Sanremo City Stadium.
San Remo hosts the league’s fifth-placed strong team, Catania, at home.
Thirty-eighth minute of the first half.
The entire stadium is silent.
Meanwhile, the Catania fans are cheering.
Catania takes the lead, one to zero.
"We can see, this isn’t a case of being crushed by strength. Vedian lost the ball, and then Catania launched a counterattack. San Remo’s midfield isn’t cohesive enough, they made a mistake, and Catania’s midfield delivered a very threatening through ball!"
"Lu Yang is defending two players and has done his best, he actually managed to break the attack and completed a perfect defense. But... another San Remo central defender failed to secure the first drop point and instead set up the ball for the pressing forward, one-on-one, goal!"
"This was a goal full of coincidences. Lu Yang’s defense was already excellent, but today it seems God favors Catania."
The commentator appears somewhat helpless.
This conceded goal was indeed influenced by time and fate.
To be fair, the addition of Lu Yang and Morici has already brought substantial changes to San Remo’s defensive line.
In the first twenty rounds of the league, San Remo conceded a total of forty-six goals, averaging two point three goals per game.
This is certainly a rotten defensive line.
But in the recent two games, San Remo has conceded only three goals, and one of them when neither Lu Yang nor Morici was on the field.
Also, in the post-game statistics, the interception numbers for Lu Yang and Morici were impressive.
At his current rate, if he can play the remaining matches healthily, he might even be eligible to compete for the Italian D League season’s tackle king or interception king!
Isn’t that terrifying?
Such outstanding players, the fans simply can’t criticize them.
But... what the San Remo fans want is victory.
When the entire stadium fell silent, cheers erupted from the South Stand of the San Remo Stadium.
He’s waving a homemade San Remo team flag.
Behind him, dozens of devoted fans followed his chants.
This spirit of unwavering support in adversity soon inspired the entire audience.
"Lu Yang, save the match!"
"Morici, we’re waiting for your assist!"
"Vedian, breakthrough, breakthrough!"
The voices of the fans reached the field.
The San Remo players had newfound motivation to fight.
They haven’t lost, and there is still a long way to go in this match!
Before the end of the half, Lu Yang used the same old trick, and together with Morici, they almost perfectly replicated the passing wall from the previous match, creating a lethal opportunity.
From over thirty meters outside the large penalty area, Lu Yang launched a powerful shot into the sky, then suddenly it dropped rapidly.
A perfect cannonball, perfectly suppressing the football.
This is Lu Yang’s Rapid Descent Shot.
However, Catania’s veteran goalkeeper is experienced. He had researched Lu Yang’s shots beforehand and sees him as a player with regular long-shot abilities, not just someone lucky as rumors suggested.
So he was fully prepared.
And during the save, he deliberately controlled his urge to dive fully, choosing a half-kneeling block instead.
This, before the ball descended, seemed like giving up on the save.
As long as the football flies in a normal trajectory, this save would definitely miss.
However, the football descended rapidly.
It was just blocked by the half-squatting goalkeeper.
The fans wailed in unison.
Sotu on the sidelines took out his notebook to record.
He is closely observing Lu Yang. In fact, he has his own thoughts about Lu Yang’s position. But before implementing, he needs to comprehensively assess Lu Yang’s abilities in all areas.
In terms of long shots, Lu Yang’s Rapid Descent Shot is very stable. This way of shooting, which almost never sends the football flying, ensures that as long as Lu Yang’s aim is decent, the ball will certainly hit within the frame, posing a threat.
This is much better than players whose shots are like sending the ball skyward.
But this shot also has its flaws.
That is, the descending arc is relatively predictable.
This isn’t caused by the Rapid Descent Shot technique itself, but by Lu Yang’s own limitations.
He lacks enough foot power, so while he has the technique for the Rapid Descent Shot, it lacks power, giving goalkeepers time to judge.
If Lu Yang had enough foot power and shot speed, goalkeepers would not be able to react and would just follow their initial judgment without thinking.
But now, the opposing goalkeeper clearly has time to think.
For a moment, the theory of Lu Yang’s true versus false talent resonated in Sotu’s mind.
Is foot strength something that can be trained to improve?
Tom suddenly jumped up beside him.
Sotu looked to the field, and the football was already lying in Catania’s goal.
And Vedian was running towards Lu Yang, celebrating wildly.
"Oh! Vedian, it’s Vedian again, he didn’t disappoint, scored on the rebound!"
"Lu Yang’s shot was extremely tricky, the goalkeeper couldn’t possibly control the ball, only parried it away. But Vedian, from the moment Lu Yang shot, resolutely charged into the penalty area, and his efforts paid off."
"According to the Italian D Division rules, Lu Yang has now recorded another assist!"
"And Vedian has successfully tied Arnold’s goal tally, sharing the top spot on the Italian D Division scoring chart with Arnold!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel(ꜰ)ire.net