Chapter 303: Chapter 95: An Unexpected Outside Foot! Arsenal Rise to the Top of the Table! Ma’el’s Strategy and Acquisition

On November 16, the 8th round of the Premier League kicked off, with Arsenal facing the challenge of Sunderland at home.

Including the last round against Tottenham, they have a total of 4 Premier League matches to play this month, along with a Champions League group stage match and an English League Cup round of 16 elimination match.

"Stay undefeated."

This was Wenger’s monthly goal for the players during his pre-match talk in the locker room.

After getting through this tough hurdle against Tottenham, they only have a crucial match against Chelsea at the end of October, and the other 4 matches against less challenging opponents.

At the Emirates Stadium, at 5 p.m. local time, the match officially began.

Ma’el didn’t get the chance to start, but Wenger told him he would sub him in after halftime.

Today, Wenger returned to the 4-3-3 formation, rotating one key player on each of the three lines, ready to give the substitutes some opportunities.

Ma’el and Ramsey sat together, chatting and watching the match.

Sunderland played rather proactively, creating decent threats on several counterattacks.....this team is not considered weak at the moment, as they’ve been mid-table for the past few seasons.

"Boom!"

Fortunately, in the 21st minute of the match, Van Persie received Gervinho’s cross and scored for Arsenal with an instep volley.

One to zero!

However, the joy was short-lived. Ten minutes later, their midfielder Sebastian created a one-on-one chance during a counterattack, passed Szczeny, and scored a goal.

One to one!

After this goal, in the 44th minute of the match, Van Persie dribbled into the penalty area and was taken down by the opponent’s defender Wayne Brown.

"Beep!" The referee awarded a penalty, and Van Persie stood at the penalty spot, placing a shot into the top right corner, completing his brace.

After several rounds of stagnation, he regained his form in this match, bringing his Premier League goals to 8!

Two to one!

This was also the score at halftime, as Ma’el, during the break, stayed on the field to warm up with Ramsey and Koscielny.

Attacking defender Andre Santos soon ran out, seemingly prepared to play in the second half.

"Mr. Wenger has regained his confidence." Koscielny explained while doing lunges: "Last year, when leading two to one against mid-table teams, he would never strengthen the attack.

"At the beginning of the season as well, but now he’s daring.....he fears this score is unstable, afraid the opponent might score a weird goal before the match ends, turning 3 points into 1 point, wanting to knock them out with one big hit."

"I have to say." Ma’el smiled and said: "This is a blessing for attacking players."

Koscielny raised his eyebrows and didn’t say much more. They aren’t particularly close in the team, just occasionally chatting a bit.

"Beep!" The whistle blew to start the second half, and Ma’el stood on the left wing, finding himself surrounded by two Sunderland defenders.

This marking was not like Walker’s during the match start, but rather not even caring about the ball and purely sticking to him.

Initially, he felt a bit anxious; no one likes having two flies sticking near them.....and they are flies you can’t swat away.

But gradually, realizing there was no way around it, he started to use his wits to shake off these two.

Various fake runs and sudden stops, leading them to the center then counter-running to open spaces, were used extensively.

——"If you find defenders often start marking you closely, it means you’re gradually walking the path to becoming a superstar. Get used to it, accept it, and overcome it."

He’s forgotten which top star said this, but it’s clearly very sensible.

He’s always been moving towards the top position, never pausing.

In the 74th minute of the game, Andre Santos’ appearance made an impact as Ma’el drew defenders towards the center, then Santos made a run to receive a through ball.

"Boom!"

The subsequent cross precisely found the head of Van Persie, who headed it in decisively.

Three to one!

General Fan with a hat-trick!

"Watch out, I’m catching up from behind." Van Persie joked during the celebration with Ma’el; this was his 9th goal.

Ma’el shook his head and gestured that it wasn’t enough.

Fourteen minutes later, Arteta’s diagonal long pass targeted Ma’el’s opponent’s behind space.

"Dum-dum-dum!"

Ma’el started at high speed, catching up with the ball despite being five or six body lengths behind the opposing defender, settling it and sending it towards the edge of the penalty area with the flow.

"Bang!" The opponent’s two defenders then collided with him, but he remained unmoved and smoothly reached the ball.

He hasn’t quite adapted to the special treatment from opponents in this match yet, but relying on his exceptional personal ability, he can still create these chances under heavy marking!

This ability is surely only possessed by a few players, hence his impressive stats.

"Boom!!"

He then used his right foot to unleash a heavy cannon strike, the ball whizzing past Sunderland’s blocking player’s face, slamming into the far corner of the net.

Long shot into the net!

"Oh.....!"

Ma’el clenched his fists and headed towards the sidelines, extended his arms behind him, and made a soaring eagle glide gesture.

He’s always trying new celebration moves, looking for the one that suits him best.

"11 goals." Van Persie came over, with a mix of joy and regret, lamenting: "Looks like I’ll have to chase for a while longer."

"Try a hat-trick in every match." Ma’el joked while giving him a high-five: "Just another hat-trick and maybe you’ll catch up."