37 A Good Friend

The game continued as the West Brom players were still playing with the intention of scoring a goal before the half time whistle.

They tried to create some chances but were forced into making Longshots as man city also focused on defense. The West Brom players also closed down the spaces forcing the players into making Longshots.

Tony had tried to dribble into the box but was constantly intercepted and was closed down on. He changed his mind and started looking for a player that had space to score.

It was already the 45th minute and the referee had added two extra minutes for stoppages. Tony held the ball close to the 18 yard box of West Brom as he looked for a player to create a chance for.

The West Brom players payed close attention to the players in there half as they man marked most of the man city players. Tony also had two players around him trying to get hold of the ball.

He held the ball close to his feets as he continued moving a little to the right side of the box in other to create a chance.

As he was moving he spontaneously saw a gap between the two players marking him and immediately pushed the ball into there middle and sped up to the ball.

The players tried to react and close the gap but it was already too late, as Tony had already gotten into the box with the ball and if they were not careful with there tackle they could easily give away a penalty. Tony got past the two players and saw enough space for him to shoot as he used his right foot to hit the ball into the right side of the net.

The keeper tried his best but couldn't stop the ball from entering the net. The man city players exploded in excitement as they wheeled away in celebrations.

Before Tony could think of how he was going to celebrate, his teammates were already on him as they jumped and celebrated in excitement.

After they celebrated for a while, the players went back to there half of the pitch for the game to resume.

After the game resumed the West Brom players tried to quickly find a chance to score a goal but the whistle was blown for halftime.

The man city players walked leisurely towards the locker room while the West Brom players jogged off or walked in haste towards the locker rooms.

The staffs of West Brom also rushed to the locker rooms as it was apparent that they had some changes and tactics to implement with the short time.

After the Man City players got into the locker room and sat down Coach Taylor discussed and commended the players.

"Very Nicely done, keep up the performance and be on your guard as West Brom will definitely be making attacking changes and will be more focused on attack."

"So we are to pay more attention to defense and hit them on the counter once we get back hold of the possession. The wingers should ensure...."

Coach Taylor tweaked the formation a little and left the remaining time for the players to rest up till it was time to begin the second half.

Both teams came out for the second half with the fourth official signaling two changes from West Brom.

The referee whistled and the second half began with West Brom kicking off the half.

They played with urgency and committed players for attack as they bombarded the Man City half in other to score a goal.

Anytime man city got back hold of the ball the West Brom players quick transitioned and forced the man city players back killing the counter. The man city players mainly just focused on defending there two goal lead.

Man City were limited to very few chances as there space was enclosed as West Brom upped there game in forcing the man city players to mainly stay in there own half.

In the 60th minute Coach Taylor made a double substitution for man city. He subbed off a central midfielder for a central defender and also subbed off the left winger for John to play in the left wing.

The man city formation changed from a 4-5-1 to a 5-4-1 with there now having three central defenders to try and hold off the attacks from West Brom.

The game continued in a similar faction as West Brom had the better chances in attacks. Man City had few chances to counter there attacks but none of them resulted in a clear chance for a goal.

Tony was beginning to feel his stamina had weakened as he regretted not copying a better stamina skill. He had been running from place to place defending and also trying to hit West Brom on the counter.

He remembered his promise to John to create a good chance for him to face the Goalkeeper one on one.

'Rose we need to really focus on improving my stamina after this match, I never knew playing for this long in high intensity would affect me to this level.'

'Okay we should face that before the next match, I feel you could be subbed off at any time and better make use of your limited time to create a chance for John' Rose advised.

It was already almost the 70th minute and Tony was already getting tired. He used his hands to signal to John to stay on the half way line with the striker of Man City as he would be trying to create a chance for him.

John roamed close to the half way line and the position of the last defender of West Brom, whose outfield players were now all in the Man City half trying to score a goal.

Tony knew all he had to do was to get hold of the ball and throw an accurate forward pass in front of John for him to get to. He had a passing ability of B+ and a crossing ability of C+ so he could easily try to accurately send a ball to a player with little errors.

West Brom continued to pressure Man City who were on the defensive. They continued to pass amongst themselves as they probed for a chance to score a goal.