Lukaku charged forward with all his might.
Without holding anything back!
This wasn't his first European competition. He had made his European debut as early as August 2009 in the Champions League qualifying round first leg, when Anderlecht lost 1-3 away to Lyon.
That December, in the sixth round of the Europa League group stage, he scored a brace in Anderlecht's 3-1 away victory over Ajax, claiming his first European goals.
But this time, everything was completely different from those previous matches! He had an intense desire burning within him—he wanted to score, he wanted to win!
He wanted to bring a glimmer of hope to these teammates who were giving everything for victory!
Whoosh!
The explosive sprint pushed even Lukaku's body dubbed the "Little Rom" rapidly into an anaerobic state.
Lukaku pressed on regardless, head down in a fierce charge, his dreadlocks flowing in the wind.
This kind of impact left the stadium fans stunned.
The covering defender Prochaska was completely left behind by Lukaku's pace.
One-on-one!
Lukaku had broken through for a clear chance.
In the midfield and defense, Bastia's players hadn't come up to support—they all stretched out their necks to watch Lukaku.
On the right, Julien was sprinting to provide an option.
In this moment, Lukaku became the center of attention for the entire stadium.
Bang!
Goalkeeper Kozacik rushed out quickly. Lukaku didn't hesitate for a moment, pushing the ball toward the near post while aiming for the far corner.
Kozacik was fooled and couldn't make the save in time.
The ball flew toward the far corner.
The tracking defender Sisovsky didn't give up, still chasing back with a sliding tackle, following the ball into the net.
2-1.
Bastia had pulled one back.
Lukaku pounded his chest vigorously, spread his arms wide, and charged toward the corner flag for a wild celebration, then turned to his teammates with open arms.
Everyone rushed over to embrace him.
Julien arrived first, thumping his chest. "Beautiful! That goal was Puskas Award quality!"
Lukaku grinned foolishly. "Haha, I think so too!"
His heart was bursting with excitement—Who can stop a charging bull? Remember the name Lukaku!
On the sideline.
Seeing this scene, Hadzibegic felt much more at ease. The team's defensive line was already lacking in strength, and with declining fitness levels, he could only use a strategy centered on "reducing energy expenditure, efficient counter-attacks, and strengthening defense," making up for shortcomings through proper fitness distribution and simplifying the game's complexity.
A 4-4-2 formation compressed the midfield and defensive spaces, reducing players' lateral covering runs.
Abandoning the energy-draining high pressing in favor of low-block defending in the midfield and back, forcing opponents into congested areas.
The cost of this approach was almost no follow-up support in attack.
Any possession was simply hoofed forward to the front line, Relying entirely on Lukaku and Julien's individual abilities for counter-attacks.
If one attack failed, there was basically no follow-up, because the defensive players simply didn't have the energy to advance from their low positions.
But, Lukaku had delivered when it mattered!
Not far from Hadzibegic, Vrba shook his head slightly.
However, he could see Bastia's fitness problems.
So, even after seeing Lukaku's impact, he wasn't planning to sit back—he would continue pressing! Until Bastia's fitness completely collapsed.
After a string of "buuuuuts," the TF1 commentator sighed. "You have to wonder where Bastia found all these talents. Bastia's current starting lineup features many players that numerous clubs covet. Every team is clutching their checkbooks, waiting for the Bastia supermarket to open...
Getting back to this match, at least Lukaku has proven why Chelsea would be interested in him—that impact is impressive!
Bastia now needs just one more goal and it's far from impossible, especially with Julien still on the pitch.
But Bastia's biggest problem now might not be in attack, but in defense.
The defensive pressure is immense."
Beep!
The match continued.
The pressure the commentator spoke of was felt by Bastia's players almost from the first moment after kickoff.
Horvath played a long ball forward to the front line.
Marchal and Havránek competed for the header. After Marchal headed it away, Viktoria Plzen's following players controlled the second ball and organized an attack, directly targeting the space behind Bastia's defense.
Havránek, who had just won the header, made another forward run, drawing a foul from Cioni.
Viktoria Plzen earned a free kick.
With Cahuzac unavailable and Choplin on the bench, Bastia's back four for this match consisted of left-back Sidibe, center-backs Angoula and Marchal, and right-back Cioni.
From what could be seen, Cioni was the weakest link among them.
He often needed Rothen to drop back and cover.
The midfield four of Palmieri, De Bruyne, Kante, and Rothen also had significant defensive responsibilities.
This was why when bringing on Julien, Hadzibegic had taken off Mane, not keeping this fast counter-attacking option.
There was no choice. The defensive pressure was too great—they needed Palmieri's stronger defensive attributes more.
Bang!
Viktoria Plzen took the free kick, sending it into the penalty area. Duris got ahead of everyone by a large margin and unleashed a thunderous shot.
Novaes couldn't make the save.
The ball was in!
Duris was already running out to celebrate when the linesman raised his flag.
Beep!
The referee blew his whistle and raised his right hand.
Offside.
Viktoria Plzen's players were clearly unwilling to accept the disallowed goal and argued with the referee.
But in this pre-VAR era, the referee's decision was final.
Bastia had one foot in hell, only to be pulled back to heaven by the referee's whistle.
Hadzibegic felt his heart skip a beat when the ball went in.
No, he needed to make another substitution! If the defense continued to be pounded like this, there would definitely be problems.
The key question was. who to bring on?
Any substitution felt somewhat inappropriate to him.
Bang!
Novaes cleared the ball with a long kick toward midfield, but Lukaku couldn't win the header.
Julien, waiting nearby for the knockdown, naturally had no effect.
Possession returned to Viktoria Plzen.
Time ticked by minute by minute.
Bastia's low-block defense looked rather ragged but at least prevented Viktoria Plzen from breaking through easily.
Still, the scene was indeed quite desperate, looking precarious.
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