Become A Football Legend

"What the hell was that?!" Toppmöller asked angrily as he walked into the dressing room, unbuttoning his coat. "You think a 2-goal lead is comfortable, huh? What was that in the final 10 minutes of the half?"

Toppmöller was pissed because of the team's performance after the second goal. It was like they stopped trying to move forward and just passed the ball around the midfield.

Ekitike's shot, which led to the penalty, and the subsequent penalty kick were the only two shots taken by Eintracht Frankfurt in the last ten minutes of the first half.

"It doesn't matter who we are playing, how many goals we lead or trail by, you all have to remain switched on! A two-goal lead with still an hour of football to play, and you think the game is over? Not on my team!"

Toppmöller knew his team didn't just need the three points, they needed to get it in emphatic style in preparation for the next two fixtures. What he had seen on the pitch after the second goal was a kind of mentality he wanted to rid from his team.

"Oscar," he said, turning to Oscar Højlund, "I need you to move the ball forward quicker. If you see Uzun making a run, try and find him."

Højlund nodded at his coach's words before adjusting his shin pads.

"Hugo, you already know the drill for a missed penalty. 50 conversions from the spot in tomorrow's session."

Ekitike gave a bitter smile, still unhappy about his miss that should have sealed the game in the final minute of the first half.

After a few tactical adjustments from Toppmöller, Buck clapped his hands. "Alright, boys, we go out there and we put two more through them in the first 20 minutes of the second half to seal the game."

The players walked out of the tunnel with very serious expressions, while Lukas headed to the bench.

"Lukas, go warm up," coach Zembrod said just as Lukas was sitting down, and he stood right back up with a smile.

"And off we go for the second half. Eintracht lead 2-0 at home, but Kiel will be bolstered by their performance in the last few minutes of the first half," Harder said as Ekitike kicked off the second half.

"Oh, you can hear the noise in the stadium as their teenage sensation comes out for a warm-up. Sidelined for 2 weeks due to a knock to his ankle by the end of last month, these fans will have said their thanks when they saw his name in the match squad. He's had arguably the best debut month of any player in living memory with 7 goals and 6 assists in 6 games in all competitions. They have absolutely fallen in love with him here."

"You're right, Moritz, they will hope he maintains even just half of last month's output, but I think that's a tough ask for anyone, let alone a 16-year-old in the Bundesliga."

Lukas applauded the fans back occasionally as he jogged and stretched to prepare himself for the match.

On the pitch, the situation hadn't changed.

Holstein Kiel, after having regained hope from the last minutes of the first half and an even more fiery speech from Marcel Rapp, their coach, were pressing like their lives depended on it.

They fought the battle in the midfield fiercely, and they weren't losing as heavily as they did in the beginning of the first half.

In the 48th minute, Dähne launched the ball into the midfield from a goal kick. Gigovic and Højlund both went for the ball, but the Bosnian was able to head it towards Holtby down his right.

Højlund went down, but the referee waved play on, as the player wasn't clutching his head. Holtby sent a pass down the right-hand side to Porath, who was already in Eintracht's final third.

"Porath bulldozing his way down the pitch. Frankfurt's defense is backpedaling. He has two options to find in the box, but he decides to go for glory himself. Blocked by Tuta. Oh, fortuitous rebound back for Porath— Beautiful save from Trapp. The ball comes to Porath again... Saved again by Trapp. A fourth rebound— and it's a goal! Kiel are back in this game! Even Porath cannot believe his luck. The ball kept coming back to him like his name had been written on the score sheet already."

The Frankfurt players on the pitch, as well as the staff on the bench, threw their hands up as they pointed at Oscar Højlund, who was on the ground.

They were claiming a foul in the buildup of the goal.

"The VAR is taking a look. But from what we're seeing on the replays right now, it seems Højlund just lost his footing as he fell rather than Gigovic pushing him. They both went for the ball legitimately, and he was unfortunate to land with the side of his foot. The on-field decision of no foul is gonna stand! The goal will stand!"

The away fans celebrated again as the medic attended to Højlund, who was lying on the ground.

"Tell Lukas to get ready to come on," Toppmöller said to Buck, who called Lukas back to the technical area.

"Oh, you can hear the applause from the home fans. Lukas Brandt is going to come on for Oscar Højlund, who has been ruled unable to continue. We hope it's nothing too serious, but I believe the applause is more for the incoming player rather than the outgoing one," Harder said.

Down on the touchline, "Go get 'em," Højlund said as he and Lukas tapped each other on the back before Lukas ran onto the pitch for kick-off.

"Lukas Brandt, the youngest Bundesliga player of the month, back from an ankle injury. Oh, how much this crowd must have missed him in the past couple of games. Yet to NOT WIN a league game he has featured in."

Uzun dropped deep to cover Højlund's position while Lukas took his position.

The whistle blew, and Ekitike kicked the ball to Götze to restart the match.

Götze played the ball back to Kristensen due to the Kiel midfielder bearing down on him.

Kristensen rolled the ball to his right foot and sent a chipped pass towards the edge of the Kiel box, where Ekitike was already waiting.

Ekitike, with his back to goal, jumped and, with his chest, laid the ball perfectly for Lukas, who was running towards it.

"Ohhh just wide! You can see why they missed him. First touch after coming on and he almost volleys the ball into the top left corner," Harder said as Lukas shook his head with a smile, slapped hands with Ekitike, and ran back to the midfield to prepare for the goal kick.

"I thought I caught that well..." he thought as he backed up. He was so sure the ball was heading for the top corner when he hit it, but it veered just so slightly off course, scraping the crossbar as it went out.

He didn't dwell on the missed chance, though, as he was completely immersed in the game a second later.

It was like he had injected extra life into the pitch. Frankfurt's passing became crisper and seemed to gain purpose. The midfield became almost unplayable as Lukas occasionally dropped down to link up play with Larsson and Uzun.

One time he received the ball from Kristensen with two players bearing down on him from behind, and without even looking to see where his teammates were, he used the outside of his boot to redirect the pass.

The ball went through Gigovic's legs to find Uzun, who tried to thread a pass to Ekitike, but it was overhit as the goalkeeper comfortably collected the ball.

Harder: "You can almost feel the change to the game since the 50th minute when Brandt came on. You try to press this kid in the middle of the pitch, and he just embarrasses you. It's insane the amount of composure he has on the ball for someone so young."

Volz: "The awareness too. To play in the middle of the pack, you have to know where everyone is 360 degrees around you. It's like he has eyes at the back of his head."

In the 67th minute, Collins played a pacey ground pass right down the touchline to Götze, who had to run to stop the ball from going out of play for a goal kick. Götze managed to keep it in, but he soon had company in Porath and Komenda.

Just behind Porath, he saw Lukas in space and raised the ball over Porath's foot to Lukas.

Lukas received the ball with his back to the penalty box but turned swiftly.

Two touches later and he was just at the right edge of the box with Komenda and Zec trying to close the shooting angle.

He feigned the shot but only nudged the ball, and Komenda fell for the fake.

He raised his leg to shoot again. This time, Zec fell.

"Brandt... Brandt... He can shoot... WOW! Beautiful!"