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Chapter 164: Manchester United vs Arsenal
🕑 Added 2025-10-02 15:34:30 +0000 UTCArsenal was entering a crucial stretch of the season. With the Champions League knockout rounds looming and the Premier League turning into a fierce points race, the atmosphere around English football was electric.
West Ham took a trip to Stamford Bridge. Against Chelsea, they set up camp with a compact back line and relied heavily on their goalkeeper’s brilliance. Mourinho’s pride and joy—his defensive organisation—was used against him, as West Ham walked away with a point. The result left the Blues scratching their heads.
Not long after, Arsenal faced Southampton away. The Saints tried a similar conservative approach, sitting deep and hoping to frustrate Wenger’s side. But their execution was far from flawless. Arsenal, relentless and patient, finally broke through in the 61st minute after wave upon wave of pressure.
Fifteen minutes later came a turning point. Wenger withdrew Kai and Mertesacker, sending on Arteta and Mustafi. For Mustafi, it was a big moment—his Premier League debut. Unfortunately, it was one he’d rather forget.
With Arsenal’s midfield anchor off the pitch, Southampton sensed weakness. Abandoning their shell, they pushed bodies forward, raining long passes into the Arsenal half. The Gunners’ structure wobbled, and eventually they conceded.
Cazorla tried to restore order with a dazzling solo run that put Arsenal back in front, but Southampton weren’t done. They threw everything forward, and deep into stoppage time, Luke Shaw surged down the flank, bursting past defenders before delivering a perfect cross for Gallagher to slam home. The final whistle confirmed a dramatic 2-2 draw.
Arsenal’s dressing room afterwards was sombre. They knew Southampton had timed their punch perfectly, waiting until Kai was off the pitch to unleash their late flurry. Cunning, opportunistic—exactly the kind of trickery.
Wenger took note. From then on, Kai’s substitutions were delayed, his minutes carefully managed. Rest was important ahead of Europe, but so too was keeping the midfield general on the pitch when games tightened.
The lesson paid off. Arsenal bounced back with a professional 2-0 win over Crystal Palace in Round 24, pocketing three important points.
But soon came another test. Liverpool at the Emirates.
The Reds had been inconsistent lately, dropping games against Chelsea and Manchester City. Yet when they faced Arsenal, it was as if someone flicked a switch. Sterling was incisive, Sturridge lethal, and Coutinho simply unplayable. Gerrard orchestrated things from deep, giving Arsenal plenty of headaches.
What followed was ninety minutes of breathless football. End-to-end, relentless, neither side willing to yield. Between them, they racked up thirty-nine shots—an average of one every couple of minutes.
And yet, the finishing touch was missing. Arsenal 1, Liverpool 1. Another draw.
One win and two draws from their last three games weren’t disastrous, especially with Chelsea also dropping points. But Wenger’s men knew they couldn’t let the pace slip.
Next stop: Old Trafford.
Manchester United was in turmoil under David Moyes—rumours of player unrest, boardroom dissatisfaction, and fans turning sour. Still, history dictated caution. Matches against United carried weight, no matter their form. And Arsenal had already learned against Liverpool: big clubs, even struggling ones, have a knack for rising on the big stage.
…
February 13th, 2014. Old Trafford.
The floodlights burned bright, the noise deafening.
Then came the moment that had everyone on their feet.
“Kai! From distance!” roared Martin Taylor on Sky Sports commentary.
From just outside the box, Kai unleashed a left-footed strike. The ball soared, dipped violently mid-air, and came screaming down towards the top corner—a classic falling-leaf effort.
De Gea, at full stretch, timed his leap to perfection, palming the ball over the bar.
“Ohhh, that is sensational goalkeeping!” Alan Smith exclaimed. “Kai’s hit it beautifully—technique straight out of the textbook. Nine times out of ten, that flies in. But De Gea… he’s read it, adjusted his feet, and clawed it away. Absolutely world-class.”
Down on the pitch, Kai stood hands on his hips, exhaling in disbelief. He knew he’d struck it sweetly. Another inch and it would have been unstoppable.
But the attempt had rattled United.
De Gea, still barking orders, waved frantically at his back line. “Pick him up! Don’t let him shoot again!” he shouted, panic cutting through his voice.
Corner to Arsenal.
Santi Cazorla strolled over to the quadrant on the left, calmly placing the ball before raising a hand in the air. That tiny signal was enough—every Arsenal player in the box knew exactly what was about to unfold.
The referee’s whistle pierced through Old Trafford.
Suddenly, Luis Suárez darted out of the penalty area, sprinting diagonally toward the corner flag. United’s full-back Rafael hesitated, caught between following Suárez or holding his ground. In the end, he stayed put, not wanting to be dragged out of position.
Cazorla rolled the ball short to Suárez, then immediately darted inside, demanding the return. One-touch football at lightning speed.
“Quick exchange between Cazorla and Suárez—clever movement from Arsenal,” Martin Taylor said, his tone rising.
Suárez slid the ball back, and Cazorla, now cutting infield, shifted the rhythm again. This time, he lay it square to Kai, waiting just outside the D.
The sudden sight of Kai with space caused panic. United’s defenders, Smalling and Evans among them, immediately surged forward to close him down.
But Kai had already spotted the next movement. With Cazorla curving his run at a sharp angle into the box, Kai dinked a lobbed pass over the charging defenders.
“It’s opened up! Look at that ball from Kai!” Alan Smith exclaimed.
The delivery floated beautifully, arcing toward the back post. Cazorla was already there, leaping acrobatically and twisting his body mid-air. Instead of going for the goal, he cushioned a delicate header back across the six-yard box.
De Gea scrambled, diving left, but he was stranded. The ball looped over his reach and dropped right in front of Mertesacker.
The German centre-half rose, unmarked, and nodded into the empty net.
“Mertesacker!!! It’s in!! Arsenal have scored!” Martin Taylor’s voice thundered. “A training-ground routine executed to perfection—short corner, movement, vision from Kai, and Cazorla’s awareness—before the big man finishes it off!”
“Absolutely brilliant,” Alan Smith added, almost laughing in disbelief. “That’s as good as it gets for a set-piece goal. Everything timed, everything rehearsed. United had no idea how to deal with it.”
The Arsenal bench erupted. Wenger clapped furiously from the touchline, fists clenched in satisfaction.
On the pitch, Mertesacker was mobbed by teammates, grinning ear to ear. Cazorla was the first to shout, laughing as he grabbed him: “That’s four now, Per!”
The towering defender chuckled, shaking his head, but the pride was written all over his face. For a man whose reputation rested on defending, adding goals to his game gave him a new dimension.
Kai joined the celebrations, bumping chest-to-chest with.
“Well done, big man! That’s how you do it!” he beamed.
Back in the Sky Sports commentary box, Martin Taylor summed it up: “That’s now four goals for Mertesacker. For a centre-back, that’s remarkable. And it shows Wenger’s vision—when he brought him in, he knew the aerial threat was there to be developed. Now, Arsenal are reaping the rewards.”
Not everyone in the Arsenal camp was smiling, though. On the bench, Mustafi sat stiff, arms crossed, his face betraying frustration. He was supposed to be the long-term partner in defence, yet every Mertesacker goal pushed him further into the shadows. His own previous poor game still haunted him, and though Wenger had reassured him, the pressure weighed heavily.
Elsewhere, Flamini applauded with the others, but his eyes lingered on Kai. The Frenchman couldn’t shake off a sting of regret from earlier comments in the dressing room. Watching Kai dominate in midfield, Flamini knew the No. 4 shirt wasn’t his to claim anymore.
“Just look at him,” Flamini muttered under his breath. “How can I even take his position?”
It wasn’t bitterness, more an acceptance. In half a season, Kai had transformed into the heartbeat of Wenger’s side—dictating, covering, inspiring. Flamini knew his own role had shifted to rotation, but against this standard, he was almost relieved. Competing with Kai for a starting berth felt pointless.
As the Arsenal players regrouped, Old Trafford fell into a hushed murmur. United’s fans had been stunned by the precision of Arsenal’s corner routine, their defence carved open by a sequence of passes and movement they couldn’t live with.
On the other side, the travelling Gunners supporters were in full voice, roaring Mertesacker’s name.
