“Own goal!” “Dave Mooney gets the header, it hits a Swindon Town player, and deflects into the net!” “2-3!
27 minutes into the first half, Charlton Athletic pulls one back!” “It’s Theo!
It’s he who gave us hope that we can still equalize the score!
Thank you to Theo for this free kick!” Theo was very happy to see that this free kick had an effect.
It wasn’t in vain after all, though this free kick didn’t count as his assist, so he couldn’t earn 1 point.
This goal also gave Charlton Athletic hope of equalizing the score.
Amidst the cheers of the home fans, they launched wave after wave of attacks towards the Swindon Town goal.
Swindon Town retreated entirely to their own half to defend, and for a while, Charlton Athletic couldn’t find a suitable opportunity.
Ten minutes later, a recovered Swindon Town began to press back, and three consecutive corner kicks made Charlton Athletic’s goal area extremely precarious.
Theo had to use up one Rebound Instinct opportunity to neutralize this wave of attacks.
Soon, the 45th minute of the first half arrived.
Since both teams’ goalkeepers had been injured and substituted off, there was as much as 5 minutes of stoppage time.
Everyone thought there would be no more drama and were just waiting to head back to the locker room to rest and then carry out the tactical arrangements for the second half as requested by the head coach.
After a weak shot from the opponent, Theo gathered the ball with both hands and then threw it forcefully to the full-back Frazer Richardson.
Richardson dribbled forward, and Swindon Town midfielders began to block him.
Who knew Richardson would have such good luck?
After a wall-pass one-two with captain Bailey, he moved as if in a no-man’s-land and arrived directly at the byline.
At this moment, the live commentator saw Richardson dribble to the byline and immediately shouted urgently: “Richardson with the ball, arrives at the byline, crosses it in!” “Mooney and forward Dion Burton are both in the middle!” “Chasing the ball to shoot, Goooooooal!” “Mooney sweeps in at the edge of the six-yard box, header into the net!” “3-3, Charlton Athletic has equalized the score!” “Theo!
He is a lucky star!
The team equalized the score right after he came on!” In the stands, the die-hard fans sang wildly, leading other fans to dance along.
Seeing the ball go in, Theo felt relieved.
“Second half, leave it to me.” This match is already 80% won.
Soon, after Charlton Athletic finished celebrating, the first half ended quickly.
In the locker room, the head coach highly praised Theo.
“Theo is our lucky star!
One assist, one orchestrated attack!
You helped us equalize the score!” Everyone looked at Theo with gratitude.
If it weren’t for Theo, with Charlton Athletic trailing by two goals and waiting for the opponent to park the bus in the second half, it would likely have been very difficult to break through their defensive line.
But now it’s better; they are back on the same starting line, and since they now hold the home-field advantage, they have a great chance to win the match.
Coach Phil Parkinson arranged the tactical attack for the second half.
With Mooney as a target man, play more crosses and more high balls.
After halftime, the second half resumed with teams swapping sides.
Charlton Athletic launched the first attack.
The two full-backs began to push forward along the flanks, while the two midfielders pressed hard on the opponent’s half-spaces, forcing Swindon Town to be pinned back in their own half.
Ten minutes later, Swindon Town launched a long ball from the back, and forward Paynter broke into the penalty area, dribbled past Dailly, and fired a powerful shot.
To increase his success rate, Theo had to activate one Block Moment, narrowly punching the ball away.
This counterattack by the opponent calmed down Charlton Athletic’s frantic hearts, and they no longer dared to press forward recklessly.
Both sides entered a stalemate of probing attacks; most of the time, the ball was intercepted right at their own defensive line inside the penalty area.
In the 67th minute, Swindon Town’s captain Gordon Greer was shown a red card by the referee for a high-foot stamp during a challenge with Charlton Athletic captain Bailey.
This immediately turned the situation very unfavorable for Swindon Town.
Playing with one man down, Swindon Town fell into a completely passive position.
Swindon Town had to make adjustments, withdrawing a forward and bringing on a defensive midfielder to strengthen the defensive intensity in the midfield and backfield.
Thus, the whole situation began to calm down.
Theo became idle, but since the opponent didn’t attack, he had no good opportunities to earn points.
After Swindon Town’s playstyle became conservative, Charlton Athletic had no good way to break through the opponent’s goal.
As the end of the match approached, both sides became very cautious on the pitch.
Neither side wanted to reveal any flaws at this moment and be knocked out by the opponent in one strike.
Just when Theo thought this match would end like this and was preparing for extra time, the situation on the pitch changed drastically.
In the 90th minute of the second half, Charlton Athletic center-back Miguel Llera committed a tactical foul at the edge of the penalty area and was sent off after accumulating two yellow cards.
The number of players on the field for both teams was equalized, both down to 10 men.
However, the opponent was awarded a free kick in an excellent position at the edge of the penalty area.
After Theo had the forwards and midfielders form a wall, he felt somewhat uneasy, always feeling that the opponent was planning something.
In the 91st minute, Swindon Town took the free kick in the front court.
Theo stood ready in the six-yard box, and the moment the opponent passed the ball, a system prompt sounded: [Ding!
Opponent’s shooting trajectory detected, threatening the goal!
Do you want to activate Block Moment?] Block Moment (Level 3): Predicts opponent’s shooting trajectory 1.5 seconds in advance.
Uses per match: 2/3 times.
Oh no!
Theo had already realized that this was a tactical free kick, and the position the opponent passed to was the far post.
[Activate!] At this final moment, Theo couldn’t let the opponent break through the goal.
The opportunity that was meant to be saved for extra time now had to be used early.
The moment Swindon Town headed the ball at the far post, Theo was already on the ball’s path.
But the ball was smashed downwards from a height; although Theo was slightly prepared, he couldn’t drag the ball out past the byline himself.
He could only punch the ball away within the six-yard box.
Just at this moment, he suddenly received another prompt asking whether to activate Block Moment.
While Theo was shocked, he also seemed to suddenly realize that the system also had certain limitations.
If the opponent followed up with a quick shot, his system might not react in time, so he would have to rely on his true reflexes and goalkeeping ability.
And now he had already seen an opposing player about to take a follow-up shot.
Even if he activated Block Moment now, in the 0.3 seconds it took for him to accept this message, the ball might have already gone in.
So he had no choice now; choosing to activate it would mean wasting an opportunity while still failing to stop the ball.
He used the strength of his waist and abdomen from the ground, subconsciously rising a second time, and dove towards the opponent’s approximate shooting line.
This time he had no system help and could only rely on his true strength to cope.
With long wingspan and large palms, he swatted towards the direction where the ball was flying.