The fans were absolutely ecstatic!
Up in the stands, Raymond and Foster had already buried the hatchet.
The two old men were drinking and chatting happily together.
"Old buddy, it's been a long time since I've had this much fun!"
"What did I tell you? Andy is absolutely amazing!"
"You were right!"
Down on the pitch, the match restarted, and Schalke 04 was forced to make an early substitution.
Following this "minor incident," Borussia Dortmund inexplicably began to seize the momentum!
In the 60th minute, Andy and his teammate linked up for a brilliant one-two combination on the left wing!
Andy pushed the ball forward with a heavy touch!
Then, like a sports car on a straightaway, he completely blew past his defender on the outside!
"My God! Andy is using his raw speed to completely outpace his opponent on the wing!"
"He's past him!"
"He crosses the ball into the penalty area!"
"Schalke manages to clear it away!"
"But Andy just showed us his unparalleled pace—he was simply too fast!"
Commentator Black sounded like he was rapidly turning into a fanboy.
Andy's teammates in the middle, who had failed to secure the header, still gave him a massive thumbs-up.
Schalke's right-back, Sabah, had been left completely eating dust in Andy's wake.
He felt utterly helpless in that moment! It was practically impossible to catch up!
They were all professional athletes, so their top speeds shouldn't have been too far apart.
But that one-second, or even half-second advantage in acceleration was more than enough to create the space needed to cross the ball.
Andy sprinted back to his defensive zone.
He was well aware of the reality of crossing.
You not only had to deliver an accurate ball, but your teammates also had to time their runs perfectly.
It wasn't something you could easily succeed at on the first try!
But if you try more, you might succeed. If you don't try at all, you never will.
After that explosive run, his teammates began frequently feeding the ball to Andy on the left flank.
Andy used his terrifying speed to repeatedly torture Sabah.
However, the crosses still hadn't yielded a goal.
At this critical moment, Lars, Dortmund's core midfielder, stepped up.
He had been severely restricted throughout this game!
If Andy hadn't been drawing so much attention on the flank, Lars might have already been substituted off due to exhaustion.
High-frequency physical contact was incredibly draining.
In the 75th minute, Lars successfully turned and broke free in the center of Schalke's half!
He immediately slipped a precise through pass forward!
Forward Marvin took control of the ball and surged toward the box!
Unexpectedly, Schalke was prepared!
A desperate sweeping tackle from just outside the penalty area sent the ball flying wildly toward the byline!
"Wow! What a critical defensive tackle!"
"This ball is definitely rolling out for a goal kick... Wait!"
Suddenly, a blur of yellow darted into the camera frame!
It was Andy!
A Schalke player was hot on his heels! It was Sabah!
Andy had suddenly accelerated, and Sabah didn't even have time to think.
His sheer instinct as a defender forced him to chase after the winger!
Are you actually going to try and save this dead ball?!
Sabah cursed inwardly, not daring to slow down for a second.
You're addicted to humiliating me, aren't you? Even if we crash, I'm taking you over the line with me!
Just as the ball was about a millimeter from rolling out of bounds, and everyone thought the attack was dead...
Andy arrived!
He knew he was being tightly marked from behind.
Without a single ounce of hesitation, he executed a rapid turn with incredible flexibility and coordination!
With a deft drag of his right foot, he pulled the ball back, completing a flawless 360-degree spin in an impossibly tight space!
The movement was as graceful as a ballet dancer's pirouette, yet overflowing with explosive power and speed!
The Berbatov Spin!
Sabah couldn't hit the brakes in time and flew straight past Andy, crashing hard into the sideline advertising boards.
Andy, without missing a beat, chased the ball he had just hooked back into play.
The only flaw was that he hadn't perfectly controlled his power, and his touch was a bit too heavy.
Schalke's panicked defenders immediately rushed over to cover, and the goalkeeper shifted his positioning to protect his near post!
As Andy sprinted, he quickly scanned the box for his teammates.
It was a pity—his teammates had likely assumed the ball was going out of bounds, so they hadn't kept up with the play!
With no passing options, he had no choice but to try his luck!
Crap! He's winding up for a shot!
This was the final, terrifying thought in Aldrich Koch's mind as he rushed over to close the angle.
"BANG!"
Andy's thundering shot was successfully blocked out of bounds... directly by Aldrich's crotch!
"God!"
"Andy saved the ball with an impossible piece of skill!"
"That is one of the most beautiful baseline saves I've ever seen! That was the classic Berbatov spin!"
"He's still carrying it into the box!"
"He shoots!"
"My God..."
"I really hope Aldrich... is alright."
Down on the pitch, Aldrich's mind went completely blank. Tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
Who could possibly understand the agonizing, soul-crushing sorrow of his crushed "family jewels"?
The medical team rushed back onto the field and grimly stretchered Aldrich off.
Although Andy technically wasn't at fault for either incident, the referee still stood there and stared at him for a solid ten seconds.
In all his years of officiating, he had never encountered such a bizarrely destructive player.
Andy felt completely wronged. Dude, you used your crotch to block my shot! What were you even thinking?!
On the sidelines, Schalke 04's head coach was absolutely furious, but mostly terrified!
We don't have any healthy defenders left!
After making yet another forced substitution, he frantically yelled defensive instructions to his remaining players.
At that moment, he only had one thought left in his mind: I just hope my players and I can leave this stadium alive.
However, things rarely go as planned on a football pitch.
Dortmund's resulting corner kick was punched away by the Schalke goalkeeper!
But the clearance fell perfectly to Andy, who unleashed a vicious first-time volley from outside the penalty area!
Standing directly in the firing line was Uafero, the center-back who had already lost two defensive partners to Andy's wrath today!
Don't come any closer!
In a moment of pure survival instinct, Uafero suddenly dodged to the side!
He had developed a deep-seated, ingrained trauma regarding Andy's shots.
The horrific fates of his two teammates were still vividly fresh in his mind.
Because of his cowardly dodge, Andy's shot miraculously bypassed the block!
The ball tore through the crowded box and smashed squarely into the shin of his own teammate, Nicolaos!
The ball drastically deflected off his leg and flew straight into the bottom right corner!
Goalkeeper Dominic had absolutely no time to react!
"GOALLLLLLLLLLLL!~~~~~~~~~~~!"
"Nicolaos deflects the ball into the net!"
"It looks like the shot took a massive deflection to wrong-foot the keeper!"
"Regardless of the messy finish, Andy is Dortmund's biggest contributor in this match!"
"Let's remember the name of this young player, number 18, Andy!"
"His performance today has been phenomenal!"
"He has completely dominated this game!"
The commentator was now singing Andy's praises to the heavens, a complete 180-degree reversal from his initial criticism!
Nicolaos celebrated wildly after seeing the ball hit the net!
There was nothing more exciting than taking the lead in a derby!
On the sidelines, interim manager Hans was so excited he practically punted the water cooler!
The assistant coach had to quickly drag him back into the technical area.
The fans in the South Stand completely erupted!
Who would have thought a reserve team match would be this incredibly dramatic?!
As the stadium DJ roared the 2-1 comeback scoreline, the entire Stadion Rote Erde erupted in triumphant song!
However, after the restart, the Schalke players were not as mentally broken as Andy had assumed.
Instead, cornered like wounded animals, they became even more desperate!
The players threw themselves into every tackle with reckless abandon.
Earning at least a draw in the derby was their absolute minimum requirement.
As the old saying goes: "An army driven by desperation will surely fight to the death."
In the 79th minute, Schalke managed to force a spectacular save out of Hendrick, earning themselves a crucial corner kick.
When the corner was whipped in, Max flicked the ball on at the near post!
At the far post, Sabah leaped high into the air, desperate for redemption!
Dortmund's goalkeeper, Hendrick, had a terrible feeling as he found himself out of position!
But at the critical moment, Andy appeared out of nowhere once again.
Despite his lack of height, he launched himself into the air, relying on his freakish jumping ability!
In mid-air, Sabah's mouth made incredibly intimate contact with Andy's rock-hard brow bone.
Blood instantly splattered across the penalty box!
When the team doctors rushed onto the field in a panic, Sabah was standing there with his mouth agape, a dazed look in his eyes, muttering incoherently:
"Where... where are my teeth?!"