Harbinger Of Glory

”That was close!”

”Very close,” the co-commentator replied.

”Wigan almost conceded there without knowing, and that’s the danger with Cole Palmer. He’s just crafty.

He gets himself into those little pockets where you think you’ve dealt with him, and then suddenly he’s got a shot away. I don’t even think Ben Amos knew Palmer had taken it.”

”Neither did I until it went past the post,” the main commentator replied as Palmer walked towards the corner flag.

As he did, Thiago Silva walked forward from the defensive line, joining his teammates inside the Wigan penalty area, and soon the delivery came in.

The veteran moved towards the ball and attacked the space it had been intended for, but the ball sailed beyond him.

And seeing that, Wigan’s defenders reacted instantly.

The clearance dropped into midfield, and Wigan tried to break before Chelsea could recover.

For a moment, it looked promising as they sought to take advantage of Silva’s absence from the defensive line, but they had only gone so far when the pass toward the right was intercepted.

Malo Gusto stepped in front of it, and the Chelsea full-back took control of the ball that Reyes tried to get to Carlo.

He immediately turned upfield and found Wigan’s shape was still recovering from the failed transition.

Gusto saw it, and with that, he carried the ball forward before feeding Palmer.

Then he accelerated into the space beyond McClean, who was already retreating.

Despite the head start, Gusto had the advantage with his acceleration, and Palmer returned the ball into his path.

Gusto took it near the edge of the box and smashed a low cross into the middle without looking for a particular target.

And luckily for Chelsea, Nkunku attacked it.

He swung his right foot at the first-time finish with clean contact, flashing the ball towards goal.

The Chelsea fans who saw this could almost taste the goal, yet all they heard was the clang as the ball slammed against the post.

The sound of it rang around the stadium as the ball bounced back into play and the noise that had risen around the Wigan goal suddenly dropped.

James McClean reacted first and reached the loose ball.

But even under pressure, he did enough and used the back of his heel to knock it behind him and like a charm, Leo was there.

He received it and spun right as Madueke stepped toward him, but his first touch moved the ball across his body and his second took it through the gap.

Madueke still kept up, but a quick two-touch movement sent Leo beyond Madueke before the Chelsea winger could get his foot across.

And from there, the midfield was wide open for Leo to run into./

Palmer tried to recover and even slid, but Leo pushed the ball past him.

The halfway line came and went, and now the Chelsea players were scrambling backwards.

It took Gallagher, who sprinted across from the side, to slow Leo down as he carried the ball forward.

And for another few yards Gallagher stuck with him before the Chelsea captain finally decided to slide in after being unable to win the ball fairly.

His boot caught Leo’s leg enough to knock him slightly off balance, but Leo, somehow, rode the challenge and kept the ball with him.

The Wigan fans in the stadium all rose to their feet to look towards the referee, but Paul Tierney waved play on.

”Leo Calderon is still going!”

Leo recovered his stride and finally looked up.

There was space on the left where Carlo was already running into it.

And seeing as he’d done enough, Leo opened his body and clipped the ball diagonally across the pitch.

It travelled over the retreating Chelsea midfield and dropped toward Carlo, who controlled it with his right foot.

After that, he had very little angle, with the Chelsea defence recovering quickly, but he did not care.

He shifted his weight and struck through the ball with his left.

The shot flew toward the far side of goal where Petrovic had already read it and intended to keep it out.

The goalkeeper moved across his line, covered the angle and threw his legs out at the last moment.

The ball smashed into him and immediately bounced back into the box.

”Petrovic saves it with his legs!” the commentary said, but they were forced to halt due to the presence of Reyes.

He reached the loose ball and tried to take it under control, but Caicedo stepped in.

The Chelsea midfielder fought his way across Reyes and managed to knock the ball away from his feet.

For a split second, Caicedo looked up, searching for where the ball had gone, but when he saw the scene ahead, he didn’t like it.

And not even one bit.

The ball sat just ahead of his left foot, and with no pause, Leo whisked it to his right, creating the smallest pocket of space and, almost like mindless creatures, the Chelsea players lurched forward to stop him.

They had seen this scene enough times to warrant the reaction, but when Leo felt a hand grip his shoulder, his leg went through the ball.

”CALDEROOOONNNNNNN!”

The shot flew toward the top-right corner once more as Petrovic took his steps across his line.

The goalkeeper had time and set himself to reach it.

His fingertips slowly crept across gravity, piercing through the air like a harpoon, and he couldn’t help the small smile that crept on his face when he realised he would get there.

The keeper poised his hand and held it there, but the ball just tore through his gloves like it wasn’t even there, and in that instant, his heart sank, and Leo did not stop to think.

He turned immediately and tore toward the Wigan end, both arms spreading as he ran, and the roar followed him.

He opened his hands wider, almost inviting the supporters to give him everything they had, and they did.

Leo reached the edge of the pitch and dropped into a slide, skimming across the grass on his knees as the Wigan end rose behind him, the celebration becoming a heap of blue and white once more as Wigan shirts began to crowd near the corner.

”SUPERB!”

The lead commentator’s voice rose above the noise.

”LEO CALDERON HAS DONE IT AGAIN! AGAIN AND AGAIN, THIS YOUNG MAN KNOWS HOW TO TELL A STORY, AND HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN WITH A BELTER.”

The co-commentator could barely get his words out over the stadium.

”Twenty-two minutes gone,” the lead commentator continued, ”and Wigan Athletic lead Chelsea by two goals to nil!”