Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 972 White-Hot
The Borussia Dortmund players on the field didn't have that luxury.
Dortmund's center back, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, was almost past the midfield line, with only goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller left in the back. The entire Dortmund team had entered Borussia Mönchengladbach's half, constantly pressuring their goal.
But this time, Lady Luck didn't seem to be on Dortmund's side.
In the eighty-sixth minute, Zhou Yi passed the ball to Marco in the inside channel just outside the penalty area.
Marco received the ball with his back to the attack, then passed it diagonally backward into a small gap where Łukasz Piszczek was overlapping on the wing.
"Good ball! Dortmund has put together a beautiful attack!"
Because Borussia Mönchengladbach had tightened their defense, their players were almost all concentrated in the penalty area, leaving the flanks exposed.
Piszczek received the ball unmarked and, after taking a step towards the byline, crossed it!
The ball flew along the ground towards the near post.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ran to the near post, wanting to get a shot in, but the ball was blocked by Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Roel Brouwers who made a sliding tackle.
However, the ball didn't roll far after being blocked. It rebounded and landed in front of Marco Reus.
Reus unleashed a powerful shot!
The ball flew straight towards the goal!
But it was blocked by Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Martin Stranzl!
Just as Stranzl blocked Reus's shot, Aubameyang, who was not far from him, immediately raised his arms, indicating a handball!
"Another handball?" Marcel Reif wasn't sure this time. Everything had happened so fast.
And the referee didn't indicate anything.
This time, the Dortmund players didn't argue with the referee about it, because they didn't have time to fight for these intangible things.
But the TV broadcast still took the time to show a slow-motion replay.
In the slow motion, Reus's shot was blocked by Stranzl, but because of the angle, it was really difficult to see whether Stranzl had blocked the ball with his chest or his arm.
"It's hard to say, but even if it was his arm, Stranzl had his arm tucked in, so strictly speaking, it wouldn't be wrong not to award a penalty..." Marcel Reif said.
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In the eighty-seventh minute, Dortmund launched another attack from the right wing.
After Piszczek got the ball on the wing, even though there were no Borussia Mönchengladbach defenders guarding him all the way to the byline, he didn't waste time going to the byline to cross. Instead, he crossed the ball at a forty-five-degree angle from where he received it, sending it directly into Borussia Mönchengladbach's goalmouth.
This was the simplest way to play. When teams are pushed to the brink, they will use this simple and crude tactic. Even if they can't directly send the ball to their center forward's head, if they can cause chaos in the opponent's defense, they may still be able to score a goal.
Like this time...
Mats Hummels, who was now playing as a center forward, jumped high in front of the goal, contesting the high ball with goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen!
Then he collided with Ter Stegen, and Ter Stegen's hand hit the ball, but he couldn't punch it clear. The ball rebounded off Hummels's body and fell, landing not far from them.
Marco, who was nearby, happened to be in that position. Facing the falling ball, he swept at it!
Ter Stegen fell from the air, lost his balance and fell to the ground, powerless to stop the shot. The ball rolled into the goal from near him!
The entire Westfalenstadion erupted in cheers, and Marco, after scoring, excitedly ran towards his teammates to celebrate.
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"Hey! That ball... was a foul on the goalkeeper!" In Bayern Munich's locker room, everyone gathered around, watching the live broadcast of the Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach game on the TV in the locker room.
When he saw the ball roll into the goal, Thomas Müller jumped up excitedly, shouting.
Sure enough, in the TV broadcast, Marco, who was about to celebrate the goal, stopped and looked in surprise at the referee, and his teammates had similar actions and expressions.
The referee was pointing not at the center circle, which would indicate a valid goal, but at the goal area. That meant that the attacking side had committed a foul there, and a free kick should be awarded there.
The TV broadcast quickly provided a slow-motion replay—although the game had been intense during this period, there were many slow-motion replays, because there was so much to explain, to avoid unnecessary controversy—in slow motion, it could be clearly seen that Hummels did have physical contact with Ter Stegen, and without getting to the ball, interfered with Ter Stegen, preventing him from punching the ball clear.
According to the rules, this was indeed a foul on the goalkeeper, so the goal could not be counted.
"I knew it, I knew it..." Müller exaggeratedly patted his chest, and let out a long breath, "If that goal had counted, Dortmund's luck would have been defying the heavens! But unfortunately, their good luck ran out a long time ago, ha!"
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The goal was disallowed, and Marco wanted to argue with the referee, but saw Zhou Yi waving his hands vigorously at him.
He realized why his friend was doing this—don't waste time, quickly prepare for the next attack!
Shortly after this "goal," the fourth official held up a sign on the sidelines indicating four minutes of injury time.
At the same time, the current match time was displayed on the big screen—eighty-nine minutes and forty-two seconds.
The game was about to enter injury time, and Dortmund had very little time left.
Dortmund were still frantically crossing into Borussia Mönchengladbach's penalty area, trying to create a scoring opportunity.
The various sounds of the Westfalenstadion could be clearly transmitted even through the television.
In the Beijing studio, thousands of miles away, Duan Xin suddenly realized that his palms were covered in sweat. He realized how nervous he was...
Also in the locker room of the Allianz Arena, the Bayern Munich players were all looking up at the TV, no one spoke, only the sound of the Westfalenstadion and the voice of commentator Marcel Reif came from the TV.
"Schmelzer crosses! It's headed out! Dortmund gets the second ball, they continue to organize the attack!"
"Zhou Yi turns and gets rid of the defender, he's looking up to find someone, but there's no suitable passing option. Borussia Mönchengladbach's penalty area is full of people, impenetrable..."
"Dortmund made a mistake while trying to pass and move forward! Fortunately, Sven Bender immediately snatched the ball back! One minute of injury time has passed, and Dortmund still can't break through Borussia Mönchengladbach's goal!"
"Hummels tries a long shot from outside the penalty area! It's too high! This is a complete waste of opportunity and time! The possession is easily given to Borussia Mönchengladbach..."
"In the final stages of the game, Dortmund keep crossing, but there is only Hummels who can compete for headers in front of the goal... I think Klopp must be missing Lewandowski very much at this time..."
Sitting in his seat, Lewandowski snorted softly in his heart.
Whose fault is it?
He was willing to stay in Dortmund at the beginning, but the club executives were so stingy. Okay, let's see whether the money you saved or the loss of the league title is greater...
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In the ninety-second minute and thirty-first second of the game, there was only one and a half minutes left until the end of injury time.
Schmelzer received the ball on the left wing, and no Borussia Mönchengladbach player went up to defend him. All the Borussia Mönchengladbach players were shrinking in the penalty area, because they knew that Dortmund would definitely cross.
Sure enough, Schmelzer chose to cross directly at a forty-degree angle.
Hummels jumped high in the penalty area, but he didn't get to the ball.
The ball was punched out by goalkeeper Ter Stegen who jumped up!
Faced with Dortmund's aerial bombardment, in addition to having the defenders compete for headers, Ter Stegen's way of expanding his defensive area was also very important.
The ball was punched out, and Zhou Yi unsurprisingly appeared at the spot where the ball landed—the right inside channel outside the penalty area, controlling the ball.
But just as he received the ball, the Borussia Mönchengladbach players in the penalty area also began to press out, mainly the players in other positions, while the defenders were still defending their positions, maintaining a good defensive formation.
Borussia Mönchengladbach did this to prevent Dortmund from shooting from long range in the middle.
Long shots are also a way to break through a dense defense, so Borussia Mönchengladbach also had to be prepared, and resolutely not allow Dortmund to calmly shoot from thirty meters outside the penalty area.
So, as soon as Zhou Yi stopped the ball, he was faced with the Borussia Mönchengladbach players pressing up.
Zhou Yi lowered his head, as if he didn't see these Borussia Mönchengladbach players pressing up, and focused all his attention on the ball at his feet. But just when everyone thought he would be surrounded, he gently flicked the ball horizontally to Sven Bender in the middle with the outside of his right foot. At the same time, he quickly cut forward diagonally, running towards the arc of the penalty area.
Sven Bender saw Zhou Yi's movement and immediately pushed the ball straight, passing it to Zhou Yi's running path.
Zhou Yi had already run behind those Borussia Mönchengladbach players who had come to press him at the beginning, and he would receive Sven Bender's pass in front of the arc of the penalty area.
And now in front of him was a line of defense composed of as many as six Borussia Mönchengladbach players. They were not on a single line, but formed a depth of two rows, with the front row on the edge of the penalty area and the back row a little behind the penalty spot.
In this narrow area, there were not only six Borussia Mönchengladbach players, but also four Dortmund players: Hummels, Marco, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Reus. In such a small area from the left side of the penalty area to the right side, there were actually ten players from both sides, which shows how dense it was.
In such a dense area, it is very difficult to organize an attack, because there is almost no passing space to utilize.
If Dortmund wants to force their way through the middle, their attack will basically be blocked here. Either they will lose possession due to being tackled, mispassing, or missing a shot, or they will come to a sudden stop, then transfer to the wing, and finally take the old route of crossing from the wing and competing for headers in the middle.
This Dortmund attack should be no exception. If they don't transfer to the wing, their attack should end here.
The eyes of the Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach fans in the stands of the Westfalenstadion, everyone on the Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach benches and coaching staff, the Chinese fans in front of the TV, commentators Marcel Reif and Duan Xin, the Bayern Munich players and coaches inside and outside the home team's locker room at the Allianz Arena...everyone's eyes were focused on the figure running towards the arc of the penalty area.
What will he do?