THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-162

Three days later, on a rainy Thursday evening, Zachary was on the bench once more as Rosenborg faced off against Sarpsborg-08 at Lerkendal Stadion.

He watched the game free from any worries since the coach had already promised that he would be in the starting line-up for the next fixture against Molde. So, he leaned back into his chair within the home team's dugout to enjoy the proceedings on the field of play.

Backed by the cheering of the enthusiastic home fans, the Troll Kids put up quite the performance to steadily tear the formation of their opponents apart in the first half. They possessed the motive to strike from the first minute and once again played flawless passing football under the millions of rain droplets falling from the sky that evening.

Zachary judged that they'd executed coach Johansen's game plan to perfection in all areas of the field. They'd shaped up in the 4-3-3 attacking formation to mount attack after attack in waves, never giving the Sarpsborg-08 any second to rest throughout the entire first half.

Nicki Nielsen was on fire once again. He skillfully connected with Mix Diskerud in the 33rd minute, latching on to a pinpoint pass before firing and scoring Rosenborg's first goal for the day. A minute later, in the 34th minute, he expertly skipped past the Sarpsborg center-backs and connected with Mikael Dorsin's cross from the wing—to beat the keeper with a header from around the edge of the penalty box.

Within a span of two minutes, Rosenborg had extended its lead by two goals. The home fans in Lerkendal went wild as their team seemed well on their way to furthering their winning streak to five matches in a row.

But at the start of the second half, Zachary was astounded as the Rosenborg players started underperforming. They became a mess in the midfield and started giving away possession more frequently. Although they would manage to create a few chances in the final third on a few occasions, they still couldn't convert them into goals. They couldn't extend their lead and found themselves in a situation similar to the one they'd been in during the second half of the game against Hönefoss.

As a result, the Sarpsborg-08 players capitalized on the laxity in Rosenborg's playing intensity to settle down and become more comfortable in the game. Their defense and midfield stabilized in a short while as they turned the tables on the underperforming Rosenborg squad in the first few minutes of the second half. They steadily built up momentum and managed to hit Rosenborg on the counter using the long-ball strategy to their two forwards on multiple occasions.

In the 52nd minute, Magnus Olsen, one of the Sarpsborg-08 forwards in their 4-4-2 formation, completed a lightning-fast switch of play from defense to attack by getting on to the end of a long ball deep inside Rosenborg's half. He showed his class as a Tippeligaen professional forward by skipping past Stefan Strandberg, one of the Rosenborg center-backs, with his deft footwork before firing home and scoring Sarpsborg-08's first goal.

But that wasn't the end of Rosenborg's troubles for the day. In the 64th minute, Martin Wiig, the other Sarpsborg-08 forward, latched on to a through-pass from one of his teammates in the final third—before trying to dribble past Stefan Strandberg, the Rosenborg's center-back.

However, Stefan was having none of his nonsense. He slid in wholesale and tried to tackle the ball away from the Sarpsborg-08's forward's feet. But as bad luck would have it, he missed the ball by mere centimeters and caught the speedy forward on the left ankle. The referee immediately blew his whistle and awarded Sarpsborg-08 a free-kick only a couple of yards away from Rosenborg's box.

Gudmundur Thórarinsson, Sarpsborg-08's left-winger, stepped up and successfully converted the free-kick to score the second goal for the visitors. The stands of Lerkendal with the seats of the home fans went quiet for a moment as Rosenborg was once again in a precarious situation after conceding the equalizing goal.

**** ****

Coach Johansen immediately reacted after Rosenborg had conceded the second goal. But that time around, he didn't opt to bring Zachary into the game.

The boy had played four consecutive games over the span of 12 days and needed to rest his legs. That was the only way he would be ready and in good shape for the Molde fixture in four days.

So, the coach substituted in Ole Selnæs and Mix Diskerud to strengthen his team's midfield. He then brought in Tobias Mikkelsen, the speedy winger, to boost Rosenborg's attacking play.

A few minutes after Coach Johansen had made the substitutions, the situation for Rosenborg on the pitch stabilized. Tobias Mikkelsen started cutting across the wing and delivering crosses into the box until Tarik Elyounoussi, Rosenborg's left forward, connected with one of them to score Rosenborg's third goal.

The cheers of the home fans rose to a crescendo, seemingly almost blowing off the roof of Lerkendal Stadion. The Rosenborg players had managed to get themselves out of a precarious situation. They'd scored in the 84th minute to secure their lead once again.

Coach Johansen was all smiles as he celebrated the goal in the technical area. But he made a mental note to find an immediate solution for his team's usually lackluster performances, especially at the beginning of the second half.

In the previous few games, Rosenborg had been dominating during the first half. But after halftime, it always seemed like his players had left their playing boots in the dressing room. That was the reason Rosenborg conceded most goals during the first twenty minutes of the second half.

"Should we tell the players to shape up and defend our one-goal lead?" Trond Henriksen, his assistant, inquired from beside him. "We should be doing our best to avoid conceding another goal in these remaining minutes."

"Don't worry," Coach Johansen replied, shaking his head. "Our players play at their best when on the attack. So, telling them to defend would be like taking away their best quality, which is their creativity when hunting for goals."

"But isn't that too risky?" Coach Trond Henriksen probed.

"Not at all," Coach Johansen responded. "We're the better team. So, we'll not play the type of football that is conservative against a weaker team. Moreover, attacking is the best—" He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes fully focusing once more on the proceedings on the field.