Chapter 184: Chapter 183: Stubborn Illness Hard to Remove (Request for Full Subscription)
Deng Kai took the corner kick, but unfortunately, the opposition headed the ball out of the penalty area.
Emerson, playing the left midfield for Morelence, controlled the football, intending to organize a push, but the opposition’s charge was so fierce that he could only pass back.
In fact, had it been Deng Kai, he would have played the ball into the penalty area because there were defensive gaps when the opposition charged up.
But just because Deng Kai could seize the moment didn’t mean that Emerson could.
Morelence’s left-back Serafim received the football, and Deng Kai moved into position, retreating to receive the pass.
After receiving the ball on the left flank, Deng Kai drove laterally, looking for opportunities.
Ferenc had done their homework on Deng Kai. Knowing this player’s passes were a threat, they didn’t continue to press but instead prepared their defense line to prevent Deng Kai from making a sudden pass.
This earnest defensive habit, it seems, wasn’t unique to Morelence.
Weaker teams presume the opposition will pass the ball when they see them getting ready, and thus they give up pressing and retreat to the defense line to prepare for the first touch.
It seems like foresight, but in reality, by skipping the effort and directly chasing the result, they give their opponents much more room to maneuver.
If they had continued to press this ball, Deng Kai could only pass the football back pointlessly.
But as they hadn’t come forward, Deng Kai had more time with the ball.
"This way! To this side!" Deng Kai extended his left hand, pointing to the left side of the penalty area, signaling Anderson to run left and receive the football.
Anderson immediately positioned himself, drawing away a central defender and attracting everyone’s attention.
While Deng Kai was communicating with Anderson, he suddenly swung his right foot, and the football flew toward the right side of the penalty area.
The right-back Alex, who had been lingering around the penalty area line following the corner kick, suddenly surged forward, shooting low from an undefended back-post position.
The shot was struck beautifully.
The football hit the back of the net with a sound.
One to zero!
Morelence had scored first for the second consecutive match.
"Oh! Ferenc made a mistake, they gave Deng Kai too much space to handle the ball," someone exclaimed.
"Deng Kai doesn’t have a deep understanding with Morelence players yet, but if you give him enough time to communicate, he can still deliver a pass that directly tears through the defense line!"
"Look at the time from Alex’s start to Deng Kai’s pass. All this while, Ferenc’s players just watched!"
"However, to say something counterintuitive, being ahead might not be so good for Morelence. This season, in the matches where they scored first, they held onto their victory in less than thirty percent of the games!"
"Clearly, they’re not very good at playing from a position of advantage."
As expected.
Following that, Morelence relapsed into old habits, the players starting to draw back instinctively.
"Get out and defend! Show your passion! Don’t just keep retreating!" Trigella reminded his players from the sidelines.
On the field, Deng Kai also made a gesture to the defenders to pull back, but after the retreat gesture, he followed it with a forward rush signal.
The message was for everyone to pull back, but once the opponents crossed the halfway line, they should surge forward to press them.
This was actually the future playing style of Real Madrid.
Ball-control teams like to play the ball in the backfield to draw the opposition out.
Counter-attacking teams also like to park the bus in the back to lure the opposition out.
The intention is more or less the same.
Sure enough, as Morelence’s defenders took the initiative to press and pressurize, Ferenc didn’t get the attacking opportunities they expected after starting to control the ball.
Their number of shots wasn’t greater than before.
Meanwhile, Morelence had launched two threatening counter-attacks.
One was blazed over by Ronaldo.
One was by Flavio who overshot his touch when attempting a poach, and the football was collected by the opposing goalkeeper.
But in the seventy-second minute.
Lapses in coordination among Morelence players led to severe consequences.
Macedo was drawn out by an opposition midfielder into pressing.
Kilop had previously been assisting Alex in defense, and for a moment, the top of the penalty area was left empty.
The Ferenc defensive midfielder stepped up to that position and took a long-range shot, which was executed smoothly.
With a wonder strike, he helped his team level the score.
One to one!
The 78th minute spelled disaster.
Our versatile midfielder Emerson had collided with an opponent and lay on the ground, unable to continue the match.
Trigella substituted defensive midfielder Cordero in place of Emerson.
With two defensive midfielders, one being Deng Kai, the technical quality of Morelense’s midfield significantly diminished.
If Deng Kai tried to lead the attack, it would disconnect the front and back of the team.
As a result, Deng Kai had an even greater obligation not to push forward.
The firepower of Morelense further weakened, and the opposition began to have more opportunities to attack.
The struggle continued until the 89th minute.
Cordero made a crucial interception.
Ference passed a direct ball through the middle; had it gone through, their striker would have likely had a one-on-one opportunity following a run behind the defense.
However, Cordero was no Emerson; the latter might have been touted as being good at both offense and defense, but the former was a true defensive workhorse.
In fact, on a singular level, Cordero was stronger.
Bang!
After receiving the ball, Deng Kai immediately delivered a through pass to Anderson.
Morelense was attacking with three against four in the front!
Considering the distances of the fullbacks, it was almost a three-on-two situation in the frontcourt.
Bang!
Anderson passed the ball.
Deng Kai almost did not bother stopping.
Because he knew it was over.
Anderson had passed too early.
Without drawing the defenders’ attention with his dribbling and runs, didn’t his pass effectively change a three-versus-two into a two-on-two situation?
Besides, the quality of this pass was quite poor.
No wonder the report said he lacked the qualities of a playmaker; his vision and passing were simply inadequate.
He could only serve as a receiver and a battering ram.
Anderson’s pass was intended for Ronaldo.
Ronaldo accelerated, but the opposition was better positioned.
Ultimately, Ronaldo touched the football first, but was immediately knocked to the ground by an opponent.
The referee blew the whistle, awarding Morelense a free kick in a promising position to shoot directly on goal.
But in reality, this should have been an inevitable goalscoring opportunity.
No wonder Anderson played in the Portuguese league, capable of turning what should have been an eighty percent chance of scoring into this.
Portuguese league player: So Coach Kai, you’re playing in the Portuguese league now?
With Emerson’s departure, the team lacked a primary free kick taker.
Both Ronaldo and Deng Kai stood near the free kick.
"You take it, my leg feels off," said Ronaldo, as he came over to make a screen for Deng Kai.
The Ference players started to form a wall.
A whistle blew.
Ronaldo began to run.
He passed the football.
The wall didn’t move.
Ference guessed right; they believed Deng Kai to be the real free-kick taker.
Bang!
Deng Kai followed through, kicking the ball.
Yet, the Ference wall still didn’t jump.
Because their study on Deng Kai revealed that his long shots had little arc; all his free kicks were Ground Cutters.
So they were convinced that Deng Kai would still...
