Chapter 836: A Penalty Kick!
"What?! No!" Omar Mascarell yelped, rushing toward the referee and pointing at his shoulder as if to make his point. "That’s a shoulder, Ref! It doesn’t even hit my hand!"
Honestly, Higo had to admire the Spaniard’s thick skin, so shameless in complaining when, in reality, he’d seen for himself that the ball hit his captain’s hand perfectly. Still, he also joined the party, trying to put pressure on the referee as well.
"You are not even in the best position to look at the incident! How did you know that it touched the hand?!"
"Yeah! Have you already determined that it was a handball before it happened?!" Benjamin Stambouli also jumped in, wanting to add fuel to the fire.
The referee’s face was so red with fury right now. Even though no direct accusation was thrown, it was clear that Schalke players were implying that he sided with Bayern Munich here. He tried his best to explain, and yet none of them managed to calm down the away team players.
Meanwhile, all the Bayern players just looked at the commotion with an amused smile. Hell, some still gave Thomas Muller a fist bump, celebrating how the man managed to force a penalty here. They all knew that once the referee made a decision, no matter how much the victim complained, nothing would be changed.
Hell, if anything, they hoped that the complaint would be fiercer so that a yellow card could be given here. Well, that was just a hopeful thought, since Omar Mascarell himself was the team’s captain, and he had all the right in the world to make his case right now.
However, one thing that Bayern players forgot, though, was that a new technology was introduced for the league this season. It was none other than the controversial Video Assistant Referee, or as people always shortened it, the VAR, to help the referee make a judgement in this kind of moment.
Well, that was exactly what the referee decided.
Even though the man was convinced that it was really a handball, to convince Schalke players, he still pointed at the sideline before running there. If the result came from the VAR, the away team would never have any reason to complain.
Still, this made all the Bayern players wary. After all, that meant the decision hadn’t truly stood, and it could still be canceled at the last moment. Now, they looked at each other with an uneasy feeling, waiting for the referee to come back after watching the replay.
Unfortunately for Schalke, with VAR, the sin that Omar Mascarell committed was highlighted more, even getting replayed in slow motion.
Even though it was a little bit tighter than what the referee initially thought, with the ball hitting the area between the Spaniard’s arm and shoulder, in the end, it was clear that the ball bounced off the man’s hand, which was a clear penalty here.
Omar Mascarell was so helpless, as in the end, the referee didn’t even blink, pointing at the penalty spot once again. At this point, no complaint would mean anything, as the referee had already confirmed everything with the VAR.
"YES! A penalty!"
"Come on! Let’s seal the deal!"
"Lewy, we will rely on you!"
All 300 people on the stand cheered instantly, getting ready to celebrate it as if the goal was something that was bound to happen.
"Sorry, Higo, that’s purely my fault." Omar Mascarell just sighed as he approached the boy between the posts. "If only I wasn’t there, you would definitely be able to save that pathetic shot, right?"
Well, the captain didn’t need an answer for that. He had just realized that based on Higo’s positioning in that last attack, indeed, without him blocking the way, the ball would only fall on the boy’s clutch. This was what got him depressed even further, finding this situation to be frustrating.
"Oh, well, this is just another round of bad luck for us, right?" Higo shrugged helplessly, not dwelling on it too much. After conceding a goal to Sebastian Rudy earlier, he had already thought that this game would be a mess sooner or later. "Anyway, don’t forget that I stopped Lewandowski’s penalty in the past. Maybe I could do the same right now?" He smiled weakly.
Omar Mascarell just snorted a little, not hoping too much for it. No matter how great Higo was in the penalty spot, the boy would never be able to stop everything. Hell, based on the tone that Higo threw, the goalkeeper himself didn’t seem to believe his own words here.
"Well, no matter what, you have done your best, and that’s enough." Sead Kolasinac suddenly chimed in, patting the boy on his shoulder. "Just go and follow your instinct! No one will blame you for conceding another goal here."
Higo nodded slightly, taking a deep breath before walking to the goal. In front of him, Lewandowski had also put the ball on the penalty spot, and this time, no playfulness could be seen on the Polish striker’s face.
No, the man only had a hungry gaze in his eyes, observing Higo’s movement carefully.
The whole stadium was in a still silence, and some people even held their breath unconsciously. All focus was on the two players right now, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle.
Higo himself tried his best to force his brain to work harder than usual.
’The key should be my first step, right?’ He murmured to himself. ’That man would definitely aim at the tricky spot on the edge of the goal. If I want to stand a chance to block it, I have to move faster than him taking the shot. Come on, my brain! Give me that image now!’
FWEEE!
The moment the referee blew the whistle, the Polish striker also started his run-up. Unlike their last encounter in the penalty spot in the last game, though, no stutter run could be seen, as the man was running to gather all the power he could muster.
When the man was at his last second before launching the shot, Higo finally widened his eyes, figuring out where the ball would go.
’LEFT!’