As Martinelli cut inside with the ball, Koulibaly slipped and fell. He immediately saw an opportunity and attempted a shot.
However, the moment he kicked, Cao Baming, who was standing nearby, could tell the direction was wrong. Even his body posture a second before contact was flawed, preventing him from hitting the ball cleanly.
Cao Baming was still thinking he would pass to him, because if the ball were passed, and if it could reach him, he was one hundred percent sure of scoring from inside the box.
But in the next second, the ball's trajectory changed. Koulibaly, who had fallen, was trying to get up quickly when his heel touched the ball!
After a deflection that changed its line, the ball actually began to spin!
The spinning ball constantly rubbed against the air, creating localized vortices that pushed the ball further off course. The goalkeeper couldn't react in time.
Like Cao Baming, he thought the ball would sail directly wide of the goal. However, no one could have predicted such a turn of events. Martinelli himself didn't expect that, after a deflection, the ball would turn into a top-quality curling shot, heading straight for the top corner!
Even Messi, in this position, might not be able to guarantee such a beautiful curling shot!
Whether it was luck or luck, the goalkeeper was powerless. As it successfully entered the net, Arsenal extended their lead once again!
In this world, who says only the mind and body are one's advantages? Luck is also a strength, something others don't have but you do. Therefore, luck is also a part of skill.
Looking at the goal, Cao Baming was dumbfounded. He had barely been involved in the entire process of this goal.
Could this be considered a surprise?
Could it truly be a surprise prepared for him by heaven, a birthday surprise? If so, it would be far too thoughtful.
The score was now 2-0, a dreamlike situation. The players on the field still hadn't fully processed it, unable to believe such a score could appear within ten minutes.
Cao Baming continued his calculations. With the current 2-0 score and the remaining 30 minutes of the first half, if they could score two more goals, they would match the record previously set by Alan Shearer.
To break that record, they would only need one more goal. Now, not only did he have various skill cards and potions, but most importantly, he had ample time.
During the repeated shooting attempts just now, he had managed to accumulate some shooting opportunities. However, relying on the skill that grants a guaranteed goal for every four shots was now extremely difficult.
The reason was not being in a defensive position and unable to get shooting chances. The biggest obstacle now was the difficulty of hitting the target without scoring.
If they continued at a pace of two goals every ten minutes, they might score over eight in the first half. Of course, this was somewhat unrealistic, as the game has rhythm changes, and the opponent might suddenly rally or unexpected situations could arise.
Such unexpected situations could include Chelsea suddenly switching tactics and attacking, with Drogba alone upfront posing a significant threat. If he had the help and cooperation of teammates and executed exquisite offensive tactics in the frontcourt, that would also be a formidable threat.
As soon as the opponent scored one goal, the defensive pressure would increase, and the offensive pressure would also become greater.
Fortunately, the person partnering Drogba up front now was Sterling, the originator of "happy football."
When he was at Manchester City, he had shown the world his formidable abilities in front of goal. Even De Bruyne's passes couldn't be successfully delivered to his mouth.
Looking at it now, Drogba indeed accounted for a large part of Chelsea's forward threat, but the others were almost not worth worrying too much about, as they could be relied upon to waste opportunities.
Another piece of good news was that the opponent's midfield seemed to be without Kante, instead using a combination of Ziyech and Havertz.
At the fifteenth minute of the game, Jorginho cleared the ball from deep, flicking it back to midfield from Martinelli's feet.
Ziyech played it first-time, and Havertz followed with another first-time pass. The counter-attack was launched, and the field opened up.
Cao Baming had sensed danger from that clearance and had prudently retreated, which was always a good idea.
What was unexpected was that Cao Baming, who had been the most active attacker just moments ago, had returned to a defensive position within seconds!
Drogba charged forward with the ball, like a tank with a modified supercar engine and power system, unstoppable!
"He's created space! The unmarked penalty box is ahead!"
"A one-on-one!!!"
On Drogba's left side, White was chasing desperately, but he couldn't even make contact, being quickly left behind!
A physically strong tank would typically be perceived as slow and clumsy, with slow turns. However, Drogba had none of these drawbacks.
His eyes flashed as he looked at the goal ahead. Only the goalkeeper remained. At this moment, he could directly shoot, but after a moment's thought, he chose to dribble into the box before shooting.
He was still five meters away from the penalty area. He knew that goalkeepers, generally, needed to maintain intense concentration during this period. They needed to constantly judge the movement of the dribbling player, their body posture, especially the direction of their knees and feet.
The opponent could shoot at any moment. Even a pause or deceleration before a shot needed to be noticed in advance to allow for a timely save.
Continuing to dribble forward undoubtedly wore down the goalkeeper's concentration. Waiting a little longer to shoot would significantly reduce the chance of a save.
Now, no one could stop him. The goalkeeper himself knew very well that even a timely sortie wouldn't be enough to stop Drogba, especially a Drogba in full sprint.
He even had two options: go around him directly or charge straight past without any attempt at a feint.