As a result, the goalkeeper suddenly stopped, faked a move, and shook off Cristiano Ronaldo.
Then he turned to his right and glanced behind him.
Nothing.
No one there.
Kai: ???
Because he had been tangled in the side netting, partially blocked by the post, and the goalkeeper turned his head to the right, the left post—where Kai was—fell right into a blind spot.
If you weren't paying attention, you'd completely miss him.
When the Vizela goalkeeper turned back with a relieved expression, Kai suddenly realized something.
The poacher-forward ability!
Holy shit!
This is the real use?!
I almost forgot my hidden Tyrannosaurus rex skill!
Striker?
Target man?
Hold-up play?
Scoring?
Headers?
Physical battles?
Taking the blame?
Bullshit!
That's not the real job of a top forward!
Remember—Karim Benzema's real job is to ruin goalkeepers!
Think about it—Sven Ulreich, Loris Karius, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Édouard Mendy…
Every single one of them is elite.
And yet they all got absolutely wrecked.
Poacher-forward ability?
Respect? My ass.
—
The Vizela goalkeeper bent down, placed the ball, and glanced upfield at his teammates.
With one long kick, he could launch a counterattack.
Vizela still had a few minutes left to push for a winner against Moreirense F.C.…
Wait.
Where the hell was the ball?
Right in front of everyone—
A figure suddenly burst out from the side netting and stabbed the ball forward!
Right under the goalkeeper's nose!
The ball rolled straight into the net.
Silence.
Everyone froze.
What… just happened?
"KAIIII! IT'S KAI!" the commentator exploded.
"Kai—who's been practically a war criminal in this match—has just redeemed himself!"
"He's saved himself!"
"What a goal! He stole it from behind the goalkeeper!"
"The Vizela keeper is protesting—he's claiming a foul—but the referee is pointing to the center circle!"
"The goal stands!"
"And it's correct! The goalkeeper had already released the ball—he completely ignored the presence of the Moreirense player behind him!"
"That is an unbelievable mistake!"
"Oh! Look at the replay!"
"When Ronaldo challenged for the aerial ball earlier, he pushed Kai slightly—Kai nearly smashed into the post, avoided it, and got stuck in the side netting!"
"He struggled to get out but couldn't—and right then, the goalkeeper checked behind him and assumed the area was clear!"
"What a coincidence!"
"If the keeper had looked left, he would've spotted Kai immediately—but Ronaldo was on the right, trying to pressure him, so he turned that way instead!"
"This is insane! Could it be… could Ronaldo and Kai have planned this?"
"Haha—okay, that's ridiculous. No way they planned that."
"Actually, Kai looks pissed—he's pointing at his back, probably still hurting from that collision!"
—
In the end, Moreirense defeated second-placed Vizela with this absurd, almost unbelievable goal.
After the match, the Vizela goalkeeper was absolutely destroyed by fans and media.
Because of the loss, Vizela dropped from second to fourth, overtaken by Gil Vicente F.C. on head-to-head results.
Moreirense climbed to second place with 49 points.
If the season ended now, they'd be promoted to the Portuguese Super League.
But unfortunately…
51 points, 49 points, 48 points, 48 points…
The top four were still incredibly tight.
In the final round, Moreirense would face first-placed Rio Ave F.C. directly.
Meanwhile, Gil Vicente and Vizela had easier fixtures and were highly likely to take all three points.
That meant one thing—
Moreirense had to beat Rio Ave.
Anything less, and they could drop out of the top two.
So far, only Rio Ave had secured promotion mathematically.
Even if they lost, their 51 points—combined with superior goal difference and head-to-head records—would still guarantee them at least second place.
And if they drew?
They'd win the title outright.
The final round was packed with possibilities.
The media went crazy.
"Gil Vicente fear a 'gentleman's agreement' between Rio Ave and Moreirense!"
"Vizela hope both Moreirense and Gil Vicente slip up!"
"Rio Ave respond: We take every match seriously—we're not broke enough to fix games!"
"Moreirense only reached second place thanks to a goalkeeper error—against Rio Ave, their flaws will be exposed!"
"Kai scored the winner—but wasn't Man of the Match! Has he hit a rookie wall?"
"Hero ball is a midfielder's greatest enemy—Triguera should strip Kai of his shooting rights!"
"Cristiano Ronaldo shines while Kai wastes chances—is this partnership cracking?"
"Internal conflict between the two young stars is the real reason for Moreirense's struggles!"
"Kai's bold claim: 'If we can fight for the title, why settle for promotion? We win—that's it!'"
The headlines exploded everywhere.
—
Meanwhile, the supposedly "broken" duo—
Kai and Ronaldo—
were sitting together in Coach Triguera's office.
Jiang Yunzhu was there as well.
She had gathered extensive data on Rio Ave through Record.
"Rio Ave are strong," Triguera said, flipping through the reports. "Actually, all four of the current top teams are strong—but each has a very distinct style."
"Vizela's defense is solid. They concede very few goals, but their attack is weak. That's why our match against them was so tough—aside from Kai, it was hard for anyone to create real chances."
Ronaldo glanced sideways at Triguera.
Wait… seriously?
Kai gets a pass for that performance?
Coach, I thought you were different from those other guys…
If Triguera knew what Ronaldo was thinking, he'd probably laugh.
Of course he was different.
Some coaches blindly trusted star players like Kai and Ronaldo.
But Triguera?
He didn't believe in stars.
He believed in Kai.
"Gil Vicente have a high ceiling—but a low floor," Triguera continued. "To put it bluntly, they bully the weak and fear the strong. Once momentum turns against them, they collapse. It's not the first time they've been smashed by weaker teams this season."
"And Rio Ave…" he paused.
"They're stable. Solid attack, consistent structure, and occasionally deadly."
"If I had to point out a flaw…"
He looked up.
"They're very similar to us."
"Last season, they were fighting relegation. This season, they're top of the table."
"With almost no major squad changes."
He tapped the table.
"That tells you everything."
"The coach makes the difference."
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