Chapter 307 - 300: Score Another One

"Ajax pass to the right wing, to Yang Yang."

"Yang Yang gets the ball at the right corner of the penalty area, one-on-one!"

"He goes straight for a Pendulum Move!"

"Beautiful! Yang Yang gets to the byline and crosses it into the box!"

"Groningen’s center-back Gibril Sankoh controls it at the near post and boots it clear."

"Another big boot from midfield..."

...

Two big clearances in a row, and Groningen quickly cleared the ball to around the halfway line.

Ajax’s center-back Heitinga, playing as the last man, brought the ball under control and immediately passed it back into the Groningen half to Maicon on the right wing.

As soon as Maicon received the ball, he looked up toward the box ahead and noticed the situation inside had changed.

After his clearance, Sankoh hadn’t immediately gone back to marking Charisteas, which left the Greek center-forward facing Groningen’s other center-back, the twenty-year-old youngster Kruiswijk.

Kruiswijk was only 1.82 meters tall and was known for his footwork and passing, not for his aerial defense.

Maicon realized this. Seeing that Charisteas had remained inside the box, he quickly adjusted and whipped a forty-five-degree diagonal cross toward Charisteas’s head.

The Greek center-forward understood perfectly. He charged toward Kruiswijk, leaped high, and towered over the Groningen center-back, heading the ball straight for the bottom right corner, trying to catch the opposing goalkeeper, Rolda, off guard.

But Maicon’s pass had traveled a long way. Not just Rolda, but even Sankoh had time to react.

Rolda dove and punched the ball away with one fist.

It was a header from the left of the goalmouth. After Rolda’s save, the ball deflected and rebounded to the right side of the penalty area.

As soon as Maicon made the pass, Yang Yang was already preparing to rush into the box to receive it. After seeing Rolda save Charisteas’s header, he quickly chased after the rebound. Before the reacting Sankoh could get to him, he swung his right foot and shot!

To be safe, he used the inside of his foot!

The ball flew in a nearly perfect straight line, past the downed Rolda, and slammed into the net behind him!

"IT’S A GOAL!!!!"

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!"

"In stoppage time just before the end of the first half, Yang Yang calmly seized an opportunity and finally scored against Groningen! This was his fifth shot of the match, and he finally has his goal!"

After scoring, Yang Yang was so excited he ran off the pitch, leaped over the advertising hoardings at the side of the field, and rushed right up to the fans in the stands, spreading his arms and cheering loudly.

One-nil!

He finally scored!!!

The fans in the stands went wild, chanting his name. Many even reached out to grab Yang Yang, wanting to pull him into a tight embrace.

"Brilliant!"

"That goal came out of nowhere!"

"But we have to say, Ajax’s first-half efforts have finally paid off!"

"Yang Yang finally gets his goal on his fifth shot of the match!"

"And that is his twenty-ninth league goal of the season!"

Over fifty thousand fans in the stadium were chanting his name, a mighty roar that would make anyone’s blood boil with excitement.

Yang Yang finally managed to break free from the fans, only to be immediately mobbed by his approaching teammates.

"There’s still the second half! There’s still the second half!" Yang Yang shouted, panting.

The first step is always the hardest.

The first goal is always especially difficult, but once you’ve scored it, the next ones come much easier.

Especially as the Groningen players tired, it would be hard for them to maintain the tight defense they had at the start. As their stamina drained, they would become more easily distracted, and their defense would start making more and more mistakes.

’He was sure there would be more chances in the second half!’

...

...

While Yang Yang was scoring a magnificent goal at the Amsterdam Arena, the news of which was rapidly broadcast across the world and sparked a massive reaction from fans and netizens in China, Feyenoord’s away match against Nijmegen was just heading into halftime.

The first half between the two sides was still nil-nil; neither team had managed to score.

It was only after returning to the locker room that the Feyenoord players got the latest update from the coaching staff.

"Yang Yang scored!" Gullit announced, relaying the latest result he had just received from the other match.

"What?"

"Yang Yang scored?"

"When did he score?"

"Didn’t they just say he hadn’t scored yet?"

The locker room immediately erupted.

Kuyt, in particular, had a look of utter disbelief on his face as he looked at the head coach.

Gullit felt a bit of sympathy, but in the end, he steeled himself and nodded. "Just now. In stoppage time."

Although the matches were supposed to be played simultaneously, the amount of stoppage time was completely different, so there were bound to be some discrepancies.

After this news was confirmed, a deathly silence suddenly fell over the locker room.

All the Feyenoord players turned to look at Kuyt. The expression on their star striker’s face was grim.

In the first half, he had worked as hard as ever, running and covering ground tirelessly, constantly looking for a chance. His teammates had created a total of seven chances for him to shoot directly at the Nijmegen goal, but only one of his shots was on target; the other six all went wide.

Even that one shot lacked any real power.

He knew it all too well: he was really off his game. He just couldn’t get himself fired up; that burning passion was missing.

And of all times, Yang Yang had to score!

Which meant they were now both on twenty-nine goals!

The Feyenoord players obviously knew Kuyt’s mind was in turmoil at that moment, so no one disturbed him.

A full few minutes later, head coach Gullit was the one to break the silence in the locker room.

"Nijmegen has played stubbornly in this match, but that’s not unexpected. Before the game, we already considered all the potential difficulties we might face, so this first-half stalemate was within our expectations."

Gullit’s words met with the unanimous agreement of the players.

Nijmegen was never an easy opponent on their home turf, not even for Feyenoord.

"Their center-back, Ebinge, will be our key breakthrough point in the second half. He’s already on a yellow card. In the second half, we’ll focus our attack on him."

Ebinge was a thirty-year-old center-back who had been playing well, but he picked up a yellow card while defending against Kuyt just before the end of the first half. This meant he would definitely be more cautious in the second half, unable to play at full capacity, and that was Feyenoord’s opportunity.

After talking about the team’s offense, Gullit turned to look at Kuyt.

"Dick, what you need to do right now isn’t worry about whether Yang Yang scored, or even how many he scored. You need to understand one thing: as long as you score as many goals as he does, you will be the Top Scorer!"

Gullit’s words seemed to lift Kuyt’s spirits.

He was absolutely right.

He’d started with a one-goal advantage. As long as he scored the same number of goals as Yang Yang in this match, he would still be the Top Scorer.

’It’s just one goal, isn’t it?’

’I’ll just have to get it back in the second half!’

Kuyt tried hard to calm himself, to not let it affect him, and gave Gullit a firm nod.

"I understand."

...

...

Kuyt hadn’t scored!

That was the news Yang Yang received from the coaching staff during halftime.

Not only had Kuyt not scored, but Feyenoord hadn’t scored in their match either.

The match between Nijmegen and Feyenoord was still nil-nil.

This was definitely good news, but Yang Yang didn’t dare let his guard down in the slightest. There was still a second half to play.

No goals in the first half didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any in the second.

What’s more, Feyenoord had the most potent attack in the Eredivisie this season. If they caught a break and found their rhythm, they could score two or three goals in a matter of minutes.

So, when the second half began, Ajax continued to proactively press Groningen at every turn.

In the stands, the Ajax fans were also roaring, urging the players to keep up the pressure, especially Yang Yang.

Many fans were chanting in unison for him to score another, and another.

Everyone was hoping Yang Yang could score one more goal, which would break Ronaldo’s record.

Only one more goal to go!

Yang Yang himself was deeply encouraged. From the start of the half, he was extremely active, running tirelessly and constantly looking for opportunities.

Seeing Yang Yang’s effort and determination, the fans in the stands cheered even harder.

To shake off the Groningen defenders, Yang Yang no longer confined himself to the right wing; he frequently switched to the left, and even appeared in the center.

Almost every time Yang Yang got on the ball, a cheer would erupt from the entire stadium.

But Groningen was clearly prepared for this. They treated it as if facing a formidable enemy, remaining on high alert. Even though they were a goal down, they still refused to give Ajax, and especially Yang Yang, the slightest opening.

Just like Nijmegen, they were no longer playing for the win or for the three points, but were holding on for the sake of honor and professionalism.

They could be scored on, they could be defeated, but only on the condition that Yang Yang and Kuyt brought their absolute best.

The Ajax players were also constantly on the move. Even the tall center-forward Charisteas was actively pulling wide and dropping back to stretch the defense and create chances for Yang Yang.

The Greek center-forward had been having a good season, a major reason being that Yang Yang had provided him with many assists.

And Yang Yang himself was very popular within the team. He had given gifts to everyone on the team a few times before—in fact, the phones most of them used were gifts from Yang Yang. This made them more than willing to do him a service at a critical moment.

When the entire Ajax team worked together to create chances for Yang Yang, when over fifty thousand fans in the stadium cheered him on in unison, when all the fans around the World glued to their TVs were waiting in anticipation for that moment—it finally arrived.

Groningen’s midfield made a passing error, and the ball was intercepted before it even crossed the halfway line.

Galasek quickly played a straight pass upfield. Charisteas dropped back, used his body to shield the ball from the defender, received it, and passed to Pinaar on the left.

And at that moment, Yang Yang, who had switched over to the left touchline, was like a powerful Cheetah, poised to strike!