Chapter 754: Dortmund Goes Crazy!

After this, all the Schalke players backed down immediately, knowing that they had to defend this lead with all of their might. They knew that the home team would be hungry for more goals, wanting to win this game more than anything else.

Besides the fact that this was the Revier Derby, Dortmund was currently second in the league behind Bayern, so the only way for them to get closer was by not wasting too many points against a bottom-tier team like Schalke.

Little did they expect, though, that their regional rival would fight tooth and nail, even ready to bleed on the spot, just to stop them from getting too close to Higo’s goal.

"Fuck! Come on, Todibo! Press him out! Don’t let him get inside!"

"Weston! How many times do I have to tell you, don’t rush! Wait and be more patient!"

"Morita! Morita, get him!"

At this point, Higo was so relieved as the command was being taken over by Ozan Kabak. This way, he could pay more attention to Haaland, as the boy still regarded that Norwegian striker as the most dangerous player on the pitch right now.

Fortunately, Ozan Kabak was also quite capable here. Even though the Turkish defender still had some nervousness in him, the man showed his potential here, keeping the defensive line tight while also being on guard all the time for any passing route toward Haaland. At this point, he had already cut off three through passes so far, making the Norwegian striker quite helpless on the front line.

Of course, that didn’t mean Dortmund would have nothing left in their arsenal. They were a top team in the world, after all, so they knew a different way to break through the opponent’s side without having to rely on their target man.

After waiting for a while, their first dangerous threat finally came when Manuel Akanji, their center back, suddenly launched a long, diagonal pass toward the left side. There, Jadon Sancho had already waited for it, and even with Todibo trying to disturb him, the Englishman still managed to get the ball under his control.

Thud!

However, that wasn’t the most dangerous part here. No, it was the fact that his first touch managed to get the ball to change direction instantly. Instead of going to the flank, now, Sancho put the ball on the path for a cut-in, catching everyone who was waiting to anticipate a penetration down the byline off guard.

"Shit! Midfield, shut him down!"

BAM!

Before anyone could get closer, Sancho had already made his attempt here. Being a bench player, he was definitely more ambitious than anyone else, wanting to be the team’s hero. He bent the ball perfectly with his right foot as it curved quite sharply in the air, trying to get into the far post of Schalke’s goal.

Unfortunately for him, Higo had already foreseen it, and even before the shot was taken, the boy had already shifted his position toward that spot. As a result, when Higo saw the ball was flying close to him, he didn’t need to do much here.

Thud!

With a big dive to the far post, he managed to tip the ball to the air, preventing it from slamming into the back of his net. It was fortunate that the shot itself lacked the necessary power to trouble him, so the boy didn’t think too much about it.

However, for Jadon Sancho, who witnessed the goalkeeper handle his shot so easily, he was pretty much dumbfounded. The boy had his jaw dropped, rubbing his eyes fiercely to make sure that it wasn’t a hallucination before a question blurted out of his mouth.

"Are you fucking serious?! How could you save that?!"

The rest of the Dortmund players just had the corners of their lips twitching speechlessly when they heard that. At this point, everyone knew Higo’s reputation as a tough goalkeeper who would have to be killed first before he truly got down to the ground, but witnessing everything firsthand gave a different feeling here, enough to demotivate some of the weak-willed players on the pitch.

Still, Higo himself was not content with that save. No, after getting up again from the ground, he shifted his focus back on the game, knowing that the attack was not over. His tip might save the team from Sancho’s threat, but in return, the home team got a corner kick here, a chance that was too good to be ignored.

Soon enough, Schalke’s penalty box was full with tall players from all over the pitch. Besides Erling Haaland, Matt Hummels, Manuel Akanji, and Lukasz Piszczek were already there. Three of their central defenders were rushing forward, leaving their defense open with only Thomas Delaney and Raphael Guerreiro guarding it.

Fortunately, even though the corner kick itself was terrible, their players on the midfield line moved fast. Before anyone from Schalke could reach the ball first to initiate another dangerous counterattack, Mahmoud Dahoud had already killed the ball first, sending it as far away as possible to the stand.

Still, at least, even though Schalke didn’t send a quick counter, the fact that they got the ball under their control again was enough to let them waste time here. With Morita and Omar Mascarell, two players who were very strong when holding the ball and controlling the tempo, they could even hold it for more than a whole minute by themselves, enough to make the Dortmund players yank their hair in frustration.

Then, once Dortmund’s young and energetic players on the frontline started to get impatient, rushing recklessly to put pressure, that was when Morita’s cunning mind came into play.

Thud!

As he got surrounded by Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, with Thorgan Hazard also eyeing him from behind, the boy suddenly sent a scalpel-like pass that pierced through all the opponent’s defense, and before anyone could figure out what happened, someone moved like lightning on the left side, chasing the space where he knew the ball would go.

"YES! Come on, Matondo!"