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Chapter 275 There is no absolute defense against Wang Lie
When Tyne's defensive midfielder Lenny Isara received the ball in midfield, he was pressed by Milan City striker Galkin Rafael.

Although he was alone, Lafayette pressed him very fiercely, sticking to him completely and using both hands and feet.

If Isala wants to pass the ball out, he will find it difficult to find a passing option under pressure from Milan's well-organized defensive system.

In the end, Isara could only pass the ball back to his center-back teammate Luca Helic.

Then reorganize the attack.

After the ball was passed to Tyne's half, Ribeiro, who had been lingering outside the penalty area, suddenly accelerated and ran back.

To break through a dense defense, you must break the defender's numerical advantage in a local area.

One solution is for the forwards to drop back.

Sure enough, seeing Ribeiro drop back, Helic chose to pass the ball directly to him.

Milan's left center-back Del Carlo was marking Ribeiro, leaving an opening behind him.

If Tyne can find a way to get the ball into that space, he can create a threat.

As Ribeiro approached the ball, he turned his head to observe Del Caro's position.

Seeing that he was still closely following him, he prepared to pass the ball to the space behind him.

But before he could catch the ball, he was pushed to the ground from the side.

Judging from the direction in which he fell, it wasn't Del Carlo behind him who did it...

Who would that be?
The referee's shrill whistle and the boos from the home team's fans in the stands rang out simultaneously.

"Oh! Lafayette pushed Ribeiro, that's a clear foul!"

"Ribeiro hadn't even received the ball when he was pushed to the ground by Rafael. This foul was somewhat fueled by personal grudges..."

"It's truly heartbreaking that the former attacking duo of Milan have reunited in such a way!"

Ribeiro was furious as he fell to the ground, spreading his arms wide and roaring at the approaching referee, "I haven't even received the ball yet!"

That means they wanted to ask the referee for a card, because being pushed down off the ball is not a football move; it's more like a street brawl...

At the same time, he turned his head to see who was so unprofessional.

He then saw Galkin Rafael's murderous face.

Uh……

Ok.

That's okay.

Ribeiro stopped yelling at the referee and got up from the ground on his own.

He didn't go looking for Lafayette, but simply stepped aside.

Lafayette had no intention of catching up with him; she simply watched him leave with a sharp look in her eyes.

The television broadcast even gave Lafayette a close-up shot, through which everyone could see his sharp eyes.

This is especially poignant for those who knew about their past relationship.

"It seems that Lafayette still hasn't forgiven Ribeiro..."

"After Ribeiro left Milan, Rafael simply unfollowed him, never expressing any dissatisfaction or even mentioning Ribeiro. Now it seems this wasn't out of any lingering affection..."

Some commentators also spoke up for Ribeiro:
"...Actually, I don't quite understand why Rafael is so resentful of Ribeiro... Player movement is normal; just because someone has played for a team doesn't mean they'll always be a member. Perhaps Rafael wants to be a loyalist in Milan, but he has no reason to stop Ribeiro from pursuing his dreams... I know refusing to train is not a good thing, but honestly, it's not some heinous crime, is it? Otherwise, many players would probably be on the gallows..."

"Personally, I think most of the attacks on Ribeiro online are just a continuation of hatred towards Wang. They don't really dislike Ribeiro's actions; they just hate Wang, which is why they're so angry. Ribeiro hasn't publicly spoken ill of his former club since leaving Milan. He said he was doing well at Tyne, what's wrong with that? He's wearing a Tyne jersey now, shouldn't he say that?"

The online harassment that Ribeiro has recently been subjected to has been a highly controversial topic.

There are many who support Ribeiro and many who criticize him; both sides have their own arguments, making it difficult to determine who is right, and also difficult to say whether Ribeiro and Milan are entirely without fault...

However, this is not the focus of this match, and people are not here to debate scriptures.

So when the game resumed, the commentators got back to work.

Using this free kick opportunity, Tyne reorganized the attack.

They didn't send a long pass directly into Milan's penalty area.

That wouldn't be very effective, because the penalty area is packed with players, and even if a Tyne player gets the ball, it's unlikely to pose a threat.

More patience is needed to overcome Milan's impregnable defense.

So Luca Heric, the center-back in charge of taking free kicks, passed the ball to Pisano in the middle, entrusting the task of organizing the attack to this Argentine midfield maestro.

Before receiving the ball, Pisano waved to defensive midfielder Isara, signaling him to move forward.

Since we're pressuring Milan anyway, a defensive midfielder isn't very useful in the back, so it's better to bring him up to add another attacking option.

Isala has the physique and heading ability, so he wouldn't look out of place even if he ran into the penalty area and played as a center forward.

Isara accepted the order and ran off.

Pisano passed the ball to Cabella, who was positioned to his right.

As soon as Cabella received the ball, Milan City midfielder Emil Forsberg immediately came up to press him.

Cabella didn't engage with him and passed the ball directly to the right wing.

The target is Barnabas on the sideline.

Milan's left-back Anelli watched from a distance but did not move up.

Because Barnabas received the ball on the sideline, he had no way to threaten Milan's goal.

Meanwhile, before Pisano passed the ball to Barnabas, Ribeiro, who was originally in the free-throw arc, suddenly accelerated laterally and ran towards Anelli's defensive zone. If Anelli really ran to defend Barnabas, it would be equivalent to giving Ribeiro the open space on the flank.

Clearly, in Anelli's view, Ribeiro is far more threatening than Barnabas...

It wasn't until Barnabas received the ball, and Anelli turned around and saw his teammate Del Carlo running with Ribeiro to the flank area, that he rushed towards Barnabas to prevent him from easily crossing the ball.

Not only Anelli, but also Milan midfielder Forsberg, who had just been defending Cabella, turned back to press.

Seeing himself surrounded by two opponents and unable to find a suitable passing option, Barnabas could only pass the ball back to Cabella.

Ribeiro had already reached the ribs, but he didn't stop there. Instead, he continued running forward, reached the sideline, circled around, and ended up next to Barnabas.

Del Caro, who had been following Ribeiro, stopped following him upon seeing this and instead guarded his flank.

After passing the ball, Barnabas ran two steps toward the center, but seeing Anelli continuing to follow him, he made no further moves.

At this moment, Cabella decided to change the direction of the attack, preventing the attack from continuing to develop on the right side. After all, a large number of troops had been amassed here after a series of passes and runs—it wasn't just Ribeiro who ran from the middle to the side just now; Wang Lie was also following closely behind.

In comparison, the left flank is Milan's weak side in defense, and it's also an area where they can make mistakes.

Vitini, on the left flank, thought the same thing, so when he saw Cabella receive the ball, he immediately accelerated from outside the penalty area to inside.

Seeing this, Cabella lobbed the ball to him!

However, in order to control the power and avoid over-passing, Cabella's pass was a bit too short, instead of going directly behind Milan's defense as he had done before.

Vitini, who had initially gained the advantage of starting first and had already reached behind the defensive line, quickly retreated to block the ball before controlling it. While he was controlling the ball, Milan's right-back, Ademilson Pedrio, quickly positioned himself behind Vitini, forcing him to face away from the goal.

At the same time, center-back Rosetti rushed over, intending to double-team Vitini with Pedro.

He ran back from a slightly further distance—he had originally moved with Wang Lie from the center towards the flanks, but after running out, Cabella passed the ball to Vitini, and he quickly turned back.

As for Wang Lie, he couldn't care less about him anymore, because he knew that after Wang Lie pulled him away, the middle lane was empty!
Just as Rosetti abandoned him to return to defense, Wang Lie was also running towards Vitini, but instead of going directly to Vitini, he circled around from outside the penalty area to the left side of the penalty area.

Because Vitini moved to the center, that area was completely empty.

At this moment, no one noticed Wang Lie's movement, because the ball had already been passed to the heart of Milan!

The Tyne fans in the stands cheered loudly, "cheering on" their team!
"Vitini!!"

Alberto Rosetti is tall and good at aerial headers, but he is slow to turn. So after Vitini received the ball, he ran over and swung his leg at the ball to try to clear it.

Vitini, who was more agile than him, made the first pass, passing the ball to Isara, who was right next to him!

That's right, the one appearing in the center forward position right now is the defensive midfielder Isara who just made a forward run!

He was also facing away from the goal, with Milan's right center-back Owen Gavitto behind him, who was using his hand to block Isara, preventing him from having a chance to turn and shoot.

Isara stopped the ball, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blue figure accelerating forward on his right flank. So, as he turned, he flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot.

That was a huge gap in Milan's defense!

"Isala passes the ball...Ribeiro! Great shot!"

Both the commentators and the fans in the stadium raised their voices.

Miguel Ribeiro suddenly accelerated from outside the penalty area and sprinted into the box, finding himself in open space!

When the ball was near the penalty spot, everyone's attention was naturally drawn to it, even Milan's left-back Anelli. Even when Ribeiro rushed into the penalty area right in front of him, he didn't react immediately.

Anelli only noticed Ribeiro when he ran into an open space and Isara passed the ball to him, and he quickly chased after him.

But it was too late!
Ribeiro received the ball from Isara completely unmarked!

"This is Tyne's chance!"

"Ribeiro!!"

Every commentator who witnessed this scene couldn't help but think:
Is Ribeiro's first official goal since joining Tyne going to come against his former club?!
That was a huge gimmick, and it really drew a lot of attention!
Milan goalkeeper Angelo Riva rushed out of his goal to tackle Ribeiro.

Although Ribeiro hasn't scored a goal since joining Tyne, his former teammate Liva knows Ribeiro's scoring ability all too well.

Although the angle was a bit tight, the ball was completely unmarked, so for Ribeiro it was just as easy as in training, right?

He saw Ribeiro look up at him, and he became even more certain that Ribeiro was going to shoot!

Although he said before the match that he would rather never score a goal as long as he could play with Wang Lie... who knows if he was deliberately creating a smokescreen?

It was all to lull us into a false sense of security, to make us believe that he would pass the ball to Wang Lie no matter what, in order to relieve the defensive pressure he was facing...

Isn't that how it is now?!
Look!
Sure enough, he swung his right foot!

Seeing Ribeiro's movement, Riva immediately shifted his weight towards the near post. He needed to anticipate the shot and make a save in advance; otherwise, he might not be able to stop such a close-range shot!
Just as he was about to push off the ground and leap out, he saw Ribeiro's right ankle twitch.

The ball, which he had anticipated should have been shot towards the near post, was abruptly lifted up and flew towards the far post on the other side!

"Ribeiro shoots... crosses?!"

Even the commentators with their "God's-eye view" were stunned by Ribeiro's move, let alone the players on the field.

All the Milan players in front of the goal were caught off guard by Ribeiro's pass. No one made a move to intercept it. They just stood in the middle, tilting their heads and watching the ball fly to the far post.

Unsurprisingly, the person who appeared there was...

"king--"

Wang Lie was completely unguarded!
In fact, Wang Lie did not expect that Ribeiro would pass the ball to him when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

His presence at the far post was simply a testament to his top striker's goal-scoring instincts and professionalism; he had to get into position when he was supposed to, regardless of whether the ball would be passed to him.

Because he ran into position, he was able to help relieve the pressure on his teammates.

So even though he saw Vitini pass the ball to Isara, who then passed it to Ribeiro in the encirclement, and the attacking focus was getting further and further away from him, he still didn't stop and continued to complete his circling run.

But he really didn't expect that after he ran to the right position, the ball would actually be passed to him!

So when the ball was passed to him, Wang Lie had actually already run past it...

He ran ahead of the soccer ball!
So is he going to miss this opportunity?
Do not!
Wang Lie never lets any possible scoring opportunity slip by!

He suddenly braked, turned around, and jumped up on the spot.

Lean back, raise your legs naturally, open your arms and hang down at your sides to maintain balance, and stretch your whole body in the air.

With the final step, the muscles on his thighs were clearly defined; he swung his right leg and kicked the incoming soccer ball...

puff.

He didn't make a solid contact with the ball with the instep; instead, he miskicked it.

But it doesn't matter, this minor flaw won't affect the final result - the ball flew past Milan's right-back Admilson Pedrio and the goalkeeper Angelo Liva who rushed back to make the save, and into the goal!

"Ribeiro crosses... Wang Lie! Beautiful—beautiful!! Wang Lie scores with a bicycle kick!!"

Luo Jin shouted until she was hoarse.

"A stunning bicycle kick! Wang Lie shattered Milan's reinforced concrete defenses with a single blow! He showed them that there is no such thing as an impenetrable defense in this world! Especially against Wang Lie, there is no such thing as an absolute defense! Milan's strategy of parking the bus has officially failed!"

Luo Jin was so excited not only because Wang Lie scored, nor because Wang Lie's goal was so beautiful.

The more important reason is that he knew the significance of this goal. After conceding a goal, Milan could no longer continue to retreat into a defensive posture and park the bus in the penalty area.

Tyne will get more opportunities in the future!

"Wow! Wow! Wow!! He broke the deadlock for Tyne! This time it was... a bicycle kick!! The first ever Champions League goal in the history of Lize Park! And such a beautiful goal! This is the best commemoration! The best! The first Champions League goal in 125 years since the founding of Lize Park, such a beautiful goal... My God, if you wrote this script, you wrote it so well! Haha!"

As an English commentator, Conor Cauley naturally sides with the English team in European competitions.

Not to mention that Wang Lie's shot was truly beautiful, so it's normal for him to be so excited.

Even Joe Wesley, a guest next to Wang Lie with a deep personal grudge, could only praise the goal, saying, "It was indeed a very beautiful goal, but that's because Ribeiro's pass was a little too far back... Of course, I think Ribeiro should have shot directly; he was fully capable of scoring under those conditions..."

After offering only a perfunctory compliment, Wesley couldn't help but feel a little jealous in the end.

After all, if Ribeiro had actually taken the shot, regardless of whether it went in or not, at least Wang Lie's spectacular bicycle kick would not have happened...

He wouldn't have to see Wang Lie successfully show off again.

Conor Cowley could easily see through his partner's little scheme, so he burst out laughing: "Looks like Ribeiro is serious. He really would rather not score than not be the assist king... This is the king's eighteenth consecutive game with a goal in all competitions. To be honest, I'm getting a little numb to the king's various magical performances, haha!"

He said he was joking when he said he was numb, but Joe Wesley was truly numb—he simply fell silent and stopped talking.

However, his silence was actually the best course of action, because Wang Lie's fans and Tyne's supporters certainly didn't want to hear his sarcastic remarks during this happy time.

(End of this chapter)