Azim walked towards the centre circle, still smiling.
He could feel the excitement in his fingertips, but his mind had already moved beyond the celebration.
The goal had not made Southampton weaker.
It had made them more determined to stop him.
They had just learned what happened when they allowed him to run directly at their defensive line.
The next challenge would be different.
And Azim was looking forward to it.
Southampton's restart was frantic.
Pellè tapped the ball backwards, and Fonte immediately played towards Van Dijk. The centre-back took a touch before moving it towards Cédric, who had dropped deeper to offer a passing option.
Liverpool's front line advanced.
Azim started his press from the centre, but he did not rush directly towards Cédric. He angled his run towards the full-back's left shoulder, keeping Clasie within his cover shadow while encouraging Southampton to use the touchline.
Coutinho moved across to close the route forward.
Lallana stepped towards Clasie.
Lucas adjusted his position to prevent Davis from receiving between the lines.
Cédric looked up.
The easy pass into midfield was gone.
He returned the ball to Van Dijk.
Azim changed direction immediately, curving his run towards the centre-back and blocking the return pass towards Fonte.
Van Dijk played backwards to Stekelenburg.
The goalkeeper took 2 touches before looking towards the right flank again.
Azim was already moving.
This time, Stekelenburg chose to play long.
The ball travelled towards Pellè, who attempted to shield it from Skrtel.
The Liverpool defender stayed tight, using his body to prevent the striker from turning.
Pellè tried to lay the ball off towards Davis.
Sakho stepped forward and intercepted the pass.
"Good!" Milner shouted. "Again! Keep them outside!"
Liverpool recovered possession.
The press had not produced another goal, but it had prevented Southampton from establishing a settled attack after the restart.
Koeman was already moving towards the touchline.
"Stay calm!" he called. "Do not force the passes! Keep possession!"
Wanyama raised a hand.
"He keeps blocking the centre!"
"Then play around him!" Koeman replied. "Move the ball faster!"
Azim heard the exchange.
He returned to his position, keeping his eyes on the players ahead.
Southampton had begun the match with a compact shape designed to deny him space.
Now they were leading themselves into a difficult decision.
If they became more cautious, Liverpool could press them towards the touchline and force hurried passes.
If they tried to attack more aggressively, they risked leaving space behind the midfield for Azim to exploit.
Koeman would have to choose carefully.
And Azim intended to make that choice as uncomfortable as possible.
The next few minutes belonged to Liverpool.
The home side circulated possession across the defensive line, drawing Southampton towards the ball before attempting to find space through the central channel.
Clyne moved forward and passed to Milner.
Milner found Lallana, who turned away from Wanyama and released the ball towards Coutinho.
The Brazilian attempted to cut inside, but Cédric recovered and blocked his route.
Coutinho passed backwards.
Liverpool retained possession.
Azim moved towards Lucas, drawing Van Dijk forward by a few steps.
The centre-back followed.
Then Azim changed direction and ran towards the right channel.
Van Dijk hesitated before recovering his position.
The movement created a narrow gap behind Southampton's midfield.
Lucas saw it.
He passed towards Lallana, who received on the half-turn and immediately attempted to play through the space.
Van Dijk recovered quickly enough to block the pass.
The ball rolled towards the touchline.
Coutinho recovered it and tried to cut inside, but Cédric stepped across and forced him away from the centre.
The attack ended without a shot.
Azim looked towards Van Dijk.
The defender was breathing harder than he had been at kick-off.
It was not exhaustion.
It was the early cost of a match in which he could never quite relax.
"Keep running," Van Dijk said as they crossed paths. "You'll tire before I do."
Azim glanced at him.
"Then stop following me."
Van Dijk gave a brief, dismissive laugh.
"That's what you want."
For the first time, Azim did not answer immediately.
Because the defender was right.
He wanted Van Dijk to follow him.
He wanted Southampton to believe that stopping #36 was the most important thing they could do.
But there was a difference between making a defender follow him and knowing what to do once the defender had followed.
Azim had spent too much of his early development thinking about football as a series of individual obstacles. A defender stood in front of him, so he tried to beat the defender. A midfielder closed him down, so he searched for a way to escape the midfielder. A goalkeeper moved into his path, so he tried to get around the goalkeeper.
The approach worked when he had enough space and freedom.
It became more difficult when the opposition devoted its entire defensive structure to restricting him.
If he tried to beat every player who came near him, Southampton could keep bringing fresh pressure. Van Dijk could step forward, Fonte could cover, Wanyama could protect the passing lane, and Clasie could wait for the loose ball.
Azim would be fighting 4 opponents before he had even reached the penalty area.
The answer could not be to win every individual battle.
The answer was to decide where those battles happened.
He looked towards Lallana.
Then Coutinho.
Then the space behind Southampton's midfield.
A smile began to form.
"All right," he muttered. "Let's see how much you want me."
Southampton's response came through the wide areas.
At 19 minutes, Tadić collected a pass near the right touchline and moved the ball towards Davis, who had drifted into the space behind Lucas.
Davis received and turned.
Lucas attempted to recover, but Mané's movement had occupied his attention.
Davis carried the ball towards the edge of the penalty area and struck towards the centre of the goal.
Mignolet reacted quickly, dropping low to save.
The ball struck his gloves and stayed close enough for the goalkeeper to collect it before Pellè could reach the rebound.
"Good save!" Skrtel shouted.
Mignolet rose with the ball held securely against his chest.
Azim had already begun moving away from the penalty area, looking towards the defenders who were retreating into their positions.
The goalkeeper distributed towards Clyne, who immediately passed to Milner.
Liverpool attempted to break quickly, but Southampton's midfield recovered before Azim could receive.
Van Dijk was already in position.
Fonte remained close enough to offer cover.
Wanyama approached from the front.
Azim took a touch backwards rather than attempting to force his way through.
The decision frustrated him.
He wanted to attack.
He wanted to make the defenders pay for devoting so much attention to him.
But the ball had arrived at his feet with no clean route forward. An attempted turn would have allowed Wanyama to challenge while the centre-backs closed behind.
Instead, Azim laid the ball back to Lucas.
Liverpool retained possession.
Milner moved towards him as the play shifted to the opposite side.
"Good decision," the captain said.
Azim glanced towards goal.
"Could've turned."
"And lost it."
"I might have beaten him."
"You might have. But look at the space you gave us when you played it back."
Milner pointed towards Moreno, who had advanced into the left channel.
"Lallana has room. Coutinho has room. We don't need you to win every duel."
Azim watched the attack develop.
Milner was right.
He did not like it, but he was right.
The temptation to produce something spectacular was becoming part of the danger. Southampton wanted him to believe that he had to beat every defender personally. If he accepted that challenge, they could keep surrounding him until he made a mistake.
He needed to choose when to fight.
And when to make the opposition chase him instead.
The turning point arrived through a combination of patience and pressure.
Southampton attempted to build from the back, moving the ball between Fonte and Van Dijk while Wanyama and Clasie offered passing options in midfield.
Azim stood near the central channel.
He had been pressing for much of the opening 20 minutes, but he did not immediately sprint towards Van Dijk. The defender had already shown that he could handle a direct approach if he had time to decide where to pass.
Instead, Azim watched the ball move.
Van Dijk received it.
Clasie moved towards the centre circle, offering a passing option.
Wanyama held a deeper position, ready to provide cover if the ball was lost.
Davis drifted towards the space behind Lucas.
Southampton had their preferred shape.
Azim looked at Clasie.
The midfielder was checking his shoulder.
Then he looked at Van Dijk's body.
The defender had opened his hips towards the right, preparing to pass towards Cédric.
Azim began his run.
Not directly at Van Dijk.
He curved towards the defender's left shoulder, placing his body between Van Dijk and Clasie. The angle made the central passing lane difficult to use, while forcing the centre-back to hurry the pass towards the right.
Van Dijk took another touch.
Azim accelerated.
"Man on!" Cédric shouted.
The defender played towards the right flank.
Cédric received under pressure from Coutinho, who had anticipated the pass and sprinted across to close him down.
The full-back tried to return the ball to Van Dijk.
Coutinho's approach blocked the direct route.
Cédric hesitated.
Azim continued his run towards the centre, preventing the easy pass inside.
Cédric attempted to play through the gap anyway.
The ball travelled towards Clasie.
Azim changed direction sharply.
He entered the passing lane just before the midfielder could receive, bringing his right foot across the ball's path.
Contact.
The pass deflected away.
Clasie stumbled, reaching out in an attempt to recover it.
"Ball!" Azim shouted.
Can arrived from the side and challenged for the loose possession.
Wanyama tried to win it back.
For 2 seconds, the ball bounced between boots and shins. No player had clean control. The contest moved away from the touchline towards the centre of the pitch, where the grass was open and the players had begun to spread out.
Then the ball broke free.
It rolled towards Azim.
He was approximately 40 metres from goal.
The ball was bouncing awkwardly, rising towards his left side before dropping towards the turf.
Azim did not stop it.
He looked up.
Stekelenburg was away from his goal line.
The goalkeeper had advanced to support Southampton's high defensive position and had moved forward again while anticipating that his defenders would recover the loose ball. Now, as the ball rolled away from the midfield scramble, he was several steps farther from his line than he would have preferred.
It was not a disastrous position.
A goalkeeper could recover from it.
But it was a position that offered a shooting opportunity to a player willing to attempt something extraordinary.
Azim saw the gap.
For an instant, he considered taking a touch and carrying the ball forward.
He could pass to Coutinho, who was already accelerating into space.
He could secure possession, allow Liverpool to reorganise and continue the attack from a more conventional position.
Those were sensible options.
They were also options Southampton expected him to choose.
Azim watched Stekelenburg.
The goalkeeper was turning his body back towards goal.
His weight was moving onto his right foot.
His hands were slightly separated as he prepared to sprint backwards.
Azim's own body was still moving forward from the press. The ball bounced once in front of him, rising to a height that would allow a clean half-volley if he struck it at the right moment.
He adjusted his stride.
His left foot planted beside the ball.
His upper body remained composed.
Then he swung his left leg through.
The contact was violent.
Not uncontrolled, not a desperate swing, but a clean strike that sent the ball rising from the grass with a sharp, explosive sound.
The stadium gasped.
The ball climbed.
Stekelenburg turned and began sprinting backwards.
His head followed the flight.
For a brief moment, the goalkeeper appeared to believe the ball would carry beyond the crossbar. From 40 metres, even a powerful strike had to overcome the distance while maintaining enough height to clear the defenders and still dip beneath the bar.
But Azim had struck it with a combination of power and lift.
The trajectory was already dangerous.
Within the effective 60-metre range of his Tere Tere no Mi, Azim applied a measured force to the ball while it was in flight. The influence was subtle, a small correction to the path rather than an impossible change of direction.
The ball began to bend.
Its flight shifted towards the upper-left corner.
Stekelenburg accelerated.
He was still moving backwards when he realised that the strike was not going to drift harmlessly over the bar.
"BACK!" Fonte screamed.
The goalkeeper launched himself towards the left side of the goal, extending his body as far as he could.
His gloves reached towards the rising ball.
They did not reach it.
The shot passed beyond his fingertips and crashed into the top-left corner of the net.
For a fraction of a second, the net seemed to swallow the ball.
Then it snapped backwards.
Liverpool 2, Southampton 0.
Azim stood where he had struck it, his left foot planted firmly on the grass.
The impact had carried him slightly forward. He took 2 short steps to recover his balance, then lifted his head towards the goal.
He had watched the entire flight.
He had seen Stekelenburg turn.
He had known the shot was dangerous.
But there was still a difference between attempting a shot from 40 metres and watching it enter the top corner with the goalkeeper unable to reach it.
His mouth opened.
A laugh escaped him.
Then the noise reached him.
Anfield erupted again.
"OH, MY WORD! WHAT HAVE WE JUST SEEN?"
The commentator's voice rose above the crowd.
"FROM FORTY METRES! ABDUL AZIM HAS HIT AN ABSOLUTE SCREAMER!"
"That is outrageous! The young Liverpool forward has scored a 2nd, and this one might be even better than the 1st!"
The broadcast replay showed the press that had created the chance. Azim had closed the passing lane, forced Southampton towards the touchline and intercepted the attempted pass before the ball broke free from the midfield scramble.
Then came the strike.
The camera followed the ball from Azim's left foot to the upper-left corner.
The goalkeeper had been caught away from his line.
But even knowing that, the commentators struggled to comprehend the power and precision of the shot.
"Look at the awareness," the 1st commentator continued. "He wins the ball, looks up immediately and recognises where Stekelenburg is standing. Most players would take another touch there. Perhaps they would try to carry the ball forward or play a simple pass."
"And he has absolutely punished the goalkeeper for the position he took. That is not merely a hopeful swing. Look at the way he connects with the ball. He catches it perfectly on the half-volley and sends it into the top corner."
The replay changed angle.
It showed the ball bending late in its flight.
"What a finish. What a strike. 2 goals, both completely different, both extraordinary."
The commentators briefly returned to the wider context of the match.
"Remember, this Liverpool side is still adjusting to life under Jürgen Klopp. The new manager has been trying to bring greater intensity and sharper transitions into their play, but Liverpool have not always converted those improvements into goals. Today, though, their young forward is doing something special."
"And look at Klopp!"
Klopp had rushed towards the edge of the technical area.
His arms were raised, his mouth open in a roar. He turned towards the stands, punched the air and shouted towards the players before turning back to the pitch.
He looked like a man who had discovered a door where he had previously seen a wall.
"JAAAA! YES!"
He clapped above his head.
Then he jumped, both feet briefly leaving the ground, before landing and throwing his arms out again.
The Liverpool bench was in chaos.
Firmino had both hands on his head.
Ibe was laughing with disbelief.
Benteke stared at the pitch, his expression suspended between admiration and the knowledge that he was watching a player who had just made his own job considerably more difficult.
Milner, standing near the centre circle, stopped moving.
He looked at the goal.
Then at Azim.
Then back at the goal.
Both hands went to his head.
"You've got to be joking," he muttered.
Can reached him first.
"That was from halfway!"
"Not quite," Milner replied, still staring.
"Close enough!"
Can began running towards Azim.
Coutinho was already there.
The Brazilian grabbed the young forward around the shoulders, shook him once and shouted into his ear.
"That is not normal!"
Azim laughed.
"You're repeating yourself!"
"Because you keep doing things that make me repeat myself!"
Lallana arrived with a hand over his mouth.
He had seen the 1st goal from close range and knew how difficult it had been to defeat both centre-backs. The 2nd strike, however, was almost impossible to process.
He pointed towards the goal.
"You hit that from there?"
Azim looked back towards the penalty area.
"Looked open."
Lallana gave him a disbelieving stare.
"That is your explanation?"
"Did you want a longer one?"
Lallana shook his head and pulled him into a brief embrace.
"You're unbelievable."
Milner finally reached them.
He seized Azim by the shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes.
"Listen to me. Do not start believing every shot from there will go in."
Azim grinned.
"Captain, it just went in."
"And that is why I am telling you. You have just scored a magnificent goal. Don't confuse that with permission to start shooting whenever you see the goalkeeper breathe."
Coutinho laughed.
Azim looked towards the goal again.
"I'll try to remember."
Milner's expression softened.
"Remember it when we're defending as well. We still have work to do."
That brought Azim back to the match.
He turned towards Southampton's half.
Van Dijk was standing near the centre circle, his face dark with anger. Fonte was talking to Stekelenburg, who had turned away from the net and was gesturing towards the defensive line.
The goalkeeper had not committed an obvious blunder.
He had been caught in a position that made sense when Southampton expected to recover possession quickly. The problem was that Azim had anticipated the opportunity before anybody else did.
And then he had executed it.
Van Dijk walked towards him as the Liverpool players began returning to their positions.
"That was luck."
Azim looked at him.
"The 1st goal too?"
Van Dijk's expression hardened.
"You won't score another."
Azim's grin faded into something calmer.
"Then why are you still worrying about me?"
The words landed precisely where he intended.
Van Dijk stared at him for a moment before turning away.
Marriner approached and pointed towards the halfway line.
"Back to your positions. Let's get on with it."
Azim jogged away.
He could still feel the strike in his left foot. The moment of contact had been clean enough that he knew he could reproduce the technique, but the distance and the trajectory had required a rare combination of timing, power and judgment.
The telekinetic influence had helped guide the ball towards the corner.
It had not decided when he should shoot.
It had not created the loose ball.
It had not made Southampton pass into the pressure.
Those decisions had come from reading the game.
The System was an advantage.
It was not a substitute for understanding.
And now, as Azim returned to his position at the front of Liverpool's formation, he could feel Southampton preparing to change the way they played against him.
Their 1st plan had failed.
Their 2nd would be more cautious.
But the match was far from over, and a 2-goal lead would not protect Liverpool if they allowed the visitors to find their way back into the game.
Azim looked towards Van Dijk.
The defender was already watching him.
This time, neither smiled.