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In an inconspicuous corner of the BayArena stands.
Chloe was subdued for the first 55 minutes of the match.
She knew Arsenal were strong, and she also knew that Bayer Leverkusen might not perform well today.
Unexpectedly, Arsenal scored two goals in the first half, and Bayer Leverkusen rarely crossed the halfway line throughout the match, being completely suppressed by Arsenal in terms of both play and score.
The fans around her were all filled with despair.
"What kind of play is that?!"
"Can they do it or not? What are the defenders doing?!"
"It's over, one-round elimination from the knockout stage."
"I knew it, playing Arsenal would definitely be disastrous."
"If this continues, they won't even be able to play well in the Bundesliga."
"Pass to Lance! He's in such a good position!"
The home team's fans in the stands were even more anxious than the 11 players on the field.
In the atmosphere of despair, the fans were a bit heartbroken, finding it hard to muster the spirit to sing and encourage the players on the field.
For the first goal, they could still be angry at the lack of effort, but for the second goal, they had already resigned themselves.
It was purely a difference in strength!
Arsenal might seem weak against strong teams, but they are very strong against weak teams!
Bayer Leverkusen might seem somewhat strong in the Bundesliga, but they haven't played tough matches in the Champions League!
What? They thrashed Manchester United in the group stage?
Come on!
Manchester United has dropped to 7th in the Premier League, what kind of tough match is that?
Most Bayer Leverkusen fans had this kind of mentality.
So much so that they all predicted the home team would lose both legs and be eliminated in the first round of the knockout stage.
Even the reporters in the media section were rushing to finish their drafts.
On their laptops, the headlines for their press releases had already been typed out.
"Home Loss! Arsenal Superior, Bayer Leverkusen Defense Sleepwalking, Face Elimination!"
"Olivier Giroud Brace, Mesut Özil Two Assists, Only 1 Player Tried in Bayer Leverkusen Squad"
"Is the Prodigy's Halo Gone? Arsène Wenger's Master Plan Has Frozen This 'Oriental Magician'"
Among the disheartened fan base, only Chloe still believed in him.
"Lance!! You can definitely do it, right!"
For some reason, even though they were 0-2 down, and even though there was no chance of winning, Chloe was convinced deep down that Lance would step up.
It had nothing to do with Lance's handsome looks, nor her personal preferences.
Chloe had witnessed this young man with an oriental face unleash his maximum energy in desperate situations more than once!
Finally, after being suppressed to the extreme, Chloe awaited the moment she had been anticipating!
The 50,000 people in the BayArena stands, including all the fans in front of their televisions, witnessed Lance's magnificent goal inside the box, a tribute to Dennis Bergkamp!
The opponent happened to be Arsenal,
It was simply killing and breaking their spirit!
The stadium DJ had also waited a long time and finally erupted with passionate sound.
"Goooooooal!!! Bayer Leverkusen pulls one back!"
"The scorer is—"
Tens of thousands of people in the stadium shouted that name in unison!
"Laaaaaance—"
...
What kind of experience is it to have tens of thousands of people chant your name live in a Champions League knockout match?
Lance said:
It felt pretty good.
Looking up at the excited celebrating fans, those emotional fans embracing each other, those fans holding up team scarves almost in tears,
Lance was very glad that he had not let down this lovely group of people.
But this was not enough!
Bayer Leverkusen was temporarily 1-2 down, and Arsenal held a two-away goal advantage, still in the lead.
He still needed to do more!
After pulling one back, Bayer Leverkusen's morale finally soared, and everyone's state also recovered.
Otherwise, if this continued, Arsenal could easily score a third goal, and then it would truly be over!
"Pass, pass!"
"Mark him!"
"I got it!"
"Beautiful!! Well defended!"
"Keep it up!! Hold on, score another one!"
The previously lifeless team also resumed communication, everyone working together, encouraging each other, and continuously fended off multiple counterattacks from Arsenal.
"Arsenal is trying to strengthen their attack during this period to further extend their lead."
"However, Bayer Leverkusen's defense is still quite solid, with the backline performing normally, at least maintaining the strength of a mid-to-upper Bundesliga team."
"Olivier Giroud's header!! Ömer Toprak! He interfered with Olivier Giroud, who couldn't get a clean header!"
"Bernd Leno gathers the ball... Oh!! Quick throw to start a counterattack!! This is Bayer Leverkusen's chance!"
"Beautiful!!"
After holding them off for 10 minutes, an Arsenal attack was thwarted.
In the 66th minute of the match, Bayer Leverkusen got another excellent opportunity!
The goalkeeper threw the ball to Simon Rolfes, who then passed to Lars Bender.
Lars Bender, experienced, first used his body to block Mikel Arteta, then received the ball to prevent a tackle, and as Aaron Ramsey pushed forward, he boldly played a through ball straight down the middle!
Lance had already dropped back to receive the ball, and before Laurent Koscielny, he cleverly backheeled it to Son Heung-min on the left!
First touch + brilliant pass!
The imaginative play almost made Zhan Jun stand up.
"Good play!! Lance's first touch and pass in one move, this dissolved Arsenal's defense!"
"Son Heung-min!! Dribbling into Arsenal's heartland!"
"Alright, Son Heung-min isn't rushing, Lance and Stefan Kiessling have already surged forward..."
"He's breaking through himself!! He's beaten Bacary Sagna!! Passes it to the middle!!"
"Lance!!"
Per Mertesacker strode forward with his long legs to block in time.
After Lance's goal just now, Arsène Wenger had pulled him to the sideline and repeatedly warned him to be careful of this oriental player.
At the same time, Aaron Ramsey also tracked back at high speed, already running into the box to double-team Lance.
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny and center-back Laurent Koscielny were both converging on Lance's direction.
His perfect performance just now had put everyone at Arsenal on high alert.
Just as they thought Lance was about to receive and deal with the ball at the near post, Lance seemed to be about to receive the ball with his back to goal, but suddenly he let it run through his legs!!
"Shit!!!"
Arsène Wenger stood up from his chair on the spot, his face filled with horror.
The Arsenal players in the box also looked aghast!
But as Lance let it run, the ball quickly shot towards the middle!
Stefan Kiessling had already arrived, and with a close-range shot, he slotted it into the net!
2-2!
"The goal is in!! They've pulled another one back!"
"Lance's clever dummy caught the entire backline by surprise!"
"Bayer Leverkusen!"
"In desperation, they showed incredible resilience!"
Who would have thought that with Arsenal dominating both possession and score,
Bayer Leverkusen seemed to be completely dazed.
Lance's goal sounded the charge for a comeback, and in a dramatic turn of events in the second half, Bayer Leverkusen scored two goals to level the score!
Zhang Zhidao was absolutely delighted with this play, continuously praising Lance.
"This goal was truly brilliant, hey!"
"First, Lance's backheel, a first touch combined with a pass, which stunned the Arsenal defenders."
"Then Son Heung-min's breakthrough was also excellent, getting into the box, and Lance's diagonal run attracted all the attention."
"All the attention was on Lance, hey! That dummy, it was beautifully done! Stefan Kiessling's shot had no one marking him. What a goal!"
Zhan Jun's tone also became much more excited.
"Both sides are back on equal footing. Will Bayer Leverkusen continue their momentum and score more, or will Arsenal stabilize their position?"
"Bayer Leverkusen's Champions League debut still hangs in the balance!"