Chapter 240: On the Back Foot

Zachary reacted as soon as he saw Nicki Nielsen, the Rosenborg center-forward, pounce on the rebound from the corner ball. He shrugged off Abdisalam Ibrahim, the Strømsgodset midfielder marking him — and stepped into a pocket of free space in the crowded box. With his nearly instantaneous reaction, he'd managed to open himself up to receive a pass in the next two seconds — before the opponents could close him down once more.

His chemistry with Nicki on the pitch had always been incredible. The number-9 managed to spot him almost instantly. Without wasting time, the center forward relinquished the ball to him with a teasing flick over the head of an opposing player.

Zachary was aware that the opposing players would be upon him the next second. So, he didn't even pause to control the ball. He just smashed it on it volley right away — to unleash a missile of a shot towards goal from around the edge of the penalty area.

Regrettably, a couple of Strømsgodset players threw themselves in the path of his shot the next instant. They managed to block the ball, sending it out of play to deny Rosenborg another chance to score in the 17th minute. The referee immediately pointed to the corner flag once again.

Mikael Dorsin, the Rosenborg left-back, took the corner quickly. He floated another tricky ball into the crowded box. However, Jörgen Horn, the Strømsgodset number-5, managed to outwit his opponents and leap high to clear the corner ball away from his goal with a powerful header.

The ball soared high above the players in the box before starting its descent towards the touchline on the left flank a few seconds later. It was a rare chance for Strømsgodset to counterattack since almost all the Rosenborg players hadn't reorganized themselves into a proper defensive shape yet. They'd just started making their way from Strømsgodset's box after the corner kick.

Muhamed Keita, the Strømsgodset left-forward, who hadn't taken part in defending against the corner kick, reacted immediately to the clearance from his teammate. He bolted like a cheetah on a hunt and managed to bring the ball under control with an outstretched boot — just before it could move out of play for a throw-in.

From there, he didn't look back as he initiated a rare Strømsgodset counterattack. He rushed along the touchline like a bullet train on the rails, leaving both opponents and teammates in the dust. His pace with the ball was incredible. It enabled him to step in the final third a couple of seconds later amid the rising cheers of the Strømsgodset fans.

Without losing a second, he began cutting into the pitch, skipping past a challenge from Stefan Strandberg, one of Rosenborg's center-backs, and continuing on towards Rosenborg's goal like a whirlwind. He went on to unleash a through-pass behind the rest of the defenders.

The cheers around the Marienlyst Stadion rose to a booming crescendo as Ola Kamara, Strømsgodset's center forward, shrugged off another Rosenborg defender and connected with the through-pass. Without losing a moment, he raced towards the goal and was soon one-on-one with the keeper.

Zachary could feel his heart hammering hard with tension in his chest as he raced back towards Rosenborg's box. He hadn't yet given up on defending against the Strømsgodset counterattack.

But before he could cross the boundary of the middle third, he saw Ola Kamara lift his foot and smash the ball towards the goal. So, he immediately stopped in his tracks, sighing with resignation as he watched the ball curl past the despairing dive of Daniel Örlund, the Rosenborg keeper. As expected, it deflected off the left post before homing into the back of the net.

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STRØMSGODSET IF 1 : ROSENBORG BK 0

****

Kristin sighed, shaking her head after taking a glance at the score on the stadium's jumbotron. She'd traveled to Drammen together with Monica Rønning, her flatmate, with anticipation of watching her team thrash the second on the table once again. But the game was progressing in a way Kristin hadn't expected. Rosenborg was already on the back foot — even early on in the first half. That made her anxious and jittery since she feared that her team might lose points once more.

"Strømsgodset has done it," he heard Kjell Roar, the commentator for the day, yell at the top of his voice as the cheers started dying down in the stands of the Marienlyst Stadion. "The boys from Drammen have gone ahead and given team Rosenborg a taste of their own medicine. They managed to launch a counter successfully against the counterattacking kings themselves. They've scored a brilliant opening goal in this Tippeligaen fixture. I can still feel my entire being pulsing with excitement on recalling the lightning-fast counter."

"Yes, I feel the same way," Ragnar Dokken, the pundit for the day, chipped in. "That was counterattacking football played to perfection. Both Muhamed Keita, the Strømsgodset left-forward, and Ola Kamara, the center-forward, were incredible and clinical during the attack. That's why Strømsgodset is already leading by a goal to nil in the 19th minute."

"But the fault also lies with the Rosenborg squad," Kjell Roar chimed in with an audible sigh. "I'm finding it hard to believe that Rosenborg, a team that thrashed Strømsgodset 4:0 in the first leg, can concede a goal on such a counter. Maybe, the players are really starting to get fatigued by the tight schedule."

"Nah," Ragnar Dokken said. "Any team, whether strong or weak, can concede on the counter. It all depends on how efficient the opponents are during the counterattack. The Strømsgodset players were super effective in driving the ball forward to score. I believe that this goal resulted from the brilliance of the Strømsgodset players, particularly Muhamed Keita and Ola Kamara. I also believe that the Rosenborg players weren't at fault since they've been dictating the tempo from the first minute..."

"Exactly," Kristin concurred on hearing the pundit's match analysis. She was in total agreement that the goal had nothing to do with the negligence of the Rosenborg players. She believed Strømsgodset had just been lucky to score on the counter.

"As things stand right now, the difference between the first and second on the table is only three points," she heard Kjell Roar continue his commentary. "Strømsgodset now has 41 points while Rosenborg is still stuck on 44 points on the live Tippeligaen table. The Strømsgodset players will be back in the race for the Tippeligaen trophy if they can maintain this lead until the final whistle..."

"Dream on," Kristin mumbled, shaking her head. She believed with a hundred percent conviction that Rosenborg would emerge as the victors at the end of that Tippeligaen season. With Zachary, Nicki, and Tore on the team, she was sure the Troll Kids would win at the very least nine out of the remaining eleven fixtures. So, unless Strømsgodset could win all their remaining games, they had to forget about that season's Tippeligaen trophy. With a light heart, she returned her focus to the proceedings on the field of play.

****    ****

As the game progressed towards the late stages of the first half, Zachary noticed that Nana Boateng and Abdisalam Ibrahim, the two Strømsgodset attacking midfielders, were double-teaming him. When he would rush to the wings, they would follow. At other times, when he would head back to his own half — to defend, they would still follow. They were practically not allowing him even half a yard of free space by shadowing his every move on the playing field.

In the meantime, the rest of the Strømsgodset players had arrayed themselves in a defensive flat 4-5-1 formation. At every point in the game, there were always five players forming almost a straight line in the defensive midfield to shut down the passing angles of the Rosenborg players. Even when their two attacking midfielders would follow Zachary to the Rosenborg half, the two players on the flanks would pinch into the spaces to ensure that the formation remained intact. They seemed keenly intent on defending by parking the bus — to hold on to their 1:0 lead until the final whistle.

However, Zachary didn't want to let them have their way. He started making erratic and unpredictable runs across the pitch — to tire out the two midfielders shadowing his every move. He was sure he would outrun them by relying on his stamina and endurance attributes that'd already made a breakthrough to the S- grade.

As expected, the two Strømsgodset players began losing focus after the first fifteen minutes of the second half. They allowed Zachary a couple of yards after failing to keep up with his pace on several occasions. Zachary didn't disappoint and managed to run with the ball for a few yards before unleashing defense splitting passes to Nicki on those instances. However, the Strømsgodset defense that consisted of basically seven players was sharp and managed to thwart Rosenborg's chances of scoring an equalizing goal.

Zachary didn't mind, though. He was confident he would create a goal-scoring opportunity very soon since his markers were already on their last legs. However, the Strømsgodset coach snuffed out his confidence in the 65th minute.

Ronny Deila, the head coach of Strømsgodset, introduced two substitutes in place of Nana Boateng and Abdisalam Ibrahim, the two midfielders that'd been marking him. Without losing a moment, those introduced midfielders started shadowing his every move once again.

'What to do?' Zachary mused, tamping down his irritation and stepping away from the two overly energetic Strømsgodset midfielders.

He was back to square one once again.

He had two new bodyguards who had fresh legs on the playing field. Yet, he couldn't use the tactic of tiring them out once more. If he did that, he would exhaust himself rather than the two substitutes.

"Zachary," Coach Johansen yelled from Rosenborg's technical area after the ball had headed out of play for a throw-in. "Come here for a moment. Hurry before play restarts."

Zachary, of course, reacted to the summon immediately. He raced to the sidelines like the wind and was soon standing before the coach.

"Come closer," Coach Johansen said, beckoning him towards himself. "I don't want those clowns to listen to what I've got to say to you."

"Oh!" Zachary said, casting a glance behind him. He was surprised that his two bodyguards had followed him to the sidelines. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of instructions they'd received from their coach. That was because they were like mindless robots that followed him everywhere — even towards the technical area. They were taking their defending task to the extreme.

But he quickly pushed the astonishment aside and lent an ear to the coach. He only had a few seconds to receive instructions before the game restarted with a Rosenborg throw-in.