Chapter 348 Game Management
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Rosenborg BK 2 (5) : Juventus FC 3 (4)
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Silence reigned supreme throughout the entire stadium for a second or two. All spectators seemed to be stunned speechless by Roseborg's swift and fierce counterattack.
Boom!
Then, the next moment, a mega explosion of cheers went off in the stands, shaking the entire Lerkendal Stadion to its very core. The Rosenborg supporters immediately rose from their seats and sang at the top of their voices like madmen when Zachary raised his arms to celebrate the goal right inside Juventus' box.
"Goaaaal! Zachary! *Clap*Clap* Rosenborg! Oyeeeee..."
The raucous and disorderly voices chanting different phrases blended together with the loud clapping and drumming to institute a beautiful wild symphony. For the next one minute or so, it rang around Lerkendal as the fans celebrated Zachary's goal, which had just pushed the aggregate score to 5:4 in favor of Rosenborg. Since their team was on the cusp of qualifying for the quarter-finals, they couldn't control their emotions.
"What a beautiful counter!" Kjell Roar, the commentator for the day, yelled after the cheers started dying down. "My heart is still racing as the counter keeps replaying within my mind as if on rewind."
"Yes, it was really a fierce and swift counter," Erik Hoftun, the in-house pundit for that match, chipped in. "There were only 13 to 14 seconds between when Zachary dispossessed Pogba and when he put the ball into the back of the net. There wasn't a second wasted in-between. What a counter! The Rosenborg fans will remember it for years if the goal can take them through to the quarter-finals."
"The goal itself takes Zachary's tally against Juventus to four goals," Kjell Roar said. "He scored a hattrick against them in Turin. Now he has netted another goal here at Lerkendal on top of providing an assist for the other. He's like the bane of the Italian giants."
Erik Hoftun chuckled. "I think that he is a disaster for every team in the Europa League. Of late, he has managed to punish every opponent he has faced. Be it Fiorentina, Red Bull Salzburg, or Standard Liege — he has already scored against them all."
"He sure is a terrifying attacker these days," Kjell Roar chimed in with an audible sigh. "Let's take you back to the proceedings on the field as the match is about to restart."
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Coach Johansen chose to make a substitution as his players celebrated the goal. His intent was to waste a few more seconds and ensure that Juventus wouldn't get the time to organize another offensive during the remaining two or so minutes of overtime.
"Cristian Gamboa!" He said, turning towards the bench. "Prepare quickly. I want you on the pitch before the game restarts."
"Aye, coach," Cristian replied.
Coach Johansen nodded before returning his attention to the field of play. He was in a good mood. Zachary had pleasantly surprised him by scoring in the second last minute of overtime. As a result, the fixture no longer required penalties to determine the winner. As long as his players could continue defending well and survive the remaining two or three minutes, then it would be Rosenborg qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Europa League at the end of the grueling night.
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After celebrating the goal, the Rosenborg players returned to their half at a leisurely pace. They started taking up their on-pitch starting positions to ready themselves for the restart of the game without any sense of urgency. They wanted to waste more time, especially since they were already ahead by a goal when considering the aggregate score.
Then, just as they'd finished organizing themselves and the game was finally about to restart, the linesman raised his flag and motioned for a substitution. The fourth official followed that up with the action of putting up his board to indicate that Takumi Minamino, the Rosenborg number-22, was being subbed out.
Takumi Minamino exchanged high fives with a few of his teammates before starting his leisurely trek toward the touchline. His pace was relatively slow since he was also waving to the enthusiastic home fans.
The Juventus players couldn't tolerate Rosenborg's blatant attempts at wasting time. Giorgio Chiellini, the vice-captain of the Italian giants, soon rushed towards the referee and started complaining. Antonio Conte was also already yelling at the fourth official on the sidelines, probably telling him to do something about Rosenborg's unsportsmanlike behavior.
With all the pressure mounting, the referee could only choose to rush toward Takumi Minamino and caution him.
However, Takumi was a step ahead. The Japanese midfielder immediately ran out of the pitch and settled on the bench before the referee could catch up.
The referee, however, didn't give up. He chased Takumi down and showed him a yellow card right after he'd just settled on the bench.
But the action itself irritated the Juventus players and coaching staff as the referee had just wasted more time. And they ensured that he understood how they felt through more complaints.
The referee could only shake his head and smile ruefully before returning to the center and blowing the whistle to restart the game.
After a good three minutes of celebrations and other interruptions, the game had finally restarted. Juventus kicked off the game and was soon on the attack once again.
The Juventus players exchanged a few short passes through the middle, searching for a goal-scoring opportunity. Finally, the ball naturally came to Andrea Pirlo, the deep-lying playmaker.
Pirlo immediately skipped past Nicki Nielsen's challenge before threading a pass to Pogba. The latter received the ball and passed it to Vidal, who'd just run into the space ahead.
Vidal controlled it with a sense of urgency before kicking it toward the right-wing to find Stephan Lichtsteiner, the highly-mobile wing-back.
Stephan Lichtsteiner brought it down with his chest before trying to make a diagonal run towards Rosenborg's box. But he soon ran into Kasongo's blockade and could only choose to pass it back into the middle to Vidal.
Vidal only took a single touch to circumvent past Thomas Partey on the left side of the border of the final third. Before any other opponent could close him down, he looped the ball over the defense and into the box.
Fernando Llorente immediately leaped high to meet the cross within the box. He battled Yerry Mina, the Rosenborg center-back, for aerial superiority before planting a header towards goal from around the penalty spot.
TENSION!
The hearts of most of the spectators had already leaped into their throats. They shifted uncomfortably in their seats while watching the ball darting towards the top corner. But the next moment, they relaxed when they saw the Rosenborg keeper leap high and snatch the ball out of the air.
With a well-timed acrobatic dive, Daniel Örlund, the Rosenborg keeper, had saved Rosenborg from conceding a goal in the 33rd minute of overtime. The keeper then lay flat on the ground for about ten seconds with the ball firmly held in his hands.
"Ref!" Coach Johansen yelled out loud. "The thirty minutes of overtime are already over. Are we going to play for a week or a month before you remember to blow the final whistle?"
However, the referee paid no heed to his complaints and quickly motioned for Daniel Örlund to restart the game.
Daniel Örlund, however, didn't restart the game right away. He let a few seconds flash by before throwing the ball to Mikael Dorsin, Rosenborg's left-back.
Mikael controlled it well and immediately passed it to Thomas Partey, who also flicked it to Zachary.
However, the Juventus players had already flooded Rosenborg's half and marked all spaces and passing angles when Zachary received the ball. He could only choose to pass the ball long and high to Nicki Nielsen, the center forward.
Nicki Nielsen controlled the ball with his chest on the right flank. But instead of racing with it towards the goal, he dribbled it towards the corner flag. He halted right before the corner arc before making himself big to shield it from the Juventus players.
The next second, the Juventus players were upon him, trying to tackle the ball from his feet. However, Nicki Nielsen remained strong and stood his ground. He even spread his arms wide to prevent the opponents from getting to the ball.
His intention to waste more time gained applause from the tense home fans. But at the same time, he also infuriated the Juventus players trying to win the ball back.
After a few seconds of tussling before the corner flag, Vidal couldn't take it anymore. The midfielder raised his leg high and shoved Nicki Nielsen out of play with a kick to the butt.
*FWEEEEEEE*
The referee blew the whistle and rushed to the scene. He showed a yellow card to Vidal before awarding a free-kick to Rosenborg.
Zachary chose to take the free-kick short as he didn't wish to give Juventus an opportunity to attack during the last minute of the game. He passed it to Nicki, and the latter immediately dribbled it to the corner flag again.
The Juventus players swarmed toward him the next moment to tackle the ball from his feet. However, the referee's whistle sounded the next moment, bringing the proceedings for the night to a stop. The game had finally ended after 35 minutes of overtime.
BOOM!
The cheers immediately hit a crescendo an instant later as the Rosenborg players began running around the pitch to celebrate their victory. They had finally accomplished an almost impossible feat by eliminating Juventus, the Italian giant, from the Europa League after more than 120 minutes of gameplay. As a result, they could hardly contain their delight.
