The situation on the pitch might not be immediately clear, with every detail not fully in view at this very moment, but one thing was obvious: all the players were running in the same direction, clearly a swift counter-attack.
However, they were not running towards Manchester City's goal, but towards Arsenal's, causing Guardiola a moment of cognitive dissonance, as his envisioned scenario was the complete opposite.
"No way, no way, have these guys finally managed to pull themselves together at this point?"
De Bruyne, the initiator of the attack, launched a long pass to Foden on the wing. Foden, upon receiving the ball, immediately began to sprint forward, with Vieira and Gabriel alongside him.
But Cao Baiming was on another wing, a considerable distance away. At this moment, there was almost nothing he could do.
After dealing with two opponents, Foden remained unfazed. At this point, with the score already as it was, he might as well play with confidence. He had become somewhat numb to conceding goals.
Facing the defense of two players, Foden employed a unique football technique, keeping the ball steadily at his feet, making the two defenders look foolish.
During this time, De Bruyne made a high-speed sprint across the entire pitch, covering a distance of over sixty meters.
De Bruyne, now in the center, entered the penalty area ahead of Cao Baiming, near the edge of the box. Foden, at this moment, had successfully evaded the two defenders and burst out from their side, passing the ball to De Bruyne, who was waiting in the center!
As the team's midfield core and the initiator of the attack at this moment, De Bruyne had no hesitation upon receiving the ball; he chose to take the shot himself.
He had delivered too many "assists" in this match, with his teammates wasting almost every one. But this time, he changed his strategy and decided to handle it himself.
A beautiful, low driven shot traced a diagonal line across the penalty area, heading straight for the near post!
"Beautiful...!!!"
"Goal! Goal! Manchester City pulls one back! De Bruyne scores himself, a twenty-five-meter unstoppable low drive into the box, helping Manchester City salvage a crucial goal!!"
Witnessing this, the players were ecstatic. Although it was only one goal, catching up now seemed impossible, but at least they had saved some face. In front of their home fans, they couldn't possibly be shut out.
Cao Baiming shook his head in resignation, expressing his regret.
While Manchester City didn't want to be shut out, Cao Baiming had a small goal for this match: to keep a clean sheet against his opponents. Even in simulations, he had only managed it once.
Now, it seemed too late. The score was already 5-1. To keep a clean sheet, it was impossible without rewinding time.
The goal stemmed from a mistake in Arsenal's backline. At this point, his teammates seemed to be getting complacent, and this complacency provided an opportunity for the opponents.
Even though Manchester City had retreated all their players near the penalty area, when their counter-attack started, it was incredibly sharp. With just De Bruyne stepping up, the entire attacking route became clear and extremely threatening!
This was the unique charm of an attacking maestro. Even without an opportunity, he could create one out of thin air, something not everyone could achieve.
Guardiola's expression gradually relaxed a little. He hadn't expected them to actually score.
Speaking of which, this goal was initiated by De Bruyne, and the assist ultimately led to him scoring himself. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was almost entirely his credit from start to finish.
Although Foden beat two players with some nice feints, his contribution was still miles behind De Bruyne's. The others, apart from running to draw the attention of Arsenal's defenders, seemed useless.
And how much attention could each of them, who were not Cao Baiming, possibly attract?
With this goal, Manchester City's players' morale seemed to have improved slightly, but unfortunately, only a few minutes remained until the end of the match.
In this final period, there were no major clashes between the players, and both sides seemed to have become more cautious.
The fans expressed their confusion regarding this. They wanted to see intense battles for possession and a scene where both sides fought for a last chance in the final moments. But what they saw was entirely different.
Arsenal already had a 5-goal lead, didn't they want to push further and see their limits?
Manchester City was even more so. They were trailing by four goals. Resting was understandable, but trailing by four goals and not showing any spirit, lacking any ambition, was a betrayal of the fans' expectations.
However, Cao Baiming was brewing another plan in his mind.
Everything at this moment was just a precursor. What he wanted to do was break Messi's season goal record in this match, not just equalize. This meant he still needed to score another goal in the final few minutes!
What was truly threatening wasn't continuous attacks, but a sudden surge when things appeared to be relaxed. This was something he had repeatedly explained to his teammates during training.
All the players in the Arsenal team now understood Cao Baiming's intentions. Even if they couldn't fully grasp the profound meaning of his words, they could certainly follow his instructions.
The opposing team clearly hadn't grasped this point yet!
Cao Baiming's eyes flickered as he glanced at the clock. The match time had just reached exactly eighty-nine minutes.
Now was the time!
At this moment, the ball happened to land at Cao Baiming's feet. In the previous three instances where his teammates passed the ball to him, Cao Baiming had chosen to play it back safely, creating a false impression that they intended to comfortably secure the lead and run down the clock.
Since the person they were facing was Cao Baiming, not someone else, they certainly wouldn't relax their vigilance easily. Despite the three passes, they still didn't dare to let their guard down.
On the fourth pass, Cao Baiming scanned all the Manchester City players in front of him. He took in their facial expressions and body language, and then, he finally discovered a flaw.
The opposing team had finally relaxed! Seize the opportunity!