From Arsenal to the Ball God
Chapter 305 - 95: An Unexpected Outside Foot! Arsenal Climbs to the Top of the Table! Ma’el’s Tactics and Acquisitions_3
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minutes later, Ma’el successfully slipped away from Stoke City’s defense under the tight marking of the opposing players, completing an off-ball maneuver.
"Ah!" Stoke City defender Mark Wilson turned around trying to grab his arm, but Ma’el took the Traore route, did he not know to apply some oil before the match?
He had previously bought all sorts of lubricants, but the reason for not applying them was that he felt he didn’t need them.
However, encountering stubborn defense from weaker teams in the Premier League gradually started to annoy him.
During halftime today, he specifically applied some lubricant on his arms and neck.
"Whoosh!" With a feeling of smoothness, Mark Wilson instantly lost his grip and almost fell due to exerting too much force.
He stared at Ma’el in disbelief, never expecting him to play this trick.
Previously, he thought the slippery feeling was just sweat.
Now it was clear, it’s oil!
"Boom!"
Ma’el subsequently blasted the ball from a backward position on the wing towards the goal at a 45-degree angle, aiming for the far post.
Stoke City’s air defense was strong...but in football, the ball doesn’t fall vertically from the sky for a header, as long as the pass is precise, with a large arc and a dip, it’s possible to score.
After the ball left Ma’el’s foot, it drew a beautiful banana trajectory in the air, with just the right height and speed.
Stoke City’s two center backs were strong and tall, but seeing the incoming ball, they knew from a simple judgment of its landing point that they couldn’t intercept it.
As they turned to look back, they discovered the ball was landing in Gervinho’s zone.
"Boom!!"
Gervinho slammed the ball into the net with a header, inevitably getting it past the goalkeeper’s ten-finger barrier.
Stoke City’s two center backs helplessly spread their arms and stood, recognizing the feeling of light cavalry facing an archer.
What could they say about this goal?
Claim Gervinho wore sports glasses and hit a harder header with them?
"Yeah.....!"
The away fan section erupted in joy, as Gervinho ran towards Ma’el, and with a few strides, they both jumped up for a chest bump celebration.
Three to zero!
Victory secured!
"Click, click!" The media on the sideline captured their chest bump photo, using it as the post-match cover image.
"This is my first single-match best performance in my Premier League career, thank you all, and thank you Ma’el for the goal and assist he gave me. He drew the defense away, creating the space for me." — Gervinho said at the post-match press conference.
"Arsenal surpasses Manchester United in goal difference, officially reaching the top of the standings! The battle for the top is intense, three teams are neck and neck, none have fallen behind!" — London Evening Paper.
"First: Arsenal 23 points, Second: Manchester United 23 points, Third: Manchester City 23 points, Fourth: Chelsea 20 points." — Premier League standings.
....
On October 22, the day before the third round of the Champions League group stage, Ma’el took some time to visit a small and medium-sized newspaper named Football Record.
He had previously promised a young red-haired female reporter that he’d give her an exclusive interview.
Even though she had left Sky Sports and joined a small and medium-sized newspaper...he always keeps his promises.
Moreover, with his current popularity in the UK football scene, publishing an interview, regardless of who publishes it, would quickly become the headlines the next day.
He could use this chance to let people know more about him, gaining more fans while also organizing his thoughts.
Sometimes people don’t understand themselves completely...Ma’el realized this long ago; sometimes he needed to slow down and ask himself some questions.
"Amelia."
The red-haired reporter flashed her memorable braces, extending her small hand towards Ma’el, "In Latin, the name means a person who works hard."
"Do you work hard?" Ma’el smiled at her, somewhat skeptical, wondering why she left Sky Sports.
"Don’t know."
Amelia shook her head and laughed, "But I should be very lucky to have received a promise from a star player, and even more so that the star player kept that promise.
Moreover, that star player had never given an exclusive interview to any media before, this is a debut. Haven’t you been invited for interviews before?"
"I have." Ma’el replied as he followed her into a high-rise administrative building, "But I always postponed them, the day you asked me, maybe I was in a good mood, so I agreed directly.
Also, you cleverly used goal-setting to intrigue me, I just happened to be eagerly anticipating the day I scored 10 goals."
"Hmm." Amelia, being very outgoing, raised an eyebrow, "Then why did you only get in touch after scoring 12 goals?"
"Too busy and tired usually." Ma’el explained, following Amelia into a room.
The room contained a green screen in the middle, a high stool, various lighting and cameras, with several people already preparing.
"Ma’el."
"Hello."
"We’re honored that you came here."
They stood up quickly upon seeing Ma’el, moving next to him extending a hand with lowered heads, showing great respect.
Ma’el shook hands with them one by one while Amelia introduced beside him: "This is the newspaper owner, this is the editor-in-chief, this is the multimedia editor....."