When Robert Lewandowski wound up to shoot near the penalty spot in Arsenal’s box, Arsenal’s defenders could only watch, completely powerless.

As the football flew into the goal, Arsenal fans in the stands held their heads in their hands, never expecting their goal to be breached like that!

“Lewandowski—! Lewandowski!!” Marcel Reif was very excited. “A beautiful volley! Götze’s cross was perfect as well!”

The Borussia Dortmund players on the field all ran towards Lewandowski, Zhou Yi among them, but he was grabbed by Kehl halfway there.

“Well done, Zhou Yi!” The captain praised him. “That tackle just now was spot on!”

Zhou Yi smiled. “You flatter me, Captain. That also depends on luck.”

“Hey, don’t be so modest. You Chinese always like to be modest. If it’s your credit, it’s your credit. If it weren’t for you, this goal probably wouldn’t have happened!”

Zhou Yi stopped being modest and smiled happily.

His happiness wasn’t just because he’d been praised by Captain Kehl, or because the goal had tied the score. More importantly, he’d found confidence in this success. He did indeed have an advantage in defense.

This advantage was different from everyone else’s, an advantage that belonged only to him.

He was indeed on the right path.

※※※

He Ping was also paying attention to Zhou Yi. “The previous goal was initiated from Zhou Yi’s steal. Is that Klopp’s intention in having Zhou Yi defend? But that steal just now looks familiar…”

He suddenly remembered that this goal was somewhat similar to the one Borussia Dortmund had scored against Inter Milan on the road, where Zhou Yi had also stolen the ball from behind.

At the time, everyone who saw that scene focused on the goal, and as for Zhou Yi’s steal… it was mostly attributed to luck.

They thought Zhou Yi just happened to be in a crucial position, and he just stuck out his foot and stole the ball.

So, was this goal also due to good luck, a lucky coincidence?

He Ping didn’t dare to make such a judgment in his heart.

He felt that things weren’t that simple and couldn’t be explained by mere luck.

※※※

Off the field, Klopp jumped up excitedly when he saw Lewandowski score, waving his arms and cheering in the Emirates Stadium.

He was so excited not just because the goal had tied the score, but also because he saw that his vision had once again proven accurate!

This goal was initiated by Zhou Yi, and before initiating the attack, Zhou Yi had completed a beautiful defensive play!

Yes, this was defense!

This was the kind of defense Klopp wanted to see from Zhou Yi.

“Jürgen, we bet right!” Assistant Coach Buvac was also very happy.

“Of course! That kid has never let me down!” Klopp praised Zhou Yi effusively.

Klopp and the coaching staff had actually been studying Zhou Yi’s defense since last season.

Since Zhou Yi had officially become a defensive midfielder last season, even if his defense wasn’t great, he still had to take on some defensive tasks in that position. He couldn’t just rely on his eyes to defend.

So, Klopp and his assistants had been thinking about whether Zhou Yi was really suitable for defense, and if he was, how could they unlock his defensive abilities?

During this period, they studied a large number of Zhou Yi’s match videos, carefully analyzing Zhou Yi’s playing characteristics and style, to see if he was really suitable for defense.

In the end, Klopp and Buvac both believed that Zhou Yi actually had very good defensive abilities, but he probably didn’t even realize it himself.

They didn’t know Zhou Yi’s talent secret, but by analyzing Zhou Yi’s many matches, they found the secret in Zhou Yi’s positioning.

They came to the conclusion that Zhou Yi’s perception of space was far beyond that of ordinary people. His habit of turning his head from side to side allowed him to take in the situation around him, remembering everything in his mind. So, he could see many things that ordinary people couldn’t see.

Since he possessed such an ability, he should be able to judge the opponent’s passing routes. This provided the basis for stealing the ball.

So, it wasn’t that Zhou Yi didn’t have defensive abilities, but that his defensive abilities were different from those of ordinary people.

This misunderstanding led many people to have prejudices against Zhou Yi’s defense, including himself.

But Klopp was now going to correct this prejudice and unlock Zhou Yi’s defensive abilities.

This would be equivalent to Borussia Dortmund adding another main player.

※※※

After celebrating the goal, everyone ran back to their own half. On his way back, Zhou Yi glanced at the coach’s bench. He thought of what Head Coach Klopp had said to him during halftime, which meant that he understood him, that he knew what his advantages were even better than he did himself.

He saw Klopp standing on the sidelines, giving him a thumbs up.

So he smiled and returned a thumbs up.

Being able to meet a head coach like Klopp who understood and trusted him so much was a great blessing in his career.

※※※

After Borussia Dortmund tied the score, a tense atmosphere suddenly descended on the Emirates Stadium. Not only did the fans feel anxious, but the players also felt nervous.

The situation in the group forced them to win, and they had been in the lead, so how could they accept Borussia Dortmund tying the score?

So, after the game restarted, Arsenal continued to launch fierce attacks on Borussia Dortmund’s goal.

In their attacks, Zhou Yi continued to fulfill his defensive duties.

After successfully stealing Walcott’s pass, Zhou Yi found some tricks.

If the opportunity was really good, he would hide on the side, waiting for the opportunity to steal the ball.

But if the opportunity to directly steal the ball wasn’t particularly good, and he didn’t want the opponent to break through from his side, wanting to force the opponent to the wing or other places, then he would simply stand in the way of the opponent’s passing route.

This way, when Arsenal players saw him blocking their passing route, they would naturally retreat and pass the ball to other places.

The former and the latter were both successful defenses. It wasn’t necessary to intercept the ball every time.

Arsenal’s players quickly realized the difference they were feeling in the attack. They couldn’t quite put their finger on what the difference was, but they could see that their attack wasn’t as smooth as before.

Sometimes they had clearly identified the attacking route, but when they got halfway there, they found that the road was blocked, and they had to temporarily change to another route.

Fortunately, Arsenal’s passing and control ability was excellent. If it were another team, the attack would have been directly stopped. Arsenal could at least open up another path, but they would have to go around in a circle, delaying some time, and the originally promising opportunity would disappear in the process of detouring…

Why was this happening?

As they played, they realized that the main reason for their sluggish attack was actually… Zhou Yi!

This discovery stunned many people.

Because not only the Arsenal players, but also the commentators covering the game had noticed.

“Zhou Yi forces the opponent to pass the ball back…”

“Facing Zhou Yi, Walcott can’t break through. He passed the ball out… This scene is really surprising. You have to know that he used to easily break through Zhou Yi, leaving Zhou Yi with only his back view…” The British commentator found this unbelievable.

But there was nothing unbelievable about it. Zhou Yi could not only force Arsenal’s attack on his side to fail, but he could also occasionally directly steal the ball. Such a performance was right in front of everyone, and whether they were willing or not, they had to admit that Zhou Yi no longer seemed to be the weakest link in Borussia Dortmund’s midfield defense.

※※※

When the game reached the eighty-fifth minute, the score was still tied 1:1. But Arsenal didn’t have any obvious advantage in terms of the scene.

Borussia Dortmund frequently launched counterattacks through their defense in the backfield.

Especially after Zhou Yi participated in the defense, Borussia Dortmund’s counterattack speed was faster, and the threat increased greatly.

The Arsenal fans in the stands were silent. They realized that it wasn’t just a matter of whether they could win a few goals at home, but that they might not even be able to win at home…

This was also a question that the Arsenal players had to consider.

Can we still win this game?

Wenger on the sidelines didn’t give up hope of winning. He directed the team to strengthen their attack and give Borussia Dortmund a fatal blow in the remaining time.

The game time passed minute by minute. In the blink of an eye, the fourth official raised the sign on the sidelines, reminding everyone that injury time in this game was three minutes.

A standard injury time meant that if Arsenal wanted to win this game, they only had three minutes left to make a final push.

And for Borussia Dortmund, as long as they could drag out these three minutes, they could take a draw away from home, which was completely acceptable.

After a draw, Arsenal would still have eight points and remain second, while Borussia Dortmund would lock in first place in the group with twelve points. What could be bad about that?

Faced with Arsenal’s aggressive attack, Borussia Dortmund retreated across the board, determined to hold on to this draw.

In the ninety-second minute, Arsenal continued to attack, but this time their attack failed.

Ramsey made a passing error—actually, it’s hard to say whether it was a passing error—the ball was passed directly to Zhou Yi!

After intercepting the ball, Zhou Yi directly passed the ball out, giving it to Kagawa Shinji.

After receiving the ball, the Japanese midfielder turned around and dribbled wildly, rushing towards Arsenal’s goal.

Because Arsenal had been besieging Borussia Dortmund’s goal, there wasn’t much of a defense on their side at this moment.

Kagawa Shinji shook past Mertesacker, who was slow to turn around, and faced the onrushing goalkeeper Szczęsny, shooting with the instep of his foot!

The football rolled past Szczęsny’s feet, and then… rolled into the goal!

“Kagawa Shinji! Kagawa Shinji! Kagawa Shinji!!” Marcel Reif called out the scorer’s name repeatedly, because this was a last-minute winner! “In the ninety-second minute, Borussia Dortmund took a 2:1 lead away from home!”

As Kagawa Shinji turned around and ran wildly in the Emirates Stadium, throwing himself at Zhou Yi, the entire Emirates Stadium suddenly fell silent.

The Arsenal fans then realized that they had been overthinking things… This wasn’t even a matter of whether they couldn’t win at home, this was a rhythm where they were going to lose at home!