八字万年历

Chapter 97: Europa League Round of 32, Second Leg III

The referee’s whistle blew for the end of the first half, bringing play to a halt and the players of both teams started walking off the field and heading for the locker rooms while the players on the bench headed to the field to do some warm-up exercises.

Neither of the two teams managed to score after Porto’s equalizing goal, so the score after the first half was still 1 : 1 and the aggregate score was still 4 : 3, with Porto still in the lead, but Bayer Leverkusen had been doing their best to rid them of their lead.

{So far, Porto has managed to maintain their lead, but whether they can hold out onto the end of the match still remains to be seen}

{All in all, one thing is for sure, the second half of the match is a potential decider for the next round of the Europa League and it will definitely be filled with exciting twists and turns, so stay with us to find out which of these teams would have the final say} the commentator addressed the fans at the stadium and those watching the match from other locations with the aid of technology as the players walked off the field.

The players headed to the dressing room for a needed break and tactical meeting in preparation for the second half as they still had all to play for.

Sergio Conceicao didn’t have much to tell his team in regards to their tactics for the second half as they were still doing fine and would win the game if they just pushed a bit harder while making sure they did not stupidly concede any goals.

So he spent the break motivating the team while pointing out the players’ mistakes in the first half and giving them specific instructions on how to deal with the Leverkusen team in the second half.

Soon the players were back on the field for the second half, but there was a difference in the line-up of the Porto team with Jason coming off for Luiz Diaz on the left wing.

Sergio Conceicao had decided that there was no point in holding off on substitution earlier as Luiz Diaz was not able to perform exceptionally due to accumulated fatigue.

He also wanted to avoid any injury concerns as the team was already short of one winger, thus he had swapped out Jason for Luiz Diaz on the left wing.

Sergio Conceicao had been a bit apprehensive about putting Jason on the left side of the field, but he felt that Jason should be able to handle it, plus he needed to cause trouble for the Bayer Leverkusen team and not make them able to focus fully on attacking football.

Jason could do that by constantly running at them with the ball, hence the change in the line-up.

Soon the referee blew his whistle and the second half kicked off.

Porto was the team with possession after the kick-off, but they were not able to keep the ball for long and soon lost the ball to the Leverkusen team, courtesy of the intense pressing tactic from the Leverkusen team.

Despite being unable to keep the ball for long spells whenever they retrieved possession of the ball, the Porto team didn’t panic as the manager had shifted their tactic for the second half to be more counter-attack oriented, so they soaked up the pressure and burst out on the counter whenever they had the ball.

Soon their tactic showed returns with the Porto team bursting out counter after counter, but they didn’t manage to trouble the scoreboard operator until the 62nd minute.

The Porto team had just stolen the ball due to a mistimed pass from Kai Havertz and Wilson Manafa had quickly sent a drilling grounded pass down the right wing of the field.

Jesus Corona caught the ball deftly with his feet, turned around, and dashed off into the Leverkusen half, the other attackers of the Porto team racing after him to keep up with him and provide support.

As Jesus Corona inched closer to the Bayer Leverkusen penalty area despite the hot chase from his marker and other Leverkusen players, he glanced around him, looking for the best pass that could lead to something.

Seeing Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega inching forward while calling for a pass, Jesus Corona was just about to release the ball when he noticed Jason cutting in completely unnoticed like a ghost from the left wing, staying just slightly behind the other attackers but he was completely free unlike the two strikers.

Jesus Corona quickly changed his decision and sent a lobbed pass over the Porto forwards and Leverkusen defenders who followed the ball with their eyes, wondering where Jesus Corona was passing to.

When the Leverkusen players finally noticed Jason catching the ball off his chest, they immediately changed their targets and wanted to run at them but Jason’s next move was completely out of their expectations.

Catching the ball with his chest just outside the Leverkusen penalty area, Jason wanted to push the ball forward into the box to ensure the highest chance of a goal, but he suddenly got an urge to shoot and Jason didn’t hesitate to follow his instinct.

Not letting the ball reach the floor, Jason caught it mid-air with a powerful swing of his right foot sending a rocket of a shot at the Leverkusen goal.

The ball flew powerfully at the top right corner of the Leverkusen goal and Hradecky dived for the ball, but was no match for the shot that slammed past his outstretched palm and sent the net bulging.

Seeing the net sent flying, Jason took off down the field and to the sidelines and jumped into a power slide on his knees while making an aiming gesture with his two arms pointed out and one eye closed.

{My word! My word! What a beautiful goal}

{Absolutely magical catching the ball off the volley like that and directing it into the back of the net, giving the Leverkusen goalkeeper no chance at redemption for his defenders’ mistake of letting him get the shot away}

{With that goal, they are that much closer to securing a place in the next round and you can just tell how the fans feel about that} The commentator screamed as the screams of the ecstatic fans tore through the stadium.