Chapter 57 - 55 - Play Through Him

Chapter 57: Chapter 55 - Play Through Him

Perrin received on the right with a Grenoble midfielder already closing him and another blocking the pass inside. He checked back toward Caron, who switched play through midfield, but Grenoble moved across with the ball and Metz found the same crowd waiting on the other side.

The clock at Stade des Alpes had passed sixty minutes with the score still 0–0.

Renaud had given Metz somewhere to play whenever the shorter routes disappeared. Another direct pass reached him near the final third with a centre-back tight behind him, and he protected the ball long enough to set Caron before turning toward goal.

Caron looked forward, found nothing and moved the ball right.

Grenoble settled again.

Rafael was watching the two centre-backs recover their positions when the assistant called him.

"Rafa."

He looked over.

"Come on."

Rafael pulled off his training top and crossed toward the technical area. Loïc had warmed up earlier with the other substitutes and was sitting farther down the bench when Rafael passed him.

The head coach waited until Rafael was close enough to hear without shouting.

"Through the middle. Show underneath when there’s a pass, move it and go again. I want them turning."

Rafael nodded.

"Stay with the midfield when we press. Don’t go chasing both of them."

"Got it."

The assistant sent him along the touchline while play continued.

A few minutes passed before Metz won a throw near halfway. The fourth official prepared the board, and Renaud began jogging across as soon as he saw his number.

His shirt was dark with sweat by the time he reached Rafael.

"Good luck."

"Cheers."

They slapped hands, and Rafael stepped onto the pitch.

Metz restarted backwards, giving him time to settle between Grenoble’s centre-backs before the ball came forward again.

Caron received facing goal several passes later.

Rafael stayed high until the nearest defender moved closer, then checked sharply toward the ball. The centre-back followed, and Caron passed into Rafael’s feet.

Rafael bounced it back and went behind, but Caron had already opened toward Perrin and moved the ball right. Rafael curved out of the run and returned between the centre-backs as Grenoble recovered.

The next opening came without Rafael touching the ball.

Caron received centrally again, Rafael came short and the same defender followed him several metres away from the box. Perrin saw the space and moved inside from the right.

Caron slipped the ball through.

Perrin took his first touch toward goal, but Grenoble’s full-back recovered across him before he could shoot. He laid it back inside instead, and Metz kept the attack alive until a cross from the left was headed away.

Caron collected the clearance outside the box.

Grenoble were still moving back into shape when Metz started again.

The next pass into Rafael came with a forearm across his back and another midfielder approaching from his left. Rafael returned it before the pressure closed around him and started forward, but Caron’s next option was outside and the move went wide.

Grenoble cleared and broke.

Their right winger carried the ball beyond halfway, ran directly at the Metz full-back and slipped a pass inside to a midfielder arriving near the edge of the box. Metz backed off just enough for him to shoot, but the effort clipped a defender and went wide.

Rafael stayed near halfway while Grenoble prepared the corner.

Metz cleared the first delivery and forced the second ball out near the touchline. By the time the team pushed forward again, Caron was already calling for possession.

He received after two passes.

Rafael moved toward him and took the nearest centre-back with him. Caron’s pass came firmly into his feet, and Rafael returned it first time before turning toward goal.

Perrin had already attacked the gap.

Caron found him instead.

Perrin entered the penalty area before the full-back could get square and struck across goal. The goalkeeper dropped quickly and pushed the ball away with both hands.

Rafael had continued his run, but the rebound travelled beyond him and a Grenoble defender cleared.

Metz recovered the throw.

During the stoppage that followed, Caron glanced toward the technical area. The head coach pointed once toward the middle and motioned forward.

Caron raised a hand.

The next time Rafael left the defensive line, the centre-back did not come.

A Grenoble midfielder dropped into the space instead.

Caron turned away from the pass and moved possession left.

The midfielder followed Rafael again on the next attack while the centre-back stayed deeper. This time Caron still tried to find him, but pressure arrived on Rafael’s side before he could turn and he sent the ball straight back.

Several minutes later, another attempted pass never reached him. The midfielder stepped across it and Grenoble broke through the centre.

Rafael turned and followed the attack as Metz were forced thirty metres toward their own goal. The eventual cross was headed clear, but Grenoble recovered the loose ball and kept Metz inside their half before a second delivery finally went beyond the far post.

Rafael jogged back toward halfway as the defensive line pushed out.

He drew two deeper breaths before moving between the centre-backs again.

The clock passed eighty.

Caron collected possession several metres inside Grenoble’s half and carried beyond the first midfielder.

Rafael started toward him.

The player who had been following Rafael moved across again, but Caron had already progressed far enough to thread the pass into his feet.

The centre-back stayed tight behind him.

Rafael returned the ball first time and began to turn.

The defender opened his body toward his own goal with him.

Rafael checked the movement for half a stride and then accelerated across his blind side.

Caron returned the pass into the inside-right channel.

Rafael reached it near the edge of the area with the defender recovering across his shoulder. His first touch took him forward, but the centre-back had closed enough ground to remove the immediate shot.

Rafael pushed the next touch across him and into the box.

The defender stretched.

His boot missed the ball and caught Rafael’s trailing leg.

Rafael went down.

The referee pointed to the spot before the Grenoble defender had finished turning toward him.

Rafael pushed himself onto one knee while the defender protested several metres away. The contact had caught him cleanly, but when he stood and put weight through the leg, there was only soreness.

Caron had already collected the ball.

Perrin passed Rafael on his way outside the area and glanced down at his leg.

"You good?"

"Yeah."

Perrin touched his arm once and kept moving.

Rafael joined the other players outside the box.

Caron placed the ball, waited for the whistle and sent the penalty low toward the goalkeeper’s left.

The goalkeeper went the other way.

The away section erupted.

Rafael shouted as he ran toward Caron with the others and reached him just before Perrin, grabbing him briefly around the shoulder as the rest of the team arrived.

The referee gave them a few seconds before calling everyone back.

Grenoble 0–1 Metz.

From the restart, one of Grenoble’s midfielders pushed beyond the ball while both full-backs moved higher. Metz dropped several metres and defended the next spell closer to their own area.

A cross from the right was headed away, and Caron collected the loose ball near halfway before turning from pressure.

Rafael had already started into the right channel.

Caron released him early.

The pass ran farther ahead than Rafael wanted, forcing another hard acceleration from legs that no longer felt as light as they had when he came on.

He reached the ball and drove toward the box with one defender retreating beside him and another recovering from the middle.

The first defender protected the route inside.

Perrin was arriving centrally, but the second defender had begun moving across the passing lane.

Rafael carried a few metres farther and tried to slip the ball through before the gap closed.

The covering defender reached it with an outstretched foot and knocked it toward the touchline.

Metz kept the throw.

Rafael walked back into position while the ball was out and took another breath before play resumed.

Grenoble pushed forward again.

Their next attack ended with a cross headed clear, but the home side recovered quickly and returned possession toward the edge of the area. Caron tracked back and helped force the ball sideways before Metz cleared long.

Rafael started after it, though the centre-back reached the pass first and headed it back into midfield.

Grenoble came again.

During stoppage time they worked the ball across the pitch until a midfielder found enough room to cross from deep. A Metz defender headed the first delivery away, but Grenoble collected the second ball and immediately sent it toward the far post.

Another defender reached it first and knocked it behind.

Rafael stayed outside the penalty area while Grenoble prepared the corner.

The delivery dropped around the penalty spot, where Metz won the first header. Perrin helped move the loose ball farther from goal, and before Grenoble could send it back into the box, the referee checked his watch.

The final whistle followed.

Rafael stayed bent with his hands on his thighs for a few seconds before straightening. Around him, players began exchanging handshakes while Caron was caught by two teammates after scoring the winner.

Rafael joined them on the way toward the away supporters.

By the time he came outside, staff were loading the last equipment beneath the team bus and most of the squad had already started boarding.

Rafael approached with his bag over one shoulder just as one of the equipment staff came down the steps carrying an empty crate. He moved aside to let him through and found Loïc waiting near the door.

"You good?"

Rafael glanced down at the leg that had been clipped. "Yeah. Just sore."

"Nothing serious?"

"Nah."

Loïc nodded and looked back toward the stadium while they waited for the aisle to clear.

After a few seconds, he shifted his bag higher on his shoulder.

"Had me warming up for ages as well."

Rafael looked across at him. "Thought you were coming on?"

"Yeah."

The equipment staff were still moving through the doorway, so neither of them went anywhere.

Loïc glanced toward Rafael.

"Good run for the pen."

"Cheers."

The aisle cleared, and Loïc climbed aboard.

Rafael followed him onto the bus.