Chapter 913: Morita’s Counter! Makoto Hasebe Gets a Red Card!

It was during the little break when the medical team treated Malick Thiaw earlier that, from everyone’s blind spot, Morita suddenly came out of nowhere, approaching Higo like a suspicious thief trying to go unnoticed in the dark.

"Listen, Ryusuke. After this, they will try their best to get the momentum back on their side again. However, they will become a little bit hasty, rushing recklessly while leaving a little bit of a hole in their territory. My task is to search for one, but yours should be to keep an eye on me, okay? Let’s seal this fucking game before they go too far!"

With that in mind, Higo didn’t even hesitate after catching the ball. His eyes darted toward the frontline quickly, and his connection with Morita that was formed from having played together for quite a while flared, allowing him to find his Japanese compatriot strolling on the right side of the pitch.

’Well, Morita-san, this is what you want to do, right?’

Thud!

With the strength that Higo gathered from his shoulder, the boy threw the ball as strongly as possible, even getting so close to the opposition half. However, the direction was excellent here, falling straight into the space in front of Morita without getting too close to the sideline.

Not only that, somehow, the opponent’s defense—or whatever remained there after the others rushed to the frontline—didn’t pay attention, leaving a big empty space on the left flank for Morita to exploit.

"Fuck! How could he be there already?!"

"Cover, Hasebe! Don’t let him cut inside!"

The only people on Frankfurt’s side right now who were still remaining on their own territory were Makoto Hasebe and Martin Hinteregger. They were completely surrounded, because from the middle, Benito Raman also made his move, and on the other side of the flank, Fabian Reese was trying his best to catch up with the counterattack here.

This was one scheme that often worked for Schalke, taking advantage of the opponent’s anxiety to launch a decisive counter that would hurt them the most.

As for the other Frankfurt players, they were trying to rush back, but Morita’s speed was too fast for them to get back in time, so everything depended on those two in this case.

"Martin! Cover the others! Let me deal with him!" Makoto Hasebe gritted his teeth, lowering his stance while also moving back little by little to protect the area behind him.

Seeing this, Morita couldn’t help but grin, finding his adrenaline at its peak right now. ’Hah! I haven’t paid back the tackle that you sent to me earlier in the second half, Hasebe-senpai! Get ready and don’t die from embarrassment!’

Once Morita was close enough to him, Hasebe finally didn’t have any choice. He couldn’t just step back and delay, especially when everyone was getting closer to the penalty box. Once they entered the box, everything would be too dangerous to stop.

So, with a quick thought driven by his experience playing football for more than 20 years, Makoto Hasebe finally made his move. He extended his left foot immediately, intending to steal the ball from Morita’s possession.

This was a normal reaction that any other defender would make. However, Morita’s ball control was so excellent here that the moment that foot came to him, the boy just used his sole to roll the ball over, completely avoiding the tackle.

Not only that, since Hasebe took the initiative, Morita knew that the man wouldn’t be able to make a second move quickly enough, so all he had to do was change direction to the place where it was open.

This sequence only happened in a blink, and before anyone knew it, Hasebe had already lost his balance, with Morita managing to push the ball away to the open space and could just enter the penalty box easily.

"OH! YES, MORITA!"

"COME ON! GET IT DONE!"

Everyone from Schalke’s side was so excited at this point, knowing that with Morita’s skill, it would be so easy for him to put the ball in the back of the net.

However, Hasebe hadn’t given up yet. The man knew that if Morita managed to get away from him and get another goal, it would be game over for his team, so the defensive midfielder did what anyone in his position would do instinctively.

He gritted his teeth, stretching his hand far and catching Morita’s jersey before the boy could get far.

BRUGH!

"OUCH!" Morita was thrown to the ground immediately, rolling over quite violently while also trying his best to protect his body from any unnecessary injury.

Once he managed to stop the momentum from his fall, he grimaced a little before throwing his hands in the air. "REF! THAT’S A FUCKING FOUL!"

The other Schalke players around also rushed immediately, complaining, "That’s a fucking red card!"

"What a dirty bastard! Is he trying to injure Morita or what?!"

"Come on! If you want to have a fight, come against me!"

Their emotions snapped at that exact moment, knowing that their best chance to get the second goal disappeared right in front of their eyes. Hell, they even thought that Hasebe wanted to injure Morita specifically here, what with how vicious the foul was.

Somehow, they forgot that Hasebe and Morita came from the same country here. They didn’t even think that this was just Hasebe’s professionalism as a footballer, using everything to stop his opponent.

Hasebe himself didn’t even blink or try to defend himself. After making sure that Morita was alright, he high-fived some of the defenders who had just come back from their little adventure on the frontline before walking off the pitch.

The man knew from the beginning that his action would lead him to get sent off the pitch, but he didn’t regret it even for a second. No, this was a necessary sacrifice that he was willing to make, and he was also happy that the foul happened outside of the box, only giving Schalke a free kick.

The man looked at the pitch one last time for the day, and with a little bow to apologize to the fans, he finally walked through the tunnel, leaving the team to fight for the last 10 minutes of the game.