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Cheater

It was the 63rd minute.
And Karima was about to make her debut. It wasn't the best time to make it either. Arsenal were 2-0 down to Man City in the Community Shield and they were performing worse by the minute.
Looking down to see Mendoza-Sonnett printed on the back of the shirt she was about to put on, Karima felt a twang of guilt. This was the first time she was going to be using this surname on the field and their circumstances were like this?
She had to ignore it though. After getting strong words of motivation from Lisa Evans and Jordan Nobbs, Karima jogged onto the sidelines to do a few warmups .
It wasn't long though until Alex called her over.
After getting a few instructions on who to mark and who to be positioned next to, Karima stood next to the fourth official who now displayed her number on the board showing Arsenal's new number 6 was about to arrive onto the pitch and and Jill Roord was going to come off.
Almost instantly after coming on, Karima could see why Man City were dominating. Inch-perfect passes were being strung all around her with Georgia Stanaway the catalyst for every attack and chance for Man City.
However, it was now the 71st minute. Arsenal has gotten a rare chance, via a corner.
Standing just outside the box as usual, Karima was surprised to hear Alex yell for her to go forward. Into the box. Why? Karima possessed no prowess in the air and it wasn't like she had any height to make up for it either.
Seeing Steph Houghton marking her, Karima looked to Daniëlle who was about to take the corner.
The Dutch player gestured for her to go come towards her so Karima did, with the Man City skipper needlessly in tow.
All of the sudden, Van de Donk swung the ball.
Towards Karima's head. It arrived so quickly, she didn't even have any time to respond, as the ball bounced off her head.
Both of them turned around to see the ball floating towards the 6 yard box and Vivianne on the end of it.
The striker picked up the ball before rushing back to the halfway line, giving a thumbs up to Daniëlle and Karima.
It wasn't to be a consolation goal. Barley three minutes later, and Arsenal were on the counter.
Jennifer Beattie managed to effortlessly dispose Demi Stokes off the ball and sent a through pass to Beth . The England full back then found Karima who had now ventured to the halfway line. The USWNT regular looked up and saw Lucy Bronze sprinting's down the right hand channel.
Mendoza-Sonnett then sprayed the ball over and watching as just moments later, Lucy was pulled back by Keira Walsh.
After the Man City midfielder was given a yellow, a whole bunch of Arsenal players huddled over the ball that the referee placed just outside the 25 yard box.
"Guys," Daniëlle quickly whispered "I've got this."
No one really protested,  especially as there wasn't much time left.
So they all stood back and they watched the diminutive Van de Donk take a deep breath. As soon as the ref blew her whistle, the ball was struck. It was cleverly taken, right through the legs of the unsuspecting Man City players and wrong footing Christiane Endler.
A brief celebration was taken place before Daniëlle urged the Arsenal players to get back to their places to restart the game.
Of course Man City picked themselves up. Shots in the 79th and 81st minute followed and a mix up between Lisa Evans and Nilla Fischer was nearly fatal.
However that didn't stop the Gunners.
It was the 83rd minute and they were once again on the attack. Winning the ball back from Georgia Stanaway, Karima linked up with Daniëlle who squared the ball to Lieke Martens for the debutant to take the lead.
The players were ecstatic. However things weren't done quite yet.
Once again, in instant retaliation, Man City were on the counter.
Georgia Stanaway was definitely the Woman of the Match. She was working wonders with a deflated team. So when she burst past several midfielders and was set to be through on goal, Karima did what anyone would do in her position-try to stop her.

However things weren't that easy. Sticking her leg out to intercept, Karima was a tad too late and sent the 24-year old flying. With this being her only foul of the game so far, Karima was sure she wouldn't get anything more than a telling off.
Yet when the ref began marching up to her, she knew she bit off more  than she could chew.
In an instant but slow motion, the referee drew a card from behind her back...and it was red.
A red on your fucking debut? Only you Karima, the player bitterly thought as she marched down the tunnel, aware of everyone's eyes on her.

Despite everyone's assurances, Karima didn't speak to anyone. Or really do anything. She was gutted. Although when learning that Arsenal were able to hold onto the their result, Karima was a bit more cheerful.

Her mood didn't last for long as players departed for international duty the next day. Feeling lonely, Karima went to text Emily. Only she was beaten to that.

Karima, can you fucking explain why I've been told you're cheating on me?

Whoops...