From Arsenal to the Ball God

In the 71st minute of the match, Ma’el intercepted Sidwell’s football during a chase-back, turned around, and began sprinting to break through, launching an attack on the opponent’s defense.

After Zhu Lu left the field, Arsenal’s offensive threat up front was not significantly impacted. He and Van Persie were players who could take on multiple defenders, and breaking through three or four was not without chance.

But most importantly, his departure stirred the fighting spirit of Fulham’s players, disrupting Arsenal’s midfield and backfield, which was quite troublesome.

”Thump thump thump...!”

Ma’el attempted to break through the opponent’s midfield defense, but seeing a sideways pass was more convenient, he kicked the ball to Sagna who was charging forward, and then directly sprinted past the opponent’s midfield line.

Sagna took the ball and sprinted all the way to the baseline, sending a cross to the middle.

The football fell at the far post, at about the same height as the opponent’s right-back Kelly’s head.

”Bang!”

Ma’el had already entered the penalty area by this time. He hesitated slightly as he saw the incoming ball, jumped up, and used a near bicycle-kick method to boot the ball towards the net.

With an unstoppable aura, the football firmly nailed itself into the upper corner of the far post of the goal, leaving goalkeeper Stockdale helpless.

”Oh....!!”

Ma’el finally had a chance to fully release himself in this match. Clenching his fists tightly, he stood up, ran to the sidelines listening to the wonderful cheers, put his hands on the ground to perform a cartwheel, followed by a backflip.

”Vamos...!!”

After landing from the flip, he excitedly waved his right fist at the bewildered Fulham fans on the stand, then turned to embrace the players coming up behind him.

”Unbelievable...!”

Van Persie looked astonished, witnessing Ma’el scoring with his method for the second time, ”Even in Emperor Henry’s late career, without his peak period here, you might not necessarily be benched.”

”23 goals.” Arteta had the same expression, ”It’s almost surpassing the goals I scored at Everton in 6 years!”

After finishing the group hug, Ma’el clenched his arms and shook them on the spot, waving away his emotions, marking a series of three celebrations, making up for the previous two goals.

Fulham’s fans stared at him speechless, seemingly puzzled as to why he performed so theatrically after scoring.

Following this goal, due to Fulham reinforcing their offensive through substitutions to take advantage of playing with one extra player to equalize or even overtake, Arsenal’s midfield and backfield pressure increased significantly.

Ma’el and Van Persie frequently dropped back into midfield defense, often chasing back an entire half to intercept the opponent’s attack.

This was very effective. Many times, when the two infiltrated local offense and defense, they instantly changed the local numbers advantage, quickly shifting the offensive and defensive balance, forcing the opponent to generally pass back.

The match gradually crossed the 85-minute mark, Van Persie felt somewhat like he couldn’t run anymore, staying in the front court no longer coming back.

”Deng deng deng!”

Ma’el still did not feel tired, continuously sprinting back and forth, actively contributing to both offense and defense, with a high presence rate.

From the sidelines, Wenger gradually sensed something was amiss, speaking to Philip beside him, ”What’s going on with him?”

”Doped?” Philip joked, then watching Ma’el’s calm demeanor, really grew a bit tense, ”Could it be true?”

At this moment, the fourth official happened to come over, notifying: ”Players cannot return to the locker room after the match and must undergo checks and tests from the anti-doping organization.”

Wenger furrowed his eyebrows and nodded, becoming somewhat anxious, ”The probability shouldn’t be high? He has no reason to do this.”

”I think so too.” Philip agreed, but still couldn’t put his tension to rest watching Ma’el.

In the 2nd minute of stoppage time in the second half, Fulham’s front players, through relentless running, created a corner kick, which would be the final attack of the match.

”Bang!” Senderos sent the ball out, the football landed at the penalty spot.

Ma’el was positioned at the near post defending the opponent, seeing the ball fly over his head, he turned to observe the teammates’ aerial contest situation behind him.

”Bang!!”

Just as he turned his head, he saw Fulham’s towering center Samoora leap into the air, heading the ball fiercely towards the goal.

”Swish!” The football ultimately bypassed Szczeny’s hands, flying into the far corner of the goal.

”Wow.....!!” The tens of thousands of Fulham fans present instantly went wild, all of them started swaying their bodies, crazily jumping up.

Late equalizer!

10-man Arsenal subjected to a late equalizer!

The English commentary in the studio below roared hoarsely, the Fulham coach dropped to his knees in joy and frantically waved his hands.

Arsenal’s players stood idly on the spot, this seemed to be the first time this season being subjected to a late equalizer...this feeling was quite unbearable.

Ma’el glanced at the celebrating opponent players, helplessly shrugging his shoulders, could only sit on the ground convincing himself to accept it all.

Luckily, after being short on players, he didn’t give up the pursuit of goals, otherwise, the unbeaten record might have really ended.

He felt slightly relieved, then walked to the central circle waiting for the kickoff.

”Beep! Beep! Beep——!”

After the kickoff, the referee blew the whistle ending the match; Arsenal ultimately garnered a draw in an away game with one less player.

Behind them, Manchester United and Chelsea both won their matches this round, narrowing the gap by 2 points.

”Properly position yourselves and understand that the Premier League is very difficult, extremely challenging!”

Wenger looked dour post-match in the locker room, lecturing, ”Any small mistake can ruin victory! Ruin a season’s effort! Keep your minds clear at all times!