Chapter 866: Getting Closer to the End!

After this, the game continued, but it was clear Dortmund players were not in the right frame of mind to maintain their earlier intensity. After being fooled by the referee three times in a row, they were quite distraught, unsure what else they could do to break through the opponent’s defense.

Frohling took advantage of this moment to strengthen his defense before Dortmund managed to regain their spirit. He put two new players in at the same time here. Malik Thiaw, the young defender from France, came for Timo Becker, who was already at his end, and Can Bozdogan, a Turkish midfielder from the second team, joined the game for Goncalo Paciencia.

At this point, the two wingers shifted forward to fill in the striker’s position, while the rest of Schalke’s players were defensive-minded ones that would ensure the backline wouldn’t be breached by even the sharpest offensive team in the world.

Well, it worked to some extent, as Schalke managed to stall time for more than 20 minutes, putting Dortmund at bay. The home team couldn’t even get closer to the penalty box again, and on several occasions where a good ball was sent to Haaland, all the routes would’ve been shut down right off the bat, only leaving one that would always be so easy for Higo to handle.

Honestly, it was so frustrating to see that even though Dortmund controlled the possession most of the time, having almost close to 75 percent, they still couldn’t find a solution to break through the opponent’s side.

They even put three more players on the pitch, from Mahmoud Dahoud, Thorgan Hazard, to Felix Passlack, and yet, none of them was a great help for their campaign to tie the score right now.

Haaland, especially, was so frustrated beyond death right now. The Norwegian striker just glared at Higo fiercely as if the goalkeeper had just been insulting his dead grandmother or something like that. In his mind, all the failures that he had in this game were due to Higo, who refused to back down, and the striker couldn’t help but hate him for that.

’Bastard... How long are you trying to block my way?!’ He hissed secretly, wanting nothing but to strangle Higo on the spot.

Still, even though Dortmund had a difficult time adjusting their mental state after their goal got disallowed, that didn’t mean they would give up just like that. No, it wasn’t Dortmund if they knew how to back down so easily. If anything, the closer they were to the end of the game, the crazier they started to push, wanting nothing but to kill Schalke with a decisive strike.

This time, even Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels joined the frontline quite often, providing more support in the aerial duel. After all, those two were quite tall, enough to be another focal point for a crossing scenario.

Hell, Manuel Akanji even had the closest chance that Dortmund got since the disallowed goal earlier. Somehow, the man appeared straight inside the six-yard box, receiving a second ball after the cross from Thorgan Hazard hit Malick Thiaw. Hell, even Higo himself was not expecting him to be so close to his own territory, only needing one push to get the job done for the team.

It was so lucky that the defender was also taken aback by the sudden meteor that came to his foot. In the end, he pushed the ball far too hard, letting it float quite high. As a result, it just hit the crossbar before bouncing outside of the pitch, only giving another goal kick for Schalke.

Of course, even though Schalke didn’t have any intention to control possession, that didn’t mean they would be passive forever. No, when they had a chance, they also left their territory in a swift movement, reminding the home team that they still had a fang that was not just for show.

The first one came from their usual scenario. Higo caught the cross that was aimed at Haaland, and in the next second, he found Morita, who was operating in the midfield. This was the exact same scenario that led to the first and only goal that happened today.

That was probably why everyone on Dortmund’s side was so tense, getting PTSD when they watched Morita get the ball in the counterattack scenario.

Hell, everything almost worked perfectly, and the through ball that the Japanese midfielder sent to Benito Raman on the frontline was also great, finding the Belgian Winger right at the spot that he wanted.

Unfortunately, this time, Roman Burki reacted faster than ever, rushing to shut down all the space for the man to shoot. He was quick enough to get the ball on his chest, because if only he was one second slower, it wouldn’t be him who got the ball, and the consequence would be too severe for the team to bear.

Then, the second one came from a wild ball that was cleared by Sebastian Rudy. Somehow, it fell straight in front of Fabian Reese, and the winger didn’t hesitate to push, using all the energy that was still remaining in his body to challenge Matts Hummels in a race.

Poor man, he was so old and exhausted. Facing such an energetic youngster like Fabian, Hummels didn’t stand a chance, getting beaten so easily which led to Fabian facing Roman Burki on a one-on-one duel.

Or... So that was what everyone initially thought.

However, Manuel Akanji came in clutch, chasing from behind before giving a tackle from the left side. It was clean and decisive, and Fabian himself couldn’t have any reason to complain since it was far from being a foul.

In the end, Schalke couldn’t even get a shot on target from those two occasions, but this was also a reminder for Dortmund not to forget their defense.

Still, until the end, not a single goal came on the board, and everyone on Dortmund’s side started to get anxious about it. Hell, once the fourth referee raised the board, showing only five minutes of additional time, ten of Dortmund’s players were already on the opposition half, couldn’t care less about the team’s defense again.

In their mind, they all had the same thought.

Losing one or two goals wouldn’t make a difference. It is still the same, anyway. Why care about defense in this situation? It would be better to take their chance here, as who knew, maybe the goal would come from their foot?