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Chapter 286 Let nature take its course
As Wang Lie took his shot, a thought flashed through Luo Jin's mind:
Is Wang Lie about to score after only two minutes of the game?!
This idea sounds absurd at first glance, but upon closer examination, it makes perfect sense to those who know Wang Lie well.

Because Wang Lie has scored during this period before.

In fact, there is another record in the world of football that belongs exclusively to Wang Lie – in the 90 minutes of regular match time, Wang Lie is the only player who scores a goal every minute.

So it's not unbelievable that a goal is scored within the first two minutes.

So when he saw Wang Lie swing his leg, he couldn't help but shout, "Wang Lie, shoot!"

But before he could finish speaking, the ball had already been passed to the far post!

He only had time to utter an "Eh," before he could even correct himself, when he saw Peter Oliver, unmarked at the far post, jump up and head the ball.

Only after the ball was headed into the goal did Luo Jin exclaim in surprise, "Goal...goal! Goal! A header from Peter Oliver in front of the goal! Who would have thought? That Wang Lie would cross the ball?!"

If you don't know the background, you'd think Luo Jin's words are completely inexplicable: What's wrong with Wang Lie crossing the ball? It's as if once the ball is at his feet, it can't be passed out anymore.

At this moment, not only Wang Lie, but also the vast number of Chinese fans watching on television, were surprised by Wang Lie's choice.

And it's not just them; it's the same in England.

Connor Cowley was yelling, "Wang didn't choose to shoot himself, but passed the ball to Olivier, who was in a better position! Look at Olivier's reaction—he didn't even expect that!"

indeed.

Despite scoring, Peter Oliver was clearly shocked.

It was as if that goal was entirely the result of his body's instincts acting on its own, disobeying his brain's commands.

And now, his soul has finally taken over his body.

After scoring, he neither ran to celebrate nor shouted excitedly, but turned his head and stared straight at Wang Lie, who had passed him the ball.

The latter was running towards him, wanting to celebrate the goal with him.

Before he could even react, Wang Lie rushed up and hugged him, shouting in his ear, "Well done, Peter!"

It was like a really beautiful header.

But Peter Oliver knew that it was just a very ordinary header, nothing special, nothing remarkable.

If this goal was beautiful, it was all thanks to Wang – his series of dribbling and skillful maneuvering before his header created the opportunity. To weave and maneuver through a three-man encirclement was truly impressive.

This was Oliver's first league goal of the season, and he should have been happy, as it broke his 868-minute goal drought in the league...

But instead of feeling happy for himself, he asked Wang Lie, "Wang, you could have easily taken the shot yourself..."

Wang Lie, who was holding him, patted his head and said, "You have a better chance than me. If I pass the ball to you, it will definitely go in!"

Oliver was speechless. It was true, because all the players at Sedham were focused on Wang Lie, who was facing an open goal with no defenders around him.

He even has nine different ways to put the ball into the goal.

Let alone him, even if it were his grandmother, she would definitely get in without a doubt, there would be no suspense at all.

※※※

When Wang Lie made the cross, John was so shocked that he covered his head with his hands, his expression quite exaggerated.

He genuinely didn't expect Wang Lie to choose to pass the ball to Oliver.

Xiao Cheng clapped his hands and shouted, "Beautiful!"

As a fan of Wang Lie, he was not dissatisfied that Wang Lie had given up the scoring opportunity.

Now, pointing at the TV screen where Wang Lie was celebrating with Oliver, he said to his roommate:
“John, what did I tell you? In Wang Lie's mind, isn't the team's interests higher than his personal interests? He could take the shot himself, but he might not score. But if he passes to Oliver, it's a guaranteed goal! Such a simple math problem, surely Wang Lie can do it? You think Wang is a 'lone wolf' who only cares about scoring, but that's just because you're influenced by those online trolls. Most people are like you; they don't actually do any research to judge whether those opinions are true or not. They just think that since so many people are saying it and it's so widespread, it must be true…”

John was speechless in the face of his roommate's words.

Because that's true, he had always heard people say that Wang Lie was a "wasteful shooter," even calling him the "King of Wasteful Shots," so he really believed that Wang Lie's goals were all due to an exaggerated number of shots.

Those people often use this method to belittle Wang Lie's achievement of being the top scorer, arguing that if they had unlimited shooting rights on the field, they could also score that many goals, so scoring a lot of goals is nothing special.

Unless every shot is like Ronaldo's, where he dribbles past several players before scoring, it won't have any real value.

Incidentally, these people also looked down on Ronaldo's arch-rival Arthur Elohn, believing that most of the England striker's goals were scored by tap-ins...

※※※

While Connor Cowley was shouting and yelling, Marvin Block, the commentator sitting next to him, remained very quiet.

He had no idea what to say at that moment, because reality was too harsh—just three minutes earlier, he had confidently asserted that, based on his understanding of Wang Lie, Wang Lie would absolutely not abandon his consecutive goal-scoring record, implying that Wang Lie would monopolize the right to shoot in the game, and that the other players in Tain were merely NPCs creating shooting opportunities for him.

Just two minutes into the game, Wang Lie delivered an unexpected assist, slapping him hard across the face...

He felt wronged—"Knowing Wang as I do, I'm right, that's really how it is!"
One match left a deep impression on him.

That was a league match in 2030-2031. At that time, Wang Lie was pursuing a record for consecutive goals in the Premier League. He had already scored in ten consecutive matches. If he could score again in this league match, it would be his eleventh consecutive match, which would set a new record.

But Wang's shooting touch was terrible in that game, as if he had forgotten to wear his shooting boots.

So he kept shooting, shooting, even when he was 30 to 40 meters away from the goal, he would just shoot directly, completely disregarding where his teammates were.

He eventually scored a goal in that match, setting a new record for consecutive goals.

But as a price, Wang Lie also set another record in that match – thirteen shots in a single game, making him the player with the most shots in a single Premier League match in history.

After that match, although everyone praised Wang Lie for setting a new record for consecutive goals, some media criticized the way he achieved this record as not being honorable, and some haters even gave him the nickname "King of Wasteful Shots".

This happened only six years ago, and many people still remember the whole story. Why does it seem like I'm talking nonsense?

Moreover, how similar was the last match between the Chinese team and Canada to that record-breaking match?
Wang always felt uneasy in front of the goal, so he desperately shot, trying to score a goal by increasing the number of shots.

The only difference is that in that Premier League match, Wang scored one goal with thirteen shots, while in the match against the Canadian national team, Wang came on as a substitute and unleashed six shots, but failed to score.

※※※

Besides Marvin Bullock, the commentator, who appeared calm and collected on the outside but was actually on the verge of a breakdown on the inside, there was also Sadham's head coach.

From the moment Wang Lie passed the ball to the front of the goal, to Peter Oliver easily heading it into the empty net, and all the way to their celebration, the Sendham manager stood motionless on the sidelines, like a lifeless statue.

In fact, he froze completely when Wang Lie chose to pass the ball.

However, his mind was screaming and cursing:

No brother! What do you mean by this?!

I had already planned a team-wide strategy to surround you, but you still passed the ball out!
Aren't you trying to chase Ronaldo's record?!
Where's the promised goal?

Why pass the ball?

why? !

Shouldn't you be facing us head-on?

The Wang I know would never shy away from a shooting opportunity! Never!

So... you're not him, then who are you?!

It wasn't just the Sendham manager who was going crazy; their assistant coaches were too. But the manager, being the manager, could maintain a calm demeanor while his mind was racing.

The assistant coach clutched his head in shock and exclaimed, "Why did he pass the ball?! That doesn't make sense!"

When he shouted that, he turned to look at the head coach, as if he wanted to get the answer to his question from the head coach.

But the head coach didn't respond, instead staring blankly at the field. It wasn't just the head coach who was stunned; everyone on the coaching bench and the substitutes' bench was in a similar state of shock.

Their mouths were slightly open, their eyes were blank, and they didn't know where to focus their gaze.

All the pre-match plans and boasts turned into a joke in the face of Wang Lie's cross.

In preparation for this match, they studied Wang Lie's performance in the previous national team game.

Wang Lie had a terrible feel for the goal in that match, his shooting touch was terrible, and he couldn't score no matter what he tried. But he was obsessed with shooting and insisted on scoring a goal.

It's clear that Wang Lie cares a lot about scoring goals, so Sendham is using this national team match as a reference to deal with him.

According to their plan, as long as they could stop Wang Lie and prevent him from scoring, it would be equivalent to freezing Tyne's offensive firepower.

In this way, they can not only stop Wang Lie from breaking their consecutive goal-scoring record in the league, but also defeat Tyne and take all three points.

Simply kill two birds with one stone!
As a result, their plan was already half ruined just two minutes into the game.

Defeating Tyne has become extremely difficult, at the very least.

Although the game is far from over, once Wang Lie started passing the ball to his teammates, it made it very difficult for Sadham to defend against him. When they concentrated their forces to defend against Wang Lie as planned, other Tyne players scored goals one after another. What to do?
Although Wang Lie has not scored yet, if other Tyne players can take advantage of the opportunity to score while they are defending against Wang Lie, can they really ignore the goals scored by those Tyne players?
If they focus on defending the other Tyne players, they won't be able to effectively surround Wang Lie as planned before the match. And if they can't do that, who can guarantee that Wang Lie won't score a single goal in the entire game?
I'm afraid we can only hope that Wang Lie's goalkeeping form is as terrible as it was in the last national team match...

But... is that even possible?
Every player and coach at Sendham is no longer as confident as they were before the match.

※※※

As the Tyne players finished celebrating and returned to their own half, Peter Oliver said to Wang Lie, "Wang, I've scored a goal, now it's my turn to help you!"

Oliver isn't Ribeiro, so Wang Lie couldn't respond with "Do you think I can't handle this by myself?" He changed his approach:
"Let it be, Peter. Don't dwell on it; it'll affect your performance in the game."

Wang Lie spoke with the air of someone who had been through it all.

He was obsessed with the last game and didn't think of this at all.

"If you're always thinking about passing the ball to me, the opponent will easily cut off the offensive line between us. What do you do then? Do you know that passing to me will result in a turnover, but you still pass it anyway?"

Oliver quickly shook his head: "No, I'll do it myself."

Wang Lie patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction: "That's right. Just like that, let nature take its course. If you have a good opportunity, you take it; if I have a good opportunity, I take it. If other teammates have a better opportunity, then give them the opportunity. You are the center, you are the bridgehead of our offense, you have to consider the problem from a global perspective."

Peter Oliver seemed thoughtful.

※※※

The manager of Sedham has finally recovered from his petrified state.

He admitted that he had some unrealistic and arrogant ideas before the game, wanting to defeat Tyne, who had rotated his squad, away from home, and also wanting to end Wang Lie's consecutive goal-scoring record in the league.

But since we're already behind after just two minutes, we can put those arrogant ideas aside for now.

Preventing Wang Lie from scoring more goals and defeating Tyne are two objectives with different priorities, with winning the game being the top priority.

The purpose of preventing Wang Lie from scoring was also to win the game.

Losing the game would only prevent Wang Lie from scoring, which wouldn't be very significant.

After all, he not only didn't gain any benefit, but also offended a notorious "petty and vindictive" person.

If we meet again, I'll definitely be used as a sacrifice by the other party.

As everyone knows, I have no grudge against Wang Su and have always respected this "living legend"!
So the Sendham manager changed his tactics, gesturing and shouting from the sidelines to tell the players to play a normal game.

The so-called "normal game" means no longer going head-to-head with Wang Lie, but still having to defend against other Tyne players.

Of course, Wang Lie remains the primary target for defense.

But even without that incident, Wang Lie was already a key player they were supposed to defend – no team would ignore Wang Lie when playing against Tyne…

The Sendham manager believes that if they approach Tyne's rotation with a normal game mentality, they still have a fighting chance.

After all, just two rounds before, he had led his team to a humiliating defeat for Sofia United at Redstone Stadium.

At that time, Sofia United had their full-strength squad!
And now, Tyne doesn't even have half of his main players...

※※※

It's understandable that Sendham's manager has confidence in his team.

After the game restarted, despite being behind, Sadham responded calmly and without panic.

When Wang Lie has the ball, he will still be defended by two players. Therefore, it is not easy for him to get a scoring opportunity.

Of course, Wang Lie didn't just shoot the ball indiscriminately like before.

If the opportunity isn't good, he won't shoot; instead, he'll pass the ball to a teammate.

Compared to the previous match against Canada, it's like they've switched to a completely different account.

However, no one can say for sure which one is Wang Lie's real real identity...

Thirty minutes have passed in the match so far, and Wang Lie has only managed two shots on goal.

This performance naturally worried Wang Lie's fans, who wondered if he could score a goal in this match...

The television broadcast repeatedly gave Wang Lie close-up shots.

He looked completely different in the footage compared to the previous national team match. There was no sign of anxiety or impatience on his face, and he didn't frequently raise his hand to ask his teammates for the ball.

On the contrary, if a teammate passes him the ball poorly, he will immediately give them a thumbs up to comfort them.

It seems Wang Lie has become obsessed with scoring goals...

In the 35th minute of the first half, Sendham launched an attack, but their shot was blocked by Tyne when it reached Tyne's 30-meter zone.

The ball was intercepted by Tyne's right-back, Jacob Barnabas.

He passed the ball forward to Milton Tucker, the striker who was making a run down the wing, and then accelerated forward.

Tucker received the ball near the sideline, but instead of dribbling forward immediately, he moved towards the center, drawing away the Sendham player who was marking him and opening up the flank. He then turned and passed the ball to the right wing.

Barnabas made a quick forward run, received the ball, and dribbled forward a short distance, drawing the attention of the Sendham left-back. He then passed the ball diagonally to the center, to striker Peter Oliver.

After receiving the ball with his back to the direction of attack, the latter shielded the ball and then passed it to the right flank.

A two-on-one wall-hitting combination!
Barnabas had already used his speed to get behind the Sendham left-back!
"Tain's attack is on again!"

After completing the pass, Oliver turned and pressed into the penalty area, while Milton Tucker ran towards the right flank, moving closer to Barnabas.

Tyne, the right-back, looked up to observe the situation in the middle, caught up with the ball, and delivered a cutback pass to Tucker, who was moving towards him.

Tucker deliberately paused when he received the ball, evading the Sendham player who was chasing from behind, thus gaining a brief space to shoot. He immediately swung his leg and fired a shot from the spot!

The Sendham goalkeeper reacted quickly, diving to his side and blocking the ball with his foot!

The shot missed, and one would expect a huge sigh of disappointment from the stands, but the cheers at Lize Park Stadium suddenly intensified!
The ball was deflected back to the middle and rolled towards the penalty spot!
Meanwhile, Wang Lie, who had not participated in the attack at all, was riding in on horseback!
Because of Oliver's forward press and Tucker's shot, Sendham's defense had a space at the penalty spot that was neither too big nor too small, enough for Wang Lie to shoot!

He met the rolling football with a powerful shot!
The football flew straight into the goal!

"Wow!! It's here!! It's here, it's here, it's here!!" Luo Jin shouted excitedly, "Wang Lie's fifteenth consecutive league goal... it's here!!"

Without any warning, Wang Lie, who was previously considered to still be struggling in front of goal, suddenly scored!
(End of this chapter)