Chapter 92 - Bayern Munchen (4)

Bayern began to regain control of the game. They made short passes between players. They were patiently trying to dismantle the Southampton defense. Meanwhile, Southampton was also defending well. On the right, Freddy intercepted Trippery several times, while Benson kept Ruben well.

In midfield, Simone and Wright-Phillips and the rest of the center-backs had understood about keeping Muller, so Muller's move was always closely watched. The match entered a stagnant phase so both teams had difficulty changing the score.

Entering the 70th minute, Southampton got a very good opportunity. Benson managed to bring down Ruben, he immediately took the ball from Ruben's feet and sent a pass to Wright-Phillips. Muller made a body charge, but Wright-Phillips stubbornly kept the ball. He then gave the ball to the Southampton center-back.

Southampton center-back sent a long pass forward. Joe Bennet held the ball with his chest, behind him, Tony Cross immediately intervened with Bennet. Fortunately, Bennet was able to keep the ball. He then provided a through ball to the left. Ryan received the ball and then dribbled it quickly. Phillips Ram made a tackle and knocked Ryan down roughly. Southampton missed the good chance they had.

Benson took a free kick where Ryan was dropped. After the referee blew the whistle, he executed a free kick with a flat pass towards Simone. Simone gave the long pass into the penalty box. There, Kazuki who was heavily guarded by Dante still took the time to pass to the left side.

Ryan tried to grab the ball that Kazuki headed. But Ram appeared and took the ball first. Ryan tries to snatch the ball from Ram's feet. Too bad, Ram was too experienced for Ryan. Ram was using his hands to keep Ryan away from the ball. After that, he kicked the ball off the field.

Once again, Southampton failed to threaten the Bayern Munich goalpost.

The match continued, in the 75th minute, Southampton got another chance. This time Wright-Phillips was cutting the pass released by Schweinsteiger. As soon as Wright-Phillips got the ball, another Southampton player started to run to attack. Simone received the ball from Wright-Phillips. He adjusted the ball for a moment, then crossed to Joe Bennet.

Tony Cross kept Bennett tight, so Bennett returned the pass to Simone. The Southampton captain brought the ball forward, then sent a through ball to the right. This time, Rustan managed to get rid of David Alaba. He brought the ball and broke into the Bayern Munich penalty box from the right side. Dante immediately closed the gap left by Alaba.

Rustan pushed the ball with his left foot, then used his outside foot to quickly push the ball back. Dante is also quite good, he was not ease fooled and tried to thwart what Rustan was doing by closing space for Rustan to send the pass. Too bad that he was a fraction of a second late, Rustan sent the pass before Dante stuck his foot out.

The ball rolls into the goalpost's mouth. Kazuki wriggled into the gap between Boateng and Schweinsteiger, then he stuck his foot out to bounce the ball into the net. Kazuki failed because the ball didn't hit his leg. But, the ball hit Boateng's body and bounced towards the goalpost. Fortunately, Neuer showed a super reaction. He jumped and grabbed the ball before it went into the net.

Boateng seemed to thank Neuer for keeping him from scoring his own goal. Meanwhile, on the side of the field, George seems disappointed by this failure. Neuer's appearance made it difficult for Kazuki, who was often Southampton's mainstay.

Southampton's constant counter-attack made Bayern wary. Although they were controlling the ball more than Southampton. But Southampton's counter-attack was not something Bayern Munich could simply ignore. It would be great if they could add a goal and sever Southampton's hopes of turning things around.

This makes Bayern motivated in attacking Southampton. In the 81st minute, Tony Cross provided a pass to Muller. The Raumdeuter exploited the space between Simone and Wright-Phillips. After that, he received the ball and turned his body. One of Southampton's center-backs stepped up and tried to close the space for Muller. At that point, Muller dug into the penalty box and got rid of the center-back.

In the next second Muller curled a cross that passed the last defender to Zico and then Phillips Zico grabbed the ball. Calmly, Zico kicked the ball towards the goalpost. The ball was gliding on the grass. The Southampton goalkeeper stretched his legs and managed to keep the ball.

One of Southampton's center-backs met the rebound by heading it to the right. Trippery tried to get the ball, but Freddy with full speed kicked the ball forward. The ball slid to the left side of the field. Ryan ran and received the ball, he then carried the ball across the halfway line. Phillips Ram was lagging because he had just overlapped.

Ryan carries the ball diagonally toward the center. At the right moment, he gave the ball a breakthrough in front of Kazuki. It was Kazuki who had gained a superior position over Jerome Boateng. He managed to get the ball and then dribble it quickly. Boateng tightly gripped Kazuki's shirt.

The moment Kazuki entered the penalty box, Boateng's gripped hand was too strong, so he fell inside the penalty box. Boateng immediately raised his hand, but the referee saw the foul clearly. He immediately pointed to the penalty spot. In addition, the referee also gave a yellow card to Boateng. Boateng didn't protest this time, Southampton getting a penalty in the 82nd minute.

Kazuki became Southampton's penalty taker, he put the ball in the penalty box then slowly walked back. In front of the goal Neuer pointed to the top of his head and said "Do a panenka, and I'll give you my sister's number."

Neuer tried to influence Kazuki but in a penalty shootout like this Kazuki was quite confident in facing Neuer. The referee then blew the whistle. Kazuki took a stance, then kicked the ball gently. Neuer jumped to the right, but the ball curled gently into the middle. Kazuki did the panenka just like Neuer said.

Kazuki's friends immediately entered the penalty box and hugged Kazuki while Kazuki turned to face Neuer and said,

"Bro, where's your sister's cell phone number?"

***

Kazuki's goal made the score 3-3. Southampton equalized. The match was hot again. The audience who saw Kazuki's goal clapped in satisfaction with the entertainment they got.

The match continues. Bayern tried to score. They attacked Southampton all-out in the final minutes of the game. But Southampton's defensive performance deserved a thumbs up. They made no mistakes and remained disciplined in defending. Until the long whistle sounded, Bayern failed to score. With a 3-3 draw, the match will go into extra time.. Southampton managed to hold the game against Bayern heading into extra time.