“The players from both sides are walking out.
Now let me introduce today’s starting lineups.”
It was still Jack’s rich, magnetic voice in the commentary booth.
“For the home side, Las Palmas: up front, their star striker Araujo, who averages a goal per game, partners Arimán and Momo.
In the first ten rounds of the season, this attacking trio has already scored fifteen goals.
They’re in red-hot form!”
“In midfield, they have Viera, Mesa, and Santana.”
“At the back, it’s Simón, Ertiles, Otuño, and Curio.”
“And in goal, Barbosa.”
“As for Racing Santander, there are also some changes compared with the previous round.
We can see that Michael Chen, the goalkeeper in outstanding form, has been placed on the bench.
Starting instead is the club’s veteran servant, Mario.
Perhaps this is a special arrangement from the coaching staff.”
“After all, Michael has kept five consecutive clean sheets!”
With a whistle from the referee, the match began.
Playing at home, Las Palmas struck first!
Right from kick-off, the home side shifted their shape.
The team turned into a 4-5-1, creating a five-man combination through the middle.
After a series of passes, the ball was moved out to the right flank, where Momo took possession.
Francis rushed over for Santander, trying to win the ball, but Momo slipped past him lightly and drove quickly toward the byline.
Fernández came across to double up on him, but unexpectedly, Momo still refused to pass.
Instead, he carried the ball along the byline and squeezed into the box!
Cutback!
Santana arrived from outside the penalty area and struck it first time.
Every player inside the box tensed immediately, but the ball smashed over the top of the crossbar and flew out.
Mario listened to the sharp buzz of the ball striking the frame and felt unsettled, a little panic rising in him.
“The home side have opened with a real warning shot!”
“Momo carried the ball into the penalty area from the byline.
Instead of passing to Araujo at the far side, he cleverly cut it back toward the edge of the box.”
“At that moment, the Santander players’ attention was all on him, which left the middle unmarked and gave Santana the opportunity.
Unfortunately for Las Palmas, it hit the bar,” Jack explained at just the right moment.
On the touchline, Raul clapped hard, signaling for his players to concentrate.
In the 11th minute, Granero was dispossessed by Santana in midfield.
Santana passed back to Viera, who immediately sent a long, piercing through ball forward.
The ball arrived at Arimán’s feet.
Arimán’s pace was frightening.
Seth could not catch up in time and pulled him down two yards outside the penalty area.
The referee showed a yellow card and awarded a free kick.
“The main issue here is that Santander’s Granero was a little too casual on the ball and got robbed…”
“Let’s see.
Momo will take this free kick, Momo does have a good delivery in his locker!”
“Run-up!
Shot!”
“Goal!
Goooooal!” New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
“What a strike!
Momo hit a curling effort, and the ball was both floating and fast in the air.
Mario had no chance of reaching it!
That was a beautiful goal!”
On the home bench, Silva pumped his fist hard, then put his hand back into his pocket and looked toward Raul.
At that moment, the cameras also turned to the sideline.
Raul was speaking to Michael while drawing and writing something in his notebook.
Judging by the look of it, the two of them were discussing a new tactical adjustment.
Mario picked the ball out of the net.
Granero came over and patted him on the shoulder, signaling that the goal had been his own mistake.
Mario gave a bitter smile and thought, ‘God, please stop joking with me.’
The match continued.
For the first twenty minutes, the home side attacked brilliantly down the right flank.
Captain Mesa gestured for them to keep targeting that side.
Full-back Francis was starting to struggle against their attacks and actively shouted for help from midfield.
Santander’s central players began shifting consciously toward that flank, but Santana suddenly switched the play with a long pass, sending the ball toward Arimán.
Oriol hurried back to cover, but Arimán had already charged near the edge of the box.
He squared it!
Captain Seth made a mistake with his clearance, and the ball deflected into the goal!
Mario had been watching Araujo in the middle and never expected the old captain to stab him in the back.
Goal!
Arimán sprinted excitedly toward the corner flag and performed two backflips in a row.
His teammates rushed over to celebrate with him.
Mario watched their celebration and angrily kicked the ball away.
The home side were now 2–0 up, and the fans in the stadium began singing.
…
Michael turned to Raul and offered his suggestion.
“Coach, if this isn’t working, have them switch to a more defensive shape.
Let the midfield drop back, settle things down, and then look to attack again.”
Raul nodded and signaled for the team to sit deeper in their own half and play on the counterattack.
The move worked.
Until the end of the first half, the home side failed to score again.
Raul entered the dressing room with a thunderous expression.
“What the hell are you lot playing at?
What a bunch of cowards!
You’re just letting them pin you back and beat you up!”
Raul was furious, and his voice had gone a little hoarse.
“Don’t think that just because we’re third right now, we’ve achieved something.
The real fight has only just begun!
In the second half, Michael goes on!
Miguel and Morandi stay furthest forward!
Everyone else, pack the middle and fight them there!
Battle them!
Win the ball!”
The away dressing room’s hairdryer treatment finally ended, and the players returned to the pitch.
Santander are making an adjustment right at the start of the second half.
Michael Chen is coming on!
Raul is sending on this magical goalkeeper to rescue the team!”
The commentator noticed the unusual substitution immediately and spoke up.
“They should’ve put Michael on from the start.
Why make things so complicated?”
“Mario really isn’t it anymore.
Either the front line or the back line has to be reliable, right?
Instead, both collapsed!”
“Thankfully Michael is on now.
Hopefully, he can create another miracle!”
Seeing Santander make the change, the away supporters finally breathed a little easier.
After traveling all this way to watch the match, getting completely destroyed would have been heartbreaking.
Michael gave instructions to Oriol.
“When you defend Arimán later, don’t dive in.
Just stick tight to him.
And don’t worry about Araujo.”
Oriol nodded.
In his heart, Michael was always right.
From the bench in the first half, Michael had seen that half of the home side’s attacks were actually being launched through Arimán.
If they could limit Arimán, they would be choking the home side’s main attacking outlet.
At the start of the second half, Morandi tried a long-range shot, but there was not enough power behind it, and goalkeeper Barbosa caught it easily.
The home side’s attack was patient.
After all, they were two goals ahead.
Arimán, standing around thirty meters from goal, suddenly struck the ball in a way that looked somewhere between a pass and a shot.
The ball was not moving very quickly, but Momo had already charged into the box.
Michael came out to punch the ball and collided with Momo.
The ball dropped toward the goal!
Michael brought his feet together and tried to use a scorpion-kick motion, swinging his lower legs back to hook the ball away.
He missed by a little.
Rewind one second!
This time, he had it.
The ball was kicked away!
Seth won the second ball with his head and cleared the danger!
In the commentary booth, Jack had already shot to his feet.
“This might be a save that goes down in history!
We saw Michael collide with Momo, and while losing his balance, he used a scorpion-kick motion to keep the ball out!
A tribute to Higuita!”
The student had surpassed the master!
The image really was spectacular.
On the touchline, Raul’s face was full of disbelief.
Michael stood up, first helped Momo to his feet, then raised both hands to acknowledge the crowd!
Oriol also lifted both arms and ran toward Michael, shouting as he ran, “Michael!
You absolute beast!”
At that moment, Michael was extremely grateful for all the flexibility training he had done recently.
After tonight’s match, he really wanted to find Emma and thank her in person!