Chapter 193: Chapter 192: The Old General Steps In
The 29-year-old Pinto used a goal to tell Morelense, "Your boss is always going to be your boss."
The old blade is not yet dull!
But the victory of a single battle doesn’t necessarily determine the entire war.
Although Morelense lost in terms of possession.
They still had their strengths.
If their strengths could crush the opponent locally, they could still create excellent opportunities to win the victory in the second battle.
Without a doubt, Morelense’s strength was Madeira’s super runner on the left—Ronaldo!
The 19th minute.
Ronaldo, after two previous probes, no longer hesitated when he received the ball this time, flicking his heel for a nutmeg, slipping past Okunowo, the defender from Barca.
After that, Ronaldo used his body to block Okunowo, completing an overtake and cut inside.
Ronaldo had not yet undergone strength training, his core wasn’t strong.
But as it happened, Barca’s players, especially the younger ones, also weren’t known for their core strength.
In power, speed, and even skill, Ronaldo completely overcame Okunowo.
"Ronaldo takes a shot!"
"Santos makes a perfect save!"
"Morelense has won a corner."
Ronaldo’s face was full of smiles; he also paid particular attention to Maniche.
This was naturally a provocation.
As fellow attackers, Maniche’s dribbling and speed seemed incredibly clumsy in Ronaldo’s eyes.
Maniche’s face was filled with annoyance, ’What the fuck are you looking at? Keep staring and see if I don’t cripple you—believe it or not?’
Bang!
Deng Kai took the corner kick.
But while Benfica’s attack line lacked height, their back line was quite tall.
They got to the ball first, heading it out of the penalty area.
Pinto secured the second drop of the ball and immediately passed it to Sabri next to him.
Sabri took off running, his black supercharged speed was extremely fast.
This was a very threatening counterattack.
Kilop, who stayed back, kept retreating, but Sabri still closed in on him, leaving Kilop no choice but a feint retreat followed by a sudden charge.
Kilop was fast for a center-back; his feint did indeed throw Sabri off balance.
Sabri overran the ball, which Kilop stabbed away first, after which both men fell to the ground.
However, the crisis was not yet averted, as Pinto followed up from behind and met the uncontrolled football with a pass to the right.
Maniche carried the ball on the right flank, adjusted slightly to the center, and took a long shot with his foot.
The defense of Altino, who was supposed to be marking him, was too slow in retreating, and he let him slip by.
Whoosh!
A world-class strike, Morelense’s goal was under siege for the second time in short succession.
Two to zero!
Benfica was in a commanding lead.
"Hey! This is the right winger you all said was nothing!" Maniche, after scoring, immediately found Altino and jeered at him relentlessly.
Altino was really unlucky, being the closest to him.
"You fucking say that again?" Altino charged over and bumped chests with Maniche, the two of them red-faced and wrestling with each other.
The head referee immediately came over to warn both players.
"He deliberately provoked me after scoring, it’s just too disrespectful for the field," Altino complained first.
"What, you think you can score a goal?" Maniche said smugly.
That was his nature, impulsive and wild.
The referee warned Maniche too, telling him to watch his behavior, fairly sharing out the blame.
On the substitute bench of Morelense, the substitute center-back Orlando looked puzzled, "The captain wasn’t this impulsive before, right? Why does he seem to have a vendetta against Maniche today?"
"If there really was a vendetta, it should be between Deng Kai and Maniche, shouldn’t it?"
Substitute goalkeeper Sergio Gomez, who often trained with Deng Kai and the others, knew them better and explained, "It seems to be deliberate. I heard that Maniche has a bad temper, and the boss told the captain to go over and use the veterans’ tricks to provoke him and take him out of the game."
Substitute defensive midfielder Cordero thought it was outrageous, "Impossible, right? Those kind of underhanded tricks aren’t very effective, at most they would just cause Maniche and the captain to get into a scuffle. I can believe a yellow card, but being taken out? That can’t happen."
"Even the most foolish person calms down after getting a yellow card, provocation is useless."
Gomez said, "This is why you’re the top substitute midfielder in the team, because you’re calm enough. That Maniche, I’ve heard he’s exceptionally impulsive."
On the field, after conceding two goals, Deng Kai and Emerson swapped positions.
Emerson came over to help Alex defend against the explosive Sabri.
Deng Kai was responsible for organization and support, roaming everywhere, and couldn’t afford to mark a fixed position.
In the 25th minute, with Emerson’s help, Alex successfully stole the ball from Sabri and then quickly advanced it, launching a beautiful counterattack.
He even had an impressive dribble in the opposing team’s attacking third and then made a cross.
Anderson didn’t get into position, but Ronaldo did.
Unfortunately, it was a bit rushed, and his header went askew.
But it was a successful counterattack.
Sabri, a player who had not been able to secure a starting spot at Benfica this season, naturally wasn’t lacking in opportunities.
It was because his characteristics were too one-dimensional.
With only speed to his advantage and lacking the technical skills expected from a top winger, he could be marked out of the game.
Benfica, realizing that it was difficult to play through Sabri’s side, began to shift the offensive focus, feeding balls to Maniche on the right flank, pressuring the aging Altino.
But the plot didn’t unfold as Benfica’s head coach had imagined.
And yes, the current head coach of Benfica was no nobody.
It was the famous German tactician, Joseph Heynckes!
He arranged the shift in offensive focus.
Maniche did indeed contribute one dangerous cross and an attempt at breaking through at the edge of the box, which was somewhat effective.
But... Maniche’s ball handling on the field became increasingly irrational.
He started to have frequent abnormal physical contact with Altino.
Because during this period, Altino was doing too many little moves: pinching his waist, elbowing, exhaling near his ear.
There were both verbal and physical jabs.
In the 33rd minute, Maniche, frustrated by being tugged by Altino during his run, subconsciously swung his arm and hit Altino in the face.
Altino went down in agony on the spot, as if his face had been ruined.
The referee halted the game and came over to inquire about the situation, while the assistant referee described what he had seen.
Altino’s behavior was normal, though not encouraged.
Maniche indeed hit the opponent’s face, and he was very emotional about it, which constituted a genuine malicious foul.
"Yellow card! The referee has shown Maniche a yellow card!"
"Maniche is very angry, he is arguing with the referee."
"The referee is backing away from Maniche’s pressure, signaling for Maniche to control his emotions, or he could issue another card."
"Pinto has come over, he’s taking Maniche away, otherwise Maniche might even start a fight with the referee."
"Oh! Maniche even hit Pinto while struggling, Pinto is somewhat wronged there. Fortunately, this is his teammate, otherwise who knows what could have happened."
Altino was also warned by the head coach, but he nodded while keeping an eye on Maniche.
It’s close.
The little horse is about to give out, he’s about to transform.
