Chapter 87 Hard
Wang Lie retreated to the midfield to provide support.

But Barnabas, who got the ball in the backcourt, did not choose to pass the ball to him.

Because he retreated very deep, Hackney Knights’ defense line was also relatively forward, with a lot of space behind them.

In order to increase the suddenness of the attack, the right-back Barnabas, who got the ball at the back, chose to make a long pass directly to Vitini at the other end of the diagonal line.

Wang Lie, who retreated but failed to get the ball, did not spread his hands to complain, but immediately turned back and ran forward.

When Vitini received the ball near the sideline, he looked up at the center and found that Wang Lie had already rushed to the front.

So when facing the defense of Hackney Knights’ right-back Fitzwater, he did not challenge the opponent one-on-one, but simply passed the ball horizontally to Wang Lie who was coming from behind.

“Wang! He caught the ball in the middle!”

Both midfielder Bello and center back Monte rushed towards Wang Lie at this time.

After passing the ball, Vitini moved diagonally towards the left side of the Hackney Knights’ penalty area, pretending to receive the ball.

Wang Lie pretended to pass the ball to him, causing Monte in front of him to shift his weight to that side, and then immediately used his body to protect the ball, blocking Bello behind him. Then he gently pushed the ball to the right front with his right foot and shot it!
When Wang Lie blocked Hackney Knights’ midfielder Bello behind him, he used his hands and feet to rush towards Wang Lie and disrupt him.

Despite his interference, the quality of the football shot by Wang Lie was very high!
He rushed forward along the grass and headed straight for the lower right corner of the goal!
Hackney Knights goalkeeper Rafael Vito fell to the ground and dived sideways, using his fingers to push the ball out of the baseline!

Seeing this, the Tyne fans in the stands sighed: “Huh!!!”

“Wang Lie’s long shot!! Great shot! Vito made a great save!”

Wang Lie didn’t have time to feel upset about not scoring a goal. He turned around and pointed at Bello and complained to the referee: “He fouled me!”

Jinba Bello was so scared that he quickly defended himself: “I didn’t! I didn’t use any force! It was just a reasonable collision!”

He was in a hurry to defend himself because he knew what it meant to give Wang Lie a free kick in front of the penalty area, facing the goal…

Wang Lie didn’t care about that. He said to the referee who came up: “He has some movements with his hands!”

Bello kept shaking his fingers: “NONONONONO! No, that’s a normal movement…”

The referee was well aware of Wang Lie’s little thoughts. He just wanted to put pressure on him and cheat a free kick, as if he wanted to teach him how to referee a game… This was a typical challenge to the referee.

But after all, Wang Lie was once – and perhaps still is in the past two months – the Premier League’s number one star, so we have to give him some face.

So he smiled and shook his head at Wang Lie: “Don’t make trouble, Wang, I see it clearly, and I know how to referee.”

He pointed to his eyes.

Seeing that his plan failed, Wang Lie did not continue to argue with the referee, nor did he pay attention to Bello. Instead, he turned and ran towards the goal, ready to participate in the corner kick attack.

Bello protested to the referee behind him: “He is defying you, sir!”

The referee glared at him and said unceremoniously: “Mind your own business!”

Bello quickly pursed his lips – he was not the captain of the team, and logically he had no right to talk to the referee… If he dared to continue chattering, he might get a yellow card.

Of course, it’s another matter if the referee takes the initiative to talk to him.

※※※

Tyne’s corner was taken by Sonny Dean.

Tyne’s previous goal was scored using a corner kick tactic, so the Hackney Knights took this opportunity very seriously.

Dean did not cooperate with his teammates again, but kicked the football directly in front of the goal.

The Hackney Knights, who were ready for battle, relied on center back Sebastian Surget to head the ball away.

“It’s been almost ten minutes since the second half started and the score is still 1:1… Tyne played very actively and proactively at home, and Hackney Knights were not to be outdone. The two teams are now in a tit-for-tat situation!” said Luo Jin.

Partner commentator Zhao Chuanfeng said: “Wang Lie often retreated to support in this game, just like the ball just now, although the ball did not reach him in the end. But you can notice that after he retreated, the Cavaliers’ central defender had to follow him. If he didn’t follow, the Cavaliers’ midfielder would have to take charge. In this way, Tyne has one more support point in the midfield, and the Cavaliers have one less person. With this balance, Tyne can gain an advantage in the midfield…”

Luo Jin nodded in agreement: “That’s right. In the past, Wang Lie often retreated when playing football, but it is rare for him to retreat as much as he did today, and retreat very deep. It should be a special arrangement by head coach McNeill. However, doing so is also a great test for Wang Lie’s physical fitness and explosive power…”

Zhao Chuanfeng said from the side: “At least so far, I haven’t seen his physical fitness fall behind. And after retreating, Wang Lie can really rush forward. It’s actually quite incredible. Looking at Wang Lie’s performance on the court, one always forgets that he is already 38 years old…”

“Twenty years of consistent self-discipline and professionalism, coupled with scientific and rational training… and most importantly, Wang Lie found confidence in Tyne and gained respect and trust. I think the change in his mentality has also improved his physical condition…” Luo Jin explained from his own perspective.

Luke Milne, who was in the live commentary booth, would occasionally stare at the court in a daze while not giving his commentary.

He had a very strange feeling in his heart. He thought it was incredible, but it was right in front of him and he couldn’t help but believe it:
Wang Lie in today’s game always makes him feel familiar – this is not strange at all, he and Wang Lie have been teammates in Sofia for seven seasons, so of course he is very familiar with Wang Lie – Milne’s familiarity is because he watched the 38-year-old Wang Lie running, dribbling, and fighting on the field…

Then it overlapped with the familiar figure of Wang Lie in his memory.

He had the illusion that Wang Lie was wearing a Tyne jersey and playing football…

In other words, he felt that Wang Lie’s physical fitness seemed to have improved!

Commentator Conor Cowley realised Milne seemed to have been silent for a while and glanced over his shoulder at his partner.

Milne was seen holding the microphone but not putting it to his mouth. Instead, he was looking at the court as if in a daze.

So, taking advantage of a dead ball situation on the court, he took the microphone away from his lips, pushed away the noise-cancelling headphones, turned his head and asked Luke Milne, who was still in a daze: “What’s wrong?”

In order to avoid being disturbed by the noise in the environment, the microphone of the Premier League commentator is specially designed. When speaking, the microphone should be placed between the upper lip and the nose. This way, the commentator’s voice can be recorded while avoiding the inclusion of ambient sound.

At the same time, as long as the microphone is taken away, even if the commentator on the scene chats privately, it will not affect the commentary of the game, because the sound of the chat will not be recorded at all.

Milne knew that during the live broadcast of the game was not a good time to chat, and he had a lot of thoughts in his mind that he couldn’t tell others.

He simply said: “I just feel a little sad that Wang, who is 38 years old, can still show his talent in the Premier League. When I was 38 years old, I could only retire in the Scottish Premier League…”

Connor Cowley smiled: “Wang’s physical fitness is indeed very exaggerated, but it is mainly because he is not satisfied.”

“Yes, he is never satisfied… but this also shows that he still has a passion for football.” Milne said as he saw Wang Lie receiving the ball in the front court.

He quickly put the microphone to his philtrum and said excitedly: “Wang Naqiu, he’s here again!”

Connor Cowley immediately followed up: “Tain’s attack!”

※※※

When Wang Lie got the ball in the Hackney Knights’ half, he was actually still far away from the goal, but from the commentators’ tone, it seemed as if Tyne had already pushed the ball into the 30-meter area of ​​the Hackney Knights…

This time when Wang Lie received the ball, there was finally no Hackney Knights’ central defender following him.

After all, Tyne had already pushed the ball into Hackney Knights’ half, which meant that more Tyne players were approaching Hackney Knights’ penalty area.

If the Knights’ central defender still came up to follow Wang Lie, the middle of the penalty area would be empty. Tyne could have arranged for other players to get in the gap instead of giving the ball to Wang Lie, which would have threatened the Hackney Knights’ goal more directly.

Where Wang Lie received the ball, the one defending him was midfielder Kimba Bello.

Wang Lie did not fight him one-on-one, but passed the ball quickly to his own midfielder Gianfranco Ramosa who came up to support him.

After passing the ball, Wang Lie immediately accelerated forward and got rid of Bello in two steps.

Bello followed immediately.

As a result, a space appeared in front of him.

Ramosa could even use this space to dribble the ball forward, but for several seconds no Hackney Knights player came up… Seeing this, Ramosa simply took a long shot from 33 meters away from the goal!

Just hit it high at the end…

“What a pity!” Luo Jin sighed. “The one who shot the goal was Ramosa, he’s not good at scoring…”

Zhao Chuanfeng analyzed to the audience: “Although the ball didn’t go in this time, it fully demonstrated the role of Wang Lie’s retreat. Just like what we just talked about, Wang Lie retreated to receive the ball, passed it, and then ran forward. Did the defensive players follow? No, the ball was passed back to Wang Lie’s feet. At that time, he was closer to the goal and could shoot… If he followed, there would be a vacuum in the midfield, which could be used by other players of Tyne. This time it was Ramosa, next time it could be Van Ginkel, or Vitini, or Dean?”

Ramosa, who kicked the ball high, raised his hand to apologize to his teammates.

However, Tyne head coach McNeill, who was sitting next to the coaching bench, gave him a thumbs up and applauded.

Just as Zhao Chuanfeng said, this offensive routine was indeed something that Tyne had consciously practiced.

Although Ramosa did not score a goal, Tyne’s attack was completely carried out, which is a good sign.

As the head coach, he must give the players encouragement and support so that they can continue to play like this.

※※※

Ramosa’s missed shot gave Hackney Knights head coach Paul Neves a hint of danger, but he had no time to think about countermeasures now.

In his mind, the highest priority is still “attack”.

After the start of the second half, Hackney Knights and Tyne were in a stalemate. Both sides had some opportunities, but the situation was in a very delicate balance.

As long as we can score a goal, we can break this balance and make the situation favorable for us.

He stood on the sidelines, his arms folded across his chest, staring nervously at the field.

His team pushed the ball forward and found Kang Dong-hoon.

The Korean started as a forward in this game, but after the start of the second half he was more accustomed to running to the left to create space and wait for the ball.

Because this way he can get the ball in a relatively relaxed environment, without having to face the pressure and collision of at least two Tyne players as soon as he receives the ball.

Then he dribbled the ball towards the middle.

This time too.

Kang Dong-hoon received the ball on the wing and cut inside.

Facing Ramosa who came up to block him, Kang Dong-hoon made a fake move to pass the ball to the left – Hackney Knights’ left-back Nevak was moving forward along the sideline to receive the ball, but the sole of his left foot pulled the ball back in front of him and then pushed it to the right.

Ramosa was indeed deceived by his fake pass and missed the ball!

After dodging Ramosa, he shot directly!

Goetz jumped into the air and headed back, using one hand to push the ball out of the baseline!
“Kang Dong-hoon!!” the Korean commentator shouted. “Nice long shot! Very nice! He created a corner kick for the team!”

There were too few shots of Kang Dong-hoon in the first half, and even when he did appear, it seemed like something bad would happen right after, which made the Korean commentator very frustrated.

And now Kang Dong-hoon’s shot was indeed beautiful, forcing Goetz to make a wonderful save, and the Korean commentators were also proud.

When Kang Dong-hoon saw the ball being blocked by Goetz, he roared fiercely and felt sorry for not being able to score a goal.

In the second half, he was trying hard to prove himself in front of Wang Lie, and at the same time in front of his boss.

He couldn’t get over the fact that the ball didn’t go in for a long time.

He stared at Tyne goalkeeper Goetz who was getting up from the ground and was celebrating by high-fiving his fellow defenders.

※※※

The Hackney Knights started with a corner kick, and finally their French center back Monte got the ball in the penalty area, but Monte’s header was too high and failed to threaten the goal guarded by Goetz.

Tyne then launched an attack by taking a goal kick.

When Ramosa controlled the ball in the center circle, Wang Lie once again pulled back from the front to provide support.

But Ramosa did not pass the ball to Wang Lie, but passed it to Van Ginkel.

Wang Lie saw Van Ginkel receive the ball and turn around to move into the penalty area.

Hackney Knights’ midfielder Bello also followed Wang Lie to retreat – because he was a little far away from Van Ginkel, if he chose to pounce on Van Ginkel, the latter would definitely pass the ball directly to Wang Lie behind him.

Is it more dangerous to let Van Ginkel get the ball in front of the penalty area, or to let Wang Lie get the ball in front of the penalty area?

The Nigerian midfielder from Hackney Knights chose the latter without hesitation.

As soon as Van Ginkel saw Wang Lie take away the Hackney Knights’ defensive midfielder, he immediately took a step forward with the ball, then adjusted his pace and swung his foot as if to shoot, but when his foot landed, he only lifted the ball forward!
He passed the ball to Vitini who was cutting in from the left!
When everyone’s attention was attracted by Van Ginkel who had the ball and Wang Lie who was making a forward run, Vitini had quietly come from the wing to the ribs and suddenly rushed out!
“Van Ginkel passes the ball! Vitini!!”

There was a huge cheer at Leeds Park, because even a fool could see how threatening Tyne’s attack was!
Vitini receives the ball behind the Hackney Knights defence!
The Brazilian player’s good sense of the ball allowed him to stop the ball steadily in a small space. Then he stepped his left foot to the outside to support his body, and took small steps to adjust his body direction and center of gravity, turning his body to the middle of the penalty area, opening his hips, and swinging his right leg!

It looked like he was going to pass the ball to Wang Lie who had already reached the middle of the penalty area.

Hackney Knights’ right back Joseph Fitzwater tackled the ball from the side and behind, risking a foul!
At the same time, Hackney Knights goalkeeper Rafael Vito also moved from the middle to the front post to block the angle.

Then Vitini kicked the football with his right foot, or to be more precise, he rubbed the football!

The football flies to the back of the goal!

Vito had just arrived at the front point and saw Vitini shoot the ball to the back point. He dived back with all his might, stretching his hands as far as they could, but touched nothing.

The football drew a very obvious arc, passed Vito’s fingers, hit the inside of the far post, and then bounced into the goal!

The Leeds Park volcano erupted completely, and the cheers of Tyne fans turned into hot magma and were thrown into the night sky.

The commentators exclaimed:

“Vitini! Vitini! Vitini–!!! Tyne takes the lead again!”

“After the start of the second half, it was Tyne who scored the first goal! A beautiful tactical cooperation! Vitini helped Tyne lead Hackney Knights 2:1!”

“Hackney Knights fell behind for the second time in the game and they had a tough time away from home!”

“Unbelievable! Tyne is leading Hackney Knights again at home!”

After completing the shot, Vitini saw the football flying into the goal, so he excitedly ran towards the corner flag area, and then suddenly did a front flip when he was almost there!
He used his hands to support himself, jumped high, turned one and a half circles in the air, and finally staggered when his legs landed on the ground.

Then he turned around and hugged his teammates to celebrate.

“Nice shot!” Wang Lie came up and patted Vitini on the back, but he didn’t blame him for not passing the ball to him…

In fact, he was still worried that Vitini would pass the ball to him – he should have shot the ball directly, shooting was the best option. If the ball was passed to himself, it would have wasted such a good offensive opportunity.

Because he was surrounded by people in the middle of the penalty area, if Vitini really passed the ball to him, he might not be able to catch the ball. Even if he could catch the ball, under the close defense of the Hackney Knights defenders, he might not even have the space to kick his foot, and even if he could shoot, the quality of the shot could not be guaranteed.

He had nothing to do with this goal. He was neither the organizer, nor the assist, nor the final finisher, but he was still very happy.

It wasn’t just because of Vitini’s goal that put Tyne back in the lead.

It is also because this goal fully demonstrated the current ability of the Tyne team, the ability of the team, not the ability of Wang Lie alone.

After the defeat to Clayton Athletic, Tyne toughened up facing Hackney Knights, who were ranked first in the league!
They are no longer “mercenaries” who can be slaughtered at will, but a group of “bandits”!
(End of this chapter)