Chapter 13

Ares sat on a couch in the large sitting room of his new apartment, he was watching a match from his 75inches Samsung TV, Liverpool vs Southampton, he watched without interest, but just as he was about to change the channel, Liverpool's squad appeared and he saw a familiar face on the screen, he looked at the name 'ope wow he thought, Opze was playing for Liverpool as a left midfielder.

He fought the urge to change the channel and watch the match with a little bit of interest this time.

....

The referee blew the whistle at exactly 6:00pm and the signalled the Liverpool players to kick-off the game. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool's center forward, raised his leg high and immediately passed the ball back into the midfield.

Fabinho, one of Liverpool's Central midfielder, received the ball close to the defensive third and with a touch, immediately sent the ball to Virgil Van Dijk, liverpools center back, who was in the backline at the moment. The Liverpool players then started passing in the backfield.

The game had officially begun. Liverpool started with a strong line up. Alison Becker was the goal keeper, while Trent Alexander- Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson were in defence. Fabinho and Jordan Henderson played as central mid fielders while Ope Oyewumi played as a left midfielder. Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane played as Right and Left wingers respectively and finally Roberto Firmino as the center forward to complete a 4-3-3 formation.

On the other hand, Southampton had fieled its players in a 4-4-2 defensive formation of four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards. They had quite a defensive depth in their formation. They were compact in the back and in the middle and thus managed to keep Liverpool during most of the first half.

However, the Liverpool players weren't discouraged by the defensive prowess of their opponent. They continued attacking and pressuring the defence of Southampton. And finally, in the 42nd minute, a goal scoring opportunity appeared. Ope Oyewumi, the young Liverpool player, who was mostly silent during most of the first half dropped away from the midfield and ran through the field on the left flank. He received a pass from Jordan Henderson, one of Liverpool midfielders, before running towards Southampton goal area like the wind.

He just exploded with speed without any fancy movements, as he cut through the pitch towards the opposition goal post. His approach was straightforward as he only utilised his incredible speed and ball control to move through a couple of defenders.

Before long, he found himself at the edge of the box with a only a couple of opposition defenders between him and the goal. Without losing his composure, he positioned himself to unleash a curling shot. Taken the defender by surprise he passed the ball to the center forward, Roberto Firmino instead, who immediately controlled an planted the ball into the back of the net.

After having pressurised the opponent for the entirety of the first half, Liverpool had managed to take the lead in the 43rd minute with less than 2 minute remaining to halftime. It was a great ending of the first half for the Liverpool players. Thus they all ran to celebrate in front of their fans.

By then, the cheers around the stadium had already exploded into a thunderous applaud and shouts. The fans were yelling Liverpool chants at the top of their voice, forcing the stadium to shake. The noise level was off the chart at that moment.

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