Fweeet
Right as the whistle sounded, Ryo went back to being completely focused. They had scored first, but now the real fight was beginning.
He could already see the changes in the opponent's faces. Their eyes burned with a renewed vigor, determined to take home the victory.
Ryo smiled to himself. Alright, let's see what you can do.
From kickoff, the shift was obvious. Takayama pressured them with ferocity, hounding Ryusei's midfield, while their defense stayed disciplined and compact. Ren, in particular, was constantly shadowed, marked so tightly that he could barely turn without a defender breathing down his neck.
With their offense limited and their midfield busy handling Takayama's attacks, Ryusei could not convert their position. Whenever they broke up an attack or intercepted a pass, there was no clear route forward. Ren and Ken were isolated, forced to recycle the ball backwards or risk losing it. Each buildup fizzled out before it gained momentum.
They've completely reinvented their playstyle, Ryo thought. Was it their captain who orchestrated this?
Number 10—Takayama's captain—was their center forward and responsible for leading their attacks. If he had truly changed how they were playing, then he was a big threat to Ryusei.
They went from playing loosely around their positions to a sharp spear that could penetrate Ryusei's strong defense.
Their 3–4–3 formation was an attack-oriented formation that promoted aggressive play. Ryo knew this, so when he saw that Takayama didn't maintain pressure, he took advantage of the space to target their weak defense with a long pass.
But now they were playing optimally for their formation, and their constant pressure was slowly pushing back against Ryusei's defense. And under enough pressure, even the strongest walls would crumble.
The floodgates were opened.
Takayama burst through the cracks in their defense along their right flank. They were able to weave through two of Ryusei's midfielders, and four players—three strikers and one midfielder—were bearing down on the defenders. It was an even four-on-four, so the attack was extremely threatening to Ryusei.
However, Ryo wasn't going to watch their defense get trampled. He had been focused on the ball, so the moment Takayama broke through the midfield, Ryo immediately sprinted back to support Taiga and the other defenders.
I'm not too worried about leaving the midfield… but will I be able to reach the action in time?
He was following closely behind the attack, but if they didn't slow down, he had no chance of stopping them.
Meanwhile, Ryusei's defenders held their formation; they knew they had to slow down the attack to buy time for their team. Grouping tightly together, they intercepted the attack as it approached the goal box.
"Don't get pulled out!" Taiga shouted. He was the left-most defender, and since the attack came in from the right, he was positioned close to the center of the pitch.
Takayama's captain didn't hesitate as he approached the defenders. Instead of facing them head-on, he cut across the center, trying to free up more space on the flanks for a potential breakthrough. His goal was to spread the defense thin while they struggled to cover each player.
But as soon as he cut across, he realized a problem in his strategy—the defenders weren't being drawn out. They didn't care about the flanks being open when keeping the center guarded was more important.
The captain hesitated slightly before completely changing his strategy.
"Let's push through them!" He shouted, passing the ball to the left. One of the strikers had retreated slightly from the defense, and he was in an ideal spot to receive a pass.
The striker who received it found himself pinned, a defender blocking every path forward.
"Pass it back!" The captain commanded, realizing his teammate was stuck. He was closing in on the defensive line, and the attacker, listening to his captain, passed the ball back to him.
The captain, knowing the rest of the players were approaching from behind, couldn't delay any longer. He had to make a choice. He could either dribble through the defenders and shoot, or he could try to find a gap and shoot from where he was.
The defenders are good, the captain thought to himself, I won't be able to dribble past them easily—I need to shoot here.
The pass came in fast, and the captain took advantage of that. He was currently in front of Taiga and was slightly inside the goal box. So when the ball came, instead of trapping it as it reached him, the captain, using his left foot, nudged it further to the right. Taiga, thrown off by the sudden move, was late to react as the captain prepared his shot.
Crap, this is bad. We are too close to the goal. He was able to create an angle for the shot. Taiga did his best to reach out his leg, but the attacker was out of reach.
The captain, with an open line to the goal, wound up his shot, briskly brought down his foot, striking the ball dead center. The moment he hit the ball, he knew it was going to go in. It had the right speed and the ideal spin to go past the goalie.
Thud!
The sound of the ball being deflected could be heard, and the captain looked in front of him in shock. He had been so focused on the shot that his mind tuned everything else out.
Right in front of him was Ryo, a little kid, sliding across the ground as he lifted his leg, deflecting the shot away. He was barely able to make it in time.
"Get the ball out of there!!" Ryo shouted.
The players looked at him in shock. Nobody had expected him to be there. But they were not yet safe. The ball was deflected outside of the box, but it was headed towards the center of the field.
Taiga, overcoming his momentary shock, chased after the ball, but it was too late, and Ryo knew it. The defensive line had completely fallen apart trying to cover each threat, and there was no way to stop the incoming goal.
Takayama's Number 9 had seen Ryo sprinting back as he followed behind the attack. He was sprinting as well, hoping to support the attack, but after the ball was deflected, he had an open line of sight to the goal.
Any player would take the shot. He had an open line to the goal and was not too far. However, the goalie, Sato Kenta, was completely in position and ready for the shot.
So instead, the midfielder passed the ball to the left, where one of his teammates had run past the defenders. Kenta, despite his best efforts by diving across the open net, could only watch as the ball flew past him and went into the goal.
Cheers rang out as Takayama celebrated their goal. Some were huddling together and patting each other on the back, while others were running across the pitch.
Ryo sighed as he got up from the ground, brushing off the grass sticking to his jersey. He had tried his best, but in the end, they still conceded his goal.
Their offense had been constantly pressuring us, and they finally got a break. It was inevitable; the defense couldn't do much in a 4-on-4 situation.
Ryo saw Taiga standing still, looking at the ball resting in the back of the net. He had tried to stop Number 9 from getting to the ball, but he was too far to do anything.
"Taiga, don't blame yourself too much. They had a strong attack, and there was little you could do to stop it." Ryo said, hoping to comfort him a bit.
Taiga looked at him in surprise, hearing Ryo address him in a casual tone without any honorifics.
"Besides, we still have a lot of time left to score goals."
Ryo smiled as he patted Taiga on the back.
Slowly, Taiga nodded.
Knowing Taiga, he will probably cheer up soon.
With Takayama's goal in the 38th minute, the score had been tied 1–1, and after play resumed, neither side conceded a goal for the rest of the half. So with the referee's whistle, both sides headed to their bench area to get some much-needed guidance.