章 158: Chapter 158: Lost Both the Wife and the Soldiers
Chapter 158: Lost Both the Wife and the Soldiers
Just as the referee, Skomina, was about to blow the whistle to stop the game, Bruno suddenly halted his forward rush and leaned back, crashing backward.
Safar was tightly pulling Bruno's jersey. Suddenly feeling the release of forward momentum from Bruno, he immediately lost his balance and, due to inertia, surged forward.
Just as Safar and Bruno's backs collided, Safar immediately felt the force of Bruno's backward motion, propelling them apart.
At that moment, with his balance compromised, Safar instinctively released Bruno's jersey, trying to stabilize himself by placing his hands on Bruno's back.
It was then that Bruno swiftly surged forward, breaking free from Safar's grip!
Having escaped, Bruno charged forward, dribbling the ball into Basel's penalty area!
In the box, Basel's center-back Susi was shocked. He hadn't expected Bruno to break free from a double team under such circumstances, successfully turn around, and evade Safar's foul play to charge forward.
Susi hurried to meet him.
Facing Susi, Bruno, at high speed with the ball, made a sudden change of direction, effortlessly bypassing the recklessly advancing Basel center-back!
"Change of direction! Beautiful! He's past him!"
"On a breakaway!"
The journalists in the media stand at St. Jakob Park exclaimed in unison.
Basel's other center-back was caught up battling Udinese's captain, Di Natale, who was putting up a tough fight, holding off the larger and physically imposing Fabian Schär, and preventing the Swiss international from breaking free.
Basel's goalkeeper Vasic, seeing Susi go to intercept, was on high alert. He wanted to charge out but hesitated, hoping his fellow American center-back could block Bruno!
Seeing Bruno smoothly pass the last defender, Vasic knew he couldn't hesitate any longer; he immediately left his line to confront Bruno.
As Bruno faced the oncoming Vasic, he slightly slowed down, swinging his right leg.
"This must be a feint!" Vasic judged, deciding not to dive, only to widen his eyes as he saw Bruno's swinging leg strike the ball without any deception.
"Thump!" A dull sound echoed as Bruno's foot solidly connected with the ball.
Vasic realized his error too late; he heard the thump clearly, a sound that filled him with despair.
The ball rocketed towards him, arriving almost instantaneously, leaving no time for Vasic to react; he could only instinctively raise his hands as the ball flew past him, the wind from its passage brushing against him.
Then, he even heard the ball, driven by massive force, strike the back of the net, the impact noise continuing without decrease.
Goal!
"GOOOOOOOOL!!!"
In the 9th minute of the game, Bruno broke free from a double team, entered the penalty area, bypassed another player, and fired a powerful shot, breaching Basel's goal once again.
The visiting stand at St. Jakob Park erupted in jubilant cheers from Udinese fans.
Bruno, watching the ball hit the net, was exhilarated and sprinted towards the visiting fans to celebrate the goal.
With such an early and commanding lead, the match seemed secured for the day!
Udinese players also swarmed in.
"The goal is in! Udinese's counterattack is successful! The scorer is Bruno Fernandes!"
"Just nine minutes into the game, and Udinese has already taken a two-goal lead on foreign soil!"
"This Udinese team is in explosive form!"
"Ohhh! Such a beautiful and spectacular goal! Bruno escaped the clutches of Safar and Elneny, broke into the penalty area, and despite Safar's foul attempt, nothing could stop him! Then, in the box, he bypassed another defender and faced the goalkeeper's advance to score. Basel's Vasic had no chance at stopping that ball!"
Seeing Bruno score such a spectacular goal, Udinese's coach Guidolin led the charge from the bench, pumping his fists in celebration; the goal was not only beautiful but crucial.
Basel, as the Swiss league's dominant team, is no pushover, especially at St. Jakob Park, a ground where they have shown significant resilience. In the previous two seasons, major English clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea faltered here, missing out on the Champions League knockout stages.
For Udinese, grabbing an early lead was critical.
While Udinese celebrated the goal, the Basel players gathered around one of their own lying on the ground in the penalty area.
It was Safar, the Basel left-back who had just been bested by Bruno.
Soon, Basel players signaled for medical assistance from the sidelines.
As the medical team entered the field, the previously jeering home crowd quieted down, puzzled and concerned, trying to understand what had happened.
The stadium's big screen replay soon clarified the sequence of events.
It turned out that after breaking free from Safar, the unbalanced left-back could not find his footing and fell. During his awkward fall, the Swedish defender also twisted his ankle.
As Bruno surged forward and scored, Safar was sitting on the pitch, his face twisted in pain—both from the psychological impact of being outmaneuvered and the physical pain.
Knowing the situation, Basel players called the medics onto the field.
After a quick on-field assessment by Basel's medical team, the prognosis for the unfortunate Swedish left-back was grim; the ankle twist seemed to have resulted in a fractured lower leg.
A stretcher was then called onto the field.
The medical team quickly stabilized Safar's leg and then lifted him onto the stretcher.
By this time, the Udinese players had finished celebrating and returned to the field.
Seeing the Basel players huddled together, they initially thought they were appealing to the referee. However, seeing the stretcher and medical team, they realized a player was injured.
Learning that Safar might have fractured his lower leg in the fall caused them to shake their heads in disbelief. They had underestimated the intensity of Bruno's confrontation with Safar, dubbing Bruno nearly beast-like in his robustness.
Their looks towards Bruno changed somewhat.
Bruno himself was somewhat speechless; the opponent's left-back was indeed terribly unlucky to have fallen and broken his bone in such a manner.
He also approached to express his condolences to Safar, which moved Safar and made him feel somewhat embarrassed, as he knew his injury wasn't Bruno's fault—it was merely a normal physical contest on the field.
Beside him, Elneny was profoundly frustrated. He and his teammate had double-teamed Bruno, not only allowing the opponent to score but also causing a teammate to break a bone—who could they blame?
As the game resumed, Basel's morale was visibly affected. On one hand, being two goals down in less than ten minutes was even worse than their previous match at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid. On the other, witnessing a teammate's serious injury gave them a feeling of mourning.
On the field, Basel's fighting spirit was significantly dampened.
On the Udinese side, having an early two-goal lead also allowed them to breathe easier. Subsequently, Udinese players were noticeably less aggressive in their attacks.
Thus, the remainder of the first half passed in a relatively calm state, with Udinese heading into the halftime break leading 2:0.
As the second half began, Basel, revitalized, intensified their attacks.
Udinese, after their initial surge, seemed unable to play as cohesively.
With Bruno closely marked by Basel, Udinese had to adjust their formation slightly; Kante fell back, and Alan moved slightly forward, forcing the Brazilian midfielder to take on some of the organizational responsibilities.
However, Alan has been criticized by the media and pundits for his lack of imaginative play in offense, often resorting to passing backward due to a lack of forward vision and courage.
Additionally, with his physical capabilities not being exceptional, Alan struggled against the robust challenges from the opponents.
Basel, on their part, adjusted their tactics timely under coach Paulo Sousa. They began to press forward, a risky offensive strategy, but necessary for Basel who could not afford to lose this match.
With the support of their home fans, Basel initiated several offensive attempts.
Ivorian international Die had moved up near the penalty area; he managed to evade the intercepting Cancello and attempted to loft the ball into the box.
Alan was marking him, and struggling in physical confrontations, chose to commit a tactical foul by pulling Die down.
Referee Skomina blew the whistle, verbally warning Alan, then awarded Basel a free kick just outside the penalty area on the wing.
Xhaka stood over the ball. His corner kick flew into the box, where Basel's tall forward Streller prepared to head the ball at the far post. Udinese's goalkeeper Canizis moved to intercept the ball at the near post, aiming to pluck it from the air.
However, Canizis misjudged the trajectory of the ball significantly; he moved to intercept but missed the ball entirely as it slipped past him.
Streller at the far post had almost given up, thinking the ball would be caught at the near post. Unexpectedly, the ball flew towards him, hitting him on the head then awkwardly redirecting into the net.
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