Chapter 907: Schalke Takes Control of the Game! (II)

Benjamin Stambouli was never the tallest person on the pitch. No, he was tall enough to be a defender, but his height was still at the edge of 190 cm, the number that could be surpassed so easily on the pitch.

However, when it came to aerial duels, the man was confident that he could beat everyone. This was also the case, as he fought against Evan Ndicka, who was 193 cm, a few centimeters away, and managed to win this.

The French defender climbed through his opponent’s back, not allowing Evan Ndicka to get into the highest point that the man could reach, and in that far post, where only a few players gathered, once he beat the tallest player there, no one would be able to stop him.

BAM!

"FUCK!"

The header and the curse from Evan Ndicka came right at the same time. The goalkeeper also reacted, and even though he was startled to see his teammate lose the aerial duel, the man was still quick enough to deflect the ball.

However, the space in front of him was so crowded, so any ordinary save would only make the situation more chaotic. True enough, seeing that the ball just bounced away only a few meters in front of the goal, all the Schalke players around rushed frantically, wanting to get it first before anything else.

"FUCK! FABIAN, DON’T LOSE!"

"GET IT! GET IT! GET THE SECOND GOAL HERE!"

So many people rushed to the six-yard box simultaneously, creating chaos there. The goalkeeper himself was also trying to get up from the ground as quickly as possible. In the end, though, it was Mark Uth who won the ball, but the striker somehow couldn’t use the best part of his foot to put the ball in the net.

BAM!

He lost his balance at that moment, and in the end, even though he was just six yards away from the goal, the ball floated so high, creating a flop highlight moment where a striker failed to put the ball into the back of the net even when the goalkeeper’s position was off already.

"Oh, fuck!" The striker couldn’t help but curse, knowing that he was in for being edited on the internet after the game. "How the hell could it float that high?!" He glared at the ball that was far outside of the pitch with a dissatisfied gaze, as if it had just offended his family or something like that.

Of course, while Schalke was dissatisfied with the result, all the people on Frankfurt’s side couldn’t help but let out a relieved sigh. This was another ’almost’ scenario that they didn’t expect to be that threatening, and managing to escape from one was definitely enough to boost their spirit.

"Come on! We cannot always do this!" David Abraham shouted, trying to encourage his teammates. "It’s time for us to attack! Let’s level the score first!"

Well, in all honesty, they didn’t need any reminder to do that. No, everyone knew that they had to start launching their attack sooner or later, or they would get caught in Schalke’s tempo, probably the worst-case scenario possible.

If that happened, it would be hard for them to gain momentum to score the goal and even get the win today.

However, it was easier said than done. Somehow, it was as if a switch was turned on for the Schalke’s side, as they were suddenly willing to maintain possession for as long as possible right now.

It helped that Morita, Nabil Bentaleb, and Omar Mascarell were excellent players when it came to dictating the tempo. They managed to get everyone—even Higo on the back—involved in this scheme, waiting patiently with one short pass after another for a chance to come again to their side.

The one-goal advantage that they had right now became the biggest capital that allowed them to do that, as they didn’t have to worry about the other trivial matters outside. If anything, it was Frankfurt’s side who started to get anxious, unable to escape from Schalke’s grasp.

"FUCK! How could they be so good like that?!"

"Come on, Hasebe! Djibril! Control the midfield! Don’t let them toy with you like this!"

The supporters also got quite restless at this humiliation, probably never expecting, even in their wildest dreams, that their team would play this terribly against a team that was infamous for their defensive playing style.

Of course, with possession in hand, chances also started to come their way.

In the 58th minute, somehow, Nabil Bentaleb got a wild ball that bounced off the penalty box, and even with him being outside of the box, the man didn’t hesitate to swing his leg, trying to get into the top corner of the goal.

BAM!

Unfortunately, the shot itself was slightly too high, only bruising the crossbar before bouncing out of the pitch. The goalkeeper had a heart attack when he saw this, knowing that once again, he had managed to escape from death.

Then, five minutes later, Evan Ndicka made a big blunder by clearing the ball straight to Mark Uth’s chest. Even though the striker got caught off guard when he felt something was hitting him, his instinct flared instantly, making his body move to whack the ball as quickly as possible.

This time, though, his stance was a bit awkward, and he couldn’t truly muster his best strength to get through the goal. As a result, the goalkeeper just picked it up easily, not even letting the chance become a big threat for his own team.

It was only after the 62nd minute that Frankfurt started to get out of the pressure.

Just like the usual, though, it only took one chance to flip the table, and this time, after stealing the ball from Benito Raman, Filip Kostic saw that chance and didn’t want to waste that opportunity, sending a long diagonal ball straight to Andre Silva, who was running to the channel area.

’Well, Andre, you start to get impatient, right? How about scoring this shit for us?’

BAM!