Footbal: Arsenal - Chapter 61: The Match Isn't Over. Give Up Attacking? Just Kidding! (Patreon)

Once everyone started doing it, the little gesture became a trend.

Viewers following the live broadcast found themselves tapping along with the Arsenal players. “Tap, tap, tap!” The mood was suddenly wonderfully lighthearted.

The celebration lasted a full minute and a half. The referee showed no inclination to hurry Arsenal along, and the Real Madrid players were too embarrassed to complain.

In the end, Kieran and his teammates stopped of their own accord so the match could resume.

That free kick had knocked the fight out of Madrid.

Few things damaged a team's morale more than an own goal or an opponent scoring a shot that simply couldn't be saved. Kieran had now produced two of the latter in one match.

First came the bicycle kick. Then came that spectacular curling free kick.

Madrid could have run themselves into the ground, and their goalkeeper could have turned into a superhero, but neither ball would have been stopped.

Arsenal's two-goal lead felt thoroughly deserved.

Worse for Madrid, they still couldn't find an answer to Arsenal's smoothly coordinated passing game. Their counterattacks weren't getting anywhere.

And just when they thought things couldn't become more frustrating, Arsenal changed their approach after the free kick.

They stopped attacking.

They continued to pass and keep possession, but now those passes led absolutely nowhere!

This wasn't Arsenal's usual football. It looked more like Barcelona's habit of circulating the ball endlessly.

Why had the Gunners suddenly decided to play keep-ball? For Real Madrid, it was a thoroughly unwelcome development.

Arsenal's defenders stayed back, the midfielders settled into their usual positions, and the forwards remained upfield. Yet the ball rarely left the defensive and middle thirds.

There was a simple reason. Arsenal didn't need another goal.

In a Champions League knockout tie, a two-nil lead was generally a strong position.

Arsenal knew how to protect narrow advantages. They had even won European ties by a single goal across both legs, and not just once.

Now they were keeping the ball in their own half. Madrid couldn't get a touch. If they continued to sit in their defensive shape, they might as well forget what the ball looked like.

That left them no choice but to abandon their deep defensive setup and press to Arsenal's rhythm.

Mourinho immediately ordered his players to change formation.

Unfortunately, they were already well into the second half. Could Madrid really sustain intense pressing for another half hour or more?

And even if they won the ball, how were they supposed to score with an attacking formation that lacked cohesion?

Naturally, Mourinho had drilled his squad for situations like this. But practicing a plan and making it work against real opponents were two different things.

Against weaker teams, Madrid's switch to an attacking shape could produce goals. Against an Arsenal side whose players understood one another far better, it was another matter entirely.

Still, Mourinho had little choice.

More than thirty minutes passed without Madrid making any meaningful headway.

During that stretch, both teams used all three substitutions.

Arsenal replaced Ramsey with Wilshere, then brought on Monreal for Gibbs at left-back.

Giroud also came off. With no need for a towering center-forward in this setup, Wenger introduced Podolski to add movement and flexibility up front.

The attacking line no longer had rigid left and right wing positions. Podolski generally drifted toward the left, while Kieran resumed roaming from side to side, seemingly wherever the mood took him.

One thing had changed, though. None of the Madrid players dared slide in on him.

Ramos, Pepe, and the others were behaving themselves remarkably well.

It wasn't fear of Arsenal's supporters. Men who worried about hostile crowds wouldn't have become Real Madrid's starting defenders.

They simply felt awkward about making another rough challenge.

The image of Kieran approaching the referee to have a yellow-card decision changed was still fresh in their minds. He was only sixteen, yet he had shown sportsmanship they couldn't help admiring. Whenever one of them considered sliding in, guilt made him hesitate.

The memory of the controversial refereeing at the 2002 World Cup only sharpened that feeling for some players. The episode had left bitter feelings in several countries. Some Italian clubs were still said to refuse South Korean players because of the resentment.

Portugal had been among those who felt wronged back then. For Portuguese players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, Kieran's gesture made him all the more likable.

Even the notoriously uncompromising Pepe couldn't bring himself to launch into one of his usual challenges against the boy.

With Madrid avoiding hard tackles and Kieran declining to force anything, the two sides continued their cautious exchange of attack and defense.

Peeeeep!

The ninety minutes were up.

The referee indicated four minutes of stoppage time.

In a sense, the announcement was good news for both teams.

Madrid only had to survive another four minutes before turning their attention to the second leg. They could try to overturn the deficit when Arsenal visited the Bernabéu.

Kieran, however, saw those four minutes very differently.

Four minutes were enough for one wholehearted attacking move. Once Arsenal made their push, whether it succeeded or failed, Madrid would have scarcely any time to organize a counterattack.

Why would he waste an opening like that?

Kieran exchanged looks with a few teammates. A couple of nods were all they needed to agree on the plan.

The moment he raised a hand to ask for the ball, the charge began.

Madrid were no longer huddled inside the defensive shell they had used earlier. Half an hour of chasing Arsenal's possession had forced them into a more balanced shape, with men assigned to both attack and defense.

Balanced, unfortunately for them, didn't necessarily mean effective.

They weren't threatening enough going forward, and they couldn't be completely confident of keeping Arsenal out either.

Most importantly, gaps had appeared through the middle and around Madrid's penalty area. Kieran finally had room to accelerate.

After ninety minutes, most starters would be exhausted. Opponents hardly expected one of them to launch a devastating sprint at that stage.

But Kieran was different.

With his teammates doing so much of the work, he'd spent much of the match drifting and changing position. Although he seemed to be involved everywhere and had already scored twice, he hadn't actually used up much energy.

A burst of less than a hundred meters was well within his limits.

So he didn't hold anything back.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Kieran dropped deep and received a pass from Arteta. The instant the ball reached him, he began accelerating.

Tommy Smyth's voice surged from the commentary booth. “Kieran! He's sprinting! Is this it? Are Arsenal launching one last attack?”

“With only minutes remaining, he's taking an enormous gamble and going for it! Can Real Madrid stop this run?”