Football singularity

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[Home Deluxe Arena, Paderborn | 19/01/2020 | Game week 18 | Time: 17:10 | Minute: 33']

The celebrations in the Home Deluxe Arena seemed to last an eternity, with Srbeny finally being mobbed by his teammates near the corner flag. The Serbian striker had given his side exactly what they needed—a moment of magic to reward their relentless pressing and defensive solidity. As the players gradually made their way back to their positions, the atmosphere remained electric, with every home fan on their feet, scarves raised high above their heads.

[33]

The restart was met with thunderous applause still echoing through the stands, the home crowd sensing blood in the water. For all of Leverkusen's technical superiority, they had been rocked—rattled by a side playing with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Leverkusen tried to gather themselves, shifting the ball with intent from flank to flank.

Demirbay and Havertz began to take on more responsibility, dropping deeper to collect possession and initiate transitions, but the weight of Paderborn's press only continued to intensify. Since their strategy had paid off, it was only natural for them to continue doing what worked. Leverkusen slowly tried to claw back control with a more physical play style, forcing their opponents to battle for the win.

The ball zipped from Bender to Baumgartlinger, then to Demirbay, who looked up and fired a piercing diagonal to Bellarabi on the right. The veteran winger took it down with finesse and darted at Jans, who was already limping from an earlier clash. With one explosive burst, Bellarabi ghosted past him and fired a dangerous low cross into the box—but Kilian was there again, stoic and sturdy, cutting it out just in time.

Moments later, another opportunity fell to Volland after Havertz squeezed a clever reverse pass through a sliver of space. Volland unleashed a shot just outside the D, but it lacked conviction—Zingerle collected it without fuss.

[39]

In the 39th minute, Antwi-Adjei once again used his electric pace to burn past Lars Bender on the left. Cutting in sharply, he teed up Srbeny with a crisp ground pass into the box. This time, Srbeny's first touch let him down, and Jonathan Tah was quick to recover, muscling the striker off balance before he could fire.

"He got a little too eager in that one." Derek commented as the Leverkusen players calmly re-established control of the ball.

"Well, can you blame him? He's already tasted the sweetness of scoring," Robson commented with a light smile. "Nonetheless, at his level, he needs to be more composed."

Despite the Leverkusen players seemingly waking up from their daze, their opponents were sharp when it came to winning second balls. Gjasula and Vasiliadis were everywhere, intercepting, pressing, and launching quick outlets to the wings. Their energy was infectious; even the fans in the stands could feel it.

[43]

Havertz tried to pull something out of nothing just before the half, weaving through two midfielders and slipping into the space in front of the box just behind the midfielders. He turned away from danger and spotted Diaby cutting into the box on the left. Diaby timed his run to perfection, darting between Dräger and Schonlau as Havertz threaded the needle.

The through ball was inch-perfect, meeting Diaby's stride just as he stepped into the box. The Frenchman didn't hesitate—he wrapped his left foot around the ball and fired it across goal, hoping to catch Zingerle off guard or find a teammate ghosting in at the far post. Volland lunged, cleats grazing the turf as he extended, but the ball flew just ahead of his outstretched boot and skidded out the other side untouched. A collective gasp rose from the away end as they once again breathed a sigh of relief.

"Leverkusen are finally starting to look like themselves again, but is it a little too late for this half?" Derek asked as the home team restarted with a short goal kick.

[45+1]

The referee glanced at his watch and signalled for a single minute of added time. Leverkusen pushed forward with urgency, sensing one last opportunity to level the score before the break. The ball circulated quickly through their midfield triangle, Demirbay, Havertz, and Baumgartlinger trying to find an opening.

On the far touchline, Bellarabi shifted into space, hugging the line before slipping a pass into the half-space for Demirbay, who shaped to cross. His delivery was a lofted cross meant for Volland, but once again, Kilian rose like a tower, nodding the ball clear with assurance. Paderborn looked to spring the counter from the clearance as Antwi-Adjei gave chase to the loose ball.

He blew past a backtracking Demirbay before being clipped, or more precisely, overrun by Baumgartlinger. The Defensive midfielder had his arms raised throughout their contact, letting his body stop Antwi-Adjei, who was off balance. The free kick was taken short as Baumgart's men looked to retain possession and drain the final seconds. A few seconds later, the referee powerfully blew his whistle twice, bringing the first-half proceedings to an end.

[HALF-TIME: Paderborn 1 – 0 Bayer Leverkusen]

~~~

Anxiety poured through Peter Bosz, like some sort of electrical storm roiling in his brain as he followed the proceedings on the pitch from the away tactical area. It was already the 55th minute, 10 minutes into the second half, and yet the game was not proceeding according to plan. He had never been a superstitious person in his entire life.

But for the first time ever, he started doubting the world, wondering whether one of his players had recently attracted bad luck from somewhere else and passed it on to the team. He couldn't find a plausible explanation for his team conceding so soon into the second half. Starting from the very first minute of the second half, they'd managed to begin mounting a series of relentless attacks on Paderborn's box.

They fired shots from every angle, making it almost seem like a World War two carpet bombardment. His players had played some good football, exchanging passes with quick precision as they bore down on Molde's goal. They'd clearly been the better team and outclassed Paderborn in all areas on the field of play.

Be that as it may, the gap between them and the home team had been extended by one more goal. It came through a corner kick when the clock on the big screen had just indicated that it was the 50th minute. Peter felt like the entire world was working against his team when Kilian rose a head above the pack to powerfully head the ball into, the back of the net.

[Paderborn 2:0 Leverkusen]

[50]

"KILIAN RISES—AND PADERBORN DOUBLE THEIR LEAD!" Derek Rae's voice cracked through the din as the centre-back's bullet header smashed in off the underside of the bar. "Home Deluxe Arena is in absolute raptures—2-0, and Leverkusen have a mountain to climb now!"

Stewart Robson picked up the thread once the replay rolled. "Text-book set-piece execution, Derek. Vasiliadis whips it into the perfect zone, Kilian sheds his marker, and times the jump superbly. You can't give a defender of that size a free run—Baumgartlinger loses him completely."

"Look at Baumgart on the touch-line—fists pumping, veins popping. He knew if they nicked another early, the momentum would swing even further their way," Rae added as the camera caught the Paderborn coach roaring at the South Stand.

On the opposite bench, Peter Bosz turned away, in distress as he entered firefighter mode, trying to find a Band-Aid to stem this bleeding. Arms crossed, he barked a single order to the substitutes behind him—Rakim Rex and Nadiem Amiri were up and loosening hamstrings before the restart whistle even sounded.

The second goal had jolted Leverkusen like a splash of ice water. This forced Bosz to make early changes following the game restart. Following a throw-in, the fourth official signalled to the referee of the two substitutes who were already waiting at his side. The board was raised a moment later, signalling that Rakim Rex was replacing Bellarabi on the right, and Nadiem Amiri for Baumgartlinger, with Demirbay sliding back beside Havertz in a single-pivot 4-1-4-1.

Rakim's entry into the match was warmly received by the away fans in attendance and watching from behind screens. However, most thought that it was little to as the momentum had firmly shifted towards their opponents. "Oh, he might fancy a pop from out there and he strikes..."

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To Be Continued...