Chapter 66: Rather than Dealing with Wang Lie, Deal with Tain

Before Barnabas hurried his cross, no one paid any attention to Wang Lie.

Because he was not the focal point of the match at that moment.

He wasn't even inside the television broadcast frame.

At that time, he was still outside the penalty area, roughly around the edge of the D-arc.

Yet he kept turning his head to look toward the right flank, closely monitoring the developments over there.

Seeing Barnabas throw the ball to Dean, he did not move.

Brighton White Mountain's right-back Amisy Gene even glanced specifically at him, and seeing him make no movement whatsoever, turned his gaze back to the wing.

When Dean passed the ball back to Barnabas, Wang Lie still remained motionless.

It wasn't until Barnabas kicked the ball out that Wang Lie suddenly accelerated, sprinting toward the goalmouth.

By that time, because Gene had to execute a headed clearance, his attention and line of sight were entirely focused on the ball, completely oblivious to the movement around him.

Not even a single teammate shouted a warning to him—because even if someone had spotted Wang Lie charging in, there was simply no time to cry out.

Wang Lie was running far too fast!

A sudden burst of acceleration followed by a towering leap!

It felt as though he were flying!

With such immense speed and tremendous momentum, even though Gene was already positioned right at the landing spot, he was still shoved aside by Wang Lie—he was clipped by Wang Lie's shoulder, lost his balance, and crashed to the turf.

Although Wang Lie's bodily posture in mid-air was slightly twisted as well, he nevertheless relied on his formidable core strength to maintain the stability of his upper body, ultimately enabling him to firmly head the incoming ball into the net!

Having completed the header, Wang Lie released the strength used to steady his body, lost his balance, and plummeted from the air.

He landed right beside Gene.

Yet he quickly clambered back up from the ground, as if feeling no pain whatsoever, and amidst deafening cheers, sprinted toward the corner flag while beckoning Barnabas, who had provided the assist, to come and celebrate the goal.

"Wang—!! A magnificent headed goal! Faced with the thick defensive wall erected by Brighton White Mountain, he used this battering-ram of a header to shatter their gates!"

"Can you believe this is a thirty-eight-year-old player?! Oh my god!"

"During the first thirty-four minutes of the match, Brighton White Mountain subjected Wang to stifling tight marking! Not just man-to-man, but double and even triple-teaming! They successfully held out until now, yet still couldn't stop Wang from scoring!"

"The brace against Haringham was no fluke! The hat-trick against the Scousers wasn't either! Since joining Tyne, Wang Lie has made four appearances and already scored six goals! Among the forwards younger than him, how many possess this kind of efficiency?!"

Cheers shook the stands, and the commentators reached a crescendo.

Everyone knew Wang Lie was formidable, but after bagging a hat-trick in the previous round of the league, he was still able to score in such an unstoppable, brute-force manner despite Brighton White Mountain's tight marking in this match, leaving everyone unable to suppress their surging excitement.

"Damn it! Jacob, I thought your cross was overhit!"

On his way to run and celebrate the goal with Wang Lie, Van Ginkel grabbed Barnabas and shouted excitedly.

Barnabas burst out laughing: "I aimed right at Wang! You were just running a decoy, Mattis!"

He certainly wasn't going to tell anyone that he hadn't even noticed where Wang was right before delivering that cross...

Let them all believe this was a brilliant assist!

Wang Lie opened his arms to the arriving Barnabas: "Great cross, Jacob!"

***

The Tyne players surrounded Wang Lie to celebrate the goal.

Brighton White Mountain manager Patrick Mandeville looked up toward the sky; he was no longer nervous at all, replaced entirely by a profound sense of disappointment...

His tactics had worked, but only for thirty-odd minutes.

And once the goal was breached, those tactics lost their purpose.

Brighton White Mountain had to push forward to attack, meaning they could no longer stack heavy forces near the penalty area to deploy layered defenses against Wang Lie.

Depending on just one or two defenders to handle a red-hot Wang Lie... Mandeville felt like letting out another long sigh to the heavens.

In a football match, the opening goal always profoundly influences the trajectory of the game...

***

Having finished celebrating with his teammates, Wang Lie trotted back to his own half.

Suddenly, a set of golden numbers flickered into view within his field of vision:

35

He paused, not expecting the third rejuvenation to come this quickly...

And... if he remembered correctly, this time it took three goals to grow younger—in the previous match against the Scousers, he completed a hat-trick. Upon scoring his first goal, his body grew younger by a year, but after the subsequent two goals, the system remained completely silent without any prompts.

Therefore, Wang Lie knew that scoring only two goals wouldn't suffice.

As a result, he had only scored one goal in this match, which, combined with those two goals from the last game, made a total of three goals required to shed another year.

Could his conjecture actually be right?

One goal, the first rejuvenation; two goals, the second rejuvenation; three goals, the third rejuvenation... Would scoring four more goals next lead to the fourth rejuvenation?

And then five more goals for the fifth rejuvenation... By extension, who knows, perhaps before next year's World Cup, he could genuinely rejuvenate back to his twenties!

Wang Lie clenched his fists.

Good!

Keep scoring!

***

"Vitini! Vitini! Vitini—!"

Accompanied by the commentator's ecstatic roar, Vitini dribbled the ball deep into Brighton White Mountain's penalty area.

Brighton White Mountain's central defender Andrew Stokeley rushed forward to intercept.

Faced with him, Vitini dropped his left shoulder, lifted his left foot, and feinted as if he was going to flick the ball toward the byline to drive past him.

***

But his left foot merely dangled a dummy behind the ball without actually making contact.

Then, taking advantage of Stokeley losing his balance from the feint, he abruptly used the instep of his left foot to push the ball to the right, cutting diagonally inward!

Stokeley hastily stretched out a foot to disrupt the play while off balance, missed the ball entirely, and instead caught Vitini...

The Brazilian youngster let out a miserable shriek and tumbled inside the large penalty area.

The referee's whistle sounded amidst the roaring cheers of Leazes Park Stadium!

"Vitini has been kicked down! Is that a penalty?!"

"Penalty! Penalty! Stokeley concedes a spot-kick with a foul!"

"Will VAR have a say? Oh, the referee has already pointed to the spot! Penalty!"

"Near the end of the first half, Tyne has won a penalty! They now have a chance to extend their lead!"

Following confirmation by VAR, the penalty decision was beyond reproach.

Stokeley had indeed caught Vitini; Vitini's shriek might have been slightly exaggerated, but his fall certainly was not.

By the time VAR finished multi-angle replays of the slow-motion footage, Wang Lie was already standing in front of the penalty spot, the ball resting at his feet.

Before Wang Lie's arrival, their experienced former world-number-one central defender Katic was the team's primary penalty taker.

Yet ever since Wang Lie arrived, the role of primary penalty taker undoubtedly shifted to him.

At Salford United and in the Chinese national team, Wang Lie was always the primary penalty taker.

There was no reason for him not to be after coming to Tyne.

Thus, seeing Wang Lie standing before the penalty spot now, no one felt surprised.

The penalty decision was undisputed, and Brighton White Mountain players could not endlessly surround the referee to protest; otherwise, one of them would pick up a yellow card, which wouldn't be worth it.

Consequently, the penalty area was quickly cleared, leaving only Wang Lie, who was taking the penalty, alongside Brighton White Mountain goalkeeper Bailey Grant.

And the referee.

The cheers at Leazes Park Stadium were much quieter than when the penalty was first awarded; everyone held their breath, intently staring at the pitch.

They were waiting for Wang Lie to take this penalty.

With a crisp blast of the whistle, Wang Lie took his run-up and struck the ball directly without hesitation!

The ball sped straight toward the bottom left corner of the goal!

This was a shot of exceptional quality, extremely difficult for a goalkeeper to save!

Yet Bailey Grant completely misjudged the direction... He dived toward the right side of the goal!

Leazes Park Stadium erupted into life once again!

"Wang Lie... shoots! It's in!! It's in!! Another brace! This is Wang Lie's fourth appearance since joining Tyne, and his seventh goal! Two braces and a hat-trick! I just want to ask: at his age, who else... exhibits this kind of performance?!"

"GOAL!! Wang! Without a shadow of a doubt! His second goal of the match, his seventh goal since joining Tyne! Based purely on his performances over these past few matches, Wang winning the Premier League Player of the Month award should be a dead cert!"

"Compared to his struggling performances at Salford United in the first half of the season, Wang is now like an entirely different person. It's truly hard to fathom why a year older, Wang is performing even better than before? Moreover, he displayed such superb form the moment he arrived at Tyne, practically bypassing any adaptation period—plug and play! Perhaps, just as he said, as long as he receives love and respect, he can perform brilliantly. And he never got those two things at Salford United... So if Herden had fully respected Wang, and the Salford United club had made Wang feel loved and wanted, then perhaps in the previous round of the league, Salford United could have avoided an 8-0 away thrashing by their arch-rivals the Scousers!"

Brighton White Mountain manager Patrick Mandeville let out another genuine sigh to the heavens this time.

In fact, ever since his team conceded the penalty, he had stood blankly on the sidelines, and when Wang Lie converted the spot-kick, it felt like waiting for the second boot to drop, bringing a strange sense of release instead.

So-called preventive measures, so-called physiotherapy and massages... utterly meaningless!

Before the first half had even concluded, Tyne was already leading his team by two goals...

In the second round of the season, his team had faced Tyne at home.

The result of that match was 2:0, with Brighton White Mountain comfortably taking all three points on home soil.

The exact same team exhibited such a massive gulf just half a season later. All because of a change in manager and the arrival of a new player...

With effects taking hold this rapidly... are these two a miracle cure?!

Mandeville lowered his head and shook it in utter helplessness.

***

"...Wang's header! Blocked by Grant! Alarm bells are ringing constantly in front of Brighton White Mountain's goal now! During the fifteen-minute halftime break, Mandeville didn't seem to figure out a great solution... The ball is cleared away... Ramosa piques the ball to Charlie Cohen. Tyne's left-back has charged into the thirty-meter zone... No one steps up to defend him, Cohen unleashes a long-range shot—it's in!! Wow! Cohen scores! Tyne leads Brighton White Mountain 3:0!"

"...The match has entered the eighty-third minute, and the score remains 3:0, with Tyne leading at home. The outcome of this match is no longer in suspense; Tyne is about to secure their first four-game winning streak of the season, and these four victories happen to coincide with Wang's four appearances for Tyne... Clearly, Wang is the core figure and the clutch player of this Tyne side! Now Wang drifts out to the flank to receive the ball... crosses it in! Ryan—Graham! Header! Great shot! Great shot! 4:0! Tyne has gone berserk!"

"Seven goals, two assists. Crawley is right; Wang is indeed the core figure and clutch player of this Tyne side." Rayan Kochea remarked to his assistant coach Pasqual Molina after watching the complete recording of the match between Tyne and Brighton White Mountain from start to finish.

Molina asked him: "What do you make of his drastically contrasting performances between the first and second halves of the season? Could it really be, as the commentator said, because he failed to receive sufficient respect and love at Salford United?"

Kochea shook his head and curled his lip: "I wouldn't bother making such boring guesses. What good would it do even if we guessed the reason? Can it help us deal with Wang in our next league match? Regardless of the reason, his chapter at Salford United is over and done with. What comes next is Tyne's number 99, Wang. We should seriously study how to handle Wang wearing the Tyne shirt."

"Yet Wang's recent form is frighteningly good..."

Kochea chuckled instead: "To me, Wang at Tyne is actually easier to deal with."

***

"...Over the past month, fueled by Wang's stellar performances, Tyne has achieved a proud four-game winning streak. Their league ranking has climbed from thirteenth to ninth... Relegation is no longer their goal; they might even dare to dream about European qualification..."

"Wang also clinched the Premier League Player of the Month award for February thanks to his five goals and two assists across three matches in February. Wang's brilliant form and Tyne's winning run seem to have created an illusion among Tyne supporters that they are invincible and capable of defeating any opponent... (Note 1)"

"Tyne's supporters seem to have forgotten that the only reason they managed to defeat the Scousers at home was entirely down to Wang's hat-trick. Without Wang, they would have been lucky to escape conceding only two goals against the Scousers... Apart from Wang, they haven't changed at all; they remain that same team of 'mercenaries'... Today, facing Clayton Athletic, they have 'shown their true colors'!"

Commentator Connor Crawley spoke mercilessly, bordering on harshness.

Yet looking at the scoreline on the pitch right now, everyone would be inclined to agree.

In the eighty-sixth minute of the match, Clayton Athletic led Tyne 3:1 at home.

Even factoring in stoppage time with perhaps eight or nine minutes remaining, the outcome of this match was surely beyond doubt.

Standing by the home technical area on the sidelines, Clayton Athletic manager Rayan Kochea said to his first assistant coach Pasqual Molina:

"Events have proven that rather than figuring out how to restrict Wang, it's far better to figure out how to restrict the entire Tyne team. As long as we can disrupt the collective functioning of the Tyne side, the space for Wang to exert his influence will naturally be limited."

Molina covered his mouth and smiled: "Spot on! No matter how formidable Wang is, he's only one man, and football is a team sport. Relying on him alone means he ultimately can't accomplish anything."

***

In this match, unlike the Scousers and Brighton White Mountain who had suffered defeats previously, Clayton Athletic chose not to implement tight marking specifically targeting Wang Lie, but instead restricted the entire Tyne team.

High pressing combined with Clayton Athletic's signature collective possession allowed the game to fall into their rhythm.

And Tyne, stripped of their match rhythm, played in excruciating discomfort.

Whether Wang Lie was stationed right up top as a center-forward or dropping back to orchestrate, it was hard for him to replicate his brilliant displays from the previous four matches.

Or perhaps his form had simply been too explosive over those past four games, leading to overheating, causing him to cool down in today's match with his shooting touch failing to match prior outings.

He registered three shots throughout the match, with only one hitting the target, which was comfortably saved by Clayton Athletic goalkeeper Nathan Dyer.

In the opposing away technical area, McNeil admitted to his partner Vallo: "This is an overwhelming gulf in overall strength; we are simply not on the same level as Clayton Athletic... Apart from Wang, we fall far short of them in every other aspect."

It was a deeply disheartening yet inescapable reality.

Vallo said nothing, merely pressing his lips tight as he gazed out onto the pitch.

He was acutely aware of this fact, but he was in no mood to respond to McNeil.

On the substitutes' bench not far behind him, Vitini, who had been substituted off just three minutes earlier, was covering his face with a towel, unwilling to let anyone see the tears on his face.

Sunny Dean, substituted twenty minutes prior, hadn't even returned to his seat on the bench, choosing instead to sit directly on the ground, leaning his back against the shade pillar of the dugout, staring blankly at the pitch with lifeless eyes.

Not just the two of them; every single Tyne player on the bench looked utterly soul-crushed.

With only a few minutes remaining in the match, and defeat a foregone conclusion, a heavy atmosphere of misery hung over the Tyne bench, forming a sharp and striking contrast to the joyous mood at Ashton Road Stadium.

***

Tommy Biggins received the ball just outside the edge of the Clayton Athletic penalty area's half-space.

The Clayton Athletic player facing him, Kevin Zimmer, did not rush forward immediately.

At this stage of the match, with the outcome decided, Clayton Athletic's players inevitably relaxed.

Biggins even had time to lift his head and survey the situation.

He spotted Wang Lie stationed at the far end behind a crowd of players, turning his head to look directly at him.

He said nothing, did nothing, simply watching him.

Yet through that intense gaze, Biggins fully grasped the message Wang Lie intended to convey:

Give me the ball!

Thus, Biggins swung his leg to cross.

Yet he failed to elevate the ball properly...

It was a miscued cross!

Worse still, as the ball rolled diagonally toward the goalmouth, it clipped the foot of Kevin Zimmer, who had arrived a fraction late to press him, resulting in a slight deflection...

That deflection cleverly bypassed the two Clayton Athletic central defenders in the box and left goalkeeper Dyer completely unable to reach it.

At the same time, it landed slightly further away from Wang Lie than intended.

Yet facing this sudden change, Wang Lie's reaction surpassed everyone else on the pitch!

Seeing the ball veer off its trajectory, Wang Lie instantly burst forward; whereas he had been keeping pace level with the two Clayton Athletic center-backs a moment before, he surged past them like a sharp awl piercing through a pouch!

The deflected ball happened to roll right into his path.

At that instant, not a single Clayton Athletic player was anywhere near Wang Lie!

Even goalkeeper Dyer was still rooted near the near post, having only just turned around, completely unable to rush back in time!

"Wang—Lie!!"

Amidst the gasps of astonishment echoing across Ashton Road Stadium, Wang Lie swung his leg sideways and swept the ball into the back of the net!

Clayton Athletic players immediately raised their arms, appealing that Wang Lie was offside.

Yet the referee delivered his verdict—he spun around and pointed his hand directly toward the center circle!

The goal stood!

"Wang! In the eighty-fourth minute, he pulls a goal back for Tyne! 2:3! Tyne is now only trailing Clayton Athletic by a single goal!"

Dean, who had been sitting despondently on the ground moments ago, instantly sprang to his feet upon seeing this sudden goal and punched the air in triumph.

Vitini also hurled his towel violently to the turf, clutching his chest with both hands as he shouted with a hoarse voice.

The entire Tyne bench suddenly surged back to life!

Having scored, Wang Lie did not celebrate; instead, he bolted straight into the net, scooped up the very ball he had just buried, and turned to run back.

As he ran, he gestured frantically to his teammates, urging them to hurry back to their own half for the restart.

The Tyne players on the bench were also roaring words of encouragement to urge them on.

The match wasn't over yet!

There were still a few minutes left!

Come on!

At the very least, let's not lose!

High above Ashton Road Stadium, the roar generated by the home fans was, for that fleeting moment, actually suppressed by the cheers of the relatively modest contingent of travelling Tyne supporters...

Rayan Kochea and assistant coach Molina, who had looked brimming with confidence on the sidelines just moments ago, now wore tense expressions on their faces. Not waiting for Kochea to give an order, Molina bolted to the touchline, waving his arms wildly toward the pitch and roaring at the top of his lungs:

"Focus! Focus! Stop fucking playing with fire!!"

***

Note 1: Tyne's match against Haringham FC took place on January 31st and was not counted among February's fixtures, which is why those two goals by Wang Lie were excluded.