Chapter 637: Two Truths And A Leo!

Bruno opened his body and tried to redirect it towards the flank with his first touch.

The ball barely left his boot when Leo swooped in like a hawk.

He stepped across the passing lane and lifted his foot, scooping the ball out of the air before Bruno could send it wide.

The interception took him forward rather than sideways, and he brought the ball down into his stride without breaking pace.

Then he was off.

Casemiro moved across to meet him, setting himself near the edge of the central channel.

Leo approached at speed, but instead of trying to blast straight past the Brazilian, he slowed just enough to bring the ball under control.

His right foot rolled it across his body, causing Casemiro to shift with him.

Leo followed with a pair of stepovers, circling his foot around the ball while keeping his upper body loose.

Casemiro watched his hips, refusing to bite on the first movement.

Leo went again, quicker this time, and suddenly shifted the ball to his left.

This time, Casemiro reacted, but Leo had already slipped beyond his reach after suddenly touching the ball to his right, wrong-footing the midfielder.

Beyond him, Mainoo was waiting a few yards ahead.

The young midfielder squared his shoulders and lowered his centre of gravity, trying to block Leo’s route towards the penalty area.

Leo nudged the ball forward, just far enough to tempt Mainoo into stepping towards him, then he slipped it between his legs.

The ball passed cleanly through the gap, eliciting a wave of gasps as the Wigan fans began rising to their feet.

Leo lunged after it, driving through the space before Mainoo could turn.

Casemiro, on the other hand, came back from behind while Mainoo twisted around, both men trying to close the gap before Leo could escape between them.

For a split second, Leo was caught between the two midfielders, but he squeezed through anyway.

His shoulder brushed Mainoo’s as he forced his way past, and Casemiro’s attempted recovery challenge arrived a fraction too late.

Leo emerged on the other side with the ball still moving in front of him, leaving both United players turning to chase.

"Calderon! Oh, he’s done Mainoo as well!" Steve Bower burst out while

Darren Fletcher let out a sharp laugh of disbelief.

"That is outrageous from the young man! He takes on Casemiro, gets through Mainoo, and somehow comes away with the ball. United had two players there to stop him, and neither of them could get near it!"

Leo was approaching the final third now, with United’s defenders retreating towards their own penalty area.

The home crowd rose around the stadium, the noise building as he carried the ball towards the line of defenders.

With space and the adverseness of the United defence to step out, he dragged his right leg back.

The motion gripped the hearts and feet of the United defenders.

They knew they couldn’t let him shoot.

The nearest defender shifted to block him while another stepped towards the centre, preparing for the strike.

Even Onana in goal tensed as the defensive line tightened, every player reacting to the possibility of Leo shooting from distance or driving into the box.

Instead, Leo barely touched the ball.

His foot brushed underneath it, sending a delicate pass floating over the backline and into the space on the left flank.

And in one movement, the United team had been rendered useless.

There appeared to be nobody there as the ball dropped behind United’s defence, beyond the reach of the defenders who had stepped towards Leo.

Onana came a few steps off his line, trying to judge whether he could reach it before a Wigan player arrived, but his breath hitched when he saw Carlo appear like a jump scare.

He had timed his run perfectly, accelerating into the space from the right and crossing behind the defensive line.

He reached the ball near the left side of the penalty area, took one controlled touch, and drove it across the face of goal.

The pass travelled through the six-yard box as Onana threw himself towards it, but the ball was beyond him.

The nearest defender turned desperately, only to find himself facing his own goal with no time to recover.

Leo’s pass had taken the entire United defence out of the move, and Reyes was waiting.

He attacked the cross with the hunger of a striker who had spotted a loose ball before everyone else.

There was no hesitation, no glance towards the referee, no concern for the defender trying to recover at his shoulder.

Reyes simply threw himself at the opportunity.

He rose and met Carlo’s delivery from close range, directing it beyond Onana as the ball slammed into the back of the net.

And once more, it was pandemonium, joy wrapped in chaos as a terrible roar broke through the stadium, resounding in the hearts of the DW faithful.

There truly was nothing like an equaliser in football.

"GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL."

Reyes landed, regained his footing, and the moment he did, he took off towards the corner flag.

He spread his arms before dropping into a slide across the grass, his teammates charging after him as the home crowd roared its approval.

"GOAL GOAL GOAL! WIGAN HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!"

Steve Bower’s voice climbed over the noise.

"Reyes! It’s Reyes again, and Wigan Athletic have turned this game on its head! Manchester United were two goals ahead of them in the first half-hour, and now they’re suddenly trailing!"

Darren Fletcher was still trying to make sense of the move.

"WHAT GOES ON IN THE BRILLIANT MIND OF THAT BOY. LEO CALDERON IS RIDICULOUS. WIGAN ARE LEVEL!"

Once more, the camera cut to the scoreboard.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 2-2 MANCHESTER UNITED.

Wigan had managed only three shots on goal, and two of them had ended in the net.

The Manchester United players stood scattered around the penalty area, several of them looking towards one another as if someone might explain how the game had changed so quickly.

Mainoo stared towards the corner, his jaw tight, while Casemiro turned away and muttered something under his breath before clapping his hands at his teammates, urging them to get themselves organised.

On the touchline, Ten Hag watched, his expression hardening.

Wigan, meanwhile, were celebrating.

Reyes was swallowed by Ezra and Carlo first, with Jake arriving a moment later to grab him around the shoulders.

Tiehi joined the group, shouting something into Reyes’s ear that disappeared beneath the noise.

Even the Wigan players who had been furthest from the move were sprinting over, but Leo wasn’t among them.

He had already turned towards the goal.