Chapter 635: More Than Heated!

Dawson stood near the touchline, his arms folded, watching Manchester United celebrate their second goal.

"Fuck’s sake," he muttered.

He had expected United to press aggressively; after all, everything in the league did.

He had expected them to target the spaces around Leo and force Wigan into uncomfortable positions.

What he hadn’t expected was how easily his midfield had been bypassed, or how quickly his players had started chasing the game.

His eyes moved across the pitch and began finding the players one by one.

Reyes was still visibly frustrated.

Carlo kept glancing towards the touchline, while Tiehi was trying to organise the players around him.

Even from a distance, Dawson could see the urgency getting to them.

He had miscalculated something, and he needed to work out what before United made it three.

As the Wigan players trudged back into position, Leo collected the ball for the restart.

"Twenty-two minutes gone, and Manchester United have a two-goal lead," Steve Bower said.

"I don’t think many people expected this sort of start from the away side, particularly against a Wigan team that’s been so difficult to beat."

"Neither did I," Darren Fletcher admitted.

"United are running circles around them at the moment. Mainoo and Casemiro are finding space, Bruno is picking his moments to move forward, and Wigan haven’t worked out how to stop it. They’re second to everything."

Leo could see the same problem from the pitch, but it seemed the rest were blind to it.

Even after the restart, they kept doing the same thing.

His teammates were trying to force their way back into the game.

Every pass seemed to carry the intention of creating a chance immediately.

They were rushing forward before securing possession, attempting difficult balls through crowded areas and taking on defenders when a simple pass would have kept the attack alive.

It was understandable.

Nobody wanted to spend the afternoon chasing a two-goal deficit.

But every hurried pass gave United another opportunity to attack.

And it kept repeating itself as the clock ticked by.

Leo won the ball back, only for someone to give it away moments later.

He recovered another loose pass, moved it forward, and watched the next attempt break down under pressure.

Each time, he found himself turning to chase back towards his own goal, and the irritation was beginning to build.

At this rate, he could spend the entire match winning the ball for his teammates, only to watch them hand it straight back.

In the twenty-fifth minute, he received possession in midfield and laid it off to Carlo.

"Turn," Leo called, seeing the obstruction behind the latter, and Carlo tried to do exactly that, but he was slow to it.

By the time he turned, Dalot had already closed the space and rather than protect the ball and recycle possession, Carlo attempted to knock it around the full-back and burst past him.

Dalot read the touch, stepped across and took possession cleanly, and the ball was gone before Carlo could recover.

"Dalot does well there," Bower noted as the United defender looked up.

"And United have another chance to break."

Garnacho was waiting on the right.

McClean had pushed a little too high during Wigan’s previous attack, leaving space behind him, and Dalot wasted no time sending the ball into the winger’s path.

Garnacho took his first touch forward, spinning quickly to set his sights on Wigan’s goal, but he never got a second.

Leo came flying across the grass, launching himself into a slide that caught both the ball and Garnacho’s legs.

The challenge sent the winger tumbling, while the ball skidded over the touchline.

The crowd reacted before the referee had even reached the scene.

Reacting instantly to the situation, United’s players immediately surrounded Leo.

"What the fuck was that?" Bruno Fernandes demanded, shoving him in the chest as he got there.

Dalot arrived a moment later and pushed Leo from the side, but Leo barely looked at either of them.

"Get up," he said before turning away, but Bruno stepped after him.

"You can’t fucking come through him like that!"

Leo shrugged him off, which only seemed to make the Portuguese midfielder angrier.

Dalot caught Leo by the shoulder and shoved him back towards the touchline.

At that, Leo turned sharply, and for a moment, the three of them were chest to chest, exchanging angry words as players from both sides rushed in.

"What the hell are you doing?" someone shouted.

Tiehi grabbed Bruno around the arm, while Reyes moved between Dalot and Leo.

The referee hurried over, blowing his whistle repeatedly and forcing himself into the middle of the gathering.

"Enough! Back away!"

The pushing continued for another few seconds before the players began to separate.

Garnacho remained on the ground, holding his leg.

The referee turned towards Leo and called him over, but before the Wigan midfielder could reach him, H?jlund came striding across.

"What the fuck are you doing, mate?" the striker snapped.

When Leo glanced at him, H?jlund shoved him in the shoulder.

"You trying to break his fucking leg?"

Leo said nothing and simply turned and started walking away, but that earned him another shove from behind.

"I’m talking to you!"

Before it could escalate, Curtis Tilt stepped between them before Leo could turn around.

"Leave it," Tilt told H?jlund, planting a hand against the striker’s chest.

"He’s walking away. Go and check on your teammate."

H?jlund glared past him, but Tilt didn’t move.

"Come on, then," Tilt added. "You’ve made your point."

The referee finally got some distance between the players, and the commotion began to settle.

Garnacho was helped to his feet and tested his leg with a few careful steps.

He appeared to be all right, though the United supporters continued to jeer whenever the camera found Leo.

"It’s getting a little heated here," Bower said.

"Leo Calderon goes into Garnacho, and there’s a fair bit of contact. He does get the ball, but he catches the player as well. United aren’t happy, and you can understand why."

"Absolutely," Fletcher replied.

"Winning the ball doesn’t automatically make it a good challenge. Leo has to be careful. He might have escaped this time, but Wigan might be down to ten if he keeps on like this."