Chapter 559: A Balance!

Dawson had tried his earnest best, but the sting of things just going against the team sat with Leo.

Slowly, it began to swell into further annoyance as the match continued, resulting in differences in his game.

It was noticeable but only if you looked closer enough.

He was taking his chances a little earlier, turning when he would normally have recycled possession and trying to carry the ball through only half-open spaces.

But as the minutes passed, the patience that had made his game so difficult to disrupt began to disappear.

He received from Reyes near the halfway line with Odegaard closing from behind.

Usually, Leo would have taken the safer touch towards Bennet and allowed Wigan to build again.

Instead, he spun away from Odegaard and drove straight at Rice.

The midfielder stepped across, forcing Leo to release the ball towards Ezra, who immediately returned it into his path.

Leo took one touch and tried to burst between Rice and White, only for White to get across and force him towards the touchline.

The ball eventually went out off Leo, and he turned away without saying anything.

A few minutes later, he was at it again.

This time, Bennet found him inside the right half-space, and Leo immediately attacked the gap between Zinchenko and Rice.

Zinchenko backed away, waiting for support, while Rice held his position rather than diving into the challenge and for a moment, it looked as though he was going to wait for Reyes to arrive.

But then he pushed the ball forward.

Zinchenko stepped in, and Leo managed to squeeze past him, but the next pass came too quickly and too sharply for Fletcher to control.

Arsenal recovered possession before Wigan could get anyone around the second ball, and once more, Arsenal tried to punish them.

Odegaard found Martinelli on the left, and the Brazilian carried the ball into the space Leo had vacated.

Seriki had to come across, leaving Tilt to shift towards his spot to cover Gabriel Jesus.

Leo eventually arrived in time to help close the angle, but by then the attack had already forced Wigan into a deep defensive shape.

As Arsenal moved the ball backwards, Leo stood near the edge of the Wigan half, hands resting briefly on his hips.

What am I doing?

He had spent the last several minutes trying to force the game, but it wasn’t going his way, not that it was ever going to.

A moment later, as he stood idle, the referee’s whistle sounded when the ball went out, giving everyone a brief moment to breathe, and Reyes came across almost immediately.

"Calderon. Bro"

"Calm down, mi homem."

Leo opened his mouth to talk, but Reyes continued before he could answer.

"Why you are in such a rush? We have to take it slowly. One thing, then another."

Leo glanced towards the Arsenal players regrouping on the other side of the pitch as Reyes tapped his chest lightly.

"Step by step, yeah?"

At that, Leo nodded.

Reyes also nodded in response before he gave his shoulder a quick pat, then turned away.

"Come on. We do it together."

Leo watched him leave before looking towards the scoreboard where the clock showed 78:04.

His expression tightened.

"We don’t have that much time."

....

Behind the touchline, Nolan glanced towards Dawson before looking back at Leo on the pitch.

"Should we take him off?"

Dawson kept his eyes on the pitch and then sighed.

"For who?"

"I don’t know. He’s been a bit unstable."

Dawson heard Nolan, but shook his head.

"Let’s let him figure this one out. It’ll help us in the long run, even if we lose this match."

Nolan nodded, not entirely sure about Dawson’s plan, but he had no reason not to believe him.

Back on the pitch, the ball quickly got going again, until a few seconds later, it came to another productive halt for the home side.

"Corner for Arsenal."

The announcement from the gantry was immediately followed by a rising wave of applause around the Emirates, where fans had seen enough from their team and were hoping they would just pull through.

"It’s 9 corners to Wigan’s 4. Arsenal are slowly pushing for a third goal for security and could very well happen here!"

The commentary went on while Declan Rice walked towards the corner flag and opposite him, the Wigan players began organising themselves inside the box.

But it soon turned to nought when Saka sprang from the huddle and ran towards Rice for the short corner.

Rice, reacting immediately, tapped the ball to his fellow Englishman and then ran into space as Saka took it.

Joe Bennett, tasked with handling Saka, also followed just a second behind, reacting well.

He flew towards Saka, lowering his centre of gravity as he tried to close the winger down before he could turn and seeing that, Saka gave him his shoulder.

Bennet committed, trying to use his form over Saka, but the latter used it instead and shifted the ball away from the challenge, slipping towards the corner of the penalty area before lifting a cross towards the far post, but Amos read it early.

The goalkeeper stepped across, caught it cleanly and pulled the ball into his chest before any Arsenal shirt could attack it.

"Good hands from the goalkeeper," the commentary came through as Amos held onto it.

With their attack having been thwarted, the Arsenal players who had joined the attack for the corner began scrambling back.

Amos stood up then and sought to take advantage of the temporary disorganisation.

He spotted McClean already moving down the flank and released a long punt towards him, and usually the person on the flank would have gotten to it, but McClean’s acceleration wasn’t enough, causing the ball to go out as Amos slapped his gloves together in frustration.

With that break in play, both sides took to the bench to have a change of personnel.

The fourth official raised his board on the touchline, drawing the attention of the nearby supporters as Jake Sulley stood ready beside Max Power.

Fletcher’s number nine appeared in red while Sulley’s 47 lit up in green, and the broadcast quickly picked up on the change.

"Both sides are making a couple of changes now, and Jake Sulley is coming on for Fletcher."

The co-commentator’s voice softened slightly as the camera followed the young striker towards the pitch.

"And it seems that neck scare wasn’t as serious as first feared. There was a real concern a couple of weeks ago that we might have been looking at a fractured neck, so to see him back this quickly is certainly encouraging."

Fletcher, seeing his number, began walking off to applause by the Wigan fans, and while he did so, the board changed again.

Tiehi 15 — Power 6

"And Wigan veteran, Max Power is also coming."

There was a brief pause before the commentator added what many watching at home were probably thinking.

"I have to say, I thought Calderon might have been the one to come off here. Tiehi has been very good today, but Dawson clearly trusts the teenager to help drag Wigan back into this."

Tiehi jogged towards the bench as Power entered the pitch, while Jake, before moving into his position, settled right near the midfield.

After that, he caught Leo’s eye; he walked over and said something quietly.

Leo listened, nodded once, and then turned towards the Arsenal half as Jake began moving forward to settle into his designated position.

When the throw was taken, Jake immediately went to work.

He planted himself between Saliba and Gabriel, leaning into both centre-backs and refusing to give either man the freedom to step out.

They tried to move him, but Sulley held his ground, using his body to keep them pinned while Wigan searched for a route forward.

It gave them something they had been missing for a while back, and that was that towering physical presence.

With the Arsenal team having someone like Jake to deal with, Leo stayed deeper at first, allowing Reyes to carry the ball while Power settled behind them.

Then, little by little, he began to creep higher, leaving just Power at the base of midfield.

While he did so, Odegaard followed.

The Arsenal captain followed Leo into the midfield, and that small movement was enough to give Wigan a little more room.

Behind them, Power remained disciplined, watching Havertz and making sure Arsenal could not immediately exploit the space Leo was leaving.

From there, Arsenal continued protecting their lead, realising the threat now that Calderon looked freed of his defensive duties, while Wigan became increasingly willing to commit bodies forward.

Leo continued drifting higher, and Odegaard continued following, resulting in

Then, after a desperate Arsenal press after being denied possession for a long time, Wigan tried to build.

"Bennet," the commentator muttered as the pass went outside the first time.

"The Wigan left back touches it to Power, but he’s sent it to Femi!"

"Can Wigan get a move on here?" the commentator asked right as Femi Seriki received on the move and immediately shifted the ball towards Ezra and, without breaking stride, Ezra took it on the turn and moved it inside to Reyes.

"Beautiful passage of play here and now Reyes turns..."

The Portuguese midfielder turned into Arsenal’s midfield, only to find Zinchenko already stepping across.

The Ukrainian had inverted into the centre, narrowing the route while Gabriel moved across to keep Ezra occupied.

Reyes barely had time to lift his head when Zinchenko swooped in, causing the ball to ricochet off his leg.

"Another loose effort now what wants it more?"

Havertz had dropped deep to attack the second ball and got right in front of it, but right then, Leo slipped into his path.

He stepped across the German and used his body to shield it, absorbing the contact against his back.

He glanced once, seeking an option, but with Odegaard hounding him, Leo immediately let go of the ball.

Reyes, being the nearest option, found the ball coming his way, but even he didn’t have time on it.

Without much time to think, Reyes touched the ball with the outside of his boot right as he was sent tumbling down, and luckily, Leo was already moving into the space.

"Leo picks it up, and now he’s driving forward. He has options."

Jake put his hand down, calling to link up play, and so Leo shaped as though he was going to play Jake in, then suddenly scooped the ball onto his left foot and shifted his body towards goal.

The sudden shift threw off the Arsenal defence and with space to shoot, Leo’s left leg began to swing.

The fans behind the goal slowly rose to their feet, but just as it seemed Leo would follow through, Odegaard happened.

The Arsenal captain caught Leo’s legs from behind just as he tried to strike, and with his legs tangled, Leo’s balance disappeared, sending him chest-first into the grass.

"OHHHHH, that’s a bad challenge from the Arsenal skipper. There was no escaping that one."