Chapter 786: Union Berlin’s Wave of Attack!

Well, it didn’t take long before Timo Becker knew that he was getting targeted. Not just him, but everyone else also had the same thought, as they witnessed that in the last two minutes since Union Berlin conceded a goal, they started pushing Schalke back while also trying to deliver the ball to the area in front of the center back.

The first one came from Christopher Trimmel, as he managed to drag Juan Miranda and Fabian Reese on his side, leaving a wide gap behind them. In that situation, the Union Berlin captain passed the ball back to the midfield, and Robert Andrich followed it up with a through pass to Joshua Mess, the new striker who replaced Anthoni Ujah earlier.

The man might be smaller, but he was definitely more agile on the front. With just one touch, he pushed the ball to the space between Ozan Kabak and Timo Becker, and before anyone could react, the man had already swung his left foot to whack the ball with full power.

BAM!

Higo also reacted in time to jump, but fortunately, even without doing so, the ball would never go in. No, the route deviated slightly due to the spin that seemed to be a little bit too much, as in the end, the ball just went wide to the left side of the goal.

Then, a moment later, the second chance from Union Berlin came from a long ball to the frontline.

This time, Sebastian Andersson, their Swedish striker, managed to control it with his chest, and although it was his back that faced the goal, with Ozan Kabak pressuring from behind so that he could give up possession, the man survived with the ball on his foot until the very last second before he sent it into the space in front of Timo Becker.

The one who received the ball was their attacking midfielder from Turkey, Yunus Malli, the one who hadn’t done that much in the first half. This time, having a good chance in front of him, the man didn’t hesitate, not even controlling the ball before delivering the strongest rocket his right foot could muster to the goal.

BAM!

Timo Becker tried to block it, but the ball still slipped through his defense as he was a little bit too far. Higo also reacted quickly, but like before, the ball failed to find the back of the net. No, it floated way higher than necessary, making it a wasted chance for Union Berlin.

Hell, the first chance was way better than this one, even.

Still, Higo noticed a pattern here, and he dragged Timo Becker quickly for an instruction. "Your positioning behind Oz-san has been noticed by them. They are taking advantage of the gap between you and Oz-san to create more chances. Get a little bit forward to stand alongside him so that you can cover each other better."

Timo Becker nodded immediately before getting himself ready to follow that order.

However, that led to another problem. Ozan Kabak, for all the good quality that he had, was still a bundle of nerves whenever the team was in the lead. This time, without anyone backing him up as a sweeper behind him, the Turkish defender became easy prey for Union Berlin, starting to get targeted mercilessly.

Poor man, he was sweating like bullets when he noticed that the target shifted onto him. Higo also noticed this, and the boy was so helpless right now.

’Even though no dangerous threat has come up from this situation, we have to fix it sooner or later.’ He muttered under his breath. "Juan-san! Todibo-san! Shrink deeper! Let the wingers handle the flank!" He shouted at the two fullbacks, wanting them to support the middle as well.

For a moment, this adjustment seemed to work well, because the holes that Union Berlin tried to exploit were patched immediately. They couldn’t even get the ball onto a pocket space for more than three seconds anymore, not if they didn’t want the possession to be snatched by the home team.

Higo himself let out a slight sigh, feeling a little bit relieved. Even if he hadn’t made any saves yet so far, the second half was indeed way more difficult than the first half. How could it not be, when Union Berlin was finally willing to go all out to tie the score right now?

Once the ball went out once again, he took the bottle of water that he prepared on the goalpost and quaffed it to relieve his thirst. The boy could feel his throat was so hoarse, having been directing the entire defense in the absence of Ozan Kabak, who was still busy calming down his nerves right now.

In the 65th minute, he finally took the first action in this game.

It came from Robert Andrich, who managed to exploit the gap between Schalke’s midfield and frontline. With only two central midfielders there, Weston and Omar Mascarell, the space was indeed a little bit wider, allowing the opponent to create freely in that area.

The man decided to dribble on his own for at least four meters before Omar Mascarell tried to face him directly. However, at that moment, Robert Andrich pushed the ball lightly to the half-space, and there, Christopher Trimmel made a diagonal run while also facing the goal directly before swinging his foot as strongly as possible.

BAM!

The Union Berlin captain curled the ball to the top bins, aiming to reach the far post of the area that Higo protected. However, the goalkeeper had already reacted beforehand, knowing from the little image in his head that the ball would be sent there.

He pushed off the ground, diving like a fucking Superman himself while also stretching his left arm far. He was so fortunate that he moved on time, because even with that, the boy could only tip the ball with his fingers to push the ball over the crossbar.

"FUCK! HOW COULD THAT STILL BE SAVED?!" Christopher Trimmel cursed, yanking his own hair with both hands, finding this situation to be unbelievable.

Higo himself grinned as he tried to get up from the ground. However, at that exact moment, something happened, and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise.

’Eh? What happened to my arm?’