The timer on the field clearly showed the big numbers, 75.
Seventy-five minutes had already passed, and with the regulation 90 minutes in mind, only 15 minutes remained.
Just then, a small unexpected event on the field, the ball was kicked out of bounds.
Coincidentally, this was the opportunity. Arteta waved his arms, signaling for Cao Baming and Elneny to prepare to come on.
Immediately, the linesman raised the number board.
Number 17 was replaced by number 22, and number 6 by number 39.
The one wearing the number 39 jersey was Cao Baming.
At this moment, those who had not paid attention to Cao Baming finally did.
A burst of cheers erupted from the sideline seats.
Although it was still far from the cheers when Cristiano Ronaldo scored, for a new player making his second appearance, it was quite good!
Cao Baming felt a surge of emotion, surprised that he had unknowingly gained his first batch of fans at Arsenal!
He was a little excited inside.
He jogged towards the field.
In a pub far away in Paris, with a bang, a glass with half a cup of beer remaining was slammed hard on the table.
"Holy shit, you guessed it too accurately!"
Henry's friend, a young man with dreadlocks all over his head, looked at the live broadcast screen with great surprise.
Just before the match, the great Henry had predicted that Cao Baming would appear in this game, and even accurately predicted the timing of his appearance, which was simply incredible!
"Haha, there's some guesswork involved, mainly because they gave me the opportunity!"
The dreadlocked young man looked at him with disbelief.
Indeed, if it weren't for White's brilliant assist, Arteta might have really held back Cao Baming until the end of the match!
"But... how many substitutions has Arsenal used already?"
"I think they've used them all," Henry replied after some thought.
"But... they've used up all their substitutions so early. There are still over ten minutes left in the match. What if something unexpected happens?"
"Yeah, like a player gets injured, or commits a foul... what if the goalkeeper gets a red card?"
"Arteta is clearly going all out. Success will bring glory, but failure will be disastrous."
...
On the sideline, Arteta's face was still etched with seriousness. How could he possibly relax at this moment?
Watching Cao Baming gradually walk onto the field, his heartbeat quickened with Cao Baming's first touch.
Not long after coming on, Cao Baming received a back pass from a teammate in midfield and played it out wide.
Cao Baming's ball control also surprised the audience. The ball he had just controlled was incredibly stable.
With his attributes improved, Cao Baming also appeared more confident.
Now, apart from shooting, the other attributes were not as significantly different from those of his teammates beside him.
Especially with the recent talent skill card, [Steadfast as a Rock], which added a full 50 points to his physical confrontation.
He could now be a pillar of the defense!
In the 79th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted off. He had some minor stamina issues, and although not serious, the coach still chose to take him off.
The younger Martial came on to replace him.
At this moment, all the fans of Cristiano Ronaldo on the field gave him a round of applause.
He was leaving the field with some contribution, even though it came from an opponent's mistake, he had still scored the only goal of the match.
Head coach Solskjaer smiled and high-fived Cristiano Ronaldo, who then walked towards the bench.
Amidst the cheers of the fans, there were also some boos, but as an old legend, he should have long been accustomed to enduring these.
Meanwhile, Cao Baming had been on the field for four minutes. He had contributed several excellent passes in defense, but no other significant achievements.
The current situation had not given him any opportunity to dribble forward, let alone shoot.
Cao Baming slowed his pace, observing the movements of the players on the field, as well as the prediction lines of varying clarity provided by the system.
After a few seconds of quiet observation, he quickly spotted a breakthrough!
Rashford on the left flank was dribbling forward. Manchester United's attack was aggressive, determined to score another goal.
Elneny, who was marking him, was caught off guard and nutmegged, a crisis!
But in Cao Baming's eyes, this was an opportunity!
Seeing the successful dribble, Manchester United players quickly surged forward, the entire team pushing towards the penalty area!
Such an attack was bound to expose weaknesses to the opponent!
Cao Baming's eyes flickered as he anticipated the trajectory of the ball, confident in his defense!
Ahead of Rashford, the space was already clear. No one could stop him from going down the line!
Vieira could only chase after him to provide some interference.
Others, at the captain's call, were preparing to defend against crosses.
At this moment, Cao Baming stood about two meters in front of the dangerous Martial. He did not mark him tightly.
As the cross came in, Martial started to sprint forward. However, just as he picked up speed, Cao Baming's interception blocked him.
With his back to Martial, he controlled the ball with his chest!
Although the control wasn't perfect, the ball landed steadily at his feet.
A glance out of the corner of his eye, where was Martial?
At that moment, the sound of the crowd on the sideline erupted.
A player on the field had fallen!
It was Martial! He had fallen inside the penalty box!
However, the referee, standing less than three meters behind them, had seen the entire situation clearly.
Cao Baming had been perfectly positioned with his back to Martial, intercepting the cross a split second before him.
Martial had clearly run into Cao Baming's back, a blatant dive!
Fortunately, the referee showed leniency and did not issue a yellow card.
Just as Cao Baming was preparing to clear the ball, a cry of pain was heard from the field.
Martial, lying on the ground, still appeared to be in great pain.
Cao Baming glanced at him, dismissively.
"Stop faking it, brother!"
With that, he kicked the ball towards midfield. His teammates had already started making runs, and a counter-attack was imminent!
Charge!
Nelson was the first to receive Cao Baming's long pass. The ball had excellent weight and covered half the field, but De Gea could not reach it before Nelson!
On the field, several quick runners surged forward, forming a localized two-on-two situation!
As they approached the penalty area, facing the interference of Luke Shaw beside him, Nelson took a step to his right and passed the ball to his teammate.
Then, a shot from Martinelli sent the ball towards the far corner of the goal!
De Gea couldn't save it! He kicked the goalpost in frustration!
1-1!!
The score was tied!
Beautiful!
Beautiful!!
Beautiful!!!
The teamwork upfront was beautiful, the pass was beautiful, it was simply a perfect counter-attack!
Arteta finally smiled in satisfaction, his fists clenched, roaring with all his might!
It was as if all the pressure of the entire match had been released in that moment.