Chapter 538: Flaying Lazio III
The referee quickly arranged the players outside the penalty box, not bothering to listen to the Lazio players who tried to downplay the tackle.
His decision was already made and no one was going to change it, much to the excitement of the Uventus fans who were already jumping around on their seats as Morata stepped back from the ball.
After ensuring that everything was in place and all the players of both teams, apart from the penalty taker and the opponent goalkeeper, the referee put his whistle to his mouth and blew loudly.
As soon as the referee’s whistle blew, Morata ran up to the ball and hit it deftly, sending it flying at goal.
The ball flew toward the bottom right corner, which was the direction the Lazio goalkeeper had guessed the ball would come at, but the ball moved too fast for him to even get a hand to it, and by the time he reached the ball’s path, it had already gone past him and smashed into the back of the net.
{He puts it away with poise and perfection!}
{Three for Uventus! Two for him!}
{What a comeback from Uventus! What powers of recovery!}
{They started from behind and are now two ahead!}
The commentator was still talking when Morata reached the sidelines, jumping into the air with a fist pump.
The Uventus fans screamed excitedly as they celebrated alongside him, uncaring for their opponents, who now had to watch this wanton display of excitement without being able to do anything about it.
Luckily for the Lazio players and their fans, the Uventus players didn’t jubilate for too long, and the game soon continued.
After going two ahead, Uventus did not give up on scoring but became a bit more conscious of the ball.
They did not easily burst forward on the attack so as to avoid losing the ball, which was very annoying for the Lazio players, who spent more than half the time chasing the ball.
If they ever retrieved possession, the Uventus players would descend on them like possessed demons, wanting to wrestle the ball back and forcing them to move it quickly.
This prevented the Lazio team from forming a rhythm, so apart from a few sudden counter attempts that ended with a saved or a deflected shot, Lazio had nothing to show for the next twenty minutes after they had gone two goals behind.
At the eightieth minute, the managers of both teams had already made a few substitutions, and a few other substitutions were also being prepared to come on.
Jason was on the sidelines, jogging a bit and warming up after the manager had told him to get ready to play for a few minutes.
After a quick warm-up, Jason pulled off his training vest and met the manager for final instructions.
Seeing Jason arrive, Pirlo put an arm on Jason’s shoulder and said in low tones, “You’re going to be subbed on for Dybala.”
The manager’s words immediately made Jason look up in confusion as Dybala was currently playing as a striker, so the manager said he would play as a striker for the few minutes he would be on.
‘Was this a tactical thing, or was the manager testing something,’ Jason wanted to ask, but the manager didn’t give him any time to speak.
“In the center, I want you to drop back a little bit behind Morata so you can receive the ball and then take it forward,”
“You can take it through the center, the left, or the right; just take it forward and make sure it stays in their half of the field,”
“This is majorly for time wasting. I don’t want us to give them any chances even to get one back, and keeping the ball in their half of the field is the best way to do that,”
“However, since we also want to defend, only some of the midfielders can move up the field to support you and help you keep the ball, so what I want is you making an attempt to score anytime you can,”
“Don’t only focus on wasting time. If you see a chance, take it,” the manager quickly told Jason his plan while signaling to the assistant referee that he wanted to make a substitution.
Jason nodded, enlightened about the manager’s tactics but still wondering why it had to be done from the striker position.
He could do the same thing on the flanks if the manager wanted, but there was no point in asking, so he waited on the sidelines for Dybala, who came jogging over.
Giving him a high five, Jason ran onto the field while Dybala stepped off, clapping to the crowd while the crowd also applauded his efforts on the pitch.
{It’s Jason who comes on. He’s been in fine form of late, managing three goals and three assists in the last three Serie A games}
{There’s only about ten minutes left in this game, but I wouldn’t put it past him to extend his record here} the commentator said as Jason ran onto the field, whispering the manager’s instructions to the relevant players and they also moved to tell the others.
The Uventus fans were already cheering Jason loudly as he came on, with some of them chanting,
*”And Jason makes it four. He’s going to make it four,”*
Jason smiled as he heard their words. It was funny that they already believed he would score a goal when he didn’t even know what he was doing on the pitch yet.
The ball hadn’t even touched his leg yet.
The Uventus fans did not seem to notice the wry smile on his face; they just kept on singing as if they could see the future.
The match had already continued while the Uventus fans were singing.
With a corner kick from the Lazio team, the ball was sent flying into Uventus’ 18-yard box, but the Uventus players had been alert and the ball had been quickly cleared and the ball was sent forward.