From Arsenal to the Ball God

Alexander Song reacted swiftly, executing a side tackle cleanly to intercept the ball, sliding it toward his team’s defense.

”Boom boom boom...!”

Taking advantage of Newcastle United’s spread-out offensive positioning, Arsenal’s midfield and defense players initiated rapid ball movement, quickly maneuvering the ball out of Newcastle’s key pressure zone.

Center-back Vermaelen received the ball down the middle, advancing a step forward. Seeing no good opportunities around, he charged towards the midfield with the ball.

He is truly a defender who knows how to attack; Wenger likes to have such a player in the center-back position to assist in ball distribution from the back.

”Boom!”

Reaching the midfield, Vermaelen passed the ball to the right to Ramsey, who sliced in the opposite direction and ultimately passed the ball to the left flank.

Ma’el received the ball, and upon stopping it, headed towards Danny Simpson, ready to make a down-the-line move past him.

However, the opponent’s defense positioned itself quickly, with a defender standing four to five meters behind Danny Simpson, wary of his explosive speed, showing that some scouting was done.

”Tackle him! Tackle him!”

”Simpson, take him down!”

”Let the young man feel the intensity of the Premier League, see if it’s still like the Championship he knows!”

”Kick his legs!”

Encouraging voices rang out from the stands, with Newcastle’s extreme fans shouting at Danny Simpson in deplorable manner.

Ma’el felt slightly annoyed, glanced at them with his peripheral vision, and moved laterally with the ball towards the center.

”Boom boom boom.....” His touch frequency was rapid; especially after mastering the rhythm, each touch became exceptionally stable, making it hard for ordinary defenders to reach out and intercept.

Stepping further towards the center and seeing the opponent’s center-back and midfielders chasing up, he passed the ball to Ramsey on the other side.

Ramsey distributed the ball to Gervinho, who took a few steps towards the opponent’s wingback before returning the pass.

Ramsey advanced with the ball, squeezing Newcastle United’s defensive line back slightly, revealing a vacuum area ahead of the penalty box.

Without looking, he delivered a horizontal pass into the gap.

”Boom!!”

Ma’el’s eyes lit up as he followed through one right leg swing, blasting with the instep towards the right side of the goal.

For better power exertion, he lowered his neck and upper body at the moment of the strike, concentrating power in his lower body.

The crowd’s gaze instantly followed the football, with some expressions tense, others full of anticipation.

”Clang!” Unexpectedly, Newcastle Goalkeeper Krul anticipated the shot, taking quick little steps and swiftly leaping to drag the ball out of the end line.

Corner!

”Wow.....!” Cheers resounded, St James’ Park Stadium’s fans applauding the goalkeeper’s excellent save.

On the sidelines, Alan Pardew seemed to find an opportunity for taunting, facing Arsenal’s coaching bench with three celebratory pumps, ”Oh... oh... yeah.....!”

Wenger didn’t turn his head, but certainly felt Alan Pardew’s provocation clearly, he silently grinded his teeth, waiting for retaliation.

”Bang!” The corner kick was taken, the football was headed towards the sideline by Newcastle United’s defense, their aerial defense was quite good.

At the second spot, Newcastle’s retreating winger captured the ball. He didn’t dare to dribble at the backfield, kicking the ball directly towards Arsenal’s backfield.

Arsenal regained possession, with Vermaelen controlling the ball, waiting for his teammates to reposition.

......

”Danny Simpson!”

In the broadcast room, Zhan Jun watched Ma’el receive the ball on the wing, sweating for Newcastle’s full-back, ”Facing Ma’el’s breakthrough! It’s a bit of a problem!

”Don’t let this young face fool you, making its debut in the Premier League. In the Championship, he scored 40 goals and provided 27 assists during a single season.

”Furthermore, in the game against Bayern Munich ten days ago, Ma’el’s performance was astounding even to the German media.”

”Ma’el is getting closer, Danny Simpson has nowhere to retreat! Newcastle United fans on the sidelines seem extremely agitated, throwing their water bottles and hot dogs towards Ma’el!”

On the wing, Ma’el advanced towards Danny Simpson, suddenly noticing several small objects flying from the stands.

”Knock him down!”

”Simpson, don’t be a coward!”

”Go for his knee!”

Upon hearing Newcastle United’s extreme fans shouting again, he twitched at the corner of his mouth, suppressing his anger, and continued driving forward with the ball.

Fortunately, Simpson played cleanly and didn’t truly heed the crowd’s words, retreating orderly.

Ma’el began picking up speed, forcing Simpson to retreat faster, with his footing gradually becoming unstable.

”Boom!”

Upon spotting Simpson preparing to raise his center of gravity for bodily balance, he suddenly pushed the ball towards the end line, sidestepping Danny Simpson in a flash.

Danny Simpson had just raised his center of gravity, and seeing Ma’el’s sudden acceleration, he instinctively tried to turn but couldn’t twist his body, awkwardly falling to the ground.

Clearly, his body coordination is quite average, lacking the flexibility to handle sudden changes.

”.....” The left side of Newcastle United’s fan section fell silent, as the fans couldn’t decide whether to curse Ma’el or Danny Simpson, their heartstrings tightened.

Ma’el successfully chalked up a dribble statistic, but didn’t get to rejoice before seeing the opponent’s center-back Steven Taylor charging in, sliding to block the end line position.