The Wide Duel II

The ball had been passed wide from the defenders to the left back. Ricardo Arbelaez received the ball to feet before shortly driving up the pitch, observing the players in front of him as well as making the split-second decision for his next move.

"Arbelaez, the Spanish left back, drives up the pitch..."

Lille wasn't lacking either, showing a desire and ambition to win the ball at a certain distance before initiating a counterattack or recycling possession depending on the situation. The left-back had only gone a few meters before he found the Lille right-winger closing him down at an angle.

Sébastien: "And Albert Dubreucq closes Arbelaez down!"

But the Spanish left-back was comfortable with the ball, possessing much more technical attributes than the normal defender as he had been integrated into the tiki-taka theory ingrained and taught at Spanish youth academies. Arbelaez looked up, and it wasn't far until he found an outlet. Using his dominant left foot, he kicked the ball into the midfield.

"And passes to the U-19 captain, Gérald Roys!..."

The captain had been deployed in his usual position in the game. Deployed at deepest lying midfield of a three, he had more time on the ball and more control over the tempo of the match. He ran to receive the ball, but he was quick to look for a passing outlet as one of the midfielders was quickly closing him down at the front.

Chevalier had his arm raised, eyeing the captain as he hugged the touchline, giving himself abundant space and time to turn and drive with the ball. The captain was all too familiar with how the star boy plays in the Le Harve U-19 team and didn't hesitate to play a first-time pass to the wing.

"OH and an immediate pass to Chevalier!"

But the winger had barely even received the ball when he felt pressure behind him. All but certain that the Lille right back is lurking behind him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce on him. But luckily, Chevalier sensed the defender closing him down as he noticed him from his peripheral vision. Steadying his body strength, he prepared his body for the collision whilst he eyed back at Roys to pass the ball back.

But the pass from Chevalier had been underestimated. The winger's concentration was split and that caused him to make a slight mistake on the ball. His pass was sloppy, and instead of finding Roys, the ball went straight to Albert Dubreucq as the winger was lurking near him to pounce on the ball.

"Interception from Lille!....."

The Lille winger didn't expect such good fortunes, with the ball coming straight to his feet where he was at. But the Frenchman didn't expect such a mistake to occur from Chevalier. And because of this lack of preparation, the winger's footing was all wrong as he wasn't in the best body shape to receive the pass and...

"AH.... OH BUT DUBREUCQ HAD A POOR TOUCH AND PASSED IT STRAIGHT TO CHEVALIER!"

Mauger didn't expect fortunes to turn one to another. But he made the best use of this god given chance. Dribbling up the wing as the Lille left back was caught napping, and left Chevalier the space to run down the flanks.

The egotistic winger dribbled down the left wing, but not without too much of a luxury and options. When he looked up, he noticed a sea of bodies dressed in red already flooding the Lille box. There wasn't much of an option, and the people that Chevalier could pass to were severely limited. But luckily despite the congested penalty area, he found a rare sight in the box as the winger saw the unmistakable towering figure lurking near the back post. Despite Pape leaning his body, and trying to hide his presence from the defenders, it was hard to not notice such a big target in the area.

Chevalier saw his target and grinned his teeth as he decided to use the technique that he had practised over training. With his right foot bent at an unnatural angle, bending inwards as he struck the ball into the danger area. He grinned, that outside foot cross certainly came in handy... much thanks to the persistence of that coach.

"IT'S NOT A BAD CROSS!!!"

Pape wrestled his marker to be at the receiving end of the cross. But the ball was slightly lower than he would have liked. The cross hovered near his torso area as it approached him. The Lille centre-back made well sure to get a better position to clear the cross.

"AND CLEARED By the Lille defenders as it bounces away from the box. That was some good defending there by Lille to stop that chance completely. Manager Mikael would certainly be demanding more focus from the players, especially Dubreucq."

Horace nodded but he wasn't watching the ball like Sébastien. The commentator is often paired with a more talkative pundit because he does more tactical and analytical talking. And just from that little passage of play, he had something to share. "Wow. Lille's quite good at tracking back. Have you noticed that Seb?"

Sébastien had a weird look on his face as he eyed his partner. "Care to elaborate Horace?"

The old pundit stroked his beard as he thought back. "When Chevalier crossed that ball into the box. I saw 6.... no. I saw 7 players in the box to clear the ball. Now that's quite troublesome."

Sébastien nodded. "AH! That must be why Le Harve has gone for a tall Pape instead of Leroy. Learning from their last draw which they failed to break down Amiens am I right?"

Horace nodded. "You got it right. Pape is extremely tall, and tall strikers can be a threat in a different manner...."

Attacking down the flanks, whilst predictable is the best manner for a team that is as defensively disciplined as Lille. Kai has to give praise for manager Mikael's ability to demand players to perform such a boring and often frustrating task.

Time flowed from the clock, and it wasn't long before another chance came for Le Harve. Developing from the wide areas but this time on the other flank.

The makeshift right winger, Leroy received the ball deep. Partly due to his unfamiliarity with the position out wide, and an eagerness to get his touches on the ball. Leroy had gotten away from the Lille left-back before getting the ball.

He drove up the right wing. Though not carelessly running to penetrate the defence, but at a measured pace as the Lille team has completely shut down the centre of the pitch. He dribbled for a few steps, before the unmistakable Lechantre closed down the distance, showing clear intentions to win the ball back.

"Leroy finds himself in space at the moment as he runs down the wing... Lechantre closing him down...."

But even though Leroy isn't comfortable being played out of position, he still remembered the intense tactical briefing he received from the coaching staffs. They always stressed the importance of using his teammates, his overlapping partner to unlock a stubborn defence. He confidently dribbled, and before the defender had closed the distance down, he flung the ball out wide.

"Leroy thought briefly about that dribble, but he played the ball out wide to Eze!"

But the ball wasn't passed uncontested, as the Lille winger was diligently following the run from Eze, not in the least interested for the converted wingback to cross the ball with ample time and space.

Eze was first to the ball, his right foot balancing the ball before him as the Lille winger went sliding in to intercept. But being played as a right winger all his life, it is only suitable for him to have more technical gifts than a normal fullback. With a cut and a sudden change in angle, Eze got past the Lille winger as he observed the box.

"EZE!!!!"

The Cameroonian was confident. Finding their giant target in the box, Eze used his right foot as he lifted the ball from the ground into the box. But it was all but a mere ruse, as the ball wasn't lifted high in the air, but it was a low and hard pass on the floor that caught some players off guard.

Estienne was one of them as his lack of fitness and playing time led to an inaccurate reaction, as the ball landed on his left foot. Too slow to react and the full-back was collared. But he had the intellect the send the ball away from the box as he kicked it away from the box.

"BAD CLEAR!!!...."

But the clearance was weak as the ball only rolled away on the ground, straight back outside the box where no Lille players were present, as the players dressed in red were sucked too far back.

The sky and navy blue shirt of one player was at the right time and right location to get the ball. Finding himself just outside the box as he found he was in range to have a shot.

The Le Harve players had their body hair stood up as they felt a chance coming their way. They eyed their teammate as they preyed for the shot to go in. The pot-bellied manager had one arm raised on the side as he prepared to celebrate with the players after a much-downcast draw at their last match. Lanier was off his seat as he eyed that player with a vengeance. 'You better score! Or I will choke your neck!'

Séverin had his eyes on the ball, his right foot arched back and his body position perfected as he faced the goal. As the player had his body poised for a shot, he sensed the goalkeeper was slightly off-centre in the post.

"AND SÉVERIN SHOOTS!!!!!"

With a desire to apologise for his bad performance last game, he aimed for the top left corner, but it was blocked as the goalkeeper scrambled to get in the way. The ball looped in front of the goal, and the keeper was one of the first to move forward, clearing the danger

Sébastien had his hands on his head as he saw the brilliant chance wasted. "That was scrappy from Lille! But that nearly punished the home team as it almost paid off for Le Harve. If only Séverin had a better angle...."