Hamsik and i had been pying together for a year.

  Simir in age and temperament, the two had developed a great uanding och.

  As i positioned himself and rose for the header, Hamsik anticipated his move and didn't stop the ball. Instead, he directly returned i's header with a header of his own, sending it right ba.

  i, standing on the left edge of the penalty arc, didn't turn around immediately after nding. Instead, he held his position, shielding the ball. When Hamsik's header came back, he spun around, trolling the ball mid-air with his right foot, stopping it to his left rear. Without hesitation, he surged forward, catg up with the ball he penalty spot, and fired off a powerful shot.

  A thunderous crack echoed through the stadium as i's boot ected with the ball.

  Like a lightning bolt, the ball sped towards Udinese's goal.

  Udinese's goalkeeper Chimenti, who had just saved i's earlier header, wasn't quiough this time. As he rushed off his liowards the edge of the six-yard box, i unleashed his shot. Chimenti dove, but it was too te.

  The ball rocketed into Udinese's goal.

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

  "Fourteen minutes in, and Napoli takes the lead! 1-0!"

  "What a fierce volley from Edinson i! A beautiful setup by Hamsik with that header, and i's trol and finishing were exceptional."

  "You have to admire this Uruguayan striker. Not only is he strong and tall, but his footwork is impeccable. That ball trol ure css."

  "i has now scored his sed Serie A goal!"

  "Sg in back-to-back games, i's performances have been nothing short of impressive."

  "And with this goal, Napoli moves up to third p the live Serie A standings!"

  ...

  Upon seeing i's goal, Gao Shen ched his fists in celebration.

  He had been waiting for that breakthrough, fully fident in his team's ability to score.

  Udinese's tral defenders may have been up-and-ing talents, the kind of pyers Gao Sheo scout in "Football Manager". Back then, they were always highly regarded prospects, but they weren't quite the finished article yet.

  But now, against the experienced and sharp Napoli, they were pletely outmatched.

  Gao Shen turned around and high-fived his assistants before turning back to the field, signaling his pyers to press forward and tinue applying pressure on Udinese.

  "Let's see how much fight you've got left!" he shouted toward the pitch.

  As the pyers fiheir celebrations and jogged back to their positions, they goward the bench, where Gao Shen yelled loudly, encing them to push even harder.

  The pyers responded by g their fists and nodding at their coach.

  ...

  The game resumed.

  Napoli, full of fideer the goal, pushed forward with even more iy, their morale through the roof.

  Oher hand, Udinese looked rattled after g, their py being disanized.

  From the sidelines, Marino frantically tried to steady his team, urging them tain trol, but under Napoli's relentless pressure, Udinese's defense tio crumble.

  Time and again, Napoli found ways to break through.

  The truth was undeniable: without enough strength to ter Napoli's aggressive attack, trying to withstand them was as futile as trying to light a dle in the wind.

  Just seven minutes after the first goal, Napoli earned a er on the left side of the pitch.

  Di Maria attempted a cross but was blocked by Udinese's right-back Messito, sending the ball out of bounds.

  Napoli quickly took a short er. Di Maria and Vargas tried a bination on the left fnk, but it was unsuccessful. Vargas had no choice but to pass the ball back to the defense.

  David Luiz and Bonucci, anch the bae, quickly pushed the ball forward after receiving it, both crossing the halfway lih ease.

  At this point, Napoli's only man behind the halfway line was goalkeeper Handanovic, who stood he penalty spot.

  Marino, watg from the sidelines, desperately hoped his forwards could win the ball bad unch a quick terattack. With Udinese's attag talent, if they could execute a ter, they might have a ce to score.

  And the Udinese pyers shared the same desire.

  Their front line began to press aggressively, pushing the team higher up the pitch.

  They couldn't afford to keep being pushed back by Napoli like this, it was too passive, and sooner or ter, their defense would break.

  Quagliarel rushed toward David Luiz, while Flores closed in on Vargas, trying to pin Napoli's defenders and for error.

  But David Luiz, ever the posed Brazilian, wasn't fazed.

  Dribbling on the left side, David Luiz spotted Flores approag. With a sudden stop and a quick turn, he used his body to shield the ball from Quagliarel. With a deft touch, he trolled the ball with his right foot and quickly passed it to Bonucci.

  As Bonucci advanced, he sed the field.

  Udinese's defense had pushed too far forward, leaving a huge gap behind them.

  To his left, Di Maria was hugging the toue, unmarked.

  What are they thinking? Bonucci wondered briefly.

  Did they really think Naples only had one pymaker in David Luiz?

  Bonucci calmly stopped the ball, took a moment to adjust, a a long, sweeping pass across the field.

  The ball flew over half the pitch, dropping perfectly into the open spa the left fnk.

  Di Maria trolled the ball with his chest and saata and the right-back rushing over to close him down. Without hesitation, he dribbled the ball into the left side of the penalty area, then, at the perfeent, cut a pass back to the top of the box.

  Hamsik arrived in full stride, receiving the ball. Iried to close him down, but Hamsik sidestepped horizontally with a quick shuffle of his feet. He didn't give Inler a ce to react before unleashing a powerful curler with his right foot.

  From the first touch to the final shot, the entire sequence was fwless fluid, fast, and precise.

  The ball soared in a graceful arc toward the tht er of Udinese's goal.

  Chimenti dove desperately, but there was no stopping it.

  "GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!"

  "2-0!!!"

  "In the 21st minute, Napoli strikes again!"

  "Hamsik scores! Napoli now leads 2-0!"

  Hamsik sprioward the sideline in celebration, perf his signature dance as his teammates rushed to join him.

  Who would have thought? In just uen minutes, Napoli had scored twice!

  ...

  As Hamsik's goal hit the back of the , Gao Shen lifted his head and closed his eyes.

  The boos from Udinese's fans reverberated around the stadium.

  Marino, standing by the home team's bench, was shouting furiously at his pyers, helplessly venting his frustration.

  Behind him, Gao Shen's assistants were cheering wildly for the sed goal.

  Everyone khat this sed goal was as good as sealing the victory.

  But Gao Shen didn't think so.

  Only two goals? That's not enough!

  Opening his eyes and fixing his gaze on the field once more, his eyes gleamed with determination.

  The knife he had sharpened was meant to do more damage.

  He signaled for his pyers to keep pressing, to maintain their relentless pressure on Udinese.

  On the field, Napoli's pyers saw their coach's gesture and uood. They could feel his hunger, his unwavering resolve. They knew what was expected of them, keep attag!

  Gao Shen wao see just how devastating Napoli's attack could be.

  At the same time, he wao send a message to the rest of Serie A: this is what it costs to challenge Napoli!

  And so, Napoli's pyers tio press hard, c the field with their tireless running and stant pressure, creating ce after ce.

  Udinese, rattled after g two quick goals, began to fall apart. Their positioning was in disarray.

  The most telling sign was their reluce to push forward. Anytime they gained possession, Napoli's pressing would immediately force them to pass back.

  Meanwhile, Napoli, buoyed by their momentum, tio storm Udinese's penalty area.

  From the sidelines, Mari urging his pyers to push forward, but they couldn't find a way through Napoli's pressure.

  Long balls? Those would just fall back to Napoli's feet.

  And they couldn't simply boot the ball up the field without any thought, either.

  ...

  Ih minute, Napoli unched atack. After receiving the ball with his back to goal, Sanchez spun around and unleashed a powerful shot.

  But Napoli didn't relent. Under heavy pressure, Chimenti couldn't find a passing option and was forced to throw the ball to ter-back Felipe, who passed it to Zapata on the right. But Di Maria was already closing in fast.

  Messito, wary of i lurking near Zapata, avoided passing to his ter-back partner and instead passed the ball back to the goalkeeper.

  i, seeing this, sprinted directly toward the penalty area, charging at Chimenti.

  "Napoli's pressing is relehey're even chasing down the goalkeeper!"

  "Look at Chimenti..."

  As Chimenti trolled the ball, i was already closing in, f the keeper to rush his pass. He aimed for the Brazilia-back Siqueira, who had dropped back.

  But before the ball could reach Siqueira, Sanchez darted in from behind and intercepted it, stabbing the ball bato the penalty area.

  Sanchez's touch was slightly heavy, sending the ball rolling ahead of him. i, already in the box, sidered going for it but saw Sanchez sprinting forward unimpeded. He slowed dowing the Chilean wiake charge.

  Sanchez caught up with the ball and, without stopping, fired a powerful shot.

  The ball flew in a straight line, zipping past Chimenti and into the Udi.

  3-0!!!!!!

  The eadium fell into a stunned silence.

  The first half wasn't even over yet, and Udinese had already ceded three goals!

  Everyone could feel the overwhelming firepower of Napoli's relentless attack, especially uheir suffog high press.

  Over by the home team's bench, Marino's arms were frozen in mid-air, as if he'd been paralyzed.

  At that moment, he finally uood why teams like Cagliari had no choice but to py defensively when fag Napoli.

  He was still too inexperieoo na?ve. He had been riding a wave of success for too long.