April 3rd, Stadium MK of Milton Keynes Dons.
Charlton Athletic was playing away against Milton Keynes Dons.
This was Theo’s first time representing Charlton Athletic.
Previously, Charlton Athletic had failed to win in four consecutive league matches, dropping from 2nd place to 5th place.
Theo knew that the coaching staff might only have enough patience for him to last through this one match.
If he didn’t perform well, he could forget about holding a starting position in the future.
The match began at 3:00 PM.
Charlton Athletic stuck with their traditional 4-4-2 formation.
Goalkeeper: Theo Defenders: No.
2 Frazer Richardson, No.
35 Christian Daley, No.
18 Sam Sodje, No.
38 Gary Borrowdale Midfielders: No.
1 Scott Wagstaff, No.
6 José Semedo, No.
8 Ceri Lacom, No.
24 Kyel Reid Forwards: No.
39 Forster and No.
23 David Mooney On the Charlton Athletic bench sat their previous opponent, Shelvey.
As a young player Charlton Athletic was keen to nurture, he had already played over 40 matches for the Charlton Athletic First Team at the age of 18.
Theo stood in his position as goalkeeper, waiting.
He kept his eyes on a few of the opponent’s core players.
Before the match, Theo had watched several game tapes provided by the goalkeeper coach.
Theo had stayed up all night watching them.
Among the Milton Keynes Dons players, the ones to watch were striker Jermaine Easter, who had already scored 14 goals in the EFL League One, showing quite good scoring efficiency.
There was also former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick, who possessed a wealth of experience.
As the referee blew the whistle to start the match, Charlton Athletic kicked off.
Both sides quickly engaged in a battle in midfield.
After the opening, everyone defended tightly, and there were no good opportunities; even when shots were taken, none hit the target.
After easily claiming two high balls and a soft shot, Theo recovered from his initial state of nervousness.
He began to coordinate with his two veteran center-backs, Sam Sodje and Borrowdale.
The entire defensive line was as solid as a rock.
In the 14th minute, as forward Forster was dribbling forward, he was tackled from behind by Milton Keynes Dons defender Adam Chicksen.
The referee only showed a yellow card, which instantly caused huge dissatisfaction among the Charlton Athletic players.
Everyone knew that Chicksen had lunged in with both feet off the ground, clearly intending to injure the striker.
After this incident, the atmosphere on the pitch became explosive, with players going down from time to time.
In the 32nd minute, forward Forster received a pass from midfield and scored a goal, but it was ruled offside, and the goal was disallowed.
In the 36th minute, Milton Keynes Dons were awarded a free kick in the attacking half.
After organizing the wall, Theo prepared to focus intensely to deal with this free kick.
This was the EFL League One, where the level of technique and tactics was incomparable to the U18 youth team.
Moreover, the position of this free kick was near the edge of the arc outside the left side of the penalty area—an excellent spot for either a pass or a shot.
The home fans, seeing that their team had a free kick in such a good position, were spurred on by the Milton Keynes Dons stadium announcer to cheer for their team.
The spectators behind Theo’s goal were also shouting, attempting to use words, insults, and noise to attract Theo’s attention and distract him.
Theo could only try his best not to listen; to him, this was also a trial he had to experience.
Just then, the referee signaled for the kick to be taken.
The moment the opponent prepared to strike the ball, Theo received a prompt from the system.
“Ding!
Detected opponent’s shooting trajectory, threat to goal!
Enable Block Moment?” Block Moment (Level 3): Predicts opponent’s shooting trajectory 1.5 seconds in advance.
Uses per match: 3/3.
Theo did not hesitate.
“Activate!” In Theo’s mind, this was a pass.
The passing trajectory had little arc—flat and straight—landing right between the goalkeeper and the attacking players.
Then, an opposing player would rush to the back post to shoot.
After predicting the trajectory, Theo quickly moved to the center of the goal, leaped into the air, and dove toward the path of the final shot.
At the moment of the pass, the home stadium announcer’s voice rang out.
“Gleeson taking the free kick, is it a direct shot or a pass?” “A pass!” “Chadwick!
Header!” “It’s in!
Ah!
No, it didn’t go in!” “It was saved!
What a pity!” “The opposing goalkeeper’s performance is truly outstanding!
But our boys are also great; this attacking combination was beautiful, it’s just that luck isn’t on our side, no goal!
We’ll come back next time!” Theo had tipped the header from close range directly over the end line.
Now his heart was pounding; it was simply too thrilling.
The distance was too close, and the speed was too fast.
If not for his accurate prediction, it would have been a goal 100%.
Charlton Athletic’s two center-backs ran over to help Theo up.
Sam Sodje patted Theo on the shoulder: “Theo!
You are truly possessed by Gianluigi Buffon!
That was a beautiful save!” Daley chimed in from the side: “Yes, the lad is very good!
Keep it up!” On the Charlton Athletic bench, Coach Phil Parkinson stood up excitedly.
He hadn’t expected Theo to be able to save such a free kick.
This was a header from point-blank range.
He and goalkeeper coach Freddie Woodman high-fived: “This young man!
He’s simply a genius!” The opposing players were stunned.
They hadn’t expected this young Charlton Athletic goalkeeper to be so formidable, saving what should have been a certain goal.
“Beep!” At this moment, the referee’s whistle blew, pointing to the corner flag on the right side of the goal.
A corner kick for the opponent.
The previous free kick attack had greatly boosted the morale of the Milton Keynes Dons, who believed that breaking through the opponent’s goal was just a matter of time.
For this corner kick, they pressed forward with full force, with 9 players participating in the attack.
Seeing this formation, Theo immediately activated Rebound Instinct.
He couldn’t let the opponent score first.
This was the opponent’s home ground, and the referee would have to cater to the home fans’ emotions to some extent.
The moment the corner kick was taken, Theo already knew roughly where it would land.
He leaped up and snatched the ball directly from over the head of the opposing defender.
But he was also knocked to the ground by the opponent.
Theo winced in pain as he gritted his teeth.
“Damn it, it seems improving my physical constitution is a matter of urgency.” As he lay on the ground, he was thinking about how to improve.
Just then, the referee’s whistle blew.
It was a foul on the opponent for charging the goalkeeper.
After getting up, Theo passed the indirect free kick to a defender.
It was a pity it wasn’t a direct free kick; otherwise, he would have kicked it long to the front court—his own strikers were practically starving for the ball.
After these two set-piece situations, the tempo of both sides began to slow down.
Soon, the first half ended.
The two sides were tied 0-0.
In the locker room, Coach Phil Parkinson first praised Theo’s performance in the first half.
This left Darren Randolph, the starting goalkeeper who had conceded in the last match, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
He had only made a mistake that every goalkeeper in the world makes, yet he had been benched, letting that greenhorn be the starting goalkeeper.
Where is the justice?
The head coach specifically laid out attacking tactics for the front court, emphasizing the need to pass to the newly arrived starting forward Forster.
After all, he had been loaned from the EFL Championship and was quite talented.
After the second half began, the tempo of the transition between offense and defense suddenly accelerated.
Defensive vulnerabilities on both sides were exposed significantly.
Playing at home, the Milton Keynes Dons, encouraged by their fans, launched wave after wave of attacks against the Charlton Athletic goal.
In just fifteen minutes, Theo had caught 3 shots and 4 crosses.
While this left him a bit flustered, he also gained 7 points.
His accumulated points had now reached 27; just from this match alone, which wasn’t even over yet, he had gained 13 points.
Indeed, a team with a fast-paced transition between offense and defense was perfect for him.
In the 63rd minute of the second half, the Milton Keynes Dons committed a foul on the edge of the large penalty area in the attacking half, and the referee awarded Charlton Athletic a back-court free kick.
Theo took the initiative to request to take this free kick.
Sam Sodje stared straight at Theo.
“Theo!
Are you sure?” If it were a free kick inside the penalty area, letting the goalkeeper take it would be one thing, but this was outside the penalty area.
The goalkeeper’s long kicks were very inaccurate; it wasn’t as if he hadn’t taken them in today’s match, and sometimes they landed right at the feet of opposing players.
Just then, Theo said half-jokingly, “Sure.
In the U18s, I scored two goals from this position and had one assist.
How about I give it a try this time?” Sodje looked at Theo, a bit bewildered.
“Really?
You can score from here?
Is the opposing goalkeeper a blockhead?”