Chapter 974: Jamal Musiala in Action!

"An excessive arm swing from Matthew Hoppe against Jerome Boateng. On-site decision, a free kick for Bayern Munich and a yellow card for Matthew Hoppe!"

The decision was announced quite loudly, enough to make all the players, even those who were on Schalke’s territory, hear it clearly.

All the players from the home team side just slumped dejectedly. Matthew Hoppe, especially, as he just threw his hand in the air annoyedly.

Still, there was no hint of complaint on his face, as if he knew that he was at fault this time. If anything, he just apologized to his teammates for having to stop the team’s Blitzkrieg attack abruptly like that.

"Sorry, everyone! I was so reckless before!"

"Hah! Don’t worry, Hoppe! Just get back and get ready again!" Morita shouted, not minding this failure at all.

If anything, though, it seemed that it was Bayern’s side who still were not satisfied with this decision, as Josua Kimmich approached the referee directly.

"How could you say that it was just a yellow card?! That went straight to the head, you know?! If something went wrong, he could damage Jerome’s brain! That should be enough to get him a red!"

He didn’t complain excessively, just trying to reason with the referee.

Fortunately, the referee had already known what to say in this case, as he had seen the incident clearly with his own eyes.

"I know that it is an excessive move, but you have to consider that Boateng himself is okay. Hoppe also did it with his eyes on the ball while Boateng was behind him, and the crime scene is far away from a dangerous spot for Schalke. With that in consideration, I think even a yellow card is already too much, right?"

Josua Kimmich tried to open his mouth to argue again, but this time, Manuel Neuer acted as the team’s vice-captain to drag him out of the conflict.

"Sorry about him, Boss. He sure likes to argue with everything." The goalkeeper gave the referee the standard German’s stiff smile, trying to de-escalate the situation.

"Don’t worry, it is just a normal explanation, nothing more and nothing less." The referee brushed the concern aside nonchalantly, not thinking too much about it.

With everything finally settled, the game continued, and Schalke had to be satisfied with their Blitzkrieg attack failing to gain anything.

Well, it wasn’t like they thought that it would always give them a goal, per se. No, they just wanted to trouble the opponent and at least make them hesitate to attack for five to ten minutes, slowing down the tempo a little bit for their defensive line to adjust.

Still, it seemed that Bayern Munich’s defense was not something that could be breached so easily.

After this, Bayern took over the tempo once again, and this time, with Jamal Musiala on the board for the away team, their offense became more dynamic, more threatening than in the first half.

His movement was slower than Gnabry before, but his preference for lingering around the crowded area, dribbling the ball in such a tight space to drag Schalke’s defenders had already proved to be troublesome.

In the 49th minute, just four minutes after he came onto the pitch, the boy even managed to get into the box by getting through Stambouli, Omar Mascarell, and Sebastian Rudy at the same time, forcing his way through the six-yard box before Higo had to stop the shot with his body.

That was definitely the closest chance that Bayern attempted so far, one that gave Higo a heart attack just from remembering it.

"Shit! Benjy, don’t get baited by him! Remember, your responsibility is Lewy! Just keep your eyes on him!" Higo shouted, a bead of sweat starting to roll down his face even in the middle of the snowy weather on the pitch.

Unfortunately, Musiala didn’t really give him or Schalke any chance to do that.

No, he kept beating Sebastian Rudy black and blue, forcing the poor right back to squeeze every little bit of energy he had to protect that flank.

This dragged some defenders on that side as well, and soon enough, all the attention was completely on the young, lanky man who seemed to dance on the pitch, not getting flustered at all by the distraction around him.

Then, once he felt like he had already gained enough eyes on his side, the boy finally drew his sword.

As at least four eyes were locked on him, Musiala saw a glimpse of space inside the penalty box, where the slyest fox in the world, Thomas Muller, made a slow, subtle turn to appear there.

Hell, the captain didn’t even run. He just walked calmly, trying not to draw attention from Schalke’s defenders.

However, he was still within Musiala’s line of sight, so it was easy for the boy to shift the possession there.

Thud!

"FUCK! No!"

"Center! Keep an eye on cutback!"

Unfortunately, the two center backs still had their own business this time.

Stambouli was having his eyes on Lewandowski, and Malick Thiaw got drawn by Musiala’s gravity on the flank.

This allowed Thomas Muller a little time to even turn his body toward the goal, and even without him gathering power from a run-up, the man was still quite calm when he whacked the ball to the near post of the goal.

BAM!

"FUCK!"

Higo couldn’t help but curse, trying to use both his fists to block the shot.

This approach worked, as he could feel like he had been hit by a fucking truck to go to the other world in one go.

Unfortunately, this time, luck seemed to be on the opponent’s side.

Even though he blocked the ball completely, it still bounced off the post just a few inches next to him, and in the end, the ball ricocheted into the back of the net violently.

This time, silence fell for a moment, as everyone just stared at the net that was still shaking from that violent rocket. It took a while to process, but once Thomas Muller realized that the ball went in, Bayern’s captain couldn’t hold back anymore, roaring so loudly to the sky.

"YES! COME FUCKING ON!"