Harbinger Of Glory

Foden wheeled away toward the corner, teammates racing after him as he slid on the grass.

Dawson stood still for a moment on the touchline, watching all this and then shook the stench of the goal off like a bad headache.

Then he clapped his hands.

”Come on! Shake it off!”

The Wigan players slowly returned to their positions, and City, meanwhile, after the restart, began pushing their defensive line higher.

They had sensed something.

With Wigan forced deeper, City’s midfield could squeeze the space around Reyes and prevent the home side from building through the centre.

The result was almost immediate as Wigan began spending longer stretches inside their own half.

But the higher City pushed, the more space they left behind, and Wigan eventually found a way with it.

After one of those moments of City possessing the ball for almost 5 minutes, Reyes received the ball under pressure and, without fully turning, opened his body and bent a pass over Gvardiol toward the left channel.

”That’s a lovely ball! And Wigan could be in here!”

Ezra, with his spectacular pace, lurched forward across the grass, almost leaving a trail as Gvardiol chased.

The ball inched closer and closer towards goal and with his defensive line trailing, Ederson saw the danger and made the decision to charge out of his area.

”Ederson’s coming and Ezra in a race here!”

Ederson looked the likely winner, but reaching just enough, Ezra got a touch on it and sent it bobbling right past Ederson, who missed the clearance past the point where the ball would arrive.

”OH, HE’S DONE HIM! IS THIS WIGAN’S CHANCE FOR THE LEVELLER?”

Gvardiol was recovering quickly while Ezra pushed forward, trying to reach the byline before the Croatian could get back across him, but after faltering a bit earlier, Gvardiol caught him.

The City defender leaned into Ezra and managed to knock him off balance, but Ezra got his foot around the ball before he went down.

The ball rushed quickly towards the centre of the box where Jake had two defenders around him.

Both expected him to attack it, but using his movements, he dragged the duo towards the ball and then left it, causing the ball to run past him and right there, Callum Lang had arrived completely unmarked.

”IT’S CALLUM LANG!” the commentator bellowed, almost wishing that the winger would just send the ball into the net, and gladly, he did, lifting the ball past Kyle Walker into the empty net, despite the latter’s attempts to clear the ball off the line!

”GOAL!”

The DW Stadium erupted as Lang turned away immediately, sprinting toward the corner.

”What a counterattack! WIGAN ARE LEVEL!”

”Look at the awareness from Jake there. Everyone watches him because he’s been the target all afternoon, but he knows exactly what’s happening around him. He lets that ball run, and Lang has the simplest finish he’ll get all season.”

While the celebrations went on, the stadium cameras quickly cut away from there and went up towards the executive seating area, where Leo had already jumped to his feet and so had Carlo.

Both were celebrating wildly, Leo throwing an arm around Carlo as the City loanee shouted toward the pitch.

”And look at this!”

The main commentator laughed.

”The injured man and the suspended man are celebrating as if they’re playing!”

”That’s what happens when your teammates are down there. Neither of them can do anything about the situation today, but you can see exactly where their hearts are.”

The stadium screens picked up the two of them and Dawson, on the pitch, couldn’t help but smile as he looked at them.

Then shook his head before turning back toward the pitch.

Up in the seating area, Leo suddenly realised what was happening.

He looked toward the screen, then towards Carlo, who was already laughing.

Mia and Gianna were both laughing too, but Leo simply shrugged.

He didn’t care, and neither did Carlo.

The City supporters, however, looked considerably less amused.

Their own academy product had just watched Wigan equalise against Manchester City while celebrating against the club that still technically owned his registration.

After this, the game restarted, and for a few minutes, both sides became more cautious.

The intensity remained, but neither wanted to make the first mistake.

City circulated possession without forcing the issue, while Wigan resisted the temptation to throw everyone forward.

Then, in the forty-third minute, City found another opening.

Rodri received possession near the halfway line and found Grealish already running.

With a sharp ping, the defensive midfielder wasted no time and lifted the ball over the Wigan midfield into the space beyond the defensive line.

”That’s a wonderful ball,” the commentary called as Grealish chased it down.

He reached the byline, slowed for half a second, then cut inside as Darikwa scrambled to close out the passing lane, but Grealish slipped the ball across before he could do so, and Alvarez only needed the slightest touch.

”ALVAREZ!”

The Argentine with a small touch nudged the ball through Amos’s legs and into the back of the net, right before the away end erupted into cheers again.

”Manchester City are back in front!”

Alvarez turned toward the travelling supporters, punching the air as his teammates surrounded him.

”It’s another excellent move from City. Rodri sees the run, Grealish does the rest, and Alvarez is there to finish it.”

”Wigan have been good,” the co-commentator said, ”but Manchester City have shown their quality twice. And the home side are on the back foot again.”

The match restarted after that, but the final few minutes of the half passed without another clear opening.

City kept the ball whenever they could, while Wigan searched for another route forward without exposing themselves before the break.

Then the fourth official raised the board and showed two minutes of added time.

Wigan pushed once more, looking to stir momentum towards their side again before the break, but City held firm until the referee brought the whistle to his lips and blew it to end the half.

”Finally. The whistle sounds, and it is half-time at the DW Stadium.”