"Try the right side more."
Kai said, with his hand covering his mouth, to Santi Cazorla.
Cazorla nodded, already seeing it the same way. "I agree. It's working there. But Alexis…"
He did not need to finish the sentence.
Everyone knew.
Alexis Sánchez had already shown his frustration earlier. If he felt ignored again, it could affect his movement, and Arsenal still needed him to stretch the defense.
Cazorla glanced at Kai.
Kai thought for a moment, then gave a short nod. "I'll handle it."
From there, Arsenal leaned even more to the right.
The effect was immediate.
With Kai and Cazorla feeding him, Ángel Di María grew into the game. His dribbling began to pull Dortmund's shape apart, and Marcel Schmelzer struggled to keep up.
On the other side, Sánchez was visibly irritated.
"They don't pass again…" he muttered, shaking his head.
His game ran on instinct. Direct, aggressive, full of energy. When he did not feel involved, it showed.
At the next stoppage, Kai jogged over.
"Captain."
Sánchez's tone was tight, his expression even tighter.
Kai stepped closer and casually ruffled his hair. "You're doing well."
Sánchez blinked. "Doing what?"
Kai smiled slightly. "When do you feel at your best?"
"Scoring," Sánchez answered immediately.
"Of course," Kai said. "But there's another part. When you pull defenders out, when you make them chase the wrong thing, that matters too."
He leaned in, lowering his voice.
"Right now, they're all watching Di María. Every defender is thinking about that side. When their focus stays there, space opens somewhere else."
Sánchez frowned slightly. "And me?"
Kai's grin widened. "You finish it. You're the one who ends it."
He tapped Sánchez lightly on the shoulder.
"Think of it this way. Stay quiet, stay out of sight. Then, when it opens up, you strike once. Clean. Decisive."
Sánchez's eyes sharpened.
"Like… a ninja?"
Kai nodded. "Yes. One moment, one chance. That's all you need."
Sánchez let out a short breath, then smiled.
"I like that."
"Good," Kai said. "Stay patient. Then go."
As he jogged away, Kai exhaled quietly.
Good. Let's get a second.
In commentary, Martin Tyler picked up on the shift. "Arsenal are clearly targeting that right-hand side now. It's stretching Dortmund."
Gary Neville added, "And look at Sánchez. He's not as involved, but he's still making those small movements. That could be important later."
The match resumed its rhythm.
Arsenal circulated the ball quickly, probing, shifting, forcing Dortmund to react.
Dortmund, for their part, began to adjust.
Their pressing became more coordinated, and they started to build counters of their own.
Their approach was simple. Win it, break immediately.
If they could bypass Kai and Kanté, Arsenal's back line would be exposed.
Kai read it early.
He stayed composed.
The defenders behind him had conserved energy. They could recover, delay, and wait for support.
Around the half-hour mark, Dortmund began to find more space on Kanté's side.
Reus even drifted across, trying to create overloads.
Kanté was working constantly now.
Kai saw it and made his decision.
He moved across to support.
The moment he shifted, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reacted.
He peeled wide and raised his hand.
Reus spotted him immediately and clipped a long pass out.
"Good switch," Neville said. "That's the space they were waiting for."
Aubameyang controlled it cleanly and turned to drive forward.
Kai kept his composure.
No rush.
Nacho Monreal was already sprinting back, and Laurent Koscielny stepped across to close the inside lane.
Aubameyang hesitated for just a second.
That was enough.
By the time he reached the byline, he was surrounded.
Kai arrived.
Monreal recovered.
Koscielny stepped in.
Aubameyang tried to force the cross.
Koscielny stuck out a leg.
The ball struck him and popped up.
Kai adjusted instantly, taking two quick steps back and bringing it under control.
"Excellent recovery," Tyler said. "That's Arsenal's defensive structure at work."
Kai did not rush the next move.
He carried the ball forward, step by step, drawing pressure.
Only when Mkhitaryan came to engage did he release it, simple and clean.
Then he paused near the center circle, scanning.
Right side.
Di María is still active, still dangerous.
Left side.
Sánchez.
He looked quiet and detached.
But his head movement gave him away.
Constantly checking.
Kai allowed himself a faint smile.
He had listened.
Arsenal pushed forward again.
Cazorla drifted between lines, sometimes driving through the middle, sometimes dropping deep to dictate play.
Di María remained the primary threat.
"Stay tight on him!" a Dortmund defender shouted. "Don't let him turn!"
"Shift across!" another voice called.
"The left side is open!"
"Leave it!"
Sánchez heard it clearly.
He slowed his movement further, almost casually.
Three steps. Pause.
Three steps. Pause.
As Di María received the ball wide, Sánchez drifted quietly toward the far post.
No sudden movements. No attention drawn.
Then it happened.
Di María feinted, shifted Schmelzer off balance, and burst into the box.
"Brilliant feet," Neville said.
The cross came in low and fast.
"Di María delivers… that's a brilliant ball!"
The cross flashed across the face of the goal, low and dangerous.
"Suárez is there—"
Martin's voice rose, then caught in his throat as Suárez lunged and missed it completely.
For a split second, everything froze.
Then—
"Sánchez!!!"
Neville's exploded.
At the far post, completely unmarked, Alexis Sánchez arrived and guided the ball calmly into the net.
"Where has he come from?" Martin Tyler said, almost laughing in disbelief. "He's just appeared! A rabbit in a hat, that Chilean!"
Even the Arsenal players hesitated for a moment, caught off guard.
Kai stood still, eyes wide, then broke into a grin.
He sprinted over, grabbed Sánchez, and bundled him to the ground.
"Well done!"
Sánchez, pinned beneath him, shouted back, full of energy, "Kill the game! I told you, I do it!"
One by one, the rest piled in.
The celebration turned chaotic.
"Two-nil to the Arsenal," Gary Neville said. "And that's all about movement. Quiet, clever movement."
On the touchline, Arsène Wenger looked genuinely surprised.
"When did he get there?" he murmured.
Pat Rice shook his head slowly, still trying to process it.
Around them, the coaches exchanged glances.
Tomas Rosicky, watching closely, spoke up. "He started drifting early. As soon as Dortmund shifted right, he moved toward the far post."
It had gone unnoticed by most.
All eyes had followed Di María and Suárez.
No one tracked Sánchez.
On the Dortmund bench, Jürgen Klopp slapped his forehead lightly and let out a long breath.
The first goal had been difficult enough.
The second felt worse.
Not because of its quality, but because of how it happened.
A lapse. A moment of lost focus.
And now they were two down.
He turned toward his bench, searching for answers, running through options in his mind.
. .
Out on the pitch, Dortmund players stood in silence.
Ginter looked frustrated. Reus glanced around, trying to gather his teammates, but the energy was flat.
Around them, the Emirates roared.
Songs broke out across the stands.
Sán-chez! Sán-chez!
From Chile, he came!
Now at Arsenal, he runs the game,
He moves, he dribbles,
Then bang, it's Sánchez, one, two, three!
Flags waved, voices rose, the entire stadium feeding off the moment.
Two goals up before halftime.
Against Dortmund.
A few seasons ago, that would have sounded unlikely.
Now, it felt deserved.
Near the center circle, Sánchez jogged over to Suárez, still smiling.
"Hey, nice dummy," he said, holding out his hand.
Suárez gave a tired grin and shook it. "Yeah… dummy."
He knew he had missed it, but there was no need to argue.
A goal was a goal.
As play restarted, Dortmund tried to respond.
They pushed forward, looking for something before the break.
But in front of them stood Kai and N'Golo Kanté.
Every attempt was met with pressure.
Every passing lane narrowed.
By the time the referee blew for halftime, Dortmund walked off with their heads down.
Arsenal, in contrast, moved with confidence, relaxed, talking among themselves.
. . .
Inside the Dortmund dressing room, silence filled the space.
Klopp looked around at his players.
"Why are your heads down?" he said, voice firm but controlled. "It's two goals. We've been in worse situations."
They looked up.
Everyone of them trusted him.
Klopp nodded. "We adjust. We've been too passive. Second half, we change that."
Across the corridor, Wenger addressed his squad.
"They have two choices," he said calmly. "Sit back and wait, or push forward and chase the game."
He paused briefly.
"They won't sit back."
The players listened closely.
"They will attack. They have nothing to lose."
Cazorla raised a hand. "So we tighten up?"
Wenger looked around the room, reading the expressions in front of him.
A hint of reluctance. A desire to keep going.
He smiled slightly.
"No," he said. "We play our game."
The room lifted immediately.
"If they attack, we attack better. This is our ground. We don't step back here."
The reaction was instant.
"Right!"
"Let's go at them!"
"We finish it!"
Pat Rice stood near the door, watching.
He knew Wenger had considered a more cautious approach.
But he had changed it.
The players wanted to play.
And they had earned that right.
. .
Out on the pitch, the second half began.
Dortmund's body language was different now.
Sharper.
"They're coming," Kai said quietly to Cazorla.
Cazorla nodded.
Kai adjusted his armband and let out a short breath.
"They want a goal. Not happening."
On the sideline, Klopp watched closely.
He had made his decision.
This would be his final season here.
So there was no reason to hold anything back.
"Go on," he muttered. "Attack."
Break Arsenal, or go down trying.
. . .
Please do leave a review and powerstones, which helps with the book's exposure.
Feel like joining a Patreon for free and subscribing to 30+ advanced chapters?
Visit the link:
[email protected]/GRANDMAESTA_30
Change @ to a