THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
chapter-254

The game restarted soon after the goal celebrations.

Coach Johansen stood on the sidelines, watching his players array themselves in a defensive 4-5-1 formation to defend against the more frequent Viking Stavanger attacks. The visitors seemed more proactive in their playing style after conceding the goal.

However, that didn't dampen Coach Johansen's mood in the slightest. He could hardly contain his joy since he was less than a quarter of an hour away from winning the 2013 Tippeligaen.

Rosenborg would win the league trophy that evening as long as his players defended well and prevented Viking from scoring two goals in the final few minutes of gameplay. Coach Johansen could even already picture himself lifting the trophy a few minutes from then. That elevated his spirits, making him feel like he was high on century-old wine.

"Maybe, we should think of introducing a few substitutes to bolster our defense and prevent the opponents from scoring," Trond Henriksen, the assistant head coach, suggested from beside him. "That'll also enable some of our key players to gain some much-needed rest before our Thursday's Europa League away game against Red Bull Salzburg."

"That's okay," Coach Johansen replied in a carefree manner. "You can go ahead and tell Ole Selnæs and John Chibuike to start warming up. I need them on the pitch in less than eight minutes."

"Okay," Trond Henriksen replied with a smile. "But, who are you thinking of replacing?"

"Zachary and Nicki Nielsen for the moment," Coach Johansen responded, his eyes still following the proceedings on the field of play. "They should be tired already since they have been working hard as a pair of oxen throughout the entire game. So, I need to give them some time to rest. However, I'm not planning on making the third substitution yet as insurance against possible injuries in the final minutes of the game."

"Okay, then," Trond replied. "That's a good idea. I'll start prepping the substitutes right away." He then stepped away and headed towards the substitute's bench.

Coach Johansen returned his full attention to the action on the playing field immediately after. He started stroking his red beard, deep in thought as he watched the Viking Stavanger players mount yet another hair-raising attack on Rosenborg's backline.

The visitors had totally changed their entire game plan after conceding the goal. They were no longer playing defensively. Instead, they mounted a series of attacks using wing-play and long ball strategies to penetrate Rosenborg's defense. They even changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation, seemingly with the intent of dominating the midfield and dictating the tempo. They were clearly keen on scoring and bringing proceedings back to equal terms as soon as possible.

At that moment, Trond Olsen, the Viking Stavanger left-forward, was dribbling along the touchline, moving towards Rosenborg's box like a bullet train on the rails. His speed was otherworldly. With a lot of ease, he skipped past a sliding tackle from Tobias Mikkelsen, the Rosenborg right-winger, before continuing his mad dash on the left flank.

However, a few seconds later, Trond Olsen ran into an impenetrable bastion in the form of Eric Baily, the Rosenborg right-back. The Ivorian defender cornered him at the borderline of the defensive third, leaving him without a chance to cut into the pitch or cross the ball. Eric applied tremendous pressure on the right-winger and won the ball, fair and square, with a brilliant sliding tackle that elicited a wave of booming cheering from the home fans. With that incredible display from the Ivorian, Rosenborg managed to regain possession once again.

Eric Bailly didn't dilly-dally in the slightest. He picked himself from the ground and kicked the ball towards Mike Jensen, the Rosenborg defensive midfielder. Mike Jensen received it beautifully and flicked it on to Thomas Partey, the other defensive midfielder.

Thomas Partey immediately unleashed a lofted pass towards the right-wing, where Tobias Mikkelsen was lurking. With that, the Ghanaian managed to initiate another Rosenborg attack. The Troll Kids flew forward like a pack of wolves on the hunt.

Tobias Mikkelsen, the Rosenborg right-winger, received the ball mid-sprint close to the touchline. He continued towards Viking Stavanger's half like a whirlwind, leaving both teammates and opponents in the dust. He was like Usain Bolt on the race track, dribbling and skipping past a couple of challenges like mad. The fans even began singing his name due to his incredible display.

Jörgen Skjelvik, the Viking Stavanger left-back, soon closed him down and interrupted his mad dash soon after. Tobias, though, didn't try to engage the troublesome left-back. Instead, the Rosenborg right-winger played it safe and unleashed a lofted cut-back pass into the middle of the pitch where Zachary was lurking.

With that brilliant and quick switch in play, the Viking Stavanger defensive players were caught unawares once more.

Zachary received the ball mid-sprint close to the center circle. Without halting his run, he chested the ball down onto the green before circumventing an approaching Viking Stavanger midfielder with a deft second touch. From there, he didn't look back — but continued towards the Viking box, bolting through the middle like there was no tomorrow.

Coach Johansen could feel his heartbeat starting to race with anticipation as he watched Zachary exchange a couple of one-twos with Nicki Nielsen. Their teamwork of 'giving' and 'going' was impeccable. They steadily made their way through the crowd of opposing defenders. They were as sharp as hawks, exploiting the smallest of gaps within the defensive third. They approached Viking Stavanger's box, like two apex predators on the hunt.

"Damn it! Close them down. Close the gaps, and don't let them approach our box..."

Kjell Jonevret, the Viking Stavanger head coach, roared out loud, like an enraged beast, from the visiting team's technical area. He was so loud to the point of causing some discomfort for Coach Johansen on the sidelines. It seemed the laxity of his players in the defense had angered him greatly.

However, his yelling didn't stop or slow down the Rosenborg attack in the slightest. In some magical way, Nicki Nielsen managed to circumvent Indridi Sigurdsson, the Viking Stavanger center-back, as he received a return pass from Zachary. He then slipped through a gap left by a center-back before stepping into a narrow pocket of space within the Viking Stavanger box. With that expert move, he'd managed to beat the entire defensive line and was one-on-one with the keeper.

Coach Johansen couldn't help but lean his towering physique forward — towards the touchline while clenching his fists at that moment. His head was pounding with nervous anticipation as he watched Nicki Nielsen lift his foot to unleash a shot at goal.

'Surely this is it,' Coach Johansen thought, his eyes never leaving the field of play. He was ninety percent confident his star striker would deliver again and convert to score Rosenborg's second goal. The coach was even already picturing the ball nestling perfectly into the back of the net.

However, something unexpected transpired the next instant. Johan Björdal, the other Viking Stavanger center-back, came sliding in to sweep the ball away, sending Nicki Nielsen tumbling to the ground.

"What the f**K!?" Coach Johansen mumbled as he took a second to process what had just transpired on the field of play — within Viking Stavanger's box. For a moment, he found it hard to believe that an opposing defender had made a last-man challenge and fouled Nicki Nielsen within the box. Surely, the center-back had just gifted Rosenborg a golden chance to win the game with ten minutes of 'normal' playing time remaining to the end of the game. That was a little bit moronic in Coach Johansen's view.

*FWEEEEEEE*

As expected, the referee blew the whistle soon after and awarded Rosenborg a penalty kick in the 80th minute of the game. However, he didn't just stop at that — but also showed a straight red card to Johan Björdal, the center-back who had made the last-man tackle on Nicki Nielsen.

Coach Johansen could feel his tension melting away as he continued following the proceedings in Viking Stavanger's box. With the red card, Viking was down to ten men. At that moment, the coach was almost a hundred percent certain he would win the game.

**** ****

"You should take the penalty," Nicki Nielsen said to Zachary after picking himself from the ground in Viking Stavanger's box. He seemed okay, without any signs of an injury, after getting some help from the Rosenborg medics.

"Are you sure about this?" Zachary queried, raising a brow and glancing squarely at Nicki with unmasked skepticism. It was customary on the Rosenborg team for the attacking player who'd created the penalty to take it. Thus, he was surprised when Nicki Nielsen, a striker who was always hungry for goals, offered him such a precious opportunity to take the spot-kick.

"Don't look at me like that," Nicki said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He then picked up the ball from the referee and handed it to Zachary. "I don't want a player from another team to win the golden boot. So, you should take the penalty and make sure you become the top scorer."

"Thanks," Zachary said, receiving the ball from Nicki's outstretched arms.

Without waiting for any response from Nicki, he moved towards the penalty spot to ready himself to take the penalty kick. Hope had already bloomed inside him since he was close to cementing his position as that season's top scorer with his 20th goal of the league. He was on the cusp of completing one of the most rewarding milestones in the system's Tippeligaen serial challenge mission.

**** ****

Kristin was already standing on the tip of her toes as she waited anxiously for Zachary to take the penalty. Seconds felt like hours as she watched the towering number-33 take a few steps back from the ball while facing the Viking goalkeeper. All the fans around her were silent. She could easily make out all the commentator's words, loud and clear, through the stadium's loudspeakers.

"It's Zachary against Rune Jarstein, the Viking Stavanger goalkeeper, at this crucial moment of the game," she heard Kjell Roar, the commentator, intone. "Can he score and extend Rosenborg's lead in this crucial game that is the climax of Rosenborg's season?"

Kristin craned her neck slightly as she watched Zachary make an angled run towards the penalty spot. Without any suspense, he managed to send the keeper diving the wrong way and fired into the back of the net to score Rosenborg's second goal.

"GOAAAALL...."

A wave of thunderous cheering exploded throughout the entire stadium, drowning out the commentator's voice the very next instant. The fans around Kristin jumped up and down and hugged each other like the best of friends as they sang Rosenborg's victory chants at the top of their voices. The entire Lerkendal was on fire, vibrating intermittently, as Zachary dashed towards the corner flag to celebrate the second goal.

Kristin, on her part, could feel her eyes moistening. She didn't jump around like the rest of the Rosenborg supporters to celebrate the goal — but settled back on her seat, letting the contentment spread within her with every passing moment. She felt dizzy with excitement since her team was about to win the league that evening. Her only regret was that her grandpa wasn't with her to share that incredible moment. It was really a pity.

"Are you okay, Kristin?" Emily Anderson asked from beside her. "Why aren't you celebrating with us?" The agent was also jumping and waving her scarf around in the air to celebrate Zachary's goal. She was in high spirits.

"This is my way of celebrating this time around," Kristin replied, letting out a breath and leaning back into her seat. "I'm scared that I might go crazy with excitement if I dare do anything else." She added with a bit of humor.

Emily chuckled on hearing that. "I get what you mean," she said, her face blossoming into a smile. "I'm also slowly growing insane with excitement since we can now safely confirm that Rosenborg has won the league. By the way, did you hire anyone to record Zachary's performance in today's match?"

"Yes, I did," Kristin replied almost instantaneously. "I hired two cameramen before the commencement of the game. They should be somewhere in the lower stands recording the action as we speak now."

"That's awesome," Emily said, also settling down back in her seat. "Zachary's performance today will be good for his publicity. Thank you for the hard work."

"There's no need for you to say any thanks since that is my job. I'm always glad to do my job."

**** ****