After Salihovic left, Lu Wenbin was the only one at the penalty spot.
The players of Munich 1860 and the audience in the stands looked at Lu Wenbin in surprise, feeling a little stunned.
"This Lu Wenbin is not only good at shooting in the penalty area, but he can also take free kicks outside the penalty area?" Many people wondered in their hearts.
Lu Wenbin ignored other people's gazes.
After Salihovic left, Lu Wenbin clicked the free kick (primary) skill usage button and switched himself to spectator mode, watching the system control his body to take the free kick.
The system controlled Lu Wenbin's body to move the ball again, and then he stepped back a few steps.
It was not until the referee blew the whistle for a penalty kick that the system controlled Lu Wenbin's body to kick the football after a few steps of running.
The football flew into the air, passed the upper right corner of the wall of people, drew an arc, and headed straight for the system's crosshairs in the upper right corner of the goal.
All the players and spectators in the stadium were staring at the ball. Some hoped that the ball would fly out of the baseline, while others hoped that the ball would fly into the goal.
After kicking the ball, Lu Wenbin regained control of his body.
Then, Lu Wenbin saw the ball draw a beautiful arc in the air, hit the inside of the upper right corner post of the goal and bounce into the net.
Although the ball hit the goal post, it hit the inside of the goal post. It did not hit the outside and bounce out of the bottom line, nor did it hit the goal and bounce back into the penalty area.
In the 89th minute of the game, Lu Wenbin scored a direct free kick, giving Hoffenheim a 1-0 lead.
Seeing the ball fly into the net, Lu Wenbin excitedly rushed to the coaching seat on the sidelines. He wanted to thank head coach Ralf Rangnick for listing him as one of the team's free kick takers.
Rushing to the sidelines, Lu Wenbin pounced and gave Ralph a bear hug. Ralph was almost knocked down by Lu Wenbin.
The teammates and substitutes who followed behind also gathered around and celebrated wildly.
On the other side, the players of Munich 1860 were stunned.
They defended for a full 89 minutes and successfully froze Lu Wenbin, who had been very good at shooting in the penalty area in the previous two games.
Unexpectedly, near the end of the game, they were penetrated by Lu Wenbin's direct free kick, which has always had a low scoring rate.
After Lu Wenbin scored from a free kick, there was little time left in the game.
In addition, Ralf Rangnick delayed time by making three consecutive substitutions in the stoppage time. Although Munich 1860 launched a desperate counterattack, they still failed to score a goal to equalize the score until the end of the game. Hoffenheim finally won 1-0 away.
Hoffenheim won three consecutive league games after the winter break, rising to seventh place in the standings and having the same 31 points as sixth-placed Munich 1860, but only ranked seventh due to the disadvantage of goal difference.
However, this point is only 6 points away from the top of the list, Borussia Mönchengladbach.
6 points is just the difference between two games. Hoffenheim's hope of getting the top three and being promoted directly is getting bigger and bigger.
The team's points and ranking rose, and Lu Wenbin continued his magical performance of scoring goals in every game.
Moreover, this time he did not use a shot in the penalty area, but a direct free kick, which was quite surprising and made his threat to the opponent more comprehensive.
From now on, opponents must not only prevent Lu Wenbin from running and scoring in the penalty area, but also prevent Lu Wenbin from taking free kicks outside the penalty area.
If you want to foul Lu Wenbin and his teammates outside the penalty area, you may have to consider Lu Wenbin's ability to score directly from free kicks.
Of course, one free kick doesn’t mean anything. Lu Wenbin still needs to score more direct free kicks.
In this game, Lu Wenbin was rewarded with a total of 3,000 experience points for his only goal and the team's victory, and his experience points increased to level 10 6212/20,000.
A few days after the away game against Munich 1860, Hoffenheim will play against Freiburg at home in the 21st round of the Bundesliga.
At 18:00 on the afternoon of February 22, in the 21st round of the German 2nd Division, Hoffenheim faced Freiburg at home, and Lu Wenbin continued to start.
At home, Lu Wenbin not only continued his scoring streak in this game, but also performed better than in the previous round away from home. He made one assist and one goal in the whole game to help Hoffenheim beat Freiburg 2-0 at home.
During the game, Carlos Eduardo had a free kick opportunity and gave it to Lu Wenbin to take the penalty, but Lu Wenbin's penalty shot flew directly over the crossbar and he failed to score from a free kick for two consecutive games.
Lu Wenbin did not play the full game. After assisting Ibisevic to score a goal in the second half and helping the team lead 2-0, Lu Wenbin was replaced by Demba Ba by Ralph in order to save his strength for the next German Cup quarter-final.
Lu Wenbin has now become one of Hoffenheim's most offensive players in the frontcourt. Replacing the younger Lu Wenbin in advance is not only to allow him to have more physical strength for the next game, but also to avoid the possibility of Lu Wenbin being fouled and injured by opponents on the court.
After the game, Lu Wenbin, who scored a goal, made an assist and led the team to victory, was rewarded with 3,500 experience points, bringing his experience to 9,712/20,000.
In addition to the experience points reward that Lu Wenbin received, Hoffenheim also reached 34 points with the victory in this game, directly leaving behind Munich 1860, which drew in this round, and overwhelmed Freiburg in terms of goal difference, directly jumping two places to fifth place in the standings.
First-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach has 38 points, second- and third-placed Mainz and Fürth have 36 points each, fourth-placed Cologne has 35 points, and fifth- and sixth-placed Hoffenheim and Freiburg have 34 points each.
In other words, Hoffenheim is only 2 points away from the second and third places in the promotion zone, and only 1 point away from fourth place Cologne.
Perhaps, after the next round of the league, Hoffenheim will be able to enter the promotion zone.
However, the promotion plan of Hoffenheim players and fans will have to be put on hold, because before the next round of the league, they have to play a quarter-final of the German Cup, and the game will be held at the opponent's home court: Hoffenheim will go away to challenge the Bundesliga giants Dortmund.
Hoffenheim players, who have only more than 6,000 spectators at home, are going to challenge Dortmund at the Westfalen Stadium, which is said to be able to accommodate more than 80,000 fans, the largest home stadium in Germany and the most terrifying in Europe.
A series of unfavorable factors, such as a challenge from a higher level team, away games, a terrifying away field and the gap in strength, made the German media declare Hoffenheim's death sentence before the game even started.
Regarding Lu Wenbin, who played five games and scored in every game after joining the first team, Dortmund fans said in an interview with reporters:
"What? That little Chinese player Lu has been keeping the record of scoring in every game in Hoffenheim? That doesn't matter. When he comes to Westfalen, his record of scoring in every game will come to an end. We will let him know why Westfalen is the most terrifying home stadium in Europe. I hope that the 17-year-old Lu will not be so scared that he can't walk."