Push Him, Kick Him, Tackle Him, and Take Him Down in the Clinch!

Tang Long stood where he was with his arms wide open, preparing to welcome the Argentine's embrace, but a sudden heavy weight from behind sent him stumbling.

Captain Ranocchia's 195-centimeter frame was almost entirely draped over Tang Long.

"You actually passed the ball? You actually passed that into the box, what were you thinking, huh?"

Everyone swarmed around Tang Long to celebrate.

So much so that Icardi, who had scored the goal, seemed somewhat less conspicuous.

Several players from the bench jumped out, cheering and leaping with joy.

Berni's towel-helicopter fan also began to whir and spin at the perfect moment!

Mancini clapped with a slightly dazed expression; his mind hadn't quite caught up yet.

He had just been lamenting the miscommunication between Podolski and Icardi, and now they had scored again—the pace of this game was just too fast!

However, Mancini noticed that although the referee had already signaled the goal as valid.

Four or five Bologna players were still surrounding the head referee, chattering incessantly.

"Ref, that ball was definitely offside!"

"I was the last man on the defensive line, Icardi was absolutely behind me!"

"Is the linesman blind, Ref? I swear to God, that ball was one hundred percent offside!"

In early 2015, the Serie A had not yet introduced VAR.

There was no way to use slow-motion replays to advise the referee on whether an offside had occurred.

The head referee communicated with the linesman through his headset, "David, you didn't raise your flag, Icardi wasn't offside, right?"

The linesman actually felt a bit shaky inside.

But since he hadn't raised his flag immediately, the decision he had made could not be taken back.

"No offside, I'm sure of it."

In truth, even Tang Long himself wasn't sure; he had simply followed the AI's prompt to pass the ball as quickly as possible, and as for whether he had truly completed the pass within 1.5 seconds, he had no way of knowing.

Icardi, who scored the goal, didn't care at all whether he was offside; he was a striker, born to play on the shoulder of the offside line, and if the referee didn't blow the whistle, it was a good goal!

According to the rules of the Serie A league.

Controversial offside calls of this nature would not be replayed on the stadium's big screen.

The purpose was to manage the fans' emotions—if it really had been an offside, the home Bologna fans would surely have caused a scene.

However, the television broadcast feed provided three replays.

At the moment Tang Long touched the ball, a yellow offside line was drawn across the Bologna penalty area.

"Director Zhang, was that ball offside or not? From the angle of the slow-motion replay, it's hard to tell." Duan Xuan was carefully scrutinizing the pixelated grains on the screen.

"Hehe, hehe! It's hard to say, this ball," Zhang Lu let out his signature chuckle, "In short, it was a matter of millimeters; whether to call it or not was a split-second decision made by the linesman's naked eye."

"We can't be one hundred percent sure even with slow-motion replays, let alone the linesman's eyes. We can't be too harsh on the referee; hopefully, in the future, these controversial calls can be reviewed by the head referee with a pitch-side monitor, perhaps that would be fairer."

Although Zhang Lu said this, he was feeling quite pleased inside.

If the linesman had actually called Tang Long's assist offside, Director Zhang would surely have been cursing up a storm in his heart~

The 1-1 scoreline held until halftime.

Inside the home team's locker room.

The Bologna players were noisy and argumentative.

Several defenders claimed the referee was blind and had made a wrong call on the offside!

Influenced by their emotions, other players who hadn't even seen the play clearly at the time were also cursing the linesman.

Some even said they would find a chance to have a drink with this referee after the match and "have a word" with him.

Head coach Lopez walked in with a gloomy expression.

"What are you all shouting about? It's just an equalizer, and you want to beat up the referee over such a small matter? Is that all the character you have!"

Borrelli complained to the coach with a look of grievance.

"Boss, that Ranocchia is like a piece of chewing gum; wherever I go, he follows, sticking to me the whole time. He's taller than me, and I can't get the upper hand against him!"

Short-legged Tiger Giaccherini was in an equally bad mood.

"Nagatomo Yuto and D'Ambrosio swapped positions. This Japanese player is as short as I am, but his turn is very fast; I can't seem to get past him with my footwork."

Destro, who had scored the goal, was also complaining.

"That old fox D'Ambrosio, every time I jump, he secretly pulls my jersey and blocks the referee's view perfectly. I complained several times to no avail, and that last time he even grabbed my crotch—damn, he's ruthless!"

Lopez walked to the tactical board, writing on it with a marker as he spoke.

"When playing against a team like Inter Milan, you must not make mistakes. If you make one, they will seize the opportunity. In the second half, we will do this first, then this, and then this..."

After finishing, Lopez singled out the defensive midfielder, Davis.

"Davis, what did I tell you before the match? I told you to provoke Tang, but you didn't do your job, and Tang even got an assist!"

Davis scratched his head.

"Boss, I've harassed him many times, but this kid seems completely immune to it. I've cursed at him in both Italian and English, and he just smiles at me like an idiot. I don't even know if he understands a word I'm saying."

Lopez held a pen and rapped it hard against the Canadian's skull!

Duang~

"Davis, I heard your grandfather used to fish in the Extreme Cold Fishing Ground in Canada. In my mind, people from freezing regions are all iron-blooded tough guys!

What's the point of just using verbal harassment? Use your body!

Push him, kick him, slide tackle him, and take him down in a relentless grind!

Didn't he tackle you and the ball together at the start of the match? If you're a man, get it back. Make him angry, make him retaliate, and get him sent off with a red card!"

Davis nodded, suddenly enlightened.

He stood up in a flash and immediately declared:

"Alright, Boss. I don't have a yellow card anyway, so I'll just go all out on this Chinese guy!"

In the end, he didn't forget to rally his teammates.

"Brothers, do we have the confidence to take down Inter Milan at home? We do, we absolutely do!"

Players from both sides walked out into the player tunnel.

Davis rushed up and, pretending it was accidental, slammed his shoulder into Tang Long's from behind.

Tang Long stumbled, and Ranocchia quickly steadied him.

Icardi was right there; he saw it clearly and was fuming, ready to settle the score with Davis.

Ranocchia grabbed him.

"Don't panic, I have a way to deal with him."

"Mauro, don't be impatient," Tang Long said with a smile, rubbing his shoulder. "There are cameras all over the tunnel. Don't worry, I have a way to deal with him too."

The entire Bologna squad carried out head coach Lopez's violent tactics.

At the start, they were as hyped up as if they'd been injected with adrenaline, charging at every Inter Milan player in possession like a pack of wolf cubs.

Whoosh!

The 20-year-old Kovacic had only paused for a second with the ball when an opponent lunged over with a stride.

Using the muscles of his thigh and hip, he slammed the Croatian player over, sending him rolling three times on the ground.

The referee hesitated for a moment before blowing the whistle, but he didn't issue a card.

Perhaps they had tested the referee's relatively lenient officiating standards.

Bologna frequently used these actions—bordering on card-worthy—to foul Inter Milan players, leaving the match fragmented, full of stoppages, and very ugly to watch!

In the first 20 minutes of the second half, the two sides hadn't managed a single shot between them, as they were both locked in a midfield grind.

Bologna's players already held the advantage in height and weight, so once they returned to their familiar style of play, they were in their element.

During a positional attack, the ball was pushed to the front court, and Tang Long received it with his back to the goal.

Before he could even turn, he felt a cold wind rushing toward him...