Harbinger Of Glory

”It’s Leo’s ball in. Who gets it?”

The commentator fired as Leo’s corner found the near post area where Reyes had positioned himself.

The Brighton players scrambled to get in the way, but despite their best efforts, Reyes got his head to it cleanly, redirecting it toward the bottom corner.

The ball looked like it would squeeze in any moment, even if the goalkeeper got a hand to it, but that was what Jason Steele did right.

He reacted sharply, dropping in a split second to cover the small gap with his foot and push the ball out.

”SAVED! THAT STOP WAS WONDERFUL,” the commentary judged as the Wigan fans behind the goal brought their hands down, halting their joy.

Before Steele could get up, the referee pointed upward for another corner as Leo, who had just taken a few steps away from the corner flag, returned towards it.

He sent the next ball in, looking as dangerous as the first.

This time Steele came out to meet the ball, deciding that claiming it was better than whatever had just happened.

He got to it and held it as the Wigan players began moving towards their half.

Right by the touchline, De Zerbi’s hands were visibly animated with both of them circling in the air as he demanded more intensity and action from his players, same as most managers did when things weren’t really going their way.

As the game progressed, Mitoma, who had been quiet in a way that he usually wasn’t, got onto the end of a pass from Joao Pedro.

When he received the ball wide right, he went at Seriki, slowing down and using slight nudges and touches to keep himself light and the defender guessing.

Before Seriki could guess right what the former wanted to do, Mitoma suddenly stopped, causing Seriki to lax for a second instinctively, but just as he did, Mitoma knocked the ball around.

The acceleration was sharp enough that Seriki’s recovery stride arrived where Mitoma had been rather than where he was.

Suddenly Mitoma had the angle he wanted and the ball on his right foot while the commentary backed him on the broadcast.

”Mitoma,” the commentator said.

”Finally he shows up, and Seriki has been beaten.”

Before the gantry could utter another word, trivela came in from the outside of Mitoma’s right boot, bending away from Amos and then back in.

The delivery was genuinely difficult to defend because the movement of the ball worked against the goalkeeper’s natural dive and the defender’s reach.

A moment later, Welbeck found himself right ahead of the Wigan backline as the ball bounced then settled almost right in front of him, and he wasn’t going to complain.

He stuck his right foot out and pushed the ball, all looking to knock it past the keeper after realising his old legs couldn’t take him any further.

It was something most strikers would have done and expected to put the ball in the back of the net, so it was surprising for Welbeck when Amos got a hand to it.

The Wigan keeper, with just the fingertips of his right hand, did enough to push it onto the post, and the sound the post made when the ball hit it was the sound of the Amex not scoring again.

”Oh what a stop,” the commentator said.

”Ben Amos has been outstanding today.

That is a Premier League goalkeeper’s save from a player who has been carrying Wigan’s top flight ambitions on his back since the first whistle.”

As the commentators ranted, Joao Pedro arrived second later at the rebound from a tight angle on the right side and hit it anyway.

And just as expected, the ball didn’t do enough and only caught the side netting as the Amex crowd dropped back into their seats.

”Brighton will be pulling their hair out,” the commentator said.

”They have had every opportunity to be level or ahead in this game, and they keep finding the post or the goalkeeper or the side netting.

But the clock is ticking, and Wigan should be under no illusions.

If Brighton find their level all at once, one chance is all it takes.”

On the other side of the touchline, Dawson looked at the clock on the stadium screen and then at the bench.

He wouldn’t mind letting the players on the pitch play because they were performing better than expected.

But the subject of whether they could keep that up was getting more and more questionable.

And so a second later, Darikwa and McClean were on their feet before he had finished the gesture, both of them already pulling at their training tops.

As the duo did so, Jake was also up, jacket halfway off with the expression of a man who had convinced himself his number was being called.

And that got the bench into ripples.

”BRO SIT DOWN!”

”Jake, what are you doing?”

”Put your jacket back on.”

Jake looked around at his teammates laughing and then sat back down, putting on a stern face like it hadn’t even happened.

It might have been subtle, but what Jake had done, if intentionally or not, had released whatever ounce of tension the squad hadn’t even known they were holding.

The changes came a whole 10 minutes after that, but it wasn’t only for Wigan.

Brighton too made changes of their own as they brought on Gilmour for Dahoud and Enciso for Joao Pedro.

In reaction to that, Wigan responded with Darikwa for Seriki, who came off to warm applause from the away end, and McClean for Ezra.

”Ezra comes off,” the commentator said.

”And it wasn’t his most influential afternoon, though winning the penalty that led to the goal is nothing.

Dawson will have been pleased with the work even if the wider performance was below what we’ve seen from him.”

Ezra came to the touchline and met McClean’s high five and then turned to Dawson, who told him he’d done well and to take a breath.

Behind that, Jake opened both arms wide as Ezra reached the bench.

”Welcome to the bench,” he said, and before he even finished the sentence, Ezra’s shirt hit him in the face.

Back on the pitch, Leo watched the shirt land on Jake’s head, taking advantage of the pause in play before turning his attention back towards the game.

But then, as the game continued, it felt like something had changed for the Brighton players.

Something that he needed to figure out lest it placed Wigan at risk of conceding soon.

He watched and watched, and just a couple of minutes later, he found the culprit.