Soccer: I became Bruno Fernandes.

Chapter 16: The Path of the Strong

At home and trailing in the score, Novara continued to strengthen their attack against Cesena.

Although Bruno's area became the main target for the opposing team's marking, apart from the sole defensive pivot in the starting eleven, Cesena couldn't afford to assign more additional players to mark him, as they also had to worry about defending in other directions.

Moreover, Bruno was in excellent physical condition, and the coaching staff had given him a lot of freedom on the field, with a wide range of movement. He often shifted to both wings to receive and transition, making the opponent's defense very unfavorable and they often couldn't even mark him closely.

Regarding this, Cesena's defensive pivot also had a headache because, being the defensive core of the team, he also had to consider defensive organization.

In the 32nd minute of the first half, Bruno glimpsed another opportunity, suddenly dropped back to receive the ball, turned, and drove towards the area, attracting the attention of two defenders, and then passed the ball to Bizagoli with a precise pass, who sent a pass through the defensive line.

After completing the pass, Bruno quickly slipped into the area, shot with his right foot, and scored, netting his ninth personal goal of the season and equalizing the score for Novara.

Over ten thousand Novara fans gave him a warm ovation.

With the team's performance increasing, the fans had already forgotten the six consecutive losses, and Bruno was once again the favorite at Piola Stadium.

After equalizing the score, Novara played with more calmness and confidence.

With an advantage in skill and playing at home, Novara completely controlled the situation on the field against Cesena, quickly organizing wave after wave of attacks.

Bruno continued his recent excellent performance, showing great activity in the offensive front. As soon as he received the ball upfront, he carried it forward with determination, causing not only Cesena's defensive pivot to suffer but also posing significant problems for Cesena's defensive line.

In the 36th minute of the first half, Bruno received a pass from a teammate in an empty space between Cesena's central defender and left-back. After receiving the ball, he quickly turned around, using his speed to carry the ball forward.

Cesena's defensive pivot rushed to defend immediately, but Bruno, who had already accelerated, didn't wait for him to approach and, with continuous pace changes, directly dodged him, breaking through the flank and earning enthusiastic applause from Novara fans on the sidelines.

After bypassing the defender, the rival central defender quickly approached to defend from the inside, forcing Bruno to quickly run to the right side, but Bruno was also attentive to the movements in the penalty area.

When he saw Pablo González positioning himself in the most favorable spot, he made a decision immediately, using a familiar move, he positioned the ball with his left foot at a forty-five-degree angle, and with his right foot, he struck it in a diagonal pass towards the penalty area.

The ball passed over the rival defender's head, tracing a high curve, and then slowly descended.

Bruno's curved pass made the rival goalkeeper find it difficult to make a decision, wanting to come out but unsure, he finally chose to stay in goal, but from behind, González quickly stepped forward and launched a straight shot into the back of the net.

2-1!

After being behind, Novara managed to turn the score around in just twelve minutes.

After González's goal, he once again turned towards Bruno.

This Argentine player suddenly realized that Bruno was his talisman, as this season Bruno had already provided him with 5 assists.

When Bruno was on the field, he could always provide quality passes. As long as he judged the trajectory and timing of the ball well, it wasn't that difficult to score a goal.

Seeing González score, Bruno was also excited because he saw his progress.

This diagonal pass was definitely the result of his hard training in recent times.

Indeed, according to the master coach's training program, in the last six months, Bruno had already completed the basic football course, which included mastery, control, passes, dribbling, shooting, positioning, interception... All skills showed a remarkable improvement.

Because he had been practicing the basics, although his performance on the field wasn't flashy, each of his movements seemed very reasonable, giving one the feeling that his fencing was swordless and his skill was pure, almost returning to simplicity.

On the sidelines, Novara's head coach, Tesser, nodded constantly.

"In six months, this kid has progressed a lot in all aspects," said Tesser's assistant.

As the team's assistant, no one knew better than him that Bruno was the hardest-working player on the team.

In the last six months, strangers had only seen Bruno's comprehensive progress, but how many really knew the effort he had put in?

Not to mention other things, just this diagonal pass, it wouldn't have been achievable without hard work.

Originally, in a position like that of an attacking midfielder, rarely did someone practice crossing from the wings. But Bruno not only practiced it but also reached a fairly high level.

This was also the reason why Novara's coaching staff dared to give Bruno so much freedom on the field.

After a goal and an assist, Bruno felt even more excited and began to create opportunities upfront more frequently.

As soon as he received the ball upfront, he immediately made a decision: if there was an opportunity, he advanced with the ball, using his dribbling ability to create danger, or if not, he crossed from the wings, repeatedly sending the ball into the penalty area, and if that didn't work, he retreated to reorganize with his teammates.

With Bruno's strategy adjustment, Novara's attack upfront became fierce.

In the 43rd minute of the first half, Bruno moved towards the right again to receive the ball. After distancing himself from Cesena's left-back who was defending, he glimpsed another opportunity. With a quick touch of his right foot, he passed the ball beyond the rival defensive line, reaching the penalty area.

González hurried to follow after the defense and, after reaching the ball, passed it horizontally to the left side, where Mohammedi followed and shot directly.

3-1.

Novara's siege pierced Cesena's goal once again.

After being behind in the first half, it took them less than twenty minutes to score three goals and finish with a two-goal lead. In the locker room, Tesser praised the players' performance and encouraged everyone to keep striving in the second half, and this time he emphasized Bruno once again.

"In the second half, our focus remains on the right side of the attack. The defense on the opponent's left side has already shown evident problems. We must keep pressing and try to completely defeat the opponent."

Bruno nodded as he recalled the image of Cesena's left-back, he was also a poor guy. The first time he played in his professional career, he scored a beautiful goal against him.

But, the football world was like this, the strong would always trample the weak to rise. If he didn't want to become someone's pawn in the future, then he had to become stronger.

After the break, Novara continued to press Cesena.

Bruno was still very active, whether dribbling the ball on his own to disorganize the opponent's defense, or passing it when he saw an opportunity, creating chaos in the penalty area.

Soon, Cesena made a substitution, taking out a forward and bringing in a defensive pivot, switching to a 4-2-3-1 system.

Cesena's head coach realized that a single defensive pivot couldn't stop Novara's momentum. Moreover, in the first match between the two teams, Cesena had been miserably defeated 1-6 at home, and he didn't want to see a repetition of that defeat at Piola Stadium.

Cesena's double defensive pivot meant that Bruno, in the attacking midfielder position, often faced two defenders, which limited his active performance, but Bruno still sought opportunities and created danger.

(End of chapter)