Chapter 679: Matchday 36: vs Sassuolo II

{Oh, what do we have here? The referee has blown his whistle and is pointing all the way back to the Uventus penalty box where Raspadori and Sczesny are still lying down}

{The referee seems to be considering the possibility of a foul that led to the goal} the commentator’s words poured cold water on the celebratory mood of the Uventus camp and the players began making their way back to their own half of the field.

The medical team was already rushing out to check on Sczezny’s face and Raspadori’s knee while the referee made his way over to the sidelines to go check the replay with the aid of the VAR monitor.

Almost a full minute passed as the medical team tended to the injured players and the referee checked on the replay, but he was soon jogging back onto the field, having checked the replay.

Sczesny had been going for the ball and had reached it first before hitting Raspadori, injuring himself, but the collision was not less painful for Raspadori either.

Either way, it couldn’t be said to be a foul and the goal would stand and the Uventus players and their fans were happy to know that.

{The goal will stand and the players will be able to continue the game}

{Uventus have the lead and Sassuolo will have to chase from behind. How much more entertainment can this game produce, we’ll find out soon} the commentator said as the players got ready to resume the game.

The game soon resumed with the Sassuolo kicking off the game for the second time in just under ten minutes since the game began.

Falling behind seemed to have awakened the Sassuolo team to the danger that the Uventus team presented and they became more tactical and patient, opting to hold the ball for longer periods instead of making risky plays despite them being the losing team.

For a team like them, keeping the goal difference low was just as important as winning the game was to their opponents. From before the game, they already didn’t have much hopes of winning the game and they weren’t the only ones with doubts about their chances in the match.

In case they weren’t able to win the game, they had to at least keep the goal difference to a minimum to avoid embarrassment and avoid falling too far below on the table.

Also, there was still a lot of time left so there was no need to rush to equalize as that could backfire very fast… as they had already witnessed.

With Sassuolo opting for a patient possession game, the game quickly settled into a back-and-forth of Sassuolo taking their time on the ball while looking for a goal scoring chance and Uventus who launched an attack almost immediately every time they took possession of the ball.

At this point, the Wenger ball tactics that Ramsey had used for so long under legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger began to show as he could always find the right passes to send his opponents into a daze.

Despite his lacking pace, he was never left out on the counterattack and often times, it was the other Uventus players who messed up the attacks he created, unable to keep up with the sudden and drastic change in pace from pressing to counter attack.

Rabiot and Mckennie were more used to patient build-ups and while the forwards could keep up, it was clear that the Uventus midfielders were not good at the spontaneous, counter-attacking football that Rasmey demanded of them whenever he was on the ball.

They were good at what they did, but they were not as attack-minded as Ramsey needed them to be. This wasn’t the same club where Ramsey learned to play like this anyway.

Despite their lacking tiki-taka abilities, they still did enough to control the game and help the attacking attempts of their forwards as much as they can.

#45th minute…

The referee on the sidelines had given an extra three minutes for added time, but despite the first half of the game being almost over, things had not slowed down on the pitch and the players were in fact, heating up even more.

The Uventus team especially… they were on the attack again and had been moving the ball around for almost a full minute as they looked for a way to start an attack.

They had started with passing the ball around in their own half and had slowly begun moving upfield with the ball.

At the beginning of this stretch of possession, their movements had seemed normal, but by the time they had made almost thirty consecutive passes and they were still going with the ball and almost in front of the penalty box, the Sassuolo team finally smelled the danger.

Swiftly moving in to tighten the space, they tried to close up any passing lanes they could see, but the Uventus players were already on a roll and their efforts was wasted.

Mckennie saw the ball passing from Rabiot and before the ball even reached him, he already saw a path towards Ramsey and didn’t have to waste any time on the ball, quickly releasing it toward Ramsey with a little chip to avoid an outstretched Sassuolo player’s leg.

Catching the ball on his chest, Ramsey let it fall to the ground before hopping forward and hitting it with his back heel toward Dybala.

Cutting infield to receive the pass, Dybala began pushing the ball forward, keeping the ball away from his markers.

Nearing the penalty box, he sent the ball towards Morata, who controlled it with the outside of his foot, pushing it slightly to the right, setting it up to shoot, but at that moment, his marker, Peluso, tried to insert himself between Morata and the ball, doing his best to hold him off.

Morata did not want the attack to end with him and went head to head against his marker in a physical battle, but as they neared the ball, Morata suddenly disengaged and stretched out his leg on top of the ball and roll it backwards.

This move took away his chances of hitting the ball at goal himself, but he hoped that one of his teammates was near enough to get the ball instead and his teammates did not betray him.

With the ball rolling loosely a few meters away from the edge of the box, Rabiot who was nearest ran towards the ball as all the other forwards had not been expecting the ball to roll back.

Not hesitating to think, he drove his foot into the ball and sent it flying at the Sassuolo goal.

Andrea Consigli jumped at the ball flying towards him, but he couldn’t get to it in time and the ball slammed past him into the back of the net.

{Ohhhhhhh!!!!}

{What a beauty! At the cusp of half time, Rabiot doubles the lead for Uventus}

{There was no curvature, no finesse, he just put his foot through with it, and this time, power was indeed the answer!} the commentator shouted excitedly, watching Rabiot pump his fist as he reached the sidelines.