My Goalkeeping System-Chapter 555: Regaining Ground

"Massive chance for Unique FC! Can Gregory convert for the hat trick?!"

There was no question about that. Although young, Gregory was a striker who was lethal in front of goal. It was an instinct.

Seeing the striker closing in on the box, a panicked Sentes dashed out from his goal area in an attempt to stop him.

By the time Gregory entered the box, Sentes was almost in front of him.

That made things way easier for the young striker as before the goalkeeper could touch him, he had already chipped the ball over him.

"Chips it!"

The sliding Sentes could only turn around and watch with a devastated expression as the ball fell into the goalpost and bounced on the ground before hitting the net.

"And he gets the job done!" Jim exclaimed. "A hat trick for the youngster and Unique FC are back in front!"

Gregory quickly dashed off to the sidelines, repeatedly tapping the badge on his shirt with a smile as bright as the sun, blooming on his face.

He had just gotten to the sidelines when Minino got to him, tackling him from behind and bringing him down.

The Unique FC fans were screaming and jumping so much that they would jump into heaven if it were possible.

"The atmosphere has once again shifted in the Wondamino stadium with Unique FC regaining the upper hand," Jim commented.

"Hold up, Jim, looks like everything's clear yet. The referee is being asked to go check VAR." Steve said.

"Huh? Is there an argument about Gregory being offside?"

This was something Unique FC didn't want to see but now they could only hope that the decision would go their way.

After all, Gregory didn't look like he was offside there.

Norlin FC, on the other hand, were praying hard that the goal would be cancelled.

<What are these people trying to do now?>

'We'll see very soon.'

It took just a little while for the referee to finish checking the footage and make a decision. The moment he stepped back on the pitch, almost everyone could feel their hearts pounding.

Then he blew the whistle, offering a free kick for Norlin FC because of the offside.

Yeah, that was the final decision: Gregory was offside, and Unique FC's goal was ruled out.

Resounding sighs of desolation could be heard in the stadium the moment the referee revealed his decision.

Neither Gregory nor any of the Unique FC players on the pitch looked happy about that decision, but it wasn't like they could do anything about it.

"I mean, it was just a bit of his boot sticking past the line. It could be ignored without anybody noticing but objectively, it is still an offside." Jim analysed.

<Was he offside?>

'I should be asking you.'

Just after giving that response, he heard the sound of Catherine grumbling and gnashing her teeth.

He didn't know if it was his imagination but Catherine had been getting a lot more irritable lately.

'Don't worry, it's just one cancelled goal, we can still win this.' Dave said in an attempt to smooth her fur.

<That better be the case>

With the match nearing the eighty-sixth minute, the match resumed.

Norlin FC were moving the ball around in their half of the pitch, trying to find a chance to create something.

After that scare, which was mostly orchestrated by Mateo, they were now well aware that they could no longer run amok like they had been doing earlier.

"Lopez."

Lopez had just received the ball near the halfway line when Minino charged at him.

The young midfielder had to quickly send the ball rolling to the player closest to him to avoid Minino who was looking to draw blood.

There was no one who didn't know that Minino was the most notorious player in the Unique FC squad. For the sake of his career, it would be best to avoid him, unless necessary.

The match had just entered the eighty-ninth minute when the ball found Dennison who was making a run down the right wing.

The winger had Jonas in front of him and Frankie quickly closing in from behind, but he didn't panic.

Quickly switching the ball to his left foot, he got past the fullback.

At that moment, he spotted Lopez making a run into the box with Sai Ahmed covering a little to the left where he was almost unmarked.

The winger quickly sent the ball rolling to Lopez because he was in a better position to send it to Sai Ahmed.

Unfortunately, Lopez didn't even get the chance to touch the ball as before he could, Minino came flying in, quickly intercepting the ball.

"Wonderful interception from Minino."

Minino didn't hold onto the ball for long and quickly sent it rolling to Mateo who was near the halfway line.

"Mateo."

The winger had an opposing player blocking his path, and instead of trying to get past the player, he sent the ball rolling to Frankie who was speeding toward him.

Frankie understood the gist of things, quickly lobbing the ball over the player to get it to Mateo who had now gotten past the player.

That gave Mateo a lot of space to run as the defence had already started pulling back the moment Mateo got the ball.

That said, the player behind Mateo did not give up, quickly catching up to a Mateo who wasn't running at his fastest speed in no time.

Mateo found him a bit difficult to deal with, so he sent the ball rolling to Merino, who had pulled back a bit to get rid of the player marking him for a moment.

The forward received the ball and dragged further back with it before sending it back to Mateo who flicked it to Frankie with his first touch.

Mateo got past the player once again to receive the ball from Frankie, and before the one closing in from the right could touch him, he sent the ball rolling to Merino, who had drifted close to the middle, dragging his marker with him.

The forward only got two touches on the ball. With a back heel pass, he sent the ball rolling to Minino who had taken advantage of the space created on the right flank.

The midfielder quickly took off with the ball at full speed.

To avoid confronting the full back, he drifted toward the middle, the closer he got to the box.

He was just a few meters away from the box when he found his path blocked by a player right behind him.

It was at that moment that Mateo, who was charging into the box, suddenly stopped, allowing the players around him to charge into the box, leaving him alone with so much space.

Minino saw the chance and wasted no time sending the ball rolling to him.

"Minino with a lot of space just outside the box."

Before the Norlin FC players could figure out what happened, the young winger had already given the ball a little push forward.

"Mateo from outside the box!"

The shot had very little elevation on it, aiming for the bottom right corner.

Sentes was on very high alert, diving toward the ball on time and getting enough of his gloves on it to deflect it and sent it rolling out for a corner kick.

"Oh, my! What a save from Sentes!"

The Norlin FC fans and players almost felt their hearts drop the moment Mateo pulled that trigger and now, they couldn't help but applaud Sentes for that save.

"This match just keeps getting more thrilling, it'd be best to go to extra time so I can see more of this."