The match continued for another four minutes, with both sides maintaining a rapid pace of attack and defense.

Just moments ago, Schalke 04 was attacking near Borussia Dortmund's penalty area, and now it was Borussia Dortmund's turn to attack.

Subotić brought the ball forward from the backfield. As he approached the halfway line, he was met by an opposing player. He passed the ball to the wing, to the overlapping full-back Großkreutz.

However, the pass wasn't perfect. It didn't reach Großkreutz's feet directly, but was a little ahead of him. Großkreutz had to sprint to reach the ball, making it almost impossible to control.

Knowing he couldn't control the ball, Großkreutz chose to pass it on immediately.

Before the defending player could reach him, he went to ground and poked the ball with his foot, passing it to Reus, who was supporting him in the half-space.

Reus had sprinted forward from behind. Zhou Yi was originally in the center, supporting Großkreutz, and had even accelerated towards the half-space.

But Reus ran up instead.

Even before Reus received the ball, Zhou Yi had noticed his position, so he retreated towards the center.

After receiving Großkreutz's pass, Reus didn't stop the ball or continue dribbling. Instead, he used his right foot to sweep the ball towards the center, a horizontal pass!

He passed the ball to Zhou Yi!

Neustädter had been following Zhou Yi towards the half-space, but when Zhou Yi suddenly changed his running route halfway, Neustädter tried to stop and change direction. However, his height of one meter ninety, compared to Zhou Yi's less than one meter seventy-eight, meant his inertia was greater. His sudden change of direction wasn't as agile. Plus, he was reacting passively, while Zhou Yi was changing direction proactively and was better prepared.

That small difference in timing allowed Zhou Yi to shake off Neustädter's relentless pursuit!

"Zhou Yi!"

Having shaken off Neustädter, Zhou Yi chased after the ball horizontally. By this time, he and the ball were approaching the edge of the penalty arc.

Schalke 04's center-back Höwedes could no longer ignore Zhou Yi's possession of the ball on the edge of the box. He charged straight towards Zhou Yi.

Seeing this, Yang Muge cried out inwardly!

The center-back had been drawn out, but both full-backs were still behind... This was the most dreaded inverted horseshoe shape in defense, which meant a huge gap would appear in the center!

So he hurriedly accelerated towards the penalty area, no longer trying to defend Zhou Yi, but rushing to fill the gap behind Höwedes. He had already seen Aubameyang cutting diagonally towards that gap!

If Zhou Yi could slip the ball through, it would be a one-on-one chance!

At the same time, the attention of the other defender, Fuchs, who should have been marking Reus, was also drawn to Zhou Yi with the ball. Although he was still running back, his speed wasn't fast, and he was turning his head to look at Zhou Yi, completely unaware of Reus's movements behind him.

All of this happened in a very short second. Zhou Yi caught up with the ball, and then he quickly passed it diagonally with his left foot!

Before Höwedes could tackle him, he passed the ball diagonally through the gap between Fuchs and Höwedes!

He didn't pass directly to Aubameyang, because he saw that Yang Muge had already tracked back, while Reus had more space on his side and was completely unmarked!

Sure enough, at the moment Zhou Yi passed the ball, Reus suddenly accelerated, shook off Fuchs, and received the ball!

Yang Muge originally wanted to intercept Aubameyang, but now that Reus had the ball in the penalty area, facing goalkeeper Hildebrand directly, it was even more dangerous!

So he continued his sprint, accelerating towards Reus, intending to block Reus's shot.

But this left Aubameyang completely free...

Reus wasn't greedy. Although he could have shot himself, he passed the ball horizontally towards the center before Yang Muge could tackle him.

Aubameyang had changed his running route when Reus received the ball, pulling horizontally towards the far post.

This also created space for Reus's pass.

Goalkeeper Hildebrand came out to intercept Reus's cross, but he was a little slow. The ball passed him first, and Aubameyang slid in behind him!

The ball rolled into the net.

"Aubameyang—!!! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! He's such a lucky guy! He scored in his first Revierderby!! An assist from Reus! But the most exquisite pass in this attack came from Zhou Yi! He delivered a familiar through ball in his first game back from injury!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly.

"Aubameyang! The goal is in! Beautiful! Borussia Dortmund tore through Schalke 04's defense with a team effort in the attacking third, taking the lead in the fourteenth minute!" Duan Xin also shouted. "Zhou Yi orchestrated this goal! He first used his movement to shake off Neustädter, who was marking him, and then sent a wonderful through ball, creating an opportunity for Reus! Although it wasn't a direct assist, this pass allows us to see the Zhou Yi from before the injury! This is really great!"

He wasn't ecstatic about Borussia Dortmund's lead. What excited him so much was Zhou Yi's performance. After being injured for more than a month, he delivered such a through ball as soon as he returned to the field. What could be a better indication that he had fully recovered?

After scoring, Aubameyang ran towards the corner flag to find Reus. The two hugged and celebrated right where Borussia Dortmund fans had thrown flares earlier. At the same time, they turned and waved to Zhou Yi, signaling him to come over.

They both knew how that attack had been executed.

Zhou Yi's pass had the ability to penetrate the opposing defense!

Zhou Yi and Mark ran towards Reus and Aubameyang, and they celebrated together with gusto below the stands where the Borussia Dortmund fans were gathered.

Behind them were the disappointed Schalke 04 players.

Höwedes was still sitting on the ground – he had just made a sliding tackle, but still failed to stop Zhou Yi's pass.

Yang Muge had tracked back all the way from defensive midfield to the front of the goal, but to no avail.

Neustädter stood outside the penalty area, staring blankly at everything – he had actually let Zhou Yi slip away from under his nose!

※※※

"Good goal! Good goal!" Zhou Jianliang slapped his thigh hard in front of the TV, shouting excitedly. This high-end apartment building had only one household per floor, and the soundproofing was excellent, so he could shout in front of the TV without worrying about disturbing the neighbors. Besides, it was afternoon now, and no one would be sleeping...

"It's not your son's assist, why are you so happy?" Li Cuiyun rolled her eyes at him.

"You don't understand! Even if it's not my son's assist, they wouldn't have been able to score this goal at all without my son's pass!" Zhou Jianliang said triumphantly. "Think about Borussia Dortmund before, where did they have such simple and clear attacking routines? The situation is different after my son came on! One pass! Just one pass can set up a goal! That's the role of the core!"

"Yes, yes, yes, you understand, you understand..." Li Cuiyun knew that her husband was crazy when it came to football, so it was best not to argue with him at this time. And she herself was also happy for Zhou Yi's performance after his comeback.

※※※

"This is why Borussia Dortmund can't live without Zhou Yi, why Borussia Dortmund's results fluctuated so much and made people feel so insecure in the month or so that Zhou Yi was injured..." Duan Xin kept emphasizing the importance of Zhou Yi, but the Chinese fans in front of the TV all loved to hear it, and no one thought he was long-winded. "With Zhou Yi, Borussia Dortmund has a brain, knowing clearly how they should play. Every player has returned to their familiar rhythm, which was not possible before. Look at this ball..."

The TV was playing a slow-motion replay of the goal, with a wide-angle view, so every player's run could be seen more clearly.

"Reus sprinted forward all the way from near the center circle. After receiving Großkreutz's pass, he passed the ball horizontally to Zhou Yi and continued to push forward. Why was he able to be so decisive? Because he knew there was space in front of him, that Zhou Yi would definitely be able to see this space, and that he would be able to pass the ball to him, so he ran, running forward without hesitation. Sure enough, Zhou Yi's pass came!"

When he said this, Duan Xin couldn't hide the pride in his tone, which was exactly the same as Zhou Jianliang's tone when he talked about his son. As a Chinese commentator, he would of course be proud of the wonderful performance of Chinese players.

※※※

"Before the game, everyone was guessing whether Zhou Yi would play in this game, and even if he appeared in the starting lineup, some people were worried that Zhou Yi's appearance would be more symbolic than practical... Now it seems that Zhou Yi used that pass to announce the answer to us - his physical condition may not have returned to its best, but his brain is one hundred percent ready!" Marcel Reif also praised Zhou Yi's performance.

Although this goal was passed from Reus to Aubameyang, the most difficult part of the job was done by Zhou Yi.

When he had the ball in the center outside the penalty area, he had many choices. How to make the best choice tested a player's ability. He could have shot himself, which is why Höwedes rushed up to block Zhou Yi. He could also pass the ball, so there were many passing routes to choose from. He could have passed to Reus, but he could also have passed to Aubameyang, or even to Mark on the other side, but not every passing choice would have resulted in a goal.

Looking at the result, Zhou Yi undoubtedly made the most correct choice.

"Look at Klopp's smiling face, he's really happy, of course, because Zhou Yi is back!" Marcel Reif said with a smile.

Klopp in the TV broadcast was laughing with his assistant, his smile extremely bright.