388 Devil Mode... On II
\After a quick run of the pre-match formalities, the players of the two teams arranged themselves on the pitch and the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the match.
The match soon started with both teams vying for victory which would give them the points needed to climb the table.
It did not take long for the game to become very exciting as in the third minute of the game Taremi unleashed a powerful shot at the Guimares goal from 24 yards away.
The ball flew powerfully at goal, flew past the goalkeeper's gloved palm, and smashed against the crossbar with a loud clang before flying out of play.
{The keeper was rooted to the spot!} The commentator quickly got to doing his job while the Vitoria de Guimares collected a ball from a ball boy and prepared to take a goal kick, doing his best to show that he was unshaken by the ball smashing against the bar.
The ball was soon sent back into the field for play to continue by a powerful goal kick from the goalkeeper and the match continued.
Barely another ten minutes later, Oporto had a corner kick.
The ball was swung in by Otavio, who sent an inswinging cross from the left corner.
Pepe fought against his markers and rose to meet the ball, connecting with it powerfully and doing his best to direct the ball at the opposition goal.
The ball flew interrupted at the Guimares team's goal, the goalkeeper unable to do anything about it despite making an incredible dive, but luckily for him, the ball smashed against the left post and flew out of play.
{Oh! How did that not go in!?}
{Splendid header from the Oporto captain! It just flew wide!}
From this, it could clearly be seen who was on the front foot and was pressing the opponent, but the situation on the field soon changed as Vitoria de Guimares tried to change their situation by launching players forward.
The Oporto players did their best to hold out against the opponents and they had been doing well until a mistake by Uribe who had been trying to pass to Ivan, but hadn't applied enough power on the pass.
The ball moved too slowly and was easily interrupted by the Vitoria de Guimares striker who quickly closed in on Augustine Marchesin despite the Oporto defenders chasing relentlessly from behind after seeing the mistake.
The striker however did not let them get to him and coolly slotted the ball past the Oporto goalkeeper before running down the sidelines with his teammates in celebration.
{In a stunning turn of events, Guimares score first!}
{They had been pressured, oppressed, and toyed with for most of the game so far, but all they needed was one chance and they took it splendidly!}
{A costly miscalculation from an opposition was all they needed and now the situation has changed!}
{Where do we go from here!?} The commentator's words were cutting into the Oporto players and their fans who were viewing the match were feeling exasperated at having gone behind just half an hour into the game.
The match soon continued after the Vitoria de Guimares team was done celebrating and the Oporto players got back on the ball, taking their offensive football to a whole new level, but their opponents who had been so easy to break past previously had tightened up at the back and were now even playing better football, their moods, and efforts seemingly elevated from taking the lead.
The game was slowly progressing towards half-time and the Oporto team was currently doing their best to get an equalizer before the half-time whistle was blown.
Their movements were slowly getting fiercer and more frantic as they tried to get that one goal that would put them back on track toward victory.
However, their frantic actions had presented a chance for their opponents who soon found enough space between the defenders, and a long through pass was sent between the defenders from the left flank.
Everyone thought the pass was too long, but were stunned when they saw the Vitoria de Guimares striker appear like a ghost in the path of the ball.
The Oporto defenders' hands immediately shot up to call for offside as they had not seen how the striker had gotten to the ball, yet the referee's flag stayed down and the striker approached the Oporto goalkeeper uninterrupted for the second time in the game, and just like the first time, he made quick work of Augustine Marchesin and sent him sprawling while simultaneously sending the Oporto net bulging.
{GOAL! He's got his second!!!}
{Guimares are stomping forward here and are leaving their opponents in the dust!} As the commentator gave his commentary excitedly, the Oporto players went on to complain that the Vitoria de Guimares striker was offside which elicited a pause.
To deal with the players' complaints, the referee had no choice but to go check with the VAR, but after checking, it was clear that the striker wasn't offside so the goal would stand.
{It's been confirmed!} The commentator went into another round of commentary on the goal after the referee confirmed the goal while the Oporto players were left to rue their misfortune.
At this point, the Oporto fans were already pulling at their hair in frustration at their players who were now two behind.
While they knew that the game was not out of their hands yet as anything could still happen in the remaining time, the current situation did not allow for them to think optimistically or excitedly and they were more tilted towards pessimism.
Going two behind was never a good thing no matter how anyone thought of it and for the Oporto fans, it was especially terrible to see their team seemingly struggling with taking the win against a team like Vitoria de Guimares.
As defending champions of the league title, it was annoying to not be leading the table and still losing against little teams that would normally not even enter their eyes.
Unfortunately, the occurrences at the stadium didn't care about the fans' thoughts and the game soon continued, and before long, the chance that the Oporto team was looking finally appeared.