The clock was showing sixty-two minutes now and the scoreboard was still Unique FC one Lave City Nill.
So far Lave City have been quiet with Unique FC still dominating the game, every attempt to get forward had been intercepted and stopped by Unique FC players before it could turn into something that they couldn't contain.
"Unique FC are defending with prowess here, even the midfielders are stepping back to defend in certain situations," Jim said. "They are putting everything on the line to make sure their goal isn't canceled by an equalizer."
"I've never seen Unique FC look so good in defense," Steve said.
The ball was thrown to Lave City's right winger after Edward sent the ball out for a throw-in while trying to recover it after losing it.
"Littebaski," Jim commented as soon as the winger got his foot on the ball.
He passed the ball to the central midfielder who quickly passed it to the left midfielder.
Minino was heading toward him to take the ball from him but before he could get to him, the left midfielder crossed the ball to Littebaski who was making a run down the right wing now, but he still had Roland to deal with.
The winger tried to dribble his way past Roland but it resulted in him getting pulled down and the referee had no option but to blow his whistle for a foul.
"Bad challenge from Roland but I don't think he deserves to be shown a card," Jim said.
He wasn't the only one as the referee had only given him a little verbal warning about the way he had pulled Littebaski down but there was no card shown.
The referee drew the line for Unique FC to form their wall close to the edge of the box as the foul had happened close to the sidelines.
"A close free kick for Lave City, will they be able to conjure up something with this one?" Jim said.
Littebaski was the one who had stepped to take the free kick.
"Hey, keep your eyes peeled and focus on the left, I'll be on the right in case anything goes wrong," Adolf said after getting closer to Dave.
"Okay." The goalkeeper said with a nod before the captain made his way to the right crossbar.
The referee blew his whistle as the winger stared at the ball for a few seconds before taking about four steps backward.
"Littebaski," Jim said as the winger quickly raced toward the ball.
He sent it flying toward the top left-hand corner and with that side being where Dave had put seventy-five percent of his focus, it was a good thing for him.
Dave dived toward the ball and it looked like he wasn't going to get to it for a second until….
[ Ball magnet activated ]
The ball was too fast for his level one ball magnet to have a major effect on it but the magnet had succeeded in pulling it a little closer for him to tip it over the bar with the tip of his glove.
"Oh, what a save!" Jim exclaimed. "Dave Richards turning up to save Unique FC once again."
"Where did this guy get this from?" Steve said. "Watching him from the beginning of the season to the middle and now that the season is coming to an end, it's like they are two different goalkeepers, he stood shots like his hand's a magnet, his punching has improved and most importantly he can read balls efficiently now."
"I don't know about you but that's the version of Dave Richards I want to be seeing week in week out," Jim said.
With the ball out for a corner kick, it was now time for both team managers to make their substitutions.
Norman had chosen to make three substitutions, Edward was brought off for Unique FC's number twenty-seven Roger David, he hasn't been getting much playing time but Norman wanted to give him a chance today.
Pirlo was brought off and replaced by Aima while Fred was taken off for Fredinho.
"Dave may have made a wonderful save but the danger is still lurking as Lave City get their first corner kick of the night," Jim said.
One of the midfielders had stepped up to take the corner kick and after hearing the referee's whistle, he hesitated for a while before curling the ball toward the far end of the box.
"Kim!" Jim screamed as the striker rose high above every other player to meet the ball with a header.
Dave was glued to the middle as the ball was sent flying toward the right side of the post but luckily for him and the whole team, Adolf happened to be there at the right time to clear the ball with a header.
"Oh, what a save!" Jim exclaimed. "The super captain has done it again."
The ball had fallen toward Luis Roberto who didn't waste time in sending the ball toward Fredinho down the middle to start up a counter-attack but he seemed to have overhit the ball a little as the goalkeeper stepped out of his box to take the ball before the striker could get to it.
"Wonderful decisiveness from Zeno," Jim said as the goalkeeper quickly passed the ball to his closest teammate before quickly making his way back to the goalpost.
"This match should have been leveled by now if it weren't for that save from Adolf, it didn't look like Dave was going to make a save there," Steve said.
"Thank you, Adolf," Dave said.
"I don't think there's any need for that, everything we're doing here is for ourselves, the team, and the fans," Adolf said before running off down the middle.
'Yeah, but you don't know that you just saved my quest.'
The clock was showing three minutes left before the standard ninety minutes were completed and so far, Lave City had not been able to get that equalizer and prevent the loss that was coming their way.
Their central midfielder who had come in as a substitute was with the ball in the middle now with Ferran heading toward him from behind but before Ferran could get to him, he quickly passed the ball to the left midfielder who in turn laid it off to the left winger.
The left winger was facing Luis Roberto now and was trying to confuse the wingback with leg overs but the wingback wasn't the only one he was trying to confuse.
He feigned shooting toward the goalpost before quickly passing the ball to Littebaski who quickly got rid of Roland with a snake bite and was now through on goal.
Yes, he was true but he wasn't alone as Dave had quickly gotten close to him with a knee slide, and out of Instinct with a little mix of nervousness he tried to lob the ball into the goalpost but that didn't go as he planned as the ball smashed on the goalkeeper's face and flew up.
"Dave Richards, stepping up again but it's not over yet."
Getting hit by the ball had affected one of his eyes but the goalkeeper didn't care as he sprang up and caught the ball before Littebaski could get to it with his head.
With the ball in his hands, he crashed to the floor and covered it up with his body.
"Dave Richards, denying Littebaski once again," Steve said.
'Aww, my eye.' Dave winced subconsciously with his gaze down and his eyes closed.
"That ball hit him on his face, that's why he's still down," Steve said.
"Hey, are you okay?" Roland squatted down beside him to ask.
Dave didn't reply for a few seconds before he slowly lifted his head to show his slightly sour left eye.
"A little pain in my eye but I'm okay." He said, slowly getting up from the floor.
"You should get that eye checked on once this match is over," Adolf said.
"Yeah, I should." He said, touching the area with one of his fingers.
With seven minutes of added time remaining, Unique FC players knocked the ball around the pitch as Lave City players began to desperately chase the ball but the hosts succeeded in keeping the ball away from them for seven minutes, it was one of their specialties after all.
The referee blew his whistle thrice to signal the end of the match as Mateo quickly kicked the ball up and caught it before quickly making his way toward his teammates who were all gathered around Dave now.
"Nice saves bro." Luis Roberto said.
"We finally got the win and it's all thanks to you," Ferran said.
"Thanks, you guys were also good, blocking all those dangerous shots and making attempts, I just did my part of the job," Dave said.
"So, this battle of a match has finally come to an end, both teams fought really hard but Unique FC did well to keep their advantage from a mistake safe and I would give seventy percent of the credit to Dave Richards for those wonderful saves," Jim said.
Lave City players walked off the pitch while Unique FC players walked toward the stands with the fans screaming and applauding them, Dave didn't join them yet as he wanted to check something first.
[ You have successfully kept a clean sheet ]
[ +100 exp received ]
[ +2 stat upgrade available, please choose the stat you wish to upgrade ]
[ A new skill is now available ]
Dave had a bright smile on his face as he stared at the new skill but that wasn't the only reason why he was smiling, there were still more rewards to come for keeping his first clean sheet.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter?
If I get up to a hundred golden tickets before the end of the month I will release six chapters on the first of December.