My Goalkeeping System

Chapter 540: Two Strikes

It had been a while since Real Sociedad scored the opening goal as the match was currently in the twenty-eight minute.

Despite being the only team to find the back of the net so far, Real Sociedad didn't exactly know how to deal with Unique FC on the team, or to be precise, they were struggling against the Bilbeth Premier League side.

That goal from Merino acted like a trigger, unleashing what Norman's side was capable of on the pitch.

However, no matter how much they were terrorizing their Spanish opponents, getting an equaliser was no easy ordeal for them.

Compared to Real Sociedad, which had just four shots, with two of them being on target, Unique FC had nine shots so far, seven of which were on target.

The Spanish side's defence was no pushovers, and the epitome of that defence was their goalkeeper, Arnold Seth.

The biggest frustration Unique FC players were facing in the ongoing match was that man in between the sticks, but as long as there was still time, they were determined to get that ball past him no matter what.

The match was nearing the thirtieth minute now as Unique FC were swiftly moving the ball around on their side of the pitch to prevent it from falling into the possession of the Real Sociedad players pressing them with full pressure.

In an attempt to set off an attack, Luis Roberto sent a long low pass to Ferran, who was near the centre of the pitch.

Emerson quickly dashed toward the midfielder as soon as the ball got to him, but Ferran was fast enough to shift a little to the side, barely avoiding his challenge.

After that, he feigned moving forward with the ball before he sent it rolling back to Frankie to avoid engaging with Nunez.

"Sent back to Frankie."

Merino tried to cut the ball off the midfielder from the side, but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling further back to Roland.

"Roland."

The fullback gave it a little push toward the right, and for a moment there, it looked like he was going to send it flying toward the other flank to find Merino.

However, only half of that was true; he did send the ball flying, but it was further ahead on his flank.

Lifting the ball over the midfielder in front of him, he was able to get the ball to Mateo, ego had just crossed into the opposing team's side of the pitch.

"Mateo."

Real Socieadad's right back was a bit close to the youngster before the ball came flying to him, and as soon as he got his foot on the ball, he quickly began to pull back while calling on his teammates to retreat.

Taking advantage of the situation, Mateo quickly switched toward the right with the ball before quickly dashing past the fullback.

Emerson quickly rushed toward the youngster from behind and, out of desperation, pulled his legs up front to tackle him.

As expected, he ended up missing the ball and hitting Mateo's legs.

Normally, that would be a foul but after staggering a few steps forward with the ball, the youngster was able to regain his balance.

One of the centre-backs tried to take advantage of the situation, quickly dashing out to dispossess Mateo of the ball.

Acting calmly, the winger feigned moving toward the left with the ball before quickly switching to the left, leaving the defender with nothing but air to tackle.

The other centre-back tried to make the most of the situation while the youngster still had the ball on his right foot.

However, things didn't pan out the way he wanted it as Mateo was able to quickly switch the ball back to his left foot, instantly cutting past him with style.

Each dribble came with a scream of elation from the crowd, and all they were waiting for now was his shot, which would get the final scream.

"Mateo Smith, what is that?!" Jim exclaimed. "Is he going to go all the way?"

With both centre backs out of the way, the winger quickly pushed into the box while getting his right foot ready to take the shot.

The fans were waiting in great anticipation, while the opposition fans were wondering how their goalkeeper would be able to stop a shot from inside the box.

Unfortunately, neither side ended up getting anything as Mateo was rendered unable to take the shot by one of the centre-backs, who aggressively brushed him down before he could take the shot.

"Oh, he's been brought down inside the box."

The referee didn't need to look twice to see what had happened there, and he didn't need VAR to decide on the matter.

Blowing his whistle, the referee rushed to the area, pulling out a yellow card to show the offender.

That was a fair call, but some Unique FC players, namely Minino, were not exactly happy with that decision as they felt the centre-back deserved to get sent off instead.

Good thing Adolf was there to stop him from getting into trouble with the referee. Explore new worlds at M V L

"That was quite the reckless challenge but that didn't seem to have done anything to Mateo, fortunate for Unique FC." Jim articulated.

"To be honest, I think Mateo was going to score that, but I guess a penalty kick also works," Steve said. "The only problem now is a penalty never guarantees a goal."

<Surely they won't mess up with this clear-cut chance to get an equaliser>

'Why do I feel like you're cursing us to miss it?' Dave responded.

<Cursing? That's up to the person taking the penalty>

After much deliberation, Unique decided to let Ferran take the penalty kick, that was the reason why he could be standing over the ball now.

Jumping sideways on his goal line, Arnold threw a couple of jeers at Ferran to try and throw him off his game but despite that, the midfielder remained calm, or he appeared to be so at least.

With everything now in place, the referee blew his whistle, and now it was time to see what Ferran could make of this.

"With the best chance any team can get in the game of football, can Unique FC finally pull one back?"

Taking two steps back, Ferran quickly closed up on the ball, and with his right foot back, he sent the ball flying forward.

With just a little bit of elevation, he tried to slot the ball in from the right side of the goalpost.

Unfortunately for him, Arnold made the right guess. The goalkeeper dived toward the ball, and with his right glove, he was able to block the ball.

"My goodness, Arnold is not having it!"

The penalty save was not the end of everything as Merino tried to latch onto the loose ball, but before he could get to it, Nunez got to it first and fired it out for a corner kick.

"Guarding his goalpost firmly, Arnold makes sure that penalty bears no fruit for Unique FC, devastating for the away team but they still have a corner kick to try and make something off."

Seeing how the penalty kick ended up, Dave couldn't help but let out a sigh.

<Hmm, my curse seems to be quite effective>

Not dwelling on the already missed penalty kick, Ferran quickly made his way to the corner spot to take the corner kick.

Taking advantage of the fact that he just missed a penalty kick, the home fans began whistling at him. That was a deliberate attempt to distract him while his mental strength was already shaky after the penalty.

However, the midfielder remained calm in sending the ball in.

He was trying to find Fred, who happened to be in a good spot. Unfortunately, an opposing player got to the ball first and wasted no time in heading it back in an attempt to clear it.

That turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the ball was sent flying to Mateo who was unmarked on the edge of the box.

Trapping the ball with his chest, the youngster pulled his right foot back and fired toward the goalpost before the ball could touch the ground.

"Mateo!"

Arnold was glued to a spot, and could only watch as the ball flew past him.

Fortunately, it turned out he didn't need to move at all as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.

"Oh, it's hit the crossbar!"

A series of gasps swept through the stadium as Mateo crashed to the ground after letting out a sigh.

"Unbelievable." Dave sighed as he crashed to the ground.

"Two good strikes and nothing to write home about them, Unique FC have been quite unlucky so far in this match."