My Goalkeeping System

It had been twenty minutes since the match kicked off and so far none of the teams had been able to convert the chances they got.

Benfica had made a total of three attempts so far with one of them being on target and that chance was the closest they had come to scoring against Unique FC.

It was a low shot from their striker Eryk, he closed up at the edge of the box a little before he sent the ball flying toward the left side of the goalpost.

Alexander quickly stretched his leg toward the ball and blocked it and just before Lakoviç could get to the ball, he dived toward it and covered it with both of his hands.

The closest Unique FC was a volley from Mateo which flew over the crossbar from the right and had come so close to entering the goalpost.

"This match has been a cagey affair so far but if Benfica continue doing what they're doing, they're going to make a breakthrough soon, Unique FC should step up their game if they want to keep this game leveled." Jim expressed.

Just like the commentator said, Benfica were the ones currently running the game, their high-pressing form of play was certainly not good for the Bilbeth Premier League side.

'Come on, Catherine, just tell me what it is, I don't want something to happen and then the quest will get canceled.'

<The quest won't get canceled, trust me>

Unique FC were finding it really hard to clear their line here as Benfica was terrorizing them in front of their box trying to find a way through.

"Unique FC are struggling to contain Benfica here," Steve said.

Eryk received the ball from Lakoviç after he failed to maneuver his way past Roland.

Eryk received the ball and feigned shooting toward the goalpost before sending the ball back to the midfielder behind him.

The midfielder caught hold of the ball and shifted it to the left a little and passed it to their left winger before Pirlo could attempt to take the ball from him.

"Jan Bartosz," Jim said as soon as the winger touched the ball.

He slowly rolled the ball toward Roberto who was cautious to avoid making a mistake and once he got a little closer to the ball he broke off down the left with Luis Roberto pursuing him.

"Looks like he's trying to create something from the right," Steve said.

He raced down the wing and just before he could get to the line, he quickly turned with the ball and pushed it a little closer to the box before he sent it flying into the area.

"He's looking to find his teammates here."

Eryk quickly raced toward the ball and knowing that he wasn't in a good position to shoot, he brought it down with his chest, that was more like a setup with his chest for Lakoviç who had a clear sight of the ball and where to put it.

"This could be the moment for Benfica."

Roland along with Aima both rushed toward the winger to try and stop him but it was already too late as he sent the ball flying toward the left before Roland brought him down with a tackle.

Alexander dived toward the ball but it was no use as the ball was stretched far away from him.

All he could do was watch while he dived as the ball rolled past him and hit the post before rolling past the goal line into the goalpost.

"Oh, what a goal! I said they were going to get a breakthrough soon and it just happened! That was wonderful from Lakoviç!" Jim exclaimed.

Lakoviç didn't even care about being brought down by Roland inside the box as he quickly got up from the floor and raced to the sidelines with his teammates chasing after him.

He would have definitely asked for a penalty kick if that ball had not gone in.

"They've done it, at the twenty-sixth minute, Benfica have opened the score all thanks to a well-taken strike from Lakoviç but you have to say something about the effort put into getting that ball into the box, and to him, that was good teamwork from them and it worked out fine for them." Steve articulated.

"That was a nice goal I have to say," Dave said.

"Yeah," Minino said with a nod. "Do you think you could have saved it if you were the one in the goalpost?"

"I don't know, maybe," Dave said with a shrug.

"Oh, what am I even saying? You made a lot of impossible saves against Manchester United on Sunday, none of them could get the ball past you, you had to concede an own goal for the match to end in a draw, you would have definitely stopped that ball from going in."

<I knew it was going to happen soon>

'Is this what you were talking about? Does this affect my quest as in the number of goals conceded?'

<Why don't you check for yourself and see?>

'Okay.'

[ Pre-season Quest ]

[ Progress ]

[ Goals conceded: 1/9 ]

'Oh, so that goal doesn't count because it wasn't scored against me.'

<Yeah>

'What happens if I don't play the entire match?'

<The quest specified that you should not concede more than nine goals in nine matches so I think you know what will happen if you are left out of any of those nine matches>

'Yeah, the quest will get canceled.'

"Mateo!" Jim exclaimed as the winger sent the ball flying toward the goalpost after dribbling his way past the right back but his shot had gone straight toward the goalkeeper so it was an easy catch for him.

"No, Mateo, you should have gone low and aimed for the far post," Minino said with a frustrated tone to his voice.

"What happened?" Dave asked after raising his head.

"Mateo broke free on one of his solo runs and managed to get a clear shooting chance but he just fired it at the goalkeeper," Minino explained.

"Oh," Dave said before turning his gaze back to the pitch.

"Mateo had almost equalized the game for his team just after going behind if only he had been a little cunning with his shot," Steve commented.

The clock was showing forty-five minutes now with four minutes of added time and Benfica had just won a corner kick after a superb save from Alexander, a save that had caused the fans to get up from their seats.

Lakoviç knew getting past Roland was going to be hard so he just turned toward Eryk and lobbed the ball to the striker.

Nobody expected it but the striker just pulled his leg back and sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side of the goalpost.

Alexander immediately took off as soon as he saw the ball heading toward him and with the tip of his left glove, he was able to push the ball over the bar.

"Oh, what a save from Alexander!" Jim exclaimed.

"Looks like the kid is starting to recall the notes he took from you," Minino said while clapping softly.

"That was an awesome save," Dave said. "Looks like Unique FC has another talent in between the sticks today."

"Yeah, a lite version," Steve said.

Lakoviç was standing over the ball at the corner kick spot waiting for the referee's whistle and as soon as he heard it, he took two steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.

"He's swung it in."

The two main contenders for the ball in the air were Aima and Eryk and that had resulted in Eryk crashing to the floor possibly under Aima's touch.

The referee blew his whistle as Aima quickly raised both of his hands to claim that he didn't touch him but the referee wasn't going to listen to that and just pointed at the spot for a penalty kick.

"Oh, things just keep getting better for Benfica, they've been awarded a penalty kick with the second half just about to come to an end," Jim said.

"To be honest, Jim, I don't think that was a penalty kick," Steve said. "I don't think Aima made any rough physical contact with him that is worthy of a foul."

"Penalty? How was that a foul?" Dave said with a stunned look on his face.

"I'm wondering the same thing, that was clearly a dive."

***

New year mass release goals.

A magic castle= one extra chapter.

Two magic castles= two extra chapters.

Mass release for goals met last month will still be rewarded on the due dates.