Norman didn't really have anything to tell his boys during the halftime break, they played quite well in the first half and were two goals up so he didn't really have anything to complain about.
Still, he had to inform them of his countermeasures if West Ham United should start taking things seriously in the second half.
It didn't take long for him to finish breaking down everything for the players and after that, he left them to rest for a while.
Dave was sitting beside Mateo as always and he could help but notice that he seemed to be poking his nose a bit too much. He was doing it when Norman was talking and he was still doing it now.
Judging from the look on his face after poking his nose a little, Dave could tell that he was feeling some kind of pain after touching it.
"Hey, if it's painful then don't touch it." He said.
"I want to, but I just can't help myself."
"Huh?" Dave said with a confused expression on his face.
"I mean I have this weird quirk of enjoying the little pain I get from the fractured bone on any part of my body." He explained.
"Oh," Dave muttered. "But, is it really that enjoyable? I don't even dare touch any part of my body that has a fractured bone unless it's necessary."
"The pain is still there but I sort of love the feeling that comes after that." The winger said before placing his finger on his nose, this time pushing it a little.
"Oh, well, then just make sure you don't make it worse."
"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to cause myself more unwarranted pain."
The players stayed in the locker room until they were finally given the signal to start making their way to the pitch to continue the match.
"Welcome back everyone, the second half is about to kick off here as we can see the players making their way to the pitch now," Jim commented as the players from both teams made their way to the pitch.
Unique FC were the ones who started the match from the kick-off spot in the first half and that meant that West Ham United were going to be the ones to do it in this half.
"The first half wasn't exactly one-sided despite Unique FC managing to grab a two-goal lead, West Ham looked quite good in holding them off, but there was nothing they could do about that penalty kick and that strike from Mateo." Jim expressed. "To put it simply, Unique FC put the two good chances they got to good use and that is the main reason why they are leading now."
"Yeah, and depending on how well West Ham United improves in this half, they could run away with it and secure their spot in the next round," Steve commented.
Filipe was standing over the ball now waiting for the referee's whistle, and as soon as he heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to Sunblade who immediately sent it rolling back to one of the defenders before Minino could get to him.
"There's the whistle and we are on the way."
West Ham United kept hold of the ball for as long as five minutes but Unique FC players didn't really seem that bothered which was obvious from the way they were chasing the ball, as long as they couldn't get deep into their half they were fine.
If they were up against a super team like say Supreme United and got a two-goal advantage like this in the first half, they would probably be doing something similar to parking the bus now.
The moment West Ham United finally lost the ball was when one of the midfielders sent the ball flying over to Ray on the right wing.
He seemed to have overhit it a little as the ball got to Roland who immediately sent it rolling to Martinez without hesitation.
"Unique FC are with the ball now," Jim said.
Martinez had Filipe quickly heading toward him so he had to send the ball rolling to Minino who got hold of it and immediately sent it flying over to Mateo.
"Over to Mateo."
Mateo brought the ball down with his chest and suddenly paused because he had two players right in front of him and another one on his right.
Dribbling past them was possible for someone like him but with the way the players were distributed on the pitch now, he decided that it just wasn't worth it and sent the ball rolling to Ferran who pushed forward with it a little before he sent it rolling to Merino.
"Merino."
Merino tried to cut in through the middle and feed Ferran but his path was immediately blocked and out of instinct he trapped the ball back to Ferran who was right behind him at that moment with his backheel.
Ferran had his sight set on one thing and one thing alone at that moment.
As soon as he got close enough to the ball, he pulled his right foot back and sent it flying toward the goalpost with an enormous shot power.
The ball was sent flying toward the right side of the goalpost but luckily for West Ham United, their goalkeeper was able to get to the ball right on time to punch it over the bar with both of his gloves.
"Oh, my goodness! That was so close!"
"Yeah, that was a close call from Arnold," Steve said. "They have a corner kick to deal with now though, what will come from it?"
Ferran had to quickly head to the spot to take the corner kick, and as soon as he got there, the ball was thrown to him.
He caught the ball and dropped, now all he was waiting for was the referee's whistle.
The players from both teams were running around inside the box now and as soon as the referee made sure that everything was ready, he blew his whistle.
Ferran slowly took two steps backward before he quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying into the box.
The ball was sent directly into the middle as the players there jumped up to get their heads.
Fortunately for Unique FC, the only player to get his head on the ball was Fred.
He sent the ball flying toward the top right-hand side as the goalkeeper was glued to a spot but unfortunately, his effort ended up hitting the post before falling off toward the right.
"Oh, no, it hit the post."
Merino was right there to get his left foot on the rebound and even though the goalkeeper reacted this time, the winger's effort ended up hitting the post before rolling out for a goal kick.
"Oh, it's the woodwork again!"
Merino was really pissed off from missing that chance as he kicked the air before biting his lower lip.
"They could have gone three goals up but the woodwork came in clutch to save West Ham United," Steve commented.
****
Happy New Month everyone.
My apologies for not being able to update yesterday. I just had to give myself a free day to cool off, but rest assured that updates will remain consistent.
