The match continued with both Fred and Minino putting those horrible misses behind them.
West Ham United were the ones pushing the ball forward here as Sunblade sent the ball rolling to Filipe who immediately sent it flying over to Ray.
Ray brought the ball down with his chest and tried to get past Roland.
He quickly discovered that wasn't going to be easy for him as he immediately tried to escape him down the middle before firing the ball directly toward the goalpost.
The ball was sent flying directly toward Dave in the middle but it had quite the elevation to it.
The goalkeeper hit the ball up with both of his gloves and allowed it to come down calmly for him to catch it.
"Of course, that's not going to be a problem for Dave."
The match continued with Unique FC dominating the match in almost every aspect of it but West Ham United were still getting their chances in.
It was pretty hard for them to easily get past Unique FC's defense but they were still finding some way.
However, whenever they got through, the defense either got rid of the ball or their efforts ended up being saved by Dave.
Unique FC on the other hand, were equally not having it that easy but they were doing better than their opponents in getting through, their only problem was finishing and in some of the chances, West Ham United's defense came through to save the game.
The closest Unique FC came to getting that third goal was a pass that was quickly intercepted by Mateo but he seemed to have been to hit it lightly as the goalkeeper quickly dived to the right to grab the ball with both of his gloves.
The reaction from the fans was one of immense shock after seeing the winger miss that chance, he wasn't really used to missing those kind of close chances but West Ham United were sure glad that he decided to do something different today.
The match continued till the sixty-seventh minute with none of the sides really being able to get the ball into the back of the net.
Unique FC were obviously fine with it because they were still two goals up but still, if it was really up to them, they would have a third or fourth goal now.
West Ham United on the other hand were quite desperate to equalize the scoreline because not losing this match would at least give them a boost of confidence for the next two matches.
Winning looked like hoping for too much but at least they could try to get a draw, that looked more doable.
Right in the seventieth minute, West Ham United won the ball as Sunblade skillfully dispossessed Minino right at the edge of the box.
"Nicely done by Sunblade."
The midfielder quickly pushed forward with the ball before pushing it forward to Filipe.
Filipe slowly moved toward the middle to give Ray that chance to find an opening to get past Roland and as soon as he saw him get into some space, he quickly sent the ball flying over to him.
Ray was able to get past Roland to bring the ball down with his chest, but he still had the left back right behind him with Pirlo quickly heading toward him.
He could only think of one thing at that moment and that was exactly what he did.
He fired the ball toward the goalpost hoping that Dave would mess up and allow it to go in, but that was all wishful thinking as all it took the goalkeeper to send the ball flying over the bar for a corner kick.
All he did was raise his hand to block the ball and send it out.
"Looks like Dave wasn't really counting on him taking the shot from there, but still, he got the job done."
"Yeah, and now West Ham United have a corner kick."
[ 5/5 crucial saves ]
'Looks like I've already ticked the box on this one.'
<Yeah, you just have to make sure you don't concede any goal>
'Yeah, I know.'
Sunblade was the one standing over the ball now waiting for the referee's whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he slowly took three steps backward before he closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.
Martinez was right on cue to get above everyone else and get his head on the ball but there seemed to have been an error in that process as West Ham United players were now raising their hands calling for a handball.
The referee didn't allow play to continue because he saw that the lineman had his flag up but he had to calm things down as the players from both teams were now gathered around him.
"Looks like there's a handball against Unique FC but the referee hasn't made up his mind yet," Jim commented.
In the end, the referee decided to go check VAR which was the only reasonable thing he could do at this moment.
"I mean, the footage does actually show Martinez's hand making contact with the ball as he nods it out but let's see what VAR thinks." Steve expressed.
The screen above the stadium was displaying the message 'reviewing handball' now that the referee was checking it but as soon as he was done with that, the final message appeared on the screen.
'Decision; handball, penalty.' Dave read subconsciously.
<I told you they were going to give it>
'Keep quiet, Catherine.'
"Oh, Unique FC players and fans sure won't be happy with that decision but it was the right one," Jim commented.
After the penalty was confirmed, Filipe picked up the ball and dropped it in the penalty spot.
"In the first half of the group stage, West Ham United were the only team Unique FC weren't able to score against and now they have an opportunity to do it again."
"They still have conceded only one goal in the group stage which meant that they were going to be tied as one of the only teams to finish the group stage conceding only a goal but this right here is an opportunity to shatter that record." Steve expressed. "Or the hope of it."
Filipe was standing over the ball with everyone else behind him, all he was waiting for now was the referee's whistle.
<You know you will fail your quest if he scores this, right?>
'Not only that, but we also won't be able to tie the record for one of the teams to concede only one goal in a Europa Conference League group stage.'
<So, what are you going to do? Are you going to gamble it just like you did with those other ones? You know focus is available>
'I want to, but I said I wanted to make my mark before leaving and I want this to be part of that. You know what, screw that pain.'
[ Focus activated ]
As soon as he activated the skill, everywhere turned dark and the noise coming from the fans slowly turned to whisperings that surprisingly sounded calm.
It was at that moment that the referee blew his whistle.
Filipe slowly took three steps backward, and with each step, Dave could clearly hear the sound of his foot.
He quickly closed up on the ball and just before he could kick it, Dave said something.
"Right." The goalkeeper muttered as he quickly dived toward the right, and with both of his gloves, he was able to catch the ball.
As soon as he caught it, the fans burst into cheers of jubilation as the dark barrier suddenly disappeared.
"Did he just catch a penalty like that?" Jim said in shock at what just happened.
He quickly got up with the ball to quickly start a counterattack but before he could kick it, he felt that stinging pain in his head.
Still, he didn't let the pain get to him immediately as dropping the ball without kicking it would look suspicious so he sent it flying out as soon as possible before crashing down inside his goalpost.
The ball was sent flying toward Mateo who had competition in the person of Sunblade.
Sunblade ended up winning the aerial duel, but just as he brought the ball down, the winger crashed down to the floor with his hand on his face.
"Oh, dear, Mateo's on the floor here."
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