Chapter 65 - 63 - Make Them Choose

Chapter 65: Chapter 63 - Make Them Choose

The fourth official raised the board, and Rafael saw immediately that Renaud was staying on.

One of Metz’s central midfielders appeared in red while Rafael’s number glowed beneath it in green. Renaud glanced toward the touchline from between Rodez’s centre-backs, then turned back toward the ball.

The head coach stepped close enough to speak over Saint-Symphorien.

"You’re with him. If Renaud comes short, don’t follow him into the same space."

Rafael nodded, pulled off his substitute top and handed it to the assistant.

The midfielder being replaced reached the touchline a few seconds later. Rafael slapped his hand as they crossed and ran straight toward the front line while Rodez prepared to restart with a throw near halfway.

Their full-back sent the ball backwards, and Renaud immediately curved his press toward the centre-back. Rafael stayed several metres inside instead of following, sitting close enough to the pass into midfield that the defender looked forward once before returning possession to his goalkeeper.

"Up!" Caron shouted behind them.

Metz moved with the ball.

Their first possession after the change reached Caron inside the Rodez half. He fired a pass into Renaud’s feet, and the nearest centre-back followed tightly enough that the contact arrived almost with the ball. Renaud planted himself, cushioned it back toward Caron and turned away before the defender could get around him.

Rafael stayed near the second centre-back.

The defender glanced toward him and held his position, which left Caron with enough room to receive the return facing forward. One touch brought the ball across his body before he moved it toward Perrin on the right.

Perrin attacked the full-back and tried to drive a cross into the area, but the defender stretched out a leg and blocked it behind.

Metz took the throw quickly and kept Rodez near their own box.

When possession came back through Caron, Rafael checked toward him and felt the centre-back move at his shoulder. He changed direction before the pass was released, cutting behind the defender toward the inside-right channel.

Caron looked up.

A Rodez midfielder had already dropped into the lane.

The ball went left instead, and Rafael curved back across the defensive line while Metz continued the attack on the other side.

Nothing came from it.

The next turnover almost punished the change.

Perrin lost possession trying to combine outside the box, and Rodez sent their first pass straight into the centre before Caron could close the receiver. The midfielder turned and carried into open grass, forcing Metz’s remaining deeper player to retreat while Caron chased from behind.

He kept driving until one centre-back had to step out.

The pass went immediately into the channel beside him.

A Rodez runner reached it inside the area and struck low across goal, but Metz’s goalkeeper pushed hard from his left leg and got a hand down in time to divert the shot across the box.

A defender reached the rebound and cleared toward the touchline.

Saint-Symphorien released one sharp breath.

The goalkeeper was already back on his feet, pointing into midfield and shouting while Rodez prepared the next throw.

Rafael jogged back toward halfway.

When Metz recovered again, Caron stayed several metres closer to the remaining midfielder until they had played through Rodez’s first pressure, while the full-back on the opposite side held his position instead of immediately joining the attack.

Rafael returned beside Renaud.

Two possessions later, a firm pass came toward the senior striker.

"Leave," Renaud called.

Rafael did.

The centre-back pressed through Renaud’s back as the ball arrived, but Renaud returned it first time and spun away from the contact.

The defender beside Rafael was already half-turned toward the gap that had opened behind his partner, so Rafael stayed level and let Caron carry the return.

One touch took Caron past the first midfielder.

The centre-back checked Rafael again, then glanced back toward the ball as Caron continued forward.

Rafael waited until the defender’s head turned fully.

Then he crossed behind his shoulder.

Caron released the pass into the inside-right channel, and Rafael reached it with the centre-back recovering across his left shoulder while the goalkeeper came several steps from his line.

His first touch carried him toward goal.

The goalkeeper lowered himself and began narrowing the far corner.

Rafael opened his body as though he meant to finish across him, but Renaud had continued his run after laying the ball off and was now arriving through the middle.

The goalkeeper shifted toward Rafael’s shape.

Rafael rolled the ball square.

Renaud met it first time and drove the finish behind the goalkeeper before he could recover.

The net moved.

Saint-Symphorien erupted.

Renaud was already heading toward the corner when Rafael caught him, and Perrin arrived from the right hard enough to knock both of them another step forward. Caron reached the group moments later, laughing as he grabbed Renaud from behind.

Another teammate struck Rafael across the shoulder while the crowd pressed down around them.

Rafael shouted with everyone else until the referee came over and began waving them toward halfway.

Renaud pulled free first and jogged back with a grin still across his face.

Rafael followed.

FC METZ 1–1 RODEZ

Rodez’s holding midfielder dropped much deeper after the restart, sometimes ending up only a few metres in front of the centre-backs.

When Renaud next came toward possession, one defender followed him away from the line. Rafael started behind them, but the holding midfielder was already standing in the space he had attacked for the equaliser.

Rafael checked the run and drifted farther right.

Caron received Renaud’s return without a clean route forward and sent possession back toward the full-back.

The next time Metz built, Rafael began wider from the start.

Perrin received near the touchline, drew the full-back toward him and slipped the ball inside.

Rafael met the pass slightly right of centre with a defender stepping out square in front of him.

He carried toward the challenge and shaped inside, letting his shoulders and hips move with the first touch.

[BODY FEINT ACTIVATED]

The defender shifted toward the false route.

Rafael carried the ball across his front and found enough room to draw back his right foot, but Rodez’s holding midfielder was already coming from the centre.

The contact arrived as Rafael struck, taking enough pace from the shot that the goalkeeper could drop and gather it comfortably near the bottom corner.

Rafael regained his balance and turned as the keeper got back to his feet.

The throw went quickly toward the right.

"Back!" Caron shouted.

Rodez moved before Metz had settled.

Their full-back played inside on his second touch, and the next pass travelled beyond Caron into the feet of a runner coming through the middle. Metz retreated with two Rodez players moving either side of the ball carrier, forcing the defensive line to stay narrow.

The pass went left.

The winger took it toward the area and slipped the return inside as the nearest centre-back stepped across.

The shot travelled low across the goalkeeper and passed just beyond the far post.

Several Rodez players threw their hands onto their heads.

Caron bent briefly near the edge of the area before straightening and waving two teammates wider while the goalkeeper collected the ball for the restart.

Metz took more time with the next possession.

The goalkeeper rolled short, the centre-backs exchanged passes and Caron dropped to receive. He looked forward, found Rodez already set and sent the ball back rather than forcing it through the first crowded lane.

Metz switched sides before eventually playing long.

Renaud moved underneath the pass near halfway with a defender leaning through his back, but he kept his footing and held the ball long enough for Caron to arrive.

"Right."