Chapter 89 — Tried to Steal the Chicken but Ended Up Losing the Rice
Arsenal missed two consecutive shots, a devastating blow to their morale.
By contrast, Bayern's spirits were high; after play resumed they gradually seized control of the match.
First, Bastian Schweinsteiger unleashed a world-class strike from the edge of the box that Emiliano Martínez gathered.
Immediately after, Thomas Müller slipped a through ball at the edge of the area; Mario Mandžukić near the penalty spot struck a low shot — a skidding, ground-hugging drive that hit his own teammate Arjen Robben's ankle.
Robben then atoned: he beat three men in succession, cut into the box, and from about ten meters curled a shot toward the far corner.
The quality of that curl was extraordinary, forming a long "S"-shaped arc; goalkeepers normally have no answer to such anti-physics balls.
But Emiliano Martínez has "keeper-god" genes, though he was still a sapling.
He launched toward the top-left corner. Instead of cushioning the ball onto the crossbar with his hands, he clung greedily — unwilling to concede even a corner — hugging the ball midair with both hands.
These anti-physics shots carry a lot of spin; Martínez didn't hold it on the first attempt and the ball slipped free.
For a moment in front of Arsenal's goal there was panic and wailing — thankfully Martínez reacted fast enough a second time, securing the ball before Mandžukić could toe it.
On the touchline Wenger buried his face in his hands again; he was exhausted!
Martínez, Xia Qi, Mario Balotelli, Kevin De Bruyne… all gifted, all a little eccentric.
He missed Cesc Fàbregas; cough — at least those problem boys only made your heart race rather than stab you in the back…
On the pitch, that sequence showed Bayern had regained the upper hand.
Bayern trailed on the scoreboard but dominated the play.
If it were José Mourinho or Sir Alex Ferguson, they would have immediately made substitutions to change the situation before it worsened. Wenger's in-game management was a bit slow, and Xia Qi's presence had not altered that — he was still the Arsène Wenger they knew.
He sat rock-steady on the bench, chin in hand, silently watching Bayern rub Arsenal down.
Time slid by to the 75th minute.
Bayern launched a quick attack: Arjen Robben and Philipp Lahm combined brilliantly on the right. Robben again cut through Arsenal's left. Facing two center-backs pressing him, he back-heeled the ball.
Lahm, arriving at the far post, received and feinted a shot but actually crossed; Thomas Müller, pulled and tugged by Serge Aurier, moved the ball into the middle.
The shifting direction of the attack left Arsenal's backline dizzy and a bit stunned.
Mario Mandžukić took advantage, bursting out of the crowd and firing a low shot.
Martínez was confused by Müller's choice not to shoot the one-on-one and didn't get back to his right side in time.
Mandžukić was essentially facing an empty net.
"Robben got past Cazorla again, slicing Arsenal's left."
"Cazorla can't keep up with Robben; Arsenal still needs Xia Qi to track Robben back."
"Otherwise… Robben back-heel pass! Beautiful!"
"Shot!"
"No!"
"Lahm at the far post feinted and crossed!"
"Müller one-on-one with Martínez!"
"Martínez moved on the line really fast."
"Pass!"
"Müller chose to cross instead of shooting!"
"Shot!"
"Goal!"
"Mario Mandžukić scores Bayern's second — it's now 3:2, Bayern are only one behind."
"Arsenal really must find a way to restrict Robben, otherwise they'll be too passive."
The Allianz Arena erupted again with seismic celebrations.
[Müller tonight — why not shoot?]
[Maybe bring Xia Qi back? Watching makes my heart shake.]
[Pity Xia Qi — two jobs in one.]
Wenger remembered he had to steady "the troops." He told Kevin De Bruyne to warm up and loudly urged his players to stay calm.
He called out names and, when he turned to face them, tapped his temple with a finger and pressed both hands down.
It was a gesture meaning "don't get heated; stay calm."
"Yes, Arsenal still lead — no need to panic," he said.
Commentator Zhang Lu acknowledged Wenger's gesture and noticed De Bruyne warming up; he didn't fully grasp Wenger's substitution intent.
"De Bruyne is warming up. Wenger must be making a change. Arsenal's problem is their left being torn apart by Robben — defending isn't De Bruyne's strength. Is Wenger going to attack to defend?"
Zhang Lu guessed wildly — and happened to be right.
Top tacticians don't only think defensively; Wenger wanted not only to hold on to the lead but to seize the initiative.
Using Xia Qi as a sacrificial piece was a very poor choice.
After the stoppage the substitution was made: Kevin De Bruyne on for Jack Wilshere.
This time Wilshere didn't sulk; as he applauded De Bruyne he said, "We need another goal. A one-goal lead isn't safe; at home we—" He winked at De Bruyne, meaning more than his words.
Arsenal are interesting: most teams are strong at home and weak away, but Arsenal historically had better away results than home — only changing with Xia Qi's arrival.
De Bruyne nodded expressionless and ran onto the pitch.
Wilshere watched thoughtfully: are capable people all this cool? Xia Qi is like that, Balotelli and De Bruyne too. As a member of Arsenal's F4, maybe I must be cool on the pitch from now on…
De Bruyne brought Wenger's new instructions to the team; the players settled and began actively pressing Bayern.
Bayern were a bogey team for Arsenal; no general mobilization was needed to fight them.
Trailing by a goal at home, Bayern couldn't afford to give ground — both sides entered a thrilling end-to-end phase.
Young De Bruyne's organization lacked Wilshere's refinement, but his edge lay in striking unexpectedly and sharply — every deployment could be a lethal parcel.
Unfortunately, Balotelli and Theo Walcott's link-up with him was still a bit off; they weren't skilled riders and couldn't seize some chances.
Xia Qi, the fine rider, was tightly marked by Bayern's defenders and couldn't combine with De Bruyne.
Time flew.
After several exchanges it was the 80th minute.
Meaning Bayern had only ten minutes left. If they couldn't score in this ten-minute window, they'd lose the first leg 2:3 — an unsatisfactory result for Bayern.
Arsenal weren't comfortable either!
They feared being knocked out by Bayern; with only a one-goal cushion everyone felt jittery.
In short, fans, players, and coaches of both sides were tense and dissatisfied.
In the 83rd minute Bastian Schweinsteiger initiated play from deep.
He didn't simply clear with a long ball; he carried it forward.
Schweinsteiger is a deep-lying playmaker and commonly participates in Bayern's buildup.
But this time, as he drove forward he was swarmed like a mad dog by Arsenal players.
Suddenly he was surrounded — looking up he couldn't spot a single red-shirted teammate…
Such pressing wasn't Arsenal's specialty, but to widen the score they had to fight!
Schweinsteiger panicked and tried desperately to release the ball; he mustn't lose it himself.
Under the squeeze both his perception and composure faltered.
A mistake came in the attempted pass. He tried a through ball;
Xia Qi nudged it toward Theo Walcott's feet, then sprinted forward himself.
Walcott didn't hesitate and quickly fed De Bruyne, then made his own forward run.
De Bruyne advanced a few steps with the ball and then sent a long pass directly for Xia Qi.
Xia Qi exploded down the right.
"Arsenal launching a counter!"
The stands bristled with boos from Bayern supporters.
Soon Xia Qi was double-teamed by Javi Martínez and David Alaba.
Their double-team was clever — not only cutting off Xia Qi but severing his link with Balotelli.
Xia Qi thought Al might try to brute his way through, but instead he played a back-heel to find De Bruyne running into space.
In the moment of that pass Xia Qi realized Al intended to play a run-onside counter — to be the target man.
He learned something: a forward must have vision; choice is sometimes more important than effort!
Now it depended on De Bruyne's football IQ.
After receiving Xia Qi's layoff De Bruyne drove forward without looking back — he knew Xia Qi aimed to play for a timed run.
At this moment Bayern's defenders showed signs of pushing up for an offside trap; their back three (with Alaba stepping up to assist a defensive midfielder) were lined up in a single line — a sign they wanted to compress forward to catch runners offside.
Jerome Boateng did not expect De Bruyne and Xia Qi to have such strong spatial awareness; they still watched defenders' positions mid-attack.
So as De Bruyne surged, his eyes stayed on Boateng and the rest of Bayern's backline. Just as Boateng prepared to step forward, De Bruyne's pass flew to Xia Qi.
At the instant the ball passed to Xia Qi, Xia Qi had already darted past Alaba.
And at that moment, central defender Boateng (Bayern's last man) stepped forward.
Xia Qi → forward,
Boateng ← forward.
Except for Al and the assistant referee, no one else knew who would succeed or fail.
Xia Qi didn't look once to the linesman; he sprinted for the ball with everything he had!
Boateng raised an arm, gesturing to the assistant and the referee that Xia Qi was offside, shouting, "Offside! Offside!" while turning to chase him.
But the assistant didn't raise his flag and the referee didn't blow his whistle — both were chasing Xia Qi instead!
"Not offside! Great ball!!" the live stream erupted.
[Bayern are doomed — tried to nick the ball and lost everything; Xia Qi stole their house.]
[Feels like De Bruyne and Xia Qi are telepathic.]
The boos swelled.
Amid the deafening jeers, Xia Qi caught up to the ball and charged into Bayern's box.
Xia Qi's speed was terrifying — when he entered the area Boateng was still five or six meters behind him!
"Offside trap failed!"
"Xia Qi on the break!"
Arsenal fans — in small numbers but loud — shouted the Allianz crowd's chant: "Xia, GO! GO! GO!"
Manuel Neuer rushed off his line toward Xia Qi.
By the time Neuer reached the penalty spot, Xia Qi had just stepped into the box.
Facing Neuer, he struck — not a placement to either side nor a fierce blast, but a chip: a delicate panenka.
Seeing Xia Qi on a one-on-one stop playing around, Wenger breathed out; some Arsenal fans in the stands sighed in disappointment, then quickly turned hopeful toward the goal.
The ball arced like a rainbow over Neuer's head and toward the net.
Bayern fans behind the goal were more desolate — from their angle it looked like the rainbow would land in the net…
"Lob!"
"Goal! Xia Qi's finish, steady as ever."
Neuer half-kneeled, stretching hands to claw the ball back but failed — the ball had already flown past.
He turned and watched the ball drop into the net behind him!
His heart seemed to slump with the ball and crash to the turf.
From the start of Arsenal's counter, Bayern fans' hearts had been in their mouths.
Now their hearts and the ball both fell into the net, sinking into the abyss…
The worst had happened: Arsenal had taken an away win and now enjoyed a two-goal advantage.
Bayern fans who had been elated moments earlier were silenced. The Allianz Arena grew quiet — and this time the silence lasted longer.
Neuer lay on the ground, helpless, wondering when was the last time he'd been capped like that.
Xia Qi, arms outstretched, ran toward the corner flag area. Nearing it he leapt high and, in midair, brought both arms down forcefully to the sides, shouting a "siu!"
"This is Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration — Xia Qi is paying tribute to his predecessor!"
His teammates swarmed him, faces lit with radiant smiles.
A sharp contrast to the sullen faces of Bayern supporters on the touchline.
Xia Qi's goal came in the 83rd minute, with only about ten minutes left in regulation.
Bayern slowly shook off the massive disappointment and launched furious attacks on Arsenal's goal.
But Arsenal didn't sit back; they continued trading blows.
For a while the Allianz filled with the sounds of battle; Bayern fans wished they could storm the pitch and score themselves…
Arsenal are a young side — when they go berserk they are terrifying. Bayern's counterattacks not only failed to reduce the margin, they nearly allowed Xia Qi another goal, which made them reluctant to push fully.
As time ticked away, Bayern grew increasingly frantic; their attacks became disorganized.
Such attacks would hardly threaten Arsenal's goal now…
After four minutes of stoppage time the referee blew for full time: it ended 4:2.
"Congratulations to Arsenal for winning the first leg of the last 16. With a two-goal advantage Arsenal have a real chance to break the Champions League round-of-16 curse."
"Congratulations to Xia Qi for a hat-trick in his first Champions League knockout match; congratulations to Emiliano Martínez for an outstanding debut in the Champions League…"
"Dear viewers, see you at our next game."
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Bankai10