Essien was gasping for air. He knew why his stamina was failing, but he dared not say it.
He had grown up in a fatherless home, where the family relied solely on his mother working hard at a bakery to support him and his siblings. Even so, he had lost an older brother, and that had left Essien terrified.
He did not want to return to those dirty streets in Ghana. He did not want his mother to work herself into exhaustion, and he did not want his siblings to end up doing backbreaking labour. That was why he worked so hard at football. He longed to make something of himself.
At Liberty Professionals, the club hardly looked after children like them. Even though Essien was considered one of the most talented young players in Ghana, the club still let them fend for themselves because the club itself was struggling to survive. Who had the resources to take care of kids who were not yet playing?
Just when Essien was feeling distressed and lost, Ethan appeared in his life like an angel with a halo. He helped his mother find a job, gave him a very good salary so he could focus on playing for the club, and helped take care of his siblings.
This made Essien very grateful, but at the same time, he was afraid. He knew very well that all of this was because New Manchester United saw his potential. If he could not play, would Ethan and New Manchester United still be so good to him and his family?
Essien dared not ask this question, nor did he dare mention it to anyone. He only kept thinking about it in his heart.
But precisely because of this, he played every match with everything he had, giving his all. Even now, when he felt completely exhausted, he gritted his teeth, took another step forward, and rushed toward that tall Black player from Arsenal.
Vieira clearly did not expect Essien to still be able to sprint when he was visibly running out of strength. He accidentally pushed the ball too far ahead. Essien flashed past Vieira and took the ball with him.
But just as Essien turned his head to look for his teammates, he felt his body become light as a feather. Everyone in his sight seemed to tilt sideways, and then he felt his body crash heavily into something. His head slammed into the turf, everything went black, and he lost consciousness.
...
...
"My God, we can see Petit tackling New Manchester United's number 23, the young Ghanaian Essien, to the ground. This is absolutely a very nasty, malicious foul. We can see that he was aiming almost directly at Essien's body," Andy Gray exclaimed.
Essien lay on the ground, unable to get up. This immediately terrified the players from both sides on the pitch, especially Petit. He was even stunned. He had assumed Essien would dodge, but who knew the other side had no intention of dodging at all and took the kick head-on.
"You bastard!" Juninho was the first to react. He immediately rushed up and shoved Petit, who was preparing to approach Essien, to the ground. Poulsen, who rushed up alongside him, also wanted to charge over and beat him up.
But the Arsenal players also ran up. Vieira, Henry, and the others closest to the scene stood tightly in front of Petit. Although they were also terrified, they instinctively wanted to protect their teammate.
"What's going on? Essien is down and not getting up. Did something happen?" Andy Gray was still very surprised.
"We can see that the New Manchester United medical staff on the sidelines have already run onto the pitch. They are examining Essien. All the New Manchester United players have gathered around, glaring at the culprit, Petit. Clearly, his malicious foul caused this situation. The referee is standing between the players from both sides, constantly signalling for them to calm down!"
"The New Manchester United doctor is signalling that a substitution is necessary. They are putting Essien on a stretcher and taking him off the pitch. It seems he cannot continue the match!"
"Bruce is beckoning toward the bench from the sidelines. Stephen Smith is hurrying out to warm up. Clearly, they are going to use Smith to replace Essien."
"The referee has called Petit over, reached into his chest pocket, taken out a yellow card, and then taken out a red card, sending Petit off. This is clearly punishment for his malicious tackle just now, but the New Manchester United players are clearly still very dissatisfied."
"You know, Martin, this reminds me of the scene last season when New Manchester United visited Highbury and Bruce was sent off. This is why I think Arsenal and New Manchester United will eventually become bitter rivals, because in the only two matches these two teams have played, there have been red cards and there have been disturbances!"
Martin Tyler smiled. "But that's also part of football, isn't it?"
"That's true, but I think Petit's tackle just now was clearly aimed at the player. The nature of it was too malicious. I even suspect the FA will likely impose additional punishment after this match."
"Additional punishment is certain. I just hope Essien's injury is not serious, and that the New Manchester United players calm down as soon as possible. After all, there is still half an hour left in the match."
Andy Gray added, "This immediately reminds me of the last 20 minutes of that FA Cup match at Highbury last season. After Bruce was sent off, New Manchester United, despite being outnumbered, instead launched a relentless attack against Arsenal, while Arsenal seemed completely stunned, unable to even mount a counterattack."
"I wonder if this match will be the same?"
...
Ethan, in the stands, saw the medical staff taking Essien away through the tunnel and immediately stood up as well.
"You guys keep watching the game. I'm going to check on the situation!" After saying this, Ethan hurried away.
Arriving at the players' tunnel, Ethan heard that the medical staff were preparing to take Essien to the Royal Hospital and immediately ran to the car park.
"Anthony, how is he?" Ethan ran over, panting, and asked with concern.
Team doctor Anthony looked at Essien, who was still unconscious, and shook his head. "We are about to send him to the hospital for further examination. From the initial check, Essien's right thigh was kicked and has some abrasions, but it shouldn't be too serious. However, when he was tackled and fell, his head hit the ground, so we need to conduct a comprehensive and detailed examination."
"Then I'll go with you!" After saying this, Ethan got into the ambulance.
Ten minutes later, the ambulance drove into the Royal Hospital. The hospital had already received notice and was prepared, immediately taking Essien in for examination. Not long after, Professor Fryer, Derek, and the others, who had specially rushed over from the Newton Heath Training Base, joined the examination team.
Ethan stood outside the corridor, pacing back and forth alone.
Essien was a player he liked very much. He had even been thinking that, based on Essien's outstanding performances this year, the club had to give him a raise and provide him with better conditions, doing everything possible to keep him at New Manchester United and prevent him from being taken away by other teams.
But who could have thought that such a thing would happen to him? That damn Petit.
Examinations took time, and this waiting period was undoubtedly very difficult.
As Ethan walked, he came to an office on the same floor. The doctors and nurses in this office were all gathered around a television watching a football match. It was indeed the match between New Manchester United and Arsenal.
"Hey, guys, what's the score?" Ethan walked over and asked.
"1-0!" A man wearing a doctor's white coat threw back a sentence, then turned his head back to continue watching the game.
Upon hearing this score, Ethan immediately felt a little disappointed. He had thought New Manchester United had lost. But after he got closer, he immediately saw that the live broadcast on the television showed New Manchester United leading Arsenal by one goal.
"New Manchester United are winning?" Ethan exclaimed.
"Of course!" It was the same doctor in the white coat. "Arsenal's attacking strength is indeed very strong, but New Manchester United's defence is just as solid. Although Essien went off, the players on the pitch have all fought desperately, not only filling the gap Essien left behind, but also blocking Arsenal's attack!"
"Then who scored the goal?" Ethan leaned in and found that there was only the score, with no indication of the scorer.
"Olić. This Croatian is really fast. Those old guys like Adams can't stop him at all. He's like the wind," the doctor in the white coat said with a chuckle.
"Was it a counterattack?" Ethan also started to laugh.
"Of course. Andy Gray and Martin Tyler both said this was one of the tactics New Manchester United had prepared long ago. Ashley Cole pushed too far forward, and Hleb had almost shown no attacking intent in the first 80 minutes of the match, so Arsenal didn't notice him. But after Juninho intercepted the ball and played a through pass, Hleb carried it into Arsenal's half."
Speaking of that attack, the doctor in the white coat also looked full of admiration.
"That was one of the few times New Manchester United entered the area around Arsenal's penalty box in this match, but who could have thought that Hleb would cleverly assist Olić to score the only goal of the match?"
The time displayed on the live broadcast was 89 minutes, with 3 minutes of stoppage time. However, it looked like the Arsenal players had lost the desire to attack. Poor stamina was one reason, Petit being sent off was another, but more importantly, New Manchester United's defence was as solid as a rock.
New Manchester United were also satisfied with the 1-0 score, so they had no intention of attacking either, and the remaining time turned into garbage time, with both sides looking listless.
Seeing this scene, Ethan knew that New Manchester United had won this match for sure. But this victory was clearly not something he could be happy about, because Essien was still lying unconscious in the hospital undergoing examinations, and he did not know how he was doing.
Just as Ethan was walking out of the doctor's office with a headache, Derek hurried over from the other side of the corridor. Clearly, the examination had reached its final results!
(To be continued.)