Chapter 75 - 73: Twin Stars Connection

Chapter 75: Chapter 73: Twin Stars Connection

Suk’s two consecutive dribbles along the edge of the box put immense pressure on the opposition.

The Sarajevo players’ heads were buzzing.

They had tried their best to use their positioning to limit Suk’s passing options, but now the guy had suddenly started dribbling laterally in front of their goal, throwing the backline into chaos.

The first two times had been just like this. How were they supposed to defend him the next time?

They couldn’t come up with a single logical plan.

The main problem was that they couldn’t keep up with his speed. Plus, in that position, even committing a foul was risky. Who knew if Suk would suddenly burst forward into the box? That would mean giving up a penalty!

Right now, the Sarajevo defenders’ minds were a complete mess.

Meanwhile, on Mostar Zrinjski’s side, they sensed an opportunity to push forward, capitalizing on the chaos Suk was causing near the penalty area.

"That’s right! This is how we play!"

Van Stiake smiled happily.

He felt like their strategy was now in full effect.

Of course, these opportunities were created because Suk had used his individual skill to generate enough of a threat up front.

But it also indirectly proved his own excellent judgment.

"Suk is playing better and better!"

Assistant coach Fandier watched Sarajevo’s panicked backline, a smile playing on his lips. "We’ll have to be careful other clubs don’t come sniffing around."

Van Stiake said confidently, "In Bosnia and Herzegovina, no one can poach him from us!"

On the pitch, the match had reached the 35th minute. Thanks to Suk’s outstanding performance on the wing, Mostar Zrinjski was controlling the game.

Of course, they were still hit by Sarajevo’s counter-attacks from time to time.

By now, Sarajevo was clearly growing anxious.

They abandoned any thought of new tactics and subconsciously resorted to their old routine of running down the flanks and crossing the ball.

But their attacks were too rushed, and their formation as a whole was falling apart.

After Mashovich held off Suq Bazhi and headed the Ball out of the box, the defensive midfielder, Boban, chested it down, turned, and immediately passed to Modric near the center circle.

"Counter-attack!!!"

Boban roared, and Mostar Zrinjski instantly launched into a counter-attack.

Modric received the Ball, turned, and dribbled forward. When he spotted Suk, he passed the Ball to him again.

The moment Suk received the pass, Sarajevo’s entire backline descended into a panic.

Every single one of them was fixated on Suk.

His previous dribbles had left them with significant psychological pressure.

Because of this, they didn’t dare make any aggressive moves when Suk touched the Ball this time.

However, Sarajevo’s young full-back had already charged toward Suk.

"Don’t stick your leg out!"

Ivan Krich’s shout was too late.

The moment Istevic closed in, Suk knocked the Ball lightly to the inside, feinting a burst of speed.

As Istevic shifted his center of gravity, Suk immediately pulled the Ball back and turned, looking as if he was about to break through along the sideline.

Istevic was now in a full-blown panic. He barely managed to shift his weight back, stumbling as he lunged to his right.

Even if he fell, he was determined to stop Suk.

But Suk came to a sudden stop, sent the Ball through Istevic’s legs with his right foot, and as Istevic was faked to the ground, Suk smoothly slipped past him.

"He’s past him!!"

Basodachi cheered loudly.

Seeing the full-back get beaten, Ivan Krich, wary of Suk’s Shooting ability, immediately charged over.

But Suk just flicked the top of his foot, sending the Ball forward with a through pass.

"A through ball! Kosopech!"

Kosopech made a diagonal run forward, drawing both center-backs toward the byline.

At the same time, Suk continued his run toward the top of the arc, pulling the full-back who was marking Billiar along with him.

This left Billiar completely unmarked.

Kosopech didn’t have an angle to shoot, so he met the Ball and immediately turned and played another through pass!

Another nutmeg!

The Ball shot through Bechevic’s legs and arrived at the feet of the completely unguarded Billiar.

Seeing the chance his teammate had created, Billiar hit a side-footed shot, tucking the Ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.

"GOAL!!!!!!!"

"Mostar Zrinjski gets the first goal of the match, with Billiar putting the team on the board."

"However, during the attack, Suk’s Dribbling and his through passes created a massive threat for the team’s offense."

"Suk’s consecutive successful dribbles in the first half helped the team gain the advantage, and it was also his Dribbling that helped the team secure this goal!"

The stadium was in an uproar.

The Mostar Zrinjski fans erupted in thunderous cheers.

The counter-attack was executed cleanly. Two quick passes delivered the Ball to Suk’s feet.

Then, up front, Suk used his individual skill to change direction multiple times, nutmeg the opposing full-back, and make the through pass. Kosopech’s almost telepathic forward run, combined with Billiar’s clever positioning, led to the goal.

Billiar sprinted across the field, celebrating wildly.

This was his 7th goal of the season. Compared to previous seasons, his performance had improved dramatically.

In Suk’s opinion, Billiar was definitely an underrated player.

His positional awareness and lateral movement always managed to open up a shooting lane, and his ability to convert chances was also quite good.

This was why Mostar Zrinjski, after a series of passes, would often deliver the Ball to Billiar’s feet.

The goal completely changed the state of the match.

As for Sarajevo, they wanted to press as much as possible. They wanted to dominate Mostar Zrinjski on the pitch.

They didn’t just want a simple victory; they wanted a resounding, dominant win.

But their excessive pressing often caused their formation to become disconnected. Coupled with the immense pressure Suk was applying on the wing, it ultimately led to them conceding a goal.

"Don’t worry about the goal we conceded! Let’s play our own rhythm and get your heads back in the game!"

Ivan Krich shouted encouragement.

He hoped his teammates’ morale wouldn’t suffer, but conceding any goal was always demoralizing.

Moreover, the skill Mostar Zrinjski had displayed in scoring that goal seemed impossible for them to handle.

This was especially true for Sarajevo’s full-back, Istevic. The young man’s mentality was on the verge of collapsing.

After being repeatedly toyed with by Suk, his head felt foggy. He had no idea how to defend against him anymore.

If he stuck his leg out, he’d get beaten. If he didn’t, he could only trail behind Suk and be led around like a dog on a leash.

Furthermore, he couldn’t read Suk’s passing lanes at all, which meant he couldn’t anticipate his moves in advance.

As an ambitious young player, he had wanted to keep the main starter, Jorijac, on the bench. But only now did he understand why Jorijac’s performances had been so poor.

’It’s not a matter of his own skill, it’s that this guy in front of me is just too damn difficult to handle.’

"Nice one!"

Suk and Modric high-fived, both happy about the goal.

After all, with a goal on the board, the overall pressure on them would be much lighter.

"They’re trying to press!"

Suk said.

Modric nodded. "I noticed too. But they don’t seem very familiar with it. Their formation keeps getting disconnected as they play!"

Suk: "So we need to push harder and win the Ball back. I’ll drop back more to cover, you can try to make forward runs!"

Modric immediately nodded.

For the next ten minutes, Mostar Zrinjski and Sarajevo engaged in a fierce, end-to-end battle.

Sarajevo, wanting to equalize as quickly as possible, threw more players into the attack.

Mostar Zrinjski, however, pressed them relentlessly.

The two teams clashed intensely in every corner of the pitch.

The overall pace of the game had clearly quickened.

This back-and-forth attacking battle had the fans’ blood pumping with excitement.

"They’ve won it back! Sarajevo sends the Ball to the wing! Tillemannqi is dribbling at high speed, Kerpic presses forward to contain him, Tillemannqi is forced to slow down... oh!!! A tackle back!!"

The commentator, Basodachi, roared with excitement.

Before Tillemannqi could even reach the byline to cross, Suk rushed in from behind. Working with Kerpic’s forward pressure, the two of them won the Ball back together.

This time, Suk had run all the way back to the vicinity of his own penalty area.

"Such diligent tracking back!"

Watching Suk’s active defending, the scout Atgeni couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

No one could dislike a player who runs with such effort.

But Suk’s performance wasn’t over yet.

Right now, Sarajevo’s entire formation was pushed high up the pitch.

After winning the Ball, Suk passed it to Modric and immediately put his head down and began sprinting forward from his own half.

"Mostar Zrinjski is on the counter-attack again!"

Seeing Suk charging forward, Modric passed the Ball ahead to Kosopech and then began his own forward sprint.

Suk and Modric, one on the left and one on the right, made runs through the half-spaces.

The two full-backs also pushed up quickly to provide width on the flanks.

But halfway through his run, Suk suddenly stopped.

He realized everyone was just charging forward in a straight line, with no one dropping back to receive a pass.

Suk immediately changed direction, running laterally to a position behind Kosopech.

At that moment, Kosopech had his back to the goal and was locked in a fierce physical battle with the opposing center-back, Ivan Krich.

"Don’t even think about getting past!"

"Get off me!"

The two were frantically pushing and shoving each other.

Kosopech was trying to create enough space to turn.

But Ivan Krich held his position stubbornly, not giving Kosopech any room to turn.

Just then, Suk’s voice suddenly rang out.

"Captain, lay it off!"

Hearing Suk’s voice, Kosopech snapped his head up. The moment he saw Suk, he laid the Ball off.

Suk met the layoff, took a touch to move the Ball sideways, and aimed a through pass into the half-space that had been opened up.

It was a through ball as sharp as a knife!

"Luka!!"

The moment he made the pass, Suk roared.

Hearing his name, Modric immediately accelerated, bursting through the defensive line.

"Oh!!!!! What a through ball!!"

The commentator, Basodachi, couldn’t help but jump to his feet, craning his neck to get a better view of the pitch.

"Brilliant!"

The scout, Atgeni, slapped his thigh in praise, secretly clenching his fist.

"Luka! You have to take this chance!"

On the bench, the coaches also rose to their feet in excitement.

With the entire stadium watching, Modric broke through the backline and caught up to the Ball.

The opposing goalkeeper, Ivanqi, came off his line, rushing out to close down the shooting angle.

Just as the keeper, Ivanqi, dived to the side, Modric executed a deft little chip with an incredibly stylish flourish.

The Ball sailed over the keeper’s head and slowly dropped into the back of the net.

In the final moments of the first half, Mostar Zrinjski took a 2-0 lead over Sarajevo.

An assist from Suk, a goal from Modric!

The Mostar Twins connected to produce this spectacular goal!