Under Sean's influence, Mane's pass went off target.
Red Bull forward Soriano chased the ball, and as soon as he got it, he was surrounded by Klaassen and Van Rhijn, who successfully dispossessed him.
Ajax immediately launched an attack.
Sean received a pass shortly after rushing to the front field, and Mane actively came to intercept him.
The scene of the two sprinting side-by-side reappeared.
Sean tried to accelerate but still couldn't shake off Mane, so he decisively exerted force and shouldered him.
Mane's body was slightly unsteady, and he gave way to Sean a little.
Sean decisively pulled the ball back and turned.
Mane's reaction was equally quick; he immediately stopped and moved to block Sean's path.
Sean dribbled and cut inside.
Mane was a bit slower to restart, failing to keep an eye on Sean.
Red Bull's left-back Ulm timely rushed towards Sean.
Sean dropped his right shoulder, causing Ulm to stop and try to turn to prevent Sean from going to the byline.
However, Sean continued to cut inside with his right foot.
Several Red Bull players gathered around.
At this point, it was no time to be stubborn; his teammates had already pushed forward to support him anyway.
Sean, who was cutting across, struck the ball with the inside of his left foot.
The ball soared into the air, heading straight towards the far post.
Bojan ran directly to the landing spot.
Huh?
Sean watched as Bojan's position perfectly coincided with the ball's trajectory.
Although he lifted his right foot, he had no room to swing his leg; the ball actually hit the outside of his right foot and bounced away, which was not surprising!
Bojan raised his hand, too embarrassed to look at Sean:
He constantly boasted about his positioning ability, and now he had indeed found open space, but he failed to adjust his steps—how embarrassing!
Sean bared his teeth at him and let it go.
The more games he played, the more mistakes he witnessed, both his own and his teammates'; it was inevitable, so there was no need to dwell on it too much—mainly because there was still plenty of time!
An opportunity missed was an opportunity missed; the next step was to create another one.
Sean quickly made a comeback, this time starting from the left wing, still interchanging positions with Bojan.
After Ajax advanced to the front field, they first gave the ball to Sean to handle.
During this period, Ajax had focused on practicing a playing style centered around Sean; as long as Sean ran into open space, the ball would basically be passed to him.
This time was no exception; Sean received the ball and advanced rapidly along the right wing.
Unexpectedly, Mane also followed him.
This time, Mane didn't slowly spar with Sean but accelerated and collided with him.
Sean, still observing while running, naturally noticed the approaching shadow, but the speed was too high, and it was too late to brake and avoid; he could only hope his own speed was enough!
"Duang ~"
The two finally collided.
Sean flew out of bounds, but fortunately, he was mentally prepared and made some temporary preparations for the impact, so he didn't completely lose his balance, and he even managed to grab Mane.
Mane was pulled by Sean and also stumbled out of bounds.
Neither of them managed to keep control of the ball.
Red Bull's Christian seized the opportunity to take the ball and launched a counter-attack.
The ball was quickly sent to the Ajax half.
Kampl took the ball and tried to accelerate forward.
Duarte slid in with a flying tackle.
The ball flew out of bounds, and Duarte fell headfirst.
Although Duarte was shouting and yelling while sitting on the ground, the referee saw clearly that it was a clean tackle, no foul.
"Ah!"
Duarte jumped up, punching and shouting, "Ajax isn't just Sean! Don't underestimate us, you bastards!"
The Ajax players' morale was boosted, and they continued to attack; they were still behind, and if they didn't fight hard now, they would slowly die out.
Salzburg Red Bull also did not show weakness; with two goals conceded at home, a one-goal lead was too small, and a single mistake could lead to sudden death, so it was better to extend their lead a bit!
The two teams went back and forth, refusing to give an inch.
In the 28th minute, Ajax attacked the front field again.
Mane was still actively tracking back.
It was Duarte who had the ball on the left side outside the penalty area; where was Sean?
In the moment Mane turned to observe, Duarte had already delivered a cross.
The ball soared into the air and dropped directly in front of the goal.
Sean and Sigthórsson rushed directly towards the goal.
Red Bull center-back Ramalho noticed the ball was about to fly over his head, instinctively looked back, and then he saw ~
Sean diving header!
Amidst the roar of the Cruyff Arena,
"Chak ~"
The sound of the ball rubbing against the net still seemed clearly audible!
Goal!
Ajax 1-0 Salzburg Red Bull!!
"Ah ah ah ~~~"
Sean turned and ran towards the main stand, the passionate scene of machine gun fire reappearing.
"Oh oh oh ~~~"
The decibel level at the Cruyff Arena surged again... "Goal!"
"Sean!"
"Sean, making a late run, successfully scored with a header, successfully leveling the aggregate score for Ajax!"
"In the previous round, Sean headed the ball against the crossbar, missing a chance to equalize.
Now, with another header, Sean made up for his regret!"
"Aggregate score 3-3, Ajax still has two away goals, and with the two goals from the previous round, they are in a strong position to advance."
"Ajax has now pulled back from the edge of the cliff and, in turn, pushed Salzburg Red Bull over it; the greatest contributor to all of this is, of course, Sean!"
"That's right, in the first leg, Sean scored twice, grabbing Ajax as they fell off the cliff and successfully pulling them up.
This goal now further distances Ajax from the cliff.
Now it's up to Salzburg Red Bull to respond; there's still time, and they are unlikely to simply accept their fate..."
... "Hey!!!"
On the sidelines, Salzburg Red Bull head coach Roger Schmidt was shouting loudly.
Seeing his players look over, Schmidt kept waving his arms towards the Ajax goal, occasionally pointing at Mane.
The meaning was clear: continue to attack with Mane as the core.
The Red Bull players, of course, understood their coach's intentions, but their first task was to withstand Ajax's attack.
The match restarted.
The excited Ajax players immediately launched a high press.
The effect was significant.
In the 31st minute, Red Bull's right-back Christian had just received the ball when he was jointly surrounded by several Ajax players and could only turn and pass back.
Fortunately, Red Bull goalkeeper Gulacsi was very aware, having already left the goal and moved to a position near the byline where he could receive the ball, successfully taking possession.
Bojan immediately rushed to press Gulacsi.
On the sidelines, Ajax head coach Frank de Boer was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes: 'God, I've lived long enough to see this!
I never thought I'd see Bojan so active!
F*ck, if we lose this game no, no, no we certainly can't lose this game, a draw ~ a draw would be worth it!'
While Frank de Boer was still full of emotion, Gulacsi had no time to think and quickly turned and made a long pass.
The ball immediately flew diagonally towards the Red Bull's right flank, landing outside the penalty area ~ for Klaassen!
Ajax's Klaassen was perfectly positioned and quickly took the ball, driving straight into the box.
Red Bull's left-back Ulm turned and blocked him, so Klaassen simply pushed the ball into the open net.
"Bang ~"
Red Bull goalkeeper Gulacsi realized something was wrong as soon as the ball left Klaassen's foot and immediately sprinted back to the goal, making a desperate dive towards the far corner.
He won, just managing to push the ball away.
Gulacsi instantly jumped up, roaring at Ulm, who had just cleared the ball with a long kick, to vent their relief at having escaped danger.
Klaassen, on the other hand, sighed heavily, almost stomping his foot!
That was an open goal, and he missed it just like that?!
...
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