Chapter 701: Holding the Lead till the End!

With the clock starting to run down, the away team also started to panic. They put more players on the frontline, wanting to put more pressure and even force a mistake from Schalke’s side. Unfortunately for them, though, the home team had already made their change, and now, they didn’t even have any intention to hold the ball for too long on their territory.

"Come on, Oz-san! Pass the ball faster! Someone is coming!"

"Morita-san, don’t hold for too long! Behind you!"

"Kenny-san, clear it away! You are getting cornered, clear it far!"

This was one thing that became a game changer for Schalke in this second half. Somehow, the commander role fell onto Higo’s shoulders as the goalkeeper started to direct his teammates better, pointing where they should pass the ball and the timing itself. Yeah, at this point, everyone was willing to listen to the boy, what with him having already proven how capable he was in doing this.

Of course, this was not a perfect arrangement. After all, so many bad passes flew, only giving the opponent another chance to build up an attack. However, no unnecessary risk was being taken by the players here, giving Higo’s mind a break after having to be worried constantly in the first half.

Then, as Hoffenheim’s attempts were less threatening as time passed by, Schalke’s defensive line also started to grow their confidence back, killing everything that came their way. This was also the biggest thing that made Higo relieved as they started to play at the level they should belong.

"YES! Come on, everyone! Just five minutes to go!" Higo roared, clapping enthusiastically as another one of Hoffenheim’s attacks was cleared. "Come on! Let’s get our second clean sheet this season!"

Yeah, the second clean sheet of the season. It took about 16 games before the team could be so close to achieving that. It showed how poor the team’s performance was so far this season.

However, Higo couldn’t care less about that, since he didn’t get involved in the first 15 games this season. No, his eyes were completely on this game as the boy got hungry for his first-ever clean sheet in his professional life, wanting to get it from his debut game today.

Of course, everyone also understood his train of thought, and no one was stupid enough to sabotage the boy. After all, if the team got a clean sheet, they would also receive some good reputations here, at least starting to wash away the shame that they carried since the season started.

Still, the same couldn’t be said for Hoffenheim’s side, as they were starting to kick the grass and snow on the ground out of frustration right now. They were still in a mixture of disbelief and confusion, not knowing how a team in the relegation zone managed to hold them here, especially when they were still aiming for the second spot in the league.

Ihlas Bebou, especially, was the one who got frustrated the most right now. Coming from the bench to fight for Hoffenheim for the first time ever, the man hoped that he could make an immediate impact, and yet, he got rammed left and right mercilessly.

Yeah, Schalke managed to find the man’s weakness pretty quickly. The left part of his body was way weaker than the right part, and putting pressure on that side was enough to make Bebou waver. It also helped that Schalke dropped the defensive line further, and with this kind of opponent, it was not easy at all for a player who relied on his speed to get a good position here.

That was why, so far, even though Hoffenheim’s substitution looked dangerous, everything was still under Schalke’s control.

Higo also didn’t work too much in the second half. Out of 40 minutes that had been running so far, he only faced three threatening attacks, and one of them was Ihlas Bebou’s weak kick earlier under Juan Miranda’s pressure. Besides that, he only picked up two or three crosses in the air, and even when a through ball was piercing the defense in front of him, the boy would always be able to react faster than anyone else.

Of course, the second half wasn’t just about Hoffenheim trying to get an equalizer. No, if anything, with the away team pushing so far into the opposition half, more room was created, and Morita was quite busy sending the ball left and right to let his teammates get a chance on the frontline.

It was a pity, though, that the three players there had a bad game today. They had so many chances to shut down the game, and yet, every attempt always failed to meet the back of the net.

Suat Serdar, especially, managed to get four open chances to bag the victory, with three of them being provided by Morita alone. Unfortunately, three of them flew far over the goal, while one coming from a free kick ended up with him heading the ball slightly wide to the left side.

Still, the supporters were satisfied with what they saw right now, feeling like the team finally went in the right direction.

"Yeah! This win is going to be a good start for this year!"

"Come on, Schalke! Come on, Higo!"

Somehow, all the supporters on the stand started to rise from their seats, raising their scarves while also chanting their support for the team. This got louder than ever the moment the assistant referee raised the digital board, showing the number ’3’ there.

Only three minutes before the game was over.

Hoffenheim was so desperate, and it was as if they had 9 players on Schalke’s opposition half right now. Hell, if they got a corner, no one doubted that the goalkeeper would also rush forward, wanting to push his luck to save the day for the team.

However, even though they all were exhausted right now, not a single one of them, not even Ozan Kabak who was so clumsy in the first half, gave the opponent any chance to get a corner or a foul. No, their concentration was still at its peak, kicking every threat away without putting the team in danger.

Then...

FWEEE! FWEEE! FWEEE!

The moment the referee blew the whistle three times in a row, hell broke loose, as everyone realized that Schalke finally got their first win of the year against Hoffenheim.

Schalke 04 1 – 0 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim