Chapter 178 Fair End

The clock was showing just three minutes of regular time left and still Manchester United had not been able to get that equalizer that they needed so much.

They were giving it their all trying to press high and disorientate the Bilbeth Premier League side but their tactics were proving futile so far as they were being stopped in their tracks with every single move made.

"Unique FC are really doing well to hold Manchester United down here, looks like this match turned out the way I expected it to at the end," Jim said.

Rivaldo tried to dribble his way past Pirlo but after almost losing the ball to him in the process, he had to trap back to Nolan who had stretched out on the right wing.

Nolan received the ball and instead of attempting to put Roland to the test with one of his runs, he decided to send the ball back to Maldini.

"Maldini."

"We have two minutes of regular time left," Steve said.

Maldini rolled the ball along with him for a while before he suddenly sped off down the middle escaping from both Ferran and Mateo.

"Oh, Maldini is trying to do something here."

The midfielder sped down the middle and just before he could get to the defensive trio blocking his path he lobbed the ball to Nolan on the right wing.

The striker didn't even wait for the ball to touch the floor because he would have to go past Roland then, instead, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a volley.

"Nolan!"

Dave happened to be in the right place just beside the right post and all he needed to do was raise his hand and hit the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.

"Never mind, Dave still doesn't want to give them a goal," Jim said.

"Come on," Maldini grumbled before he quickly made his way to the right corner kick spot to take the corner kick.

"Corner kicks are one of Unique FC's weak points in defense, they've managed to clear the earlier two but I have a feeling that this one's going to be different," Steve said.

"Regular time has come to an end and it looks like we're going to have five minutes of added time. Can Manchester United use this chance to get that equalizer or are they going to have to deal with a loss against Unique FC?"

Maldini stood over the ball at the corner kick spot waiting for the referee's whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.

Dave wanted to try diving and grabbing the ball but the ball was sent too far away from his goal line and attempting it in that condition would be risky.

Pirlo jumped up it with Rivaldo in contention for the ball and Pirlo was the one to get his head to it as he had the height advantage even though Rivaldo had jumped up first but things didn't go as planned.

He wanted to nod the ball out but instead, the ball deflected on his bed and fell off toward the far right of the goalpost with Dave standing in the middle of his goal line.

Dave dived toward the ball but his reaction seemed a bit late and before he could get his hand to it, the ball hit the post and rolled past the goal line.

"Oh, no! It's gone into the goalpost! What a terrible mistake from Pirlo! Manchester United have finally gotten that equalizer!"

The goal wasn't really anything to be hyped up about as it was an own goal but still, they had to celebrate as it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Maldini's cross.

"I knew keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United was too good to be true," Dave muttered before sitting up on the floor with his back against the post.

"Unique FC were so close to beating Manchester United in their first meeting in history but that mistake from Pirlo just took away that moment from them," Jim said.

<Well, if you look on the bright side, it was an own goal which was beyond you so technically, Manchester United didn't score against you>

'Yeah, technically but the scoreboard says differently and I wonder if the system would think the same.' He replied before getting up from the floor.

After four minutes of Unique FC pressing high against the Manchester side without any good attempts, the referee blew his whistle thrice to bring the match to an end.

"And there you have it, the final whistle, I predicted before the start of the match that we were going to be in for an entertaining match and that is what we got don't you think, Steve?"

"Yeah, that was certainly interesting, Unique FC should have come out victorious as we all know, they were superbly solid in the second half but I think both teams will be happy with a draw," Steve said.

"I think this marks the end of our broadcast today, goodbye from both of us and we'll see you all next time."

Dave was announced as the man of the match as soon as the match came to an end which didn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Before the goalkeeper could go to collect his award, he was approached by someone he never expected to approach him.

"Hey."

The goalkeeper quickly turned to see Patti Moreno behind him.

Both goalkeepers had pulled off their gloves now and were holding them with their left hands.

"Hey," Dave said.

"You were really awesome today, I didn't expect you to be so talented."

"You were great too."

"Maybe but you were exceptional, the man of the match award says it all," Moreno said.

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you."

"Do you mind swapping shirts with me?" The Manchester goalkeeper requested.

"No, I don't mind at all," Dave replied, shaking his head.

"Cool," Moreno said before pulling off his shirt.

Dave pulled off his shirt at that same time and after that, the two exchanged the shirts.

"Alright, Dave, I'll see you around," Moreno said before he shook his hand and began making his way toward the tunnel.

Dave watched him until he disappeared down the tunnel before he slowly turned his gaze to the blue jersey which had the number one written on it and Moreno written above the number.

"My second shirt swap." He muttered with a smile on his face.

<It's really cool that the players had to be the ones to ask for these shirt swaps, it shows that you're starting to get recognized>

'Yeah, but when we play again Barcelona, I'm going to be the one to ask for Ciro's shirt.'

The match may have ended in a draw but the statistics below the score was there to show just how much of an attacking team Manchester United were and how efficient Unique FC had been with their chances although they only managed to convert one.

Manchester United had a total of fifty-eight percent ball possession at the end of the match while Unique FC had forty-two percent.

The Manchester side played twenty-eight shots with twelve being on target while Unique FC played eight shots with five of them being on target.

<I have a feeling your market value is going to go up at the end of this tour>

****

New year mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

Mass release for goals met last month will still be rewarded on the due dates.