Chapter 1025: Stealing the First Goal!

"OH! COME ON!"

This time, even Higo himself narrowed his eyes sharply, trying to get a better look at what was going on on the frontline.

"How is it? Is it a goal?!" He couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Silence followed for a second as, just like Higo, all the players on Schalke’s territory were waiting for the reaction on the frontline. Hell, Malick Thiaw even crossed the half-line already, intending to look at the situation there better.

Fortunately, it only took a second before everyone knew what was going on there, as right after that, almost all the bench players on the sideline roared in celebration.

"OH! WHAT A GOAL!"

"FUCK, FABIAN! THAT’S A FUCKING DISGUSTING CURL!"

"HAHAHA! COME ON!"

Hearing this, Higo couldn’t help but clench his fist, looking at the closest teammates next to him to celebrate the goal together.

"Yes! We are leading now!" The boy joined the roar while also high-fiving Stambouli, whose face was flushed red in excitement.

"Hahaha! I know we can do it! Damn! Finally!" The man laughed so hard as if some pressure had just been lifted from his shoulders.

Meanwhile, on the frontline, the celebration was even crazier.

Fabian roared wildly, sending a karate kick straight to the corner flag before being hugged by all the players there.

Tanaka was also in the same boat, as a lot of players were slapping him on the back and hugging him fondly.

At least eighty percent of the goal was his contribution, from snatching the ball away from Arnold’s feet to sending the final pass that Fabian didn’t even need to adjust his stance first to take a direct shot from his position.

That was why, the attention also spread to Tanaka, which the boy was so pleased when he found about it.

"Hah! This is awesome!" He laughed together with Morita as they hugged each other while going back to their own territory.

Meanwhile, on Wolfsburg’s side, the players there looked at each other helplessly. The one who got hit the hardest was, of course, Maximilian Arnold himself, as it was his mistake that the team conceded the goal.

Even though his teammates didn’t really blame him, the man knew that it was all due to him being the captain. If he was just any other regular player, some of them would’ve already smacked him on the head at this point.

"Sorry, everyone. I lost the ball, and the team has to pay the cost." He took a deep breath while also admitting his mistake.

Silence followed once again, as no one truly knew what to say here. They agreed with that statement, but it was not their place to blame the captain openly like that.

"My anticipation is also problematic." Koen Casteels suddenly chimed in, as the Belgian goalkeeper could be seen frowning a little here. "The shot should be within my reach if only I reacted faster. It wasn’t even a good shot, in the first place."

When the man recalled the shot from Fabian earlier, his face darkened instantly, finding himself getting annoyed at how slow his reaction speed was.

Indeed, the shot from Fabian was not that special. Even though the blonde winger tried to curl it to the bottom corner, in reality, he didn’t put that much spin into his shot, and as a result, it went straight rather than changing direction in its journey to the goal.

Unfortunately, Koen Casteel’s attention was not completely on Fabian, as Benito Raman and Hoppe were also rushing from the other sides.

Hell, at first, the man thought that Fabian’s movement was the bait, intending to spread the opponent’s defense thin. It was only after the final pass was delivered that the man realized how wrong his assumption was.

"Anyway, this is not the time to blame ourselves for this goal!" Josuha Guilavogui, the team’s vice-captain, finally took over the situation here.

"While yes, we are down by one goal, this is not over! We still have 70 more minutes to fight, so try harder next! Remember, another winless game will kick us out of the UCL zone! Come on, guys!"

This managed to wake up some of them, turning their gaze into a killer one.

Yeah, their aim for this season was to go back to the UCL after such a long time, and even when they faced a difficult situation like this, there was no way they would give up so easily.

"Yeah, we still have the UCL zone to get. Let’s try to bounce back quickly!" Maximilian Arnold clapped loudly, trying to encourage his teammates.

With that in mind, all the Wolfsburg players went back to their original positions quickly, getting ready to restart the game. The away team also did the same after being reminded by the referee not to waste time, and once all the players were in position...

FWEEE!

The second kick-off of the game was finally blown, restarting the game for Wolfsburg’s ball!

This time, they started pushing forward more aggressively, and the penetration from the second line was fiercer than ever.

Hell, even Maximilian Arnold also rushed forward to add more pressure there, encircling the opponent’s penalty box sometimes with five players at the same exact moment.

’Shit! This is exactly like what the report said! I have to get ready!’ Higo cursed. "FAB! Track back! Be wary of the overlap!" He shouted to the wing, where somehow, Fabian was one step behind the opponent’s fullback.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Fabian failed to react in time to that warning, as Ridle Baku had already controlled the flank on his own.

The fullback received a through ball close to the touchline, and with a cross to the middle, where five Wolfsburg players were hunting the ball like vultures eyeing the prey from the sky, Higo was forced to make a move here.

’I have to get the ball first! Where should I jump to... There!’

Right after calculating his timing, the boy leaped off the ground with one hand stretched far into the air, while in front of him, Wout Weghorst also rushed like a tank to get the ball as well.

As a result...

BAM!

A collision happened, and the referee had to blow the whistle immediately.