Greatest Of All Legends - Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Bad Gets Worse
After Bayer Leverkusen opened up the game with their goal, the Porto side tried to answer back with a goal of their own but the Bayer Leverkusen defence stood strong as their team also tried to double their advantage.

In the end, neither team managed to send the net bulging until the referee blew for the end of the first half.

With the whistle having been blown, the players of the two teams trudged off the field and down into the tunnel for a much-needed fifteen-minute break.

After the Porto players were completely gathered in their locker room, the head manager began to speak,

“Apart from letting your guard down and letting them get the first goal, I don’t really have anything to fault in how you’ve played as you’ve put on a wonderful display,”

“Unfortunately the goals haven’t been forthcoming, but don’t be let down by that as I believe that if you keep this up and work even harder, we can end tonight with a win,”

Sergio Conceicao first gave a motivational speech of sorts before beginning the mid-match tactical meeting.

He gave some of the players newer instructions and instructed them on how to make use of some of the potential weaknesses in the opponent’s formation.

By the time the first-half break was over, the FC Porto players were refreshed, both physically and mentally, and ready to put out a more intense gameplay in the second half.

It was the Bayer Leverkusen side that kicked off the second half and the match quickly resumed with the high-intensity gameplay from the first half with both teams doing their best to send the net bulging.

The Porto team played with as much ferocity as they could muster, managing to send more than five shots at the Bayer Leverkusen goal with three on target, but Hradecky’s heroics kept the Porto team from scoring.

In the 55th minute of the game, Porto had just gotten another shot away but the ball had ended as a goalkick so Hradecky collected a ball and placed it on the ground before sending it flying into the middle of the field.

Danilo Perreira and Kai Havertz jumped for the ball, but by sheer physicality, Danilo pushed away Havertz before heading the ball toward Mattheus Uribe, but before the ball reached Uribe, it was intercepted by Charles Aranguiz who quickly trapped it before taking off centerfield towards the Porto penalty area.

The Bayer Leverkusen team players, seeing that Aranguiz was inching closer to the Porto penalty area began to make various runs to free themselves from their marker.

Aranguiz quickly picked out Leon Bailey and sent a through pass towards the left wing.

Wilson Manafa quickly gave chase of the ball, but Leon Bailey, one of the fastest legs on the football pitch worldwide beat him for pace and got to the ball first and quickly cut in towards the penalty area but his path was quickly blocked by Pepe.

He tried to do a couple step overs, but Pepe wasn’t budging but rather was edging him outward and if he didn’t do anything, he would be forced out of play by the Porto team captain, so he made a quick decision and did a chip pass over Pepe’s outstretched leg into the penalty area without looking while hoping that one of his teammates was able to receive the ball.

Kai Havertz who had been given a free role on the pitch had been following Bailey from behind and was in a position to receive the pass.

He trapped the ball on the left corner of the box and slowly edged the ball forward, wanting to get a shot away, but Danilo Perreira who was just arriving behind him because he wasn’t a match for Havertz’s pace tried to tackle him, and clear the ball but in a moment of misjudgment, Danilo swept Havertz’s legs from under him without making contact with the ball.

*Fweeeeeeee*

Sure as can be, the shrill whistle of the referee let him know that the referee had noticed what had transpired and was already pointing to the spot for a penalty while pulling out a yellow card from his breast pocket and showing it to Danilo.

Like always, the Porto players tried to appeal to the referee about the penalty.

It was a foregone conclusion that even if it was very obvious that a foul leading to a penalty had been committed, the players of the team that gave away the penalty would always appeal to the referee even when there was no point and it was clear that their teammate was at fault.

The Porto players did the same, but the referee wasn’t budging as he had seen the situation very clearly and even a replay was enough to see that it was a clear penalty.

The only decision that should have been changed in his opinion was changing the yellow card to a red card for Danilo Perreira as the foul that he committed was very much deserving of it.

As expected, the Porto players weren’t able to make the referee change his decision and a penalty was given to the Bayer Leverkusen team, plunging the BayArena into a more celebratory mood while the traveling fans of the Porto side who were still looking hopeful a few seconds ago now had depressed looks on their faces.

Amidst the happy looks of his teammates and the hopeful and slightly depressed looks of the Porto players, Kai Havertz put the ball on the penalty spot and took five steps back.

*Fwweeee*

Havertz ran up to the ball before sending the ball towards the bottom left corner while unfortunately for the Porto team, Augustin Marchesin had dived towards the right side of the post.

The result of this was of course…

{GOAL!!!}

{And Leverkusen double their lead, going against the hopes of the Porto fans and guiding their fans towards ecstasy}

{What a strike! That one strike has made it a lot more difficult for Porto to get anything from this game, but feel free to correct me if they prove me wrong and that’s a huge if!} The commentator didn’t bother trying to soften the brunt of his words as he gave his commentary on the current situation.