Chapter 52: Leading the scorer list
The first half of the game ended with Genk leading by one goal. After the break, Bruges substituted two attacking players in a desperate attempt to turn the tide.
This gave Genk the opportunity to counterattack. In the 71st minute, Christian Civu intercepted the ball in the backcourt and passed it to Carl Bess in the middle. Bess then passed it to Wang Feng on the wing, who quickly initiated a counterattack, dribbling the ball forward.
On the other side, Jason Aldridge also made a swift run forward, causing Bruges' defense to face a two-on-three situation. As the Bruges center-back approached him, Wang Feng performed a dribble turn, flicking the ball with his right foot, executing a beautiful Marseille turn to evade the defender.
Approaching the edge of the penalty area, with only one defender left to beat, Wang Feng lightly pushed the ball into the penalty area before the defender arrived. Aldridge, who was following up from behind, took a shot easily, catching both the defender and the goalkeeper off guard, and scored.
After the goal, Aldridge jumped on Wang Feng, saying, "Your pass was fantastic. You could have scored yourself with that opportunity. Why pass it to me?"
Wang Feng smiled and patted his head, saying, "I couldn't let you run for nothing. Besides, your position was better than mine."
Aldridge looked at Wang Feng with gratitude and admiration. Although there was only a small age difference between them, Wang Feng's skills and vision were beyond comparison.
Bruges' head coach, Gerald Anderson, had a grim expression on his face. He knew that they had lost the game. Despite all their efforts, they couldn't stop Wang Feng, and their chances of winning the league title were slipping away.
Could Bruges end up empty-handed this season? It seemed they would have to focus on winning the cup matches instead. Perhaps they should reconsider using their main players in cup competitions.
As Anderson had anticipated, Bruges' players were completely defeated after the second goal. They had lost their fighting spirit on the field, and the match ended with a 2-0 scoreline.
Meanwhile, at Lotto Park, Anderlecht defeated Lokeren 5-1, with Jan Koller scoring a hat-trick. However, Genk continued to lead the league table by securing all three points.
In the top scorer list, Wang Feng remained at the top with 19 goals, while Jan Koller trailed behind with 17 goals, intensifying the competition.
In the 18th round of the Belgian Pro League, Genk faced Lokeren at home. Before the match, Wang Feng stated in a media interview that although he was competing with Jan Koller for the Golden Ball award, the priority was winning the league title. "I won't shoot recklessly for the sake of scoring goals. Victory is my primary pursuit."
In the 3rd minute of the match, Wang Feng received the ball in midfield, shielded off the opposing defender with his body, and quickly surged forward with the ball. He noticed Aldridge's favorable position in front and decisively passed the ball behind the defense.
Aldridge accelerated to chase the ball, leaving the defender behind by a body length. If he received the ball, it would be a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper.
Lokeren's goalkeeper rushed out urgently and managed to clear the ball outside the penalty area with his foot, but in his haste, he kicked the ball high and weakly.
Wang Feng followed up in the attacking half, judged the trajectory of the ball, and before the defender arrived, controlled the ball with his chest and then volleyed it directly into the net. The goalkeeper was still trying to get back into position, leaving him to watch helplessly as the ball dropped into the net.
1-0! Wang Feng opened the scoring for Genk with an extraordinary long-range strike.
After scoring, Wang Feng sprinted past the advertising boards, celebrating with his arms raised towards the sky. The fans didn't expect Genk to take the lead so early, and with such a spectacular goal, they cheered excitedly for Wang Feng.
With Genk in the lead, they didn't stop their offensive momentum. In the 34th minute, Wang Feng received a pass from Bess near the opponent's 30-meter area. The defending player decisively slid to tackle the ball, but Wang Feng deftly lifted the ball over the defender's leg and continued his run forward.
Seeing this, two Lokeren defenders quickly chased back to defend, attempting to surround Wang Feng. However, Wang Feng remained calm, flicked the ball past the first defender with his left foot, dribbled past another defender with his right foot, and broke free from the defense.
"Brilliant! Wang Feng dribbles past three Lokeren defenders in a row and enters the penalty area, creating a one-on-one opportunity."
"Shot! It's in! Goal!"
"In the 34th minute, Wang Feng scores another goal for Genk, following his previous long-range strike with a solo goal after dribbling past three defenders."
"His form remains scorching hot in the second half of the season!"
Wang Feng spread his arms and ran freely, feeling extremely excited. He clearly felt that his skills had improved, and he was more confident in facing defenders.
Head coach Aimee Antonis also celebrated Wang Feng's second goal enthusiastically. This kid was incredible. Although Antonis had seen Wang Feng's good form during the winter break training, he didn't expect him to maintain it on the field. It seemed that Genk had a good chance of achieving success this season!
The first half ended with Genk leading by two goals. Shortly after the start of the second half, Wang Feng once again received a pass on the right. He performed consecutive feints against the defending players, successfully dribbled along the baseline into the penalty area, and then passed to the penalty spot.
Barry, who was making a central run, easily converted the chance, making it 3-0 and securing victory for Genk.
Afterward, Genk didn't sit back defensively but continued to attack. In the 67th minute, Wang Feng, along with Bess and Barry, executed a brilliant triangular passing combination, once again breaking through Lokeren's defense. Unfortunately, Barry's shot hit the post and was cleared by the defenders who arrived in time.
The frustration of Lokeren's defenders was evident. In the 69th minute, one of them received a yellow card for a reckless tackle on Wang Feng, kicking his shin bone directly in the process.
Every time Antonis saw Wang Feng fall, his heart pounded. Only when Wang Feng got up and adjusted his shin guards did Antoine breathe a sigh of relief. However, he dared not let Wang Feng continue playing and promptly substituted him with a central defender.
In the remaining time, there were no more goals scored, and Genk secured a convincing victory over Lokeren, starting the second half of the season with two consecutive wins and maintaining their lead at the top of the league table.
In this match, Wang Feng scored two goals with four shots, and he was involved in almost all of Genk's threatening attacking opportunities. The Belgian media were amazed, declaring that Wang Feng had transcended the category of a mere striker and had become a terrifying attacking machine.
In this round, Jan Koller failed to score, widening the gap between him and Wang Feng to four goals. Many believed that it was already certain that Wang Feng would become the youngest top scorer in the Belgian Pro League this season.
Jan Koller felt helpless about this. Unless something unexpected happened, this season would be his last in the Belgian Pro League, as Borussia Dortmund had already expressed their intention to sign him this summer.
After five years in the Belgian Pro League, he hoped to end his career with the Golden Boot and the league title, but he didn't expect to encounter someone as unreasonable as Wang Feng. Despite the team's efforts to create opportunities for him, they still fell short by a significant margin.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l