Mark's goal equalized the score for Borussia Dortmund, and a thunderous cheer erupted from the stands. The Borussia Dortmund players embraced each other to celebrate the goal.

Mark was surrounded, but he still found Zhou Yi in the crowd and hugged him, thanking him.

"What are you being so polite for, Mark? You earned this!" Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "You ran that ball out yourself."

Mark just laughed.

Returning from a serious injury after a year, and immediately scoring a goal, this was the best possible comeback performance. This performance also gave him tremendous confidence.

After Borussia Dortmund's celebration ended, Mark Wagner received a yellow card for taking off his shirt to celebrate. When the referee showed him the yellow card, boos rang out from the stands—Borussia Dortmund fans were very dissatisfied with the referee's inhumane decision. They felt that if they put themselves in Mark's shoes, scoring a goal on his first comeback after a year of serious injury would naturally be very exciting. Shouldn't the referee be a little more compassionate and humane at this time?

But rules are rules, and rules must be enforced.

Mark himself didn't care about the yellow card. Compared to the goal, the price of a yellow card was too small.

Moreover, he was a striker and didn't usually get carded often. Even if he had a yellow card, it wouldn't affect the subsequent games.

※※※

When the game restarted, Borussia Dortmund, who had just equalized the score, was greatly encouraged and launched a very fierce attack on Schalke 04's goal. This attack was even greater than any previous one.

Schalke 04 could only shrink back to defend against Borussia Dortmund's attack. At this time, they couldn't consider any counterattacks at all. Even if Borussia Dortmund pressed very far forward, even if there were many gaps behind Borussia Dortmund, it had nothing to do with Schalke 04. They didn't even dare to think about it. Their minds were filled with one thought: they must not concede another goal!

The offensive power brought by Borussia Dortmund's morale boost after playing at home made it difficult for Schalke 04 to defend. After all, they were the league champions for two consecutive seasons. Once they were in full swing, they were not to be trifled with.

This period was also an extremely happy time for Borussia Dortmund fans. Their songs and cheers resounded through the clouds, ready to cheer for Borussia Dortmund's second goal at any time.

However, Borussia Dortmund's second goal did not arrive.

Schalke 04 was certainly very embarrassed, but they also defended against Borussia Dortmund's attack. They tried their best and finally prevented the morale-boosting Borussia Dortmund from scoring another goal, which also preserved a glimmer of suspense for the game.

Schalke 04 was not without the opportunity to take all three points from the away game, and Borussia Dortmund's situation was not as bad as it was before equalizing the score.

After ten minutes of continuous frantic attack without a goal, Borussia Dortmund had to slow down, and they slowed down the pace of their attack.

Seeing the change in the game situation, the Schalke commentator breathed a sigh of relief: "Borussia Dortmund attacked too fiercely just now, but fortunately our team withstood the test!"

After Borussia Dortmund slowed down their attacking speed, Schalke 04 began to try more offensive counterattacks, and they finally had the opportunity to take advantage of the gaps left behind by Borussia Dortmund's attack.

Just when everyone thought the game would return to the previous rhythm, an accident occurred.

※※※

In the seventy-ninth minute, Borussia Dortmund had another chance to attack.

After Zhou Yi got the ball in midfield, he didn't choose to pass the ball, but dribbled it himself.

His choice surprised the Schalke 04 players and Yang Muge.

Yang Muge, who was defending him, didn't expect Zhou Yi to fake a move and then choose to dribble the ball himself. He was immediately shaken off by Zhou Yi.

However, Yang Muge did not give up defending, but turned around and chased after him.

At the same time, the other Schalke 04 players also flocked to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi was Borussia Dortmund's most critical core player. Curbing him would curb the entire Borussia Dortmund attack. This was a truth that everyone understood. It seemed that no matter how strict or how elaborate the defense against him was, it was not wrong.

But today it was wrong.

When they all rushed towards Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi suddenly passed the ball out. He passed it behind the rushing Schalke 04 players—there was an inconspicuous gap there. Because Schalke 04's defense line as a whole was still quite complete, when someone rushed up, others would follow to move the defense line forward, creating an offside trap.

But people are not machines after all. Programs cannot be followed meticulously once they are written. There will always be some deviations. For example, this offside trap cannot be perfectly synchronized and flawless every time.

This time, Schalke 04's defenders were not completely unified when they pressed forward.

Japanese defender Atsuto Uchida reacted half a beat slower and lagged behind. And Atsuto Uchida also realized this, so he accelerated forward, trying to keep up with his teammates.

But just as he rushed forward, the ball left Zhou Yi's foot and rolled behind Schalke 04's center-back Benedikt Höwedes.

Mark Wagner received the ball there!

As soon as Höwedes turned around, he saw Mark receiving the ball, so he raised his arm to signal to the referee that the ball was offside. The rushing Atsuto Uchida also raised his hand, pretending that he had not been lagging behind at all. He was indeed no longer lagging behind now, but at the moment Zhou Yi passed the ball, he was actually at the very back.

The linesman saw clearly and turned a blind eye to the arms raised by the Schalke 04 players, following Mark forward.

The referee of this game, Dr. Brych, was not very sure. He turned his head and glanced at the linesman. Seeing that the linesman did not make any indication, he ignored the Schalke 04 players and rushed forward.

"Not offside! This is a beautiful anti-offside!" Marcel Reif shouted excitedly—was Mark going to score twice in his first game after recovering from injury?!

After Mark received the ball, he took the ball into the penalty area. Deafening cheers rang out from the stands of the Westfalenstadion, and Borussia Dortmund fans were cheering for him.

Mrs. Wagner shouted excitedly, and her hand had left a deep mark on her husband's arm…

While everyone was very excited, Mark, who had the ball, was unusually calm. He didn't think about scoring twice after his comeback. He only had one thought in his mind now—this was an opportunity created by Zhou Yi, and he must not waste it!

Facing Schalke 04 goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, Mark kicked the ball, not a powerful shot, nor a low shot, but his right foot swung around and lightly lifted the ball up. The ball drew a parabola in the air, flew over Fährmann's head, and fell into the goal behind him!

2:1!

"Mark—Wagner!! Beautiful!! Beautiful chip! Borussia Dortmund took the lead! They finally took the lead at their home ground!! Amazing! He's in such a great state in his first game back after a year of serious injury! It's really amazing! Looking at every detail of his movements in front of the goal, it's unbelievable that he hasn't played a game in one year and one month!"

Marcel Reif said excitedly.

Mark's injury was once considered a loss to German football, but the German football scene always produces geniuses. When one genius falls, more geniuses will emerge, and the fallen geniuses will soon be forgotten.

After a year of injury and recovery, except for the very beginning when people paid attention to Mark's recovery, he was gradually forgotten. There were very few news about him in the media. In addition, Mark himself was not a high-profile person, so he did not appear in the media for a long time. Apart from a few of his die-hard fans, there were not many people who could remember him.

Moreover, his injury was too serious. Some people felt that even if he recovered, he would only get further and further away from the genius he was once called, which was very normal.

But unexpectedly, Mark, who recovered from his injury, scored twice!

This performance simply made many people who were not optimistic about his future career stunned…

Based on these two goals alone, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Mark Wagner has made a strong comeback.

※※※

Mark, who scored twice, was also very excited. He was still quite calm when he kicked the whistle in front of the goal. But after scoring the goal, he suddenly couldn't control his emotions anymore. His hand was about to reach under the hem of his jersey again, about to take off his shirt.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi had already rushed up and hugged him: "Do you want to be the first person to be sent off in a game for taking off your shirt twice to celebrate, Mark?"

Reminded by Zhou Yi, Mark remembered that he already had a yellow card because of the previous shirt removal celebration. He quickly put down his clothes and hugged Zhou Yi: "Thank you, Zhou Yi! I don't want to become a laughing stock!"

"How could you, Mark? Of course you won't become a laughing stock. In fact, you are now surprising many people!" Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

Yes, after experiencing such a serious injury and returning to the game after such a long rest, scoring two goals in the first game, even if Mark is not the first person to do this, he is good enough!

This comeback is really gorgeous.