Harbinger Of Glory

Liverpool recovered to their half almost immediately after that failed attack, covering their lacking spaces right afterwards as Wigan restarted play with a toss from Ben Amos.

Following that, they stayed relatively harmless, just moving the ball around without any intent to attack until they did when the ball broke for Reyes, who immediately found the left flank.

Carlo received it on the right with Alexander-Arnold in front of him, and he did not hesitate to take his man on.

He took a single touch forward before following it up with another.

Then he drove at Trent, dropped his shoulder and pushed the ball beyond him before accelerating down the outside, going as far as moving even beyond the boundaries of the pitch before sprinting back in as the crowd rose.

”Blistering pace from the winger. Trent has to keep up, but Carlo’s got him!”

He reached the edge of the box, a cross looking like the most likely outcome considering Jake’s towering presence in the box, but he cut the ball back instead toward Reyes.

Reyes opened his body to receive it but slowed for a moment and saw Liverpool’s midfield collapsing around him.

When he did this, he chose the sensible option and laid it back instead of forcing the shot as the move ended a few passes later.

But the message, if there was any, had been delivered because Liverpool had certainly gotten it.

Wigan’s attack was so sudden that if they laxed for just a second, they might be blaming themselves a lot more often in the game.

”That’s exactly what Wigan will want in this game,” Gray said. ”Get Carlo running at Alexander-Arnold so as to exploit the latter’s obvious defensive shortcomings and don’t let Liverpool settle into their shape.”

Tyler picked up the thread and nodded on the broadcast.

”And they’ve found that route very early.”

”Yes, they have,” Gray concluded again, ”but they also have to be careful not to overcommit because then the person they are trying to press so hard can quickly use just a single pass to render them vulnerable!”

Liverpool restarted once again and immediately looked to answer, and following that, the next few minutes became a contest of small decisions.

Wigan tried their hardest to press when the ball went wide because that was where all the passing threat came from, and Liverpool played around the first man.

It was almost like a tug of war with both sides looking seemingly even, but when it was like this, there were a few players one could look to, to break the stalemate, and one such player was Leo.

His presence in the game so far had been minuscule, but Leo stayed involved without forcing himself into the game.

He kept his touches short and moved the ball on quickly, but that was the least of what he was doing.

When Liverpool’s midfield stepped toward him, he played around them rather than trying to carry through the pressure, and he also did his best to warn his mates of the pressures and attempts at tackling from their blind spots.

That had been one of Dawson’s main instructions.

Don’t give Liverpool the turnover they were obviously so waiting for.

And after a few days of training for it, Leo followed it almost instinctively.

It wasn’t perfect, as sometimes his urges to take the ball forward proved difficult to contain, but it got the job done.

The game settled into a pattern without becoming predictable.

Liverpool had more of the ball, but Wigan’s shape remained intact, while every time the home side won possession, the attack seemed to move forward a little faster.

Fifteen minutes passed and even by then, the crowd had not quietened, though the early excitement had settled into something more watchful.

Every Liverpool attack drew a reaction, and every Wigan break brought the supporters to their feet.

Then all of a sudden, Carlo found himself facing Alexander-Arnold again.

It looked almost like a repeat of what had happened earlier, but this time Trent was ready.

Carlo pushed the ball ahead, but the Liverpool defender read it and stepped in, shielding the ball and winning it cleanly.

Carlo still poked the ball away but it only richocheted off of Trent’s ankle and the ball broke loose.

To the dismay of Carlo, it went into the space behind him and right on cue, Salah sprang on it.

He collected it and turned toward the Wigan half almost immediately.

”Salah with the ball and now Liverpool can break! Is this the chance to break the deadlock?” Tyler called on the broadcast.

With how Salah was moving, it wasn’t hard to think so, as suddenly, Wigan had to run toward their own goal.

He came up against the Wigan left back and swept it behind Bennet in one motion, setting off the footrace.

Salah might have aged, but that didn’t change his pace.

With Bennett already closing him down, the Egyptian found enough room to get to the ball and get the cross away.

Bennett’s hand caught a handful of his shirt as he delivered, but the ball was already on its way across the area.

There Darwin Núñez tracked the ball and looked like he was getting to it, but then O’Shea slipped right in front of him and headed it clear.

The ball rose, and as it did, Leo moved underneath it.

He watched it down, adjusted his form and took it cleanly on his chest.

The ball dropped in front of him, but before he could take another touch, he found himself suddenly under the pressure of Mohammed Salah.

The Liverpool forward had turned the moment the clearance fell and was now sprinting toward Leo, looking to win it back before Wigan could begin another attack.

Leo waited and bided his time, and then, at the last moment, he lifted the ball over Salah’s head.

It was a tiny touch, but perfectly judged as Salah’s momentum carried him underneath it despite his attempt to head it away.

”Beautiful from Calderon, and Leo goes...” the commentary tried to say, but before they could finish, Salah’s foot caught Leo as he tried to turn away and Leo went down.

”...down.”