Cao Baming truly felt the smooth experience of this art class, and the fans sitting on the sidelines also deeply experienced it, and were greatly shocked by it.
However, this feeling was not unique to Cao Baming alone. All the players in the entire Arsenal team wanted to score another goal in the last five minutes, at least to achieve a 3-0 lead going into halftime.
After all, in a football match, the difference between 2 and 3 is not just one; these two numbers give completely different feelings. Three feels like a lot, while two feels just normal.
After scanning everything around him, Cao Baming quickly discovered the problem.
The entire team was pushing forward too aggressively, and he himself was not anchored in defense. At this moment, the defense was entirely relying on the two center-backs to hold on. Although the opponent had basically no possession, once they got the ball, relying on the defense of these two alone, it was perhaps underestimating the opponent's forwards too much.
Just as he thought this, the midfield lost possession of the ball beautifully!
It was already too late to retreat, because just three seconds later, a loud cannonball directly shot towards the goal!
The Southampton team had been suppressed for a full 40 minutes, and now that they had an opportunity, they would not hesitate or delay. Once they got a chance to shoot, they would just take a shot and wouldn't play any unnecessary games.
However, this shot ultimately failed to get past Ramsdale's hands. As Arsenal's last line of defense, he was as reliable as ever.
Cao Baming finally breathed a sigh of relief, and all the players on the team also breathed a sigh of relief. To allow the opponent to get such a threatening shooting opportunity was already a very serious mistake, and if their goalkeeper father hadn't successfully saved the ball, the problem would have been very severe.
However, after being saved, the ball surprisingly returned to the vicinity of the penalty area.
The situation was extremely critical because almost everyone inside the penalty box had relaxed their vigilance. No one expected this second chance to fall into such a dangerous area.
At this moment, a Southampton attacking player was already ready, drawing his bow to shoot directly!
Odegaard was the closest to this player, and his gaze was entirely focused on him.
Do something! At this moment, besides goalkeeper Ramsdale, Cao Baming was the last line of defense.
The ball had already reached the player's feet and was about to be received. The distance between Odegaard and the ball was clearly greater than that of the opposing forward!
In an emergency, Odegaard had to make a temporary, correct decision: to slide tackle quickly to kick the ball as far away as possible!
However, people had already anticipated this. As an attacking player, he was certainly not adept at such defensive dirty work. He might use a slide tackle only a few times in the entire season.
As expected, this tackle directly hit the jumping ball with his toe. It didn't fly far at all; instead, it flew high up. But in a bizarre turn of events, no one expected the ball to be kicked up like that.
Fortunately, the action was timely. Because he reacted quickly and made his decision without any hesitation, he managed to kick the ball away before the opponent player touched it, without committing a foul.
This was good, a great piece of good news for Arsenal.
However, at this moment, the players' hearts, which had been hanging by a thread, were not at ease at all.
Because after the ball flew high up, the chance was not far away, and it was impossible to predict accurately. Several Southampton attacking players had gathered near the penalty area. At this point, with a 0-2 deficit, each of them had their attacking desire written all over their faces.
Their hearts only had two words: goal.
Every Southampton player nearby stared at the ball falling from the sky, their expressions fierce.
Finally, the ball landed between Cao Baming and another Southampton player. Since everyone else had not been able to accurately predict the position, they could only wait in their spots.
After receiving the ball, several Southampton players quickly came to contest. At this moment, the attack was not over yet. Although Cao Baming had controlled the ball steadily with his chest, he still had an opportunity to attack.
Facing the pressure of four or five people around him, Cao Baming's immediate task after controlling the ball was to find a passing option and quickly get rid of it, thus completely resolving this danger.
The fans' anxious hearts were in their throats, and they were staring intently at the situation near the penalty area.
People had already begun to imagine which route he would choose, because all the passing routes around him had been blocked. At this moment, with five people surrounding him, not a single one was offering support.
Even in a club like Arsenal, players can make mistakes. At this moment, everyone had not fully reacted, and the ball had already fallen into such a dangerous situation.
Looking at it, the routes to pass to Gabriel and to Henry seemed relatively safe, or he could simply clear the ball out of bounds on the left flank, perhaps successfully getting it over the head of the shorter defensive player nearby.
Everyone was speculating about what decision Cao Baming would make, but what he did next surprised everyone completely!
After controlling the ball with his chest, Cao Baming did not, as a normal person would, stop the ball on his thigh or the top of his foot. Instead, he immediately turned and used his heel to flick the ball!
The scorpion kick action made everyone around him dizzy, completely caught off guard.
Then, the football, like a rainbow, arced over Cao Baming's head, leaving the surrounding Southampton players stunned, almost losing sight of the ball for a moment.
And then, Cao Baming did not wait. When they turned back, Cao Baming had already dashed out through a gap between two players he had chosen beforehand!
After receiving the ball, the path ahead opened up, and the encirclement of several people had completely disappeared!
Although three players were desperately chasing, they were quickly left behind!