From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Van Persie actually missed this penalty; his usual success rate is around 85%... fortunately, there’s Ma’el!”

”One-to-one! Both sides return to the starting line!”

By the sidelines, Ferguson abruptly withdrew his arm, his face flushing again, his emotions going through a roller coaster.

His situation represented the situation of the Manchester United fans behind him.

”It’s here!”

Wenger’s expression immediately turned joyous, as he turned and sprinted towards the coaching seat, the surprise at this time always tends to make one particularly excited, ”He truly is sent by God to save us!”

Arsenal’s players all jumped on the spot, celebrated with leaps before sprinting towards Ma’el, joy evident in their expressions.

”Beautiful!”

Arteta ran while clenching his fist and waving, the first to reach Ma’el’s back.

He didn’t rush to pounce up, because he saw Ma’el already planting his foot and jumping up, ready to do a celebration move.

”Yeah...!!”

In the celebration among the Arsenal fans in the corner, Ma’el soared into the sky, gracefully stretching in the air, thrusting his legs downward and punching his right fist towards the highest point he could reach.

He then turned around, opened his arms towards his Arsenal teammates, seeing the excitement on their faces.

”Ma’el!”

”Fourth goal!”

”You’re going to outshine Robin!”

Five or six Arsenal players came up to him, surged forward to celebrate with him, then turned back to wait for Van Persie.

They knew, Van Persie will surely come here now; he will personally come here to express his gratitude because he almost became a sinner.

Van Persie soon arrived, putting his hands together, showing an incredibly relieved expression.

He didn’t say anything, just kneeled on one knee, pointing his hands towards his knee on the front side of his leg, signaling Ma’el to step on it.

This is a classic celebration move in world football... shoe shining.

The Dutch God Striker wanted to express his gratitude towards Ma’el in this way.

Ma’el lightly laughed and put his right foot up, without hesitation; there was no ambiguity.

Van Persie pretended to pull out a tissue with both hands, brushed twice left and right, and then stood up to tightly hug Ma’el, ”Thanks, you saved the team!”

”Also, congratulations on scoring your first goal against the Big 6... and scoring at a place like Old Trafford, it’s an unforgettable experience.”

”Keep chasing goals.”

Ma’el patted his shoulder, knowing he will change this match, this goal will influence the form of the entire Arsenal team.

...

”Beep!”

”Bang!”

After kicking off again, the Manchester United players’ faces showed some gloom but hadn’t lost confidence.

They scored in open play, while Arsenal scored through a penalty rebound.

Psychologically, they still felt they held the upper hand; the outlook was less formidable, but still present.

Both sides entered another phase of midfield battles, with star players using their brilliant performances to create opportunities.

In the 34th minute, Rooney lightly touched the bottom of the football with his right foot’s tip, chipping a ball over Arsenal’s defense into the penalty area, landing in front of Welbeck.

”Bang!!”

Welbeck followed the ball, executing a side kick while falling to ground, and shot towards Arsenal’s goal.

Szczeny made a spectacular save, palming the ball out to the baseline, denying the opponent.

Seven minutes later, Van Persie retreated to receive, threading a ground surgical pass into the penalty area flank, with Walcott speeding up.

He got past Evra and finally completed a strong shot towards the near post despite interference.

”Clang!” This time, unfortunately, the post denied his shot; just a little bit more and he could’ve brought Arsenal to the lead.

In the 43rd minute, Rooney shielded the ball on the edge of the penalty area, waiting for teammates’ support.

Mertesacker defended him, sometimes attempting a tackle but found Rooney too smart and his ball control too good, not giving him a chance.

”Snap!”

As he accidentally touched Rooney’s right leg, Rooney took the opportunity to fall, landing at the penalty arc.

”Beep!” The referee blew his whistle, awarding Manchester United a very good free-kick opportunity.

Ashley Young and Rooney positioned themselves in front of the ball, with Mertesacker and other tall players forming the wall.

Ma’el stood outside the penalty area, awaiting the chance to counterattack.

Rooney’s set piece kicking... is indeed very threatening; England produced a lot of set-piece players this year.

He hoped Szczeny could stop the shot and bring a draw into the dressing room.

”Beep!”

As the referee blew the whistle for the free kick, Ashley Young gently touched the ball, giving it a slight propulsion.

”Bang!!” Rooney’s right foot violently swung at the ball, delivering an impressive quality curved shot, bypassing the wall heading directly to the top right corner of the goal.

Like Ashley Young’s recent miracle goal angle, it’s the same spot!

Szczeny still couldn’t save it; this type of shot, the probability for a goalkeeper to save is really very small.

The previous shot not obstructed from view wasn’t saved, this one with a wall blocking the view, even less possible.

The football crashed into the top corner, collided with the intersection of the crossbar and post, creating a crisp sound, followed by the sound of netting, ”Swish!”

”Wow...!!” The Manchester United home fans exploded in screams again, the stadium ignited again, as they instantly walked out of the shadow of the conceded goal.

Rooney came to the sideline, executed a punch combo, then faintly smiled with open arms, enjoying the cheers originating from him.