"It's settled. The match is completely done and dusted."
"Aston Villa is truly strong, giving the opponent absolutely no fucking chance."
"Amazing. They are obliterating Stoke City."
"They aren't giving Stoke City any breathing room at all. Aston Villa with Theodore Bjorn is genuinely terrifying."
On social media, English fans saw the score reach 3-1 and believed the match had lost all suspense.
At this moment in the freezing stands of the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City fans were plunged into despair.
Everyone's eyes were filled with frustration and helplessness.
As Stoke City's head coach, Nathan Jones stood by the sidelines, constantly sighing and rubbing his face.
Although before this match began, Jones had anticipated the sheer difficulty of this game, from the very start, his defensive line had collectively lost their minds.
This was something all Stoke City fans simply couldn't accept.
"Push forward and attack, damn it." Nathan Jones screamed at his players. "Don't retreat. Don't panic. Stay composed."
After the restart, the home team Stoke City immediately launched an attack.
The Stoke City players knew very well that they had no way back.
They had to give it their all.
For Stoke City, they still had plenty of time to completely turn the game around.
In the 31st minute, after Joe Allen controlled the ball in midfield, he suddenly accelerated.
This former Liverpool player still had full confidence in his individual running and ability.
After stopping abruptly with his right foot, he suddenly pushed the ball again. Relying on deceptive changes in rhythm, he easily bypassed Conor Hourihane and John McGinn.
"Joe Allen steps up," Gary Weaver announced. "This Stoke City midfield core player has completely shaken off the defense of Hourihane and McGinn."
As everyone knew, Weaver appreciated a good midfield run and seeing Joe Allen performing brilliantly in the match, he couldn't help but get excited.
However, Weaver didn't remain excited for long.
Soon, Aston Villa's defensive midfielder Mile Jedinak appeared right in front of Joe Allen.
As an excellent defensive midfielder, Jedinak's defensive ability was quite outstanding.
He positioned himself first, attempting to use his heavy frame to knock down Joe Allen.
At the exact same time, another Aston Villa defensive player appeared to trap Joe Allen.
And this player's name was Theodore Bjorn.
Under the suffocating double-team pressure from Jedinak and Theodore, Joe Allen ultimately lost possession of the ball at his feet.
After Theodore gained control of the ball, he immediately looked up towards the opponent's penalty area.
At this moment, both Jack Grealish and Tammy Abraham were charging hard towards Stoke City's penalty box.
"Don't let that kid pass. Stop him quickly, for fuck's sake." Nathan Jones saw Theodore complete the interception and immediately shouted tactical instructions to the players on the field.
Veteran Charlie Adam quickly rushed towards Theodore.
But Adam was simply too slow.
By the time he reached the teenager, Theodore had already successfully completed the pass.
Boom.
It was Theodore's signature long pass. The ball swiftly traced a beautiful arc through the air before quickly landing deep inside the penalty area. Right around the penalty spot, Aston Villa's striker Abraham and the opposing center-back Danny Batth jumped simultaneously.
In terms of physical confrontation, Abraham had the upper hand.
He successfully knocked Batth over, winning the first touch.
But at that crucial moment, Stoke City's other center-back, Bruno Martins Indi, had already positioned himself defensively.
Indi reacted incredibly quickly. He didn't give Abraham any chance to take a shooting stance, immediately appearing right in his face.
At this critical moment, Abraham quickly opted to head the ball down to another player inside the box.
Jack Grealish.
There wasn't a single Stoke City defender near him to apply pressure.
It was a golden opportunity for shooting!
Thump. Grealish pulled back his foot and unleashed a powerful strike.
The ball sailed perfectly... wide of the goal.
Grealish had missed an absolute sitter!
"What?" Gary Weaver exclaimed in sheer disbelief during his commentary. "How is that even possible? Grealish's shot from inside the box actually went wide. That really shouldn't have happened. Stoke City have narrowly escaped a massive disaster."
As for the man himself, Grealish was stunned.
He stood there completely frozen, unable to believe what he had just done.
While Grealish was still in a daze, Jack Butland quickly took the goal kick.
In the midfield battle for the header between Charlie Adam and Hourihane, Adam came out on top, successfully winning the first header.
Then, the Stoke City midfield maestro delivered a long pass, finding Bojan on the left flank.
In crucial moments, it's Bojan who needs to step up and drive the attack.
Although Bojan's running speed is a far cry from his peak years, he still managed to elegantly nutmeg the full-back Alan Hutton with his superb technical skill.
And then, Bojan charged into the Aston Villa penalty area, right to the edge of the box.
The defensive midfielder for Aston Villa, seeing Bojan cut inside, rushed to provide cover.
But Bojan didn't give Jedinak a chance to defend, quickly flicking the ball with his right foot, sending it just over Jedinak's head and deep into the Aston Villa penalty area.
More precisely, right onto the head of striker Sam Vokes.
Vokes is right in his prime.
As a Welsh international, he possesses excellent heading ability. Combined with his towering height, Vokes often dominates in aerial duels.
And this time was no exception.
When Bojan's cross flew into the box, Vokes successfully outmuscled Aston Villa's center-back Tyrone Mings in their gritty duel.
In mid-air, to win that header, Vokes even cynically used his right elbow to strike Mings in the face.
This dirty play obstructed Mings' vision, ultimately causing him to miss the ball.
With no defender challenging him, Vokes comfortably executed a headed effort on goal.
The ball slipped right past Lovre Kalinić's outstretched hand and into the back of the net.
Finally, the home side Stoke City had scored another!
2-3!
Stoke City had narrowed the deficit.
"Finally, a goal," co-commentator Don Goodman remarked enthusiastically. "Stoke City hasn't given up on the match. Vokes has finally broken through Aston Villa's defense with a header. And Stoke City's goal-scoring method is their specialty—the header."
Goodman continued, "This is getting very interesting, Gary. After Stoke City's goal, it means both Aston Villa and Stoke City will heavily focus on attacking in the remaining time. If nothing unexpected happens, this match is going to be a goal fest."
In the stands of the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City fans finally had the chance to cheer and wave their flags again.
However, Stoke City's head coach, Nathan Jones, remained extremely tense.
As a highly experienced coach, Jones knew very well that the game was far from over.
Sure enough, after the restart, the visiting Aston Villa took the initiative to attack.
In the 38th minute of the match, Theodore Bjorn moved to the right flank.
When McGinn saw Theodore in position, he immediately delivered a diagonal long pass.
Two seconds later, the ball landed at Theodore's feet.
In the Britannia Stadium stands, Stoke City fans suddenly erupted with deafening, hostile boos directed at the teenager.
Many extreme fans even began hurling vicious insults at him.
Although Theodore had only recorded one assist so far in this match, his defensive performances had been remarkably sharp.
He frequently worked with his teammates to contain Joe Allen's advances and even came out on top in gritty physical duels against Charlie Adam.
The intense boos didn't halt Theodore's progress. Instead, his performance became even more outstanding.
For Stoke City, the full-back tasked with marking Theodore was Sam Clucas.
Compared to defending, Clucas seemed much more adept at attacking.
Up to this match of the season, Clucas had already registered 3 goals and 5 assists, making him Stoke City's highest-scoring and most creative defender.
When Clucas charged at Theodore, he immediately stretched his leg to tackle.
The defender appeared to severely underestimate the young midfielder.
Seeing this, Theodore quickly nudged the ball with his left foot, poking it away first. Clucas immediately attempted a second, aggressive tackle.
At this moment, Theodore prepared to pass.
Clucas's challenge remained fiercely aggressive as he stretched his leg to intercept the ball.
Little did he know, Theodore had already devised a way to evade Clucas.
The moment Theodore's right foot touched the ball, he suddenly shifted it with the inside of his foot.
A fake pass followed by a sharp cut inside.
Clucas was completely fooled.
Seeing Theodore shaping to pass, he had immediately jumped, ready to block the cross with his body... but Theodore suddenly pushed the ball forward, successfully shaking off the Stoke City full-back's challenge.
"A clever cut inside," Weaver noted on the broadcast. "Theodore Bjorn has completely beaten Clucas."
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator