Chapter 951: The Game Slows Down for a Moment

Well, it was a decent approach.

Ellyes Skhiri wanted to squeeze through the wall, baiting the players with a quick upward glance as if he were about to lob it over everyone.

This was the same trick that so many people had used in the past, from Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and so many more.

If this worked, it wouldn’t just be a beautiful goal; Higo was so sure the highlight would be everywhere tomorrow, with people talking about how Skhiri beat one of the best young goalkeepers in the world with that trick.

However, now that his clairvoyance ability had already picked up what the midfielder was going to do next, it was easier to handle than ever.

BAM!

"SHIT! LOW!" Stambouli cursed when he saw the ball go below him the moment he jumped.

Fortunately, Higo had already made a move behind the wall, and this kind of free kick relied too much on the accuracy and the surprise element, not the power itself.

Once the goalkeeper could see the taker’s intention, it was easy for him to stop it, as Higo only needed one hand to get the ball before it could get into the back of his net.

Even though the ball managed to escape from his grasp once, the boy reacted quickly, jumping one more time with all the power remaining in his feet to grab it as quickly as possible, clutching the ball on the ground tightly.

"OH! What a save!"

"That’s what we are looking for, Higo!"

All the defenders took a deep breath, feeling relieved and in awe that even this kind of tricky free kick could be read easily by Higo.

The boy himself didn’t restart the game quickly. No, there was no need to do that when Morita was not ready to launch a counterattack.

Instead, he just got up from the ground slowly, signaling everyone to stay calm and steady before restarting the game.

At this point, they had already passed the time limit that the coach gave for the high-pressure scheme, and since they were already in the lead, it was better to slow down and play with the tempo.

"Benjy-san, tell the captain to play slower. No need to encircle them too far." He said while rolling the ball to Stambouli.

The French defender just looked at him confusedly. It wasn’t often for the goalkeeper to give an instruction on how the outfielders should play the game, but since he was so confident, the man just shrugged casually, accepting the order without complaint.

’Well, he has the Boss’s backup, right? So, even if things go wrong, at least he wouldn’t be targeted by anyone in the team.’ He murmured secretly.

Omar also received the order, and even though it was strange for a midfielder, a captain, nonetheless, got told what to do by a goalkeeper in this situation, the Spaniard didn’t even bat an eye as he followed the order readily.

As a result, the game slowed down by miles, with Schalke trying to hold possession as long as possible.

The opponent also didn’t try to push back, just sat deep on their territory while blocking the central lane, trying to kick out any play to the flank.

This was how they would always approach the game; full of cautiousness with the mindset of survival first more than anything else.

As a result, they had never dared to take a risk even when they were down on the scoreboard, making them one of the teams in the league with the fewest wins this season, just 2 in 16 games so far.

Hell, they were currently in 17th place, only one spot higher than Werder Bremen, that only managed to get one win even after half of the season had just done at this point.

This was definitely not the place that a historical team like FC K?ln was willing to stay in, as they didn’t want to get comfortable inside the relegation zone too much.

Still, wanting was one thing, but having the ability to take action was a completely different matter.

K?ln was never a team with a lot of methods for offense in their arsenal. No, they just relied on a direct ball, a set-piece from Skhiri, and probably a burst of individual brilliance from some players like Odrej Duda or Dominick Dexler to get a goal that they wanted.

However, at this point, every single team in the league knew about it and always managed to hold their own ground against all of those methods.

As a result, playing against FC K?ln sometimes could be seen as them getting free points, just another boost for their position in the standings.

Honestly, this was a strange scene to see for Schalke players. No, not just them, but even the home supporters on the stand.

After all, everyone here knew that Schalke was one of the teams that lacked offensive methods in their game, always relying on defense to scrape points from one game to another.

Hell, before Matthew Hoppe appeared on the team’s radar, they all felt like they were the worst offensive team in the league, and yet, somehow, it seemed that there was a team that was worse than them?!

This sounded like a bad joke for all the people in Gelsenkirchen.

Still, that was the reality here, and now, in the middle of the game, there was no need to think over something trivial like this.

After playing with the tempo, Schalke also started to push little by little, getting more space in front of the opponent’s penalty box. Since the opponent was willing to give him the chance, why wouldn’t they take it?

Then, in the 31st minute, Fabian Reese tried to make a combination play with Morita, who was just two meters away from the box, and before the Japanese midfielder could return the ball, he got pushed from behind, and the referee blew the whistle within a second after that incident.

FWEEE!