Chapter 255 Magnificent!

"Mateo!"

The ball was sent flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost with a powerful shot but Emerson was able to anticipate the shot and dive just in time to push the ball over the bar with both of his hands.

"Oh, what a save from Emerson!" Jim exclaimed.

"To be honest, Emerson is the one keeping Frono FC in this game, Unique FC should be leading by now," Steve said.

"Yeah, I absolutely agree," Jim said.

After that save, the referee blew his whistle twice to bring the first half to an end.

Mateo wasn't happy for failing to score with that attempt, but what could get do about it?

He stared off toward the goalpost for a while before he let out a sigh and began to make his way toward the tunnel.

"The first half has come to an end on leveled terms, the game has been quite entertaining so far, but Unique FC looked lost in the last minutes of this half. Unique FC couldn't have gotten goals from them but they're glad that it's still leveled, let's just wait and see how the second half will turn out." Jim articulated.

Unique FC players were in the locker room with Norman standing in front of them and he did not have the happiest expression on his face.

"What are you guys doing out there, we're dominating them but why can't you guys get the ball inside that goalpost?"

There was no response from any of the players because that question wasn't one that any of them could answer.

Their playing style and everything was coordinated but they just couldn't get the ball into the back of the net.

After carefully observing all of them for a while, the coach let out a deep sigh.

"We have to get a goal or two and seal that game in the second half, and that is why we are going to do things differently, we can't take any chances."

After filling in the players on his modification to the tactics, the players began to make their way to the pitch for the second half.

"Welcome back everyone, the second half is about to kick off and we can see the players are making their way to the pitch now," Jim said as the players made their way to the pitch.

'At least my quests are still intact.' Dave said subconsciously as he made his way to the goalpost.

<Yeah, but you've only made three crucial saves so far>

'There are only two saves left, so...'

<Just saying those saves may never come or you may end up bottling them>

'Don't say that, I am not a bottler.'

<Well you used to be>

The goalkeeper just bit his lower lip without responding to her.

Since Frono FC started the kick-off in the first half, they were going to be the ones to start the kick-off in this half.

Fredinho was standing over the ball waiting for the referee's whistle and as soon as he heard it, he quickly rolled the ball back to Martinez who quickly stretched it to Minino.

"There's the whistle and the second half is on the way," Jim said. "Unique FC were the better overall in the first half, let's see if they can continue doing what they're doing or if the hosts will finally be able to take charge of the game."

Unique FC had already begun to dominate possession, their passes were clicking well and just like throughout the first half, they seemed calm and weren't trying to rush things.

Unique FC got a couple of good chances starting from the first few minutes of the second half. Henry launched the ball down the left wing for Mateo who had broken free from the left midfielder trying to keep him contained.

The right-back was also heading toward the ball at the same time but Mateo managed to get to the ball first and with a single touch, he sent it rolling toward the box where Fredinho was heading with two defenders trying to stop him.

"Nicely done by Mateo, can Fredinho finish it!"

The pressure put on the striker by the defenders didn't allow him to place his shot well and he ended up blasting it over the bar.

"Oh, he's blasted it over the bar."

Fredinho crashed to the floor immediately after firing that shot, but he was helped up by a Frono FC defender.

In the fifty-fifth minute, Martinez got the ball taken off him close to the edge with a neat tackle from Darwin.

"Nice challenge from Darwin, this could be his chance," Jim said.

Instead of going directly for the goalpost, Darwin sent the ball rolling to Seth who had managed to slip his way past Roland but he wasn't completely through yet as Roland was going to catch up to him soon.

Aware that Roland would catch up to him soon, the winger quickly blasted the ball toward the right side of the goalpost with a little elevation but Dave was right there to hit the ball out with his right hand.

"Nice save from Dave and now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve said.

Before the corner kick could be taken, Norman decided to bring on two fresh legs.

Henry was replaced by Ferran and Carlos was replaced by Merino.

The leaving players were applauded as they left but that was nothing compared to the players coming on to take their place, especially Ferran.

Now that both of the players were on the pitch, the referee blew his whistle as Seth sent the ball flying into the box.

The ball was flying close to his goalpost so the goalkeeper had to do what he had to do, he quickly dived toward the ball and punched it out with both of his hands.

He didn't just punch the ball out, he made sure to punch it out toward one of his teammates and that was Minino.

"Nice intervention by Dave and now they can start a counterattack," Jim said.

Three Frono FC players tried to gang up on the midfielder and take the ball off him but he quickly pushed the ball to Norman who quickly sent the ball flying to Roland on the other side.

Roland quickly drifted past Seth and ran down the middle before laying the ball off to Merino who had a lot of space to run down the wing with Frono FC still organizing their attack but they made sure to block his entrance to the box.

The winger tried to maneuver his way into the box and when he saw that if he pushed it, he would lose the ball, he quickly cut back with the ball before he sent it flying into the box.

"They're still pushing."

The ball was headed away toward the left by a Frono FC player but Ferran happened to be there.

"The danger is still lurking around Frono FC's box," Steve said.

The midfielder pushed the ball forward a little before he sent it flying into the box again.

Mateo happened to be in the box at that time but he wasn't in a good position to get a direct shot but there was something that he could try.

The winger quickly jumped up to get the ball on his foot in an overhead kick position.

He wasn't the only one that went after the ball but he was the one that managed to get his foot to it and with an overhead kick, he sent the ball flying toward the goalpost.

The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost as Emerson dived toward it, but he wasn't able to get his hand to it as the ball ended up flying into the goalpost and hitting the back of the net.

"Goallll!!!!!! It's in, it's finally in! Oh! What a magnificent overhead strike from Mateo Smith!"

Mateo didn't even get up from the floor and just slowly put his head down as his teammates gathered around him on the floor.

"That's how to do it!" Dave yelled before putting both of his hands up.

****

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.