From Arsenal to the Ball God

The ball bounced back into the penalty area and was controlled by Kompany. He then kicked it upfield to David Silva, who dribbled the ball to launch a counterattack.

On the sidelines, Mancini’s eyes brightened. He immediately looked toward Aguero and Balotelli near the penalty area, hoping they would run to a good position to receive the ball.

”Boom.” David Silva immediately passed the ball to Aguero and rushed into the penalty area himself, cutting behind the Arsenal defense.

Aguero followed with a through ball, and the two executed a two-on-two play on the edge of the penalty area, creating a one-on-one chance.

David Silva approached the goal and saw Balotelli open on the far side. After a slight hesitation, he decided to face the goal directly and resolved to settle the matter himself.

Balotelli is too inconsistent. Passing to him might result in him attempting a Marseille turn shot or a backheel shot, reducing a 90% chance to just 30%.

”Boom!”

David Silva shot low, hitting the near corner of the goal net, then opened his arms and ran toward the sidelines.

”Yeah.....!”

Amidst the deafening cheers of Manchester City fans at home, David Silva ran briskly, feeling invigorated, his hair being blown by the breeze with a few strands sticking to his forehead with sweat.

”The ball is in! David Silva has scored to give Manchester City the lead! It’s the sixth goal of the season for the Spanish midfielder!

”He’s a purely technical midfielder. Besides these 6 goals, he also has 13 assists and will be a strong contender for this season’s Premier League best player award!

”One-nil! The deadlock is broken! Arsenal’s road to an unbeaten midway is in trouble!”

”...”

”Ah...!” On the sidelines, Mancini waved his right arm and jumped up in excitement. His feelings were justified; if they won this game, they would be closer to the top of the standings.

Whether the top was Arsenal or Manchester United, their gap would be within 2 points.

On the other side, Wenger’s expression turned solemn. He went to the sidelines, wanting to say something..... But he wasn’t really skilled at in-game command; he needed time to think.

”Not bad, huh?”

On the field, as Ma’el ran back, Nasri asked him with a smile.

There wasn’t much ridicule on the other’s face, though his tone did slightly imply it... The two who didn’t speak in the France team spoke for the first time on the Premier League field.

”Not bad.” Ma’el looked at him with a smile, ”I hope you can do it too; if I do it first, that wouldn’t be good.”

”Ha-ha...”

Nasri leaned back and laughed. He didn’t think Ma’el could score against their full-strength lineup, ”Then let’s wish ourselves good luck.”

Ma’el watched him, his smile gradually fading, while his desire for the opponent’s goal grew stronger.

....

”Is it edited well?”

In the hotel, Peter watched the game broadcast, inquiring Emilia, ”We have to write this article well; we need to compete with big media for attention.”

”The goal part is done, the assist part is almost done.” Emilia nodded, a confident look in her eye, ”Don’t worry, if I can’t write better than my own boss, there’s no need for me to work in this industry.”

Peter smiled, turned to the broadcast, and saw David Silva score, ”Oh..... it’s one-nil, Manchester City scored.”

Emilia didn’t turn around and continued editing, saying: ”It’s quite normal; Manchester City is strong by nature. How many times has Arsenal fallen behind first this season?”

”I can’t remember those.” Peter shook his head, smiling wryly, ”Isn’t that the job of the data analysis team? I estimate it should be around five or six times, normal proportion for strong teams.”

”Alright.”

Emilia picked up the phone, ready to ask the data analysis team for some data. Before dialing, she pointed at Peter and said: ”Let me clarify first, don’t interrupt me again, or it’ll cut off my train of thought, boss.”

”Oh oh, alright.” Peter nodded a bit awkwardly and refocused on the pitch.

”Done.” A few minutes later, Emilia handed Peter two drafted articles to review as she rubbed her eyes, feeling somewhat tired.

”Not bad.”

Peter flipped through them, and his eyes immediately lit up, praising: ”This is nearly the level of former Sky Sports journalists and even a standout piece in major media.

”Which one do you think we’ll release first?”

Emilia thought for a moment and replied, ”I think we’ll release the goal first; Ma’el has been closer to the goal this season, scoring far more than assisting.

”But I still hope both can be released; that way, he’ll gain more attention tonight, and so will we.”

”That’s right.” Peter looked at her face for a while and jokingly changed the tone: ”However, there are downsides too. That means you’d have to rewrite two reports immediately.

”We must be prepared with backup articles to release instantly and grab the heat.”

”Ha-ha.” Emilia couldn’t decide if she was happy or bothered and awkwardly laughed twice before sitting in front of the computer, ”Then perhaps I should start writing the second assist and second goal now.”

...

As the match approached the 45-minute mark, the fourth official held up a board on the sidelines, indicating 1 minute of added time.

”Pull back!”

On the sidelines, Mancini waved broadly, signaling the players to retreat; he wanted to defend the last minute and preserve their lead until the halftime break.

That would better enable him to arrange, forcing Arsenal to decide to go all-in and change tactics at halftime..... At this time, the victory became more stable.