Turning Point

September 7th – League Matchday 6

Eastport Mariners vs. Emirates Gunners (Away Game)

The echoes of victory against the Wolves still rang in their ears, but there was no time to dwell. Four days later, the Gunners were back in action, this time away against the Eastport Mariners.

The Mariners were a different beast altogether. Unlike the Wolves, who sat back and absorbed pressure, the Mariners played with a high press, suffocating teams with relentless running and aggressive tackling. Their play style was relentless attack, they believed the philosophy of attack being the best defense. They were a team that thrived on chaos, turning broken plays into deadly counterattacks.

The team bus rumbled down the highway, the players lost in their own pre-match rituals. Arsenic sat in the team bus, headphones on, blocking out the outside world. He replayed his last goal in his mind—how he had chipped the ball over the keeper, how effortless it had felt. But that was then and today was a whole lot different.

Inside the away dressing room, Rivera stood in front of the whiteboard, marker in hand. The diagram showed the Mariners' 4-2-4 formation, an ultra-offensive setup rarely used in modern football.

“Listen up.” Rivera’s voice cut through the room like a blade. “Mariners will come at us fast. Their fullbacks push high, making their 4-2-4 look like a 2-4-4 in attack. That means their wingers and strikers will overload our defensive line. If we lose possession, they will hit us on the counter immediately.”

He tapped the board, circling two names. Elias and Quinn Decker.

“These two are their biggest threats. Last season, the Decker twins had a combined 73 goal contributions. The only player ahead of them in the league was Jadon Keyes.”

A murmur ran through the squad. Individually, the Deckers were not that impressive but together they one of the deadliest duos in football.

“But they’re not the only ones,” Rivera continued. “Their captain, Kaje Brown, is the engine of their attack. He controls the midfield, dribbles like a magician, and has an insane passing range. He is an all-round player that makes their four-striker formation possible.” Rivera’s eyes darkened. “We shut him down, we cut off their supply line.”

He turned to the squad, his expression steely.

“Our solution? The 4-3-3 defense.” He pointed to the lineup.

“Baxton and Kaminski at center-back. Alain Andre and Callum Waters at fullback…stay disciplined and do not push forward unless necessary.”

Rivera locked eyes with Alain. “This is your first start. I know right-back isn’t your natural position, but today, I need you to use your physique to shut down one of the twins. Disrupt them, frustrate them. If we break just one, it might be enough.”

“Yes coach.”

He moved to the midfield trio.

“Jorge, you’re the anchor. Break up their play, slow the tempo down, the usual. Pryce, you’re marking Kaje Brown. Stick to him like glue. Mendes, you’re pushing forward—stay near their final third. Quick, one-touch football. No holding onto the ball for too long.”

Then, Rivera turned to the attack.

“Arsenic, you’re starting on the left. Kai Hevartz at striker. Yuri Katsuki on the right. Mariners will press us into exhaustion, but we must fight through it. Our best chance is to beat their attack and exploit the spaces behind.”

His voice dropped lower.

“This is a tough game. The away crowd will be loud. The pressure will be relentless. But we are not here to make excuses. We are here to win. We…are the Gunners!”

First Half 

As expected, the Mariners pressed high from the first whistle. The Gunners struggled to get out of their own half in the opening minutes. Every pass was rushed, every touch under suffocating pressure.

By the 10th minute, the press almost broke them.

Kaje Brown flicked the ball through Pryce’s legs, executed a dazzling roulette, and surged toward the penalty box. He played a lightning-quick grass-cutting pass to Elias Decker, who fired a low shot toward the bottom corner.

Baxton slid in at the last moment, deflecting the shot just wide.

“Not bad,” Elias smirked.

The Gunners resorted to long balls, using Arsenic and Katsuki’s pace to stretch the Mariners' backline. But nothing stuck.

Then, in the 35th minute, the Decker twins combined. Elias made a no-look pass to Quinn, who curled a shot past Reyes.

1-0, Mariners.

Five minutes later, it got worse. Kaje Brown sliced through midfield, dragging defenders toward him before chipping a delicate ball to Elias. The forward took one touch and blasted it in.

2-0.

“This is our pitch,” Elias muttered to Baxton.

Halftime arrived in the nick of time before things got even worse.

Inside the dressing room, the atmosphere was tense.

Mendes threw his water bottle against the wall. “This is a joke. We’re not even trying.”

Kai Hevartz, drenched in sweat, scoffed. “What are you talking about? We barely had the ball!”

Mendes turned to Kai Hevartz, his voice dripping with frustration.

“I’ve passed to you three times in the box, and you’ve bottled every chance.” His eyes narrowed. “We should have three goals by now. I’m done passing to you.”

Kai clenched his jaw. “Shut up, Mendes.”

“Make me.”

Rivera slammed his fist into the whiteboard.

“Enough!” he barked. “We need to fix this, not fall apart!”

But the damage was done. The tension between them was only rising.

His gaze swept across them.

“The Mariners? They’re not better than you. They’re just more aggressive. They’re forcing you to panic.”

His voice dropped, but it was no less intense.

“Wake. Up.”

Captain Resurrección approached Rivera. “Put in Sverre.”

Rivera frowned. “The loanee? Are you sure Jorge? We need intense in the second half.”

The captain nodded. “I’ve trained with him. He’s sharp and technical. We need something different.”

Rivera hesitated for only a second before making the call.

“Fine. Sverre, warm up.”

The young Norwegian stood up slowly, tying his laces. He didn’t say a word. This could be the day he made his mark.

Second Half

The Gunners started the second half poorly. Mendes dribbled past the right wing. As he slipped past the last defender he saw Kai at the box unmarked but he ignored him and instead tried to score himself and the ball was saved by the Mariners’ keeper. A few minutes later things got worse as Yuri Katsuki pulled up, clutching up his hamstring. The Gunners’ medical team tried their best to help but his night was over.

Rivera turned toward the bench and called out Sverre Odegaard and Temidayo Saka. They subbed in for Kai and Yuri.

At first, Sverre's introduction went unnoticed. The Mariners continued their relentless press, hunting the Gunners down at every turn.

But then…

In the 57th minute, Sverre made his presence felt.

He received a pass from Resurrección near the touchline, with a defender barreling toward him.

Instead of rushing, he let the ball roll.

At the last second, he flicked it through the defender’s legs. He spun around, reclaimed possession and launched a cross-field pass to Arsenic in a single motion.

It was perfect.

Arsenic sprinted onto it threading an out-foot ball towards Mendes who hit the ball out wide missing the goal by a narrow.

But Sverre wasn’t done. In the 63rd minute, he nutmegged Kaje Brown, glided past a defender and played a perfect pass to Saka.

Saka hit it first time. 2-1

From then the momentum shifted towards the Gunners.

Sverre continued dictating the tempo, always composed, always a step ahead. He linked up with Resurrección and Mendes, turning their desperate clearances into precise attacks.

The Mariners started to hesitate. For the first time all game, they weren’t in control.

But disaster struck when Kaje Brown stole the ball from Mendes and dribbled past Resurreccion and the two defenders easily before unleashing a shot with his left foot.

The Gunners’ keeper Reyes dived, fingertips brushing the ball hitting the goalpost. He quickly recovered and clutched the ball safely in his arms. Reyes, still on the ground, wasted no time. He launched the ball high into the Mariners’ half. Arsenic anticipates it faster than everyone. He trapped the ball with his heel, turned and exploded forward. Kaje Brown sprinted backwards to cover making a sliding tackle, but Arsenic did a Ronaldo chop leaving him in the dust. He was one-on-one with the keeper, he feinted left, rounded him and slotted it in

2-2

The Home crowd booed as he celebrated.

The last ten minutes were chaos, both teams pushing for the winner. In stoppage time, Alain intercepted a risky pass from Kaje Brown and immediately sent a pass up field towards Sverre Odegaard. Sverre trapped it with his chest, pivoted and saw the space opening up ahead. He took off cutting inside, and dribbled past the defenders. One defender slid and missed. The second, was nutmegged. A third and fourth blocked his path together by Sverre flicked it over the heads and ran towards their blindspot.

Then, he shifted to his left foot at the edge of the box and unleashed a rocket.

It hit the post… and bounced in.

Sverre jumped on top of Resurreccion in celebration.

GOOOOOOAL!

3-2. The Gunners had won.

After the match, Sverre was named Man of the Match. Within hours, he was trending on social media.

“What a baller. Why wasn’t he starting before?”

“Sverre is the final piece to the Gunners’ attack.”

“Sorry for Yuri, hopes he gets back soon before Sverre steals his position.”