Chapter 45: Miracle reappearance
Jupiler Pro League Round 12, Genk faced Brussels away.
At the beginning of the match, Wang Feng was active in the front field. In the recent matches, opponents have tightened their marking on him, so he consciously expanded his range of activities to both restrain the defensive forces and exhaust the opponents' energy.
As for his own fitness, he was not worried at all. Through relentless training, especially in swimming, his fitness improved rapidly, and now playing a full 90 minutes was no pressure at all.
In the 31st minute, Wang Feng suddenly accelerated past the defense, receiving a pass from Gareth Barry in the middle, and then advanced toward the goal. The pursuing defender saw the danger and decisively tackled him, even if it meant committing a foul to stop him.
But when the defender's leg came out, Wang Feng flicked the ball up with his toe, then leaped over the tackle effortlessly, and proceeded into the penalty area.
The Brussels defenders failed to tackle and left a gap. Inside the penalty area, the covering defender dared not make any big moves. Wang Feng smoothly dribbled past one defender with a feint and then shot as he approached the goal, with the ball skimming past the goalkeeper's fingertips and into the net.
"Goal! Another goal by Wang Feng! He opens the scoring for Genk."
"The Brussels defenders tried to stop Wang Feng with a tackle but didn't expect him to evade it. Let's take another look at the replay. Wang Feng's ball control was so elegant, it's like a scene from a comic book."
The home fans of Brussels were very unhappy with their team's performance, booing loudly, especially at the number 15, Jeffrey Larson, who not only failed to stop Wang Feng's breakthrough but also left a gap due to his sliding tackle.
After taking the lead, Genk continued to play steadily, focusing on defense while looking for opportunities to counterattack. In the 67th minute of the second half, Wang Feng and Bess staged a clever two-on-one combination, but Wang Feng's subsequent cross was blocked by Barry, failing to extend the lead.
After this round of matches, Anderlecht suffered a surprising 0-1 defeat against Club Brugge, so with two consecutive wins, Genk successfully overtook them, returning to the top of the table with a one-point advantage. Third place was Club Brugge, trailing Genk by four points, while fourth was Standard Liege, eight points behind Genk. Barring any surprises, the champion would likely come from these top three.
In the league's top scorers chart, Wang Feng still led with 14 goals, while the second-placed Jan Koller had only 9 goals. In addition to his goals, Wang Feng also had 4 assists, ranking 6th in the assists chart.
The 12th round of the league produced a total of 18 goals, and all Belgian media marveled at Wang Feng's seemingly unstoppable form. He was likely to become the youngest top scorer in the Belgian Pro League.
In the UEFA Europa League group stage, Genk hosted Moscow Lokomotiv. Despite playing two matches in a week, the schedule seemed to have no impact on Wang Feng's form. In the 15th minute of the match, he received a precise through pass from Barry on the right, dribbled past blocking defenders with consecutive feints, and penetrated into the penalty area.
Instead of crossing into the box, Wang Feng chose to shoot directly with the outside of his foot, sending the ball on a high arcing trajectory, which flew past the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net. The Lokomotiv Moscow goalkeeper misjudged the ball's trajectory and could only watch as it went in.
After scoring, Wang Feng was quickly substituted off for a rest, and Genk focused on defending, securing their second win in the group stage. Although Lokomotiv Moscow adopted an aggressive strategy, they couldn't break through Genk's defense.
In the end, Genk won 1-0, securing their second consecutive victory in the group stage and virtually securing a spot in the round of 32.
In the 13th round of the league, Genk faced Roeselare at home. In the 11th minute, Wang Feng was fouled by a defender from Roeselare when he was breaking through on the right side. The referee awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position.
He consulted with the team captain, Aaron Abigail, and decided to take the free-kick himself. Wang Feng had been practicing free-kicks, hoping to develop his attacking abilities as much as possible.
Standing near the penalty spot, Wang Feng glanced at his teammates in the penalty area. Jason Aldridge was the most threatening player, with his height and jumping ability. If he could find him, it would pose a great threat.
In his mind, Wang Feng silently calculated. When the referee blew the whistle, he ran up to the ball, then used the inside of his foot to send it into the penalty area. The free-kick was similar to Beckham's bending free-kick, bypassing the defenders' header attempts and reaching the far post.
Aldridge, who was making a quick run, leaped high and perfectly met the ball with his head. It seemed as if the ball was coming directly to his forehead, so the force was great, piercing through Roeselare's goal.
After scoring, Aldridge ran ecstatically around the field. At the beginning of the season, he was called up to the first team in a critical situation and never expected to stand firm in the first team, let alone score consecutively.
Wang Feng followed from behind and congratulated him on his goal. Aldridge then raised Wang Feng's hand, indicating that the credit for the goal belonged to Wang Feng as well.
He now truly admired Wang Feng from the bottom of his heart. Playing alongside Wang Feng was very comfortable; he always attracted defenders, creating space for other teammates and delivering exquisite assists. All his teammates needed to do was take advantage of the opportunities.
In the second half, in the 77th minute, substitute Renee Delvaux's left-wing breakthrough was unsuccessful. He could only pass back to the middle, but the ball hit a defender and bounced towards the middle.
Wang Feng, who was following up, didn't wait for the ball to land. He used his left foot to unleash a world-class strike, and the ball flew like a missile. Although the goalkeeper guessed the direction correctly, he still couldn't touch the ball.
A miracle reoccurred! Wang Feng scored another unbelievable goal!
And this time, it was even further from the goal, reaching 35 meters! Last season, he scored such a goal against Anderlecht, and many media commented that it was definitely a goal of the century but hard to replicate.
Unexpectedly, in less than a year, Wang Feng successfully scored an even more spectacular goal in the same way.
After scoring, Wang Feng sprinted to the vicinity of the stands, pointing to the sky in celebration, receiving cheers from the fans. The Luminas Arena, packed with spectators, erupted in a deafening roar, with various words of praise for Wang Feng, and there were also many screams from female fans.
With a two-goal lead, Genk almost secured victory. However, in injury time, Roeselare took advantage of a mistake in Genk's defense and pulled one goal back. In the end, Genk won 2-1 against Roeselare.
In this round of matches, Anderlecht and Club Brugge both won, continuing to form the leading group. It's worth mentioning that Jan Kolle scored twice in this match. He seemed determined not to give up the race for the league's top scorer.
When asked about this in an interview after the match, Wang Feng said, "Jan Koller is one of the best strikers in the Jupiler Pro League, last season's top scorer. With him chasing behind me, my desire to score goals is even stronger."
"But I believe I won't lose to him. I'm in great form now, and I will have enough appearances this season."
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