted to try to break the record and receiving a negative response, he substituted Fly for Hazard...
"Sigh..."
The moment Fly was substituted, there was a very noticeable sigh from the Emirates Stadium crowd. Clearly, Arsenal fans were somewhat disappointed that Fly did not break the record in this match.
The Fleet Street media reporters were also very unhappy, feeling that Arsène Wenger should not have substituted Fly in this match but should have kept him on the field.
When Fly returned to the bench, Griezmann and others high-fived him one by one.
"Hey, Bro, how does it feel to equal the record?"
Griezmann looked at the somewhat tired Fly in front of him and didn't understand why he was so fatigued after playing for less than 80 minutes.
He remembered that Fly's stamina had improved significantly, and he shouldn't be this tired after playing for 80 minutes.
However, he didn't ask, after all, as a water boy who could barely get any playing time, what right did he have to care about a superstar?
"Well... to be honest... I don't really feel anything. It just happened naturally to reach this number; I didn't deliberately try to rack up goals."
Hearing Fly's familiar humblebragging, Griezmann was speechless...
What a "naturally"!
How can other players feel about themselves when you say that?
You know, in today's football world, there isn't even a player who has scored 50 goals in all competitions combined in a single season, let alone a freak like you who is close to 50 goals just in the League?
Griezmann expressed that people's joys and sorrows are not the same; he was in too much pain...
In the final moments of this match, Van Persie scored a goal with a flick after receiving a cross from Walcott, completing a hat-trick.
Ultimately, Arsenal's score in this match was also fixed at 5:0, another dominant victory with no suspense!
Arsenal fans were already used to this situation this season, so besides the usual cheers, they didn't have any other reactions.
But the Fleet Street reporters were very unhappy...
Because Van Persie scored a hat-trick in this match, the Man of the Match award went to Van Persie instead of Fly Adams, whom they wanted to interview.
This made them very angry.
Many reporters didn't believe it and wanted to intercept Fly, but Fly didn't give them the chance and slipped away early...
So, they could only vent their anger on Arsène Wenger, the culprit who substituted Fly early.
At the post-match press conference, the Fleet Street reporters didn't say a word and immediately went all out.
"Arsène, Fly scored two goals in this match, equaling the single-season goal record in the European top 5 leagues. Why couldn't you let Fly stay on the field to pursue a third goal?"
Facing the reporter's aggressive stance, Arsène Wenger didn't show the slightest panic. Instead, he said calmly:
"Why? It's actually very simple... because the time was already close to 80 minutes, and we were leading by 4 goals at this point. The suspense of this match was already over, so I substituted Fly for health reasons. Is there a problem with that?"
"You know, Fly is only 18 years old; he needs to be protected..."
Hearing Arsène Wenger's same old cliché, the Fleet Street reporters couldn't help but feel annoyed.
Damn Frenchman!
It's always about Fly needing protection and needing his playing time controlled...
According to you, young players from other teams don't need protection and can be exploited at will, right~~~
The BBC reporter who asked the question really wanted to argue with Arsène Wenger but ultimately swallowed his words.
The reason is simple: throughout the United Kingdom, except for a very few stubborn individuals, the vast majority of England fans hope that Fly will join the England National Football Team.
Therefore, they are happy to see Fly being protected at the club...
Arsène Wenger did what they wanted to see, so they really couldn't continue to be aggressive.
After all, it was just an ordinary League match, and there was no need to really make Fly take the risk of getting injured by continuing to play...
Although England's football reporters also like hot topics and celebrity scandals.
There is one good thing about them, and that is that they are professional enough!
After Arsenal's big win over Wigan Athletic, the headlines of the relevant news were basically about Fly Adams equaling the single-season goal record in the European top 5 leagues.
Even Van Persie's hat-trick was rarely mentioned...
It can only be said that Van Persie must have cried in the restroom!
He finally scored a hat-trick, but it was directly ignored by the media and the public, which made the Dutchman's mood very complicated.
If he was angry... there was definitely a little anger.
But to say how angry he was, it wasn't that much.
The Dutchman knew that this Arsenal team now belonged exclusively to Fly. This wasn't because Fly was the son of Arsenal's owner, but because his sheer strength was strong enough, and he had already conquered everyone in the team, from top to bottom.
Even the unruly Dutchman had to feel fortunate to have such a superstar in the team.
The day after Arsenal's 5:0 victory over Wigan Athletic, at the same time, Manchester United also thrashed Birmingham 5:0 at Old Trafford.
Currently, Manchester United continues to maintain a 20-point gap behind Arsenal with one game in hand.
With this points difference, unless Arsenal has a major collapse later, it is almost impossible for Manchester United to catch up...
After this match, Sir Alex Ferguson once again put pressure on Arsenal at the post-match press conference.
However, this time many reporters didn't take it seriously.
Because with 15 matches remaining in the League, Arsenal's lead of as much as 20 points is almost impossible to be overtaken.
Most reporters believe that the Scottish Old Man is purely showing impotent rage out of helplessness and is unlikely to have any significant impact on Arsenal or the outside world...
What kind of person is Sir Alex Ferguson?
The Scottish Old Man, who had been immersed in the Premier League for many years, had already sensed this through the expressions of the reporters offstage.
Thinking that even the reporters didn't care about his pressure on Arsenal anymore, Sir Alex Ferguson couldn't help but sigh in his heart:
"Is there really no hope? I'm not reconciled..."
.....
January 26th.
The English League Cup semi-final second leg match between Arsenal and Ipswich.
Originally, this was a match that Arsène Wenger had given up on, not even fielding a full starting lineup.
But the result of the match directly stunned Arsène Wenger...
The Moroccan Chamakh, who came on as a substitute, was unstoppable in this match, scoring two goals with both his head and feet.
Nicklas Bendtner, another substitute of a substitute, also scored a goal.
Ultimately, two players who had barely gotten any playing time in the attack this season combined to score three goals, helping Arsenal defeat Ipswich 3:1.
With a total score of 3:2 over two legs, they proudly advanced to the final!