On April 24, Beijing time, a number of heavyweight duels were staged in world football, with Havertz and Ben White scoring twice in the 29th round of the Premier League, and Arsenal beating Chelsea by 5 goals. In the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Milik scored a stunner, Juventus 1-2, and the aggregate score was 3-2 to send Lazio to advance. In the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, Ain eliminated Riyadh Crescent 1-2 and 5-4 on aggregate to advance to the final. Here's a look at the highlights of each matchup.
Premier League: Arsenal - Chelsea
Arsenal started with a strong start and continued to attack the Blues' high defence, with Rice setting up Leandro Trossard to get off to the perfect start with a brilliant fourth-minute goal from a tight angle. The leading Arsenal struggled to make quick transitions and press up front, constantly looking for holes in the Chelsea defence, with Tomiyasu's header headed high, Rice fired wide, Havertz volleyed wide in the box, and many threatening opportunities were missed. Chelsea counter-attacked sharply, Tisassi missed a good chance to open the net, Jacquesson broke through and hit the woodwork, Cucurella and Enzo were saved in the box, and both teams had plenty of chances but couldn't score. Arsenal returned to the second half to continue the start, and just two minutes after Kai Havertz received a scalpel and pushed a shot into the six-yard box that was saved, White took advantage of the corner kick to create chaos in front of goal and then pushed home to extend the score. In the 56th minute, Odegaard sent a masterful shot to assist Kai Havertz to score a solo goal. In the 65th minute, Havertz dodged from the middle of the penalty area and fired a powerful shot into the far corner. Ben White stepped into the penalty area in an offside position and easily picked up a shot to complete a double knock to break Chelsea, and finally Arsenal won two consecutive wins 5-0, accumulating 77 points and leading the Premier League with a three-point advantage.
Coppa Italia: Lazio-Juventus
Lazio, who were two goals behind in the first leg, fought with their backs, and the two teams did not have a fast tempo in the opening stage but attacked and defended each other. Cambiaso's volley from a two-man pack in the box was deflected wide to scare the opponent, Lazio responded quickly, and Castellanos jumped to head home from a long ball from a corner in the 11th minute to chase the aggregate score to just one goal. Juve hit back, Vlahovic had a low shot from the middle saved, and Bremer headed over the crossbar from a corner. Towards half-time, Perrin made a decisive move to block the ball in front of a one-on-one goal. In the first three minutes of the second half, Lazio tore apart the Juventus defense with two passes, and Castellanos stepped forward in the penalty area to resist the opposing defender and scored with a low shot, completing a double to chase the aggregate score to 2-2. Milik scored the winner in the 83rd minute in front of goal. In the end, Juventus advanced to the final 1-2 and 3-2 on aggregate.
AFC Champions League: Riyadh Crescent - Ain
The 2-4 defeat in the first leg put Riyadh Crescent in a desperate situation, and this round returned to the home field to play the momentum of a Jedi counterattack, Michael was tackled in the opening four minutes of the penalty area to create a penalty, Neves deceived the goalkeeper to score a goal. Ain fought back with a quick counter-attack, and in the 11th minute, Eric was unmarked in the middle and received Nadir to cross and push the far corner to score a quick equaliser. The two sides opened wide and closed to start an attacking posture, and in the middle of the half, the Crescent team's cross from the side caused the Ain central defender's header to clear the ball and hit his own goal frame. Ain was relatively passive, retreating from the backfield and intensively deploying defense, doing a good job of restricting the opponent's flanks to create space and quickly play the ball, and it was difficult for the Crescent team to penetrate into the penalty area for a while. Ain pressed ferociously and counterattacked to create danger, Rahimi missed a good chance to go on a solo shot, and Ahmed and Romero shot wide from distance in quick succession. The Crescents got off to the top again in the second half, with Al-Dosari volleying home from the far corner of the box. The Crescent Moon, who was one goal behind on aggregate, attacked wildly in the frontcourt, but repeatedly squandered good opportunities, and failed to grasp at least three great opportunities, and finally Al Ain advanced to the final with a 1-2 and an aggregate score of 5-4.