He originally had a mocking smile and waved his hand when Zhou Yi fell, looking down on Zhou Yi's dive.

But when he looked up, he was stunned by the yellow card the referee held up.

Immediately afterward, the referee switched the yellow card for a red card, and Rakitic panicked. He quickly explained to the referee that he hadn't fouled; it had been a fair challenge.

However, referee Gräfe could still clearly distinguish between a fair challenge and a deliberate shove.

So he stood by his decision.

Red card!

Rakitic was sent off!

Other Schalke 04 players also swarmed around, wanting to argue with the referee and stand up for their teammate.

Their reason, of course, was that Zhou Yi had dived.

"He dived!"

"He hasn't played football properly in this game, he's just been wrestling!"

"Yes, look at him lying on the ground pretending after he fell, he just wants you to show a card, Mr. Referee!"

However, referee Gräfe was unmoved by their arguments.

He dispersed the Schalke 04 players who had surrounded him to demand an explanation, and signaled for Rakitic to leave the field.

In fact, Rakitic knew in his heart that he had indeed fouled, but he had taken a chance when fouling, thinking that even if he was called for a foul this time, it wouldn't be serious enough to warrant a card, right?

But the referee gave him one anyway!

He had no choice but to leave the field.

However, how he left the field was important. He couldn't just leave in silence with his head down. He had to leave the field with an angry expression, perhaps even turning his head to shout at the referee and point at Zhou Yi, "He dived! He dived!"

Finally, he walked off the field, extremely unwilling.

This way, it would seem like he had been framed, leaving people with the impression that it was all Zhou Yi's fault for diving.

As for the fact that the little bit of extra time he wasted by doing this meant that there was very little time left for Schalke 04 to equalize, he didn't really care that much...

※※※

Duan Xin was relatively conservative. He couldn't afford not to be. After all, Chinese sports commentators still had to emphasize objectivity and impartiality. They couldn't be too strongly biased toward one side in a match.

Because in China, the state television station broadcasts European leagues, and both teams in a European league could have a large number of fans in China. Offending either side would be bad.

A casual remark from a commentator could be considered an insult to their favorite team and star by Chinese fans, and then they would be bombarded with abuse.

So they had to be careful in what they said.

But the actual situation on the field was much more optimistic than Duan Xin had imagined.

Being a goal down hadn't brought about a devastating blow to Schalke 04.

But Rakitic being sent off shook the psychological foundation of the Schalke 04 players.

Because many of the Schalke 04 players already had a yellow card.

And several of these players had received their yellow cards because of Zhou Yi.

The yellow cards were all concentrated in the second half.

In the first half, Zhou Yi fell frequently, and the referee could still ignore it.

But after Zhou Yi continued to fall tirelessly in the second half, it was difficult for the referee to turn a blind eye.

So yellow cards began to appear frequently.

There was a reason why Schalke 04 fans disliked Zhou Yi—in their opinion, Zhou Yi was simply a diving champion who only knew how to dive.

Now, Rakitic's red card was like a warning to all Schalke 04 players, telling them that if they weren't careful, they would end up like him.

They should know that Rakitic's two yellow cards were both earned against Zhou Yi.

The way they looked at Zhou Yi was a mixture of hatred and fear.

They felt that Zhou Yi was simply going to extremes to win.

But Zhou Yi himself felt wronged—I'm running out of energy. When I get bumped, can't I just fall to the ground and roll a couple of times to dissipate the force?

※※※

After Rakitic was sent off, the pressure on Zhou Yi also eased.

Because the other Schalke 04 players would think twice when facing him, and remember what Rakitic had said after being sent off.

"He dived! He dived!"

And think about what Bordon had said when he conceded a penalty to Zhou Yi in the penalty area.

"He dived!"

Yes, no one wanted to enjoy the same treatment as Rakitic and Bordon at the hands of the despicable and shameless Zhou Yi...

With less defensive pressure on Zhou Yi, he could pass the ball more easily in midfield.

The situation was completely under Dortmund's control.

Just passing the ball back and forth until the third minute of injury time, referee Gräfe finally blew the whistle to end the match.

"The game is over!" Marcel Reif shouted. "Dortmund defeated Schalke 04 3:2 on the road, avenging their 0:1 loss to their opponents in the first half of the season! This game was full of twists and turns, with beautiful goals, a penalty, a red card, countless yellow cards, and various collisions and falls... It perfectly met all the standards of a high-level derby!"

"Dortmund won the Ruhr Derby! They got three key points! In this game, the reason why Dortmund was able to finally defeat their opponent can be said to be due to the indispensable performance of our Chinese player Zhou Yi!"

As a Chinese commentator, what he cared about most was naturally the performance of his own country's players.

"All three goals were related to him. The first goal, Sahin's penalty, was awarded after Zhou Yi was knocked down by Bordon in the penalty area. The second goal was a genius assist from Zhou Yi, and the third goal was simply scored by Zhou Yi!" As usual after the game, Duan Xin began to praise Zhou Yi endlessly.

"But I think, looking at the bigger picture, the most gratifying thing is not Zhou Yi's assists and goals in the game," Tao Wei said from the side. "But this is the first time Zhou Yi has played a full game without being substituted before the end of the match."

Duan Xin also smiled and quickly chimed in: "Yes, yes, yes. In such an intense Ruhr Derby, Zhou Yi was able to play the full game, which shows that his physical fitness has greatly improved compared to before. I think, perhaps after starting this game, Zhou Yi will have more opportunities to play the full game. This is a good thing for Zhou Yi himself, Dortmund, and us viewers!"

Tao Wei added: "It's also good for the national team."

This was also the happiest time for Zhou Jianliang besides watching the game live.

Which father doesn't like others praising his son?

Not to mention that this was praise in front of the nation's fans. That feeling of joy and gratification was truly indescribable.

Even his wife, Li Cuiyun, who didn't particularly like soccer, wouldn't roll her eyes at her husband at this time, because she shared the same feelings as her husband...

As parents, they couldn't get rid of this bit of vanity.

Although it was almost five o'clock in the morning, the old couple weren't sleepy at all, and they were still sitting in front of the TV, neither of them moving first.

※※※

When the game ended, Zhou Yi and his teammates celebrated their victory, and at the same time, a chorus of boos rang out from the Schalke 04 fans in the stands.

It wasn't clear whether the boos were directed at Schalke 04 for losing the game, or at Dortmund for winning and celebrating on their turf.

However, Zhou Yi didn't celebrate for long before he was dragged directly in front of the backdrop to be interviewed by a group of reporters.

As a key figure in this game, it was normal to receive such treatment.

Although the media scores hadn't been released yet, everyone believed that it was a foregone conclusion that Zhou Yi would be named the best player of the match.

The Dortmund and Chinese reporters basically praised Zhou Yi's performance before asking questions, and the questions were all of the "you're good, I'm good, everyone's good" type, which were easy to answer.

But there couldn't only be reporters from those two sides on the scene.

There were also quite a few Schalke reporters.

Their questions weren't so friendly.

Their questions were full of aggression right from the start, causing everyone to turn their heads in surprise.

A reporter from *West Newspaper*, a mouthpiece for Schalke, directly asked: "Do you think that Dortmund's penalty was an undue benefit resulting from your dive?"

Such a question immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Dortmund and Chinese reporters, who glared at the other party.

However, the *West Newspaper* reporter didn't care about the gazes of others, and just stared at Zhou Yi, as if trying to see through him.

Faced with such a provocative question, Zhou Yi didn't choose to avoid it, but instead said firmly: "I don't think this is any kind of undue benefit. Bordon knocked me down in the penalty area, I fell to the ground, and lost possession of the ball. According to the rules, that's a penalty. If you don't think it's a penalty, you can appeal to the DFL refereeing department, or directly appeal to the FIFA arbitration court. Either way is fine, I'll just listen to the official opinion. The referee is the official representative now."

Zhou Yi's answer surprised everyone. Of course, the Chinese and Dortmund reporters cheered inwardly after their surprise. Zhou Yi used unreasonable tactics to deal with the unreasonable people from Schalke's side. It was truly repaying them in their own coin.

And the *West Newspaper* reporter rolled his eyes inwardly after his surprise—who the hell would appeal to the FIFA arbitration court for such a penalty? What's more, if they really appealed, the people at the arbitration court would only think that the people at Schalke 04 had water in their brains!

Seeing the *West Newspaper* reporter frustrated, another Schalke reporter stood up: "But in the game, did you focus too much on falling down, rather than the game itself..." He subtly criticized Zhou Yi's falls as premeditated dives and performances.

After listening to this reporter's question, Zhou Yi was first taken aback, with a clear expression of surprise on his face, and then asked: "Do you really think so?"

After the reporter nodded, Zhou Yi spread his hands and smiled: "Okay. I didn't focus on the game itself and completed two assists and a goal? Then if I had focused on the game itself, would Schalke 04 still have had a chance?"

As soon as he said this, the Dortmund and Chinese reporters burst out laughing, as if mocking the other reporter for asking such an idiotic question, wondering if the person himself was also an idiot.

Although Zhou Yi didn't laugh out loud to kick them when they were down, he still maintained a smiling expression after saying this, and looked at the other party.

That smile, in the eyes of the Schalke reporters, was even more hateful than the other reporters' laughter, because they were convinced that they saw naked mockery in it!

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ps, sorry, I was coding until this morning and then set the automatic update, but I got confused and set the automatic update for tomorrow morning...