The sight of Drogba appeared on the field, him playing in a Chelsea jersey, how many would witness this and shed tears of excitement!
As the match time drew closer, the players became more and more exhilarated.
Fans entered the stadium, their cheers shaking the heavens. Each of them was a darling of fate, managing to secure a ticket to this match was no easy feat, but the crowd outside the stadium spoke volumes.
Arteta, in the players' tunnel, was giving Cao Baiming his final instructions, his hand resting on his shoulder, seemingly still not entirely at ease.
But no matter what, he needed Cao Baiming. Otherwise, how could they compete with Chelsea! How could they contend with Drogba?
Cao Baiming nodded repeatedly as he walked forward.
Soon, he finally reached the edge of the field. Cao Baiming let out a deep breath.
He'd finally managed to shake off that old guy!
After a brief opening ceremony, the players lined up near the kick-off spot. The match referee and assistant referees, dressed in yellow, stood at the center circle.
Chelsea's starting lineup was their usual formation, with Drogba on the bench, ready to come on at any moment.
Seconds later, the referee at the center circle raised his right hand and blew his whistle!
As the whistle blew, Chelsea quickly initiated a series of short passes.
Arsenal, following the coach's instructions, began their press. Cao Baiming moved to his position.
Under the high-intensity pressing, Chelsea was forced back to passing to their goalkeeper. In just thirty seconds, Nelson almost successfully intercepted the ball near the goal.
The spectators by the sidelines gasped with each heart-stopping moment.
After all, today's crowd was predominantly Chelsea fans. With the home advantage and the potential appearance of Drogba, no one was focusing on Cao Baiming's performance.
Despite this, it didn't stop him from drawing attention.
In the third minute of the match, Pedro broke through on the wing. Cao Baiming made a clean tackle and delivered a lofted pass, creating an almost one-on-one opportunity for Martinelli!
He shouldered off the defender and managed a desperate shot, but it lacked quality and was easily saved by the goalkeeper.
The fans couldn't help but sigh, lamenting that with Drogba's physical strength, such a challenge would be non-existent, and a shot like that wouldn't be missed.
Unfortunately, Martinelli wasn't Drogba, nor did he possess such strength.
Soon, Arsenal had their second chance, again from Martinelli, but this time it missed the target altogether and flew wide.
Even so, Chelsea fans felt uneasy.
"Why does it feel like Chelsea is being pinned back? Has Arsenal become this strong now?"
"It's been ten minutes, they've had two shots on target, and Chelsea still has zero shots. They haven't even touched the ball inside the penalty box!"
"What's going on?"
Even with Chelsea's inconsistent form over the past few seasons, they were still significantly better than Arsenal, and Chelsea fans certainly couldn't accept this.
The fans on the sidelines began to jeer, loudly chanting Drogba's name!
However, the coach naturally wouldn't make a substitution because of this.
Unexpectedly, in one moment of inattention, Cao Baiming had quietly surged forward to an attacking midfield position on the field!
A pass from Ødegaard!
Cao Baiming knew his ball-control wasn't great, so he opted for a direct volley, astonishing everyone!
However, it ultimately grazed the goalpost by less than two centimeters and went wide!
"Wow! What a shot!"
"A shot from Tang Guo's genius football king, Cao Baiming! This unique connection between attacking midfielder and defender, only Arsenal could possibly achieve this!" commented Zhan Jun from the commentary booth.
"No, no, it's only Cao Baiming who can do it. It has nothing to do with Arsenal. It's purely Cao Baiming's ability to deliver such a shot; other players truly haven't been seen to do it."
"It's a bit like Roberto Carlos in his prime."
"It's indeed somewhat similar. Both of them have such powerful shots, but I think they're still different. Carlos's was pure power, while Cao Baiming also has the angle..."
"This shooting technique wouldn't be considered poor even among forwards!"
Amidst the discussion in the commentary booth, possession had unknowingly changed hands once again.
Due to Arteta's implementation of his new tactical system in this match, Cao Baiming had more opportunities to touch the ball.
If it was like this, even with the worst luck, he'd score at least one or two goals with his guaranteed finishes! At least one!
Cao Baiming thought to himself, his gaze becoming sharper, fixed on the football on the field, ready to attack at any moment!
Fifteen minutes had passed, and neither side had managed to break the opponent's defense. The most unfortunate was Chelsea, who still had not registered a single shot.
However, this attack was still Arsenal's.
Vieira was linking up play in midfield, and Cao Baiming seized the opportunity to move forward.
Seeing this, Chelsea quickly sent players to mark him closely.
Having learned from the lessons of previous unfortunate teams, Chelsea didn't want to suffer again this time and immediately sent two large players to mark Cao Baiming.
One person alone couldn't contain him; this had been repeatedly proven.
The fans were also witnessing for the first time a defender being marked by two players while off the ball, a truly iconic scene.
Ødegaard advanced with the ball, briefly scanning the surroundings before passing. Seeing Cao Baiming blocked by two large defenders, he unhesitatingly passed the ball to him.
Arsenal fans cried out in disbelief upon seeing this.
"Are they blind? How can they pass there?"
The commentators quickly voiced their reasonable complaints.
"Alas, that pass shouldn't have been made. Vieira on the other side had already made a run into space, but they insisted on passing to Cao Baiming here."
However, what happened next silenced everyone.
Everyone thought the ball was uncatchable, but Cao Baiming simply took a casual step forward, received the ball, and without controlling it, immediately passed it to the center!
"Beautiful! Beautiful!"
Nelson saw the ball, immediately turned, took a step, and shot!
This unobstructed shooting lane appeared extremely threatening!
"A shot from Nelson!"
"Goal! A peculiar arc!"
"Beautiful!!"
"Cao Baiming's assist and Nelson's shot! A perfectly executed attack!" the commentators shouted with hoarse voices.
The crowd erupted, and since most were Chelsea fans, their reaction was predominantly anger.
"What were the defenders doing? Were they made of paper?"
"How did that ball get through? I don't understand!"
"They can't even defend against one defender, what kind of team is this? Even Henry couldn't save you now!"
...
After scoring, Nelson quickly turned and excitedly looked at Cao Baiming, who had provided the assist.
"Bro, that pass was delicious! Give me more!"
Other teammates swarmed in, and they embraced each other!
Twenty-one minutes, one-nil!
Arteta's worry had reduced a little.