Chapter 297: Finally Made a Mistake

“The second half is underway after the teams switched sides, and Ajax has made a substitution.”

“Midfielder Sneijder has been taken off, and Deridder has come on to replace him in the midfield.”

“This is likely a move by Ronald Koeman to conserve some energy.”

“Midweek, Ajax will be heading south to Lisbon, Portugal, for the UEFA Cup final.”

“Their opponent, Moscow Central Army, is very strong, so Ajax can’t afford to be the slightest bit careless.”

“Substituting Sneijder at this time is probably part of that plan.”

“But we can see Yang Yang is still in the Ajax lineup. Clearly, he hasn’t given up on the fight for the league’s Top Scorer.”

“According to the results we received earlier, Feyenoord is currently leading Groningen 1-0 away, but the goalscorer was the young Brazilian center-back Bahia, who earned a starting spot for this match.”

“The young center-back, who just transferred from Brazil’s Flamengo this season, scored for Feyenoord off a corner kick. As for Kuyt, who carried high expectations before the match, he has yet to score.”

“So, on the scorer rankings, Yang Yang is now only two goals behind Kuyt.”

“The live broadcast cuts to a close-up of Yang Yang, and we can see his face is filled with confidence and determination.”

“This eighteen-year-old prodigy has been absolutely outstanding this season—arguably one of the best-performing players in the Eredivisie so far. But this time, his challenge is to overcome the legendary striker Kuyt, who has been famous in the Eredivisie for years. There’s still a two-goal gap. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

……

……

After the second half began, Rosendal clearly reinforced their defense.

The team had already been relegated this season and had nothing left to play for. Every bit of resistance they showed now was an effort to secure their position for what came after relegation.

It wasn’t just for the club itself, but also for the fans.

Although their stadium could only hold five thousand fans, those five thousand people were the key to Rosendal’s survival and their efforts to return to the Eredivisie. Therefore, they couldn’t just give up and stop resisting fiercely.

Yang Yang knew clearly in his heart that if he wanted to score, he’d have to rely on his own efforts.

So, after the second half started, he continued to search for opportunities, constantly trying to break into the opponent’s penalty area.

The Ajax players were also trying hard to create chances for him, but unfortunately, none of them managed to pose a real threat.

The two sides went back and forth, and time quickly passed.

After Sneijder was subbed off, Deridder didn’t yet have the ability to fill his shoes. This created some chaos in Ajax’s midfield. Especially when it came to passing forward, the gap between Deridder and Sneijder was still huge.

Many times, Yang Yang would make a good run and get open, but Deridder’s pass would be just a little off or a fraction too late. All of this made things awkward for Yang Yang, but there was nothing to be done. The team had to think about the midweek UEFA Cup final.

Besides, no one could force Deridder to play exactly like Sneijder.

‘If he really had that kind of skill, Deridder wouldn’t be a substitute.’

In this regard, Yang Yang’s mindset was rather forgiving and calm.

He had always been very patient and composed. So, no matter how his teammates passed, he would always raise a hand, give a thumbs-up, or applaud to show his appreciation and encouragement.

These were just small details, but they were part of how he got along with his teammates.

And this easygoing way of interacting also made his teammates more willing to help him.

Although Deridder wasn’t Sneijder, he was still giving it his all, participating in forward passes and actively pressing on defense.

In the sixty-second minute, it was a press from Deridder that poked the ball away from the opponent.

Vermaelen suddenly charged out of the penalty area and intercepted the ball a step ahead of everyone.

The Belgian center-back dribbled the ball forward while simultaneously lifting his head to look ahead.

Charisteas was positioned centrally to the left, blocking Rosendal’s center-back and preparing to receive the ball. Meanwhile, Yang Yang was being marked by the opposing left-back, but he raised his right hand high.

It was a signal they often used in training!

Vermaelen made a split-second decision, launching a long ball with his left foot straight into Yang Yang’s path.

Yang Yang sprinted forward, constantly using his God’s Vision to observe his surroundings. He used his body and positioning to box out the opposing left-back, forcing himself to always occupy the most advantageous position.

As the ball arrived, Yang Yang had already anticipated its position and used his body to shield it from Rosendal’s left-back.

After more than half a year of physical strength training, Yang Yang was no longer the frail kid he once was. In addition, the Rosendal left-back’s physique wasn’t outstanding—he was even a little shorter than Yang Yang—which allowed Yang Yang to easily keep him behind.

This was why Yang Yang had signaled for Vermaelen to make the pass.

The ball came to him. Yang Yang turned sideways and chested it down. The ball struck the solid muscle of his chest, changed direction, and bounced in front of him. In that same instant, Yang Yang shook off the Rosendal left-back and quickly gave chase.

The moment Yang Yang took off, Rosendal’s left-back couldn’t even manage to pull him back in time. He could only watch helplessly as Yang Yang chased down the ball at top speed, took a touch on the descending ball, and carried it straight into the penalty area.

“Yang Yang has a chance! It’s a one-on-one!”

“He shoots!”

“It’s a goal!!!!!!”

“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!”

“An incredibly clean and decisive shot!”

“In the sixty-second minute, Yang Yang once again broke into Rosendal’s penalty area! Near the penalty spot, with a clean and decisive shot, he has once again pierced through Altecs’s goal!”

“Four-nil! Ajax has basically secured the match!”

“Yang Yang has scored a brace!”

After scoring, Yang Yang turned and ran off the pitch, sprinting all the way to the visiting team’s technical area. He embraced his teammates Sneijder, Filipe Luís, and Bentner, who rushed to greet him, then ran over to Ronald Koeman and Luther Carroll. Both coaches were extremely excited.

“I knew you could do it!”

“I just knew it! You got this, you got this!”

A brace!

Yang Yang honestly felt the urge to roar at the heavens!

Before the match, he didn’t know if he could do it. But now, he was one hundred percent certain he could!

He really could!

‘Three goals, two league matches… I can make a comeback!’

“This is just unbelievable!”

“At this moment, we don’t even know what words to use to describe Yang Yang. Any praise would seem to pale in comparison to his performance tonight, because he has truly been that astonishing.”

“Before the match, everyone, myself included, thought he must be feeling hopeless, that he must have given up.”

“But unexpectedly, not only did he not give up, he fought even harder. Faced with setbacks and difficulties, he chose to rise to the challenge. With this brace, he has proven his determination, fighting spirit, and skill to everyone.”

“Van Gaal was right: Yang Yang never admits defeat. He might lose the race for Top Scorer, but he will definitely fight until the very last second. That’s Yang Yang!”

“And according to the news we just received, in the other match between Groningen and Feyenoord, Kuyt still hasn’t scored.”

“In other words, on the live scorer rankings, Yang Yang now has twenty-eight goals, putting him just one goal behind Kuyt.”

“Perhaps Kuyt relaxed. Perhaps he got careless. Perhaps he thought victory was already in the bag.”

“But now, this match will surely remind him that his opponent this time is named Yang Yang—the Yang Yang who never gives up!”

……

……

After scoring two goals in a row, Yang Yang didn’t feel satisfied at all.

On the contrary, he felt he still had limitless energy and wanted to fight for another goal.

‘If I can just score one more, I have a chance to catch up to Kuyt today.’

But Rosendal clearly had no intention of granting his wish. They had their own dignity to uphold.

A 4-0 loss at home was a complete and utter rout for the already relegated Rosendal.

Acting on the principle of cutting his losses, the head coach immediately made substitutions and stabilized the team’s defense.

Yang Yang, in particular, was now being tightly marked by the opposition.

Everyone knew that at this point, shutting down Yang Yang was equivalent to freezing Ajax’s entire offense.

This was especially true after Charisteas was replaced by Bentner. The Danish center forward was also intent on helping Yang Yang, but he was ultimately more green. In many situations, his handling of the ball wasn’t as experienced as Charisteas’s, and being young, he lacked an advantage in physical confrontations…

For a variety of reasons, Ajax ultimately failed to score again before the end.

Yang Yang felt a little disappointed, because he had continued to work incredibly hard for the last half hour but still couldn’t score.

But no matter what, he had scored a brace. He had done his best.

But just as Yang Yang was slowly walking off the pitch, he saw the coaches in front of the technical area and his teammates on the bench suddenly surge forward, all of them rushing onto the field.

“What’s going on?” Yang Yang asked in surprise.

“Eindhoven drew!” Sneijder was so excited he leaped onto Yang Yang’s back, grabbed his head, and planted a firm kiss on his forehead.

‘Eindhoven drew?!’

Yang Yang was stunned!

Immediately afterward, a wave of ecstasy washed over him.

He even felt a sense of weakness throughout his body; the surprise had come too suddenly.

In their match, Eindhoven had an extremely tough away game against Twente.

The first half ended in a 0-0 draw, but after the break, Kulina took the lead with a goal in the sixty-second minute.

Five minutes later, Sibon equalized for Eindhoven.

But the good times didn’t last. In the sixty-ninth minute, Toma scored again for Twente.

In the seventy-sixth minute, Heise Linke equalized the score for Eindhoven once more.

But afterward, no matter how relentlessly Eindhoven attacked, they were unable to score again.

Under constant pressure from Ajax, Eindhoven, who had been unbelievably consistent this season, had finally made a mistake!

Ajax had finally overtaken Eindhoven on the league table!