Chapter 253: I Don't Want to Say Chelsea Will Clinch the Title Early, But That's the Reality
"Here it comes! Hazard's breakthrough—he lays it off! Ibrahimović doesn't shoot… he passes again! Li Ang—!!! That's in!
Thirteenth minute of the first half, Li Ang breaks the deadlock for Chelsea! A trademark thunderbolt inside the box! Truly the opener specialist in big games!"
Inside the Sina Sports studio, the moment Li Ang scored to put Chelsea ahead, Zhan Jun and Coach Zhang erupted with excitement.
"He just couldn't keep up! Toulalan didn't actually make a defensive mistake, but speed-wise, he got left in the dust by Li Ang!"
"Li Ang is so smart about this—he goes head-to-head physically against players like Fernandinho, but against someone like Toulalan, he uses his pace!"
"That's why Mourinho dares to give Li Ang full freedom to make those late runs into the box. And learning from Lampard this season? He's picked up fast. When it comes to midfielders scoring through late arrivals, Lampard is a master."
"Hehe~ And it's not like Li Ang's ever lacked excellent teachers—look at this: Xabi Alonso, Pirlo, and now Lampard. He always finds a way to learn from the best."
While the two chatted casually in the studio, fans back home in China began speculating excitedly about Li Ang's final goal tally this season.
At Stamford Bridge, though, the Chelsea faithful were focused on something more immediate: beating Arsenal today and waiting for good news from Manchester City.
Liverpool, currently third in the league, had played one more match and still trailed Chelsea by 10 points.
In the eyes of Chelsea fans, both Liverpool and Arsenal were in the same category—teams that posed no real threat to their title ambitions.
The key now was Manchester City—also with one game in hand, but still eight points behind. When would they slip up?
Chelsea hadn't lifted a Premier League trophy in almost four years. Their supporters were desperate to use a new title as proof of their resurgence.
And not just the fans—the coaching staff and players alike could barely contain their excitement.
Yes, the season still had some way to go.
But knocking out one more major obstacle like Arsenal would bring them another step closer to the trophy.
They didn't even need miracles. If City just drew one more game!
If Chelsea beat Arsenal today and City dropped points again, the gap would stretch to ten points. Then, Chelsea would only need to win four more matches to secure the title early.
That's a tangible, reachable goal. How could Chelsea supporters not get fired up?
As for Arsenal, trailing by just one goal, they were already being ignored by most of the Chelsea crowd.
The electric atmosphere at Stamford Bridge clearly influenced the players on the pitch.
But right after celebrating with his usual ear-cupping gesture and hugging his teammates, Li Ang was the first to speak up and refocus the team.
"Keep your heads clear, boys! We've only scored the first goal. Arsenal absolutely have what it takes to fight back. We've got the momentum now—let's keep pressing them!"
Li Ang's reminder snapped several Chelsea players back to reality.
Soon after, Mourinho issued his own tactical instructions from the sideline, quickly unifying the team's approach.
Wenger didn't panic either. Originally, he had planned to try luring Chelsea out, then hitting quickly down the wings.
With Cavani injured, Arsenal's main attacking threat was gone, but Giroud's presence up front still made long-ball counterattacks a viable option. That's why Wenger had gone with a five-man midfield.
But after Li Ang's goal, Wenger snapped back to reality.
Stacking numbers in midfield alone didn't guarantee solid central defense.
Even if Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain tracked back with intensity, they weren't true defensive midfielders. Their strength was still in attack.
The truth was, Arsenal's best chance of winning had always been to dominate offensively and create more attacking phases.
Sitting back and playing reactive football just wasn't in their DNA.
The team's entire tactical identity and training routines were built around fluid attacking football.
Trying to switch styles mid-match and still expect results? Unrealistic.
Realizing this, Wenger quickly admitted to himself that he'd overthought the pre-match setup.
This was always going to be a battle—and in battles, you fight on the field you know best.
Overthinking things just adds shackles to your own players.
So when the match restarted, Chelsea's players—and Mourinho on the sideline—soon noticed Arsenal's tactical shift.
Of course, it wasn't like Arsenal suddenly transformed into a brand-new team with unstoppable momentum.
Wenger wasn't Allegri or Zidane. He didn't believe in divine miracles.
But there was no doubt—after learning his lesson and deciding to go all-in, Wenger's players looked more fired up.
Mourinho responded by shifting Chelsea's focus from initiating attacks to disrupting Arsenal's offensive rhythm.
Li Ang had originally planned to press high with his teammates and break Arsenal's buildup quickly.
But after seeing how many players Arsenal committed forward after the restart, he adjusted his plan.
Instead of overextending, Chelsea dropped back and reshaped.
Under Li Ang's command, Hazard and De Bruyne retreated to just above the midfield line. Lampard dropped back to the top of their own half-circle.
Li Ang himself fell into a deeper defensive role alongside Matić—Li Ang on the right, Matić on the left.
Chelsea smoothly transitioned into a classic 4-2-3-1.
Hazard, Lampard, and De Bruyne formed the first line of pressure.
Behind them, Matić and Li Ang locked down the half-spaces in front of their box.
For Arsenal—a team that loved working those narrow gaps with slick passing—this was pure torture.
Remember, Li Ang rarely played a pure holding role anymore.
When he didn't, Matić was widely considered the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League.
But when Li Ang did play there, he became the best—and Matić naturally shifted to second-best.
So Arsenal were now attacking into the combined wall of the league's top two holding midfielders.
Watching the live broadcast, many Arsenal fans didn't know whether to cry or be proud.
There weren't many teams in the league that could force Li Ang to willingly take on a holding role.
But this version of Chelsea, in their most defensively disciplined shape, left Arsenal with virtually no chances in the first half.
Even when Arsenal had all their starters in the first half of the season, they couldn't break Chelsea's deep defense.
Now, with no Cavani and Giroud leading the line? If Giroud could break down this Chelsea defense, he'd be better suited to Bayern or Madrid.
Li Ang and Matić had rebuilt the "Wall of Sighs" in front of Chelsea's penalty area.
If only Lampard were still in his prime—then Chelsea would be terrifying on the counter too.
Or if Chelsea had a peak-form Essien? With Li Ang replacing Lampard in a more attacking role, they could have torn Arsenal's midfield to shreds.
But alas, a midfield like that would've been too monstrous—perhaps even unfair. The football gods wouldn't allow it.
Just like how, back at Madrid and Milan, Li Ang's partners had always been just past their prime—like Pirlo and Modrić.
On the bench, Mourinho sat calmly, eyes fixed on the ebb and flow of the match, deep in thought.
Wenger, arms crossed on the sideline, clearly looked more anxious by comparison.
In the 23rd minute of the first half, Oxlade-Chamberlain received a brilliant through ball from Cazorla, burst down the right, and whipped in a dangerous cross—Arsenal's first real threat of the game.
Giroud battled through Terry's pressure and got a glancing header on goal.
But Čech was locked in and palmed it out at full stretch.
Arsenal fans in the stands held their heads and groaned in frustration. Wenger shut his eyes, clenched his fists tightly, and then slowly relaxed with a shake of his head.
Five minutes later, Podolski latched onto a knockdown from Giroud at the top of the box and smashed a cannonball shot toward goal.
But the ball curled just wide of the near post. Podolski howled in frustration, while Gunners fans let out another sigh of disappointment.
After those two flashes of danger, Arsenal's attack devolved again—back into side-to-side passing and back-passes.
When they did get the ball to the wings, it only resulted in clearances by Terry or Gary Cahill. Trying to break directly into Chelsea's box just wasn't an option.
In the mere ten minutes after Li Ang dropped deep, he had already recorded 3 successful tackles and 2 aerial duels won.
Matić's numbers were nearly identical.
Together, they had turned Chelsea's midfield into a fortress.
And Arsenal, once again, were running out of ideas.
Right now, only Cazorla could be considered a decent dribbler in Arsenal's current squad.
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski? Without space to accelerate, their threat was significantly diminished. And compared to Walcott's pace and explosiveness down the flanks, both fell short—yet injuries constantly kept the "Little Tiger" from ever finishing a full season.
Truth be told, since 2010, Wenger and Arsenal's luck had been unbelievably bad, year after year.
Fabregas and Van Persie both left after hitting their peaks—each fallout ending with their departure in pursuit of title dreams.
Wenger kept patching things together, and though he still managed to keep Arsenal in the top four and qualify for the Champions League, the club's recent luck with knockout stage draws had been horrendous.
And when they tried to contend for the league, every season, Arsenal seemed to have the worst injury record among all Premier League giants.
So it wasn't always accurate to say Wenger or Arsenal had "hit their ceiling."
Managing a squad full of talented but injury-prone young players, it was a minor miracle that Wenger was still holding on at all.
Li Ang deeply sympathized with them—but that didn't mean he'd go easy.
As Arsenal continued experimenting down the flanks, searching for a breakthrough, they were also revealing more of their attacking hand—giving Chelsea more chances to read and adapt.
Most of Arsenal's chances came from the wings, particularly when Bertrand on the left allowed Oxlade-Chamberlain to get in behind and send crosses into the box.
But Li Ang knew one thing: Bertrand, for all his attacking instincts, was still one of the better one-on-one defenders among Premier League left-backs—when he got serious.
And what could snap him into full focus faster than Mourinho's intense gaze from the sidelines?
Li Ang smirked, waiting to see the fallout. Sure enough, after Mourinho shouted Bertrand's name twice from the touchline, the defender snapped to attention.
In the 34th minute, Cazorla attempted to repeat an earlier passing move with Oxlade-Chamberlain, hoping to exploit Bertrand's side again.
But this time, Bertrand read it early, turned, and sprinted back with perfect timing, sliding in and intercepting the ball before it could even bounce past him—cleanly directing it to Terry.
Li Ang and Matić instantly spread out and raised their hands to signal.
Terry chose the safer option and passed to the closer Matić. Li Ang, without needing a word, began making a forward run.
Matić didn't force the pass to Li Ang. He saw Toulalan and Arteta shifting toward Li Ang's run, ready to cut him off.
So he lofted a long pass straight to Lampard near the halfway line.
The moment Lampard took the ball and turned, he saw Hazard accelerating into position—and fed him the ball immediately.
Hazard, galloping down the left, was brimming with confidence. Up against Sagna again? He didn't hesitate.
As the Premier League's current dribbling king, Hazard enjoyed special tactical privileges in the Chelsea system.
As long as he didn't overdo it, Mourinho and the entire squad trusted him to take on defenders freely.
Even the most rigid tactical systems needed that flash of genius to create chaos.
And Hazard delivered.
With a quick touch on the outside and a sharp cut inside, he blew past Sagna again in under two seconds.
Roughly five meters from the edge of the penalty area, Hazard chose to make a swift horizontal pass into the half-space.
The ball zipped past Lampard, who had arrived centrally, and also beyond the tracking Toulalan.
Li Ang was perfectly positioned to receive.
Gibbs had pinched in to cover and was right in front of him, eyes locked, ready for a challenge. Arsenal's defenders relaxed slightly—at least Li Ang couldn't shoot directly now. Gibbs had enough time to commit a tactical foul if necessary.
But the moment Li Ang touched the ball, Gunners fans across the globe let out a collective gasp.
Li Ang didn't trap it. He didn't adjust his body.
He surged forward with one step and swung his right leg, toeing the ball with pinpoint force directly into the Arsenal box.
Koscielny, still organizing the backline, and Gibbs, who was marking Li Ang, never expected such an aggressive through ball.
And what's more, the pass zipped low with such pace that even Ibrahimović, stationed in the box, would struggle to reach it.
Still, Li Ang had his reasons.
To maintain the momentum of a counterattack, sometimes taking a risk was the right choice.
Besides, he had practiced this sort of play with both Ibrahimović and Lukaku in training.
Lukaku often failed to connect with such balls—his positioning always seemed off.
Ibrahimović, while not as fast as he used to be, had a superb sense of positioning and length. Even when he couldn't trap the ball, he had a habit of attempting audacious finishes.
As the ball flew through the gap, Ibrahimović made his move from the left side of the box, dragging the towering Mertesacker with him as he cut diagonally toward the center.
Seeing that he was just a fraction behind the ball's pace, Ibrahimović didn't panic.
Mid-sprint, he launched himself into a dive, stretching his entire body and jabbing out his right leg, aiming to toe-poke the ball.
Mertesacker froze.
Even if he had reacted faster, his lack of flexibility and explosiveness made it impossible to replicate what Ibra just did.
Szczęsny, diving toward the far post, suddenly realized—in horror—that Ibrahimović had poked the ball toward the center of the goal instead.
The ball slammed into the back of the net, no doubt about it.
The Polish keeper slapped the turf in frustration.
Inside the box, Ibrahimović and a roaring, ecstatic Li Ang embraced fiercely.
2–0!
For some teams, that might not be a safe scoreline.
But for Chelsea, it was enough. More than enough.
Wenger, upon seeing Ibra slot in Chelsea's second goal, turned and sat quietly on the bench, seemingly... relaxed.
Arsenal made no further tactical adjustments before the half.
Neither did Mourinho.
At halftime, Chelsea made one change—Ramires came on for Lampard to add even more bite in midfield.
In the 56th minute, Wenger responded by subbing off the underwhelming Podolski and bringing on young winger Serge Gnabry.
Three minutes later, Mourinho made a change of his own, swapping off a very solid Hazard and bringing on Kalas.
Azpilicueta tucked in to form a three-man central defense with Terry and Cahill.
Kalas was placed directly opposite Gnabry—Mourinho didn't even try to hide his counter-sub.
De Bruyne also dropped deeper into midfield. Chelsea's shape morphed into a 5-4-1, with nearly every player packed into their own half.
Ten minutes later, Wenger could take no more. He played his final card: young striker Sanogo.
Now Arsenal had two towering center-forwards over 1.90 meters tall.
The cost? Their midfield protection thinned further—Toulalan had been subbed off.
Wenger was one step away from pushing Mertesacker up front as well, ready to batter Chelsea's defense with three battering rams.
And at that point, Mourinho responded without hesitation—David Luiz, fresh from injury, was sent on after a full warm-up.
De Bruyne was sacrificed, and now Chelsea had four center-backs in the box.
Neutral fans watching were stunned.
But this was classic Mourinho.
To secure the win, he'd shoulder the pressure, ignore the critics, and park the bus with pride.
Even Ibrahimović tracked back deep to help defend late on.
It was a brutal, exhausting scene—Arsenal fans were drained just watching.
When the referee finally blew the final whistle, Arsenal players and fans alike felt a strange kind of relief.
The defensive siege that Chelsea unleashed was over.
So too were Arsenal's title hopes—smothered by Chelsea's iron will.
They had fought, and they had fallen. Without their main striker, there was nothing more they could do.
Chelsea, meanwhile, celebrated joyfully at Stamford Bridge.
And when Li Ang was interviewed by Sky Sports post-match, his confident remarks ignited a firestorm across the Premier League:
"This season hasn't been easy. We've had to face many strong opponents. Compared to last year when United won the title with ease, the competition this time is much fiercer.
Guardiola's City? They're no joke. They're right behind us, constantly on our heels.
But today's win… this win gives us the foundation to clinch the title early.
Yes, I don't want to sound arrogant and declare that Chelsea will win it before the final matchday…
But that's the reality."
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