Greatest Of All Legends-Chapter 772: Heart III

{It’s Oporto about to make a substitution. A triple substitution at that}

The assistant referee had the board in the air, displaying numbers one by one.

First, Olivera was coming off for Vitinha, then Uribe came off for Viera.

In one go, Conceicao had replaced the team’s two midfielders.

Clearly he was looking for more energy in the center to move the ball across the field quicker and with more control.

Since neither Vitinha or Viera was highly physical, he was clearly giving up a lot of defensive strength, but he trusted that they could balance things out with control instead.

Finally, Diaz began walking to the sidelines, receiving a lot of applause from the fans as he walked to the sidelines.

He had been involved in the two goals that the Oporto team had scored already and though he was being taken off, the Oporto fans weren’t against the manager’s decision thanks to Jason coming on in his place.

Adjusting his shirt, Jason high-fived Diaz before jogging onto the pitch and taking position on the left flank. The fans welcomed his presence on the pitch with applause and cheers, but despite appreciating all that, Jason was focused on the game that had just resumed with a freekick for Oporto.

Slimani had been caught offside earlier which had given Oporto the chance to make their substitutions.

At the referee’s whistle, Pepe passed the ball to Viera, who with a smooth flick, redirected the ball to Vitinha who was right beside him.

Receiving the ball with his right foot and turning as if to charge forward to the left, the two Lyon players behind him read his movement and tried to move first only to be stunned when Vitinha pulled the ball back and turned the other way.

Smoothly turning after escaping the two players, VItinha began charging forward, moving toward the right side of the field, but the players he dodged earlier had recovered and began chasing him from behind.

Added with the players he was running toward, he would soon be surrounded if he didn’t change his path.

With a deft kick, he passed the ball to Conceicao on the right flank who in turn passed the ball back infield to Viera. There were too many players in his corner and he didn’t have the confidence to take them on.

Receiving the ball once again, Viera turned left looking for other options and he easily found Jason who had moved infield to support.

Viera quickly sent the ball toward Jason despite seeing the Lyon right back behind him.

The Lyon right back stuck to Jason from behind, blocking him from moving backward and waiting for him to receive the ball so he could take it from him, but Jason instead let the ball almost roll past him before stretching out his leg, catching it and flicking it further down left.

Pushing away from his marker, Jason raced after the ball, catching it before it rolled out for a throw-in and kicking it further down the left flank.

The Lyon right back was already giving chase, but he barely managed to keep up. Luckily for the defender, Jason had run a bit too wide at first, allowing the defender to change his running path slightly and try to catch Jason when he began trying to cut back in.

Before reaching the left side of the box, Jason began cutting back in, slowing down as he realized the Lyon right-back had caught up to him and he brought reinforcements with him.

Slowing down even more, Jason did a couple of stepovers, waiting for the guy to tackle. The guy was clearly overeager and Jason was going to use that to his advantage.

He didn’t have to wait long as the guy soon put a foot forward when Jason got close enough, but with a slight push to the right to escape his range, Jason evaded the tackle, got past him and cut back to the left, running right behind him down the penalty line as he avoided the other Lyon defenders.

Finally, he whipped a cross into the penalty box for his waiting teammates.

{Taremi!!!}

With a strong leap to reach the ball, Taremi tried to reach the ball, but despite reaching it and directing it toward goal, he couldn’t apply the power needed to send it past the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper was able to get to it with a leaping save.

{Good goalkeeping!}

{He was needed there to keep the ball out and he did just that}

{Oporto looking more a threat merely a minute after their last substitutions. Bringing on a creative and highly technical player is bound to change the game, but to bring on three of them?}

{Clearly the Oporto manager is not happy with the status quo. It feels like he’s pulling out all the stops and saying we either win or lose today}

Taremi waved an apology to Jason and the others as he backed out of the penalty box, but no one took the wasted attempt to heart.

With a powerful kick, the Lyon goalkeeper sent the ball flying into Oporto’s half of the pitch. He needed the ball to stay as far away from him as possible, especially with all those tekky players that had been subbed on.

Jason especially had the luck of having the Lyon goalkeeper keep an eye on him and give out orders to the other players to block his path whenever Oporto was in possession.

#75th minute...

Viera tried to find Jason with an incisive pass into the penalty box and Jason raced to catch it, barely reaching it first, but the young right back was on him again, hassling and pushing, forcing him out of the box and all the way to the sidelines before he was finally able to push away and turn back.

With the throw-in line right behind him, he stopped and faced the right back.

Playing around a bit, he faked a kick but the young right back stayed upright and on guard, not wanting to give Jason the chance to dash past if he committed to a tackle.

Seeing the guy not bite, Jason stopped moving entirely, just enough to let the guy relax, but not enough to cause tension to build.

His feet staying in place, he moved his upper body left and right like he was trying to decide where to go.

Jason’s indecisiveness seemed to lull the guy into a small sense of security and he relaxed a bit, but at that instant, Jason whose upper body had turned to the left suddenly flicked the ball to the left and burst forward, running past the guy on the outside.

The rightback immediately gave chase, catching Jason before he made it into the penalty box and pushing him off the ball, sending him to the ground.

The Oporto fans immediately called for a foul.