After beating Spree United to a pulp, they went over to their next matches and their only goal in those matches was to win no matter what falling behind Dynamo FC and allowing Supreme United to get further away from them was not something they wanted, and they were going to do everything in their power to make sure that doesn't happen.
Litno FC weren't as easy as Norman expected them to be going into the match against them, they controlled the game for most of the first half and even managed to get a couple of good chances which Dave did quite well to save.
There was a moment when the ball came close to going in after a shot deflected on his arm and kept rolling toward the goalpost.
However, he was able to get to the ball right in time to stop it with both of his gloves.
Unique FC on the other hand were able to get a couple of good chances but that was just about it.
There was nothing spectacular from them and they looked quite lackluster even Mateo was losing the ball every now and then.
The only players who did their job quite well in this half were Dave with his close saves and Roland who shot down his wing completely forcing Litno FC's right winger to switch to the middle or send it flying over to the left winger anytime he got close to him.
Their midfield was surprisingly getting dominated by Litno FC's midfield and the attack including Mateo couldn't make any breakthrough.
They had more ball possession than the Uniques but it wasn't really that much of a big difference. Still, they were praying for the first half to come to an end soon.
The last thing they wanted was for Litno FC to beat them on their home ground and to them it was a good thing that the match was still on level terms with none of the sides being able to find the back of the net.
Fortunately, Unique FC's defense succeeded in holding out Litno FC until the referee blew his whistle to finally bring the first half to an end.
"There's the whistle, Unique FC players sure will be glad to hear it," Jim said.
"Well, that's a surprise, I don't think they looked this under pressure against Supreme United or Dynamo FC, Litno FC are really giving them a run for their money here," Steve commented.
"I don't know if it's from their tactics or Litno FC just came in more prepared than they thought, whatever it is, Unique FC seriously need to patch themselves up in the second half if they want to walk away with something today."
Back in the locker room, the players were receiving some serious scolding as expected.
It didn't take long for Norman to list all the areas where their problem was coming from and after that, he went back to scolding them before he decided to present a solution to them.
After explaining everything to them, he left the locker room to allow the players to rest and organize their thoughts before they would be called back to the pitch for the second half.
It didn't take long for the players to be called back to the pitch and now it was time to see what they could do, it was also time to see how Litno FC were going to approach this second half.
Since the away team were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half, Unique FC were going to be the ones to do it in this half.
Fred was standing over the ball now, and as soon as he heard the whistle, he immediately sent the ball rolling to Minino.
"There's the whistle and we are back into it," Jim commented.
Unlike the first half where they were losing the ball in almost every turn, Unique FC were doing quite well in keeping hold of the ball and dragging Litno FC players around.
It looked like they were starting to find their form in this second half because it didn't take long before they began to close up on Litno FC's goalpost.
Martinez sent the ball rolling to Fred and just before the defender there could get to the striker, he sent the ball rolling to Carlos who sent it rolling to Ferran with his first touch.
"Looks like Unique FC have finally decided to wake up."
Ferran got hold of the ball and quickly turned with it before he sent it flying over to Mateo who was surprisingly free on the left wing.
Perhaps, Litno FC didn't see him as that much of a threat anymore.
The winger quickly brought the ball down with his chest, and just before the right-back could get to him, he pulled his right leg back and fired the ball toward the goalpost.
"Mateo!"
The ball was sent flying directly toward the middle while the goalkeeper was on the left side, but he was able to get his hand on it right in time to send it over the bar for a corner kick.
"Close save, but now they have a corner kick to deal with," Steve commented.
There was no time to waste as Ferran caught the ball thrown toward him by the ball boy and dropped it on the spot.
Everyone else was running around inside the box now, and after making sure that nothing was off, the referee blew his whistle.
"Time to see if Unique FC can make anything out of this one."
Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying in.
The ball was sent flying in toward the far right-hand side where Carlos had to contest for it with the center back there.
The right winger wasn't able to get his head on the ball but things ended up going his way either way as the defender's header ended up going the opposite direction.
The goalkeeper wasn't able to do anything as the ball hit the foot of the post before rolling past the line.
"Oh, dear, it's an own goal."
Own goal or not, a goal was a goal and Unique FC were going to celebrate that.
Minino quickly raced toward Carlos and dragged him down before the rest of their teammates could get to the area.
"Looks like they're the first ones to put in the back of the net and now they're one goal up," Jim commented. "Let's see how the away team is going to react to this."
Well, Litno FC tried their best to give Unique FC a response but things just working out for them as well as it was in the first half, it was like Unique FC players knew every single move they were going to make and were taking the ball away from them with every little chance they got.
They were still able to get a couple of chances but those shots were just too weak to bother Dave.
Unique FC now keeping up with Litno FC didn't mean they were having it easy.
They were dominating the match in almost every aspect now, but they just didn't know any particular way to outsmart their defense after that own goal.
It was strange seeing Mateo almost powerless in a match but it wasn't exactly the first time.
The match dragged on till the eighty-seventh minute when a certain youngster decided to try something.
·?θm An attempted cross from Litno FC was headed away by Adolf and fell to the feet of Roland who immediately took off with it down the middle.
"It's Roland here, he's racing down."
He spotted two opponents trying to double-cross him from both sides so he had to send the ball to Minino who immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.
"Over to Mateo."
Mateo brought the ball down with his feet before taking off down the wing with it.
He was about to take off the line when he immediately flicked it back to put it through the right back's legs.
He had a lot of options available now and he was going to go for a cross until he found Roland racing into the box completely unmarked.
Without hesitation, he sent the ball rolling to the left back who smashed it right into the bottom right corner with his left foot.
"What a strike! It started with him and ended with him!" Jim exclaimed. "There was nothing the goalkeeper could do to stop that."
As soon as he put that ball into the back of the net, he quickly raced toward Mateo and jumped on him before their teammates could reach the area.
The chants from the fans were louder now and Litno FC players had mixed feelings of shock, frustration, and disappointment.
It was easier when it was one goal but now, it seemed to have gotten further away from them.
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