The soft lights of Wembley's Rainbow Bridge shone evenly on every blade of grass on the pitch, as the players from both sides ran onto the field under the glow!
Nearly ninety thousand fans roared with cheers, as the second half was about to begin!
Adam and Matt stood on the sidelines, one at one hundred and ninety-eight centimeters, and the other, although already one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, still had a stark contrast in height.
They both had their own shortcomings, but equally, their strengths were very prominent.
This was why Gao Bo used them both as regular substitutes for the team.
In football, many players have weaknesses, but as long as they have one very outstanding characteristic, such players are often more successful than those with average abilities.
Just like now, Gao Bo wanted to increase individual breakthroughs, so he brought on Adam; he wanted to strengthen aerial play, so Matt could be sent into action.
Taking advantage of the fact that there was still almost a minute before the second half started, Gao Bo put his arm around Matt and continued to give detailed instructions: "In the second half, Arsenal's wing is likely to have many crossing opportunities. I need you to control the high points in the penalty area, return to our penalty area when defending, and rush to their penalty area when attacking!! Just like last time against Manchester City! Understand? Matt!"
Matt bent over uncomfortably, but in order to accommodate the coach's height, he still tried to bend down and listen. After Gao Bo finished speaking, he nodded vigorously.
"I understand, boss!"
Gao Bo patted Matt's back: "Focus!! Matt, you must stay focused on the field!!!"
At this time, the fourth official had already raised the substitution board.
"Before the start of the second half, Luton is going to make a substitution! Number eleven Adam is coming on, replacing number seven Lewis-Emanuel, and number nineteen Matt-Schmidt is replacing number thirty-two Hassan-Ali!!"
The two players who were about to be substituted were already sitting on the bench, so when the fourth official raised the board, the two immediately received permission from the referee and ran onto the field.
.....
Sitting on the bench, Wenger had basically anticipated Luton's substitution before the end of the first half.
Want to bring on a high center forward to press forward and attack?
Wenger smiled slightly, young people are so impulsive....
If Luton presses forward to attack, their formation is bound to lean forward, and then Arsenal's forwards will have the prairie to gallop on behind them.
This game is basically without suspense!
Wenger thought as he sat on the bench, looking at Gao Bo standing on the sidelines on the other side with some regret.
To be honest, Wenger quite appreciated the refreshing tactical system that Gao Bo had built in Luton.
The overall dense formation, coordinated movement, whether pressing forward to attack or retreating to defend, or pressing high in the frontcourt, are all collaborations of the team as a whole. This is a team that is very good at stacking an absolute numerical advantage in a local area to defeat opponents.
If the strength gap between the two sides' players is not that big, it would not be easy for Arsenal to defeat such a well-trained team....
But unfortunately, the FA Cup final ticket is something Wenger must get.
Arsenal have been without a title for four years. If they still can't win a title of sufficient weight this year, Wenger's pressure will be great....
This year is the best opportunity, defeat Luton and advance to the final!!
Wenger's eyes were firm!
In the opening stage of the second half, things seemed to be as Wenger had expected, Luton was indeed seeking to attack after getting the ball.
In fact, Luton also doesn't directly play high balls for the center forward to grab points. They still prefer to cooperate to the frontcourt, tear open space, and then pass out threatening balls.
Drinkwater and Vardy passed the ball to each other and advanced the ball to the frontcourt, and then Drinkwater passed the ball to Adam-White's feet.
The previous passing was to create a one-on-one opportunity on the wing for Adam-White!
This is Luton's wing explosive point!
Now Adam-White is holding the ball one-on-one against Eboué. He first lets the ball to his main foot, and then slows down the speed.
Gao Bo has equipped Adam-White with cards. With the increase of the cards, Gao Bo believes that in a one-on-one situation, Eboué is definitely not Adam's opponent.
Sure enough, Adam's very fast feints made Eboué a little dizzy, and then Adam suddenly cut in from the outside, preparing to wipe past Eboué.
Eboué's head was clear at this time, and he must not let Adam break into the penalty area like this!!
So he reached out and tripped Adam to the ground!
Beep....
The referee's whistle sounded!
Foul!!
Gao Bo rushed to the sidelines. He was just about to put pressure on the referee loudly, so that the referee would give a yellow card or something.
But as soon as he rushed out, he saw that the referee had already taken out a yellow card from his pocket, so Gao Bo immediately applauded vigorously, and even gave the referee a thumbs up.
Now it was Wenger's turn to be dissatisfied, and he also rushed to the sidelines, spreading his hands.
"This is a yellow card?!!"
Wenger questioned loudly.
"Of course this is a yellow card!! How could this not be a yellow card!!!"
After hearing Wenger say this, Gao Bo also immediately said.
"This is none of your business"
"Hey..."
The two coaches were getting closer and closer, and it seemed like they were about to face off directly.
The fourth official immediately ran over and stood between the two.
"Mind your positions, coaches!!"
The two coaches walked away angrily.
Wenger looked at the situation on the field.
Want to create a threat with individual breakthroughs?
What Wenger was most worried about was that if Eboué was done like this by Adam again, and got his second yellow card and was sent off, it would be very difficult...
"Alexander!!!! Go help Eboué!!!!!" Wenger shouted to Alexander-Song on the sidelines.
Song also knew that the opponent had now replaced a wing explosive player, and it seemed that Eboué was completely at a disadvantage when confronting the opponent, so next he needed to lean more towards Eboué's side.
Adam created a free kick on the left side of the frontcourt for the team. Two central defenders came up to participate in the attack, and Vardy and Matt-Schmidt were also in the penalty area.
Kevin-Keane came to take the kick.
When he passed the ball into the penalty area, this point was passed very well!!
Matt-Schmidt rushed to head the ball!!
Arsenal's weakness of insufficient height of the two central defenders was exposed! Matt-Schmidt easily won the aerial ball.
It's just that his header was a bit too high.
Even so, it caused an exclamation from the stands.
After the Arsenal fans exclaimed, their faces were full of rejoicing, while for the Luton fans, they immediately let out a burst of enthusiastic cheers!
This was the closest Luton had come to scoring since the start of the game! And it was an offensive that Luton had actively created, which allowed Luton fans to see the hope of equalizing the score.
Wenger was also taken aback. To be honest, it was really difficult to defend against the opponent's attack launched with a set piece. After all, the defense line was full of injuries, which forced Wenger to send out such a pair of central defender partners. In aerial ball defense, Kolo-Touré, who was not tall enough, and the already old Silvestre were both difficult to compete with the young Luton center forward.
Still need to score the second goal as soon as possible!!
The emergence of such a dangerous situation made Arsenal realize that a one-goal lead was definitely not safe.
So next, Arsenal seemed to be angered, and they immediately launched an attack!
This time Wenger discovered the difference in Luton. Their high center forward Matt-Schmidt actually returned to the penalty area to participate in the defense?
What is this?
A forward-defender swingman?
When Wenger saw Matt-Schmidt head Arshavin's cross out of bounds, the French coach's face was twisted...