From Arsenal to the Ball God-Chapter 38: 3–0 at Halftime!

Sheffield City, Bramall Lane Stadium.

"Ma’el! Ma’el! Ma’el!!"

The lights were dazzling, the cheers were deafening, and the Blades fans created today’s atmosphere. Their shouts even spread throughout the surrounding streets.

An unstoppable momentum weighed on Preston players, leading to forced errors and a chaotic situation.

Right from the start, Sheffield scored a goal, and what a brilliant world-class goal it was.

They could probably imagine how high-spirited and proud their opponents were at this moment!

"Don’t panic, don’t panic!"

Preston’s coach Landes had a face full of worry. He had been standing in the coaching area since the start, never leaving. "Their attacking methods are simple, no need to worry. Just play your game."

He wanted to use this way to help the players regain confidence and believe they could defeat their opponents.

Swallowing a bit, Landes felt his throat was slightly hoarse. Being caught off guard like this, he was quite frustrated.

Wasn’t the pre-match research saying that the kid’s biggest feature was a crossing pass?

Their confrontation ability and breakthrough ability weren’t outstanding... How did he just come on and topple their full-back and score a long shot goal?

"Information asymmetry!"

He wanted to shout this out in frustration, but no one would listen to him complain.

He could only wait until he returned to the team to grab the data analyst by the collar and ask them, damn it, what were you guys doing?

"Boom."

In the 27th minute of the match, Ma’el once again received a penetrating pass from a teammate in a favorable position.

Landes quickly ran towards the sideline area, wanting to remind the full-back to be careful. Ma’el just pedals fast on the bicycle kick, no other breakthrough moves.

But recalling that he reminded the full-back of this before the match, he didn’t say anything more.

As he thought, Ma’el indeed started pedaling the bicycle upon receiving the ball, quickly dribbling it to the outer lane, preparing to cross.

"Intercept him!"

He shouted, noticing that the full-back’s center of gravity wasn’t fooled, sprinting to catch up with Ma’el’s directional change.

But shortly after experiencing success earlier, Ma’el used a simple and crude method again. He leaned his body hard against the coming full-back.

With a ’bang,’ the full-back was knocked half a body length away again, and Ma’el sent a crossing pass to the center.

"Damn it!" Landes bitterly cursed, finding it unreasonable. His body slowly leaned back, at an amazing angle, thrusting his hip forward, his entire body taut.

"Boom!!"

In the center, Sheffield United’s tall center Bolodanovich leaped high and sent a header towards the goal, but unfortunately, it missed slightly as he had yet to find his touch.

Landes finally breathed a sigh of relief, then angrily turned to the substitute bench, looking for a physically strong full-back to make a substitution.

But looking left and right, he finally just turned his head back to the pitch with pursed lips.

"Kids these days are too slick!" He fumed helplessly. Teams like theirs, without tough full-backs, really have no way to deal with a winger like Ma’el.

......

"The first half is about to end. Sheffield has created a few good chances, dominating in both corner kicks and set pieces!"

"The performances of young players Ma’el and Gilbert are surprising. Even lacking experience, their courage and fighting spirit bridged the gap, making Preston players uncomfortable.

"Landes has been looking upset all along. His coaching style is so... he’s passionate, his demeanor changes with the team’s status.

"Let’s see this attack! A beautiful three-on-two on the wing! Carl Wei rushed into the penalty box, sprinting from the full-back position to the end line, what’s he going to do?!"

On the pitch, cheered by the fans, Sheffield’s right-back Carl Wei charged into the side of the baseline.

He glanced at the center of the penalty box and found the opponent was already scrambling, retreating rapidly.

This sprinting retreat makes it hard to shift direction and balance.

He mimicked Ward’s assist to Ma’el, struck a pass towards the inverted triangle position!

Indeed, the ball caused a delayed reaction!

Several Preston players tried to adjust their balance and put the foot, but their bodies couldn’t keep up, letting the ball slip by with a slight discrepancy.

"Boom!!"

Following with a push shot was the team’s midfielder Janu, his body stretching as he curved a picturesque ground shot towards the far corner with his instep.

The ball passed through the chaos of legs blocking inside the penalty box, rolling into the far corner of the goal!

Two to zero!

Sheffield United expanded their lead!

"Oh.....!!" The home fans were like celebrating New Year, dancing wildly in joy, jubilantly celebrating the goal in the stands.

Closer to the first home win of the new season!

"Carl Wei, my bedroom door is open for you tonight."

Janu laughed lewdly, pointing at Carl Wei who assisted him, and sprinted over, "Bring your stuff."

"Get lost."

Carl Wei showed a face of disdain, but still, he spread his arms in joy from the goal, "I should have passed the ball to Gilbert."

Gilbert, who followed behind, misunderstood them and with a sudden shiver said: "Is there such a tradition and rule in Sheffield United to receive assists from teammates?"

He thought of Ward assisting Ma’el and couldn’t help but silently mourn for a few seconds for his brother.

No, didn’t Ma’el assist him too?

"What are you thinking, fool!"

Ma’el ran up, laughing twice, pushing him towards the celebrating crowd.

......

After the re-kick-off, it was visible that Preston’s coach Landes seemed even more agitated.

He no longer paced by the sideline but stood with hands in pockets, watching the football’s movement with cold indifference.

He glanced at the clock, not much time left before the end of the first half.

Just let it end... Hopefully, they can recover during the halftime, maybe still have a chance.

"Boom!"

At this moment, he saw his opponent’s midfielder Janu pass the ball to Ma’el, who started his magical bicycle step again.

"Watch out he doesn’t collide with you, be smart!"

Clenching his teeth, Landes reminded: "He can’t break through you; avoiding confrontation is winning!"

The Preston full-back seemed to hear, occasionally feinting during defense, luring Ma’el to collide with him, so he could evade actively.

Thus, after Ma’el finished three bicycle steps, he planted his right foot firmly, shifting his body substantially to the left as if preparing for the final breakthrough.

The Preston defender was fooled, putting his weight on his own inner line, only to find Ma’el didn’t dribble!

Oops!

It was a feint again!

"Smack!" Ma’el planted his left foot and pushed off again, dribbling to the external right side with his right foot, glancing at the center lane.

Bicycle steps and step-over moves can certainly be mixed, creating a bewildering illusion, tricking the opponent’s center of gravity!

"Boom!"

Ma’el curled the ball with his right foot, sending a crossing pass to the center, the ball sharply curving towards the near post.

"Ah....." Not far from them, Landes once again thrust his hip forward, leaning back, trying to dispel the danger of this ball with body language, it’s almost an instinct.

But this time, he wasn’t so lucky.

Bolodanovich, the once-overlooked center, found himself in stellar form after partnering with the brilliant Ma’el.

"Boom!"

He surged forward, glancing the ball backwards towards the goal with the back of his head.

Before he could look back, he first saw the fans rising on both sides and heard the thunderous cheers: "Yeah...!!"

The ball was in!

His first goal of the new season!

A three-to-zero lead at halftime!

"Ma’el!" Bolodanovich grabbed the hem of his shirt with both hands, flipping it and shaking to show his excitement. He sprinted to the wing, rushing into Ma’el’s embrace.

"Oh.....!" Only the disarrayed Preston manager Landes kept thrusting his hip higher, producing a muffled boom under the cover of cheers.