"In the sixty-fifth minute of the match, Wolfsburg made their first substitution."
"After ten days, Mark Lane returned from injury!"
After coming on, Mark moved to the left flank.
Seeing Mark enter the pitch, Tuchel on the sidelines immediately frowned.
Under the leadership of young coach Tuchel, Mainz achieved an eight-match unbeaten streak this season.
However, in those eight unbeaten matches, they only won three.
The remaining five matches were all draws!
Even so, they secured the sixth spot in the League standings thanks to their steady tactical approach.
Of course, as a mid-table Bundesliga team, the gap between Mainz's squad strength and Wolfsburg's was visible to the naked eye.
In this match, playing away, they realistically adopted a defensive counter-attacking strategy.
Originally, they were suppressed by Wolfsburg's attack and could only launch sporadic counter-attacks.
After fortunately equalizing the score in the first half, they continued to retreat into defense, waiting for counter-attacking opportunities.
However, after Mark came on as a substitute, Mainz's defensive pressure instantly surged!
Mark, returning from injury, displayed the style of the Bundesliga Dribbling King in his first dribbling attempt of the match!
He received the ball on the left flank, facing the double-team defense of two Mainz players. Without taking a touch forward, and before the two could complete the tackle, he used the inside of his right foot to pull the ball inward, followed by a push with the inside of his left foot—a lightning-fast Elastico that allowed him to break through between the two defenders.
Immediately after, he continued his run, cutting inside, penetrating to the left edge of the penalty area, and unleashing a highly threatening curling shot!
Fortunately, Mainz goalkeeper Karius was prepared, moving early and blocking the ball out for a corner with a beautiful diving save.
Even so, Mark's first successful dribble since returning from injury showed the change in the team's offense!
And what the strongest Bundesliga winger is called!
In addition to receiving the ball on the left and easily tearing apart the Mainz defense, Mark's presence also drew a significant amount of attention, allowing De Bruyne in the center and Vieirinha on the right flank to gain more space and opportunities.
Especially De Bruyne, with Mark drawing attention, he was more composed when receiving the ball, organizing play, and passing.
In the seventieth minute, which was the fifth minute after Mark came on, Mark received the ball on the left flank again.
Facing the opposing Mainz players as if they were formidable enemies, Mark pulled the ball back in place, and after drawing the defender in, he suddenly pushed the ball forward.
Just as Mark was about to accelerate down the wing, Mainz's right central midfielder Baumgartlinger went straight in with a sliding tackle!
"No way you're getting past!"
However, as if he had anticipated it, Mark used the top of his foot to flick the ball and stop suddenly, evading the sliding tackle and immediately cutting inside.
Like a sharp sword, he easily pierced the space in Mainz's flank. Mark didn't continue to dribble; instead, he played a square pass to the center, executed a quick one-two wall pass with De Bruyne, and easily broke into the penalty area, gaining a chance to face Mainz goalkeeper Karius directly!
In an instant, Mark leaned his body forty-five degrees to the left, raised his left arm, and then powerfully struck the middle of the ball with the inside of his right foot.
Bang!
Accompanied by a crisp sound, the ball shot out, tracing a beautiful parabola through the air.
The ball carried intense spin, perfectly curving past Karius's fingertips and flying into the far corner of the goal!
Swish! The white net immediately rippled in waves!
The next second, the Volkswagen Arena erupted, instantly ignited!!!
"GOAL!!!!"
"It's a goal!"
"This is his tenth League goal of the season!"
"From this moment forward, Mark Lane becomes the youngest player in the Bundesliga to reach double digits in League goals in a single season!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, please remember this is a great moment!"
Under the guidance of the stadium DJ, the entire home crowd uniformly chanted his name: "Mark"
"Lane!"
"Mark"
"~~~
"Lane!!"
"Mark~~~"
"Lane!!!"
Amidst the thunderous applause and cheers, Mark came to the camera on the sidelines and performed the Samba Dance Steps that Roni had taught him.
After dancing, he didn't forget to add a line to the camera: "Roni, this is for you!"
Immediately afterward, he turned around and was surrounded by teammates including De Bruyne.
Perhaps to welcome him back, his teammates each ruffled his hair: "Welcome back!"
"Well done!"
"It had to be you!"
Compared to the excited Wolfsburg players celebrating, the visiting Mainz players wore expressions of helplessness.
It was already difficult playing away.
It was truly not easy to hold the score at 1-1 for over sixty minutes.
But Mark came on and reversed the score in less than five minutes.
And he scored while being specifically marked by their team!
A deep sense of powerlessness involuntarily surged into the hearts of the Mainz players.
They were clearly playing the same competition, playing with the same football.
But why was it so hard for them to score, yet so easy for Mark?
"Could this be the difference between an ordinary person and a super genius?!"
As Mark scored the go-ahead goal, Mainz's hope of forcing a draw away at Wolfsburg was shattered.
Tuchel and his Mainz team faced a new problem:
Should they attack to try and equalize, or continue executing the defensive counter-attack strategy?
After thinking it over, Tuchel waved his hand, deciding to fight Wolfsburg to the death!
However, this decision plunged Mainz into crisis once again.
Originally, Wolfsburg's attack was ineffective against Mainz's compact defensive formation.
They often relied only on individual forced breakthroughs and long-range shots from outside to threaten the goal.
However, as Mainz pushed their formation forward, the space between players widened, increasing the attacking space for both sides, and thus giving Mark more room to break through.
In the seventy-ninth minute, Mark dribbled down the left flank to the goal line, used his left heel to tap the ball, switched back to his right foot, and played a Reverse Cut-back Pass to the center.
De Bruyne, making a late run, unleashed a furious shot, once again piercing the goal defended by Karius;
Just a few minutes later, Mark's breakthrough on the left flank again created a set-piece opportunity in the attacking third.
The set-piece delivered by R. Rodriguez created chaos inside the Mainz penalty area.
And Vieirinha, amidst the chaos, snatched a shot and scored, setting the score at 4-1!
Ultimately, thanks to De Bruyne's two assists and one goal, Mark's goal and assist, and goals from Olić and Vieirinha, Wolfsburg scored three goals in the second half, achieving a 4-1 home victory over visiting Mainz!
This was Wolfsburg's ninth consecutive win in the Bundesliga!
Mark, who returned from injury in the latter half of the match, became the key player for Wolfsburg in securing the victory.
Coming on as a substitute for just twenty-five minutes, Mark single-handedly shredded Mainz's right flank defense, completing one assist and scoring one goal!
After the match, Mark joined the team in thanking the home fans.
Immediately after, he felt the deep affection from the fans:
The fans waving scarves in the stands spontaneously began singing a cheerful song: "Mark... Mark... one of us!"
"The best one!"
"Mark... Mark... his dribbling is like dancing!"
"The most elegant dance moves!"
"This song is dedicated to Mark Lane!"
"Taking on three defenders is routine, no one on the field can stop him!"
"Who is he?"
"Mark~~~ Lane!"
"Mark... Mark... one of us!"
Listening to the lyrics clearly praising him, Mark was initially stunned, then realized what was happening, and couldn't help but flash a brilliant smile.
This was actually a song specially written for him by the fans?!
"These fans are too talented..."
Feeling gratitude internally, he continuously swung his arms, swaying along with the singing.
Seeing that Mark actually had a dedicated "Song of Mark" created by the fans, the other Wolfsburg players nearby were incredibly envious.
However, they weren't jealous at all.
Because they knew very well that Mark deserved this treatment!
If anyone could score goal after goal like Mark, lead the team to win match after match, win the German Supercup and German Cup titles, and lead the team to an opening nine-game winning streak... then they too would receive a personal song created by the fans!
But there is only one Mark!
0.
One hour after the match ended, the local newspaper Wolfsburg Report used a photo of Mark shooting as its front-page cover.
With the caption: "The King Returns!"
And the next day, major sports media outlets both domestic and international reported on the match: "The Wolfsburg genius, who recently celebrated his nineteenth birthday, gave himself a perfect birthday gift with his tenth League goal!" — Bild
"The German Prodigy became the first player this season in the Bundesliga, and even across the top five European Leagues, to reach double digits in goals!"
The Mirror
"His goal tally is already far ahead of Bundesliga strikers like Lewandowski, Meyer, Aubameyang, Müller, and others..." —
Sport Bild
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, which is usually more rigorous, focused on the terrifying record achieved by the Wolfsburg team.
"The new Bundesliga season has broken away from its usual boredom and is full of surprises."
"Bayern, the Bundesliga hegemon who had never lost an opening match, was actually overturned by Wolfsburg."
"After overcoming the mountain that is Bayern, Wolfsburg has surged forward triumphantly, achieving a nine-game League winning streak that sets a club and Bundesliga record!"
"Under the guidance of the golden partnership of Sporting Director Allofs and Head Coach Hecking, the Wolfsburg squad is unprecedentedly strong. Even Bayern is not far superior..."
"Under Hecking's 4-2-3-1 tactical system, this Wolfsburg team has unleashed astonishing energy..."
"And Mark has become the sharpest longsword, helping the team sweep away all obstacles in their path!"
"How long can their winning streak continue?"
"Let us wait and see!"
A few days later, Wolfsburg welcomed their tenth League match as scheduled.
After half a month, the team's top scorer and star player, Mark, returned to the starting lineup!
Their opponent was Stuttgart, ranked fourteenth in the League!
This was a relatively weak opponent.
Therefore, besides Mark, who had officially returned from injury, Hecking also placed key players like De Bruyne, Gustavo, and Olić on the bench.
Before their first victory in the sixth round against Hannover, Stuttgart had only managed two points, ranking second to last in the League!
They scored only three goals in five League matches, but conceded nine!
It was only after defeating Hannover that Stuttgart slowly found their form.
Especially in the last three Bundesliga matches, Stuttgart first narrowly lost 3-2 away to Hertha BSC, then drew 3-3 at home against Leverkusen, and then narrowly won 5-4 away against Frankfurt.
From these three matches, Stuttgart, who had been unable to win since the start of the season, seemed to have finally grasped the secret to winning:
If they couldn't defend, then they should attack with all their might, holding nothing back!
This is why Stuttgart averaged three goals per game in their last three matches!
Returning home for this round to face the League leaders, who had achieved nine consecutive League wins, Stuttgart also raised the banner of attack, pressing forward aggressively from the very first second of the match!
The strategy of seizing the initiative surprised Wolfsburg somewhat.
However, the Wolfsburg players quickly adapted to the rhythm of the game and exploited the huge space left behind by the opponent's high defensive line to launch highly threatening attacks!
In the ninth minute of the match, Malanda completed an interception in midfield, advanced two meters with the ball, and immediately spread the ball wide to Mark on the left flank.
With De Bruyne off the pitch, Mark was the primary initiator of the counter-attack!
"Mark receives the ball!"
"Facing the defense of Gotoku Sakai, he looks very relaxed..."
"Wow! An Elastico!"
"Sakai absolutely cannot stop him!"
"Romero slides in... wow, Mark flicks the ball up... and he's past again!"
"Cuts inside... shoots!"
"GOAL!!!"
In less than ten minutes after kickoff, Wolfsburg launched a swift counter-attack following a successful midfield interception.
Mark received the ball on the left, broke through the defense, dribbled past two players, cut inside, and curled the shot into the far corner to score!
With daily extra training, Mark's attacking routine—receiving the ball on the left, breaking through, cutting inside all the way to the left edge of the penalty area, and curling a shot into the far corner—has become increasingly proficient.
Moreover, the Speed of his ball control and his ability to withstand tackles while dribbling at high Speed have clearly improved compared to last season.
Even if opponents intentionally used their body strength, they couldn't easily knock Mark off the ball.
This was the result of Mark's hard work in the gym!
After scoring, Mark smiled, spread his arms, ran to the corner flag, and performed a stylish knee slide!
Leaving two visible marks on the turf, he stood up, raised both hands, and held up two index fingers towards the camera on the sidelines.
The "1" and "1" represented this goal being his eleventh League goal of the season!
The visiting fans who followed the team to the Neckar Valley also gave their darling warm cheers and applause.
However, no one knew that Mark's personal show had only just begun..
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