Chapter 573 - 141: Breaking Records! Every Step Forward Makes New History! King of the Emirates Stadium!
He’s the one to take the field!
The fans are cheering for this moment!
The eyes of the Arsenal players lit up, including Benayoun, who deeply felt that he couldn’t achieve the same effect as Ma’el on the left flank and was always worried about breaking their unbeaten record.
Don’t think of him as just a rotation player of this team; he values this greatly too.
As long as he’s part of the first team, these honors also count for him!
With Ma’el on the pitch, he might improve the team’s offense and help the team equalize soon!
On the other side, the Wigan Athletic players showed traces of worry at the corners of their eyes, losing their last bit of confidence to win. Their conviction wasn’t so firm anymore.
rounds, 34 goals... accomplished without even playing all 33 matches, plus 18 assists.
No one would think they can certainly defend against such a player, at least the players on a relegation team know it’s impossible.
Even if they guard his baseline, he can still cut inside to score; if they block his cut-ins, he can drop back or send threatening passes from the baseline to assist teammates.
The second half is going to be tough!
...
"Oooohhh.....!!" Before the start of the second half, a prolonged cheer echoed through the Emirates Stadium. Over 50,000 Arsenal fans rose to their feet, raising their hands to welcome the team’s superstar striker.
Ma’el touched the grass on the pitch and sprinted toward his position.
After spending the first half observing, he had already discovered that the opponent’s defense of the ’pocket position’ wasn’t tight, or rather, their division wasn’t clear, and their pressing often lagged.
This position, the gap between the defense and midfield lines, was a space later heavily utilized by Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Once on the pitch, he might find an opportunity to secure an excellent shooting space and angle down the middle!
"Tweet!"
Soon, with a whistle, the second half officially began.
Wigan Athletic had added another defender, specifically to assist their right back in marking Ma’el.
At the beginning, this adjustment had some effect, as they were frequently able to intercept passes from Arsenal’s midfield to Ma’el.
However... Ma’el always gave off an impression of being nonchalant, as if he wasn’t particularly keen on dynamically moving to exploit spaces.
Could he be injured after all?
Playing conservatively?
This discovery brought a hint of joy to Wigan Athletic players, but of course, they still remained vigilant of Ma’el and weren’t careless.
"Ma’el is holding the ball on the left! The opportunity isn’t great, so he passes it back to Kyle Walker!
"Kyle Walker returns the ball, breaking inwards! He’s quick on his feet, and Boys couldn’t keep up with him. McCarthy gets tricked too!
"A dipping shot! Ah... it flew too high. Did it deflect off a defender’s leg?
"The referee has awarded a goal kick, and Ma’el throws his hands in frustration, thinking the Wigan player deflected it out!"
"....."
"Here, I have to remind everyone again, Ma’el has scored 34 goals this Premier League season. Just 1 more goal will break the record held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole!
"Arsenal’s offensive advance! Arteta is dribbling forward, looking for support!
"Ma’el appears in the middle, seemingly sprinting at full speed, and MacArthur didn’t notice him!
"Arteta delivers a penetrating pass! Ma’el stops the ball and turns, directly facing the goal. Will he take a shot?!"
"....."
At the top of the Wigan Athletic penalty arc, Ma’el found the opportunity he had been looking for. After turning around, he immediately saw their three center-backs right in front of him, two or three meters away.
Looking back, two Wigan defensive midfielders were also turning around, ready to chase him.
But since there were many defenders, and they were in the middle, no one was overly concerned... or rather, they believed a teammate would quickly step up, and they didn’t need to.
"Bang...!"
So, until he pushed the ball forward to the right, it took someone waking up from a dream to hurriedly sprint forward to close off the shooting angle.
By then, it was too late!
"Boom!!"
Ma’el’s body stretched to the limit, his leg swung back to the extreme, firing a thunderous shot with the instep.
This was the chance he had longed for, throwing the opponent into chaos, buying himself time to adjust for a higher quality shot!
"Slash...!"
Grass was flying everywhere. As Ma’el completed the shot, he accidentally kicked up a clump of grass, gouging a small pit on the ground.
Several Wigan Athletic players tried to tackle but were just a step late. Their sprawling figures blocks the goalkeeper’s vision instead.
"Swish!" The ball finally landed in the middle of the goal net’s far corner, its instant tension causing the net to snap taut with a clear sound, announcing the goal.
The ball’s in!
Two to two!
Goal number 35!
"Wow.....!!"
"Boom...!!"
The Emirates Stadium erupted into a frenzy; the fans were in an unprecedented delirium. Their eyes on Ma’el were no longer just those looking at a team hero.
It was more like a rite of worship, gazing at their faith.
It’s the long shot they know best, the most familiar way he saves the team!
He always manages to do it!
"King...!!" Some fans raised their hats, waving them towards Ma’el.
"We love you!" Some fans unfurled banners, with slogans congratulating Ma’el for breaking the 35-goal record; they’ve long awaited this day.
"Arthur! He is definitely Arsenal’s King Arthur!" Finally, someone confirmed, from today on, they could truly call Ma’el the King of Arsenal.