"Good evening, everyone. On November 30th, on this cold and snowy day, the EFL Cup quarter-final match is about to kick off at the Emirates Stadium.
"You are now watching the match between Arsenal and Manchester City brought to you by ESPN Sports. The winner between them will face the winner between Chelsea and Liverpool in the semi-finals.
"Both matches will kick off simultaneously. Today, the semi-final opponents in the lower bracket will be confirmed.
"I am your host Zhan Jun! I will be providing commentary and analysis for everyone today. Zhang Lu, who our fans are looking forward to, will join us in the semi-finals."
"Now appearing on the screen is Manchester City's manager, Mancini. He is a very elegant and handsome Italian who led Inter Milan to three consecutive Serie A titles!
"He is also a very popular coach with Manchester City fans, and people are expecting him to lead this club to success.
"Let's take a look at the starting lineup that Mancini has arranged today. The official formation given is 5-3-2, with Pantilimon as the goalkeeper, and Savić, Kolo Touré, and Onuoha as the three center-backs.
"Kolarov is the left-back, Zabaleta is the right-back, De Jong is in the center of the three midfielders, Hargreaves is on the left, and Nasri is on the right.
"Džeko and Adam Johnson are at the front.
"This is not exactly a full-strength lineup. Considering the tight schedule, Mancini has rotated most of the players.
"Arsenal is the same. Van Persie, Walcott, Ramsey, Vermaelen, and others are all rested. The main players may only be Maël and Arteta, as well as Koscielny in the backfield."
...
"Manchester City!!"
"Arsenal! Arsenal!!"
The Emirates Stadium is a sea of red and white and blue, as both sets of fans create a fiery atmosphere. A great battle is about to begin.
Off the field, Maël led a child out of the player tunnel, and after entering the field, he let go of the child and did a few abdominal jumps in place.
This time it wasn't to steal the spotlight, but purely because it was too cold in England at the end of November. It was snowing today, and he couldn't stand wearing a thin jersey.
After completing the pre-match ceremony, he went to his position and stood there, looking around the stadium with anticipation, to see the style of this team he was facing for the first time.
The EFL Cup match he had been thinking about finally arrived. As long as they get past Manchester City, they will enter the semi-finals!
The semi-finals are a two-legged affair, with the first leg usually in mid-January and the second leg at the end of January.
The final is a single match to determine the winner, usually in February... Well, let's not think so far ahead, let's get past Manchester City first.
"Beep!"
At 10:30 in the morning, this early match kicked off, and the players of both teams fought against each other in the wind and snow.
"Apply pressure!"
Maël called out to his teammates on the front line to rush past the halfway line. Today, he is partnered with Chamakh and Benayoun, two rotation players.
Wenger's attitude towards the EFL Cup has not changed from before, and he continues to use the rotation lineup to try to advance to the top 4, and then make plans.
I don't know if it was because the EFL Cup final last season was too heartbreaking. Maël still remembers that Arsenal was defeated by a game-winning goal from Premier League relegation team Birmingham in the 89th minute.
In the end, Birmingham upset and won, and the underdog story became a legend, while Arsenal lost the only championship they could have won that season, and went empty-handed for six consecutive seasons.
But fortunately, after he expressed that his physical condition was good, Wenger agreed to his request to fight, giving him a chance to compete.
Manchester City is also playing with a weakened lineup today, so there is still a good chance of winning.
Maël doesn't think Arsenal's weakened lineup is much weaker than Manchester City's, and with him, it can be considered evenly matched.
In this case, it depends on the state of the players on both sides and their ability to seize opportunities.
"In the opening stages, both teams are playing relatively steadily, and they should still be in the probing stage.
"However, from some small scenes, we can still see the excellent competitive state and level of both teams. Even if they are not playing with full strength, the giants and the up-and-coming teams can maintain a relatively strong strength.
Zhan Jun sat in the broadcast booth, watching Maël dribble inside in the camera, "Let's take a look at this attack, Maël cuts inside! A curved shot! "This ball is just a little bit off! Manchester City's defense has to be careful! Letting him find his shooting touch is a very dangerous thing."
At this time, the camera turned to a place and photographed two elderly people, a man and a woman, clapping with smiles on their faces.
Zhan Jun immediately used his traditional skills and introduced: "If I'm not mistaken, this is the jewelry merchant Danny Fiszman and Mrs. Smith. The former was a major shareholder of Arsenal, and both of them have team board member status.
"The equity battle between Kroenke and Usmanov is still ongoing, and the shares in the hands of these two are the main targets they are fighting for."
...
In the 26th minute of the match, Arsenal won a corner kick opportunity on the right side of the frontcourt.
With Ramsey not on the field, Maël took the ball to the corner area, signaled towards the center, and then sent the ball in.
The football was headed away by Zabaleta at the first point, and Chamberlain, who started today, got the second ball.
"Here!"
Maël ran back from the corner area, stood in the right winger position, and reached out to Chamberlain for the ball, who pushed it over with one foot.
After receiving the ball, he first faced the defense of De Jong, the opponent's midfielder. This De Jong is the famous 'South Pepe North De Jong', who became famous for a tackle in the 2010 World Cup.
It was a pity for Alonso, the Spanish midfielder, who was found to have two broken ribs after the match.
However, Maël later heard people say that, except for individual matches, De Jong's style of play was not that dirty, and he rarely received red or yellow cards.
"Bang, bang... Pop!"
Maël took the ball two steps towards him, and then dribbled towards the baseline, wanting to test De Jong's intensity.
Unexpectedly, the opponent slipped due to nervousness and surrendered directly, allowing him to easily create a positional advantage.
"Thanks for the gift."
Maël's eyes lit up, and he poked the ball towards the center, cutting inside from the right wing. He rarely came to this side.
"Bang!"
De Jong, who was chasing back, saw him cut inside, lowered his center of gravity and crashed into him. This had some effect, and Maël's dribbling speed was affected.
"Pop!" He pushed the ball to a safe area and mustered his strength to crash into De Jong. He wasn't prepared for the last one, so he wanted to do it again this time and try to bounce De Jong away.
"Bang!"
Another muffled sound rang out, and the foot of De Jong closest to Maël uncontrollably left the ground, and his body tilted sharply to one side, almost falling to the ground.
A few traces of solemnity appeared in his eyes, and when he was about to follow again, Maël had already flashed past.
"Damn it, he really is a Body Monster!" De Jong had a faint sense of frustration on his face, as if he knew it in advance but could do nothing about it. He could only continue to chase back.
Maël had now arrived in the penalty area, and then he faced the opponent's fullback, Kolarov.
This is an attacking fullback, with some defensive ability, but not much.
"Bang, bang... Bang, bang!"
Maël's two feet came into contact with the football back and forth, pushing the ball left and right, sometimes with a big pull, sometimes feinting to dribble to the bottom line, tricking Kolarov into constantly changing his defensive posture and center of gravity.
His change of direction was very fast, with a kind of agility that transcended his physical strength.
Kolarov didn't expect this, and suddenly felt a burst of strain, and his center of gravity was not very stable.
"Pop!"
Maël suddenly pushed the ball towards the baseline, and Kolarov didn't keep up with the first step. When he rushed over again, he was already at the end of his rope.
His nightmare was not over because Maël didn't want to Cross! "Pop!"
Another sound of touching the ball, when Kolarov hadn't stopped his pace towards the baseline, Maël pushed the ball in the opposite direction again, and then Cut Inside.
Kolarov knew that his defensive position was very important, and forcibly twisted his body to follow.
"Click!"
A crisp and itchy sound rang out, Kolarov twisted his ankle when he turned around, and his body suddenly lifted into the air slightly.
In the moment of taking off, he subconsciously closed his eyes, as if he felt his body turned into a large X-ray film, and he could clearly see a fracture somewhere.
This is the subconscious left in the brains of these athletes who are often injured. They don't know how many such films they have to watch from childhood to adulthood.
They are so skilled that the moment they are injured, they seem to become that instrument in advance and scan their bodies.
"Ah!" A miserable voice rang out, Kolarov lay on the ground holding his left foot, his face very painful.
"Bang!!"
Maël didn't hear it the first time. After taking a Curved Shot with the outside of his foot, he noticed the situation over there.
The ball he hit didn't go in. The Manchester City players watched the football fly out of the baseline and collectively ran towards Kolarov.
"Sorry."
Maël turned his head and felt a pang of guilt, but such accidents were always unavoidable.
I wonder if Kolarov likes fruit baskets. I can send him one later, and hope he recovers soon and returns to the field.
Using Dribbling to break an opponent's ankle... He had always heard of it, but never thought it would happen to someone he was involved with.
He walked over and patted Kolarov's shoulders twice, then turned and ran towards his left wing, where things would be smoother.
"Ouch!"
"Let's take a look at the replay. It seems Kolarov turned too sharply and twisted his ankle."
"I don't know if it's a serious problem. It seems the player won't be able to continue this match. Let's see who Mancini will use to replace him! The ferocious Maël! A criminal performance! He actually used Dribbling to twist Kolarov's ankle. This is truly rare! With each passing game, we've seen the growth this player has shown. He has developed many new abilities on the field."
"Could it be that in the future, he will continue to improve at this rate? Then no one can imagine what heights he will reach!"
On the sidelines, Mancini stood with his hands in his pockets, watching Kolarov's treatment with a hint of helplessness.
Clichy is the team's main player on this side, and Kolarov can only be considered the first substitute, but with multiple competitions for the championship, losing a first substitute is also a significant loss.
"Devil!"
Looking at Maël's back, the elegant Italian coach even had the urge to swear.
When rotating players, he specifically left the main right-back and right center-back, allowing Zabaleta and Kolo Touré to stay on the field to relieve the pressure on Maël.
They did a good job, and haven't given Maël any absolute chances yet.
He thought everything would continue smoothly, with both sides relying on their abilities... But Maël took a corner kick to the right, how did he injure Kolarov?
Apart from counter-attacks that don't involve any formation system, these two shouldn't have had anything to do with each other.
Mancini exhaled a long breath through his nose, feeling disgusted as if he had eaten shit. He turned to the bench, "Balotelli... No, wait a minute."
He thought for a moment, glancing at Arsenal's formation, "Agüero, warm up! We're fighting for victory in this game!"
Agüero took off his coat and stood up, running to the sidelines to warm up, which caused a stir among the Arsenal fans.
Behind him, Balotelli looked wise, and asked a little unconvinced, "Coach, what about me?"
Mancini looked at him and smiled affectionately, "You wait a bit. If the situation is right in the second half, I'll bring you on."
"Why?" He looked at Mancini with a puzzled expression, "If we're fighting for victory, you should send me out."
"Haha...!" Laughter came from the Manchester City bench, David Silva, Yaya Touré and others all laughed.
If they were going all out for victory, they would have to send them out... What would they send a young kid like you for? "Balotelli is looking forward to a duel of geniuses." David Silva pointed out his thoughts, "He has long been looking forward to a peak showdown with Maël."
"It's not a peak showdown."
Balotelli had a few curves hanging on the corners of his mouth, "It's to let people know who is the best. I have said long ago that in terms of strength, I am not inferior to Messi and Ronaldo."
Yaya Touré glanced at Maël on the field and said, "Do you think that if you defeat Maël, others will think you are at the level of Messi and Ronaldo?"
"Probably." Balotelli confidently looked at them and smiled, "Anyway, I think so. Isn't his talent the best after Messi and Ronaldo? Forget it, you don't understand the world of geniuses."
"Okay, okay, you are the Golden Boy of last year, you are right."
The others didn't argue with him, echoed a sentence and then went to laugh secretly, letting Super Mario play.
"Beep beep!"
In the 32nd minute of the game, Agüero slowly prepared and stepped onto the field, running towards the front position.
Manchester City changed to a 4-3-3 formation, and transferred Onuoha, who was originally in the center-back position, to the wing to play as a full-back.
Maël saw his Golden Boot competitor come on the field, with both a smile and worry on his face. It seemed that Mancini was preparing to slowly get serious.
He glanced at Wenger and found that the Professor was still sitting quietly on the coach's bench, without any movement.
Forget it, rely on myself!
"Tap tap tap."
He stepped towards his opposing full-back Zabaleta, listening to the pleasant sound of his cleats touching the grass, looking forward to running towards the goal and scoring.
He glanced at Zabaleta in front of him. This player's defensive ability was good, but he had already been shaken off twice, so he probably wasn't feeling too good.
"Tap tap tap!"
He suddenly accelerated, sprinting towards the opponent's goal, making a show of a swift attack.
Zabaleta's eyes sharpened, and he immediately followed behind him, even reaching out to tug at his jersey.
Maël took two steps and suddenly stopped, nonchalantly walking elsewhere, he just wanted to scare Zabaleta.
Zabaleta abruptly noticed Maël stopping and thought he had another trick up his sleeve, rushing forward to jostle him with his body until he saw that the opponent's backfield hadn't even taken the goal kick.
The ball hadn't even been kicked?
Zabaleta: "…"
Isn't this guy a nutcase? He glanced at Maël with resentment, dejectedly walking away.
"Bang!"
In the 43rd minute of the first half, Agüero used his individual ability to get a shot on goal from just outside the penalty area, unleashing a fierce driven shot.
His desire to show off today was very strong, as if he wanted to compete with Maël.
Two players who had been mutually hyping each other in the media area for a long time, players who admired each other, were meeting for the first time, and naturally, they both wanted to leave a deep impression on the other.
"Thwack!"
The shot was saved by Szczęsny, and the second ball was also cleared by Koscielny.
After getting the ball, the latter subconsciously looked towards the left flank in the attacking third. He still remembered how a simple headed clearance of his had assisted Maël when they were in the national team.
"Bang!" Seeing the gap behind Zabaleta, Koscielny launched a long pass, aiming for that spot.
"Dud-dud-dud!"
The sound of cleats hitting the ground echoed continuously. This time, the two were really running.
Maël and Zabaleta turned and started at the same time, chasing after the ball, with the latter having a three- or four-body-length advantage.
However, with Maël's speed, his advantage was rapidly disappearing at a rate of 1.5 body lengths per second.
3. 5!
4. !
5. 5! -1!
Maël sped past, becoming unstoppable after overtaking Zabaleta, dribbling all the way towards the opponent's danger zone.
"An opportunity! Arsenal has launched an attack in the simplest way possible, Maël is heading towards the penalty area!"
"This is why he's on the field today. When the team needs a simple way to advance, he can always hold onto the ball!"
"The first to block him is Kolo Touré, a player whose defensive ability is very…"
The commentary stopped abruptly, as Maël on the field, at top speed, performed a bicycle kick feint, then dropped his shoulder and swayed, changing direction twice with his feet, leaving Kolo Touré doing the splits on the spot.
"Very good!"
Zhan Jun quickly changed his words, continuing, "Maël must love to break through at high speed!"
"Even if the error rate is higher, it makes it more difficult for the defenders to defend!"
"As long as he can keep the ball under control, it's a very threatening attack!"
"Now it's Savić coming to cover, a young center-back! He has to move in advance, a sliding tackle!"
On the field, Savić seemed to know that he couldn't stop Maël, so he slid in early, preparing to keep Maël outside the penalty area.
"Scrape-bang!"
Unexpectedly, Maël was prepared, stopping abruptly and pulling the ball back, then pushing it forward to the side, gracefully dodging his sliding tackle.
Only Onuoha was left! Just one step away, and he would have the chance to break through the opponent's entire defense in this counterattack! "Oh!!" The cheers in the stadium grew louder, and Arsenal fans had already risen from their seats, raising their arms.
On the sidelines, Wenger watched with his hand on his chin, looking forward to it, while also planning in his mind how to make substitutions if they took the lead.
"Score it!"
Behind him, Van Persie rushed up with a smile, waving his hand to egg him on, "Maël, I know you want the EFL Cup title, if this ball goes in, I think you can do it."
"Haha…!" Walcott and the others also rushed out, laughing and raising their hands, ready to celebrate.
Only Vermaelen's smile seemed a bit forced, as if some unpleasant memories had been stirred.
On the other side, Mancini watched the scene on the field, his mouth slowly opening, his figure seemingly frozen in the snowy landscape.
"No!" Balotelli behind him put his hands on the back of his head, shouting in horror, but with a sly glint in his eyes.
Under the spotlight, Maël engaged in a final duel with the opposing defender, Onuoha, who wasn't particularly tall but was quite agile.
To break past him, flashy moves might not work; something simpler might be better.
"Bang!"
Maël nudged the ball to his side and then accelerated diagonally, his eyes filled with desire.
Onuoha quickly turned and started running, but after a couple of steps diagonally, he seemed to realize something was wrong. Maël was about to crash into him from the side! He glanced over nervously and realized that if he chased the ball, he would inevitably collide with Maël.
And not a collision where he could draw a foul, but a legitimate shoulder-to-shoulder challenge.
This kid was deliberately pushing the ball like that! He was sure of it?
Fuck!
"Bang!"
Before Onuoha could mentally prepare himself and muster his energy, Maël had already crashed into him.
He instantly felt like he'd been hit by a truck... no joke.
"Shhh!" Onuoha quickly fell to the side, sliding a short distance due to the slippery snow.
"Yeah!" The cheers from the Arsenal fans inside the stadium rose another level as they saw Maël with a One-on-One! "Beautiful!"
"Nice!"
In front of the Arsenal bench, many Arsenal players wearing substitute vests had already sneaked towards the corner flag area, waiting for Maël to come over and celebrate with them.
"Slap!"
On the other side, Mancini smacked his head, seemingly accepting the outcome a step ahead at this critical moment, and turned to say, "Balotelli, warm up!"
Balotelli quickly rushed out of the dugout, took off his coat, and instead of rushing to the sidelines, he chose a spot with a better view to watch the field.
"Bang!!"
Maël then unleashed a spectacular Curved Shot that stunned the audience. In this One-on-One, he still chose to trust his footwork! When he saw that the ball's trajectory wouldn't go over the crossbar, he immediately turned towards the sideline area, spreading his arms in advance.
Celebrating early!
He knew it was impossible to miss! "Swish!"
Amidst Pantilimon's speechless expression, the ball crashed into the net.
One to zero!
First goal in the EFL Cup! "Wow!"
"Haha!"
"Ohh...!"
The Emirates Stadium erupted into a frenzy, with fans cheering and celebrating both the goal after beating four players and Maël's cheeky move of celebrating early.
"He's too damn cocky!"
"Cool! Stylish!"
"How dare he, haha?"
"He pulled it off!"
"Celebrate when the ball goes in, pretend to shrug helplessly if it doesn't!"
"Nonsense, Maël was running to celebrate from the start, watch the replay after the game if you don't believe me!"
"."
"AahOh!"
Van Persie, Walcott, and the others on the sideline were waving their arms and gesturing towards Maël, having been waiting there to celebrate with him.
What a fantastic goal! This goal can ignite the emotions of every Arsenal fan inside the Emirates Stadium; no one will be sitting still!
"Philip!"
Behind them, Wenger turned his head with a smile and said, "Now that we're ahead, let's go for the win. Substitute Van Persie and Mertesacker."
"Alright." Philip ran towards Van Persie and Mertesacker, preparing to have them pause their celebration and warm up on the sidelines.
On the other side, Mancini bit his lip and released it, making a sound like dripping water, but his face was as dark as a swamp.
"Yaah!"
Balotelli, standing next to him, couldn't help but shout at the brilliance of the goal. Even though he braked urgently, Mancini still heard him.
Mancini immediately stared at him with a dark face, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Balotelli licked his lips, fidgeting like an ant on a hot pan. He opened his mouth, wanting to make up for it, but couldn't find a good way to do so, and lowered his head in shame.
"The goal is in! One-nil!
"Maël's goal puts Arsenal in the lead! A brilliant solo breakthrough! Gunners fans, are you doubting your eyes?! A muscular forward known for his Speed and Crosses has scored a goal after dribbling past multiple players!
"No stumbles, only steady progress and extremely practical Dribbling breakthroughs! On such a cold, snowy day, scoring his first domestic cup goal in such a gorgeous manner, and then celebrating in the falling snow, it's truly a beautiful picture.
"..."
On the field, Maël, having started celebrating early, sprinted towards Van Persie and the others on the sidelines.
"How was it?"
He broke through the falling snow in front of him, pointed at them, and grinned, "Impressive or what?!"
"Impressive!!"
Van Persie and Walcott, wearing substitute vests, jumped up, supporting his shoulders.
Maël was also extremely excited, hugging them and squeezing them together. The group quickly lost their balance and fell to the ground in a chaotic pile.
The Great-style solo run!
Taking on the entire defense alone and succeeding is indeed exhilarating! Once Rhythm lv4 and Flair lv4, he will make this kind of goal a regular occurrence! "Van Persie!"
At this moment, Philip rushed over from the bench, shouting for Van Persie and Mertesacker to warm up.
"Yeah!"
Someone didn't pay attention and mistook them for people celebrating together, and they were quickly knocked to the ground, creating a crazy Human Pile.
Philip, with his old bones, shouted with a bitter face, "No! Wait a minute!"
Wenger, seeing this scene from afar, helplessly raised his head and smiled, joking with the other assistant coaches, "He's very happy; this must be a rare experience."
"Haha..." A burst of laughter erupted from the Arsenal bench, and many people took out their phones to take pictures of Philip.
In front of them, the Argentine striker Agüero scratched his already wet hair, his face slightly ferocious, not expecting to fall behind so soon after coming on.
That kid is stronger than he thought.
After this goal, the first half ended quickly. After a 15-minute halftime break, the two sides resumed their second-half confrontation.
Wenger substituted Van Persie and Mertesacker in the 60th minute, one to strengthen the attack and the other to strengthen the defense, wanting to win.
"Maël earned it himself."
After the substitution, he smiled at Philip and said, "Actually, I wanted to persuade him to give up on that tactic at the time, but after thinking about it, I decided not to discourage his enthusiasm."
"Do you know why?" Philip glanced at Wenger and reminded him, "Do you remember? When setting goals at the beginning of the season, you promised everyone that you would do a solo dance for every championship won.
"Maël asked at the time, what if we win two? You said you'd do two dances."
"Haha..." Philip couldn't help but laugh as he spoke, pointing at Wenger and saying, "From what I know, you haven't started learning yet."
Wenger's face turned slightly red, and he moved his lips slightly, saying, "I will learn; I won't be unprepared for this."
"It's time to prepare."
Philip nodded, "With the team's current momentum, I wouldn't dare to say about the Champions League, but the Premier League and the EFL Cup are very promising.
"When Maël and Van Persie lead the team to win the championship, and you have to fulfill your promise, don't just stand there awkwardly twisting your body; that would be very undignified."
Wenger chuckled twice, took a step back, and sized up Philip, saying, "How about you and I do a tango?"
Philip pushed a hand forward, stating bluntly, "I refuse."
Near the Manchester City coach's box, Balotelli seemed ready and was standing by the sideline, prepared to enter the field.
Mancini stood beside him, glanced at his watch, and said, "There are still 30 minutes left. Go out there and give it your all. Fall back often to relieve the pressure on the right flank, okay?"
Balotelli looked seriously at the field and nodded, like a tiger surveying its territory.
"Be sure not to rush, and try not to get a yellow card. Avoid any actions that could lead to a yellow card, understand?"
Balotelli continued his old routine, still surveying his territory, unsure if he had listened.
"Hehe..."
Mancini, seeing his appearance and recalling how he celebrated the opponent's goal in the first half, couldn't help but laugh.
He stepped forward and grabbed Balotelli's right arm, with a hint of threat, "If you don't understand what I'm saying, I'll definitely tell the media about that incident after the game."
Balotelli, who definitely cared about his image, showed a flattering smile upon hearing this.
Anyone who didn't know better would think these two had a good attitude, still displaying a deep bond between master and disciple despite being behind.
"Beep beep!"
Soon, Balotelli stepped onto the field, he touched his chest, felt the distinct edges of the words, and felt relieved.
Today, charge for a goal! Or shut down Maël! Then show the two lines on his chest to everyone and make a big splash! "Bang!"
In the 72nd minute, Maël received a cross from Van Persie, and he directed the ball towards the touchline as he controlled it.
Reaching the touchline, he assessed the situation and found that neither crossing nor cutting inside were good options, so he headed outwards.
He didn't want to try Benzema's touchline waltz; the risk was too high, and it was easy to lose the ball.
Now that they were leading, it was better to control the ball for a while. Giving the ball to the other side would endanger their own goal. Manchester City's frontline still needed to be respected.
Just as he took a few steps back, he saw the famous meme king, Balotelli, chasing back, seemingly wanting to compete with him.
He glanced at the space near where Balotelli was standing and had the idea of playing with him.
"Tap tap tap!"
In the blink of an eye, Balotelli ran over quickly, approaching his position.
"Bang bang!"
Maël made a simple Cut Inside feint, then quickly flicked the ball through Balotelli's legs to his right.
The football went through his legs, and Maël also turned around smoothly, bypassing Balotelli and running towards his own half, taking the ball.
"Woah ho ho!"
A burst of exclamations rang out in the Emirates Stadium. Everyone was naturally happy to see Maël's increasingly smooth and free-spirited style of play. Anyway, they were leading at the moment, so playing around on the touchline was fine.
Balotelli was a little anxious after being nutmegged. Hearing these sounds, his face immediately turned red to his ears, and he quickened his pace, wanting to turn around and rush towards Maël.
But the ground was slippery due to the snow, and he was already a bit top-heavy, so he couldn't handle such a turn.
"Thump!"
Balotelli's heel slipped, and he fell straight to the ground, looking at the sky in contemplation.
"Haha...!" A burst of laughter rang out throughout the stadium, and he woke up as if from a dream and sat up, facing Maël's direction.
During the turn, he saw Mancini's meaningful expression.
Mancini: "..."
Balotelli clenched his fists, regained his composure, and chased after Maël, who happened to be dribbling towards him again.
"Bang!"
Just as he was about to lower his center of gravity, he saw Maël blast the ball past him.
No fancy moves!
Just a physical dominance! Another past him with the ball!
Balotelli was instantly unconvinced. People often said he was world-class from the neck down, so how could someone dare to bully him in that regard?
He turned to chase, but watched as Maël's figure first appeared behind him in his peripheral vision, then slowly moved to his right side, and finally opened up a gap of several meters.
At this moment, the opponent even turned his head to look at him, seemingly provoking him.
Damn it?!
Balotelli's fire was stoked, and he chased after Maël, who was dribbling towards the baseline. As soon as he caught up, he launched a sliding tackle at his feet.
"Whoosh!"
Maël had anticipated this, protecting the ball on the outside of his body and gracefully jumping up. Balotelli's tackle missed, only kicking up a splash of water.
"Clap clap clap!"
A round of applause rang out in the stadium. It was as if the people had left the football field and arrived at a Spanish bullring, watching a bullfighting performance.
Maël then arrived at the baseline, stepping on the ball with his right foot and leaning his body back, while turning his head to observe the situation of Balotelli and other defending players.
The first to come up was still Balotelli, who had been tricked several times and dreamed of revenge.
However, with Mancini's instructions beforehand, apart from the initial tackle, his movements were relatively clean. This time, he came up and slammed into Maël's back.
"Bang!"
Maël kept his center of gravity very low, and didn't budge at all, just wedging himself between Balotelli and the ball.
The Great protecting the ball!
"Oh!" A burst of cheers rang out, and the fans nearby stood up to applaud.
Balotelli was both anxious and angry. He wanted to go forward from the left, but was quickly blocked by Maël shifting his center of gravity. He wanted to go forward from the right, but Maël used the same method.
"Scrape!" Fortunately, Zabaleta rushed over at this time and kicked the ball out of bounds from under Maël's feet from the other direction.
Corner kick!
"Clap clap clap!" More enthusiastic applause and cheers rang out, and the fans expressed their respect to Maël.
Maël's expression was calm, but he was actually holding back a smile. He raised one hand, imitating the way Henry the Great used to, and greeted them.
Behind him, Balotelli was already covered in sweat. He stood awkwardly in place, flipping up his shirt to wipe his sweat, also using it to cover his face and escape from the sea of suffering.
"Haha...!"
As a result, he soon heard a burst of laughter, as if it was directed at him. He put down his clothes and saw people looking at his chest.
Crap!
His face turned even redder. This was what he had prepared for the celebration, so why was it being shown now?
In confusion, Balotelli turned his gaze to Mancini on the sidelines, hoping to get some comfort from there, but he didn't expect the other party's eyes to almost roll to the sky.
He gritted his teeth and had an urge to cry. At this moment, he really wanted to ask.
Why Always Me?! Why is it always him?!
ps: Two updates of 19,000 words are exhausting. Three updates may take some time to adjust. It doesn't seem to work at the moment. I've been a little weak lately.
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