The match continued as the two sides sent their challenges to the respective goalkeepers of Le Havre and Lille. But chances came and flew by as everyone that was here to witness this match spectated what would be described as a "roughly even" game.
But there was a clear pattern in the game that everyone could discern: that Lille was trying to hit Le Havre on the break. Whilst Le Havre attacked aggressively down the wings, posing a huge offensive threat, so too does the Le Havre wing become a massive defensive weakness as the wide players are often caught too far up the pitch to track back in time.
But the likes of Kai and Arbelaez, both of which are full-backs, had their Captain Gerald Roys and Crescenzo Rivera to thank as the midfielders were disciplined enough to dispel any threats of counterattacks. The midfielders regularly moved out wide to stop the danger, covering much of the threat by themselves.
Wave after wave of attack was sent, Marley spectated the scenes of the field as he checked the time on his watch. Half an hour had already passed and yet the deadlock was not broken. Yet unlike before, the score had a comforting feeling to it as Marley felt that the current state of a drawing score kept the Le Havre focused.
Sébastien: "And another cross cleared away by the Lille backline..."
The ball was kicked high in the air as the Lille defender had a "no-nonsense" approach to the game, rocketing the ball up the field and away from the Lille goal.
Albert Dubreucq had his eyes concentrated, seeing nothing but the ball that was descending from the air. Another contest for the rebounds, yet as the ball edged closer he already understands that threat that was lurking nearby. He didn't have to look, but he was certain that an unprincipled jerk is right on his ass.
And before he know it, before the ball was even in his control, he felt a strong nudge behind him as a force collided on his back. But it wasn't just a casual contact, but intentional as Dubreucq realised Rivera used his knuckle to hit his spine area. The winger gritted his teeth, cursing as he control the ball that landed on his feet, but not daring to have a second touch as he immediately passed it upfield.
"Dubreucq.... AND A CROSS-FIELD PASS TO FAY!!!"
Océane Fay, the Lille left winger, dashed up the field at first instinct. Expecting the counterattack to be fruitless at first, but his eyes sparkled as he saw the ball come flying his way across the pitch right in front of him. Fay ran faster. He was open on the wing, with Kai and Leroy caught too high up the pitch, the flank was wide open for him to exploit.
The ball crashed on the field as it rebounded from the force, Fay's right foot gently guided the ball forward as he dribbled up the pitch. But his touch was slightly too eager as the ball rolled a few feet away from himself.
"AND THE CAPTAIN COME SLIDING IN FOR THE BALL."
Gerald Roys had no intention for the threat to develop, he slide in across the pitch as he cleared the ball out of bounds, and it rolled against his boots, ricocheting off to the corner flag.
The referee blew his whistle as he pointed at the flag. "And it's a corner for Lille...."
The players from both teams moved into the Le Havre box as they prepared to fight for the set-piece ball. A corner for Lille as the taker of the corner rushed to the edge of the field to prepare himself for the run-up. As players shuffled in the box, the staff gathered themselves in the technical area as they watch the scene unfold before them.
Set-pieces.... in truth Hugo and the rest of the staff rarely trained the team for situations like this. They are youth players, it is much more important for these promising players to become better technical, and smarter players on the field.
Yet as the corner takers performed his run-up, there was an itch in Lanier's heart, like a bad premonition. He just couldn't control it, the same feeling he felt in the opening minutes against Amiens. Is this a sign?
The Lille players delivered the ball with a curved arch to it as it floated right into the centre of the box.
Estienne, the Lille centre-back had both of his arms against Dominique Simon as he prepared to commence an aerial battle with his opposition defender. Yet only a few feet away from him, another Le Havre player crept near Estienne as Roys had no intention for the tall Lille player to even have a single touch on the crossed ball.
As the ball came into the box, the trio jumped highest as they each were determined to fight for the cross. Roys was visibly shaken as he realised he jumped much too late, and the floating ball completely skimmed over his head. Behind the captain, Simon was also there, fighting for the aerial ball, yet he could only grit his teeth as he realised he positioned his whole body all wrong.
"ESTIENNNEEEEEE!!!!"
The ball hit squarely on Estienne's forehead. The defender wasn't sure if he had sent the ball to the correct course, as he targeted the ball to send it to the back of the net. As the Lille defender lands on the floor, he could recognise the ball floating in the air in a parabola. The centreback shook his head as he realised the header didn't have much power to it.
Keeper Faira saw the attempted header with a relieved heart as he understood the header had no power in it. Faira raised his arm as he prepared to catch the ball with his gloves.
Yet as Faria jumped for the ball, there was an obstacle that he didn't recognise. The keeper only eyed the ball, coming off his line as he wanted to catch it. But he didn't pay enough attention to his surroundings, as he ran directly over the figure of Gaston Allard that was also rushing to the header to clear the ball away. But the keeper had his touch on it, as Faira slapped the ball away with his outstretched arm as he collided with Allard.
A miscommunication, a panic, and a bad header all occurred in a short period. But the cleared ball was scrappy.... and every spectator had their eyes in disbelief as they saw the ball roll to none other than Nicolas Traver, the Lille striker.
The striker was open, with the ball rolling straight to his feet. Traver eyed the goal, he was only a few feet from it. He could literally touch the goalpost if he stretched his arm. An instinct overcame his reasoning as Traver aimed at the Le Havre goal, and with his right foot he struck the ball... yet the angle was tight, as bodies in the sky and navy blue were blocking the gate to victory.
But somehow, in some marginal angle that the striker miraculously found, Traver slotted the ball through that gap which was more luck than finesse, and the ball ruffled the goal net to the horror of Le Havre.
"OHHHHHH! GOAL!!!! TRAVER — HE DID IT! THE LILLE STRIKER DELIVERS A LETHAL SHOT TO GIVE LILLE THE LEAD!"
The stunned Le Havre players simply stared at their own goalposts as Lille pressed forward, now only trailing by one goal as their players jumped over each other to get a high-five or a pat on the back for the Lille scorer.
Kai couldn't believe it, Lanier couldn't believe it, Marley could believe it. None of the Le Havre players on the field could believe it as they concede from a cheap corner.
"TRAVER GETS THE LAST TOUCH... AND IT GOES INTO LE HAVRE'S NET!"
A section of fans in the Le Havre fans stood stunned as they just watched on as Traver's shot entered the net. There was a silent cacophony of groans, screams, and shouts as the Lille players leapt to each other in joy and celebration.
Kai looked in disbelief, as the crowd surrounded the pitch to congratulate the Lille players.
"OMG MALICIOUS — YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN!" Manager Mikael was overjoyed as he shook the Lille scorer that had come rushing to the technical area to celebrate this moment with the coach.
Lanier was like a volcano that might erupt at any moment, as invisible smoke came out of his ears as he try his best to not lose his cool so early into the match. Kai had his head down low in shame as he checked the watch on his wrist. There were another 15 minutes left on the clock before half-time.
The Le Havre players had already positioned themselves for the kickoff, with Leroy already placing the ball at the centre circle as he made vexed gestures to the referee. Leroy tapped on his wrist as he stared down the referee, obviously angry that the kick-off was being delayed.
Lille made their way back to their half of the pitch, but obviously in a slow manner as they were in no rush for the restart.
Sébastien shook his head as he observes the Lille players smugly celebrating the goal, all the whilst looking at the score of 1–0 that was displayed on the scoreboard.
He shook his head. "Le Havre has always conceded first for the last few games, when will they learn...." Sébastien thought to himself.