Chapter 563: End Of A Charade!

The Arsenal supporters certainly thought so.

As Amos continued to hold the ball, whistles and boos began raining down from the stands.

He finally got up and looked towards the halfway line, waited another moment, then finally dropped the ball and launched it forward.

The players watched the ball peak and then descend, but it was Jorginho who positioned himself underneath it and brought it down beautifully.

Reyes rushed towards him, but with a simple movement, Jorginho shifted away from the challenge and skipped past the press before sending the ball forward towards Ødegaard.

Then, almost replicating his control, Leo suddenly appeared in front of the Norwegian and took the ball away cleanly.

Then, almost as if mirroring Jorginho, Leo lifted the ball over Rice and into the path of Reyes.

The attacking midfielder took it on the half-turn before immediately moving it towards the right flank where Ezra’s run had carried him beyond Zinchenko, but he needed only one touch to take the ball around the Arsenal defender.

There was space ahead, and he did not waste it.

Ezra drove towards the byline before whipping a sharp cross into the box where Jake charged towards it, reaching towards it like a dream, but Gabriel shattered it.

The Arsenal defender threw himself across the ball and cleared it, but only as far as Leo, who had Rice already closing him down.

The ball dropped from above, and Leo, right as it did, used his chest to cushion it away from the midfielder, directing it towards McClean, who had cut right into the middle.

"Leo Calderon keeps it alive! Expertly done by the youngster!"

Right as McClean began to run, Leo drifted away from the immediate pressure, slipping out of the Arsenal players’ view as McClean looked for Reyes.

The Irishman went with the ball, right as Ben White came up against him, and it was then that he decided on Reyes.

The winger, with his toe, pushed the ball towards Reyes, but just as it seemed the ball would find him, Leo suddenly appeared again, hawking the ball down instead and forcing the Arsenal players who had all already begun turning towards Reyes to reconsider.

Jorginho certainly did, as he moved across to meet him.

With the ball left a bit unclaimed by Leo, the Italian was spurred on as he tried to reach for the ball, but like Leo had been waiting for just that, he reached faster with another touch and sent the ball just beyond Jorginho’s reach.

The midfielder could only watch as Leo accelerated into the box.

He tried to recover and turn with Leo, but he just couldn’t, and Leo looked to have the advantage as he stepped into the box.

Then, in the next second, his footing went.

His body twisted awkwardly as a Declan Rice challenge caught him from the side, sending Leo tumbling onto the wet grass.

And immediately, a wave of pain shot through his legs and the whistle came almost immediately.

"OH PENALTY!"

The commentary erupted.

"Wigan have a penalty! A penalty right at the death! And the question we ask right now is why?"

Down on the pitch, Leo rolled onto his side, one hand gripping his leg as the referee sprinted towards the scene.

"And Declan Rice is going into the book here, but the question is how he has made that challenge!"

The referee pulled the yellow card from his pocket and showed it towards Rice before turning towards Leo, who showed no signs of getting back up on his own.

"And Calderon is still down," the commentary came in again right as Leo finally rolled onto his back.

His breathing was heavy as he kept one hand wrapped around his leg.

The referee stood over him for a few seconds, watching carefully before motioning towards the Wigan bench, and it didn’t take long for two members of the medical staff to run onto the pitch.

The commentators lowered their voices slightly as the reality of the moment settled over the stadium.

"With the way this is unfolding, it looks increasingly likely that the responsibility for this penalty is going to fall to somebody else."

Leo was helped upright, but as he tried to put weight on the leg, his face tightened.

The medics exchanged a quick glance before helping him towards the touchline.

Behind him, the referee cleared the penalty area as the Wigan players gathered together and for several seconds, nobody moved towards the ball.

Their first-choice taker was unavailable and so was their second.

The pressure of the moment seemed to settle over every player standing around the box until eventually, Reyes walked forward.

He picked up the ball, and as he did, the away end began to roar again.

Leo had reached the side of the pitch by then, still being watched by one of the Wigan medical staff when he turned back towards the field.

Reyes placed the ball carefully on the spot and opposite him, Raya stood on his line.

The Arsenal goalkeeper bounced lightly from foot to foot, staring straight at Reyes, right when the main commentator took a breath in on the broadcast.

"This is the chance for Wigan Athletic to win it. A chance to make it 15!"

At that point, the noise around the Emirates became almost impossible to separate into individual sounds.

Home was away, and the away side had become the home team.

"Three points here would take them even further clear at the top of the Premier League."

His co-commentator added quietly, "This, for three points."

The referee looked towards the penalty spot, and when he saw fit, he raised his whistle to his mouth.

Reyes took a breath, and just like that, the whistle sounded.

FWEEEEEEE

He stepped forward and struck through the ball with everything he had.

"REYES!" the commentator bellowed as the shot flew towards the top corner.

Raya guessed, but with where the ball was aimed, it was useless.

The Wigan fans near the goal got right up, ready to scream, but it got stuck right in their throats when the ball smashed against the crossbar.

"OH MY GOD," the commentators came in as the ball flew back down into the penalty area and once more, Reyes reacted.

He threw himself at it and got his head to the rebound, but by that time, Raya was already there.

The goalkeeper lunged forward and somehow got his hands to the ball before pulling it into his chest as he crashed onto the grass, and immediately, the Emirates erupted.

"RAYA SAVES IT!"

The Arsenal players sprinted towards their goalkeeper as the away end fell silent for one stunned moment.

"Reyes, with a chance to win the game for Wigan Athletic, has squandered it instead!"

The camera found Reyes lying face down on the grass, and for several seconds, he did not move.

Then he lifted his head, and his expression said everything.

He slowly pushed himself upright and stood as Arsenal players crowded around Raya, congratulating the goalkeeper on an extraordinary save to keep them a point at least.

The commentary returned as Raya finally climbed back to his feet.

"What a finish we have had here. Wigan had the chance to take all three points, but Raya has kept Arsenal alive."

The goalkeeper took the ball in both hands, and he didn’t rush.

He lingered around with the ball as the Wigan players pedalled back into their half.

Then slowly, he walked towards the edge of his six-yard box, and then he launched it.

The ball disappeared towards the halfway line, but before anyone could properly react, the referee’s whistle sounded.

The charade was finally over.