Lazy Genius Striker [EN]: Chapter 54

< 053. The One Who Gets Better with Rest >

“Nice-!”

“Kid! You made that!”

The moment Barkley’s goal went in,

everyone ran to Johan first, almost feeling sorry for Barkley.

Barkley scored, but it was practically Johan who created the goal.

“Man! That pass was sick!”

Even Barkley, instead of running to celebrate, ran to Johan with his hands in the air.

“Not me…”

However, Johan brushed off his teammates’ congratulations for a moment.

If he was going to hype him up, he had to do it right.

He wasn’t even the one who scored the goal.

“Woah, woah, where are you pushing him?”

“Go over there.”

Johan nudged Barkley towards the left corner flag, towards the stands where the away fans were.

The West Ham fans were cheering there.

“Waaaaaaah-!”

As Barkley stood in front of the crowd, encouraged by Johan, the cheers grew even louder.

Barkley’s mouth stretched from ear to ear.

“Maaaaaaan-!”

Barkley roared once more.

*

Barkley’s goal was quite a blow to Chelsea.

That day, most people described the match between West Ham and Chelsea as a battle of spear versus shield.

However, West Ham was only considered the spear because of Johan.

The rest of the team were closer to being a shield.

But Barkley scored.

Of course, Johan’s assist was worth almost 0.9 goals in terms of impact.

Still, the scorer holds a symbolic significance, right?

Besides, it wasn’t an easy chance. Johan’s pass was exquisite, but if Barkley’s touch and shot hadn’t been so smooth, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d missed.

So, it was a big blow for Chelsea.

Seriously, conceding the first goal to someone who’s only scored two goals this season, and not even Johan?

They were the team with the fewest goals conceded in the league, the best at defense.

From West Ham’s perspective, it was almost like saying Johan was completely shut down, which wasn’t true.

What was even more disconcerting was that West Ham didn’t retreat or change their stance to be more defensive after scoring the first goal.

Of course, there was no real reason to change their stance since the goal was scored so early, in the 9th minute.

But that wasn’t the point.

They were starting to build even more momentum.

Actually, it was natural for West Ham to press on.

A one-goal lead against Chelsea in the 9th minute?

It was a lead that could be taken away at any moment, a lead that was better off not being counted on.

Even though Chelsea’s strength was defense, they were strong overall. It’s just that their defense was even stronger.

So, they couldn’t let their guard down with a three or even four-goal lead.

They had to capitalize as much as they could while the momentum was on their side.

Paang-

Paang-!

West Ham circulated the ball widely.

The West Ham players’ bodies were already fired up.

And so was their momentum.

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

“Aw, too bad!”

“Good, good! Nice shot!”

“Another goal is coming soon!”

After Barkley’s opening goal, West Ham’s sharp attacks continued to rain down.

Chelsea was constantly showing signs of instability on Ginter’s side.

Ginter’s condition was definitely not normal.

West Ham noticed it and started to focus their attacks on Ginter’s side.

With Ginter not playing his role, Chelsea was surprisingly shaky.

At this rate, it felt like a disaster might happen at Stamford Bridge [Chelsea’s home stadium].

‘We need to cut this off.’

In that situation, Chelsea’s center-back, Shay Bellamy, gritted his teeth.

As the saying goes, the position makes the person.

These cocky West Ham guys were playing like they were really number one just because they were in first place.

Bellamy was too proud to stand by and watch.

It was true that West Ham was higher in the standings than them, but were they a stronger team? Could they really be called the strongest team based on skill alone?

‘Not at all.’

West Ham’s high ranking was all because of one guy.

Without him, the rest were just a ragtag bunch.

‘But the problem is that one guy is too strong.’

Seeing them in first place even with those misfits, it was clear that he was good.

He could feel it when he saw him briefly during the national team training,

but facing him as an opponent made it even more real.

Even Manchester City was defeated by him.

That said it all.

So, what should he do?

‘It’s hard to cut it off normally.’

A head-on confrontation was difficult.

He had already admitted that to himself.

So, what should he do?

In the end, he had no choice but to use his greatest strength.

Shay Bellamy was a bit of an unusual player.

Usually, he had the most anti-fans in the league, but his fan base would explode during certain periods.

That specific period was during the international break [when national teams play matches].

So, everyone hated Bellamy when he wore the Chelsea uniform, but everyone loved him when he was on their side.

Bellamy’s nickname was ‘Foul Artist.’

Bellamy committed fouls more often per minute played than any other defender in the league’s top 5, but his number of warnings [yellow cards] was in the bottom tier overall.

That meant he was smart about committing fouls.

Of course, it was a fine line between clever and dirty, depending on who was watching.

Because of that, even veteran attackers often lost their pace once they got caught up in Bellamy’s game.

Because if you kept getting fouled by Bellamy, you couldn’t help but get emotional unless you were a saint.

Bellamy was a player who devoured attackers in that way.

‘But that guy…’

However, even Bellamy knew that Johan was someone he couldn’t easily mess with.

Ginter was already showing signs of discomfort after colliding with him.

If Ginter was like that, he could guess how much of a monster he was without even having to clash with him directly.

Most fouls wouldn’t work on him.

But that didn’t mean there was no way.

The reason Bellamy was called a foul artist.

It wasn’t just because he was good at fouling, but even more so because he was good at ‘creating’ fouls.

If it was hard to foul him, he just had to get fouled. He had to induce the opponent to foul him.

It was a simple story.

Peueoeoeoeong-!

West Ham’s long pass headed towards Chelsea’s territory.

Usually, Ginter was in charge of most aerial balls.

But,

“Mine!”

This time, Bellamy ran towards the landing point ahead of everyone else. It was almost impossible for Bellamy to win an aerial battle against Johan.

He couldn’t win in a physical fight, and he couldn’t win in jumping ability.

In fact,

Paang-!

Bellamy didn’t even try to compete with Johan. He let Johan jump and catch the ball.

However, Bellamy had a way to win the competition without directly taking the ball.

If he couldn’t even foul him, he would just get fouled. He meant that he would induce the opponent to foul him.

It was a simple story.

Peueoog-!

“Kuaaaaak!”

The moment Johan, who had received the ball, turned around, Bellamy, as if waiting for it, stuck his head out and screamed as he fell.

He had headed into Johan’s shoulder as he turned around.

“Hey!”

“Referee!”

Bellamy clutched his face and stomped his feet in pain, while Chelsea players simultaneously spread their arms and shouted at the referee.

Chelsea teammates, who had worked with Bellamy for a long time, were excellent assistants to Bellamy.

They immediately understood what Bellamy was aiming for and started protesting loudly on purpose.

“Bbeeeeek-!”

The referee blew his whistle.

The referee declared Johan’s foul.

“···?”

Johan scratched his head.

Johan was dumbfounded.

He hadn’t done anything, but it was a foul.

Anyway, since it was a foul, there was nothing he could do.

So, he was about to leave the ball and turn around,

but the Chelsea players’ protests grew even louder.

“Yellow! Yellow!”

“Give him a card!”

The Chelsea players waved their hands and appealed to the referee.

They were telling him to give a card.

At the same time, West Ham players rushed in and started pushing away those Chelsea players.

“Bbeek-! Bbeek-!”

As the atmosphere was about to overheat in an instant, the referee separated the players from both teams.

Because of that, the game was temporarily stopped.

Not only that, but even the medical staff was brought onto the field.

Because Bellamy couldn’t get up easily.

“···”

And, Chelsea’s coach Hoffman, who was watching it, smiled slightly.

‘Good cut.’

As expected of Bellamy.

He had properly cut off the opponent’s momentum with a clever play.

That foul just now was extremely subtle.

Coach Hoffman could also tell that Bellamy had intended to be fouled.

So, he was lying there now as if he had suffered a major injury, but he also knew that it was all an act.

Everyone knew Bellamy’s acting skills.

He would cut off the flow like this, suffer in pain, and call the medical staff for about 3 minutes of treatment.

If the game was cut off like that, the opponent’s momentum would inevitably be broken.

As expected, Bellamy was a guy who knew how to win games.

“Good job, Bellamy.”

Coach Hoffman smiled and approached Bellamy, who had been lying down for quite a while and was being helped off the field by the medical staff.

Bellamy would usually smile and wink at times like this.

But,

“···Bellamy?”

Hmm.

Bellamy’s condition seemed a little different from what Coach Hoffman had expected.

Bellamy was genuinely in pain.

*

“Substitution for Chelsea···”

Bellamy eventually failed to return to the field.

Chelsea hurriedly substituted a player.

And, the expression on Bellamy’s face as he sat on the bench watching that was indescribable.

‘Damn it···’

After colliding with Johan and collapsing while clutching his face.

His teammates came to him as he lay there and said that.

“You don’t have to act anymore. It doesn’t look like they’re going to give a card.”

“Your acting is getting better and better. Are you going to challenge for an Oscar?”

Was this what the boy who cried wolf felt like?

‘What acting! I really feel like I’m going to die!’

He wanted to get angry and say it wasn’t acting, but he didn’t even have the energy to do that.

It was as painful as if he had been hit by a lump of iron. He was momentarily dazed. Even though he had slightly turned his head to deflect the damage, it was still that bad.

‘Crazy bastard···’

But, it was his own fault, so he had nothing to say.

It was he who had stuck his face into that monster.

In the end, Bellamy had to sit on the bench and watch the game, and Chelsea lost even more pace.

They lost Bellamy, a key player in the team, and Ginter was also not in good condition.

All that was left was Gustavo, but West Ham didn’t have anything to fear from Gustavo without Ginter and Bellamy supporting him.

The current Chelsea was not the Chelsea that people usually knew.

Bbeoeoeoeoeong-!

Shooooooong-

Thud-!

West Ham’s second goal was scored in the 21st minute of the first half.

It was Johan’s goal.

Chris Simon, who was suddenly brought in to replace Bellamy, was completely destroyed by Johan.

It was no wonder he was destroyed, since he hadn’t even warmed up properly in the cold weather and had to face Johan.

Of course, there was no guarantee that the result would have been different even if he had warmed up properly.

Anyway, West Ham took a two-goal lead early on and completely seized the momentum of the first half.

After that,

There were occasional sharp attacks from Chelsea, but they failed to connect to a追擊 [chase/pursuit] goal.

The momentum itself was completely eaten up, and the team’s key players were broken, so the team’s momentum was also broken.

In the end, the first half ended with West Ham leading 2-0.

Still, the second half was Chelsea’s flow.

West Ham definitely felt like they had used up the energy they should have used in the second half in the first half.

To completely seize the momentum against a strong team like Chelsea, they had to do that much.

So, the West Ham players looked a little tired, and Chelsea, who had reorganized and launched a counterattack, began to produce results.

The 追擊 [chase/pursuit] goal was scored in the 13th minute of the second half.

In a set-piece situation, Gustavo’s header shook the net, closing the gap by one point.

Chelsea definitely had potential, and if this game was turned around, West Ham’s stamina seemed to be a problem.

However, West Ham’s additional goal, like a welcome rain, was scored in the 21st minute of the second half.

It was Johan’s second goal.

Johan, who received a pass inside the penalty box, created a shooting angle with just his first touch, and then scored a goal that pierced the corner of the goal with a quick shot.

This goal was really important.

Because it was a goal that cut off the flow that had completely passed to the opponent, contrary to the first half.

Also,

When viewed as a result, it was.

Chelsea’s second goal was scored in the 38th minute of the second half.

However, Chelsea didn’t have enough time to chase further from there, and in the end, the game ended 3-2, with Johan’s second goal becoming the winning goal.

“Waaaaa!”

“We won! We caught them all!”

“We are a real strong team now!”

After catching even Chelsea, the players and coaching staff roared.

Taking 6 points in two difficult games from Arsenal to Chelsea was very meaningful.

Considering the tough schedule ahead, the points they had earned now would be a great help.

Therefore, the meaning of today’s victory was very great, and conversely, Chelsea fans had no choice but to be frustrated.

Also, Chelsea fans were frustrated once again that their words were correct.

That they had maintained the fewest goals conceded in the league because they had not met Johan.

Chelsea, who conceded 3 goals for the first time this season, had a total of 10 goals conceded and had to give up the title of fewest goals conceded.

On the other hand, Johan continued his goal storm even against Chelsea, wonderfully refuting the words of Chelsea fans.

Also, through this game, Johan gained new nicknames from football fans.

After the game.

It was because of a post on Chelsea’s community account.

@chelseafc

-INJURY UPDATE

╋Nicklas Ginter(back)

╋Shay Bellamy(neck)

The news of Nicklas Ginter and Shay Bellamy’s injuries.

That news was so desperate for Chelsea fans, but it was very good news for fans of other teams competing with Chelsea.

Because of that, they started making puns in the comments, giving Johan a thumbs up.

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