Lin Hao and Saka were both relentlessly annoyed by Mahrez, knowing full well how formidable he was.
Mahrez stopped arguing, protected the ball, passed it to Cancelo, Cancelo then passed it back to Rodri.
Manchester City has a good habit and good discipline that all teams should learn from, and even after Manchester City started to falter, they have maintained this good habit.
No matter who has the ball, there will always be a teammate, and more than one, to receive it, so it looks very comfortable, and the whole team operates like a machine.
Rodri received the ball. He was positioned relatively deep, and his Arsenal teammates weren't pressing him too aggressively, so he waited a moment before passing it to Phil Foden on the right wing. Foden received the ball with his back to goal and immediately flicked it forward to Bernardo Silva.
B. Silva receives the ball and passes it forward to Aguero. Aguero overtakes David Silva and gets the ball, but there's no space to go any further. However, Aguero stops to protect the ball and then passes it to Foden.
This is possession-based football.
Foden passed the ball back to Bernardo Silva, who received it at the edge of the penalty area and chipped it into the box. Aguero moved laterally and jumped to head the ball towards goal, but Leno made a brilliant save, denying Aguero's attack.
Aguero held his head in regret; this was such a great opportunity.
This also shows that Manchester City's passing and possession style is truly impressive; it's the kind of passing and possession style that Arteta envisioned, and that's the kind of football he wants to play. However, Arsenal is definitely not up to par with strong teams at present.
Against relegation-threatened teams, passing the ball is okay, Lin Hao thinks it's not bad. But you have to know your own limitations. If you clearly don't have the ability, why insist on playing beautiful football? That's just pointless.
The game continued, Manchester City took a corner kick, a short corner, and passed it to Mahrez. Mahrez looked up, saw it, and immediately crossed it into the penalty area.
The ball passed the defender and reached Sterling's feet. Sterling took a step and shot, but at the crucial moment, David Luiz stretched out a foot, and the ball went over the goal line, resulting in a corner kick.
When the corner kick was taken again, Foden passed the ball directly to center-back Ruben Diaz.
Arsenal's formation is too flat, there's no space at all. Let Arsenal's formation spread out a bit, then attack.
Arsenal also had to move out, because their defense couldn't be pushed too far, otherwise the opponent would start firing long-range shots, and eventually they would break through. Arsenal didn't want to just give up; they also wanted to play a defensive counter-attacking style.
The best defensive formation consists of two lines: the defense and the midfield.
Manchester City passed the ball to Mahrez again, Mahrez passed it to Akanji, Akanji passed it to Sterling, Sterling passed it to Rodri, Rodri passed it back to Mahrez, Mahrez and Sterling both moved forward, Mahrez passed the ball diagonally, and Sterling received the ball and cut into the penalty area.
He cut inside the penalty area, past Gabriel, and took a shot, but the ball flew towards the stands.
Sterling's breakthrough, at least at this moment, was truly impressive. He was once a genius at Anfield, a player who once formed the "Three S" combination with Suarez.
What does Suarez's partnership mean? The next partnership after him will be the legendary MSN trio: Neymar and Messi.
That shot was indeed a bit disappointing; his current nickname is "Happy Boy."
In fact, during Lin Hao's first season at Arsenal, he was seen as a player similar to Sterling, only with a slightly better shot than Sterling.
He's not as good as Sterling in terms of physical strength, but Sterling's dribbling skills are no less impressive. Arsenal fans' expectation for him is to become like Sterling.
Who would have thought that in a few years, this person would disappear without a trace.
The game continued, and Arsenal had possession. Arsenal didn't want to press forward, fearing a counter-attack from Manchester City, but they couldn't afford to give up when they had a chance.
Arsenal attacked down the right flank. Pepe dribbled forward, but then lost possession. Not to mention Ake, even Foden couldn't get past him.
After intercepting the ball, Foden immediately launched a long diagonal pass to Mahrez on the other side. Tierney desperately challenged Mahrez, jumping up to contest for the first ball, but went out of bounds.
Mahrez immediately went out of bounds and quickly passed the ball to Sterling. Sterling received the ball with his back to goal and, while holding off his opponent, passed it to Cancelo. The two tried to pass the ball to each other, but Cancelo took the ball and dribbled past Gabriel.
But Gabriel made a precise prediction, stretched out his leg, and kicked the ball perfectly, leaving both himself and the ball behind.
Gabriel immediately kicked the ball forward, finding Willian. Willian and Ruben Diaz both ran towards the landing point. Ruben Diaz held off Willian, who was definitely unable to get up there. However, Ruben Diaz misjudged the landing point.
Ruben Diaz took a step forward, and Ruben Diaz quickly moved forward. Willian's opportunity also came, and he quickly went to entangle with him. Willian actually poked the ball, and the two moved forward again. Ruben Diaz tightly blocked Willian, and Ederson came up and controlled the ball, passing it to Foden who was coming back.
This was Arsenal's best chance to counter-attack since the start of the game, but it was nipped in the bud.
Thirty minutes into the game, Arsenal hadn't launched a single counter-attack. Manchester City's control was too strong; Arsenal didn't have any players up front who could win the first ball. Relying on luck alone was a bit difficult.
At the 30-minute mark, Arsenal launched a positional attack. Lin Hao faced Mahrez and Kyle Walker on the left flank. Lin Hao very quickly flicked the ball out with the outside of his foot and then cut back, performing a "cow tail" move. The two players moved to the left in perfect unison and then back.
Lin Hao repeated the exact same move, but this time, he flicked the ball outwards without actually moving it. His foot slid over the ball, and he pulled it back, breaking through along the baseline into the penalty area.
He drew the defense and passed the ball back to Willian. Ruben Diaz touched it with his foot, causing the pass to go slightly off course. This really paid off, as Willian was already in position to shoot.
Guardiola, standing on the sidelines, clutched his head. "Oh dear, this kid's worth three hundred pounds! The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I can't sleep at night, and I'm losing clumps of hair!"
This is the thought of every head coach. Guardiola didn't want Walker to clash with Lin Hao because he thought that, given Lin Hao's current behavior, he would probably cause trouble with all the top teams.
Unless the head coach issues an order to forbid it, the players will definitely not swallow this insult and will have a private showdown with Lin Hao. Then, just as Salah said, they all couldn't swallow this insult and gradually increased their hatred. Perhaps hatred is not the right word.
That feeling of suffocation is more apt than that.
Willian missed the ball, causing a commotion. Xhaka took a shot from outside the box, but it was too straight and Ederson easily saved it.