Chapter 634: Crowded Out! [GT - !]

Leo took his position beside Tiehi for the restart, dropping into the double pivot.

The whistle sounded, and Wigan put the ball back into play.

The next few minutes brought little relief.

Every time Leo received possession, a United shirt seemed to appear in front of him.

Mainoo closed from one side, Casemiro waited behind, and Bruno pressed whenever Leo tried to turn.

When he escaped the first challenge, another player was ready to block his path.

He managed to wriggle free on several occasions, shifting the ball between his feet and using his body to protect it.

But the space ahead of him kept disappearing.

Sometimes he was forced to release a hurried pass; at other times, a late challenge sent him tumbling to the turf.

United had clearly decided he would not be allowed to settle.

Through it all, the away crowd enjoyed every moment of it.

A roar followed each time Leo lost possession.

When he went down under a challenge, the jeers grew louder, and whenever he looked towards the referee, the stands responded with whistles.

Some supporters were still celebrating Rashford’s goal.

Others seemed just as pleased to see the player who had hurt them so badly previously struggling to influence this one.

Leo got back on his feet after another collision and brushed grass off his shorts.

He said nothing, but his expression tightened.

Wigan needed to find a way through the pressure.

Until then, too much of their play had ended with Leo surrounded and the ball heading back towards their own half.

The opportunity came when McClean found him near the left touchline.

Leo controlled the pass and moved away from Bruno, carrying the ball forward along the flank.

Casemiro shifted across to cover the middle, keeping Reyes out of the passing lane, while Diogo Dalot tracked Carlo on the opposite side of the pitch.

Leo looked up once and,, without even a hint of intent, struck a long diagonal pass to the right.

The ball caught the players off guard; it had come out of nowhere.

It travelled over the midfield and dropped into Ezra’s path.

The winger barely broke stride, cushioning it into his run with a touch that drew a cheer from the travelling supporters.

"That’s excellent from Calderon," Bower noted. "He may not have much room centrally, but he’s spotted the switch."

Ezra faced Luke Shaw and went straight at him.

One sharp touch sent him outside, then a second carried him past the defender, and Shaw couldn’t recover.

Ezra reached the byline and lifted a cross into the penalty area right as the movements in the box began, but it was all for nought.

United players desperately tried to clear it, but Jake moved to attack it.

The striker rose above his marker, using his height to gain an advantage, but the ball also drifted just beyond his reach.

He stretched his neck and tried to get to it toward goal, but missed by inches as the ball came down.

Carlo saw the ball coming his way and moved,, but Dalot reacted first, clearing it with a single touch.

It was not a particularly elegant clearance, but it was enough to deny Wigan the chance to turn their promising attack into an equaliser.

The Wigan players kept their eyes on it and watched as the ball bounced into Casemiro’s path.

Reyes was already moving towards him, hoping to win it back before United could launch a counter, but Casemiro barely looked over his shoulder.

With the outside of his boot, he nudged the ball past Carlo’s reaching foot and spun into space.

The transition was on.

Casemiro got the ball under control again, dand threaded a pass through the middle to Bruno, who received it facing forward.

Leo saw the danger and immediately turned to chase, sprinting across the grass to get alongside the Portuguese midfielder before he could reach the penalty area.

For a few strides, Leo managed to stay with him.

Then Bruno used his arm to hold him off.

Leo tried to slow the midfielder’s progress, but his contact only pushed Bruno forward.

The United captain kept his balance and rode the challenge towards the box.

Leo leaned away, trying to recover his footing, but all he saw was another red shirt closing from the other side.

And then another as Rashford had raced up in support, and Bruno could see him approaching from the corner of his eye.

Rather than take on Leo again, he used the momentum of their contact to slip away and laid the ball into Rashford’s path.

Femi Seriki, who had slowed down a bit, turned on the jets again, but he wasn’t catching Marcus Rashford.

The latter latched onto the ball like a leech and cut inside, drawing a defender towards him, then rolled the ball back into the space behind.

And there, the player Leo had seen, Mainoo, arrived.

The young midfielder took one stride to set himself and opened his body as he planted his right foot.

Leo was still scrambling across to close him down, but Mainoo had already begun his swing.

His left foot struck the ball cleanly, and the shot flew through the space between the defenders, rising sharply as it travelled towards goal.

Amos pushed off his line and launched himself across the goalmouth, but the ball was already beyond his reach.

It crashed into the net right as Leo got to Mainoo and it was delirium was more.

"MAINOO!" Bower roared.

"Kobbie Mainoo makes it two! Manchester United have struck again, and Wigan are in serious trouble here!"

Mainoo wheeled away towards the corner nearest the Wigan supporters.

He raised an index finger to his lips, shushing the home end, then spread his arms.

Before it could go on any longer, his teammates caught him within seconds, and the group collapsed into a heap on the turf as the away crowd celebrated another goal.

On the touchline, Erik ten Hag punched both fists in the air and turned to his staff with an intensity that matched the noise around him.

United had not simply taken the lead.

They had doubled it before Wigan could find a response.

Leo slowed to a stop at the edge of the penalty area.

He looked towards the goal, then across at his teammates as they began walking back for the restart.

The first goal had come from a disputed moment in the box; the second had punished Wigan for losing the ball high up the pitch and failing to stop the counter.

Neither was a problem they could afford to repeat.

"Manchester United are two goals to the good," Bower said, his voice still raised above the crowd.

"And for all the talk about Wigan’s remarkable run, they’re finding out just how difficult this side can be."

Fletcher watched Leo as the camera settled on the midfielder.

"Calderon has been crowded out whenever he’s received the ball, and now he’s been caught chasing back for that second goal. Wigan need to give him more support, because at the moment, he’s being asked to do far too much on his own."

Leo glanced towards the midfield, then towards the players ahead of him.

His lips moved.

"Where’s the help?"