Chapter 880: The Second Penalty of the Game?!

In hindsight, this shouldn’t be the first time Malick Thiaw has seen Higo stop a penalty. No, he had seen the same scenario so many times from afar last season, and this season, three of the goals that Higo conceded came from this scenario; at least the goalkeeper managed to save two of them before losing from the second ball.

So, yeah, the young French defender knew how capable Higo was when facing a penalty scenario.

However, seeing from a close distance was a different matter, especially when the goalkeeper did everything to save his ass. The young man saw everything clearly, from how Higo didn’t even move to the mind game that the opponent wanted to throw to even that perfect block on the spot, and he had to admit that witnessing how Higo did it was pure art here.

Malick Thiaw was never someone who was easy to get impressed, but this time, the young man had to admit that Higo really showed why he deserved all the praises that he received so far.

Higo himself was just quite calm after saving that penalty. He high-fived some of his teammates with a little smirk on his face before shifting his attention back to the game, not thinking too much about the penalty.

Hell, the coldest part was the fact that he didn’t even glance at Mainz’s number 18, the one he had just blocked from the penalty spot earlier. The poor man looked so distraught, probably starting to question everything that he had done in his life so far, especially when he saw how casual Higo was with everything.

Honestly, that was probably the biggest taunt compared to any other provocative celebration that Higo could throw in this scenario.

Still, it wasn’t like Higo was playing cool in this situation. No, he just thought that the penalty save here wasn’t worth celebrating too much. While yes, he was happy to be able to save it, the game itself wasn’t that intense, and it was still the 38th minute of the game.

At least, the time was still quite long for Schalke to fight back if somehow he conceded a goal in that moment.

After the penalty was over, though, it was Schalke who got the momentum. No, their attack became fiercer, and Morita also started to exert his muscles, sending so many good passes to all the players on the frontline.

Hell, at one occasion, the Japanese midfielder managed to send a backheel pass that nutmegged one of Mainz’s defenders, letting the ball go straight to Benito Raman’s side. It was a pity that the Belgian winger tried to force his way with a direct shot even though the angle was still quite difficult, making the ball go wide without threatening Mainz’s goal.

Honestly, it could be said that Schalke didn’t play that well in this game. At least, the frontline seemed to be stuck, failing to get the job done.

Still, this was the problem that the team faced this season. They only had three strikers, and all of them were quite the same type, one who was waiting for a supply on the frontline. Once the strategy failed to work for one, the same could also be said for the other two.

That was why Frohling always had a headache when the team failed to get a goal like this.

The midfielders also tried their best to support, with Morita and Nabil Bentaleb sometimes wanting to push their luck with a long shot from outside of the box. However, it seemed that they couldn’t get their best touch today, as every chance seemed to go wider or higher than expected.

For a moment, the game entered a period of stagnation, with the tempo being slowed down by miles. At this point, with 3 minutes left, everyone also thought that the first half was over, and they had to get ready for the second half.

However, it seemed that luck was not on Schalke’s side today.

It all started from a not-so threatening situation, where the opponent’s fullback, Daniel Brosinski, the one who failed to execute the penalty earlier, got cornered to the touchline by Sebastian Rudy.

Being driven by desperation, he tried to launch a cross from that difficult spot, and...

Thud!

The ball hit Sebastian Rudy’s body, and in that exact same second, Daniel Brosinski shouted excitedly out of nowhere.

"REF! THAT’S A HANDBALL! THAT’S A FUCKING HANDBALL!" He bounced around restlessly, showing his hand as if it was he who accidentally touched the ball. "THAT’S A FUCKING HANDBALL! CHECK THAT DAMN VAR AGAIN, FOR FUCK’S SAKE!"

Honestly, the incident itself happened far from everyone’s eyes, and the other Mainz players also didn’t really know what was going on. However, at that moment, they all knew that this was their chance to get another penalty, so even without any coordination first, they all rushed toward the referee to put pressure immediately.

"That’s a fucking handball, and that’s so fucking obvious! Are you blind or what?!"

"Fuck! Check the video again! Open your fucking eyes, for God’s sake!"

The referee’s face darkened instantly at the pressure he suddenly received here. Honestly, if it were last season, he would never think of this situation too much, just giving a straight yellow card as a warning for an excessive argument.

However, this time, with the VAR in play, he couldn’t really do so, especially since there was a chance that the incident really happened. It also helped that everything flashed so fast and in his blind spot that the man himself couldn’t really see what was going on earlier.

In the end, he finally relented, deciding to check on the VAR again.

"YES! COME ON!"

"WE GET A PEN AGAIN! WE GET A PEN AGAIN!"

All the supporters on the stand had already celebrated at this point, and honestly, Higo was so helpless in this situation, rubbing his forehead in a headache.

’Fuck it! How could we be so unlucky to suffer from two penalties in a row like this? Is this a fucking karma from the last game against Dortmund?’