With maxed-out heading ability from the start, I became the king of Arsenal.

The moment Sun Yu headed the ball, Vermaelen and Song rushed forward desperately.

The other Arsenal players shrank back to the goal line, looking up helplessly at the sky.

Sun Yu's jump height was too high; despite Vermaelen and Song's best efforts, they were still more than half a head shorter than him.

Sun Yu flicked his head, sending the ball flying towards the bottom edge of the goalpost.

The nearby Arsenal players were all jumping up with all their might, and Szczesny made a desperate dive to get to them.

But none of the Arsenal players could stop the header; they could only watch helplessly as the ball flew into the goal.

"Yeah!"

The moment the ball flew into the goal, all the Stoke City fans shouted in unison.

[Vermaelen's armor penetration value +70]

[Song's defense penetration value +70]

[Szczesny's armor penetration value +70]

Koscielny's armor penetration value +70

【...】

Wenger's defense penetration value +40

"Haha! I knew we could win!"

Sun Yu laughed and pointed at Shawcross, then accelerated and performed a long knee slide below the stands where the Stoke City fans were.

His teammates all ran up and excitedly surrounded him.

Inside the penalty area, the Arsenal players stood with their heads down for a good ten seconds before silently walking towards the midfield.

At the edge of the court, Pulis ran a few meters along the sideline and delivered a powerful right hook.

Not far away, Wenger frowned, his right hand on his chin, racking his brains for a way to defeat the enemy, and the more he thought, the more his brows furrowed.

Martin Tyler shouted the instant Sun Yu scored: "Goal! Sun Yu scores the first goal for Stoke City with a header, it's a header relay!"

"Stoke City used three different tactics in their three aerial duels. The first time, Sun Yu pounced on the ball inside the penalty area; the second time, Sun Yu attracted defenders, allowing his teammates to head the ball towards goal; and the third time, his teammates drew attention, creating a scoring opportunity for him!"

"Everyone knows that if Stoke City wants to score, they have to focus on headers, and Sun Yu is an important part of these tactics."

"In comparison, the Arsenal players looked to be in a very difficult position, and their tactics were struggling against Stoke City's defense."

"Tony, did you anticipate this situation?"

Adams nodded: "If I hadn't watched Stoke City play, I might have thought Arsenal winning was a given."

"But after observing for most of the season, I actually anticipated that Arsenal would encounter such a difficult situation."

"Stoke City is a very united team, and all the players cherish the opportunity to play in the Premier League."

"It's clear that they are extremely eager to win the League Cup, which may be their only hope of ever winning it."

"Of the Arsenal players on the field, only Cesc (Fabregas) and Robin (Van Persie) had experience in the 2004-2005 FA Cup final; the other players also had no trophy experience in English football."

"Of course, Arsenal has its own advantages, and they can also seize fleeting opportunities to score goals."

"Hopefully, these twenty-odd minutes will make them understand that no final is easy."

The game restarted, and Sun Yu originally thought that Arsenal would be in a state of helplessness for a considerable period of time after conceding a goal.

Arsenal almost scored after kicking off, as they passed the ball to the right wing.

Sagna delivered a precise cross, and Van Persie's diving header went just over the crossbar.

In the past two years, many people have commented that Robin van Persie is talented, but too soft.

So much so that when his header went over the crossbar, even Adams didn't feel any regret.

From Sun Yu's perspective, Van Persie's career can be described as a rebellious period at Feyenoord and a "brilliant but fragile" player in the early and mid-career of Arsenal.

And in his last season at Arsenal and his first season at Manchester United, he became a world-class star who was "injury-immune".

His recurring pattern at Arsenal over the years has been to perform well in the early part of the season, score goals in consecutive games in the middle, then go through a guaranteed two-month recovery period, and finally return to form just as the season ends.

No matter how capable a player is, their ability cannot be significantly improved when they cannot play consecutively.

For the next ten minutes, Arsenal did not give Stoke City any more shooting opportunities, but they also did not get any good shooting opportunities.

In the 31st minute, Stoke City finally found a chance.

Wilkinson delivered a long pass from the backfield, more than 50 meters long, and Sun Yu headed the ball into the penalty area from the edge of the penalty arc.

Etherington broke through in the penalty area, and two Arsenal players tackled him to the ground inside the box.

Just as Etherington was about to appeal to the referee, Jones caught up with the ball and poked it into the net.

Szczesny made a very quick run and blocked Jones' one-on-one shot.

"oops!"

"pity!"

Sun Yu could only sigh. If only he could score a goal!

Stoke City had three excellent chances today, and capitalized on two of them.

Arsenal have only had one clear-cut chance so far, with Arshavin.

In the next five minutes, Pennant suddenly showed a determination to fight his former team to the death. He broke through twice along the right flank, reaching deep into the opponent's territory both times.

In the 37th minute, Koscielny suddenly surged ahead, first tackling Etherington from the side and then exchanging tackles with Delap who followed up, nearly injuring two people at once.

Sun Yu immediately rushed over and berated him, "Are you fucking trying to get serious?"

"If you dare to play this game, I'll send you to the emergency room today!"

Koscielny didn't speak, so Sun Yu bumped into him, yelling, "You fucking say something!"

Before Sun Yu could finish his task, a group of Stoke City players rushed up and started ramming Koscielny.

Wilshire stepped in front of Sun Yu: "Buddy, calm down, or I'll fucking..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sun Yu pushed him forward three or four meters before being blocked by Vermaelen again.

Fearing a major incident in the final, the referee first awarded Koscielny the yellow diamond card, which calmed down the Stoke City players.

In the Premier League, this action would be worth a yellow card.

In the context of Stoke City's training, this move would only be considered a bit excessive.

But Stoke City players were very careful today, and everyone tried to avoid getting yellow cards too early.

Stoke City took a free kick, and Sun Yu passed the ball across to the wing. Etherington dribbled past his opponent, but Sagna accelerated to block his position and then turned halfway to pass the ball to Wilshere.

Wilshere dribbled all the way up the pitch, while all the Stoke City players sprinted back towards their own half.

Wilshere and Van Persie executed a one-two pass, and seeing no defenders around, Wilshere opted for a long-range shot.

The ball hit the crossbar and bounced back. Delap's header clearance was not far enough, and Fabregas passed the ball to the right.

Walcott dribbled to the byline, then skillfully turned and accelerated past Huth, sending a high ball into the penalty area.

Van Persie volleyed the ball into the goal.

1:1.

What the hell!

So fast!

Sun Yu sighed.

Arsenal took less than twenty seconds from winning the ball to taking two shots.

After scoring, Van Persie knelt on the grass in apparent pain. He had kicked Shawcross during the shot and seemed to have twisted his knee.

The scene immediately switched to the Arsenal coaching bench, where Wenger excitedly pumped his fist, a gesture he rarely made with such emotion.

In an interview, Wenger said that he was deeply influenced by Eastern culture when he was coaching the J-League. He found that Japanese sumo wrestlers would try to keep a straight face after winning in order to avoid provoking their opponents.

However, in order to break the embarrassing record of five titles in six years, he rarely became emotional.

Sun Yu returned to the center circle, clapping and shouting to his teammates, "Forget about this ball, let's start again!"

After the restart, Arsenal quickly gained the upper hand.

Stoke City players committed a series of fouls, with Pennant bringing down Fabregas and receiving a yellow card.

He tried to argue, but the referee immediately put his hand to his mouth.

Stoke City's defense was somewhat disorganized for the next few minutes, but they quickly regained their composure.

At the end of the first half, both teams' players returned to the locker room.

Sun Yu loudly reminded his teammates: "Guys, the game isn't over yet, you have to stay focused."

"We've never won a championship, and most of them haven't either. Don't give them too much respect!"

"We must show the spirit to fight them to the very end!"