The game resumed.
Ye Chen noticed an extra burden beside him.
But so what?
He's not the only one capable of scoring today!
As long as Dortmund scores a few more against Düsseldorf, they won't have time to focus on Ye Chen!
After the kickoff, Dortmund's players pressed forward again.
Naturally, they didn't want a repeat of what had just happened, so when the ball was passed back to goalkeeper Latajcak, instead of clearing it long, he passed it to left-back Vandenberg.
As soon as Vandenberg received the ball, Lewandowski charged at him.
Confident in his skills, Vandenberg dribbled sideways. Seeing Lewandowski attempt to intercept, he passed the ball back to Rangnick.
But just as the ball was about to reach Rangnick, a yellow figure suddenly burst out.
The speed was nothing short of lightning!
"Damn!"
Rangnick had initially been waiting for the ball, but upon seeing Ye Chen charging in, he realized the danger and stretched his leg to intercept.
However, Ye Chen poked the ball away first, and Rangnick's foot inadvertently struck the top of Ye Chen's foot!
"Ah!"
Ye Chen let out a painful cry and fell to the ground.
"Beep!"
At the same time, the referee ran over, pointing directly to the penalty spot!
"What's going on?"
"What happened?"
"You're awarding a penalty just one minute into the match? Do you even know how to ref?"
"Rigged! This ref is definitely biased!"
"I didn't even touch him, he's diving!" Rangnick protested.
The referee glanced at Ye Chen's ankle â his pristine white socks were now dirty, with visible grass and mud stains.
"Then how do you explain the marks on his foot?"
Rangnick gritted his teeth. "Get up, kid! I know you Chinese are diving champions, but this isn't a swimming pool!"
Ye Chen ignored the furious player and got up from the ground.
He was ready to take the penalty.
On the sidelines, Daniel Thione quickly approached the fourth official to complain, but the big screen had already begun showing the replay.
The referee's decision was correct!
Rangnick was clearly inside the penalty area, and Ye Chen had made his way in as well.
The replay clearly showed Rangnick missing the ball entirely and kicking Ye Chen's ankle.
It was 100% a penalty!
The fans in attendance knew the game well â they stopped protesting.
However, Daniel Thione couldn't hold back, yelling from the sidelines, "Vandenberg, what are you doing? Move the ball faster! And you, Rangnick, what's going on? Step up and take control! Do you even want to play?"
Getting scolded by the head coach like that was humiliating.
The two players turned away, avoiding eye contact with their coach.
Damn it, how were they supposed to know Dortmund would press so aggressively right from the start?
Since Ye Chen won the penalty, he was going to take it himself.
At that moment, Lewandowski walked over and picked up the ball. "You want it?"
Ye Chen nodded and took the ball from his hands.
Lewandowski said nothing more and stepped out of the box.
Generally, the player who wins the penalty doesn't always take it, but forwards often insist on doing so.
Of course, different teams have different rules, but at Dortmund, the scorer could take the penalty.
Ye Chen stood at the penalty spot.
"Beep!"
The referee blew the whistle. Ye Chen took a deep breath.
He ran up and struck the ball hard.
The shot curled into the top right corner.
Fast, precise, unstoppable!
Latajcak's reaction was half a second too slow. By the time he dived, the ball was already in the net!
A penalty master â no surprises at all!
At 1 minute and 36 seconds, Dortmund, playing away, secured a 2-0 lead!
Daniel Thione's fighting spirit took a hit...
Where did this Chinese kid come from? How is he so good?!
Ye Chen, celebrating his goal, raised two fingers and sprinted towards the Dortmund fan section, leaping high and spinning 180 degrees mid-air!
"SIUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
The away fans shouted in unison with Ye Chen.
Though only 3,000 of them were in the stadium, their chants echoed like 30,000 strong!
54,000 fans attended the game, all die-hard supporters.
In Germany, stadiums consistently have high attendance â even the least popular teams have a minimum of 90% capacity. For teams like Dortmund, it's nearly always 99%!
The second-highest attendance belongs to Schalke, averaging 98%.
Bayern once boasted similar figures, but after losing the Bundesliga title last year, their attendance dipped slightly below Schalke's.
Watching this kid celebrate in their stadium felt bitter for the home fans.
But no one cursed at Ye Chen.
After all, he scored â why shouldn't he celebrate?
It wouldn't be fair otherwise.
The celebration ended quickly, and Dortmund players returned to midfield.
The game resumed.
Dortmund pressed forward once again, but the third time wasn't the charm.
Düsseldorf finally regained some composure, playing like the 2. Bundesliga champions they were!
However, possession quickly returned to Dortmund.
At 2 minutes and 2 seconds, Chrislowie pushed up the left, blocking Assani's passing lane.
With no other option, Assani passed back to Fink.
Fink moved up to receive but was closely marked by Gündogan.
He sought out Lambes, but Lambes was tightly marked by GroÃkreutz.
Podsedek followed Ye Chen closely.
Fink had no choice but to send a long ball forward.
But Hummels intercepted, sending the ball to Kehl.
Barely two minutes into the match, Düsseldorf's players were already suffocating under pressure.
It wasn't physical exhaustion â it was mental.
Dortmund's dominance was overwhelming. Düsseldorf struggled to even pass the ball...
The crowd fell silent.
They couldn't believe their eyes...
Although they had dominated 2. Bundesliga, Dortmund's intensity was on another level.
Now they knew â when Dortmund got serious, they couldn't hold out for even two minutes!