Harbinger Of Glory

After the 15-minute break went by, Newcastle came out for the second half with a different approach.

They showed less patience and more intent to move the ball forward.

The home side wanted to put Wigan under pressure early, and the crowd responded to every forward pass, every challenge, and every time Newcastle forced the visitors back towards their own penalty area.

For the first fifteen minutes after the restart, Newcastle had control of the game.

They worked the ball to Alexander Isak whenever the opportunity arose, and eventually Bruno Guimarães found him in a dangerous position inside the final third of the Wigan area.

The moment he got the ball, the former Real Sociedad man took a single touch to set himself before opening his body and driving the ball towards the far angle, looking to get the shot as far away from Ben Amos as he could.

The Wigan goalkeeper threw himself across the goal, but even at full stretch he could not get close enough.

The shot had beaten him, only for the ball to smash against the intersection of the post and crossbar before flying back into play.

”Off the frame of the goal!” the commentary bellowed.

Amos was still on the ground when the ball dropped loose, but luckily Whatmough was already moving towards it.

He reached it first and hacked the ball away from danger before Newcastle could attack the second ball, all under the groans of the home crowd who had seen their team miss the chance to equalise.

But rather than allowing the missed chance to discourage them, Newcastle took it as encouragement.

Their next attacks were more measured.

Instead of simply forcing the ball towards the penalty area, they began moving it from side to side, waiting for Wigan’s shape to loosen.

It wasn’t the way they usually played, but if they punted and prayed for something to give in the Wigan setup, they were going to be disappointed because of how well-kept the shape of the away side was.

Then Joelinton received the ball from Bruno Guimarães and shaped as though he was going to play it forward.

Tiehi, knowing he couldn’t get dragged along, approached steadily and timed his lunge well, but at the last the Brazilian let the pass run across him, leaving it for Isak instead.

Tiehi faltered but recovered and spun to find Isak receiving the ball with his back to goal.

He was boxed in and was looking fragile, but even with his back to goal, he had already noticed Gordon making his run.

And so, with almost no time to turn, he used the outside of his right boot to lift the ball across the left side of Wigan’s defensive line and with one touch, Anthony Gordon was already through.

The Wigan defenders immediately threw their hands up, appealing for offside, but they kept running.

They couldn’t relax, knowing how well the linesmen worked in situations like this and through all this, Gordon ignored them, took the ball in stride and drove his shot across the face of goal.

The Newcastle players rained into the box to try and get a touch onto the ball, but they fell short and could only watch as the ball flashed beyond Amos and across the six-yard box.

But it wasn’t done.

Isak had continued his run, hoping to meet it at the far post, but he could not reach the cross as the ball went harmlessly beyond him.

Then Isak immediately turned towards the referee, appealing that Tilt had pulled him back, keeping him from getting to the ball, but after seeing all that had unfolded from behind, the referee simply shook his head and waved play on.

With Newcastle beginning to find spaces, Dawson could see the shape and the direction the match was trying to take.

He had spent most of the afternoon watching his side absorb pressure without completely losing control, but the balance was starting to shift.

Over the last few minutes, his team hadn’t really been able to keep possession for long stretches because they had also started to play like Newcastle, something that their setup for the day wasn’t tuned for, and he knew something had to change before Newcastle’s pressure became too difficult to contain.

With that, Dawson turned towards his bench.

”Leo! Carlo!”

The former was already putting on a bib while the latter was just lacing on his boots.

Dawson got his point across as Leo got out of the bench and Carlo followed him a moment later, looking to make his first appearance since serving his suspension.

After that, the two began their warm-up while the match continued in front of them.

Newcastle kept coming, Wigan kept trying to resist, and Dawson remained close to the edge of his technical area, watching every movement.

For several more minutes, neither side could find the decisive opening until, eventually, the ball went out of play in the 67th minute.

With that break in play, the fourth official lifted the board.

”Here come the changes for Wigan,” the commentator said.

”A double substitution from the league leaders, and Dawson is bringing two of his most influential players into the game. It seems the young manager is looking to kill this game off.”

The Wigan supporters behind the dugout immediately rose to their feet.

The applause started and spread through the away end, a warm welcome for Leo and Carlo as they prepared to enter, right until Dawson caught Leo before he crossed the line.

”Okay, Leo. I want you to play the game to our tune,” he said.”Keep your teammates at length and make sure that they don’t get dragged along too much.”

Leo nodded before moving ahead while Dawson stepped around him and moved towards Carlo, giving him a few final words before the winger prepared to come on.

As he prepared to come on, Leo looked out across St James’ Park for a moment.

The stadium had remained loud throughout the second half, and Newcastle’s supporters were now fully invested in the possibility of a comeback.

There was still a long way to go.

Tiehi eventually reached him at the touchline.

The two met hands, and Tiehi gave Leo a quick pat on the back before moving towards the bench.