The ball had a 65.38% chance of being cleared at the near post and a 34.62% chance of falling to the far post!
Tang Long had no time to analyze what the AI System in his brainwaves had based its judgment on.
In the blink of an eye, Tang Long had to take a gamble!
Even if there was only a one-in-three chance that the ball would fall to the far post, it was still worth trying!
In the set-piece play, Tang Long's original position was at the edge of the penalty arc, where he was meant to compete for second balls and watch for counterattacks after the opposition cleared the ball.
When Nagatomo Yuto, the Japanese fullback who had been hanging back, saw Tang Long leave his position, his heart lurched.
"The arc's wide open, Tang!" he shouted anxiously.
By then, the ball was already dropping toward the near post.
Bologna defensive midfielder Davis and Icardi both jumped to contest the first ball!
Why had the AI System calculated that there was a 65.38% chance it would be cleared at the near post?
Because Davis was in an excellent position!
He had already been stationed at the near post, while Icardi had come around from the center, putting him at a disadvantage in terms of distance.
Unless something unexpected happened, the 183-centimeter-tall Davis could clear the ball with ease.
But why was there also a 34.62% chance that it would fall to the far post?
That was because the AI System had detected that Davis, after taking two elbows to the head and chest, was in worse form than usual!
The elbow to his temple in particular had left Davis's reactions slightly sluggish.
Based on its real-time data, the AI System estimated that Davis had about a one-in-three chance of missing the ball completely!
"Mine!"
Davis leaped high and shouted, then whipped his head hard, trying to send the ball back into Inter Milan's half.
Whoosh—
But the ball skimmed past his hair!
Just as expected, Davis had missed it completely!
He had badly misjudged where the ball would land, and as a result, he had jumped too late!
The instant he missed, Davis's heart sank. Oh no...
Right behind him was Icardi, who had jumped at the same time!
As the saying went, the mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Icardi had an elite sense of where the ball would land. Even though Davis's miss had momentarily thrown him off, the Argentine star still managed to get his head to it!
A textbook flick-on with the head from a center forward at the near post!
The ball came in at tremendous speed, brushed Icardi's sweat-soaked forehead, and changed speed and direction as he snapped his head around!
Its height changed too, and it flew toward the far post!
"Nobody there, don't panic!"
Bologna were using a typical man-marking system inside the box, with each defender assigned to an Inter Milan player.
In their defensive setup, every Inter Milan player was tightly marked. Everyone thought the ball would curl out over the end line.
Just as they thought the danger had passed...
A blue-and-black figure appeared on the ball's path at the far post like a ghost!
It was Tang Long!
He threw all his strength into it, tightened his core, and leaped with his calf muscles and Achilles tendons taut!
When the ball slammed into his forehead, Tang Long couldn't see the goalkeeper at all. But at close range, he could make out the white nylon netting, its knots trembling slightly, like a mother's arms reaching out to embrace her child!
Come on! Right here!
Thump!
Two meters from the goal, Tang Long tumbled into the net with the ball!
Lying on the ground, he looked out of the goal.
More than a dozen people inside the penalty area, with over twenty pairs of eyes, were all staring straight at him!
The Bologna players looked horrified!
His Inter teammates looked delighted and astonished!
The moment he heard the referee's whistle signal a goal, Tang Long sprang up, grabbed the ball, and sprinted out of the goal before booting it high into the sky!
"I scored! I scored!!!"
Every Inter player rushed toward him!
Icardi got there first, launching himself at Tang Long and knocking him to the ground.
"Haha, I set you up for the winner!"
The thirty thousand Bologna fans fell silent.
The stadium was as quiet as a library.
Only the Inter players' roars echoed around the field.
Mancini clutched his head and asked his assistant, Herrera, "My God, why was Tang in that position? In our set-piece play, he was supposed to be guarding the edge of the arc!"
"I don't know," Herrera replied, excitedly embracing Mancini. "All I know is, he scored! Boss, we can snatch a late winner against Bologna!"
After play resumed, the match reached the 84th minute, and the tension remained high.
With the lead, Inter started playing more cautiously and dropped back a little. Bologna went all in and pushed forward, making the game fast-paced for a while. Inter's goal came under threat several times, and Tang Long also dropped back eagerly to help defend.
Neither the players on the pitch nor those on the bench, nor the coaches, had time to figure out how Tang Long had scored or why he had suddenly appeared like a ghost at the far post in the opposing penalty area. They only knew that the position hadn't been his to begin with.
But plenty of viewers watching on television were still turning the goal over in their minds.
Guarin was one of them, watching the broadcast at home in Milan!
Ever since Tang Long had scored that header at the far post, Guarin hadn't been able to focus on the rest of the match.
He kept dragging the progress bar back to watch the replay.
At first, when he saw Inter finally take the lead, Guarin instinctively raised his arms and cheered!
But the moment he realized Tang Long had scored, his expression darkened!
This was awkward!
Guarin and Tang Long had never gotten along.
And because of his weight, Guarin hadn't made the squad for this match.
In the 4-3-1-2 formation, Tang Long had taken Guarin's place!
How did it feel to Guarin? Well... sigh...
It was like a nail had been driven straight into his little heart.
Especially when he saw that Tang Long had scored—possibly even the winner. Guarin felt his heart bleeding!
"How is that possible!"
"How could he have been in that position!"
"Why was he the only one at the far post? Were Bologna's defenders asleep or what!"
Guarin even started accusing the opposing defense of not doing its job.
But after the Colombian star had watched the replay six times in a row...
He began to spot some of the details.
Guarin was surprised to realize that two things puzzled him!
First, the moment Brozovic played the ball, Tang Long had left his original position at the edge of the penalty arc and secretly started running toward the far post.
Second, Davis had clearly been in a better position than Icardi. The moment he leaped high, Guarin noticed that the other players—including Bologna's defenders—had relaxed, thinking Davis would definitely clear the ball.
Even their forward, Destro, had already started sprinting upfield, ready to chase the ball outside the penalty area.
But Tang Long was the exception!
He was the only one on the pitch who looked so desperate, charging toward the far post for all he was worth. In his final few strides, he was practically flying!
In the end, Davis missed the ball, Icardi flicked it on with his head, and Tang Long gratefully tapped it into an open goal.
"Ahhh! That kid... It's like he knew in advance that the ball would end up at the far post!"
Guarin clutched his hair with both hands, utterly bewildered.
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