Chapter 273: Chapter 272 Opportunities for Attack are also Tiered
Deng Kai switched play to Viana on the left, who found space.
After controlling the ball, Viana passed it back.
With Ronaldo and Viana’s continuous movement, Viana’s original position on the left was completely vacated.
Matthaus surged from the back and unleashed a thunderous shot.
When the German cannon fires, it’s often deadly.
"GOAL! Matthaus! Incredible! That long-range shot was earth-shattering!"
"Matthaus breaks the deadlock, putting Lisbon Athletic in the lead!"
"A long-range shot cracks the iron defense! In fact, after Gaziantep’s two counterattacks failed to reach the danger zone, we knew the scales of victory had tipped towards Lisbon Athletic."
"Under siege, it was only a matter of time before the goal came."
With that goal, the game became much easier for Lisbon Athletic.
In the thirty-seventh minute.
Deng Kai and Quaresma switched positions.
Viana passed the ball to Quaresma, who, with Drogba drawn out, exchanged passes twice before threading the ball deep into the right side of the box.
Deng Kai and Quaresma were on the same wavelength, with Kai receiving the ball near the baseline.
Since he was inside the box, the opposition dared not foul him easily.
Deng Kai caught up with the ball, pulled it back, and then executed a horizontal Marseille Turn.
The ball nutmegged the incoming center-back, continuing along the baseline toward the goal.
Meanwhile, Deng Kai, brushing past his opponent, ran outside the baseline and beautifully separated himself from the ball.
Drogba dashed into the penalty spot, calling for the ball.
His position was very good.
He had retreated before surging forward again, free from any direct defenders.
However, similarly, everyone’s eyes were on Drogba, rushing toward him or trying to block the path for a possible cut-back pass between Deng Kai and Drogba.
Bang!
Deng Kai watched Drogba draw back his left foot.
The ball went under the approaching center-back.
If Deng Kai had passed to Drogba, it would have been a perfect interception.
But Deng Kai...
The ball swept in front of the goal, almost moving parallel to it.
At its closest, it was even less than a meter from the goalkeeper.
Any prepared goalkeeper could have caught or cleared it.
Yet including the goalkeeper, everyone’s focus was on Drogba; who could expect that Deng Kai would make such an outrageous cross in front of the goal?
Especially when Deng Kai made the pass, he hadn’t even fully run inside the baseline. His horizontal position overlapped with the goalpost; he couldn’t even see the goalkeeper.
How could he be so certain that a pass so close to the goalkeeper wouldn’t be collected?
So much thought happened in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
At the far post, the incoming Ronaldo met the ball with a push shot.
The angle was tight, but with the goal wide open, there was no need to worry about the keeper’s reaction.
Therefore, the difficulty of the shot was minimal.
"GOAL! Ronaldo! Deng Kai assists Ronaldo to score! A beautiful combination!"
"Deng Kai deceived the whole world, including his teammate Drogba! Drogba even made a premature shooting motion!"
"Only Ronaldo knew what Deng Kai was thinking. True to form for players who have been playing together since their youth, they have a telepathic understanding!"
"Two-nil! Lisbon Athletic have extended their lead."
In the forty-first minute.
Quaresma’s long-range shot from outside the box won the team a corner.
His corner kick was headed by Drogba but hit a defender and was cleared away.
It was still a corner kick.
Deng Kai took the corner, and the Gaziantep central defender contested the first contact point—it was still a corner kick.
Continuous corner kick attacks seemed powerful, but they were often a precursor to conceding a goal.
This time, Deng Kai not only had to consider the attack with his corner kick but also had to avoid letting the opposition get to it, so he couldn’t take too much of a risk.
That’s why many teams, when they get several corners in a row, aim for the same spot, which can appear somewhat rigid and lacking in variation.
No change is stable.
Deng Kai took the shot.
In the middle, Feng Te, Barzagli, Drogba, and Ronaldo almost jumped at the same time, forming an air wall.
Drogba jumped the highest, got lucky, and found the football.
Swish!
The football went straight into the net.
"Ah!"
Drogba was extremely excited!
The player from the African elephants, Ivory Coast, and French footballer Drogba finally broke his goal drought, scoring for his new club once again.
Beep!
The linesman raised his flag.
The referee blew the whistle, indicating the goal was disallowed.
The referee believed that Drogba had committed a clear offensive foul, jumping so high because he had used the defending player as a stepping stool to push off from.
The Sporting Lisbon players surrounded the referee, but they couldn’t change his decision.
Drogba was completely devastated.
His first goal still had not come.
Yet, in the attacking front of the team, several players had already scored two or three.
He was anxious!
The last minute before the halftime break.
The two veteran defenders in the back started to show off their skills.
Matthaus and Deschamps played a one-two pass, then Matthaus dribbled past the defenders through the middle, creating significant threats.
Ronaldo, Viana, Drogba, Deng Kai, and Quaresma—five arrows were shot at once.
Matthaus was casually pointing orders on the pitch.
Among them, Deng Kai was slightly slower and deliberately ran close to Drogba.
It seemed like he was the most closely double-marked.
But could a legendary midfielder like Matthaus fail to see Deng Kai’s intention?
Bang!
Matthaus passed the ball with a straight through ball.
Directly to Drogba’s feet.
But the force and speed of this pass didn’t seem meant for Drogba.
Too fast.
If Drogba tried to control the ball hastily, it could end up as bad as the level of China’s national team.
"Ah, how could Matthaus make such a pass? That clearly wasn’t wise," Maxa, who could occasionally understand some football now, thought the positions of Ronaldo on the left and Quaresma on the right were much better—they could almost guarantee receiving the football.
Or even passing to Viana would work, as Viana was farther from Drogba, and the defender in front of him, to mark the more threatening Drogba, was closer to Drogba.
Trigella shook his head quietly, "With Matthaus holding the ball now, he has almost escalated the threat or this attack to the seventh gear. Passing to Ronaldo or Quaresma would in fact still be in the seventh gear, or even drop to the sixth."
"You can shoot from every gear, but the higher the gear, the bigger the probability of scoring."
"Don’t look at Ronaldo and Quaresma’s deeper positions, seeming more dangerous, but in fact, they are closer to the sides. The threat from crosses from the wings is always lower than that from splitting the ball through the center."
"Passing to Viana could potentially raise the attack to the eighth gear. But even the eighth gear has its highs and lows."
"The central defender on Viana’s right side might seem closer to Drogba, but he is facing Viana, and before Viana gets the ball, he can move in front of Viana and defend face-to-face without losing his position."
"In this case, it all comes down to Viana’s one-on-one ability or quick response. It’s not considered a tactical success."
