Neuer was a bit bewildered at this point.
He found that some players seemed very friendly on the surface, always smiling.
When they shook hands just now, he seemed very sincere, with clear eyes, clearly an honest kid.
How could a 15-year-old boy from the East have any ill intentions?
Facts proved...
This guy is simply rotten to the core!
I'm talking about you, Chen Tao!
Are you messing with me?
Damn it!
In front of all the Germany fans, Neuer angrily took off his gloves and threw them on the ground.
Even Schalke 04 fans were stunned; it was the first time they had seen Neuer so utterly defeated.
The reason was that goal just now; it was simply too insulting!
When Chen Tao literally used an "acrobatic" dribble to get past defensive midfielder Fabian Ernst and found a shooting opportunity in front of the penalty area.
Schalke 04 defenders temporarily couldn't get forward to disrupt him, so Chen Tao decisively took a volley.
Looking at his shooting posture and state, the Schalke 04 players were almost in despair.
It was clearly a powerful long-range shot with extreme speed!
Goalkeeper Neuer was equally vigilant; the moment Chen Tao took his shot, he had already made a judgment and moved quickly, intending to dive for the save!
Chen Tao must have been aiming for the right side of the goal!
Dortmund fans cheered simultaneously the moment the shot was taken, everyone anticipating a spectacular world-class goal.
But then, in front of 80,000 spectators and millions of fans watching on television,
The moment Chen Tao touched the ball, he suddenly felt something wasn't right.
A bit awkward, he miskicked the ball!
Originally, it was supposed to be a instep shot to the lower-middle part of the football, creating a standard knuckleball.
Chen Tao even slipped a bit the moment he kicked the ball, and he couldn't get any power into it at all.
"It's over!"
What a waste of such a brilliant dribble!
The kicked ball was like a shot from an elementary school student, soft and weak, flying high towards the goal, seemingly about to fly directly over the crossbar.
Chen Tao was already mentally prepared to be mocked by everyone,
His damned shooting skills still hadn't improved.
The next second, Neuer, however, overreacted and made a save to the right.
He watched helplessly as the football floated erratically, slowly falling towards the goal line, bouncing weakly twice on the grass, just bypassing Neuer's foot, and sneaking into the net.
The cheers of Westfalen abruptly ceased; everyone in the stadium was stunned by Chen Tao's goal.
Even commentator Sauer didn't know how to describe it.
"Chen Tao—a powerful long-range... What??"
"Emmmm... It went in like that? My God, oh hahaha, that's too ridiculous..."
So Neuer was completely defeated; he believed Chen Tao did it on purpose, deliberately to make him look foolish!
Such perfect dribbling moves before, such exquisite ball control, and talent practically overflowing.
Who would believe that his shooting was worse than an amateur player's!
He was clearly just messing with me!
As the Schalke 04 players were momentarily stunned, the Westfalen Stadium finally erupted with cheers for the goal.
No matter how ridiculous Chen Tao's shot was,
The fact is, it went in!
Chen Tao, starting with 2 assists and 1 goal, was indeed Dortmund's lucky star and the team's true leader!
The match director also understood, immediately capturing a huge banner in the South Stand.
"The Savior from the East! Leading BVB to victory!"
In the television footage, there was a close-up of Heinrich's family.
"Look! We're on TV!"
Aunt Maria shrieked with excitement, pointing at the big screen.
"It's true!"
Uncle Hans embraced Aunt Maria and kissed her.
The surrounding fans were all laughing and cheering them on.
This scene was also faithfully recorded by the camera, with only Anna in the corner of the frame covering her face, wishing she could hide far away.
"Oh my God... How embarrassing."
Her father actually treated the camera like a Kiss Cam; it was one thing for an old couple to be so affectionate at home, but why were they like this outside too.
...
After scoring, Chen Tao was stunned; he spread his hands, indicating he couldn't understand.
Was this the kind of enhancement for shooting?
Using the most pathetic shooting technique to score the most mystical goal?
"No, this isn't cool at all; I'll have to study it carefully later."
His hands-spread celebration was seen by the Schalke 04 players as a typical show-off from Chen Tao!
How ill-mannered!
The miners' players were all gritting their teeth in anger.
The Dortmund players didn't care about that and rushed forward to embrace him in celebration.
Hummels even hugged Chen Tao's head, roaring wildly in his ear.
"Geil!! Geil!! Awesome!"
Chen Tao quickly pushed Hummels away, nearly getting sprayed with his saliva.
"The match isn't over yet! Let's put in more effort and win it!"
"BVB! BVB!"
Under Chen Tao's leadership, the Dortmund players regained their morale.
After the kickoff, Schalke 04 clearly felt their opponents were pressing and running more actively, making them harder to deal with.
"Chen Tao has a lot of charisma; he has clearly become the backbone of the team."
Dick Fuhren couldn't help but exclaim.
How did a young player on loan manage to make the entire team respect him and willing to listen to him?
Thomas Doll just stared silently at the field, lost in thought.
The way Dortmund was playing now was completely different from his pre-match tactical setup.
The previous steady midfield penetration style was clearly not suitable for the intense Ruhr Derby.
Now the players found that as long as they passed the ball to Chen Tao, he could dominate the game.
"Dortmund's attack once again goes to the right wing, Chen Tao receives the ball and dribbles forward..."
"Beautiful! An easy change of direction to get past Levan... I've lost count of how many times Levan has been beaten."
"Dribbling past the midfield line, Chen Tao is still observing, deliberately slowing down... Good ball! Transferred to the left side!"
Schalke 04's defensive focus had all shifted to the right side,
Everyone was glaring and rushing forward, eager to tackle Chen Tao,
But his sudden pass broke the balance, the ball diagonally crossing most of the field to precisely find the left flank!
"Delron Buckley!! He's unmarked!"
The entire stadium erupted in enthusiastic applause,
Chen Tao's ingenious pass was like a swordsman effortlessly thrusting a sword at an incredible angle!
It was simply impossible to defend against, directly piercing the flank!
South African left winger Delron Buckley received the ball, easily cut into the penalty area, and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot to the far corner!
Schalke 04's defense was completely shattered by Chen Tao,
Only Neuer was still desperately holding on, attempting a diving save.
But he could only watch in despair as the ball curled past his fingertips and into the net!
"Gooooaaalll! What a beautiful combination!"
"In the 79th minute of the second half, Dortmund scores another goal to extend their lead!"
"4-2!!"
"Chen Tao completes a hat-trick of assists; he has already achieved 10 assists and 4 goals in 8 appearances this season! Full throttle!"
"Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that a 15-year-old Chinese teenager on loan from Arsenal would become Dortmund's only antidote!"
How could commentator Sauer not be excited seeing such an imaginative and talented pass and transfer!
He wished he could bestow all praise upon this young man from the East,
Watching him play in the Bundesliga was simply a pleasure!
The Schalke 04 players were already numb.
Trailing 2-0, then equalizing 2-2, Schalke 04 had originally thought they could achieve a comeback and defeat their arch-rivals away.
But this stadium had become the stage for a one-man show by the Chinese player.
Every time he touched the ball, it would cause a roar from the entire stadium, and every performance would bring a standing ovation.
Schalke 04 had clearly become his backdrop.
Coupled with the after-effects of their fierce pressing 60 minutes earlier, Schalke 04 had completely lost the stamina to press in the final 10 minutes.
They conceded defeat in this Ruhr Derby.
Chen Tao was also close to his limit at this point.
Stamina remained one of Chen Tao's weakest links.
Before, he always came on as a substitute, so there was no pressure on his stamina.
Starting today and playing until the 70th minute, he was almost unable to run anymore.
High-intensity running, coupled with physical confrontations and flashy dribbling, consumed the most energy; even adults couldn't endure it, let alone a 15-year-old kid.
Chen Tao was currently relying entirely on willpower.
As long as the ball didn't come to him, he would try to recover his stamina by walking.
When the ball was passed to him, Chen Tao also found it difficult to use explosive power for quick starts after a breakthrough.
At most, he could use his skills to toy with the opponent and buy some more time.
"There are only a few minutes left in the match, and time is running out for Schalke."
"Chen Tao, he is still very active on the right wing, maintaining possession despite being triple-teamed..."
The commentator was stunned.
The ball was passed to the right touchline, and Chen Tao, despite being defended by three players, held onto the ball tightly and wasn't dispossessed.
The opponents had long since substituted the underperforming Levan and Pandèr,
These two, having been repeatedly exploited by Chen Tao, would likely see their post-match media ratings drop below 5 points.
Only defensive midfielder Fabian Ernst remained on the field from the starting lineup.
With a yellow card to his name, his eyes were filled with rage; he had long been provoked by Chen Tao.
Now Chen Tao was shielding the ball on the touchline, constantly pulling the ball and dodging tackles, even attempting to turn and break out of the triple-team.
"Fuck it!!"
Fabian Ernst was seeing red! He wasn't going to hold back anymore!
He grabbed Chen Tao's shoulder and executed a wrestling throw!
"Oh my God!!!"
Amidst the gasps from the entire stadium, Chen Tao was brutally slammed onto the ground.
The most infuriating thing was that at the moment Chen Tao lost his balance, he actually used a freestyle football move to hook the ball up and kick it to Nuri Şahin nearby!
"That ball!!! Play on, the referee didn't blow the whistle!"
"Brother!!"
Nuri Şahin was almost in tears; his teammate had risked his life to draw multiple defenders and still managed to deliver a brilliant pass, he couldn't waste it!
Şahin, unmarked, made a beautiful through ball to Alexander Frei in the penalty area.
The Switzerland international scored with a single strike!
5-2!
Only then did the referee rush to the sideline, first checking on Chen Tao's condition, then raising his hand to show a yellow card to the offending Fabian Ernst.
"Two yellows make a red! Fabian Ernst is sent off!"
Commentator Sauer gloated.
How could the world's most intense derby not have a red card!
"Chen Tao, by himself, took out three Schalke players! He's practically a player killer!"
Little did Sauer know, he was not only a player killer but also a coach killer.
With this crushing defeat as the catalyst, head coach Mirko Slomka was officially announced to be sacked two weeks later.
...
At this moment, Chen Tao was still painfully lying on the grass, and team doctor Frank rushed onto the field to check him.
There was no major injury for now, just some painful bruises.
"Chen Tao, are you okay?"
"My back, my back..."
Chen Tao quoted the classic line from Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man.
Seeing that he could still joke, Frank felt relieved.
If anything happened to Chen Tao, his sister Anna would be very upset.
Head coach Thomas Doll, seeing the situation, simply used his last substitution to replace Chen Tao.
To prevent Schalke 04 players from going berserk and retaliating maliciously.
When Chen Tao left the field, the entire stadium erupted in enthusiastic applause for over a minute.
Commentator Sauer couldn't help but exclaim:
"Chen Tao, in his first Bundesliga start, delivered a perfect performance!"
"The Westfalen Stadium welcomes their king's triumphant return!"