Football singularity-Chapter 485 Mainz 05 (2)

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[24]

Wirtz didn't hesitate as he took one touch to steady the ball, and his next touch struck the ball. (THUMP!) A thunderbolt off his right boot, a crisp and clean connection as the ball blazed low and hard through a forest of legs. The Centre backs who had seconds ago tussled with Kevin tried to deflect it, but almost as if the ball had been lubricated with Uncle Tom's elbow grease, it slipped past all of them.

"Florian Wirtz!!!" Derek Rae's voice hit another octave as Zentner dove to his right, but it was too late. "GOOOOOAL!" The travelling Leverkusen fans roared upon seeing the net bulge. They exclaimed at the top of their lungs, letting their joy be heard by anyone within earshot, causing their section to slightly tremble.

"What a finish! What a moment! On his very first Bundesliga start, the teenager fires Leverkusen ahead with a rocket!" Stewart Robson couldn't contain his admiration, but Wirtz couldn't care less as he raced to the corner flag.

Despite the angry home fans just behind the corner flag doing their best to glare a hole into his brain, the teenager did not care in the least. He made a caption motion with the index and thumb fingers on both hands as he sent a cheeky smile into the camera. Moments later, he was surrounded by the rest of his teammates sharing in his joy as he recorded his 3 Bundesliga goal.

[27]

As play resumed, Leverkusen's confidence surged, much to the delight of their fans who could tell the difference. They could feel it in the way the players demanded the ball from each other, becoming more vocal. Everyone seemed to want to get involved in the match, trying their best to affect it positively.

Both Rakim and Bailey started drifting inside more, looking for pockets to exploit as they connected with the passing game of their teammates. Even Wendell and Weiser started pushing higher, their overlapping runs turning Mainz's wide men into part-time fullbacks. Forcing the attack-minded wingers to track back into defensive areas quickly created chaos for their opponents.

[32]

In the 32nd minute, after exploiting a clever overlap on the right flank that forced Karim Onisiwo to chase after the blistering Mitchell Weiser. The winger had speed on his side, but a clever nudge by Mitchell quickly sent him off balance, causing him to become intimate with the ground. The right-back didn't look back and immediately sent a curving cross into the box the moment he reached the side of the box.

The ball curled in with menace, bending away from the keeper and toward the penalty spot. Volland attacked it like a freight train, timing his leap to perfection between St. Juste and Niakhaté. His forehead met the ball with a CRACK, and the sound echoed through the MEWA Arena as if someone had fired a starter's pistol.

"Volland with the header!" Derek Rae shouted.

The effort was powerful, downward, textbook. Zentner was flat-footed for a split second—but that second saved him. He dropped to his knees and got just enough glove to it, the ball ricocheting back out into the crowded six-yard box. Chaos ensued but Demirbay was first to react, poking the rebound goalward again, but this time it smashed into the thigh of Aarón Martín who performed a diving save on the line.

The ball deflected up into the air, spinning, still alive as it dropped. Rakim came storming in, eyes locked onto the ball as his body coiled ready to pounce, only for Ridle Baku to leap into the air and head the ball to clear it away. "That's heroic defending from Baku!" Stewart Robson exclaimed. "Rex was lining that up like it was a Finish Him moment in Mortal Kombat,"

"Hahaha, talk about a blast from the past, Mainz will have to step it up or this could quickly become a one-sided proceeding." Derek Rae intoned as Charles Aránguiz won the loose ball from the feet of Pierre Kunde at the edge of the final third. The holding midfielder did not hesitate as he dribbled forward a couple of steps and unleashed a long-range rocket.

"That is one he will want back," Robson commented as the ball flew off into the stands like a shooting star hitting a poor Mainz fan on the head. "Maybe he slipped, or was simply too eager to let the shot off? Either way, there is no excuse for such poor execution for a player of his calibre."

"You know, as they say, you miss all the shots you don't take, but that is definitely a shot he will quickly want to forget," Rae commented in a light-hearted tone as the midfielder can be seen shaking his head with a frustrated smile. "Peter Bosz will have some questions for him at halftime, considering the variety of passing options that were available to him.

[36]

Mainz, breathing a sigh of relief after surviving a furious five-minute Leverkusen onslaught, tried to settle back into the game. Their captain, Moussa Niakhaté, barked instructions from the back, urging his midfielders to tighten the gaps and maintain composure. Jean-Paul Boëtius, who had been fairly quiet since the opening ten minutes, began dropping deeper, trying to pull strings and shake off Aránguiz's suffocating presence.

It showed an immediate effect in the 37th minute, they finally pieced something together. Edimilson Fernandes stepped in to intercept a pass from Wirtz and immediately laid it off to Pierre Kunde, who this time didn't dawdle. Kunde sent a piercing diagonal ball into the stride of Karim Onisiwo on the left. The winger used his body well to fend off Weiser, cut inside and fizzed a dangerous ball across the face of goal.

"That's more like it from Mainz!" Rae noted with surprise. "A purposeful ball across the danger zone, but no one's there to meet it." Robin Quaison had made a run, but it was a second too late, a half-moment of hesitation that kept the score at 1–0, allowing Leverkusen to dodge the bullet.

[40]

Back down the other end, Rakim had just received a weighted pass up the line from Wendell and immediately decided to increase the pace. With a sharp drop of his shoulder, he sold Baku a dream, bursting past him with a blinding first touch and a quick burst of acceleration that sent the Leverkusen fans into a frenzy.

"Rex turning on the afterburners!" Stewart Robson exclaimed as Rakim crossed the halfway line, ball glued to his feet, defenders rapidly backpedalling like they were caught in reverse. Boëtius lunged in with a stretched leg to slow him down — Rakim skipped past him with a nonchalant outside flick, barely breaking stride.

"Oh, my word… he might just go all the way," Derek Rae chimed in as Rakim's long stride continued to eat up good chunks of yardage.

St. Juste came out to meet him just past the 30-yard mark, doing just enough to slow his pace down, giving his teammates a chance to recover possession. Rakim didn't let him stick around for long, though a quick hem hem saw him drop a double step over causing the defender to lose balance. He tried to regain his balance by stretching out a leg to steal the ball, but it was a second too late.

A nimble but quick Elastico saw Rakim slot the ball through his open legs as he exited the field with a burst of acceleration, reaching the ball just before it could go out. "And he is off to the races," Robson exclaimed as Rakim cut inwards, stepping across St Juste's turning path and forcing him to slow down.

Gasps echoed around the stadium as Rakim entered the final third with options available to him. Volland had cut across to his left, Bailey surged on the far side with blistering speed, but he kept going, narrowing the angle, dragging Niakhaté with him toward the edge of the box.

Niakhaté squared his stance, ready to block whatever Rakim had planned—but the winger merely made a staggered hesitation before sending a diagonal through ball towards the far post. "Leon Baileeeeey!" Rae exclaimed as the winger who had been locked in a foot race with the Mainz left back slid forward feet first.

Using his momentum to sweep into the cross, Bailey connected sweetly with the ball, his outstretched right foot redirecting it toward the roof of the net. "BOOM!" Zentner, already scrambling across his line, jumped into action and flew towards the left side, but the angle of the shot was too sharp. He managed to get a fingertip to it, but the contact wasn't enough, and the ball kissed the inside of the post.

"IT'S IN!" Derek Rae shouted. "BAILEY MAKES IT TWO." The Lavekusn players quickly swarmed Bailey, whose joy could no longer be contained, as he ended his five-game goal drought. The fans let him feel their love by loudly cheering and haphazardly spilling their expensive beers.

[Mainz 0 – 2 Leverkusen]

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To Be Continued...