Harbinger Of Glory

Jake tapped the ball back, and Wigan immediately settled into their shape.

Leo took it first, playing a short pass into Reyes before moving again, but that wasn’t the last of him!

Reyes returned it almost immediately, and as the fans watched on, Leo gave it back.

”It’s a series of passes here to start the game,” Peter Drury said on the commentary and for a few seconds the two kept the ball moving between them as Manchester United pushed forward.

Højlund dropped in a few yards from the front line, pulling Whatmough with him, while Bruno moved into the space behind him.

Garnacho and Rashford stayed wide, and the rest of the United side followed, pushing into Wigan’s half.

After a trip around the Wigan midfield and defensive setup, the ball once again found Leo, who instantly positioned himself well and set it up for Reyes, who received it again near the centre circle.

Amidst the oncoming pressure from the Manchester United side, he turned toward the right flank and played it into Femi Seriki.

Garnacho saw the ball heading towards Femi Seriki and didn’t need another invitation to press!

Seeing his teammates pressure, Højlund dropped off, leaving the winger to become the first man into the press as he sprinted toward Seriki before the Wigan wing-back had time to settle.

”United have come out with real intent here,” Drury said.

”Garnacho leading the charge, and Seriki has no interest in waiting to find out how serious that charge is.”

Seriki spun away from the Argentine and got his foot around the ball.

Garnacho still strived sticking his leg out to poke the ball away, but the former Beerschot player did well to shield the ball!

After that escape, he didn’t linger any longer and sent the ball down his side into Ezra, who had pushed back to provide support!

Ezra took the pass near the touchline but immediately turned inside instead of continuing down the flank.

He carried it a few yards before laying it back into Reyes, who had moved toward the edge of the centre circle in United’s half.

While he did so, the Manchester midfield squeezed in, boxing the periphery as the ball travelled towards the Portuguese footballer, but he was already on them.

The Portuguese midfielder waited until the last moment before turning away from the pair.

He slipped between them, took the ball with him and came out the other side as cleanly as a swan in water.

”Oh, that’s graceful! That’s nicely done from Reyes,” Drury said.

”Bruno closes, Eriksen arrives, but neither can get there. Wigan have played through the first wave.”

Carragher nodded.

”Another show of the technical brilliance and excellence that Dawson has assembled. A lot of people, as far as it goes, were against the transfer, citing Reyes’s problematic history, but since he’s been in Wigan, he has been relatively quiet and getting better each game. Well, that is if you ignore his on-pitch antics!”

Following that, the game began to eventually kick off, with the teams throwing a bit of the caution that comes with each game in the first few minutes away!

They began actually trying things.

United pressed whenever Wigan tried to build from the back, and Wigan responded by moving the ball quickly, using Reyes and Leo as outlets to escape the pressure, but they didn’t take it lying down.

Using Femi Seriki and James McClean, Wigan pinned Manchester United back sometimes whenever the home side got too comfortable!

Eventually, the first proper attack of the game broke when Bruno Fernandes picked up the ball between the lines and turned.

Leo was already moving toward him, trying to pressure the veteran, but Bruno released it before he could close the distance.

The players tracked the loose ball until Rashford claimed ownership of it on the right and immediately drove forward.

James McClean kept up with him, using his pace that hadn’t dimmed despite his age, but as they inched closer and closer to the Wigan defence, Rashford shifted the ball onto his right foot, cut inside and then pushed it back outside again.

McClean slipped up a bit but still stayed with him until Rashford eventually found Bruno arriving behind the play.

Bruno ran onto the ball and, without hesitating, he smashed the ball towards goal, seeking an effort from Ben Amos, but his own first-time effort was blocked by Tilt.

The home side, who had thought of something forming, were instantly disappointed as the ball bounced loose.

They recovered instantly though, as McTominay reached the ball first and drove another shot toward goal, but it flew way over the bar.

”That’s the first real warning,” Drury said on the broadcast as applause began raining down from the home fans!

”United don’t need much encouragement when Bruno finds that little pocket between midfield and defence.”

”Wigan need to be careful here, especially Leo,” Carragher added.

”He can’t spend the whole game chasing Bruno. He needs to know when to press and when to hold his position.”

Wigan had now survived it, and as the game progressed, they eagerly built and came forward themselves a few minutes later.

Leo received from O’Shea and carried the ball through the middle before finding Carlo on the left.

His Italian teammate immediately took it into space and drove toward Dalot, making light work of the Portuguese defender, but after Carlo tried to slip the ball through to Jake, Lindelöf read it and intercepted.

Still, the clearance only reached Reyes, who immediately returned it toward Leo.

The latter tried to turn through midfield after seeing the disorganised state of the Manchester setup, but before he could truly take off, McTominay stepped across him.

The challenge was clean, sending the ball spinning wildly away as Bruno snatched it and once more, United had it again.

The pace picked up quickly with the United cohort immediately turning on their heels and then running into the Wigan half.

Then Rashford got away.