From Arsenal to the Ball God

He inspires each teammate to become a better version of themselves and enhances the overall strength of the team!

"This is Thiago Silva, a strong contender for the best central defender in the world today! From these first 20 minutes, the improvement he’s brought to Arsenal is significant!"

The local radio Arsenal commentator spoke with admiration, as he believed that with D Silva’s presence, Arsenal would concede far fewer goals.

On the pitch, Manchester City’s attacking players soon sank into frustration, with many starting to throw up their hands and constantly complain to teammates.

They were already under immense pressure with Arsenal’s three strikers ready to score at any moment, hoping to use their attack to buy time and strive for victory, but were unable to create any threat.

Even when they advanced the ball to the front field, they found they had little time to organize.

Arsenal’s players always rushed forward like mad dogs, clearly telling them that they either needed to quickly attack decisively and win in one-on-one or two-on-two situations or quickly surrender possession.

Every time feeling helpless, they chose to push forward aggressively, crossed the ball hastily when the opportunity wasn’t great, and then looked on with despair as their opponents secure the ball through positioning and defense.

"Cough, cough..."

On the sidelines, Mancini choked during a tactical drink break, starting to cough crazily; his anxious eyes revealed Manchester City’s predicament at the moment.

"Bang!"

In the 34th minute of the match, Ma’el easily bypassed Savage on the left flank and sweeped a low ball across the middle, breaking through Manchester City’s defensive line.

"Snap!" Van Persie, advancing from the center, shot with a sliding foot, eventually using his lower leg to drive the ball into the net.

"Yeah.....!" With the familiar sound of Arsenal fans ringing out in Emirates Stadium, the score was rewritten to 1-0, with Arsenal taking the lead.

"The ball is in! The familiar Van-Ma connection appeared once again in the Emirates Stadium! One to zero!

"The European Cup’s top scorer kicks off the new season with an assist, as Van Persie shakes off the grievances accumulated in the European Cup and finds the form of last season with 30+ goals!

"This is an exciting partnership; they combined to score nearly 80 Premier League goals last season. What new Chapter will they write with their feet this season?!"

Arsenal’s number 10 got up, laughed, and pointed to Arsenal’s number 7, and then they slid on their knees together to the sidelines.

"How many more moments like this will we have, how much longer will we collaborate?"

Van Persie extended his hands for a high-five with Ma’el, saying with mesmerized eyes, "Ma’el, I can guarantee, without an outstanding striker and passer like you, I’d go mad as a center-forward."

Ma’el didn’t know how to give him a definite answer and just smiled, "A lot, for a long time... Haven’t we won just two championships together? Our careers will certainly achieve 30+ championships."

"Ha ha.....!"

Van Persie thought Ma’el was joking, "Alright, let’s see how far we get from this goal by the end of our careers."

Giroud soon rushed over too, wondering whether he could join Van Persie and Ma’el’s ranks of the dominant forwards, he hugged them and said, "When will I also feel like this? Feeling that I’d go mad without you two."

"My demands aren’t high, scoring 10 goals in a single season would be great."

"10 goals?"

Ma’el looked at him, then at Van Persie, and together they said in unison, "You’ll have them by the end of this season."

They didn’t celebrate for too long and returned to their half, ready to restart the game.

The first half of the match soon ended, the score was still one to zero with Arsenal in the lead.

Ma’el walked toward the sidelines with a calm demeanor, having hardly broken a sweat, just warming up with a jog, observing whether the team’s new players and formation rotation were smooth.

Undoubtedly, he was satisfied with the display of the team’s dominance.

He intended to push further in the second half and score some goals... Otherwise, the newcomers might see him as just a flash-in-the-pan, only capable of shining for a couple of seasons, affecting his ability to convince the crowd.

"Beep!"

Around 11:03, the second half of this early match kicked off. Manchester City seemed to know they had no chance of winning, sending on several backup players to experience playing closely against a strong team and accumulate experience.

These players, desperate to get game time for the new season, did bring some pressure to Arsenal’s players, but it was limited.

When their attack continuously failed to break open the situation, they had no choice but to accept being pushed back by Arsenal to their half, enduring wave after wave of onslaught.

"Bang!" In the 61st minute of the match, Cazorla sent a corner kick cross from the right, the ball heading straight to the near post area.

Ma’el was waiting for a chance at the back post, seeing the ball’s landing point unrelated to him, he retreated toward the penalty spot, waiting for a second shot opportunity.

"Screech!" Giroud at the near post performed his role as a center-forward, flicking the ball backwards, pushing it toward the vicinity of Kolarov’s defensive area at the back post.

Opportunity!

Ma’el swiftly stopped retreating, pushed off the ground and surged forward, charging powerfully towards Kolarov and the incoming ball.

"Boom!!"

As Kolarov fell like a cut kite, Ma’el’s forehead connected with the center of the ball, "Bang!"

The ball’s angle wasn’t too tricky, Joe Hart moved two steps over, reaching up to intercept it just in time, but was helpless as the ball’s speed was too fast for him to raise his hands in time.