Solo Run

'Fuck me"

Alexis could really only blame himself for the increased stakes. After he saw the notification, he was extremely careful not to insult the system in any way. He just gritted his teeth and continued to concentrate on the match.

After the goal from Clifford Academy, Charles Patterson began to play a bit serious. Unfortunately for Alexis, they didn't go forward much. It was mostly them retaining the bal and keeping Clifford Academy from getting their legs on it. As if everything was another training session.

To Alexis who had a lot at stake in this one match, he didn't particularly like it. Every time he got the ball, he would charge forward only to find out that there was absolutely no one with him. And as the saying went, you can't do it all alone. He would end up either dispossessed or he would have to pass the ball back.

31'

After several minutes of Charles Patterson passing the ball around aimlessly, Clifford Academy finally got the ball and were on the counter.

Their defensive midfielder sent a long ball to their right winger. The right winger looked up and saw the striker running towards the post. He faked a cross to get the Charles Patterson right back to fully commit and a make a tackle.

After getting past the right back, he had no real difficulty in getting into the box. He moved the ball forward a bit and set himself up for a shot.

Unfortunately for him, when his leg was about to make contact with the ball, a leg stuck out and pushed the ball away.

Marcus Pearce (Charles Patterson defensive midfielder) who managed to block the shot, chased after the loose ball and cleared it.

Alexis who was about to start running forward saw Marcus's erratic clearance and ran towards the ball. He initially thought that they were going to start a counter attack of their own but Marcus just kicked the ball awa from danger.

Right as the ball was going out of bounds, Alexis managed to get a leg to be ball. He was now at the left flank of the pitch in his third. There was a bit of space in front of him so he managed to drive the ball forward for a small distance before he found himself face to face with the first defender that tried to stop him.

With the inside of his boot, Alexis moved the ball to the right and sharply cut it back inside, making the ball pass through the outstretched legs of the player marking him.

Immediately after Alexis got past the player, the right back rushed at him. Most of the Clifford players had committed forward so the right back aimed to quickly dispossess Alexis and go on a quick counter.

As the defender approached him, Alexis used the sole of his right leg to drag the ball slightly back. At the same time, he planted his body firmly on the ground, turning his body counterclockwise. As he completed the turn, he used the inside of his left boot to push the ball forward, past the defender that overcommitted towards him.

When Alexis got past the right back, he was greeted by an abundance of space in front of him. The center backs were quite high on the field so as soon as they saw Alexis running towards their goal, they started running back.

Alexis saw the defenders running towards him. He gritted his teeth and pushed the ball forward again, trying his best to move faster.

Friendly or not, be didn't trust center backs whenever they ran frantically towards him, especially when there wasn't anyone left to defend the post.

[And Alexis Butcher is making a nice so run on the left flank. Marcus Pearce cleared the ball from danger and Alexis Butcher went on a full on sprint to retrieve the ball]

[Now he's running at the Clifford Academy goal. You can see the center backs trying to catch up with him. It really is an exciting chase isn't it]

Alexis safely got to the edge of the box. As soon as he entered the box, the Clifford Academy goalkeeper charged out and try to narrow his angle for the shot. Alexis did a fake shot and baited the goalkeeper into over commiting then cut further into the box.

A smirk fixed itself on his face as he saw the empty goal in front on him. Remembering the two defenders that were behind him, Alexis didn't try any form of showboating. He raised his leg and was about to kick it inside the post, and then he was scissored by a center back that finally managed to catch up to him.

"Fuck!" Alexis screamed as he fell on the floor. He clutched his leg and started hitting the ground.

The tackle from the center back could be considered soft. In fact it was so soft that Alexis didn't really feel any real pain from it. He was just selling it to the best of his abilities. At first it was pure reflex. He had learnt in the academy that no matter how light he was touched in the box, he was supposed to go down screaming. It was when he was already on the floor that he really put effort in it .He'd be damned if the he lost an open post chance in that manner and didn't get a penalty.

The referee ran over and immediately pointed to the spot. He put his hand in his back pocket and raised a red card to the center back who tackled him. If it was in another situation, then he would've gotten a yellow, but seeing as he was considered the last man, he received a red card.

Alexis smiled after seeing what happened. After much 'difficulty', he stood up and grabbed the ball to that he could take the penalty.

The center back who got sent off glared at Alexis who glared back at him. Alexis was really confused as to why the center back was angry. If he didn't make the tackle then Alexis should've scored and the match would've been a draw. With a penalty, there was a much higher chance of him missing than with an open post.

"Fucking wanker". Alexis muttered under his breath. He changed his focus from the defender to the ball and got ready to take the penalty.