Beijing time 7 am, the UEFA Cup semi-final round is completed, Arsenal sat at home and Villarreal mutual exchange of blanks, the Gunners two rounds of the total score of 1 to 2 lost without access to the final; the other game, Manchester United away 2 to 3 lost to Rome, but the Red Devils are still with a total score of 8 to 5 to kill into the final.
UEFA Cup final matchups: Villarreal vs. Manchester United, who will win the ultimate title?
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Arsenal's home match against Villarreal in the second leg of the UEFA Cup semifinals is the only matchup that still has a chance to qualify. Despite going down 1-2 in the first leg, the Arsenal could have reached the UEFA final with a narrow 1-0 win at home, saving themselves from a Champions League berth next season. But Arteta's men were eventually held to a 0-0 draw by the Yellow Submarine after 90 minutes of forward-looking play, and will face the harsh reality of missing out on the UEFA Champions League next season.
Arteta's starting lineup makes it look the same but different, and the outside world didn't dare to confirm Zaka's field position as a midfielder or left back before the start of the game, but the Swiss midfielder was suddenly injured before kickoff, resulting in left back Tierney having to come back early, and the English media thought that this kind of untouched attrition was bad news. But there were still optimistic Arsenal fans who corrected, "Tierney's comeback at left back is clearly good news!"
Arsenal did not attack immediately after the start as people fantasized, perhaps because they only need a goal to advance, but any conceded goal will be the team's success, so Arteta wanted to use the tricky way first and the opponent to mediate. The result was that all the celebrities and Arsenal fans watching the game in the first half were anxious, but the team was quite calm on the field.
Gunners star Lee Dixon pointed out before the first half was even over that this kind of coquettish thinking would probably make the Gunners eat their own in the second half: "You don't see much urgency in Arsenal's game for them to score, and even though a goal would have been enough for them to advance, it's as if Arteta felt that the later the goal presented itself, the better it would be for his team. But once the 0-0 scoreline dragged on into the final 15 minutes of the second half, I think he would have immediately gone into double anxiety and panic."
Arsenal captain Aubameyang in the first half had a foot ruffled shot hit the yellow submarine goalposts, in addition to a signature cut shot led to the rival goalkeeper off, fortunately, this error is still a certain distance from the goal, and did not form the end of the ball. The few two shots also let the outside world think, as long as Arsenal speed up in the second half, the probability of being able to turn the situation quickly.
In the second half, the Gunners did speed up the tempo after the start, first Pepe's shot in front of the goal deflected off the far corner, and then Smith Rowe faced a great opportunity to pick up the ball but kicked it away. Villarreal also did not return to defend early, but once the opportunity to firmly counterattack, which also let Arsenal's offensive intermittent, not form a continued deterrent. Arteta in the 70th minute early Lacazette on the sidelines standby, but until around 80 minutes Aubameyang's header hit the post again, he was not officially start the replacement.
Although Lacazette and William double substitutes, but Arsenal's attack is nothing more than that, the full-time extra time, Arsenal still can not get a secure possession of the ball. See at the moment on the sidelines of the anxious Arteta, Dixon at the moment even have no hobby to boast about their first half of the speculation: "You can not see from the two rounds of their sense of urgency to qualify for the final, they do not have a game to play against themselves. In the first round they started to wear down when the number of opponents was also reduced to 10, and today, throughout the first half, they looked as good as they were ahead on the scoreboard. To give up of your own accord in those two periods, you're not entitled to end up having the luck of the draw, you can only say they gave up too easily."
And the Gunners back five old another member of Keown, although usually not so acerbic to Arteta, but this time also pointed out that the team is not in Europe next season, the problem is still in the manager, "Arteta as a manager lack of experience, which may have made him pay the value of his as a manager seems to be in the hands of the hand to put in a package of rescue programs, in the end, but no one can be in the actual He seems to have a rescue package in his hand as a manager, but none of them can be effectively utilized in practice. You could say that he lost out to his predecessor Emery, which does seem to have some difficulties."
Emery's old UEFA song sings new as Yellow Submarine reach first European final in '98
"See you in Poland!" Villarreal players put up a banner after the match, singing to celebrate the team's historic breakthrough to reach the UEFA Cup final for the first time. The Yellow Submarine's offense was weak, but it was veteran Albiol's brilliant performance that kept them at home. Emery had created the miracle of three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles in Sevilla, and this time the old song is new, also proves that he has better results with his own team.
Villarreal only rotated half of their starters against Getafe in the last round of La Liga, with central players such as Gerard Moreno also waiting to play 30 minutes. But neither he nor his partner Alcacer played negatively at the Emirates Stadium, with the pair making slightly stupid moves even when their teammates helped to pull them out of openings. Moreno missed a good chance to score in the second half, but this is a one-goal game, whoever scores first will completely grasp the initiative. "Yellow Submarine" need to press forward to reduce the risk of losing the ball, the whole game down, although the ball into the Arsenal penalty area a lot of times, the vast majority of the goalkeeper Leno steadily hold.
Nigerian winger Chukwueze, who was outstanding in the previous game, remained very active, startling Leno with a left-footed angled shot in the opening exchanges and then using Parejo's set-piece to create a dangerous situation. But before halfway through the first half, he went down with a surprising strain and was stretchered off. Emery made the bold decision at the moment to put fledgling squad player Jeremiah Pino through a big test.
The midfielders, Parejo, Kirkland and Trigueros, only controlled the ball smoothly in the opening stages, and after the home team's attack turned to the left side, their movements gradually became more combative and their mistakes increased. Both defenders Pedraza and Gaspar played Tai Chi push hands with their counterparts, and both offense and defense were on point. The main event in the Villarreal penalty area, the Argentine goalkeeper Rulli several times showed primary errors, either since the ball from the legs of the leakage, or counter-attack to pick the ball off the hand, good teammates to give strength, the goal frame also help, so that the team did not let the effort in vain. Albiol and Pau Torres made several key breakaways in the penalty area. Because the referee's standards were looser, Villarreal sensed this and immediately went on the body confrontation, breaking the foot of the ball also took some aggressive and risky action, can be said to be reasonable use of penalty standards.
Perseverance is success in the end. This is the first time in 98 years since Villarreal's founding that they have reached the European final (not counting the World Toto Cup). With Real Madrid and Barcelona out of power today, Sevilla and Villarreal hold the flag of La Liga, and thanks to Villarreal's efforts, La Liga once again prevented the Champions League and UEFA finals from being dominated by the English Premier League teams. Many commentators have coincidentally spoken of the demise of the "European Premier League" in the middle of the road: Villarreal, a saloon rooted in a small city of 50,000 people, speaks on behalf of the 99% of the European soccer field, saying "no" to the monopoly of the big players.
Villarreal have reached two previous UEFA Cup semi-finals (and one League Cup final) but have failed to go any further, with painful flashbacks of Riquelme's penalty miss against Arsenal in the 2005-06 Champions League semi-final fresh in their minds. Salon president Fernando Roig, the ceramics tycoon who brought the small-town club into the European competition, said: "I don't know if fate has been unfair. This success is the result of the hard work and dedication of Villarreal's people. We've played Manchester United four times before, and all four matches were 0-0. This time it will be the same result, and then we'll score one more penalty!"
Emery looks back on the success he had at Sevilla, having grown and gained experience through those years of coaching. But he doesn't think there's a definite link between himself and the UEFA Cup: "I don't think Villarreal signed me just to finish breaking in the UEFA Cup. We did talk about it along the way, but there's no rule about trying to finish it. The results are down to the players as a whole. We always remember to play with the spirit of this club. This semi-final should be dedicated to our president, it's something he's wanted for many years. Thanks also to the whole city and the overall staff for their hard work and payment."
Roma 3:2 Manchester United (5:8 aggregate score in both rounds)
10 saves! Man Utd is all about De Gea
"Double Red Club" because of the fans against the waist cut, ushered in 8 days 4 games "basketball journey", Solskjaer spat on the side of the team's fans overly radical, while mocking the journey organizers have never played a high level of competition. But the complaint is bitter, the devil away from the least important UEFA Cup second round, the Red Devils blatantly and unsurprisingly suffered defeat. After rotating half of the starting lineup, United's goal in front of the Roman Olimpico was a close call, and although they tied Alaves to become the second UEFA semifinalist to score eight goals, the 2-3 loss didn't make people happy in any way. Apart from De Gea, who was a pleasant surprise, Van der Beck and the rest of the substitutes simply canceled out Cavani's continued scoring.
United have won 5, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their previous 7 matches against Roma, with the only defeat still coming in 2007 as visitors. Solskjaer rotated Van Der Beek and Baye in consideration of the fact that they will be facing Aston Villa on the road in 3 days. Roma, who just confirmed Mourinho's arrival next season, have a number of players out of contract this summer, and the team's fighting spirit is even higher in order to be able to work with the new manager. Only four minutes after the start, Gianluca Mancini close to the shot, was De Gea in the goal line under the recognition of the leg blocked out; then Mkhitaryan corner kick to grab the goal and slightly off. Only a quarter of an hour into the game, Manchester United has been the opponent shot 4 feet, if not for De Gea's concentration, the door is almost unprotected.
Cavani's timing is still quite good, but when faced with Mirante, the Uruguayan made a similar pick to Havertz's yesterday, but he was unlucky to hit the crossbar as well, and the ball bounced directly off the line. He then received a direct feed into the penalty area, once again kicked and was precisely blocked out by Mirante. The Red Devils' No. 7 was finally able to get his shot away when Fred once again penetrated Roma's all-pressing defense.
But with a goal easy side of Manchester United, obviously a little bit of trust, Solskjaer with Brandon Williams and Tellez replaced the debutant Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw, but the competition status is obviously not up to the standard of the two people, became a breakthrough for Rome to get a goal. After Maguire's suspected handball in the penalty area was ignored, Henrikh Mkhitaryan's downward pass from the left was swept to the center by Pedro at the back post, and Dzeko seized the opportunity to head in the goal, and the difference in strength between the starters and the alternates was revealed in this conceding goal.
Being equalized United slightly panicked, and the first half of the midfield helm is still reliable Fred, in Maguire breakout not far after the front of the penalty area in the face of Rome's two robbers to pick a forced cross, the results are naturally playing with fire, Cristante's breakthrough, so the atmosphere on the field steeply become tense. Subsequently Pedro and Mkhitaryan twice in the penalty area, but were De Gea one by one to resolve. The Spaniard finished the game with 10 remedies, the third highest of his career, behind only against Arsenal in 2017 (14) and Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 (11). Simply by himself, avoiding a repeat of Barcelona's overturned past three years ago. On the offensive end, Cavani once again seized the vacuum of the all-out counterattacking Roma, and the Uruguayan's unmarked header leveled the score, and every 131 minutes this season, Cavani scored a goal, with the highest power of the team, and he became the first player in 35 years to score twice in both the UEFA semifinals.
Toward the end of the game, Santon left after a series of shaking to get rid of the pass to the penalty area, substitute 19-year-old Zalewski followed up with a shot, the ball hit the legs of the Teles produced a folding line bounced into the goal. As expected to take the competition of course, Roma played the atmosphere and solemnity, but not enough to fill the first round sinkhole. Undefeated in their last 12 European home games, they became the last Serie A team to go home in this season's European competition.
Faced with a one-sided competition process and a slightly stingy results, the goal of Cristante upset: "We know that there is no possibility of turning the tide, we have been out of the second half, but the success of the results will only aggravate our regret." The face of the opponent almost crazy counterattack, the first time to lead the team forward cup final Solskjaer, still stunned: "This is a strange game, we have been giving the opponent possession, fortunately we have one of the best goalkeeper in the world. I'm very disappointed with the loss, especially in the second half. The good thing is that it's still a great feeling to be in the final and I'll see you in Gdansk on May 26th."
