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[71']
Diaby was too quick, and as Tasende tried to stay with him, the Frenchman was already gone, eating up the ground in long strides. He latched onto the ball and cut it back to the penalty spot, where Havertz had found space between Upacano and Klostermann after reaching the byline.
Havertz's first touch was featherlight, cushioning the ball before turning in one movent, keeping Lair at bay. He took another touch, dragging the ball across his body, trying to find a shooting angle past the Halstenberg. "Havertz has lines it up... he shoots!" Drury's voice lifted.
He struck it cleanly with his left from the edge of the box, curling toward the far post. Gulácsi couldn't reach it in ti and could only watch as it sailed toward the goal. For a mont, it looked in, but it clipped the outside of the post and bounced clear.
"The woodwork again!" Beglin said. "How many tis is that tonight, Peter, third, fourth? How long can their luck hold?"
Havertz clutched his head in frustration, evident in his body language, as he apologised to Diaby for wasting the chance. They didn't linger long on the wasted opportunity; they quickly regrouped. RB, seemingly woken from their slumber, began an onslaught of attacks, and for the next ten minutes, they had the upper hand.
Nagelsman swapped out the attacking quartet, leaving only Poulsen up top as Sabitzer, Olmo, and Nkunku left the stage. On the right flank, Nordi Mukiele replaced Sabitzer, and Haidara replaced Nkunku on the left, as Patrick Schick replaced Olmo as the creative brain. The three arrived with a plan, which imdiately caused problems for their opponents.
Using their fresh legs to bully their opponent, both wingers indiscriminately launched crosses into the box. Whenever Wendell and Lars Bender would step up to et them, they would either cut inwards, creating overlapping situations with their wingback. Unable to watch for the overlap, either as the wingers would use the chance to launch long-range bombardnts or through balls into the box, the Leverkusen defence struggled for the first ti in the match-up.
[74]
In the 74th minute, Schick picked up the ball from the halfway line, using a one-two with Forsberg to escape the coverage of Baumgartlinger. The Czech forward drove into space, his fresh legs allowing him to glide past Demirbay's half-hearted challenge. He looked up and threaded a perfectly weighted pass into the channel for Klosterman, who had made an overlapping run down the left.
Mukiele had cleverly drawn Wendell forward and more central, leaving him late to react as the RB full-back latched onto the ball. The wing-back cut inside as Tah left Poulsen to Bender, retreating into the box, trying to cut him off. Poulsen used this chance, where Tah's back was turned, to make a run to the near-post as Haidara arrived late at the back post with Mukiele peeling to the edge of the box.
Klosterman was spoiled for choice, and he didn't take long to make his choice as he whipped in a dangerous cross. The ball sailed over Poulsen's head but dropped perfectly for Haidara, who had ghosted in ahead of Lars. The midfielder t it with a first-ti volley from eight yards out, striking it cleanly toward the bottom corner.
Hradecky, who had been positioned for the near-post threat, adjusted his body mid-dive, throwing himself across the goal with desperate urgency. The ball bounced ahead of him, exploding upwards, but he reacted quickly, his arm shooting out to slap the ball away.
The rebound spun back into play, falling kindly for Haidara, who tried to follow up for a second try, but Lars was there to poke it out for a corner. "UNBELIEVABLE!" Drury's voice was hoarse with emotion. "Hradecky has done it again! That's surely the sixth or seventh world-class save tonight! And then Benders is there to clear the plate!"
"This is getting ridiculous now, Peter," Beglin said, his tone mixing admiration with disbelief. "At what point do you start believing in fate? Everything Leipzig tries, there's a body in the way or Hradecky pulling off another miracle."
The corner was swung in with pace by Forsberg, curling toward the penalty spot where bodies rose in a mass of white and red. Upacano, who had pushed up for the set piece, rose highest, towering above everyone, powering a header goalward from six yards out. The ball arrowed towards the left corner, smacking the crossbar before sending the net bulging.
"Oh, he has finally scored RB, and it cos from a defender," Drury exclaid as pandemonium ensued with the Leipzig players racing after Upacano, who wildly celebrated the goal. "When everything else fails, you sotis have to use force, and he did that just there. We're back on level terms at the Estádio José Alvalade."
"What a way to achieve an equaliser goes to show you everyone can beco a hero in this beautiful ga," Beglin added with a bright smile. "How Leverkusen responds will decide how this match ends. They have done everything right so far; it would be heartbreaking if they lost it now."
[RB Leipzig 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen - Upacano 76']
The Leipzig bench exploded with relief and celebration, Nagelsmann pumping his fists furiously as his substitutes mobbed each other. On the opposite touchline, Bosz stood with his hands on his hips, processing what had just happened. His team had dominated for long stretches, created countless chances, and now they were level.
"Ga on," Drury said simply as the celebrations died down. "Twenty-four minutes of normal ti remaining, and suddenly everything is to play for again."
Leverkusen restarted quickly, Volland rolling it back to Havertz, who imdiately looked to settle his team's nerves. But Leipzig were energised now, pressing with renewed vigour, forcing Leverkusen into hurried passes. This saw Rakim gain possession on the left flank, close to the halfway line, only to find himself instantly surrounded by three defenders.
His feet imdiately got to dancing a stepover with the right as he feinted back, only to flick the ball to his left foot. Stepping inwards towards Lair, who had been sitting back ready to cover the other two, he forced the midfielder forward. Just as he reached a one-ter range, he feinted right, baiting the midfielder, only to drag the ball back with his right.
Half turning, the outside of his left foot flicked the ball up slightly to the sideline just in ti to escape the foot of Mukiele. A stretch of his long legs, and he brought the ball back under control before it could go out. Klosermann, who was the only one left, committed with a lunge, but nimble La Croqueta, from the winger, saw him drag the ball across his body and accelerate past the defender's outstretched leg.
Feeling his breath go ragged from the manoeuvre, he knocked the ball forward and grit his teeth to chase after it as Forsberg closed in from the middle. His long strides ate up ground as he looked up, scanning for soone to give the ball to. He could see black jerseys making moves, but before one could get free, Upacano stepped up to et him at the edge of the box.
A puff of breath saw him opening up his body as if to make a pass, only to deftly flick the ball through the towering defender's open leg. Rakim accelerated around the other side. "Oh, that's magnificent from Rakim Rex!" Drury exclaid. "He's just skinned three Leipzig players in the space of ten yards!"
Charging into the box, he raced toward the ball as Gulacsi charged off his line. Knowing he couldn't reach the ball in ti, he slid forward, his foot swiping at the ball, scaring it across the box before the two collided.
The collision sent both Rakim and Gulácsi sprawling across the penalty area, bodies tangled as the ball spun loose across the six-yard box. For a split second, ti seed to freeze—the ball rolling tantalizingly toward the far post, with Kevin Volland charging in from the right side.
Halstenberg threw himself across desperately, sliding with everything he had...
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To Be Continued...
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