The match had just entered the twentieth minute with none of the side being able to get a goal but Unique FC were fluently dominating the game, something that was quite surprising to see.
They had seven shots so far while Supreme United had two shots with only one of them being on target.
Mateo had been tearing up the defense from the left, firing with the spaces he got and sending in dangerous crosses, the winger had fired three shots which had been saved by the goalkeeper, the other two shots on target were headers from Fred which were sent over the bar by the goalkeeper.
Right now, Unique FC had won a free kick after Mateo was fouled close to the edge of the box.
"Who would have thought that we would ever get to see Supreme United being outclassed by Unique FC in every department?" Jim said.
"Their team has gotten better, there's no doubt about that," Steve said.
Ferran and Mateo were both standing over the ball so nobody knew exactly who was going to take the free kick except for the both of them.
"I think it's going to be Mateo," Jim said. "Ferran has that massive shot power and good accuracy but Mateo has placement and good technique and I think he has better accuracy too."
The wall had been set up and everything was ready, all that remained was for the referee to blow his whistle and it didn't take long before he did that.
There was no movement from the winger and midfielder for a few seconds before Mateo quickly closed up on the ball.
"I knew it was him," Jim said.
The winger just moved past the ball without touching it before Ferran quickly closed up on it.
"Oh, he was the decoy."
The midfielder sent the ball flying toward the goalpost with a power shot.
The goalkeeper was clueless and remained glued to the spot as the ball flew past him but fortunately for him, the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before falling off for a goal kick.
"That was so close," Steve said.
"He lacks placement and that's why most of his balls end up hitting the crossbar," Jim said.
The match continued with Unique FC still dominating the game, Supreme United couldn't get past their defense because it seemed like they knew every single move that they were going to make and then make the right move to stop them and that was working very well for them so far.
'The coach's defensive strategy is working way better than I thought it would, we're comfortably controlling the game.' Dave said subconsciously.
'Yeah, but that shot was a deadly one, they would be leading now if he had reacted a second later.'
"Supreme United are suffering in the hands of Unique FC here, getting past their defense is a difficult task for them now, apart from that earlier shot from Roland which he superbly took care of, Dave has had things easy so far but I'm sure he wouldn't mind one or two shots." Jim articulated.
Mateo received the ball from Ferran and quickly raced down the wing before crossing the ball low to Fred, but before the striker could get his foot on the ball, the goalkeeper rushed out of his goal line.
"That was a very close call from the goalkeeper, if Fred had gotten his foot on that ball, Unique FC would definitely be leading now," Jim said.
"Yeah, Mateo's still tearing up their defense from the left and they still don't know how to contain him, they have to find a way to contain him," Steve commented.
The match had entered the fortieth minute now as Martinez bodied Roland off the ball before he could do anything with it and sent it rolling toward Norman who quickly sent it flying toward Minino from the top.
Minino quickly got hold of the ball and passed it to Carlos who was beside him at the moment before zooming past him and both of the players heading toward him at that time.
Carlos knew that he wouldn't be able to hold his ground against two players so he quickly sent the ball to Ferran with a backheel pass.
Ferran stretched a little forward with the ball before he sent it rolling to Minino who was heading toward the edge of the box now.
Minino got past the player right in front of him with a nutmeg but he still wasn't free as there was another player right in front of him with Ferran and Fred heading toward the goalpost from the middle, dragging the other center back and the right back with them in the process.
The midfielder quickly sent the ball to Ferran who had the best opportunity to shoot toward the goalpost even with the center-back marking him but Ferran had a better idea.
He moved toward the ball with the defender but he didn't touch it and allowed the ball to move past them toward Mateo who was unmarked on the left.
There was nothing the goalkeeper could do as the left winger slotted the ball into the goalpost for an easy finish.
"Nicely done by Mateo! Brilliant idea by Ferran to leave the ball for him, they're one goal up…oh, wait looks like there's a commotion there."
Supreme United players had gathered around the referee now to talk about Mateo being offside before scoring the goal and it looked like the referee was having a hard time deciding on whether to give the goal or not but it should have been an easy decision as both linesmen had their flags down.
"What the heck is going on?" Mateo said before making his way to the referee.
'If this goal gets canceled, I am going to lose it.' Dave said subconsciously.
Unable to decide by himself, the referee made his way to the VAR monitor to confirm things.
"I understand him going to the VAR monitor to be very sure but I don't think there should be an offside contemplation, Mateo was clearly on side." Steve expressed.
It didn't take up to five minutes before the referee returned to the pitch, he blew his whistle and pointed to the kick-off spot which meant that the goal was going to stand.
As soon as that decision was confirmed, Mateo's teammates quickly headed over to him to continue their celebration and the fans increased the tempo of their screams of elation.
"Yes!" Dave screamed before raising both of his hands.
"That was the right call, both of the players marking Ferran and Fred in the middle area clearly kept him on side, there was no need to check VAR, I'm glad no controversial decision was made." Jim expressed.
"Yeah, and now Unique FC have the lead with just a few minutes to go before the first-half break, I think they have what it takes to win this match, all they have to do is protect this lead and maybe try to get a second," Steve said.
"They have what it takes to win quite alright but I have a feeling that they're not going to find things this easy with Supreme United in the second half."
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.