Chapter 908: Saved by Offside?!

"Holy crap..."

At least, that was the only word that managed to escape Higo’s mouth as he saw the long pass from Filip Kostic curling so sharply toward Andre Silva as if it had a GPS that could track the Portuguese striker in Schalke’s own territory.

To make it worse, Higo saw how Malick Thiaw was trying to keep track of the ball and Andre Silva simultaneously, and his vision of what happened a few seconds later also told him that the poor boy would fail quite miserably.

’Fuck! I have to do it on my own, huh?’ Higo gritted his teeth, lowering his stance while also trying to get ready for everything.

True enough, in the next second, Malick Thiaw jumped, trying to clear the ball away. However, he miscalculated his timing, and as a result, the ball just slipped through his grasp, bruising his nearly bald head before it fell straight behind him.

"OH, SHIT!" The boy cursed both his loss of balance and his failure.

"OH, SHIT!" To Higo’s surprise, Andre Silva also cursed, seemingly getting off guard as well.

In the Portuguese striker’s mind, he was already helpless in this regard, feeling like the ball would be cleared quite easily by the defender. Who would’ve known that the ball would slip to his foot like that?

As a result, his first touch was terrible, only making the ball roll away from his possession. It was fortunate that from the flank, Daichi Kamada was rushing to get the ball, so Andre Silva abandoned it completely to reposition himself inside the box, waiting to receive a good cross from the Japanese attacking midfielder.

Hell, not just him, but Amin Younes also entered the box immediately, and they both were in a strategic place inside the box within a second.

"Come on, Kamada! Keep it low!"

"Don’t get too close to the goalie! Make sure you get me!"

Right now, Daichi Kamada had quite a lot of space, with Sead Kolasinac still running from behind after the fullback overlapped too far to the frontline earlier. However, time was precious right now, and he couldn’t waste it away just like that.

Malick Thiaw had already gotten back to his feet, and if Kamada didn’t release the ball quickly, Schalke would be able to get back into their position and shut down all their chances to steal a point here.

’No, we cannot do that!’

Gritting his teeth, Daichi Kamada finally decided on something crazy. Instead of launching a cross, he dribbled the ball on his own, so close to the touchline while also getting closer to the six-yard box.

Higo’s gaze turned solemn immediately, shouting, "Benjy-san, keep an eye on the middle! Leave this little box to me!"

This order was simple, and the French defender carried it with absolute trust. However, those two alone were not enough, because they had to cover so much ground alone while also having to fight back against this intrusion.

Seeing this, Daichi Kamada also made his move. Instead of a cutback pass or a reckless shot with such a tight angle, though, he chipped the ball lightly...

Thud!

And in the back post, under everyone’s radar, Djibril Sow, the mobile midfielder, suddenly popped there, getting ready to whack the ball onto the empty goal in front of him.

’Oh, shit!’ Higo widened his eyes in shock, not expecting someone to appear from the blind spot there.

His position was already awkward enough here, what with him being focused too much on the near post. As a result, even though Higo managed to react, it wasn’t quick enough, and Djibril Sow received the ball perfectly to tap it into the back of the net.

BAM!

"OOOOOH!"

Cheers broke out instantly the moment the ball slammed the net quite violently. All the Frankfurt supporters on the stand celebrated like crazy, especially when Djibril Sow jumped through the commercial board and roared in front of them.

However, the happiness that descended here had to be stopped abruptly, as he was the only one who celebrated this goal. When Djibril Sow turned around, he saw all the other Frankfurt players were complaining to the linesman, and the moment his eyes caught the flag being raised, the dots were connected here.

"What?! Offside?! Are you kidding me?!" He jumped back to the pitch and rushed immediately, "How in the fuck is that an offside?! My position was in parallel with Kamada! Do you guys know the rule or not?!"

His complaint was a little bit excessive, so some senior players like Hasebe and David Abraham had to drag the boy behind before the referee could give an explanation.

Fortunately, the linesman wasn’t that angry here, just explaining patiently, "It is not you who were offside. No, that number 9 of yours, Andre Silva, was one step ahead when he received the ball that he failed to control. The fact remains, his touch allowed Daichi Kamada to get into a better position which led into a goal, so the offside decision stands."

All the Frankfurt players were so speechless when they heard this, not knowing how to complain. The supporters who couldn’t hear the argument also started to get restless, voicing their dissatisfaction in the air.

"What the fuck?! Who is offside here?!"

"He is so blind, I tell you that!"

"Fuck you, Ref! Open your fucking eyes!"

Unfortunately, the referee had already turned a deaf ear. He didn’t even give the home team any chance to complain or force him to check the VAR. After all, the offside itself was indeed quite obvious that even he who was running from behind could still see, let alone the linesman who was standing parallelly with Schalke’s last defender.

Higo, who witnessed everything, couldn’t help but sigh in relief when he heard that the decision stood. The boy picked up the ball from his goal, trying to calm himself after his heart jumped from that goal earlier.

Still, inwardly, the boy couldn’t help but smirk, muttering, ’Yeah, karma is real, Bitch...’