Chapter 56: Tang Ye's Quick Free Kick!

【At 37, you lead your team against the formidable foe PSV Eindhoven; two goals in the 78th minute narrow the deficit to a single goal!】

【Reward: Counterattack Points *10】

【Bonus Reward: Counterattack Points *10】

3:2!

Tang Ye's goal reignites the tension in a match that had seemingly lost all suspense.

Cocu never expected Utrecht to be so tenacious.

Not only Cocu, but even Ten Hag himself hadn't anticipated this.

Tang Ye can still score!

Feinting and stepping on the ball to toy with the opposing defender; when Lazy Pig gets serious about playing football, he's actually quite handsome!

"Come on! Come on!"

Ramselaar claps incessantly.

Right after scoring is when Utrecht's morale peaks, and also the perfect moment to press the attack!

"PSV!"

Boom! Boom!

"PSV!"

Boom! Boom!

The home fans begin applying pressure; Ten Hag now only regrets not playing at home.

Because if this were a home game for Utrecht, the momentum from the goal combined with the fans' roaring might just create a real chance to equalize!

What a pity!

Entering the 84th minute, Utrecht controls the ball in their own half while PSV's three forwards sprint forward simultaneously.

Utrecht faces a severe dilemma in distributing the ball!

"I've got it, I've got it!"

Tang Ye observes as he runs back, using agile movement to deceive Maher and Guardado, successfully finding space between himself and Kleiberg.

Kleiberg quickly passes the ball out, successfully breaking through PSV's high press!

"Perfect!"

Ten Hag raises one hand: "Pass it out, hurry and pass it out!"

Tang Ye doesn't hear Ten Hag's words; he only knows he must seize this opportunity, so he dribbles forward and accelerates.

"To me!"

Ramselaar calls for the ball from Tang Ye, who immediately distributes it to him.

But Locadia acts very dishonestly, using his body to ram Ramselaar, causing the Utrecht captain to lose his balance.

The referee decisively blows the whistle!

"A tactical foul during defense, though the action wasn't very obvious; Locadia didn't receive a yellow card..."

"No big deal, PSV's players are very clever."

"Wait!"

Just as the players on the field are watching Ramselaar get up from the ground, Tang Ye secretly runs to the side of the ball.

Touching the ball with one hand, he immediately kicks it into the front field!

This is a rule in football: if a foul doesn't require the referee to blow the whistle for a restart, and the referee hasn't shown a card, the team in possession can take the kick by touching the ball with their upper limbs.

This is exactly what Tang Ye is doing now!

"Tang Ye takes the quick free kick!"

"Great power behind it, Haller!"

"Holy crap, Haller has controlled the ball!"

"Don't mess around, damn it!"

With the clock now past the 85th minute, seeing Haller inexplicably gain a one-on-one opportunity sends the livestream viewers into a panic.

"Aaaahhhhhh!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep beep beep!"

Screams and fake whistles erupt from the stands; Haller, having controlled the ball, quickly moves toward the goal.

Defenders could arrive at any moment; he needs to shoot immediately!

The goalkeeper charges out!

Haller slows down!

Shoots!

"The... the ball is in..."

The livestream falls silent while the fans at the stadium have all risen to their feet.

【Holy hell...】

【This quick free kick has completely dumbfounded PSV, damn it!】

【Awesome!】

【The streamer didn't believe in Tang Tang Qiuwang; this is the price of doubting Tang Tang Qiuwang!】

【A narrow one-goal lead, yet now possibly winning by two? Streamer, why is the score 3:3 now?】

【Thank goodness Laozi didn't bet on this match.】

【Tearing up, Brother Meng is in peak form, carrying Utrecht forward on his shoulders.】

【Tang Ye: I helped you all earn so much money, yet you don't believe in me? Spit it all back out!】

"Tom!!!"

Allé's face was flushed red as he sprinted toward Tang Ye.

A goal in the 86th minute!

This was an equalizer, an absolute equalizer!

The players had originally intended to celebrate at the corner flag, but Tang Ye didn't want to run that far, so he stayed in the center circle.

Allé, the goal scorer, ran toward Tang Ye.

As a result, all of Utrecht's players rushed to the center circle.

"Tang, beautiful! That's an equalizer!"

Amrabat grabbed Tang Ye's head and bumped his own forehead against Tang Ye's.

So damn exciting!

"Waste time, waste time! There are only a few minutes left!"

Ramselaar seized this opportunity to remind his teammates to celebrate for a bit longer.

He could see that Tang Ye was nearly exhausted; he truly couldn't keep playing!

Utrecht's players celebrated wildly; by the time the next kickoff occurred, it was already the 89th minute.

Three minutes of stoppage time ended.

"Beep, beep-beep—!"

The match concluded; Wang Chao, unlike usual, did not emphasize the score to his livestream audience.

His face now looked ashen as death!

【This is the price one must pay for not believing in Brother Meng!】

……

After the match, thanks to his two goals and the equalizing assist, Tang Ye was awarded the Man of the Match.

It was the same glass-shaped trophy.

This was the second glass trophy Tang Ye had received!

Meanwhile, in the press room at Philips Stadion, Ten Hag sat on the stage, facing nearly fifteen journalists from various Dutch football newspapers.

"Congratulations on securing the equalizer in this match. Thanks to this equalizer, you maintained your position at the top of the standings afterward, which is truly no small feat. Erik, as the head coach, what are your thoughts on today's match?"

Ten Hag took a soft breath through his mouth, adjusting his posture slightly as he sat: "Hmm, earning one point was indeed not easy, but I feel we still didn't perform quite well enough today."

"Hmm?"

Ten Hag's words captured the attention of the journalists below: "3–3 against PSV Eindhoven—isn't that scoreline good enough?"

"Yes."

Ten Hag nodded: "The opponent played very well in the first half, but I believe that in the second half, we became the protagonists of the match. We had many chances; right at the start of the second half we created opportunities. Had we converted those, the scoreline should have been 3–4, or even 3–5."

"Clearly, we were actually the side more likely to win, but our opponent got lucky."

The journalist's eyes widened: "Then may I ask why you initiated the counterattack in the second half?"

"I devised the tactics. At halftime, and again during the second half, I had the substitute Sofyan deliver notes to the players on the field; I emphasized attacking matters with Tang."

Ten Hag shrugged: "In the end, he indeed brought out the attack."

The journalist was somewhat surprised.

They hadn't expected Ten Hag to play such a significant role in today's match.

Oh, right!

"Before the match, you declined to comment on receiving the Coach of the Month award. Now that the match has concluded, could you please address that question? This is your first individual honor since taking charge in the Eredivisie."

Ten Hag nodded: "Coaches who contribute more to the team often receive more votes, but I want to say that all of this is simply what I ought to do."

……

(End of chapter)