From Arsenal to the Ball God

Ma’el’s right foot struck the outside of the football, sending it towards the far corner of the goal.

Though Cech quickly dove towards that direction, this time, with less reaction time, he clearly couldn’t match the speed of the ball.

”Swoosh!” The ball brushed past the left side of the net and rolled into the goal, inciting a wave of anger among Chelsea fans behind the net, gesturing wildly and showing fingers.

”Yeahhh.....!!” The Arsenal fans, who stood up to cheer during every attack, erupted into a deafening roar louder than ever before.

The ball is in!

One to zero!

Arsenal leads in the Community Shield Cup final!

Ma’el spread his arms and ran towards the stands, every pore opening rapidly, his hair seemingly standing on end.

Listening to the long-missed sound, he chose a familiar way to introduce himself to Arsenal fans in the new season.

He slid on his knees along the grass, forming gun shapes with his hands while shouting, ”Boom... Boom... Boom....!!”

Leaping up from the ground, he kicked the corner flag, his right hand trembling as he waved forward, ”Come on.....!”

”It’s in this time!! Arsenal takes the lead! Once again, thanks to Ma’el!!

”After missing a penalty, he redeemed himself with a lively, elf-like goal to put the team ahead!!

”This new team, with many new recruits, the red and white battleship just set sail, has a chance to start the new season with a championship at Wembley Stadium!”

”.....”

”Yes.....!”

”Ma’el, oh ho ho!”

”Was it a nutmeg? Or a dribble trick? How did you do it?!”

Van Persie and Giroud quickly ran over, jumping and hugging him, their faces full of joy as it marked the club’s first goal of the new season.

”It was a nutmeg.”

Ma’el laughed and high-fived them, feeling much lighter at heart, and then saw Cazorla, who assisted him, approaching with a bright smile that seemed ever-present, facing everything with a grin.

”Great ball, I really didn’t expect that ball to get me an assist.”

Cazorla, still in great shape, said after high-fiving Ma’el, ”Let’s congratulate each other, your first goal of the new season, my first assist of the new season.”

”Haha.....” Ma’el was amused by his words, wrapping an arm around his neck, ”We should indeed congratulate each other. Let’s hope it’s a good start, whew.....!”

At Chelsea’s goal, players exchanged confused glances.....how did they concede a goal?

Of course, this feeling was not uncommon and didn’t last long as someone quickly retrieved the ball to resume play from the center circle.

In comparison, Ribery and Xiaofa, who had mocked earlier when Ma’el missed the penalty, now seemed upset, deliberately avoiding his celebration direction to avoid confrontation.

Unexpectedly, Ma’el, when running back to his half, deliberately circled around to them, shaking his fist and shouting, ”Come on.....! Come on.....!”

The two seemed a bit uncomfortable, trying hard to suppress their emotions, to avoid being turned into memes after the match.

On the sidelines, beside a sulking Benitez was Wenger clapping with laughter. The professor then quickly returned to the bench, asking Hans, ”What’s the Sky Sports rating now, has it reached 9?”

”It’s at 9.2 now.” Hans replied, holding up the report, ”Don’t know if it’ll drop later.”

”Probably not.”

Wenger turned towards the field, understanding Ma’el’s character, ”Once he starts, he won’t stop. He’ll aim for a perfect score, an imperfect yet memorable perfect score.”

...

”Beep!”

After the game restarted, seeing Benitez having no intention of making substitutions, Zhan Jun puzzledly said, ”There are many options on the bench, including the Brazilian Oscar. Is Benitez not making any changes?”

Zhang Lu quickly chimed in to explain, ”Actually, their lineup is already quite aggressive, resembling a 4-2-4, even a 4-6 offensive setup.

”I thought at the start that playing like this, the chances of not conceding in the first half were very slim, though there’s also a significant chance to score.

”When it ended 0-0, I sighed inwardly, noting both teams were lucky defensively in the first half but average offensively.

”So I think keeping it as is works, they have offensive intensity.....but they must also focus on defense to prevent Arsenal from scoring again. A two-goal deficit would be demoralizing.”

”.....”

”Beep beep!”

In the 63rd minute, just as Chelsea’s offensive was peaking, Midfield’s Uncle Mata suddenly clutched his leg and fell to the ground.

The medical team quickly entered, and after examination found he couldn’t continue.

Brazilian youngster Oscar soon stood at the sideline, making his debut in the European league, his youthful face looking a bit weaker compared to others.

Yet considering his transfer fee, no one would think he had no prowess.

”Beep!”

The match resumed, Chelsea wanted to maintain their pressure in counterattack, but gradually struggled due to the rhythm break.

”Bang!”

In the 67th minute, Ma’el chased back to his half to execute a clean tackle on Fabregas, promptly passing the ball to Gervinho on the opposite side.

Hot Bird may not be a top-tier star, but he’s particularly useful in Wenger’s system.

If Bale’s transfer doesn’t materialize, it’s highly possible he’d secure the starting spot here.

”Dun dun dun!”

Having passed the ball, Ma’el lowered his head and sprinted forward, rapidly overtaking Chelsea’s retreating players along the way.