My Goalkeeping System

Chapter 299 First Strike

Jonathan was standing over the ball waiting for the referee's whistle and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent flying into the box.

"Jonathan whips it into the box from the top."

The ball was sent flying closer toward Dave's goalpost so he had to do what any other goalkeeper would do.

He jumped along with the other players who wanted to go to the ball but given that he could use his hands he had the advantage.

He punched the ball out with both of his hands and that punch was all he needed to send it flying far away.

"Dave's averted the danger."

The ball whooshed past everybody toward the right until Carlos who the ball was heading to now, quickly put himself in the way to block it with his chest.

"Carlos is with the ball, this is Unique FC's chance for a counterattack," Jim said in excitement.

Just like Jim said, this was Unique FC's chance for a counterattack as most Lesica United players were still in their box.

Carlos didn't hesitate to start the attack as he quickly pushed the ball to Fredinho before he took off on the right.

Lesica United were quickly heading back to stop the attack while the two defenders who were at the back were slowly moving back as Fredinho approached them with the ball with Carlos and Mateo running alongside him, it was three against two with the others coming in from the back.

The defenders had gotten to the edge of their box now with Fredinho very close with the ball still on his feet.

"They're totally cornered, there's no way Unique FC are not going to score from this," Jim said.

Fredinho feigned shooting toward the goalpost before he quickly pushed the ball to Carlos who made a quick run into the box before sending the ball to the striker who flicked it back toward Mateo with a backheel pass.

"Mateo."

A Lesica United player had gotten to the winger from behind but his attempt to bring him down failed as he quickly pushed the ball further into the box but that also meant that he was at risk of losing the ball to the ones inside the box.

One of the defenders quickly slid toward the winger to try and take the ball off him but Mateo was able to avoid it with some neat footwork before he released the shot toward the goalpost.

The goalkeeper dived toward the ball that was curled toward the bottom right-hand corner but he wasn't able to get in on time as the ball ended up hitting the goal line before falling into the goalpost.

"It's in! There was no way that they were going to miss that! It was surely going to happen!" Jim exclaimed.

It was a simple celebration from Mateo who just pointed to the sky with both of his hands before Fredinho got to him and jumped onto his shoulders.

"What a magnificent combination from the front three, that was very good teamwork from them," Jim said.

"Yeah, and with that goal now, Mateo Smith has now scored at least a goal in four consecutive matches this season," Steve said. "How long can he keep going?"

The fans were fired up after that goal as their chanting seemed to be getting more intense.

"They did it, we have the lead," Dave muttered with a bright smile on his face.

<Yeah, but you shouldn't let your guard down one bit, the match is just entering the tenth minute, and there's still a lot of time left for them to make a spirit shattering come back>

'You don't have to remind me of that every time, Lesica United's a strong team, I know that, I'll be a fool to let my guard down with them on the pitch.' The goalkeeper said subconsciously.

That was an early goal from Unique FC just in the ninth minute and because the goal came that early, Lesica United has enough time to liberate themselves if they have what it takes.

The match continued from the kick-off spot with Lesica United holding onto the ball.

They were holding onto the ball quite well and started to raise their ball possession above Unique FC's but that didn't mean their attacks were working.

It looked like the Unique FC defense had read them like a book because every style of attack they tried to use was perfectly countered by the home side, but despite that, Dave wasn't getting the time to breathe easily as Lesica United were attacking quite often because his teammates surprisingly couldn't keep hold of the ball long enough to be able to do anything with it.

"Unique FC are losing the ball quite easily but it's a good thing their defense is properly taking care of things." Jim expressed. "Lesica United would be leading by now if their defense was as bad as their ball retention at the moment."

The match had entered the twentieth minute now as the ball was sent to Okafor from the midfielder on the right, and just before Martinez could get to him, the striker released the shot but that wasn't a problem as the ball went directly toward Dave who was able to stop it with both hands.

"That's not going to bother anyone," Jim said.

"He was able to get past him for that first attack, but Martinez sure isn't giving Okafor the space to do anything, the defensive midfielder has him in his pocket at the moment." Steve expressed.

Dave quickly got up from the floor and scanned the area for a few seconds before he threw the ball up and sent it flying into the pitch with a kick.

He sent the ball flying directly toward Fredinho who was able to win the aerial duel against the midfielder behind him before pushing the ball back to Ferran who quickly sent it rolling to Minino.

"Looks like Unique FC are starting to get themselves together in ball retention," Steve said.

Minino slowly approached the midfielder blocking his path with the ball, but that was just a trick to get the midfielder to slow down before he quickly raced past him with the ball.

"Nice run from Minino to get through."

The midfielder wasn't able to completely shake off the midfielder so he had to send the ball to Carlos who tried to race down the wing before he changed his mind.

He moved back with the ball before sending it to Ferran who quickly pushed it to Mateo before the players heading toward him could get to him.

Mateo received the ball and with just a single touch, he got the ball past the right back with a nutmeg to get into the box and now he was racing through the middle.

However, the winger wasn't allowed to go any further as he was brought down by a midfielder from behind.

That was a rough challenge and the referee didn't need anybody to tell him to blow his whistle.

"Dave's been brought down, that was a pretty tough challenge."

"Yeah, Jim, but the question is, did it happen inside the box or not?"

The players from both teams were gathered around the official now, the home side were pleading for a penalty while the guests were trying to convince the goalkeeper that it happened outside the box.

****

Mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.