"GOAL!!!! No one expected FC Köln to be pressing Wolfsburg in attack! An excellent header! Now FC Köln has taken the initiative! Let's see how Wolfsburg responds!"
Head coach Dieter Hecking looked at his team's breached goal, feeling helpless about their defense. Despite his repeated emphasis, they had conceded goals at the start of both halves for three consecutive games, which was simply unbearable!
Just as Dieter Hecking, whose heart ached with anger, was mercilessly scolding the defensive players on the field from the sidelines, FC Köln, after restarting the game and regaining possession through aggressive pressing, was preparing to launch another offensive.
Svento delivered a powerful cross from the wing towards the goal. Wolfsburg's center-back Naldo headed the ball away before Ujah could reach it.
The ball fell to Gustavo, who had tracked back. Gustavo controlled the ball, turned, adjusted slightly, and passed it horizontally to Guilavogui. Guilavogui immediately dribbled forward after receiving the ball. Wolfsburg's counterattack officially began.
Seeing his teammate dribble forward, Snuffy, who was in the center circle, observed his teammates' positions while quickly surging forward.
Guilavogui made a diagonal pass from the midfield line, sending the ball to Perisic, who had already run to the left corner of FC Köln's penalty area.
After receiving the ball, Perisic tried to cut inside, but the opposing full-back Olkowski remained very calm. He did not actively press, simply blocking Perisic's path for an inside cut, daring him to try and beat him outright.
At this moment, Perisic knew that his chances of a successful solo breakthrough were slim, and the opponent's midfielders were already tracking back and preparing to double-team him.
Seeing Snuffy, who had already run into the six-yard box, he decided to take two more steps towards the wing, creating space, and then delivered a low, flat pass directly to Snuffy, who was already in the box.
The ball was a bit fast. Snuffy, with Maro on his back, twisted his body and nudged the ball towards the goal. The ball traced a faint arc, grazing the right post and entering the net!
"GOAL!!!! It's Snuffy again, equalizing for Wolfsburg! Six minutes after FC Köln scored, Snuffy found the equalizer for Wolfsburg with a tap-in!"
After scoring, Snuffy rushed to the stands where his parents were sitting and made a heart gesture towards their location.
Snuffy's mother and Snuffy's father were also incredibly excited, cheering and jumping with their colleagues and fellow fans for their son's goal!
The game restarted. FC Köln, having conceded a goal, appeared somewhat cautious, retreating their formation to their own half, clearly unwilling to engage in an attacking battle with the in-form Wolfsburg.
Snuffy's recent goal also told them that an attacking approach against Wolfsburg was not a wise choice. There was a clear disparity in strength between the two sides; a disciplined defensive counter-attack was their best option!
It proved how difficult it is to break down a team that doesn't want to win! For the remaining nearly thirty minutes of the first half, Wolfsburg relentlessly bombarded FC Köln's half.
They had a total of 12 shots, four on target, but still no goals. Opponents who "park the bus" are always a headache and frustrating!
In the second half, Wolfsburg changed their tactics, no longer blindly pressing high and besieging the opponent. Snuffy and Perisic took up positions between the opponent's defensive line and the midfield line.
The remaining four midfielders constantly passed the ball around the center circle, trying to entice the opponent to press high, creating space and time for the forwards who were surrounded in the middle.
They passed the ball around the center circle for about ten minutes, but the FC Köln players seemed to have figured out Wolfsburg's intentions. No matter how much they were enticed, as long as Wolfsburg didn't push forward, FC Köln would firmly stay in their defensive zone.
Directly lofting high balls to Snuffy was ineffective; two or three opponents surrounded him, preventing him from winning the first header, as he was immediately marked by defenders.
Forward passes were also consistently intercepted by FC Köln players. Out of helplessness, Snuffy and Perisic also dropped back to the midfield line to receive the ball, preparing for a strong breakthrough.
In the 74th minute of the match, Snuffy and Perisic, after dropping back, charged together towards FC Köln's left wing. Halfa blocked Perisic's path, and Snuffy, following closely behind Perisic, directly bypassed him and continued to run forward.
De Bruyne, before Snuffy bypassed Halfa, delivered a long pass to the space behind Halfa. Snuffy easily received De Bruyne's pass and cut inside from the left side of the penalty area into FC Köln's box.
Snuffy faced FC Köln's full-back Olkowski one-on-one. After a slight upper body feint, he accelerated, leaving Olkowski in his dust, who could only watch as Snuffy accelerated with the ball towards the onrushing goalkeeper.
Looking at the goalkeeper charging towards him, Snuffy subtly nudged and pulled the ball with his foot, deftly evading the goalkeeper. Facing an open goal, he gently tapped the ball with the inside of his foot, immediately turning around. Without waiting to see the ball cross the goal line, he ran directly towards the stands where his parents were seated.
He performed a long slide on his knees, with three stripes, and while sliding, he again formed a heart shape towards the stands.
"GOAL!!!! Wolfsburg's second goal, again from their team's new star, Snuffy! His coordination with Perisic bypassed FC Köln's midfield defense, and then he directly left the opponent's full-back Olkowski in the dust! After dribbling past the goalkeeper, he scored into an empty net!
Oh, poor Olkowski, tonight he will dream of being left in the dust like that. I hope he doesn't have nightmares!"
"Three games, seven goals, who can stop him! My goodness, this is a crazy performance! At an age of less than 17, if he can continue to maintain this, no! If he can score ten more goals in the second half of the season! Next year's Golden Boy award will definitely be his!"
The moment Snuffy put Wolfsburg ahead, all the media following the match went wild. This little guy, kept so tightly under wraps by Dieter Hecking, this teenager for whom almost only match videos could be found online, aroused their unprecedented curiosity with his passionate performance.
Not only the media, but also Wolfsburg fans wanted to know everything about their superstar.
The scouts from various clubs, attracted by Snuffy's brilliant performances in the previous two games, had all sent reports to their respective clubs: strong physique, superhuman explosiveness, astonishing speed and body coordination, a two-footed wonder equally adept with both feet, exquisite and powerful shooting, star-level dribbling and ball control, and decent heading ability.
Apart from long and short passes, tactical awareness, and positioning being slightly lacking, he had still reached the Bundesliga standard.
He could break through and shoot, was fast, and had strong physicality, and most importantly, he was not even 17 years old. He was simply a future superstar in the making! If he scored a total of 20 goals, including those in the second half of the season, that would already be the performance of a superstar! That's a goal-per-game ratio!
Currently, in the entire Bundesliga, only Lewandowski comes close to a goal-per-game ratio, and only those two freaks, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, can match or exceed it!
In any League, forwards who can score more than 30 goals in a season are absolute mainstays for top clubs and superstars in the football world! Forwards with twenty-plus goals in a season can even become a Golden Boot winner in one of the Top Five Leagues!
And now, Snuffy, at only 16 years old, is already showing signs of reaching that level of performance. How could these scouts not be excited? They were practically itching to call their teams on the spot and urge them to snatch him from Wolfsburg during the winter break!
Back on the field, FC Köln, having fallen behind, was forced to engage in an attacking battle with Wolfsburg after the restart.
Since both attacking and retreating meant death, it was better to fight fiercely than to be stifled defensively! What if they could even score another goal? It wasn't impossible!
Seeing FC Köln press forward again, Wolfsburg's players were on high alert, and even Snuffy rushed back to participate in defense.
The game was in its final stages. They had only just managed to take the lead, and they couldn't let FC Köln equalize again.
Without even needing a reminder from Dieter Hecking on the sidelines, the players on the field instinctively began to play a defensive counter-attacking game. FC Köln's attacks, one could say, were entirely up to fate.
Several long-range shots from outside the box were typical "hit and hope" efforts, either going wide or soaring over the bar. There wasn't even one shot on target.
Conversely, Wolfsburg's counter-attacks were effective. Vieirinha, Perisic, and Snuffy were all excellent counter-attacking players, incredibly fast and each possessing passing ability.
Coupled with De Bruyne's precise long passes from behind, which could find anyone he aimed for, they instantly wreaked havoc on FC Köln's defense.
Before the final whistle, it was Snuffy again, on a counter-attack, who received a long pass from De Bruyne and dribbled all the way to the edge of the opposing penalty area.
Facing Maro's tackle, he nudged the ball with his left foot to Perisic, who was running alongside him, then pulled wide to the right to force Maro to defend him.
Perisic, one-on-one with the opponent's last center-back, passed the ball horizontally to Vieirinha, who was surging through the middle. With no one in front of him, Vieirinha struck the ball directly into the net with a powerful shot.
"GOAL!!!! Vieirinha's goal completely killed the suspense of the match! Wolfsburg fans can now celebrate the upcoming Christmas with peace of mind!"
After Vieirinha's goal, FC Köln completely lost their spirit, and both teams played out the final few minutes without much intensity.
When the final whistle blew, Wolfsburg fans at Volkswagen Arena began to celebrate wildly.
The coaching staff and first-team players held hands and ran from one end of the field to the other, bowing to all four stands to thank the fans for their support throughout the half-season!
Thus, the first half of the 14-15 Bundesliga season concluded. Wolfsburg finished the first half with a record of twelve wins, two draws, and three losses, accumulating thirty-eight points, seven points behind Bayern Munich, who had fourteen wins and three draws, placing them in second position in the standings.
Undoubtedly, this was a very successful half-season, and after the winter break, they would embark on a new journey.