Clang!
The ball struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced into the goal, and finally fell into the embrace of the net!
Sommer, who had leaped to make the save, had only just landed on the ground.
His face was filled with shock!
Although he had heard rumors about Mark's free kicks,
this was the first time he had faced one himself.
Watching the ball slowly roll out of the net, he had only one thought in his mind:
The free kick taken by this kid is simply too bizarre!
Watching the ball enter the net, the entire Volkswagen Arena erupted in a roar of excitement.
"Unbelievable!"
"Mark has once again performed an incomparable direct free kick goal!"
"This is already his third direct free kick goal of the season!"
Led by the stadium DJ, the fans once again loudly chanted the name of the goal-scoring hero: "Mark~~~"
"Lane!"
"Mark~~~"
"Lane!!"
"Mark~~~"
"Lane!!!"
Mark, however, only smiled and shrugged where he stood, his expression seeming to say: this is just business as usual!
Then, he was surrounded by his teammates: "You're just too ridiculous!"
"That was so damn cool!"
Even though they had witnessed Mark's unstoppable free kicks time and time again,
every time they saw such a bizarre Elevator ball, they couldn't help but curse in their hearts: "No one could save that!"
With Mönchengladbach conceding their tenth League goal of the season, Wolfsburg got off to a dream start at home.
Perhaps to vent the frustration of being defeated at home by Chelsea a few days ago, Wolfsburg, with even higher morale after taking the lead, continued their fierce attack!
And compared to Chelsea's airtight defense, Mönchengladbach's defense was more than a level below.
It is worth mentioning that the right-back facing Mark was Fabian Johnson, who played for Hoffenheim last season.
He had already experienced Mark's gorgeous dribbling last season.
Meeting again after several months, he was surprised to find that Mark's footwork and explosiveness had become even faster!
With just a feinted step and then an accelerated change of direction, Mark easily bypassed Johnson!
Turning around and looking at the back of the number ten who was already several body lengths ahead, Fabian Johnson had only one thought: "When did this guy get so fast?!"
Compared to last season, Mark's explosiveness and Speed had seen a visible improvement.
This made his dribbling more concise and even more lethal!
Ignoring the turmoil in Fabian Johnson's heart, Mark flicked the ball with the outside of his foot and cut inside to the edge of the penalty area.
Blocking his path was his National Team teammate, Kramer.
However, Mark wasn't polite at all.
He first made a motion as if to shoot, but it was a fake shot and a real cut; then, with a touch from the arch of his left foot, he bounced the ball back to his front right.
This extremely fast double-touch feint had already tricked Kramer out of his center of gravity.
The next second, Mark swung his leg from a standstill and unleashed a curling shot!
Bang!
However, Sommer, whose goal had just been pierced by Mark's unstoppable free kick, used an incredibly fast diving save to keep this curling shot out!
After completing this brilliant save, he quickly got up and shouted to his defensive midfielder, Kramer: "Chris (Kramer)!"
"Don't let him shoot from that position!"
Hearing this, the outplayed Kramer could only lower his head, not daring to make any promises.
After all, as Mark's National Team teammate, he knew very well how formidable Mark was.
"I want to stop him from shooting too! But I just can't do it!"
In this match, because Xhaka was absent due to injury, Mönchengladbach coach Favre could only entrust the heavy responsibility of guarding the center to Kramer.
Nicknamed "Little Khedira," he did indeed limit De Bruyne's performance to a certain extent.
However, when facing Mark's inward cuts, he was still somewhat at a loss.
After all, even Khedira couldn't stop Mark's breakthroughs, let alone him.
This allowed Mark to repeatedly gain opportunities to attack the half-space and take frequent shots.
In the first twenty-five minutes, led by Mark, Wolfsburg completely suppressed Mönchengladbach at home!
"In this match, Wolfsburg is showing the style of the League leaders..."
"Mönchengladbach, ranked fifth in the League, has no power to fight back at the Volkswagen Arena!"
In the first twenty-five minutes, Wolfsburg's number of shots on target reached five!
Mark alone took four of them!
Meanwhile, Mönchengladbach's shot count was a pitiful zero!
Although the Swiss guardian between the posts performed heroically, blocking Mark's inward-cutting shots several times,
his teammates struggled to withstand Wolfsburg's fierce offense!
Especially Fabian Johnson, who simply could not limit Mark's breakthroughs on the flank.
In several one-on-ones on the wing, he was completely defeated!
Finally, having been bypassed so many times he felt numb, Johnson could only stop Mark through fouls.
Even so, in the thirty-fifth minute of the match, Mönchengladbach's goal was breached once again!
Mark received the ball on the left, and facing the double-teaming defense, he didn't force a breakthrough but instead passed the ball horizontally to the center to the supporting De Bruyne.
The latter shifted the ball to the right, where Perišić took the ball and used his pace, forcing his way past the left-back on the outside.
He then took the ball to the goal line and swept it across the front of the goal with his right foot!
Unfortunately, at the near post, Dost was unable to get into position under interference from the opposing center-back, Dominguez.
However, because the ball's path was exactly between the defenders and the goalkeeper, the keeper Sommer didn't intercept it either.
Just like that, the ball crossed the entire penalty area and arrived at the far post!
Facing the ball coming toward him, Mönchengladbach right-back Fabian Johnson began to think about how to handle it.
Should he clear it directly, or take the ball and pass it to a teammate for a counter-attack?
However, just as he hadn't yet made up his mind, an urgent shout woke him up: "Fabian!!!"
The next second, he felt the sound of wind passing by his side!
Immediately after, a green figure flew past him, reaching the ball before he could!
"What?!"
Seeing the large number "10" printed on the back of the figure, Johnson finally reacted.
However, it was too late!
Under the astonished gazes of all the Mönchengladbach players, Mark, who had rushed into the penalty area, pushed the ball with the arch of his left foot.
The ball went straight into the near corner of the goal, hitting the white net with a crisp "swish"!
As the white wave rose, so did the green and white waves in the stands of the Volkswagen Arena!
"TORRRRRR!!!"
"Wolfsburg extends the lead again!"
"number ten, Mark Lane! He has scored a brace!"
"This is his seventeenth goal of the season!"
After completing this seemingly simple but not at all easy goal, Mark pointed at Perišić and ran toward his weak-foot mentor: "See that? I scored with my left foot!"
"Hahaha, as expected of my student! Well done!"
While the Wolfsburg players were celebrating, the Mönchengladbach players and fans were still wondering about one question:
How did that number ten appear in that spot?!
When they saw the replay of the goal, the fans in front of the TV suddenly realized.
It turned out that when he passed the ball to De Bruyne in the center, Mark had continued his run into the penalty area without stopping.
Then, the moment Perišić crossed from the goal line, he was already lurking behind Fabian Johnson.
When the ball was passed, he suddenly accelerated with a burst of Speed, beating the dazed Fabian Johnson to the ball and sending it into the goal!
With Mark doing as he pleased on the left, Mönchengladbach's right flank was being torn to shreds by him alone.
In desperation, Mönchengladbach coach Favre could only wave his hand, ordering Kramer to provide cover on the right and mark Mark closely.
Kramer's tight marking did indeed cause some trouble for Mark when he had the ball.
However, Mark didn't continue to dribble; instead, through his positioning and one-touch passing, he reduced his physical contact with Kramer.
As Mark drew Mönchengladbach's defensive focus to the left, De Bruyne in the middle and Perišić on the right gained more space to operate.
In the final moments of the first half, Wolfsburg almost extended their lead again.
De Bruyne sent a surgical through-ball that found Dost, who had successfully beaten the offside trap.
Unfortunately, the latter sent this great one-on-one opportunity flying!
Accompanied by a sound of regret, Dost also held his head in his hands, expressing disbelief.
With this missed opportunity, the referee soon blew the whistle for the end of the first half.
The Wolfsburg players, already leading by two goals, walked into the tunnel with a relaxed mood.
Meanwhile, the trailing Mönchengladbach players each had a solemn expression, without a single smile in sight.
Back in the locker room, Hecking's first words were: "Well done, guys!"
"Let's keep it up in the second half!"
After the brief halftime break, Mark discovered an interesting thing.
Fabian Johnson, who had been bypassed by Mark until he questioned his life and was carrying a yellow card, was substituted out directly.
The one who came on was a young player Mark had no impression of at all.
No way, Mönchengladbach thought that Johnson, an American international, couldn't stop him, so they brought on an even more obscure young player to defend him?!
However, he soon understood why the opponent had done so.
It turned out that during the halftime break, Mönchengladbach coach Favre had made tactical adjustments.
Not only did he have Kramer follow Mark closely, but he also had the winger Traoré drop back near the halfway line to form a three-man defensive circle. The young player Korb, who was brought on, although obscure, actually had better defensive capabilities than Johnson.
Seeing that Mönchengladbach actually placed so much importance on him, Mark was happy to see it.
Even though Mönchengladbach strengthened their individual defense against Mark,
it didn't change the situation much.
Because the number of players on the field for each team is fixed.
If Mark pinned down the attention of three players by himself, then Wolfsburg could more easily gain a local numerical advantage when attacking.
Sure enough, as Kramer was drawn to the flank by Mark, the defense in the middle became even more vacant.
De Bruyne's ball handling and passing became even more composed.
Gustavo's forward runs also made Wolfsburg's attack through the middle more sharp.
In the sixty-fifth minute, De Bruyne came to the right, played a pass-and-move in the half-space with Perišić, and then crossed horizontally to the center.
The late-arriving Gustavo met the ball with a powerful strike, blasting a long-range worldie that pierced the goal guarded by Sommer for the third time!
And this goal directly killed any suspense in the match!
In the end, thanks to Mark's brace and Gustavo's icing on the cake, Wolfsburg secured a three-nil victory at home over the visiting Mönchengladbach!
While extending their League unbeaten record to thirteen games, they also continued to lead the standings!
Ending the November journey with a victory, the Wolfsburg players were also granted a day off.
In the upcoming December, Wolfsburg will face the season's schedule from hell!
They will play five matches in two weeks!
December 6th, Bundesliga Round 14, away at Hannover 96;
December 10th, Champions League Round 6, away at Maribor;
December 14th, Bundesliga Round 15, home against newly promoted Paderborn;
December 17th, Bundesliga Round 16, away at Borussia Dortmund;
December 20th, Bundesliga Round 17, home against Cologne!
Among these five matches, two can be called "tough battles."
The first is the away match against Maribor;
In the first leg between the two sides, a rotating Wolfsburg was held to an upset draw by Maribor at home.
If they couldn't win at Maribor's home ground, they would be overtaken by Maribor in the standings, meaning they wouldn't even get to play in the Europa League!
Therefore, they would definitely have to field their full starting lineup and go all out to win this match!
The second is the away match against Borussia Dortmund;
Although Borussia Dortmund's form has plummeted this season, even falling into the relegation zone,
the young squad led by Klopp is still not to be underestimated.
This is the only team in the Bundesliga capable of contending with Bayern Munich!
Of course, for Wolfsburg, no matter how poor Dortmund's form is, they are still an opponent that requires full effort to defeat!
Besides these two opponents, the strength of the opponents in the other three matches is somewhat behind Wolfsburg's.
That's how the Bundesliga is.
The strength of the League teams is clearly differentiated, and those truly capable of threatening this current Wolfsburg team are few and far between... On December 5th, the official Bundesliga website once again announced the Player of the Month for November:
Wolfsburg's number ten, Mark Lane, defeated opponents like Bayern's Robben and Frankfurt's Meyer to win the Player of the Month award once again!
In the four League rounds of November, this Wolfsburg magician contributed a terrifying stat line of seven goals and three assists, helping Wolfsburg achieve a record of three wins and one draw!
It is worth mentioning that this is already the third time Mark has been elected as the Bundesliga Player of the Month this season.
He had previously been elected for September and October.
With this, he has also completed the achievement and seasonal task of winning the Player of the Month for three consecutive months!
However, in the competition for Coach of the Month, Hecking, who led the team to three wins and one draw, lost to Guardiola, who led his team to four consecutive wins.
It is worth mentioning that after experiencing an injury wave at the beginning of the season, with the gradual return of key players and their powerful squad depth, Bayern has produced a run of eight wins and two draws in their last ten matches!
With the awakening of the Bundesliga hegemon, the destination of this season's Bundesliga title remains full of suspense!