The Wide Duel VI

The coach was in complete disbelief, not able to comprehend how a piece of wood could come to do that. Dubreucq could hear the hysteria throughout the crowd.

Lille had a great chance, yet they let the chance go wasted. Le Havre's walls were crashing down. On the other hand, Lille had a perfect opportunity to get back on winning terms.

Mikael didn't have much to say, too distracted with his team's clear-cut chance that upset him to no end.

"I got away from that" Kai said to no one in particular as he caught his breath stabilising after the ball had gone out of bounds.

"Damn it. We can't let them happen again." Lanier grumbled on the side as he tapped his fingers on the tactic board. "And what was that from Eze? He was beaten too easily."

Marley shook his head. Kai is still relatively inexperienced. And being tasked with such defensive duties is still unfamiliar for the Asian. Though he is eager to adapt to the new position, he still has yet to perfect his defensive side of the game.

Lanier: "Lille is reading the situation. They have realised that our right flank is weak, and Eze is being targeted. With them using Fey to carve out good chances."

Just as they were conversing about it, there was some movement at the Lille dugout. Marley and Lanier both noticed that some players adorned in the bibs were getting off their seats, and rushing down the sidelines as they performed warm-ups.

"Making his move, huh..." Lanier eyed the players that would imminently be on the pitch sooner or later. The tactical coach wasn't idle too. The baldy made eye contact with Marley, sending him a non-verbal message before eyeing their own substitute bench.

"Warm-up. All of you."

The Le Havre players that were set to play immediately nodded, getting off their seats as they hurriedly perform their stretches.

"Eh, where do you think you're going," Lanier said as he eyed one player up and down.

"Warm-up?" Desroches replied incredulously, not knowing what is going on. "Didn't you say— "

Lanier was already in full rage mode as he stared at the player. "Stop talking nonsense, sit down. You're not coming on."

"..."

Right on the 60 minutes mark, 2 substitutes have been made by Lille. Océane Fay had been subbed off the pitch for another attacker on the left wing. Babin, Lille's central midfielder, had been taken off the pitch for a fresh pair of legs, bolstering their team's security at the centre of the park.

Fay being subbed off is within their expectations. Kai isn't solid in defence, and after running up and down the pitch to support the attack, the full-back is already on his last legs.

Right on the dot. Less than a minute had passed before Le Havre responded without any hesitance. Crescenzo Rivera had performed brilliantly, but a more attack-minded midfielder would be required to break the deadlock. Léonard Masson is added to the midfield in place of Rivera.

Sébastien eyed the action from both dugouts. "Impacts subs thrown into the mix. Let's see how the two sides react to each other..."

The game is approaching the ending phase, and the conclusion of the match draws ever closer. As the time ticked on the clock, the game intensified as both sides are desperate to score what could be counted as the winning goal.

Direct, fast pace, intense. Few words could describe the following scenes, but the key is the wide battle occurring at both ends. The first half was full of Le Havre enjoying their attack through the wings. But now, it is Lille's turn to rekindle their attack out wide.

Kai, playing as the Le Havre right-back, had his eyes sternly watching the Lille player that has replaced Océane Fay. Not daring to give his opponent a single inch of space, time, and freedom on the ball if it ever arrives at that player's feet.

The ball flew up and down the pitch. Eventually falling to the feet of Estienne, the Lille defender. Having no thoughts of keeping hold of the ball for too long, especially since that giant of a player is closing him down, the defender booted the ball up the pitch blindly.

A heading contest commenced as players fought the aerial battle for the ball. Traver is at the forefront, being the nearest to the long kick, he prepared himself to jump and fight for the ball. Yet this is easier to say than do, as Simon and Allard are also fighting for it, intending to head the ball away.

"The ball cleared up the pitch..."

The players fought for the ball, and in the end, it was Simon that had the last laugh as he headed the ball away from the backline. But something didn't feel quite right to the defender. Simon opened his eyes, scanning forward for the ball but finding no trace of it. There was a puzzled look on his face as he questioned if the ball had disappeared from existence.

"OH IT'S A BAD HEADER AND IT GOES BACK!!! "

Simon made a devastating error, he got a touch on the ball, but instead of nodding it forward, he headed the ball back towards the Le Havre goal.

The Le Havre backline panicked, rushing back at full speed as they try to recover the damage they have done. Simon was the worst, feeling a cold sweat dripping down his neck as his heart beat rapidly.

Lanier was off his seat. He was taking no rest as he eyed that mistake. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? FOCUS! FOCUS YOU LAZY BASTARD!"

As players rushed towards Simon to clean up the mess he had caused, an unexpected counterattack ensued. Simon's error had created an opening for the Lille attack. The Lille forward line rushed to be at the receiving end of the error, each intending to grab the ball themselves and slot the ball through the keeper.

Allard ran back at top speed, being naturally the closest player to the bad header. However, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a figure faster than himself closing to the ball at a blistering pace. It's that substitute. Allard gritted his teeth. At this current pace, he estimated he would come out second best in this sprint for the ball. Not only had he been playing for an hour, but the opponent had also only just gotten on the field and is full of energy.

Allard widens his stride, hoping to get any touch on the ball to clear it away. But it is inevitable, his pace just wasn't enough.

But a saviour appeared before Allard had lost all hope. Hazard was stopped in his tracks, thanks to Kai that wasn't leaving any chance.

The referee blew his whistle. Whilst running to the Le Havre right-back.

Sébastien couldn't help but give a helpless chuckle: "Kai... now that's just blatant. The right-back shamelessly shoved Hazard to the ground."

Hazard was furious, outraged as he glared at the referee and Kai. A scuffle broke out as players were being pushed away from one another. Monet was nowhere to be seen...

Yet the player didn't escape the eye of the referee as he pulled out a yellow card from his pocket. Traver shook his head, placing both hands on the referee's shoulders as he attempted to educate the official. "THAT WAS A CLEAR CHANCE! A YELLOW CARD DOESN'T SUFFICE!"

The referee pulled out his book and slapped it on the ground. As he gave the pulled the yellow card back into his pocket. "I understand that he pushed Hazard to the ground, however it doesn't warrant a red card, Mr Traver."

Traver scratched his head. His expression became serious, his voice taking on a concerned tone. "But... but that... that was a golden chance!"

The referee held up his hand, indicating that he doesn't wish for the conversation to continue. "Free-kick." the official announced as he pointed at where he stood.

Lanier had his arms outstretched as he witness the scene. "For god sake! There's already Leroy and now there's Kai..."

The tactical coach could have sworn he is suffering mental damage from all the bookings his players are subjected to.