Chapter 687： Europa League third round

October 15th, the 8th round of the 2016/2017 Premier League season, Arsenal played against Swansea at home.

In this game, Arsenal defeated Swansea with a score of 3:2.

But the whole process is not easy.

Arsenal scored two goals within 30 minutes of the first half and gained a certain advantage.

But in the 42nd minute, Wilshere made some dangerous moves in the penalty area when he retreated to defend, resulting in Arsenal being awarded a penalty kick and a yellow card.

Wilshere, who was carrying a yellow card, still couldn't hold back his temper. In the 70th minute of the second half, he kicked the opposing player Jack Cole angrily, causing two yellow cards to turn into one red.

Arsenal had to adopt a more conservative defensive stance with one less man fighting.

On the other hand, Swansea is aggressively pressing up. With one more player, their offense has become much smoother.

Spanish player Borja Bastog shot from the penalty area line with an arch, and hit the upper right corner of Arsenal's goal accurately, tying the score.

In the 89th minute, Arsenal found a chance to counterattack when they retracted their defense across the board.

Le Kai held the ball all the way to the opponent's rib area, rubbed his left foot in a rapid arc and flew towards the opponent's big penalty area.

Lukaku got rid of the opponent's defender in the penalty area, flew all the way to the back point, headed the ball into the goal, and got the lore.

In the end, Arsenal 3:2 Swansea, and won the game without any risk.

Wilshere's impulse almost caused some trouble for Arsenal, but Mourinho did not refute him.

After all, apart from the first foul, the second foul was to run for the ball, but the leg was raised too high.

Of course, the suspicion that Wilshere waited on purpose cannot be ruled out.

But Mourinho still did not reprimand, after all, he ordered Wilshere to play like this to a large extent.

Lucky is famous!

And now Wilshere wants to achieve his own 'bad' reputation!

Since it is notoriety, you cannot leave the red card!

Fortunately, the referee is more lenient. Two yellows turned into one red and a direct red card are two different concepts.

In the absence of additional penalties, Wilshere was only suspended for one game.

That is to say, in the next round of competition, Wilshere will not be able to travel with the team.

Fortunately, Arsenal's opponent in the next round is the newly promoted Middlesbrough, which is not a strong opponent.

Suspension in different schedules also has different meanings.

At least judging from the current situation, the price of this red card is not too great.

After the league ended, Arsenal quickly prepared for the Europa League.

The current points of the entire Europa League Group A are as follows.

1: Fenerbahce, 1 win, 1 draw and 0 loss, 4 points.

2: Zorya, 1 win, 1 draw, 0 losses, 4 points.

3: Arsenal, 1 win, 0 draws and 1 loss, 3 points.

4: Feyenoord, 0 wins, 0 draws and 2 losses, 0 points.

After two rounds of competition, Arsenal actually appeared in the third place in the group points, which is extremely surprising.

Even many media are reporting this matter.

However, combined with the fact that Arsenal upset Fenerbahce in the first round of the group stage, it is not impossible.

And Fenerbahce was also tied by Solya.

For Arsenal, they only need to win the third round, and they can get back on track.

And Arsenal fans also firmly believe that Arsenal will not lose any more games.

On October 21st, Solna Club came to London, preparing to face Arsenal.

Even though Arsenal’s current situation in the standings is not very good, they are still the most threatening opponents for the teams in this group.

Sorya just drew with Fenerbahce in the away game, and their morale is pretty good.

But the moment they entered the Emirates Stadium, they still felt a huge sense of oppression.

The cheers of the mountains and tsunami made them feel as if they were suffocated.

Looking at Arsenal again, all the main players are playing, full of pressure.

The captains of both sides shake hands and choose sides.

Arsenal took the lead in attacking.

The starting lineups of both sides are as follows:

Arsenal (4-2-3-1):

Goalkeeper: Martinez.

Defenders: Bellerin, Jimenez, Hummels, Robertson.

Midfielders: Aubameyang, Kanter, Wilshere, Lucky, Mane.

Forward: Lukaku.

Zorya (4-4-1-1):

Goalkeeper: Shevchenko.

Defenders: Sobol, Foster, Sivakov, Kamenyuka.

Midfielders: Petlyak, Chajekovsky, Grichshin, Karavaev, Ljubenovic.

Forward: Kurac.

"Sorya's coach, Verni Dubu, is playing again with the 4-4-1-1 formation with which they drew with Fenerbahce in the last round, and now they are playing the same formation. I want to replicate the original situation at the Emirates Stadium, but Arsenal is not Fenerbahce, facing a complete Arsenal, can Zorya resist the opponent's attack?"

It can be heard from the commentator's tone that they are not optimistic about Zorya.

The last time Fenerbahce won Arsenal, the big reason was that Lucky was not in the team, and Arsenal as a whole encountered a state problem.

However, the current state of Arsenal has recovered, and Lucky has also returned to Arsenal.

The return of the backbone has made Arsenal's overall competitive ability show an upward trend again.

In such a situation, let alone Zorya, Fenerbahçe is also terrified.

But Zorya still has certain expectations.

After the game started, they even took the initiative to complete a sneak attack and took the lead in launching the attack.

But after this attack, Arsenal took control of the ball and slowly eroded the rhythm under the leadership of Lucky, constantly putting pressure on Zorya.

Soon, Arsenal pressed into the opponent's penalty area.

Then keep playing high balls.

Lukaku is like that Tigger, constantly jumping in the penalty area, constantly fighting for the top.

Relying on Lukaku's tonnage, the pressure he put on Solja's defense is enormous.

Not to mention, Aubameyang and Mane are also watching.

Wilshere and Lucky also stepped forward, ready to shoot long shots at any time near the penalty area line.

Kanter also controls the landing point in the rear area, and the forward pressure of the overall formation made Solya extremely uncomfortable.

All they can do is keep clearing, and then drive out of the field with big feet.

They can't even make an effective pass, being tackled or intercepted in an average of three passes.

Even sometimes, they can lose the ball with their own belts.

"This is the strength gap!"

Paul Mosen shook his head.

He had to admit that the strength gap between Soya and Arsenal was too great.

Arsenal's counter-robbing ability is already excellent, but facing Zorya is even more accurate.

Not to mention Lucky, even Mane and Aubameyang also grabbed a few good strikes and counterattacked on the spot.

However, Zorya's toughness is also very good, relying on the iron wall to constantly block Arsenal's offense.

But pure defense cannot last long. In 34 minutes, Wilshere feigned two consecutive shots near the penalty area line. .

Mane received the ball and shot, the ball hit the opposing defender's calf and rebounded to the middle.

After a scuffle, Lukaku stabbed the ball into the opponent's goal in the scuffle.

Arsenal scored the leading goal.

This goal made Sorya's heart vented all of a sudden.

Before they could still rely on the expectation of a possible draw, but after scoring, they were a little overwhelmed.

They haven't considered the problem of scoring goals.

After all, it is not too difficult to blast the goal at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal's home court!

In the second half, Arsenal continued to exert force.

In the case of Soya almost depressed.

Lucky's through ball found Aubameyang who suddenly advanced.

The timing of this through ball was just right. In order to create space for Aubameyang, Lukaku even withdrew from the penalty area to confuse the opponent's defense.

And Aubameyang did not live up to their expectations.

A strong shot blasted Zorya's goal again.

Arsenal 2:0 Solya.

This score has basically determined the outcome of the game.

Subsequently, both sides made substitutions.

Sorya replaced three offensive players, while Mourinho started to defend again.

He will not give Zorya a chance.

Sorya wanted to score, but facing Arsenal's iron wall, they had no chance at all.

And Arsenal also clearly told them what defense is!