八字万年历

Chapter 371: The Race for Trophies IX

It was matchday ten in the Primera Liga and Oporto would be hosting Nacional at the Dragon Stadium while hoping for another win to continue their rise up the table.

After their shaky start at the beginning of the season, they seemed to finally be back on track, but the teams that were currently above them on the table were also snatching up all the points available so it was proving difficult for Oporto to rise up the standings.

However, everyone knew that whoever stayed consistent for long enough was the one who would end up on top so there was nothing Oporto could do but to stay consistent in their good results and hopefully, the teams above would slip up and drop some points which would provide the opportunity for them to be overtaken.

The match between Oporto and Nacional soon kicked off and it did not take long before the match heated up.

Both teams wanted to take all three points up for contention and they did not hesitate to start contending for it.

Barely the first minute of the game, Jason had received the ball and had tried to make a run down the right flank, but his marker had roughly swept him off his feet before he could go anywhere.

The referee quickly ran over and did not hesitate to show the guilty player a yellow card even though it was still the game’s first minute.

A freekick had been given to Oporto and the game continued, but just another ten minutes later, the Nacional striker had made a rough tackle on Manafa as he tried to snatch the ball from him and he had received a yellow card from the referee for his efforts.

That was Nacional’s second yellow card since the game began, but they hadn’t learned their lesson and another ten minutes later, a Nacional defender fouled Oliveira inside their penalty box.

The defender had been trying to block Oliveira from getting a shot away after he had received a pass from Jason, but he had been too impatient and had ended up doing too much and pushing Oliveira down roughly.

The referee immediately came running over and a penalty was awarded to Oporto which Oliveira quickly took and without any suspense, put it past the goalkeeper.

That was Oporto’s first goal in the game and their fans were ecstatic as they saw their team once again begin taking steps toward another victory in the league campaign.

Hopes that Oporto could make it back to the top of the table were at an all-time high among the Oporto fans and the fans kept watching eagerly as the match kicked off again after the goal.

The Oporto fans’ enthusiasm and belief in their was rewarded with another goal in the 39th minute.

The Oporto players had been passing the ball around cleverly among themselves as they drew nearer to the Nacional goal and they had been applying heavy pressure on the Nacional players who chased after the ball relentlessly.

The ball moved from Jason on the left to Oliveira in the center and on receiving the ball, the vice-captain sent the ball to Uribe in the midfield who once again sent the ball back to Jason on the right flank.

As he received the ball, Jason immediately took off on a cutting run down the flank while slowly cutting into the penalty box.

His marker followed after him, staying at a comfortable distance, not wanting to get too close to Jason and not staying too far away instead as both options had consequences against a player like Jason.

Unfortunately for Jason’s marker, staying at a comfortable distance was also a bad idea as it gave Jason just enough time to think of his next move and act on it and that was exactly what he did.

As they reached the right corner of the penalty box, Jason made a sharp turn to the left and faced his marker causing the defender to immediately come alert and make himself rigid, but the next moment, Jason suddenly cut back to the right leaving the defender surprised and unable to react.

Before the defender knew what was going on Jason had already moved the ball to a comfortable distance and sent a low cross into the penalty box.

The ball flew into the penalty box and was moving across the face of the goal when Sergio Oliveira got his head to it and sent it at the goal.

{He leaps!} the commentator shouted as the ball flew at the goal but the Nacional goalkeeper was at the top of his game and reacted aptly jumping at the ball and getting an hand to it in a sweeping motion and throwing it back out before the ball could go in, but the goalkeeper had barely crashed to the ground after his spectacular save when the Nacional goal was sent rocking after Marega slammed the ball that had landed in front of him into the goal.

{GOAL!!!}

{It’s the men from Porto again!}

{The blue and white strike twice here at Dragon Stadium!}

{Nacional look distraught, but it was to be expected!}

{When you come to a dragon’s den to battle a dragon, you have to put up a very good performance if you have any plans to come out on top, and Nacional have been very far from a good performance so far!}

{It’s been mistake upon mistake from the Nacional players and they are paying for it now!} The commentator was outdoing himself with the commentary despite the lack of major importance in the game but the viewers were enjoying the commentator’s shenanigans as they celebrated with the players from their homes.

The Oporto players at the stadium did not mind the commentator’s exuberance either and joyously celebrated as well while the Nacional players just watched in frustration.

Luckily for the Nacional players, they did not have to bear watching the Oporto players celebrate for much longer and the game soon continued.

As soon as the match resumed, the Oporto players charged at the Nacional team wanting to steal possession of the ball and build off their momentum, but the Nacional team held strong till the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half.

With the referee’s whistle, the players walked off the field for a much-needed break, but fifteen minutes later, they were back on the field with changes in their game plan and line-up.

For the Oporto side, Mylo had been brought on for Marega, and on the Nacional team, a change had been made as well.

The second half soon kicked off and Oporto immediately resumed from where they had stopped in the first half and they once again took the reins of the game and oppressed their opponents as they looked for their third goal of the game.

Soon a chance opened up for Oporto as Jason received the ball on the left side of the middle parts of the field and immediately took off at Nacional’s goal, but this time he tried running down the middle instead of the right flank.

His marker immediately chased after him, not stopping for a moment to think about why Jason was running through the middle instead of down the right flank he was in charge of, but soon it became clear why as Otavio made a run down the right flank that was now completely free and Jason immediately sent a through pass his way.

The Nacional left back who was marking Jason immediately left Jason and gave chase, but he was too late as Otavio had already reached the ball and entered the Nacional penalty box with the ball.

Otavio soon sent a pass to Mylo who smoothly swept the ball past the Nacional goalkeeper.

{GOAL!}

{It’s three!}

{It’s been five minutes! Just five minutes since the second half began and they’ve gone and scored another!}

{Surely there’s no way back for Nacional now! Surely!} the commentator shouted with excitement as the Oporto team began celebrations for the third time in the game.

The match resumed shortly after but Oporto wasn’t done with the Nacional team and this time it was Jason bringing the thunder.

He was hungry for a goal as it had been almost four matches since he last got on the score sheet and he was raring to put one past the goalkeeper.

As he received a pass from Otavio he cut in from the right flank, used a reverse elastico to cut past his marker, and took a powerful left-footed shot at the goalkeeper but the goalkeeper did not allow the ball to get past him and reacted appropriately, blocking the shot with his body.

Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, he wasn’t able to get the ball under control and the ball bounced off his body and began flying back in Jason’s direction.

Despite being stunned at not scoring the first time, Jason did not cease his movements and advanced at the ball, ready to send it into the goal with a second hit but before he could reach the ball, Mylo jumped into his path and hit the ball first sending a powerful carpet shot under the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

{GOAL!!!}

{Over the hills and far away! No catching them now!}

{They are rampant!} the commentator shouted with fervor as the Oporto team began celebrations yet again, not caring for their distraught opponents.

Mylo ran past Jason down the sidelines and jumped into a knee-slide, displaying his happiness at scoring while Jason could only watch him from behind with a wry smile while he ran his hand through his hair.