Chapter 126 The Dangerous Substitute II
Zachary reacted immediately on seeing Christian Gamboa, the right-back, running with the ball. He lost his marker, opened himself up within the midfield, and started matching Gamboa's run. All the while, he made sure to stay in parallel sync with the right-back as he raced towards Aalesunds' half through the center of the field.
The latter noticed him a few seconds later and relinquished the ball to him.
Zachary received Gamboa's pass as he stepped into Aalesunds' half. He then continued sprinting towards Aalesunds' half as if his life depended on it.
He intended to fulfill the coach's expectations of him by first helping Rosenborg dictate the game's tempo. So, he ran with the ball to attract the attention of the opposing midfielders and create space for his teammates.
Jason Morrison, the Aalesunds defensive midfielder, soon came to close him down. However, Zachary didn't try to dribble past the defensive midfielder since he was still conscious of the fact that he was new to the Tippeligaen.
So, he looked across the field and then let loose a grounded through pass towards the left flank, where John Chibuike was waiting. He didn't halt his run—but circumvented Jason Morrison and continued pushing on towards Aalesunds' box.
In the meantime, John Chibuike, the Rosenborg left-forward, controlled the ball like the pro he was on the left flank before speeding off into a wavy run towards Aalesunds box.
Hugues Wembangomo, the right-back, tried to tackle him and pulled at his shirt as he cut into the pitch towards the goal. However, his speed was no match for the Rosenborg number-10 from Nigeria. John Chibuike flicked the ball forward with his left boot and beat the Aalesunds right-back for pace. He was soon bearing down on their goal with only two opposing center backs standing between him and the goalkeeper.
However, John Chibuike was in a tight angle and didn't try to shoot and score. Instead, he let loose a lofted pass into the middle of the box where Tarik Elyounoussi, Rosenborg's center forward, was lurking.
The pass into the box found Tarik Elyounoussi unmarked. Without any delay, he carefully placed a shot towards the bottom right corner. However, the Aalesunds goalkeeper made a brilliant last-ditch save, pushing the ball slightly away from the goal with his fingertips.
However, Rosenborg's chance wasn't over yet. The ball smashed off the right post and bounced back into the field of play. The situation in the box soon turned chaotic as players in both black and orange jerseys chased after the ball.
However, John Chibuike made it there first. He managed to get to the ball before any other player and unleashed another shot at goal with his left foot.
An Aalesunds defender sprung into its path and blocked the ball, deflecting it away from the goal. Tensions were running high in the box. All the players in the area turned to chase after the ball. However, it was already far beyond them heading to the outside of the 18-yard-box.
Zachary had not joined the fray inside the area. Instead, he'd positioned himself at the edge of the 18-yard-box and waited for an opportunity. He was a gambler by nature and was simply betting on the ball coming towards him when he picked out the spot. However, the goddess of luck seemed to not be on his side that day. He had been waiting for a few seconds, yet the ball was still in Aalesunds' box. He'd been getting impatient.
However, when he was about to head into the box and struggle for the ball with the rest of his teammates, he finally saw it deflect off a defender and come towards his direction. He smiled inwardly, thinking that he'd finally won a gamble once again.
However, an instant later, he realized the ball was coming to him on an awkward trajectory—at above the head-level. With his A-graded spatial awareness, he deduced that it would land behind him in nothing more than a flash. Furthermore, he could easily infer that he needed to jump high and chest the ball to the ground—before unleashing a shot at goal. However, the opposing defenders would never give him that time when he was so close to their box. Thus, he made a snap decision at that juncture, choosing to try out something he'd never attempted before.
With his heart racing and adrenaline flooding his system, he turned around—and tracked after the ball's trajectory using his peripheral vision. When he judged that it had started its descent, he pushed off the ground with his left foot, launching and flipping himself into mid-air to meet it on the back-volley.
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"What the f*ck?!" Coach Johansen could not help but swear out loud on seeing what had happened on the pitch. With eyes wide, mouth agape, he watched the tall Zachary contort his six-foot-four frame mid-air and dip his upper body backward for an audacious bicycle kick just outside the 18-yard box.
Coach Johansen couldn't believe it.
Zachary seemed to hang in the hair for an implausibly long time before making the perfect timing and sweetest of connections with the ball that had just deflected off the defender. What followed was an incredible upside-down finish with the boot above his head.
Coach Johansen was shocked beyond measure as he watched the ball whizz above the players in the box before nestling into the back of the net.
EXCITEMENT! SHOCK! And then EXCITEMENT once again! That summarized Coach Johansen's state of mind at that moment.
2:1.
Rosenborg had managed to pull one back in the 67th minute. The few Rosenborg fans that had traveled to Ålesund to watch the game all started cheering a moment later. They seemed to have taken a second or two to recover from the shock of seeing Zachary's stunning goal.
The corners of Coach Johansen's lips curled into a soft smile as he watched Zachary hurriedly collect the ball from the net and return it to the center spot even without celebrating. He was glad the boy still knew that the priority was equalizing the score as quickly as possible. It seemed that Rosenborg had a chance to make a comeback. He could feel it.
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