Chapter 114 A Priceless Away Goal

As Chen Hero shot the football, the French TV commentator said, "Pay attention to the second landing point..."

He thought the ball would be punched out by the goalkeeper Mandanda again, making the second landing point extremely important. They absolutely couldn't let Zenit's players get to the second landing point.

But reality abruptly cut him off, because he saw the football fly over Mandanda's head, and Mandanda's movement was really unlike that of a goalkeeper, which made him a little embarrassed—how can a goalkeeper cover his face with his hands when the opponent takes a long shot?

He was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.

While he was silent, Shirgayevski's voice rang out.

"Goooooooooooooal!! Chen Hero! He scored! The score is now 1:3! Zenit is still behind and sees no hope of winning… but it doesn't matter, we see hope for a comeback in the next round! This is a precious away goal, priceless! Priceless!"

Shirgayevski quickly understood the significance of Chen Hero's goal.

0:3 and 1:3 look similar, but they can lead to completely different results.

Chen Hero desperately scored this goal not so that Zenit could complete a counterattack in this game, but so that Zenit could retain a glimmer of hope when they returned to their home stadium and have a chance to stage a great reversal.

So after the goal, everyone on Zenit's bench and coaching staff rushed out, jumping and shouting on the sidelines.

Everyone knew the importance of this goal!

The French commentator reacted, realizing what consequences this goal might have. He said in a remorseful tone: "Saint Petersburg Zenit scored in the eighty-first minute! They got an away goal! This is the only regret of this game—we should have won easily and completely, without giving the opponent any chance!"

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After scoring, Chen Hero didn't rush to the stands where the away fans were—they were together with the home fans. Marseille fans were below, closer to the stadium, while the away fans were arranged on the top floor, far away from the stadium, in a very remote corner.

Chen Hero took off his jersey, rushed to the bottom of the stands, turned around, and revealed the giant bear tattoo on his back.

In the eyes of Zenit fans, this lifelike giant bear can bring them endless confidence, but in the eyes of Marseille fans who are closer, it is an out-and-out fierce beast! Its ferocious face contorted, and you could even see the saliva and meat scraps hanging on the snow-white teeth in its open mouth. The heat it exhaled seemed to be able to spray onto the faces of those who got close.

The French commentator was startled by the huge bear in the lens—he thought it was real… Later, he realized it was just a tattoo, but it was so lifelike, so vivid. As Chen Hero's muscles twitched, the giant bear seemed to be waving its claws…

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The French commentator was frightened by this giant bear, but Shirgayevski laughed: "Aha! That's right! The giant bear has reappeared! I can feel that Zenit's morale is recovering!"

He was right. Look at the teammates who swarmed to celebrate the goal with Chen Hero. Each of them had excited and excited smiles on their faces, and their movements were sharp and their steps were vigorous.

Such expressions and states were not often seen before.

Chen Hero's powerful long shot not only shattered the French's dream of winning three goals, but also awakened his dazed teammates.

Now everyone is full of confidence, because there is an away goal, and when we return to our home stadium, we only need to win 2:0. 2:0 is much easier than 4:0!

"Well done, Hero!"

"This goal is so precious!"

"An away goal! Haha! Did you see the reaction of the people on the Marseille coaching bench?"

"Oh, oh, oh! We are not at the end of our rope yet!"

A group of teammates went up and patted Chen Hero's head, shoulders, and back, expressing their joy.

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"As expected of a hero! He truly is a hero!" In the bars of Saint Petersburg, fans exclaimed like this.

"He saved the team! Now we have an away goal, and there is hope in the second leg, haha!"

"That's great! Long live the Hero!"

"Long live the Hero!!"

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Zenit's celebration finally ended, and the game restarted. Zenit continued to pursue goals. An away goal is of course good, but what about two away goals? What about three away goals?

Of course, the more away goals, the better. Ten or eight is not too few, and a hundred and eighty is not too many—if you can really score so many away goals, then away goals are really not important, because the score is enough to kill the suspense…

Marseille played very relaxed after taking a three-goal lead. When relaxation is reflected in their emotions and psychology, they can play very well and almost control the game. But once they are nervous in their hearts but relax their bodies, they become distorted…

So during this period, they wanted to be nervous, but their bodies couldn't keep up with the rhythm. Instead, they were suppressed by Zenit, who had scored a goal, and almost lost the ball several times…

The Marseille fans who were happily celebrating their promotion in advance in the stands were all biting their lips and fingers tightly at this time, staring nervously at the field, their hearts almost stopping.

"Chen Hero—here he comes again! Header! Almost!"

"Hero's long shot!! It's off…"

"Arshavin is also active, his breakthrough is very beautiful, crosses… Kerzhakov is one step too slow, what a pity!"

"Zenit is now attacking like a tide. If they score another goal, it will be Marseille's turn to cry!"

Of course, in the end, Marseille still held on to this score. Zenit did not score again, and the game finally ended with a score of 3:1. The home team Marseille won a victory, and Zenit, although defeated, had an away goal. They planted a seed for the next round of the game, hoping that it would germinate, bloom, and bear fruit by then.

Marseille fans and players breathed a sigh of relief when the referee blew the final whistle.

In any case, winning is a good thing. And although the Russians care about this away goal, they themselves feel that it is no big deal. Can a two-goal lead allow the opponent to reverse the situation? How can you win a game 3:1 and still be sad and say that we performed abnormally and that our hope of promotion is slim?

So the Marseille players waved their arms to celebrate after the game, responding to the applause of the fans.

The Zenit players left the field quickly.

Although they had an away goal, they still lost two goals, and the second leg of the game will be very difficult.

Zenit has been forced to a dead end. There is no other way but to win 2:0 against their opponents at home. The only value of Chen Hero's goal is that Zenit still has the qualification to fight to the death on the road to ruin, otherwise they would not even have such qualification, that would be a real tragedy.

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After the game with Zenit, the local media in Marseille were very optimistic about the team's prospects. 3:1 at home, then just defend to the death away, a draw is enough for them to advance. Marseille has too many choices and a lot of room for maneuver.

How can they be as miserable as Zenit? They have to win at least two goals at home to have hope, otherwise they are doomed. But the probability of such a score appearing is too low.

However, the media in Saint Petersburg still placed the most basic trust in their own team.

"...We believe that everything is possible when we return to Petrovsky Stadium..."

In fact, after calming down, the media in Saint Petersburg were not particularly optimistic. They looked at the team returning to Saint Petersburg with slightly doubtful and hesitant eyes.

Pessimism has long been shrouded in Moscow—it seems that Marseille is really going to complete the cause that Napoleon did not complete, and completely conquer Russia!

Although Chen Hero scored a goal in the game, the Moscow media felt that it was irrelevant to the overall situation. An away goal can only play a role when the score is tied. In the final analysis, it depends on the total score. Now Marseille is leading by two goals in the total score. How can Zenit play? Can you guarantee that Zenit can win by two goals at home? No one can guarantee it.

I don't know what the mood of the Moscow media is. Are they really feeling sad about Zenit's prospects, or are they purely gloating and mocking Moscow's mortal enemy?

They said: "If Saint Petersburg Zenit wants to advance, I think they have to pray for a miracle to happen."

So there is still a week before the next round. Will the miracle come as promised then?

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"Miracles will definitely not come if you sit here and wait!" This is what Advocaat said to the players around him, standing in the crowd, before the start of the first training session in Saint Petersburg after the game against Marseille.

He did not deny in a manic way that advancing could only rely on miracles, because that would make him seem very guilty. It's not shameful to admit generously that the situation is difficult. If you guide the situation well, it may arouse everyone's fighting spirit instead.

"So we need to practice hard, bury our heads and practice hard! Miracles are created by our own hands, kicked out by our feet, and definitely not waited for!"

In Chen Hero's words—"Miracles are made by hard work, dammit!"

In order to create miracles, Chen Hero also worked very hard this week.

The entertainment gossip media in Saint Petersburg suddenly discovered that in the past few days, the reporters who were squatting there had not collected any news about Chen Hero entering and leaving nightclubs. All the well-known nightclubs and bars in Saint Petersburg were no longer frequented by Chen Hero. After finishing training every day, he returned home and would not go out all night.

The "Nightclub Prince" who is known to all nightclubs in Saint Petersburg has become honest?

It seems that the UEFA Cup is really important to him… He still went to nightclubs even when he didn't score goals or win in the league, but when a crisis occurred in the UEFA Cup, he immediately became honest.

When the fans of Saint Petersburg Zenit saw this news, they had a little confidence—the giant bear is finally going to take it seriously, so to speak, there is really something to look forward to in the second leg at home!