Chapter 457 First Time



Thirty minutes had already passed in the game now and the scoreline was still the same.

Both sides had been equally at each other's throats so far but statistically speaking, Dynamo FC had been the better team.

They've been pressing the away side high on both wings mostly because that was where most of their play lay and although they were doing well in dealing with most of them it was starting to get a bit overwhelming for them, they gave Norman's boys a lot of trouble in their first match and they were doing it again.

Norman had what happened in mind when he made preparations for this match so he had a lot to consider.

He was aware of how much they liked pressing high so he had to think of a way to beat that.

Instead of starting the match with his standard formation, he decided to kick things off with the other formation that he used from time to time, four-four-two.

This time, he didn't put Mateo in midfield, he kept him up front with the main role of a striker alongside Fredinho but he still had that free role he would have as a winger.

The midfield was where things got a bit interesting because Norman was starting the match without a defensive midfielder but four central midfielders who were going to take care of creating chances, attacking, and defending when necessary.

He had Henry on the left, Ferran and Merino in the middle, and Merino on the right, he was planning to outclass Dynamo FC with his midfield, but how well was that going to work for him?

His defense from the right was Norman, Aima, Adolf, and Roland and in the goalpost, he had Alexander because Dave was unfortunately on the bench.

Norman was starting the match with a very good team composition nonetheless but how was that going to do against the aggressive force of Dynamo FC who had been waiting for this moment to catch up to the Uniques who were still four points ahead of them?

They were playing with their four-five-one formation and it was working pretty well for them in defending against their opponents and also attacking.

The match had just hit the fortieth and the scoreline was still the same.

Merino had been Unique FC's best player on the pitch so far and the things he could do in midfield were quite surprising.

He was working the team's central processing unit alongside Ferran, but he was doing more than that.

He was also pushing up front when he got the chance and was doing pretty well in setting up both Mateo and Fredinho but so far, the forwards had not been able to finish any of the chances they got.

Mateo ended up hitting the crossbar twice from really while one of his shots was mishit because he was brought down inside the box just as he kicked and although that looked like a foul no one neutral person would complain about if the referee made a call there but he didn't do anything about it and now, he had everyone supporting Unique FC complaining.

Fredinho on the other hand was able to get two goal-scoring opportunities but he ended up blasting both of them over the bar.

Dynamo FC also missed their fair share of big chances, the most significant one came from a cross from the right.

It was heading toward the right and Alexander was too quick to dive to the area but that was a mistake as Damian got to the ball just before it could get to the middle, and although he meant to go for the goalpost, he ended up sending the ball toward the center for Frank to connect to it with his foot but he ended up blasting it over the bar.

The net was right open for him and he ended up blasting it over the bar.

The attacking midfielder was really mad about missing that chance as he was spotted kicking the post a few seconds later.

The match was heading toward the forty-second minute now as Minino slowly pushed down the wing with the ball.

He was about to run into one of the midfielders before he quickly sent it rolling to Ferran who pushed it to Merino.

Merino pushed a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to Mateo a little to the left.

"Mateo."

Mateo quickly took off down the left with the ball before he quickly turned and tried to curl the ball in for Fredinho, but that was a failed plan as one of the defenders ended up nodding it back right toward Frank.

"Nice defending and Frank's with the ball now."

The midfielder quickly took off with the ball with Unique FC's defense quickly rushing back to their positions and Roland doing everything he could to keep Damian behind him.

Frank spotted Damian down the right, and although Roland was on him, he quickly sent the ball flying over to him.

All it took for Damian to get the ball past the left back and now he was quickly racing toward the goalpost with Roland right on his trail and Adolf closing up on him from the middle.

"Damian is still going, this could be their chance here."

The midfielder managed to get into the box before Adolf, and just as the captain slid toward him while Roland stuck his foot out toward the ball from behind and Alexander slid out to try and stop him, he fired the ball right into the goalpost from the right before tumbling on the floor.

"And he makes no mistake! Straight into the goalpost!" Jim exclaimed.

"That moment just before he fired the shot is a masterpiece that's something you'll be seeing in a TikTok edit later today," Steve commented. "What a goal and Unique FC are the first to go behind."

The voices of the home fans were getting higher and higher and now as Mateo slowly made his way to Roland who was still on the floor and helped him up.

No one was going to blame the forward but that goal sort of stemmed from that failed cross.

Norman's boys had taken the first hit, but they still had a lot of time to get back into it.

They had to restart the game from the kick-off spot, and now they were just moving the ball around.

Minino received the ball and without even properly looking he sent the ball rolling back with the aim of getting to Adolf and that was where he made a mistake.

Adolf was slowly moving away from his defensive position which meant that he wasn't able to get to that ball which was heading toward the goalpost now, and just before any of them could do anything, Frank zoomed in from nowhere to get his foot on the ball.

Norman and Roland tried their best to stop him but the striker didn't give them the chance to get close enough to him.

As soon as he got to the edge of the box, he fired the ball toward the top right-hand corner which Alexander couldn't get to, and just as the ball smashed into the net, he slowly turned around and raised his hand.

"It's all been a minute since that first goal and they're already two goals up."

"That was a terrible mistake from Minino and Frank made sure to properly punish them for it," Steve commented.

Minino was quite embarrassed now as he stood there with both of his hands on his waist.

"Just in the last minutes of the first half, Dynamo FC decided to shock Unique FC with two goals, Unique FC are two goals down for the first time this season."