Harbinger Of Glory

”Martin Ødegaard has found the corner! What a strike from the Arsenal captain, and what a turn of momentum in this match!”

His co-commentator could barely get a word in.

”That’s magnificent!” he said finally, but behind the celebration, Wigan’s reaction was immediate and very different.

Leo, who had watched Odegaard worm his way and strike the ball, all from the opponent’s half, spun toward the referee, and he was angry to say the least.

”What?”

The question came out sharper than usual as he walked towards the official.

Rice’s challenge was still fresh in his mind, the feeling of the boot against his leg still there, and now the same move had ended with Arsenal scoring at the other end.

”Come on!” Reyes grabbed Leo from behind, but Leo shrugged him off.

”No, I need to ask, what the actual fuc-,” Leo tried to say, but Reyes immediately had him by the mouth, pulling him away when it was usually the other way round.

The referee, looking displeased, looked like he’d reach into his pocket any second, but James McClean suddenly stepped across him.

”REF!”

McClean’s voice was louder than Leo’s.

”You’ve got to be having a laugh! How have you let that gone on?”

The referee turned and found McClean was already pointing toward the spot where Rice had made the challenge.

”That was a foul!”

The referee raised a hand.

”Back away.”

”Everyone saw it!”

”Back away,” the referee said for the second time, but if anything, McClean continued forward instead, finally earning the ire of the referee, who reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow.

McClean stared at him for a second before throwing both hands outward in disbelief.

”You’re booking me for that?”

”Enough,” the referee said threateningly, and by then Reyes had finally managed to pull Leo away from the confrontation, but more Wigan players had now arrived.

Whatmough came in quickly, putting an arm across one teammate and then another.

”We’ve got to go. Come on.”

”He took him out!” Ezra protested, but Whatmough quickly shook his head.

”Doesn’t matter now. Come on.”

The referee shoved neither player nor anyone else, but his gestures became increasingly firm as he pushed the group away from him.

”Back to your positions.”

And all that while, the commentators watched the scene unfold.

”Well, the goal itself is an excellent one, but Wigan are absolutely livid about the challenge in the build-up.”’

”They have a point in terms of the contact. The question is whether Rice actually got enough of the ball first, and the referee clearly believes he did. He’s allowed the advantage to continue, and Arsenal have punished Wigan immediately.”

”And Calderon is particularly unhappy.”

”He is, and that’s unusual. We’ve seen him frustrated today, but that is about as animated as we’ve seen him since his appearance in the league!”

Leo was still talking as Reyes pulled him farther away and Dawson had already begun moving down the touchline.

”Leo.”

”LEO!”

”LEEOO!!”

And that finally got Leo to look across, and immediately, Dawson motioned him over.

”Come here.”

Leo hesitated before walking toward him, and Dawson waited until he was close enough to speak without raising his voice.

”Forget it, okay. Just forget it and let them have it,” he said as Leo breathed heavily through his nose.

”He caught me.”

”He caught me before he got the ball.”

”I know what you think happened,” Dawson said, stepping closer, ”but let’s forget that. It’s not the end of the game.”

Leo looked back toward the pitch, where Arsenal were still finishing their celebration and for several seconds, he simply stood there beneath the rain, his breathing still heavier than it needed to be.

Then he closed his eyes briefly and drew in a long breath through his nose.

When he let it out, some of the tension finally left his shoulders.

”Good,” Dawson said. ”Now go.”

Leo nodded and then turned back toward the pitch, but the referee hadn’t forgotten.

As Leo passed, the official stepped toward him.

”That’s your warning. Don’t do it again.”

Leo stopped and looked at the referee.

For a moment, it seemed as though he might say something, but he didn’t and simply nodded once and walked away.

”Well, this has certainly taken a controversial turn in the last few minutes. Wigan felt there was a foul on Calderon, the referee disagreed, and Arsenal have made them pay with a superb finish from Odegaard.”

His partner added, ”Wigan have every reason to be frustrated, but they cannot allow that frustration to decide the rest of this match. They have been excellent in spells today, and there is still time.”

”Twenty-five minutes remain in this top-two clash at the Emirates.”

Down the pitch, the referee raised his whistle.

”Arsenal lead Wigan by two goals to one.”

And with the rain continuing to fall, the game started again.

....

[Executive box]

Pirlo leaned forward in his seat, his eyes following Leo as the Wigan midfielder returned to position, and after a while, he finally sighed.

”That was his punishment,” he said while pointing towards the pitch.

Spalletti looked at him, and he couldn’t disagree more.

”Even someone with the least knowledge of football knows that was a foul on Leo.”

Pirlo gave a small shrug, still watching the pitch.

”That might be true, but things like this happen. Our position requires you to be able to assess risks well, but he didn’t.”

”Referees are human too. Sometimes the pressure of a big game gets to them. Especially when you have a team like Wigan creating this kind of match.”

Spalletti glanced toward the scoreboard before looking back at him.

”A team nobody would have considered a real threat at the start of the season.”

Pirlo leaned back slightly.

”And that might be Leo’s problem as well. He’s adventurous. I get what he’s trying to do, but in a game like this it’s only a small mistake, or not sometimes.

If he releases that ball immediately after getting past Ødegaard, they probably don’t end up in that situation. He had the space. He had the run. But he wanted to carry it further.”

Pirlo’s eyes remained on Leo.

”Sometimes the difficult thing isn’t seeing what you can do. It’s knowing when you’ve done enough.”

As Pirlo finished saying that, Spalletti looked back toward the pitch where the ball was already back in play.