Chapter 45 The Possibility of a Lone Striker

Chapter 45: The Possibility of a Lone Striker

"Tottenham's defensive line collectively lost focus. It's clear they never expected Li Mo to execute such a brilliant strike from outside the penalty box!"

"Uninterrupted and untackled, Li Mo unleashed a shot with tremendous power and velocity!"

On the television screen, replays of Li Mo's goal were being broadcast repeatedly from every conceivable angle.

Shortly after, the match restarted.

Having fallen behind, Tottenham finally began to lose their composure. They started pressing forward with more attacks. Consequently, the tempo of the game quickened significantly.

Standing on the touchline, Arsène Wenger knitted his brows tightly.

He began to consider that if they could manage to enter halftime with a lead, he would withdraw one center forward in the second half and revert the formation to a more balanced 4-2-3-1. By adding an extra player to the midfield, he could accumulate a numerical advantage in the center of the pitch to achieve a balance between attack and defense.

"Perhaps our assessment of Diaby was overly optimistic..." Wenger turned his head to say to his assistant, Steve Bould.

Bould shook his head helplessly. Yet, finding a solution to this was difficult for anyone.

Top-tier defensive midfielders were in short supply worldwide. Having a Diaby who charged for two hours and lasted for two minutes was already considered somewhat acceptable for Arsenal.

Just as the two men were speaking, Aaron Ramsey committed a passing error.

The ball was intercepted directly by Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker.

The lightning-fast Walker surged forward rapidly along the flank!

"A counterattack! Tottenham's counterattack!"

In the press box, the commentators widened their eyes as they stared at the pitch. Everyone knew this was precisely the kind of opportunity Tottenham had been waiting for.

Walker dribbled past the halfway line, then passed the ball to Aaron Lennon while continuing his forward run to drag away a defender.

Lennon pressed forward with the ball, drawing a defender before executing a horizontal pass into the central area.

"Bale!!"

Amid the commentators' astonished cries, Gareth Bale outpaced Mikel Arteta. Receiving the ball, he took a touch forward and unleashed a left-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area!

The ball skimmed the turf and darted into the back of the net.

"Bale! Bale!! Gareth Bale!!!"

The commentator from Tottenham's radio station shouted at the top of his lungs.

"In the thirty-second minute of the match, Tottenham have equalized!"

"Gareth Bale! It's Bale again! He is undoubtedly Tottenham Hotspur's go-to man!"

"If we shift our focus back to before Bale received the ball, we can see that he had actually been eyeing this vacant space at the edge of the box for quite some time. Arteta was forced into a desperate battle of physical strength and acceleration with Bale, and the outcome is obvious... he was completely steamrolled by Bale."

Bale spread his arms wide, welcoming the deafening cheers echoing throughout White Hart Lane.

During this moment, he did not forget to cast a glance at Li Mo in the distance.

Did you see that? This is my response!

On the touchline, André Villas-Boas clenched his fists in extreme excitement.

Now it seemed that Li Mo's long-range goal was merely a fluke. The match was only truly beginning now.

Arsenal's vulnerability in central defense was bound to be exploited. And Bale's attacking route—cutting inward from the left flank into the center—struck precisely at the weakest area of Arsenal's defense.

In this match, Tottenham playing at home had no reason not to win!

On the other side, Wenger's brows remained tightly locked.

Neither Ramsey nor Arteta could contain Bale. Arsenal's central midfield defense undeniably had deep-seated problems. Now, this flaw threatened to cause a complete failure in this match.

If they lost this game, the team would suffer four consecutive defeats.

Wenger was well aware of how severe a blow four straight losses would deal to the team's morale.

In the press box, Tottenham-supporting journalists led by Richard Hurst erupted into jubilation.

Richard Hurst wore a ferocious expression: "Did you see that?! This is what a true superstar looks like!! Gareth Bale is the real superstar! Li Mo isn't even worthy of clipping his toenails!"

Meanwhile, journalists supporting Arsenal wore furrowed brows. They, too, had seen it clearly.

Bale had just shrugged off Arteta, accelerated with the ball, and completed his shot before the defense could recover. Such a goal defied all logic.

Moreover, Tottenham's counter-attacking setup made things thoroughly uncomfortable for Arsenal.

Fortunately, at least, the team was not trailing for the moment.

Even though Tottenham had scored, Arsenal still harbored hopes of finding the back of the net.

After Bale's goal, the Tottenham fans in the stands at White Hart Lane regained their vigor. Singing and dancing in the stands, they not only recovered their confidence in the team but also began launching "noise attacks" against the Arsenal players they despised so much.

Take Li Mo, for instance.

Whenever he touched the ball, booing was considered a polite gesture. More frequently, guttural monkey chants began to echo.

"Damned football hooligans!" Jack Wilshere gritted his teeth as he glared at the stands.

Li Mo also furrowed his brows slightly.

Very well, you lot are really pushing it now, aren't you? Li Mo cursed inwardly.

He was far from unfamiliar with such scenes. When it came to racial discrimination, Italy was the epicenter, with discriminatory incidents directed at people of color occurring every single Serie A season.

There were always some pieces of trash doing disgraceful things in the name of football.

Li Mo refocused his attention on the pitch. He could hardly run over and physically shut the mouths of those scumbags.

Instead, the most agonizing thing he could inflict upon them would be to subject their beloved team to a defeat.

Little time remained in the first half.

Not long after conceding, Arsenal launched another offensive wave, intending to press fiercely during the final moments of the first half. If they could enter halftime holding a lead, that would be even better.

Meanwhile, Tottenham calmly awaited another opportunity to counterattack.

However, their counterattack never materialized. Instead, what awaited them was another goal conceded to Arsenal.

The goalscorer was not Li Mo, but Lukas Podolski.

Yet, Li Mo deserved the lion's share of the credit for this goal. Even the commentator, while cheering for the score, felt compelled to remark: "Eighty percent of the credit for this goal must be attributed to Li Mo."

The television broadcast replayed the entire sequence of the goal.

When Li Mo received the ball near the edge of the penalty box, Jan Vertonghen stepped up aggressively, delivering an immediate physical challenge.

Logically speaking, facing such a challenge previously, Li Mo would likely have been knocked off balance.

This time, however, he merely stumbled slightly before quickly turning, accelerating, and leaving a bewildered Vertonghen trailing in his wake.

Vertonghen was certain he had not underestimated his opponent on this occasion. Based on the footage he had analyzed of Li Mo, the forward should not have been able to withstand such an impact.

Yet moments ago... Li Mo had maintained his balance amidst that collision, turned, and burst forward. It was already too late for him to recover and give chase.

The consequence of Vertonghen being shaken off by Li Mo was that Michael Dawson and full-back Kyle Naughton were forced to converge on Li Mo's position.

Having turned and left Vertonghen behind, Li Mo initially intended to shoot directly. However, upon seeing Dawson and Naughton rapidly converging on his space, he changed his mind.

He swung his left foot powerfully to sweep a cross toward the far left post!

Lukas Podolski surged forward rapidly and easily turned the ball into an empty net!

Arsenal had regained the lead.

As the entire White Hart Lane stadium plunged back into silence, Wenger turned to his assistant Bould and remarked, "Perhaps he does possess the capability to play as a lone striker!"