Escude charged towards the left side too late, the ball rapidly flying past him, with Andres Palop, stationed at the near post, diving sideways to catch air, as the ball flew in front of Palop towards the right, ricocheting off the inside of the post and into the net.
The Meringue crowd, having been suppressed for half an hour, finally let out their first cheer of the day.
They beat the railing of the stands incessantly, roaring as they waved their scarves around.
After allowing Sevilla to be happy for so long, it was finally their turn.
"An elegant strike, Kevin took off with Flamenco Steps down the left side, not even needing to adjust his position, as he effortlessly faked out Sevilla’s defense and goalkeeper with the outside of his boot."
"Like a matador, he twirled his cape, teasing the enraged bull, but no matter how angry the bull got, it couldn’t touch a hair on the finest matador. Sevilla was left to struggle in vain against Kevin, time and again charging at the red cape in his hands, only to die from too many stabs, bleeding out."
"But to die at the hands of such an elegant Kevin is perhaps the best outcome for Sevilla’s lead bull."
After the goal, Huang Kaiwen didn’t celebrate.
He ran into the net to retrieve the ball, jogging back to the midfield circle, and as he passed the referee, he spun 360 degrees, deftly handing the ball over to the referee’s hands.
Main referee Conrad Plautz nodded with a smile.
Officiating a match with such players was also a pleasure for him.
Ever since Huang Kaiwen deliberately skied a penalty in the UEFA Champions League final, his reputation among referees had skyrocketed.
His graceful style in today’s match made Plautz appreciate the experience, and he planned to thoroughly enjoy watching the replay of the game at home after it ended.
Sevilla restarted the game.
Huang Kaiwen didn’t rush forward.
Raul went up to press; Renato quickly played a lateral pass to Navas.
Navas flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot and just as Huang Kaiwen extended his foot, Navas tapped the ball back with the inside of his right foot, squeezing past Huang Kaiwen with a push from his left.
Sneijder rushed up to press; Navas got past both Sneijder and the sideline with a powerful dribble, splitting the two.
De Jong timed his challenge perfectly, getting the ball before Navas could.
Shielding the ball with his body, De Jong waited for Pepe to come up to receive it before hastily passing back.
Pepe carried the ball forward, and as Renato approached to challenge, he quickly sent a through pass.
Boulahrouz immediately blocked in front of Guti, one of their primary defensive targets because Guti was the player who had provided the most assists to Huang Kaiwen.
After two consecutive feints, Guti hadn’t found the angle to pass and could only quickly play a lateral ball.
Sneijder took the ball and nudged it forward, squeezing past Navas, and, spotting the opportunity, he didn’t hesitate to poke the ball with his left foot.
The ball zipped between Boulahrouz and Alves, who were overtaken, and Huang Kaiwen burst past Alves, chasing the ball towards the end line.
Jose Marti swiftly moved to defend by the left side of the large penalty area, with the rest of the Sevilla players running back into the box to defend.
Just as the ball was about to go out of bounds, Huang Kaiwen braced himself on his left foot for a quick turn behind the ball, curling his right foot underneath it.
The ball deftly flew over Marti’s extended leg, rolling along the end line towards the goal.
Escude charged at Huang Kaiwen, and as Huang Kaiwen accelerated along the small box line, he delivered a pass with his right foot; Escude immediately slid to intercept, and Palop crouched low, extending a hand, but the ball passed between the two and rolled towards the left post. Raul swiftly charged to the goal front, and with a slide shot next to Dragutinovic, he sent the ball into the goal.