Chapter 362: Chapter 361 Crown Prince Progress 1/3
One to two, Porto has pulled one back!
Dragão Stadium instantly came alive as if a dragon’s soul had returned to its lair, erupting in frenzied cheering.
Once Deco and Jia De’er kicked into gear, a single goal was hardly a gap.
"Deco, Deco!"
"Jia De’er, Jia De’er!"
The Porto anthem finally rose once more.
And finally, the Dragão Stadium felt like Porto’s home ground.
Porto capitalized on the momentum and launched a fierce attack.
During this period, Sporting Lisbon’s defense faced stringent testing.
Fortunately, Feng Te did not falter this time.
Porto became impatient, and their passing and control frequently erred.
In the 85th minute, Terry successfully intercepted and passed the ball to Ronaldo.
Ronaldo took flight on the wing, lightning-fast as he completed his run to the endline.
However, no one else could keep up with Ronaldo’s speed; in the penalty area, aside from Drogba, there were no other teammates. And Drogba’s position wasn’t good, tightly marked.
Bang!
Ronaldo passed back to Viana at left midfield.
Deco seized the moment and suddenly moved in to challenge.
But Viana touched the ball, turned, and pulled the ball away... with a smooth Marseille Turn, he easily bypassed Deco.
The Porto defensive line was instantly thrown into disarray; their right center-back lunged at Viana.
Viana lobbed a ball over the top.
Drogba, who had been pressed by Porto’s left center-back, now turned and instead trapped his marker behind him.
Of course, Porto’s right center-back wasn’t worried. After all, Drogba was now facing away from the goal, and even after receiving the ball, he couldn’t pose a direct threat to the net.
Bang!
Drogba held off the defender behind him and kicked the ball in mid-air for a layoff.
A green and white figure dashed into Porto’s penalty area.
Deng Kai met the ball at the penalty spot with a thunderous shot.
It was a Ground Cutter again!
The quality of the shot was terrifying; the football grazed the post and the turf as it went into Porto’s net.
Porto’s goalkeeper, even though he had some time to react, was helpless against such an almost unsolvable shot.
"GOAL! Three to one! Deng Kai scores the crucial goal!"
"Viana’s dribbling and passing opened up the play for the team."
"And Drogba’s layoff shows exactly why Sporting Lisbon keep using him as a starting player; his pivotal role is irreplaceable!"
"Of course, at the end of the day, it’s Deng Kai’s striking power that truly stands out. He always manages to seize the moment, scoring goals of exceptionally high quality!"
"This is also why people gradually recognize the importance of Deng Kai’s core role at Sporting Lisbon."
"Viana, Quaresma, Drogba, Ibrahimovic, they all have their moments of brilliance, but they also have many lows. Even Ronaldo, who has been in good scoring form, has had times this season when he couldn’t find his rhythm."
"Only Deng Kai has been frighteningly consistent. His performances have always been maintained at a high level. There are fluctuations, but for Deng Kai, there is only uprising, never a dip!"
"At this crucial 85th minute mark, with a two-goal lead, Porto is truly in danger now!"
"They definitely have the ability to score two goals, but when you limit the time to five minutes, no one dares to beat their chest and make such a guarantee!"
...
Five minutes passed, and Porto made no gains.
In the first minute of injury time, Deco wall-passed with Jia De’er and got past Deschamps, creating danger in the frontcourt.
Feng Te was charging right at Deco, who dinked the ball over, separating it from himself. Adhering to the principle that the ball can get past but not the player, Feng Te pulled Deco down, causing him to fall.
The head referee pointed to the penalty spot and showed Feng Te a yellow card.
Deco had already broken into the penalty area at the time.
Deng Kai led his teammates over to speak with the head referee, but his true intention was purely to waste time, as there was no issue with the call.
In the end, Jia De’er stepped up to take the penalty kick and scored without much danger.
Three to two, that was the final score between the two teams.
After three whistles blew, the entire Sporting Lisbon team rushed into Dragão Stadium to celebrate as if they had already clinched the Portuguese championship.
This was the most crucial match of the season.
After defeating Porto, Sporting Lisbon surged ahead in points, leading them by two points.
In the final round of the league, Porto lost, and Sporting Lisbon would take the championship regardless of any outcome.
Even if Porto won, all Sporting Lisbon needed was a draw to claim the title.
In the event of equal points, the Primeira Liga first looks at the head-to-head record between the teams.
Sporting Lisbon, with one draw and one victory, had the upper hand.
After the match, when interviewed, Deco seemed disheartened, "We lost the most important game of the season, which is a huge blow for us. But we will still play our best in the final match, that’s the only thing we can do for the championship now."
"But this match also gave us a deeper understanding of Sporting Lisbon, which will be advantageous when we face them in the final of the Portugal Cup!"
Deco was very rational; he was well aware that Porto no longer had the initiative in winning the league.
However, he deliberately pointed out that it wouldn’t be easy for Sporting Lisbon to claim the title, as their final opponent was last year’s league champion and currently third-placed Boavista.
They were definitely not a weak team.
Deco’s words were pressuring; without a doubt, he was hoping that Sporting Lisbon would give up on the Portugal Cup final.
A Primeira Liga championship trophy, nearly within grasp, undoubtedly carried more weight than a Portugal Cup championship.
The proverb says, "The journey of a hundred miles ends with the last step," the closer Sporting Lisbon was to the final step, the more conflicted they would become.
On the other hand, Jia De’er remained optimistic, "We played well this match. We lost because some parts of our defense were not perfect; we will be more targeted in the next match’s defense."
His content seemed similar to Deco’s, but Jia De’er’s satisfaction with his brace was almost spilling out of the screen.
The team lost, but he didn’t lose.
Forty-two goals—Jia De’er’s career highlight!
He was almost certain to win the European Golden Shoe this season!
This would be his second time receiving this honor, two years after his last win.
Such success was unimaginable for an ordinary player.
It was an accolade of a superstar!
Jia De’er could almost see the call-up notice from the Brazil national team.
Almost exactly in the same situation was Ronaldo.
The team won, but he didn’t.
Not only did he score one goal fewer than Jia De’er in the match,
but his thirty league goals were also far behind Jia De’er’s forty-two.
Facing the interview, he genuinely couldn’t be happy, "The championship isn’t in our hands yet, we can’t be careless, now is not the time to celebrate."
"However, Kai made a good point, which is, for Sporting Lisbon, who are aiming for a treble this season, a league championship trophy is nothing more than what’s expected."
"Defeating Porto only proves that we are qualified to challenge Liverpool."
Porto was very upset with Ronaldo’s disregard.
But then their foul language was overshadowed by Deng Kai’s action.
Deng Kai posted on his personal social media platform, "Treble progress 1/3, let’s go go go!"
