Football singularity-Chapter 727 The Younger Brother
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[2021-04-14, 19:00 | Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund]
[Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd leg | Leverkusen (1) 0 v 0 (2) Dortmund]
[15']
Schick had already begun his run, timing it perfectly to arrive between Hummels and Akanji. He rose, stretching every sinew, his neck muscles straining as he met the ball with his forehead. The connection was clean and powerful, sending the ball toward the bottom-right corner. Bürki dove, arms fully extended, getting fingertips to it. But the power was too much. The ball crashed into the side netting.
"GOOOOOAL!" Drury's voice exploded across the broadcast. "PATRIK SCHICK! LEVERKUSEN HAVE THEIR EQUALISER! THE TIE IS LEVEL!"
[Borussia Dortmund (2) 0-1 (2) Bayer 04 Leverkusen— Patrik Schick 15']
Schick raced away immediately, sliding toward the corner flag with his arms spread wide. "2-2 on aggregate!" Beglin exclaimed, his voice rising with excitement. "Still need one more, though. Right now, it's still Dortmund that goes through. A phenomenal start from the Lions, though Bosz couldn't have scripted it better!"
"Brilliant cross from Rakim Rex," Drury added. "He beat Morey with pure pace, and Schick was clinical. A phenomenal start from the Lions, though Bosz couldn't have scripted it better!"
[18']
Dortmund kicked off slowly as head coach Edin Terzić pulled Reus aside for a chat. No one knew what was instructed, but upon receiving the instructions, the players looked much more settled for the restart. Still, the Lions came out aggressive with the front three charging forward amid the wasp side-to-side movement.
Shick and Diaby partnered on the right to pressure Can, who quickly emptied back to Raphaël Guerreiro. The left back barely got a first touch before Diaby was upon him, ready to apply pressure. The Frenchman wanted to pass to Hummels on the side, but quickly sent it back to Bürki in the box upon spotting Schick.
The keeper didn't have much time either as Rakim came shcraging into the box from the other side. With a big boot, he fired the ball forward, emptying his box, getting a chance to breathe. The clearance from Bürki sailed high and long, arcing toward the halfway line.
Haaland had already started his run, his long strides eating up the ground as he tracked the ball's descent. But Lars Bender was equally alert, stepping across to meet the Norwegian shoulder-to-shoulder. They collided in the air, and the veteran came out on top in the aerial duel, nodding it down to Wirtz, who had dropped deep for the second ball.
The teenager's first touch was velvet, needing only one touch to bring it down and under control. Dropping a shoulder, left, he turned right, escaping Bellingham's press and immediately drove forward. He dribbled five yards, drawing Can toward him, then slipped a pass to his right to Amiri.
The German midfielder surged forward into the final third and fired. The ball rocketed off his right boot, flying over the final line of defence, homing in on the goal. Roman Bürki was caught forward and immediately scrambled back to recover, barely managing to raise his right hand to palm it over the bar.
"Oh my day, he saw that in the back of the net and just fired," Drury muttered as Amiri could be seen shaking his head with a pursed lip. "He's probably wishing he'd put that an inch or two to the right."
"Well, sometimes the keeper is just that good," Jim noted that the corner was taken quickly, but Bürkicam charged out to punch the ball out of his goal. "Bürki empties the box, and Hazard clears the second ball."
[27']
Dortmund seemed to wake up in the next nine minutes and began to regain some ground in the match. After reviving a talk to their number one, they calmed down and began to remember why they were one of the most feared clubs in Europe. Bellingham, Can, and Reus became scary in their game management and ball distribution.
With quick one or two passes, they managed to shake off the pressing of the Leverkusen trio in the middle of the field. Pushing them back into their final third, they managed to get a moment to breathe and think. Once they thought the creative neurons started firing from all ends, a spark followed a pass back from Giovanni Reyna.
The American spun off Daley Sinkgraven, forcing the full back to turn and chase as Tah moved slightly to cover the area. Belligham did not give the return pass, though he opened his body to the return ball's momentum. His head was already up, and his left foot side-footed the ball, sending it curving past Tapsoba into the left side of the box.
Like a racehorse escaping the confines of a start gate, Thorgan Hazard burst into the box, leaving behind a less attentive Frimpong. He connected with the ball before it could get too far, and the linemen wound up standing down. Still, the angle was tight as Lukas Hradecky charged out the finish body covering the front post.
Unlike his older brother, who seemed to have been blessed with Brazilian flair as a fetus, he had none of that. Instead, he stayed calm and collected under pressure, a coach's favourite type of player who played team-first football. That's why, despite being pressured by the best keeper in the league at the front and one of the best upcoming defenders on the side, he still managed to spot a yellow shirt racing into the six-yard box.
Haaland, who had been marked tightly by Tabsoba, found himself completely free as the defender raced to close down the angle. He spun into the empty area in front of the goal, remaining in the defender's blind spot in anticipation of a pass. He was not disappointed as his Belgium teammate lifted it over the Burkinabé defender's outstretched leg.
Without needing to adjust, he struck the ball on the half-bounce with so much force he sent the net bulging to release all that velocity. "GOOOOAL BVB!" Drury exclaimed in excitement as the Norwegian spun away from the late Tah, making a beeline for the corner flag. "Well, when you poke the bee, you will be stung, and oh my days, did they get stung."
"It was a brilliant goal from start to finish, Peter," Jim added in amazement as the replay played. "From Bellingham having the vision to switch sides to find Hazard and the winger's clever connection with Haaland in the box. A team goal from start to finish."
[Borussia Dortmund (3) 1-1 (2) Bayer 04 Leverkusen— Erling Haaland 28']
[37']
Following the equaliser, both sides exchanged a series of blows, none quite landing or being thwarted by brilliant defensive actions. In the 30th, Rakim danced himself into a situation where he found both Morey and Can constricting his space. Still, he somehow managed to flick the ball between them with an improvised Cruyff turn, finding Wirtz.
His teammates only took one touch to steal the ball before firing a shot from outside the box, the ball slipping by Akanji's attempt to get his body in the way. Roman Bürki lay out fully diving toward the near post but drew his arms back at the last second, letting the ball glance off the post and out for a goal kick. A few moments later, on the other end, in the 34th minute, the home side received a set-piece opportunity after Bender brought down Reyna, who attempted to cut in.
Reus stood over the free kick, approximately twenty-three yards from goal, just right of centre. The positioning was ideal for a left-footed strike, and the Dortmund captain had converted from the exact spot countless times in his career. The Leverkusen wall consisted of four players—Wirtz, Amiri, Diaby, and Schick —all linking arms on their toes as Hradecky made last-minute adjustments.
The atmosphere seemed to drop into a pin drop silence as Reus took four steps back, his eyes fixed on the ball, then on Hradecky. The referee checked that both teams were ready, warning a few rowdy players in the cluster, then blew his whistle.
Reus began his run-up at a measured pace, his eyes remaining on the goal till the very last minute. At the last moment, he opened his body slightly, striking the ball with the inside of his left foot, and it took flight.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
