Peter Drury: "Manchester United have been awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area. Actually, being this close to the goal isn't always ideal, as shots can easily be blocked by the wall."
Jim Beglin: "We see Ling standing over the ball, Peter. It looks like he'll be taking this set piece!"
Old Trafford grew noticeably quieter in anticipation.
"How are you planning to take this one?" Paul Pogba shouted, jogging over to Ling.
"How?" Ling stretched his arms, a confident smirk on his face. "With pure power, of course!"
The Arsenal players, who had just finished forming the wall under goalkeeper Bernd Leno's frantic direction, swallowed nervously in unison.
One must never underestimate the force of a professional player's full-powered strike.
With speeds often exceeding 100 km/h, the ball could easily knock someone unconscious.
In a similar situation during a famous match between Man United and Liverpool years ago, John Arne Riise's thunderous free kick had struck Alan Smith in the wall, causing him to lose balance mid-jump and indirectly leading to a horrific leg fracture upon landing.
Watching Ling take a long run-up, Héctor Bellerín couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear in the wall.
As a vegan, he wasn't as physically robust as some of his heavier teammates!
"Everyone, hold your ground!" Aaron Ramsey shouted to his teammates in the wall.
Professional players can feel fear, but they must never back down—that is the most fundamental quality!
Ling stepped forward, swung his arms wide, and his body stretched out like a tightly drawn bowstring.
Beeeeep!!!
As the referee's whistle blew, the Arsenal players moved in unison—right hands covering their groins, left hands shielding their heads.
Thump!
With a dull sound, the Arsenal players braced themselves, leaping high with grim determination!
But the expected pain never came.
Instead, deafening cheers erupted all around them.
Under Leno's nervous gaze, the next second, Ling's right foot rose and swung down like a battle axe!
But at the exact moment of contact, he didn't follow through with full force.
Instead, he deftly used his instep to roll the ball along the ground.
It turned out they had all been deceived by Ling!
Ling's shot followed a cunning path, skimming right past the jumping Mattéo Guendouzi's feet and rolling toward the right post.
Even though Leno dove quickly, he couldn't prevent the ball from nestling perfectly in the net.
Bellerín instinctively turned his head and saw the ball already resting in the net, with Leno lying helplessly on the pitch beside it.
Peter Drury: "LING STEPS UP... OH, THE DECEPTION! THE ABSOLUTE CHEEK OF IT! He rolls it under the leaping wall! A stroke of pure genius from the young captain!"
Jim Beglin: "A brace! Ling is in incredible form today! This goal might seem like an ordinary ground shot, but it demanded extreme precision in the ball's trajectory. The slightest deviation, and it would likely have missed or hit a defender's heel!"
2-0!
With just over twenty minutes gone in the first half, Man United had already taken a two-goal lead.
After the referee signaled the goal was valid, Ling and his teammates ran to the front of the stands, high-fiving the ecstatic Man United fans.
The LED screen on the scoreboard began replaying the goal in its entirety.
Arsenal fans watched with pained expressions as they realized how easily they had been duped.
The key was that Guendouzi, who was supposed to be the "draft excluder" lying behind the wall, had jumped up along with everyone else instead of staying on the ground!
"But for some reason, I feel a bit regretful," Jim Beglin chuckled on the broadcast. "If Ling had blasted a powerful volley into the net, it might have been even more thrilling."
"Haha, but a goal is a goal, Jim, no matter how it's scored!" Drury replied. "Arsenal's current tactical approach allows them to secure wins against weaker teams consistently. But if the opponent has strong, intelligent forwards, Arsenal's defensive weaknesses become glaringly obvious, as we've clearly seen in these two goals!"
"Arsenal's defenders couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness. Facing Ling, who is physically strong, technically refined, and adept at using his brain—they seem completely powerless to stop him."
After all, football can be played without using your brain, but those who do are easily left behind.
Arsenal fans breathed a collective sigh of despair. Man United fans were celebrating wildly, and some of the older fans in the stands were acting almost hysterical.
They had once suffered unprecedented humiliation at the hands of Arsenal—Manchester United players had been forced to line up and form a guard of honor to congratulate Arsenal for clinching the title early at Old Trafford.
The feud between the two clubs dated back to the late 1990s and early 2000s when Man United and Arsenal were the Premier League's undisputed top two teams.
From 1995 to 2004, Man United won 6 Premier League titles, Arsenal won 3, and the remaining one was claimed by Mourinho's Chelsea.
Shocking brawls, Arsenal's 49-game "Invincibles" unbeaten streak coming to an end at Old Trafford, Ferguson famously getting hit in the face with a slice of pizza in the tunnel... the rivalry between the two clubs was too deep and bitter to fully recount.
These two teams were genuine archrivals who truly wanted to tear each other apart, much like the two old men who had famously managed them.
Speaking of those two old men...
In the VIP box at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson reminisced about the past.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't watch Arsenal matches live?" Ferguson asked, glancing at Arsène Wenger sitting beside him.
"I only said I wouldn't go to the Emirates Stadium," Wenger replied smoothly, raising his glass of red wine.
"Besides, weren't you the one who invited me today?"
Both of them understood perfectly well that on the pitch, they were characters who simply "couldn't afford to lose."
Until the final whistle blew, they could only be bitter enemies.
But off the pitch, they were kindred spirits, partners who had worked together to elevate English football to the world stage.
Perhaps the rivalry had to do with the two clubs' founding philosophies. It could be described as a clash between realism and idealism.
Man United fans value the iron-willed determination to fight for victory at all costs, while Arsenal fans cherish their stubborn adherence to beautiful, idealistic football.
"How's Man United's new number 7?" Ferguson asked, taking a sip of his whiskey.
Wenger remained silent for a long moment, his eyes fixed on Ling celebrating below.
"Excellent," Wenger finally said softly. "Truly excellent."
Wenger couldn't help but fantasize—if Ling had come through Arsenal's youth academy instead, perhaps Arsenal's results last season wouldn't have been so poor.
Even if they couldn't achieve a double like Man United, they could have at least finished in the top three of the league.
He might have been able to rebuild the Gunners' dynasty like in the old days and he might still have his job.
Compared to Ling's technical ability, what impressed Wenger more was the youngster's mentality.
To put it somewhat exaggeratedly, he believed Ling was a born leader—exactly what Arsenal lacked most.
Ferguson poured Wenger some more red wine. "Old friend, let's continue enjoying the match. It's the era of the young ones now."