Chapter 640: Red Expectations!

For the first time since taking the lead, Wigan seemed willing to give Manchester United a little breathing room.

After the game restarted, they stopped throwing bodies forward at every opportunity and allowed United to have the ball.

It wasn’t an invitation to attack so much as a chance for the visitors to remember how to play football without feeling someone breathing down their necks.

And for Wigan, it was a chance to revisit their intent for the game.

With them now in the lead, they could afford to play without rushing, lest it led to them conceding again.

The effect of them slowing was immediately noticeable between the two sides.

For Manchester United, Bruno began showing for passes again.

Mainoo found room to turn, and Casemiro started directing traffic from deeper positions.

The United players who had practically disappeared during Wigan’s three-goal burst gradually worked themselves back into the game.

There was just one problem.

Every time United tried to build an attack, Wigan pushed them backwards until they were playing inside their own half.

The visitors could pass the ball around more comfortably, but they couldn’t get anywhere with it.

And with United retreating into a compact defensive shape, Wigan faced a different problem.

Carlo and Ezra found little space behind the backline to exploit.

United had enough bodies between the ball and their goal to defend without worrying about another immediate counterattack.

While they did so, Wigan began moving the ball from side to side, searching for a gap.

But in their search, attempts usually got blocked.

Crosses, on the other hand, were cleared before they could even make it into the box for Jake to make use of them.

Still, Wigan pushed, and United’s defenders dealt with the next cross, sending it high towards the edge of their penalty area.

And while this happened, Ten Hag stood near the touchline, visibly dissatisfied.

"Step out!" he shouted, gesturing towards the halfway line. "Get out! Don’t just sit there!"

It wasn’t hard to do, but the United players were cautious about it.

Still, the instruction slowly travelled through the team.

United’s midfielders began edging forward, followed by the defenders behind them.

Nobody wanted to leave too much space between the lines, but they couldn’t afford to keep inviting Wigan closer to their goal.

While they did so, Wigan collected the clearance and recycled possession.

James McClean received the ball on the left, looked up, and immediately played it inside.

There Leo was waiting.

The midfielder had the ball coming with his back to goal, and behind him, Casemiro stood close, ready to make the reception uncomfortable.

Leo controlled the pass with his right foot, using his body to shield it from the Brazilian.

Rather than turning into the pressure, he took a few steps backwards, carrying the ball away from Casemiro while the latter followed.

Then his movement changed.

Leo dragged the ball slightly to his left and opened his body.

Before Casemiro could ruffle him up next, Leo sent the ball travelling across the pitch, cutting through the space United had just opened by stepping forward.

It was a firm, accurate delivery towards Femi Seriki on the right.

There Rashford was already chasing across to close Seriki down.

The full-back had barely brought himself into position before he redirected the ball with his first touch, sending it forward along the flank towards Ezra.

"Wigan have worked that well," Steve Bower observed. "They’ve drawn United forward, and now they’ve switched the play."

Ezra received the pass in stride, but Luke Shaw came charging towards him, trying to stop the winger before he could turn upfield.

When the latter had gotten within a metre of him, Ezra lifted the ball with a quick touch, taking it just beyond Shaw’s outstretched leg.

After that, he stepped around the full-back, let the ball drop, and brought it under control without losing his forward momentum, leaving Shaw stunned at first and then chasing a moment later, but Ezra was already accelerating out of frame as the broadcast cameras zoomed out just to catch him.

"Oh, that’s lovely from Ezra!" Darren Fletcher exclaimed.

"One touch to take it over Shaw, another to bring it down. He’s beaten his man, and now he’s got space to run into!"

The winger carried the ball down the left, keeping it close enough to change direction if Shaw caught up.

The United full-back continued after him, but Ezra had the advantage now.

Each touch took him closer to the penalty area, with the home crowd rising as the attack gathered pace.

And all this while, Reyes watched him and moved into the middle.

He checked over his shoulder, saw the space opening between United’s midfield and defence, and raised an arm.

"Here!"

Ezra heard him and looked towards him.

As Shaw recovered towards the edge of the box, the winger slipped a pass inside.

Reyes received it centrally, just outside the penalty area, with Mainoo closing from one side and Maguire stepping forward from the other.

For a moment, the Portuguese midfielder looked trapped.

Mainoo was close enough to challenge his next touch.

Maguire had already narrowed the space in front of him, forcing Reyes to make a decision before United could surround him.

And Reyes chose the simple option.

He touched the ball backwards into Leo’s path, then immediately darted away, taking Mainoo and Maguire with him.

The two United players followed.

With that amount of footage they had watched, it seemed like the optimal decision.

They had studied Leo’s movements and seen what happened when he was allowed to receive the ball facing goal.

More than once, he had carried the ball forward and then lifted it into space for the person he had taken the ball from in the first place.

They knew the danger.

And so when Leo stepped towards Reyes’s pass, both Mainoo and Maguire began moving to cover him, anticipating the familiar touch underneath the ball, and Leo gave them exactly what they expected.