Chapter 248 Forward Rebound

A chorus of boos echoed around the Veltins-Arena, all emanating from the Schalke 04 fans.

In the seventy-sixth minute of the match, Dortmund had equalized, a turn of events that Schalke 04 fans found incredibly difficult to accept.

Leading by two goals, they had believed victory was assured.

Now, with just over ten minutes remaining, there was ample time for another goal, by either side.

The television replay showed Lewandowski’s goal over and over again. The most exquisite part wasn't Lewandowski’s diving header, but Zhou Yi's cross. Zhou Yi wasn't particularly known for crosses in the traditional sense – those picture-perfect, Beckham-esque, bending crosses.

But that didn't mean he was bad at *all* horizontal passes.

This particular play highlighted his abilities perfectly. He flicked the ball up with the tip of his toe, and then passed it to Lewandowski. If the pass had been from the center of the field, behind the defense, instead of from the wing to the goal, wouldn't everyone consider that Zhou Yi's specialty?

It was just a matter of changing the angle and location of the pass.

So one shouldn't judge Zhou Yi with fixed impressions. A flexible mind is the fundamental solution to problems.

"Look at that cross, so imaginative. With a casual flick, he fooled Yang Muge, who was defending him, and sent the ball right onto Lewandowski's head..." Duan Xin exclaimed in admiration.

"With one goal and one assist, Zhou Yi is doing everything he can to help Dortmund keep chasing Bayern Munich. Now that Dortmund has equalized, their morale is high. The situation is more favorable for Dortmund, and they have enough time to score another goal – if they play well enough and have enough luck..." As a neutral observer, Marcel Reif certainly hoped that the competition between Dortmund and Bayern Munich for the championship would be more intense, and not lose suspense too early, because that wouldn't be good for the entire Bundesliga.

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Dortmund’s celebrations ended quickly, as they all remembered that their goal for this game was not just to force a draw away against Schalke 04.

Of course, Schalke 04 didn't want to be forced to a draw by Dortmund after leading by two goals at home. Dortmund couldn't accept this draw, and neither could they!

So after the game restarted, the two teams clashed fiercely in the midfield, entangled together. Both wanted to win this game, leading to a very open game.

Bayern Munich fans watching this game must be cursing Schalke 04 - why are you attacking at this time! Just defend and don't concede a goal! Wouldn't it be all for nothing if you concede a goal because of the attack?

They were considering it from Bayern Munich's point of view. Of course, they hoped that Schalke 04 would hold on to a draw. Although Schalke 04 winning would be more beneficial to them, these Bayern Munich fans didn't quite believe that Schalke 04 still had the ability to score after being chased down by two goals.

For them, a draw between these two teams was perfectly acceptable. When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits. This was of course what Bayern Munich wanted to see.

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Dortmund and Schalke 04 played fiercely in the following game. Both sides had some chances, but neither seized them.

The score remained unchanged, still tied at 2:2, and the game time was passing by minute by minute.

Schalke 04 didn't simply shrink their defense just because there was little time left, hoping to hold on to a draw at home, and Dortmund didn't choose a passive and conservative approach for fear of being scored by Schalke 04. They were still attacking the opponent's goal.

If it were any other game, they might have chosen to take a draw.

But this was the Revierderby. A game like this wouldn't be in the spirit of the Revierderby if they didn't fight to the end, fighting to the death.

Some people once believed that the two teams' strong animosity often benefited Bayern Munich. But the people in the Ruhr area didn't care so much. Compared with the German champion, they cared more about making the opponent in the Revierderby die completely.

The two sides fought like this until the eighty-fifth minute. There were five minutes left before the end of the ninety-minute game. Many players had physical problems. After all, this was not an ordinary league, but a more intense Revierderby with more running.

Some balls, even if they could see them, they couldn't run up to catch them. They could only watch the ball fall at the feet of the opponent, or roll out of the sideline or baseline.

So this period of time was actually not good to watch, but the tense atmosphere hovered over everyone's heads, making people watching the game not consider whether the game was exciting or good-looking at all. They only cared about the final result of the game.

"Including stoppage time, there should be less than ten minutes left before the end of this game. If Dortmund can't score during this time, they can only accept being tied by Schalke 04. This is really great news for Bayern Munich. Of course, it's not the greatest news. The greatest news is that Dortmund loses to Schalke 04... In fact, Dortmund has already performed very tenaciously by finally equalizing the score after being two goals behind in the first half. Now they are only one step away..."

Marcel Reif took advantage of an opportunity for the ball to go out of bounds to analyze the situation to the audience.

Dortmund fans in front of the TV were silent. If they failed to win Schalke 04 in the end and lost the league title because of this, they would not only have to endure the pain of losing the league title, but also have to endure being ridiculed and humiliated by Schalke 04 fans. This was simply the most intolerable future prospect for Dortmund fans.

At this time, any scramble on the field was related to the outcome of the game, and fans on both sides would naturally pay extra attention.

Dortmund players were brought down to the ground by Schalke 04 players, but the referee didn't blow the whistle, and Dortmund fans cursed Jäggermann as a black whistle that favored Schalke 04.

And when Schalke 04 players were brought down by Dortmund players, lost possession of the ball, and Jäggermann remained indifferent, it was the turn of the Veltins-Arena to be filled with huge boos.

Fans on both sides were extremely meticulous.

The players on the field were also like this. As long as the penalty was slightly not to their liking, they would raise their arms and roar at the referee, protesting and putting pressure.

The game at the end was not smooth at all, because there were too many players from both sides falling to the ground, and too many players from both sides putting pressure on the referee to show their protests. This cut the last ten minutes of the game into pieces.

Bayern Munich fans in front of the TV liked to see such a game, and it was best if the Revierderby ended in gunpowder and arguments.

But the game still had to go on, even if it was fragmented, it had to go on in the fragmentation.

Dortmund still got the opportunity to attack, but Schalke 04 had already set up their formation in front of their own goal, waiting in full battle array, defending to the death.

Dortmund couldn't find a better way, so they could only pass the ball horizontally, hoping that Schalke 04 would show a flaw in the process of constantly passing horizontally.

Finally, the ball was passed to the left wing. This time it was not Zhou Yi who got the ball, but Dortmund's left back Schmelzer who inserted forward.

After Schmelzer got the ball, he didn't have any good way to face Schalke 04's defense, but he didn't want to pass the ball back, because passing it horizontally like this would not benefit Dortmund, and time would be lost in this kind of ball passing.

It would be better to pass the ball directly to the front of the goal, maybe it could create a chance?

Thinking of this, Schmelzer decided to cross the ball. He made a feint to continue to break through, tricking Schalke 04's right back Uchida Atsuto, who was defending in front of him, to take a step back, while he himself stayed where he was, and then directly kicked the ball towards the penalty area!

However, the power of his cross was a bit too strong, and the ball directly flew high over Lewandowski and some other Schalke 04 defenders in the penalty area, flying towards the far post.

And it was very close to the baseline. Even if Dortmund players could get the ball, they would not be able to form a shot. Dortmund's attack might have to be reorganized, or it might be abandoned.

But someone didn't give up and still ran towards the ball flying towards the far post. He was Reus.

Reus was running towards the far post to chase the ball.

Zhou Yi didn't stand idle either. He basically didn't appear in this wave of offense, but at this time, seeing Reus running towards the far post, he also suddenly accelerated and started, rushing from outside the penalty area into the penalty area.

Yang Muge, who was defending him head-on, saw Zhou Yi rushing behind him, and reflexively moved horizontally, reaching out to stop him, not letting him go inside.

But when Zhou Yi was about to make physical contact with him, he suddenly made an emergency stop, twisting his body in front of Yang Muge, just dodging Yang Muge's hand. At this time, he accelerated again and continued to rush into the penalty area. And because Yang Muge was moving his center of gravity, it was too late to stop Zhou Yi again.

At the same time, Reus had already rushed to the far post, and he stretched his foot to hook the ball. He didn't even think about shooting, because it was impossible to shoot at all. He just wanted to do his best to save the ball, as for what to do after saving it, he couldn't care so much.

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"Reus!!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly when he saw Reus hooking the ball back. "He grabbed an 'offensive rebound'!"

The ball hooked back by Reus flew towards the penalty area behind him. There, Zhou Yi, who had just broken through Yang Muge's interception, ran up. He cleverly ran to an open space, and raised his right foot to meet the flying ball.

*Bang!*

The straight right instep solidly hit the top of the ball.

The ball didn't fly directly towards the goal, but flew diagonally downwards, hitting the turf, then bouncing, and rushing forward, straight towards the goal!

And Hildebrand thought that Zhou Yi would directly kick the ball over, so he had already jumped up and pounced over, but he didn't pounce on the ball. The ball bounced, flying into the goal from under his body...