My Goalkeeping System

The clock had just entered the seventieth minute with Litno FC still leading by two goals to one.

The rhythm of the game changed a little bit with the introduction of Mateo and Merino.

One problem Ina Shaw had in the left wing was the speed to get past the right back in charge of keeping him at bay but that speed was something Mateo had in abundance and coupling it with his skills made it easy for him to get past the right back most of the times.

Merino wasn't that much of a fast player compared to Carlos but he was a very technical player and a difficult one to mark and even if he didn't know how to get past a player, he always knew how to find his teammates with deadly passes.

The ball was passed to Minino in the center of the pitch but before he could get his foot to it, Roberto swooshed in from behind and stole it.

"We have twenty minutes remaining and you still haven't brought on Ferran," Dave said with a sigh. He believed that if Ferran was the person there, he wouldn't have lost that ball.

Roberto passed the ball to Nico before moving toward the right to receive the ball back from the center forward.

He found Zen rushing toward Jonas and quickly layed off the ball to him.

Jonas had not been able to stop Zen from getting past him since the match began. Zen had successfully made it past him five times and two of those times had led to a goal.

He was looking to redeem himself with this, if only he knew that it was going to be the worst humiliation that he was going to receive tonight.

The winger used the heel of his boots to knock the ball over the left back before making his way past him to trap it.

"Oh, my, how did he do that?" Jim said in amazement.

"Best left back in the team," Dave muttered with a disappointed look on his face.

Zen raced down the right wing as Edward quickly rushed to block his path and prevent him from entering the box because if he does, that's game over for them.

Zen wasn't even planning to enter the box in the first place as he raised further down the wing before releasing a cross into the box.

"That cross could be costly."

Nico was being marked by Aima and the two had quickly sprung up to meet the ball.

Nico had the height advantage here and had won the air duel to nod the ball toward the top right-hand corner.

Alexander was glued to the spot as the ball smashed on the crossbar and fell over for a goal kick.

"Crossbar comes to the rescue!" Jim screamed.

"Oh, that was close, so so close," John said.

Nico let out a sigh of frustration before falling on the grass.

"That was close," Dave said with a gasp.

Ferran and Roland had been warming up on the sideline and with the ball going out for a goal kick, it looked like it was time for them to come in.

"It seems like Ferran Phil and Roland Ryle are getting ready to come on now," Jim said.

"Yeah and it looks like Litno FC are also going to make a substitution, Miralem is putting on his kit," John said.

"Finally," Dave said with a sigh of relief.

The official with the substitution board raised it to show the number eighteen in red and the number five in green.

"Jonas Blue will now make the way for Roland Ryle," Jim said.

"I think that's the right call for Norman, that right-wing position has been leaking since the beginning of the match, let's see if the youngster can patch it up," John said.

There was no response from the crowd as Jonas walked off the pitch, he could have gotten booed for his performance today but everyone had just decided to keep quiet.

Roland offered his hand for a shake as Jonas got closer to him but he ignored the gesture and walked past him.

"Okay," Roland said before jogging onto the pitch.

Now it was time for Ferran to come on as the board was raised to show the number twelve in red and the number eight in green.

"I wasn't sure about which of the midfielders was going to come off for Ferran but it looks like Harry Norman is going to be the one to make the way for him," Jim said.

"With Ferran coming on now, it looks like Minino is going to switch back to right," John said.

"Yeah, that's definitely what's going to happen," Jim said.

With Ferran and Roland now on the pitch, Dave could finally watch the match with full confidence and the hope that that equalizer was going to come one way or the other.

The match continued with both sides trying their best to get the ball in their opponent's goalpost.

In the first half, the match was entirely one-sided but right now, Unique FC seemed to be outperforming their guests to a little extent.

"If he had started these players, we would be leading now," Dave said.

<That may be true but I think he knows what he is doing, what if what just happened to Carlos had happened to Mateo or Ferran?>

'Mateo and Ferran are not right-wingers.' Dave replied.

<That's not what I meant>

'Huh?'

<That injury was bound to happen in this match and if Mateo and Ferran had started the match maybe it wouldn't have been Carlos maybe it would have been either one of them>

'The injury was bound to happen, what are you talking about?'

<Don't worry, with time you will come to understand>

Dave didn't even bother to ask as he returned his attention to the match.

Emma's head on her shoulder was beginning to wear him out to a little extent but he wanted to see that equalizer happen so badly that he didn't seem to be bothered about it.

The clock had entered the ninetieth minute now as Mateo received a ball from Ferran on the right wing.

He tried to run into the box but a defender quickly slid toward him trying to bring him down. The youngster had anticipated it all along as he grabbed the ball with his boots and jumped over the player.

"He's still going!"

Everyone was on the edge of their seats as they expected Mateo to shoot from there and get the equalizer but the winger had found Fred making a run into the box and quickly placed the ball for him with a backheel pass.

The defense was caught off guard as Fred raced toward the ball and sent it toward the top left-hand corner.

"Fred!"

The goalkeeper quickly dived toward the ball and just before it could enter the net, he tipped it over the bar with the tip of his glove.

"Oh, what a save, that was really really close!" Jim exclaimed.

Dave had a shocked expression on his face because for a second in his mind that ball had gone in.

"Williamson has just prevented what could have been a sensational equalizer in the last minute and now Unique FC have a corner with just four minutes of added time to go," Jim said. "This could be their last chance."

"This is definitely their last chance," John said.

Ferran quickly rushed to the right corner-kick spot to take the corner as they had no time to waste, the clock was ticking and their last four minutes were slowly fading away.

"Ferran is standing over the ball, this is definitely their last chance and if they miss this, the guests are leaving with all three points," Jim said.

"Come on Ferran, come on Mateo, Fred, and every other person in that box with the urge of getting that ball into the net," Dave muttered under his breath.

The referee blew his whistle as Ferran let out a sigh before curling the ball into the box.

"He's taken it."

A Litno FC player rose to nod the ball away from the box but the ball had fallen to Roland who was unmarked at the edge of the box.

The left-back feigned shooting at the player quickly rushing toward him to slow him down before pushing the ball forward at the edge of the box and curling it toward the top left-hand corner.

Williamson dived toward it and managed to get a hand to it but it wasn't enough as the ball smashed past it and fell into the goalpost.

"Oh, it's in! They have finally gotten their equalizer!" Jim screamed.

Roland pulled off his shirt and began to run toward their side of the pitch as his teammates pursued him. The fans were screaming at top of their voices now, who wouldn't scream after witnessing that screamer of an equalizer?

Dave wanted to scream at the top of his voice too but after turning his gaze to the side and realizing that Emma was fast asleep on his shoulder, that idea went out of the window. He was still going to celebrate though.

"Yes." He whispered.

****

Hope you enjoyed the chapter?

If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.