When referee Stuart Attwell blew the whistle for the set piece, Theodore suddenly sprang into action.
He charged toward the ball.
However, he merely darted past it without swinging his leg.
It was a feint.
At that exact moment, the player actually taking the set piece, Jack Grealish, stepped up and struck the bottom of the ball with his right foot.
Boom!
It was a high-quality shot.
The ball swiftly curved around the Leeds United wall, then dipped sharply, heading straight for the top corner. In the stands of Elland Road, many Leeds fans had already buried their heads in their hands, convinced that Grealish's shot would breach their net.
Their faces were filled with terror and panic.
But their worries were unnecessary.
At that critical moment, Leeds United's goalkeeper, Kiko Casilla, became the team's savior.
With a sudden diving save, Casilla miraculously managed to parry Grealish's fierce strike with a strong right hand.
"CASILLAAAAAA!" Martin Tyler cried out on the Sky Sports broadcast. "He's pulled off another world-class save! At thirty-four years old, the Spaniard is still showing his peak reflexes. He is the rock of this Leeds United defense tonight."
Gary Neville nodded in agreement. "I thought that was in, Martin. Even before Casilla moved, I firmly believed Grealish's shot had beaten him."
On the Sky Sports live feed, fans couldn't help but praise Casilla's agility.
[Casilla is playing like Saint Iker tonight. His reaction speed is incredible.]
[I was already off the sofa celebrating! How did he save that?!]
[Real Madrid products are always top-tier.]
[This is bad. With Casilla playing like this, how is Villa supposed to score?]
Just as the fans finished expressing their shock, the situation changed dramatically.
Although Casilla had saved Grealish's shot, he hadn't managed to push it far enough away from the danger zone.
The ball rebounded to the right side of the penalty area.
Due to the sheer speed of the ricochet, Leeds center-back Liam Cooper couldn't adjust his feet in time.
He instinctively swung a leg to clear it, only to badly mishit the ball.
The clearance skewed sideways, dropping as if by magic right to the feet of Theodore Bjorn.
It was a golden, unexpected opportunity!
He tensed his instep and unleashed a powerful, low strike.
The ball flew into the net like a bullet fired from a rifle!
Because the shot was taken so quickly and hit with such ferocity, Casilla had absolutely no time to recover and react.
"AND BJORN LASHES IT HOME!!!" Tyler roared, his voice echoing the sudden shift in momentum.
"A GIFT FROM THE LEEDS DEFENSE, AND THE TEENAGER ACCEPTS IT GLADLY! ASTON VILLA DRAW FIRST BLOOD AT ELLAND ROAD!"
"One to zero," Neville added, his tone filled with excitement. "That is Theodore Bjorn's fifth goal of the season in the Championship, and what a priceless goal it could turn out to be in this promotion race."
The moment Theodore scored, the home fans in the Elland Road stands fell completely silent, their expressions blank with disbelief.
After scoring, Theodore trotted toward the corner flag and calmly performed his new celebration- doing a kamehameha pose.
Seeing him, several of his Aston Villa teammates jogged over and clumsily tried to copy the flowing movements.
The scene was quite comical!
"Well, look at that," Tyler chuckled. "Why does Theodore's celebration look so familiar? Isn't that Kamehameha?"
"You know what, Martin?" Neville laughed.
"Well i maybe a football commentator," Tyler continued, smiling, "but i'm a fan of Dragon ball, just like everybody else."
On Twitter, fans were grinning from ear to ear after seeing the celebration.
[Theo really knows how to put on a show! Celebrating a massive goal with Kamehameha—I'm genuinely impressed.]
[Leading a bunch of English lads in a Kamehameha pose.... This is too funny.]
[The most epic celebration in football history!]
[Thanks to Theo for bringing me joy on a Tuesday night.]
After the restart, the Leeds United players immediately pushed forward into Aston Villa's half, desperate for an instant reply.
Midfield playmaker Kalvin Phillips drove the ball forward at an incredible pace.
Despite numerous attempts by Aston Villa players to disrupt his rhythm, Phillips showed no fear in the physical duels, shrugging off challenges from McGinn and Grealish in quick succession.
Seconds later, Phillips successfully carried the ball to the edge of the penalty area.
As Villa's defenders stepped out to apply pressure, Phillips took the initiative and unleashed a shot.
Boom!
The ball rocketed toward the Aston Villa goal like a cannonball.
In the stands, tens of thousands of Leeds fans held their breath, eagerly anticipating the net bulging.
Unfortunately for the home side, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
While Phillips' shot had plenty of venom, its trajectory was too direct.
It struck Aston Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer squarely in the chest.
After safely gathering the ball, Steer spotted Theodore signaling for a pass near the center circle. Without hesitation, the Villa keeper launched a long, arcing throw toward the teenager.
Three seconds later, the ball landed about two yards in front of Theodore.
The throw was slightly off-target, but it didn't matter—Theodore quickly scrambled to bring it under control. The reason he was so eager to receive the ball was that, surprisingly, there were no Leeds players within ten yards to pressure him.
In his view, given that kind of time and space, he had full confidence in threatening the Leeds goal.
"Theodore Bjorn receives the long throw near the halfway line," Tyler noted, sounding surprised.
"The Leeds players have completely backed off! This is a massive mistake. Allowing him to turn and face the play with that much time is asking for trouble."
Just as Tyler finished his sentence, Theodore looked up and sent the ball directly into the Leeds United penalty area.
The ball bypassed the recovering midfield and quickly descended into the Leeds box, dropping with pinpoint accuracy right above Tammy Abraham's head.
Using his 195cm height advantage, Abraham easily overpowered his marker to win the first touch, nodding the ball firmly downward toward the goal.
Instantly, the ball bounced past Casilla and nestled into the bottom corner of the net.
"AND IT'S TWO FOR VILLA!!! TAMMY ABRAHAM MAKES NO MISTAKE!!!" Tyler shouted, his voice ringing with the drama of the rapid counter-attack.
"A DEVASTATING LONG PASS FROM BJORN, A RUTHLESS FINISH FROM ABRAHAM, AND LEEDS UNITED ARE STUNNED!"
"Aston Villa extend their lead to two-nil," Neville added. "Elland Road has fallen completely silent once again."
Down on the touchline, Marcelo Bielsa adjusted his glasses, his expression tight with frustration and helplessness.
The legendary coach was visibly dissatisfied with his players' defensive lapse.
After conceding the second goal, Bielsa marched to the edge of his technical area, vehemently demanding that his team push forward aggressively.
Leeds United had no way back now, they had to attack.
If they were defeated tonight, they would drop to third place, losing their grip on the automatic promotion spots and facing the dreaded lottery of the playoffs.
After the restart, the Leeds midfielders wasted no time, immediately launching an attack toward the Villa penalty area.
Bielsa's tactics were fluid, he allowed his attacking players the freedom to showcase their talents and interchange positions.
After Kalvin Phillips carried the ball into the attacking third, his first instinct was to spread the play to Jack Harrison on the wing, attempting to stretch Villa's defensive shape.
But the choice wasn't clear-cut.
The defender Harrison faced at this moment was not the Villa full-back, but Theodore Bjorn, who had tracked back diligently.
After a grueling season of Championship football, Theodore had gained extensive match experience in both attacking and defensive phases.
This time, Theodore gave Harrison no chance to isolate him.
He immediately used his strong physique to step across the winger's path.
Harrison reacted a fraction too slowly, bouncing off the teenager, losing his balance, and falling to the turf.
The ball rolled harmlessly out for a throw-in.
"Beautiful defending from the young man," Neville remarked with sincere appreciation.
"His defensive ability is truly becoming more and more outstanding. He reads the game so well. Perhaps in the future, he might even transition into a deeper, holding role."
"Though if I were Dean Smith," Tyler chuckled, "I would keep him right where he is as an attacking midfielder. His passing is practically unstoppable."
Moments later, Theodore successfully controlled a loose ball in midfield.
Recognizing the danger, the Leeds players immediately initiated a high-intensity press.
In the blink of an eye, Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich rushed toward him like two tigers charging down a mountain, attempting to trap him and prevent another lethal counterattack.
Seeing the double-team approaching, Theodore immediately turned his back to shield the ball.
He held off the initial contact, then calmly played a simple pass back to center-back Tyrone Mings.
In truth, Theodore could have moved the ball out sooner.
The reason he waited until the Leeds players committed to the tackle was to draw them out of position.
When Forshaw and Klich rushed him, almost the entire Leeds defensive focus shifted toward his side of the pitch.
This meant that Aston Villa's other two midfielders, Grealish and McGinn, were left in acres of open space.
Faced with this golden opportunity, Mings immediately fired a pass into the feet of McGinn.
Affectionately nicknamed "Meatball" by the Villa faithful, McGinn is a player with exceptional strength, a low center of gravity, and a powerful left foot.
His importance in the Villa engine room was immeasurable.
"The ball is at McGinn's feet," Tyler commentated as the play developed. "He's charging forward through the center. The Leeds midfielders were all drawn to Theodore Bjorn, allowing McGinn to effortlessly advance into the attacking third."
McGinn drove toward the box.
"He passes it out wide," Tyler continued. "The ball is now with Grealish. A diagonal pass back inside... chaos in the Leeds penalty area... a shot!"
"JOHN MCGINN LASHES IT IN!!! ASTON VILLA ARE RUNNING RIOT AT ELLAND ROAD!!!" Tyler's voice hit a crescendo.
"THREE-NIL! THEY ARE TEARING LEEDS UNITED APART!"
"McGinn scores!" Neville added. "The moment Grealish played the ball into the penalty area, the Leeds defenders instinctively focused on Abraham and the wingers, completely overlooking McGinn's late run. He seized the chance and fired home."
This third goal completely killed off any remaining suspense in the match.
After the restart, the Leeds players looked defeated, their fighting spirit broken.
In the final five minutes of the first half, they frequently misplaced simple passes, on the verge of a collective mental collapse.
Beeeeep!
When Stuart Attwell blew the whistle for halftime, Aston Villa held a commanding 3-0 lead over their promotion rivals, thanks to goals from Theodore, Abraham, and McGinn.
...
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