From Arsenal to the Ball God

Chapter 436 - 121: Wenger’s Vision! Nominated for the Puskas Award! Offers from Real Madrid and Paris! Facing Liverpool_5

"Ouch!"

Suddenly, a cry echoed across the field, capturing everyone’s attention.

This time, no one was injured, but Andy Carroll, backed against Koscielny’s defense, fell to the ground while turning around and spread his hands towards the referee.

"Beep!" The referee didn’t hesitate, pointing to the penalty spot, ruling Koscielny for pulling and committing a foul.

"Me?!" Koscielny spread his hands, with a look of disbelief, and rushed towards the referee at lightning speed.

"Yeah.....!" A shout came from Anfield Stadium, as Liverpool fans waved their hands excitedly. A penalty kick was essentially no different from a goal.

They played a defensive counterattack today, aiming to score one or two goals without conceding any, and achieve a minor win!

Once this tactic proved feasible, they could bring it to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg, playing a counter-offensive game in their favor with a lead.

They believed they would surely march steadily into the finals and win the English League Cup in February!

"Boom!"

Gerrard then shot towards the right side of the goal, deceiving Koscielny, and secured a steady strike into the bottom right corner of the goal.

"Aahh....!" An even more intense cheer erupted, and quickly banners and posters about Gerrard multiplied in the stands, as the fans had long prepared for their captain.

"Come on...!" Gerrard excitedly rushed to the sideline, punching the sky with his right fist, then hugged Andy Carroll who was behind him.

The first half ended afterward, and Liverpool’s players walked into the dressing room, laughing.

Only Martin Kelly and Henderson walked slowly, both with grim expressions, either with hands on their hips or pale faces.

"How’s it going?" Martin Kelly looked at the fellow midfielder of the same age and asked, "Can you hold on?"

Henderson wanted to wave it off but gritted his teeth and froze the hand he was about to wave from side to side in the air, "I can push through two more games if needed."

Andy Carroll, looking at Henderson, whose lips were almost white, didn’t believe him but as a Liverpool academy graduate, he couldn’t lose face for the team, "I’m about the same."

Henderson nodded and glanced up, noticing Andy Carroll’s cheeks were turning blue.

Usually, in one half, they wouldn’t be like this, mainly because Ma’el kept running them in anaerobic exercises.

No problem!

Ma’el was running with them, so he was also expending energy. They were in a similar physical state. Once this key threat point was substituted out, they could also request a substitution to let fresh players take over.

...

"Boom!"

In the 51st minute of the second half, Gerrard suddenly launched a strike from outside the penalty box, catching Szczeny off guard, and the ball bounced towards the far corner of the goal.

The difficulty of saving these bouncing shots is very high, easily disrupting a goalkeeper’s judgment.

"Swish!" The ball found the back of Arsenal’s net again, plunging the entire Anfield crowd into a frenzy.

"Yeah...!" Gerrard roared with his mouth wide open as he reached the sideline, all the spotlights focusing on him; after securing defense, he controlled the pitch.

"Awesome! Captain Jie!"

"Haha!"

"We’re heading to the finals!"

"Go Liverpool!"

"You’ll never walk alone!"

Liverpool players caught up, their faces filled with delight. This was an absolute revenge battle; they lost to Arsenal away but won back at home.

In the next match at Arsenal’s home ground for the second leg, they aimed to secure ultimate victory and complete their revenge!

They hoped to also beat them in the Premier League, accomplishing a single-season triple defeat over Arsenal!

On the other side of the field, Ma’el felt the atmosphere at Anfield and could clearly sense that victory was slipping away from Arsenal.

Today, he was being restricted quite a bit, which was a situation that both Ronaldo and Messi often encountered.

But it’s not a big deal... he observed Martin Kelly and Henderson’s backs and noticed their shoulders drooping. They should be reaching their limits soon, and his time to shine was coming.

He couldn’t guarantee he would definitely score against Liverpool’s goal, but with his current abilities, he was sure he had the chance to do something.

At least, he kept striving for goals, seeking to break through the opponent’s defense with his personal skills when the team’s form was average, creating scoring opportunities!

The English League Cup was the cup competition he persisted to play in until now; he couldn’t give up at this point, otherwise, all the efforts the team had put in along the way would go down the drain.

After training so hard for such a long time, acquiring so much ability..... even though his form might fluctuate sometimes, he believed he couldn’t stop moving forward, not even slowing down!

"Boom!"

After the restart, Arteta, realizing the difficulty in maintaining ball control in the midfield and back, sent a long pass towards Ma’er’s direction.

Ma’el’s eyes shifted, using his body to lean against Martin Kelly behind him to stop the ball.

As he stopped the ball, Henderson was already sweeping in to make a move, with Spirin and Agger not far away, ready to fill in and intercept the ball for Henderson.

This was the level of defensive intensity he faced in this match; as soon as he opted to break through Henderson on the inside line, someone would seize the moment his control over the ball lapsed to tackle.

Regrettably, the restrictions on Van Persie by Skrtel and Gerrard in the center were also well executed.

In previous situations like this, when the opponents invested too many forces on his side, Van Persie’s side would usually blossom.

In a split second, Ma’el made a decision that no one expected. He stepped on the ball with his foot, suddenly dodged aside instead of leaning against Martin Kelly, and turned to brace against Henderson.