Chapter 643: Deadlock

After this, the game continued again, and just like everyone expected, the violence kept going on, even becoming worse than before. In such a big derby like this, sometimes, it only took a single collision to explode everything, turning the game into the worst scenario possible.

Fortunately, the coaches from both teams were still clear-headed. After five minutes of seeing the players scrambling just to get the ball without any chance to advance further, they instructed the boys to calm down for a moment, letting the ball roll further. It wasn’t like they showed any mercy toward the opponent, but the game had just begun, and it would only be a waste of their stamina to continue the fight.

So, everything finally got calmer on the pitch, allowing the referee to let out a relieved breath.

’I would never want to officiate this derby again! Not in a fucking million years!’ He swore inwardly.

As fewer collisions happened, of course, the one who gained advantage was the better team. After all, they were finally able to develop their style slowly, suppressing their opponent while also trying to create a chance that would let them get closer to the opponent’s box.

Unfortunately, in today’s case, without Morita and Jonas Hofmann in the midfield, it was clear that Dortmund was the one who had the advantage.

It wasn’t like their replacement was bad. No, Philip Fontein was a strong ball-winning midfielder, and Blendi Idrizi’s creativity could be a wild card that would give either Luca Schuler or Randy a chance to score. Unfortunately, those two were not natural at dictating the tempo, so they couldn’t help but give up their opportunity to Dortmund.

This gave Higo a busy day between the posts. Honestly, this was the busiest game he played so far, as the first four ones didn’t even give him a challenge. This time, he felt like he was back at Hakodate Nishi again, but with a better defensive line. The four players in front of him were so easy to command, and their discipline in guarding the area also put Higo at ease.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were enough to stop the opponent’s attack.

On the left side, the young Levent Mercan got bullied a lot by Joseph Boyamba. This was Dortmund’s most dangerous player besides their captain, as the winger from Kongo had a strong body and a superior speed. It was fortunate that he was bad at off-the-ball movement, only starting to be a big threat once he received the ball.

Still, the threat was real. So far, Boyamba had already launched two strong shots. One went too wide to the left side, and the other got into Higo’s clutch easily. Those weren’t enough to make Higo sweat, but at least it alarmed the boy about that left side.

"Schopf, get ready to support the flank! Mercan cannot do it alone!" Higo shouted after catching another wild cross to his side.

"Get it! Get it!" Alexander Schopf nodded along, starting to shift his position slightly toward the left side.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, their captain, Crish Fulrich, also didn’t stay idle. The only saving grace here was that the boy always liked to cut inside, so it was easier for the defensive line to handle. However, that didn’t mean they could be careless about it, as one mistake would be enough for the man to punish them straight away.

As the game went on, though, Dortmund’s side also started to get frustrated with Schalke’s tight wall. Brackelmann started to show why he was the team’s commander today, guiding everyone to protect their own territory properly. Then, even if Dortmund was lucky to get through the home team’s defense, Higo would always be there, denying any access to the goal.

This made the game enter a stagnant phase, with neither team able to make any further progress.

"No, we cannot do this forever." Nassim Boujellab shook his head quickly. When he had a chance, the Morocco winger came to Higo secretly, whispering, "Do you think that if you have a chance, you can send another throw to my side? I want to try another counterattack from there."

Higo raised one of his eyebrows slightly. However, when he saw the winger’s determined gaze, the boy didn’t have any reason to refuse that. "If you can get a good space, I will throw it to you. However, make sure that you don’t get killed again, okay?"

This referred to the tackle earlier in the game, and the corner of Nassim’s lips twitched furiously at that. "Don’t worry, I will make sure that everything goes well this time."

Still, even with the plan being set like that, it didn’t mean they could execute it straight away. No, they still needed to wait for the right moment, letting Dortmund’s players lower their guard slowly.

Then, once the game entered the 28th minute, the chance they had been waiting for finally came.

Somehow, Higo managed to intercept a cross to the area outside of his six-yard box from Crish Ulrich, and once he noticed that Nassim was standing quietly behind the center line, the goalkeeper didn’t even think twice.

’Well, you ask for this, right? Make sure you get it done properly!’

Wooosh!

Once again, Higo showed off how strong his upper limbs were, throwing the ball so far that it even crossed half of the pitch. This time, Nassim managed to receive it without anyone bothering him, as the closest defender here was still two meters away from his spot.

"OH! What a throw, Higo!"

"Come on, Nassim! This is your chance! Take revenge for the earlier tackle!"

"It is time for us to score! Come on!"

Even the supporters got excited, having themselves at the edge of their seats unconsciously. This was going to be Schalke’s first chance of the game, and they couldn’t help but wait in anticipation of what would happen next.

This time, Nassim didn’t disappoint. He saw one player flashing like lightning, and without hesitation, the winger used a Trivela technique to send a cross to the middle.

’You have been wanting to show off, right? Well, this ball is for you, Randy!’

Thud!