"Alright boys, you’ve done so well so far," James said once everyone was inside the locker room. "Two nil up in the first half. It’s a very safe lead and at the same time it’s a very dangerous lead. Once the second half starts, they’re going to come at us with everything they have. We have to survive the first ten to twenty minutes and then we put the match to bed. Do you understand?!"
"Yes coach!" Everyone echoed.
"Great. Now go out there and win that game for me!"
Everyone was fired up as they walked out for the second half. There were only a handful of players that remained calm, Tyler was one of them.
He had a small smirk on his face as he exited the locker room and joined the rest of his teammates to jog out. He played really well in the first half, but he wasn’t planning to stop there. A masterclass couldn’t be complete if it was only a half-game performance after all.
As James predicted, Giannis Academy came out firing when the second half started. Within the first ten minutes of the half, they had tested Rising Stars Academy’s goalkeeper twice. Fortunately for them, their goalkeeper seemed to be up to the task.
After those two scares, Giannis Academy’s attack hit quite a bit of a standstill. They still dominated possession, but Rising Stars Academy had settled into the game and no longer allowed them to create chances like they did when the half started.
Even though Rising Stars Academy were compact and defended well, they couldn’t completely keep Giannis Academy from creating chances.
In the seventieth minute, Giannis Academy finally created a chance after several minutes of recycling possession with the opposition.
It started with their usual passing routine. They were just knocking the ball around, trying to get Rising Stars Academy to open up a bit of space so that they could exploit it.
Giannis Academy’s central midfielder received the ball with his back facing the goal. Instead of passing it like everyone thought he would, he turned and rushed past two Rising Stars Academy players, then passed the ball to his teammate without ceasing his run.
As if his teammate read his mind, he passed the ball back to the central midfielder who was now at the edge of the penalty box. The central midfielder found himself face to face with Moses. Moses took a couple of steps back, allowing the central midfielder to charge forward before sharply lunging at him for the tackle.
Moses’s leg managed to connect with the ball, but it didn’t knock it very far. Giannis Academy’s left back picked up the ball on the left flank and sent a cross into the box.
Giannis Academy’s striker who had been a nuisance in the air so far leapt to meet the cross. Once more his head made a clean contact with the ball and sent it towards the post, his third headed attempt of the match.
As the saying went, the third time was the charm. After luckily being bailed out of the first two attempts, it seemed like luck had run out for Rising Stars Academy. The ball cleanly etched itself into the roof of the net. Giannis Academy had pulled one back. 2-1.
Tyler hissed when he saw the ball hit the back of the net. He kicked the grass, a bit frustrated but managed to calm himself down. The last thing he needed to do was to cause the scouts to question his temperament.
Besides, it wasn’t like his team was losing. No, they were still very much in the lead. The only thing was that the lead was now halved. That was something he needed to fix by playing well, not getting angry.
Soon, the Giannis Academy players went back to their side of the pitch and the referee kicked things off again.
After Giannis Academy scored their first goal of the game, they began pressing harder to score the equalizer. The 2-1 scoreline was a very dangerous one, especially when it came to the mentality of the players in the lead. One more goal and the opposition would be level. It was enough to make some players nervous.
Unfortunately for Giannis Academy, Rising Stars Academy players didn’t seem to be fazed by their lead being cut short. In fact, they were now working harder to score a third goal and put the match to bed.
The two sides tested their respective goalkeepers quite a bit but the scoreline remained the same.
Tyler and Jason stirred up some chaos on the wings and managed to create some chances but their teammates couldn’t capitalize on it. The latter didn’t seem concerned about the missed chances but the former was visibly frustrated.
Time continued to pass and the match was eventually drawing to a close making Giannis Academy a lot more desperate for an equalizer. They started to commit more players forward while James made quite a few defensive changes. From the 4-2-3-1 that Rising Stars Academy started with, they were now playing with a 5-3-2 formation.
Jason had gotten subbed off while Tyler and the starting striker remained, forming the two attackers.
In the eighty sixth minute, Giannis Academy were once again on the attack. They passed the ball around before making a cross-field pass from the right flank to the left. Moses who had been static suddenly burst into action and managed to intercept the cross-field pass before it got to the intended target and passed the ball to Tyler who was quite deep in his own half to help out with defending.
Moses’ pass was very hurried so it was quite strong. As a result, when Tyler used his right foot to attempt to stop it, the ball went up quite a bit.
Tyler was being pressured from behind, so as soon as the ball went up, he turned his body and then used his left leg to trap the ball, guiding it between the legs of his marker who was caught off guard.
As soon as he got past his assailant, he began to run, he ran madly with the ball. Giannis Academy had committed quite a lot of players forward so it was basically a free route until the goalpost.
Seeing as Tyler had direct passage to the goal, Giannis Academy’s goalkeeper charged out of the goalpost and started charging towards Tyler.
Tyler was already prepared and thought about passing wide to his team’s striker who was running beside him, his legs had already moved to make the pass, and then he remembered the chances he had put on a plate for the very same player and then he shook his head.
"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."
He faked the pass, catching both the goalkeeper who had already jumped between the two players in a last bid to intercept the pass and the striker off guard. He shifted the ball from his right foot to his left foot and continued running. Latest content published on novel⟡fire.net
When he got to the edge of the box, he shot the ball into the open net. He would’ve loved to go closer to the goalpost but he didn’t think he had the luxury of time. But all the same, he scored.
As soon as he saw the ball hit the back of the net, he ran towards the bench and did a knee slide. The players on his team, both those that were on the pitch and those on the bench ran towards him and jumped on him. Even the striker that wasn’t too happy about being pump faked had a smile on his face as he tapped the back of Tyler’s head, his little revenge.
Tyler who was under the onslaught from his teammates had a smile on his face.
That should be enough