Harbinger Of Glory

When he turned around again, Leo saw Reyes and, without waiting, slipped the ball past 2 players as the Portuguese ran to meet it.

The Chelsea players spun around instantly to chase, but Reyes only touched the ball into Max Power’s path, drawing attention to one of Wigan’s captains.

The Chelsea eyes found the latter instantly, but they had just settled when Power returned it for the first time again into Reyes, who had only just crossed the Chelsea half.

The movement had been simple, but the speed of it was not.

”That’s better from Wigan,” the lead commentator said. ”They’ve gone from building patiently to breaking the first line.”

Reyes carried the ball forward before laying it into Ezra’s path when Caicedo stepped up.

Colwill saw this and pushed out of his lane to pressure Ezra, but the latter didn’t hold the ball.

Colwill stepped across expecting to meet the ball, but Ezra nudged it past him and let Colwill’s momentum carry him past.

And taking charge of the space was Femi Seriki.

The right wing-back tore into the space behind him, and the stadium reacted before Chelsea could.

”Seriki’s away!” the commentary called as Disasi rushed to cover, but Seriki pushed the ball ahead of himself and accelerated a bit further.

He looked up once, and when he did, he met Jake’s eyes.

The striker kept his eyes on the ball and nothing else as Thiago Silva stood between him and the goal, but Jake attacked the space ahead of the defender instead of waiting for the cross.

Seriki, knowing he couldn’t delay it anymore, drew his right leg back and sent the cross in.

The ball was a waiting game. Whoever climbed first would lose out, but climbing late would mean losing the ball either way.

Not caring about either scenario, Jake planted his feet and climbed.

He rose above Thiago Silva, who jumped at the same moment, towering over the Chelsea defender as the ball dropped toward him.

”And he gets to it!” the commentary called before anything, when Jake’s forehead caught the cross cleanly.

Petrovic reacted instantly, stepping to his left and lunging off his stronger foot as the ball sped toward him.

The goalkeeper threw himself across his goal, extending his arm as far as he could, and his glove reached the ball.

But his fingers weren’t strong enough to stop the ball.

And before it even crossed the line, the DW Stadium erupted.

”GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL.”

The ball struck the back of the net, THWACK.

When it did, Jake landed heavily on both feet and immediately turned.

He tore away toward the corner, the full giant of him charging across the grass before leaping into the air.

His hands loaded beside his chest and then he slammed both fists downward as the stands exploded behind and ahead of him.

”THERE IT IS,” the commentary came through as the Wigan players followed after him.

”FIRST BLOOD DRAWN AND ONCE AGAIN, IT IS THIS GENTLEMAN WHO HAS SCORED AGAINST CHELSEA.”

The Wigan players flooded toward the corner as Jake shouted over the noise and the supporters celebrating above him.

”Well, that’s exactly what Wigan can do to you!” the lead commentator shouted over the eruption.

”They’ve worked their way through Chelsea’s shape, and when the opening appeared, they attacked it immediately!”

His co-commentator was almost laughing at the sheer speed of the move.

”From their half to scoring in a span of 8 seconds, that is a fantastic sequence. Chelsea had the ball, they tried to press, and Wigan just moved them around the pitch until the space appeared. Seriki gets the overlap, and Jake does the rest!”

The camera cut back toward the celebrating Wigan players, where Jake was still pounding his fists toward the supporters.

”One-nil Wigan! And this game is off to an athletic start.”

The roar rolled around the DW again, even though the away side couldn’t say the same.

New Year’s Day had barely begun, but Wigan had already given their supporters something to celebrate.

....

As the scenes unfolded, Mauricio Pochettino stood at the edge of his technical area with one hand raised to his beard and fingers scraping slowly through it.

He watched the Wigan players celebrate for another few seconds before muttering under his breath.

”I didn’t see that coming.”

His eyes followed Jake as the striker finally broke away from the group while the rest of the Wigan players dispersed from the corner and jogged back toward their positions.

Pochettino sighed, then looked across the other technical box, where Dawson stood, applauding and watching his players return to their positions.

Pochettino looked away, then turned toward his seat on the bench.

”This might be a long day.”

---

”Well, Chelsea have been given an early reminder of exactly what Wigan are capable of,” the lead commentator said as the broadcast followed the players back toward the centre circle.

”A very quick attack, a very good cross, and Jake makes absolutely no mistake with the header.”

”They’ll have to shake it off,” his co-commentator replied. ”Because there is still an awful lot of football to play.”

---

Nkunku stood over the ball once more and played it back to Palmer as the referee’s whistle sounded.

Wigan dropped into their shape immediately, but not the same shape or intensity they’d pressed with before the goal.

Instead, their players waited, allowing Chelsea to circulate the ball until they saw an opportunity worth committing energy toward.

It was deliberate.

They could not spend the entire afternoon sprinting after Chelsea’s defenders.

So they picked their moments.

And with that, Chelsea began to settle.

They also took advantage of Wigan slowing down to work their charm, and they got their moments.

Palmer received possession near the right side of midfield, turned and carried the ball forward and instantly the Wigan players were on them.

Leo moved across and so did Max Power, but Palmer kept going.

A challenge came in, but he shifted the ball away.

Another Wigan player stepped toward him, but Palmer rolled his foot over the ball, dragged it across his body and somehow kept it underneath him.

The pressure increased, and yet every time it looked as though the ball was about to be taken from him, the England international found another touch.

”It’s Palmer, wriggling his way through here,” the commentator said.

He squeezed between two players, stumbled slightly, recovered his balance and continued into the space outside the Wigan box; from there, the Wigan players had to be careful.

Leo, despite missing Palmer earlier, kept tracking him.

As he came with the ball, he saw Palmer’s body position change.

The midfielder shifted the ball onto his left foot ever so slightly, and Leo reacted immediately.

Palmer still managed to disguise the shot and got it away.

The ball curled away from him, but Leo’s knee caught it as he closed the distance, and the deflection changed everything.

The ball skipped across the grass and flew beyond Amos, who had barely moved, and just watched it disappear narrowly past the post.

The moment the ball went out of play, a collective gasp came from the home supporters before the away end erupted in relieved noise.