49 Derby County

*****

The Man City players and the Derby County starting 11's were all properly dressed in there club kits and boots as they were now lined up at the tunnel entrance of the pitch, waiting for the referee to signal for them to move unto the pitch and the match formalities to begin.

Tony was also standing in the line up in the tunnel right at the back of John who was very happy he was starting in the match. He was really excited and even told Tony that he had dreamt about the match when they were on there way to the academy.

Tony remembered he needed to check on the skills he could copy so he checked his stats first to see what skill he should be focused on.

For now since he couldn't meet any world class player whose skill he would target specifically, he now majorly focused on improving a particular skill from a match, he would then use Rose's scanner to check on which player had the easiest condition for that particular skill.

Name: Tony Lane

Age: 18yrs old

Basic stats

Football Knowledge B-

Strength B+

Agility B+

Football Technique B+

Football Skills B+

Free Kick Taking C+

Heading C-

Long Shots C+

Finishing B+

Crossing C+

Passing B+

Speed C+

Stamina B+

Defending C-

Leadership C+

His main focus now was trying to level all of his stats to a grade of B, before he could now start thinking of growing further. He felt he should focus on improving his speed or maybe his crossing from the match.

Rose used her system scanner as she checked the skills from the players while also checking for the conditions to copy.

'I have checked some of the skills, the best skill of Speed is a B- that has a condition of scoring a goal in the match, While the crossing skill of B+ has a condition of achieving two assist from the match.'

Tony continued to think about what skill he should focus on for the match, as the referee gave the players the instruction for them to go on the pitch and the match formalities began.

'I think it's better if we improve on my speed first before we then find an opportunity to improve on our crossing from the next match, but if it's too difficult to score a goal we can then shift our focus on getting two assist to copy the crossing skill.' Tony told Rose as he finally decided on focusing on the speed skill.

The match formalities were completed as the Man City players and Derby players took there positions on there respective sides of the football pitch.

After a while the referee looked at his watch and blew the whistle as Man City kicked off to begin the match.

The tempo of the match was slowly built up as both teams passed amongst themselves as they slowly established a team rhythm and looked for opportunities to put the ball into the goal of the other team.

Man City saw more of the ball as they constantly passed amongst themselves just outside of Derby's 18 yard box looking for a space to attack.

Tony was constantly moving accross the edge of the box at the space behind his team's striker and the derby defenders, as he looked for a player to pass to or a chance to shoot on goal to open the scoring whenever he was in possession of the ball.

Both teams created a couple of half chances, but at the 19th minute the best chance of the match so far went to derby who hit city on the counter. They intercepted the ball from a man city player and immediately began to quickly pass amongst themselves and run towards the Man City post.

They were fast on the counter as they also avoided close defensive attentions by passing the ball out quickly and using there speed to beat the man city defense.

They finally brought the ball into the 18 yard box of City where they released there team's striker to face the man city goalkeeper one on one. The man city keeper didn't wait for the striker to get close as he also rushed out of his line towards the striker in other for him to narrow the shooting angle and to pressure the player into making a wrong decision.

The derby striker prepared himself and then performed a dummy leg movement which failed to successfully decieve the keeper, then he used his right leg to try and chip the ball over the keeper. The keeper tried to jump and intercept the ball but the ball was too high as he could only turn around and watch as the ball started to go down towards the post but just narrowly hit the crossbar and went out of play for a goal kick.

The derby players all sighed at the unluckiness as the match continued and finally the first goal of the match was scored in the 25th minute. John who was playing as the left winger got the ball at the left wing close to the corner line and swung in a cross into the box for the players to compete for the ball.

Tony was also inside the 18 yard box of derby and was also trying use his strength to compete and nod the ball into the net.

The ball was too high as it went over all the players in the box who had jumped and went out to the other side of the 18 yard box, where the right winger of Man City was positioned alone.

He quickly controlled the ball and used his left leg to curl the ball towards the top left corner of the post. The ball went over the sea of players in front of goal and hit the left upright and went into the net.

Immediately the Man City players wheeled away in celebration as they jumped on the right winger who had scored the goal.

After the celebrations the match resumed as the derby players kicked off and passed the ball quickly as they tried to quickly come up with an equaliser.

The match continued as the momentum was shifted towards derby who were now urgently probing for an equaliser. Tony and his teammates were now temporarily focused on defending as they looked for an opportunity to hit derby on the counter.

On the 37th minute derby sent man city a clear warning as a derby midfielder shot a wonderful shot that hit the right upright of the post.

It wasn't over yet as the ball ricocheted off the bar and went towards a spot in the man city box where two man city defenders and two Derby forward players had been waiting to see where the ball would end up.

Immediately they saw the ball coming they all jumped into action but it was the derby striker who reacted first as he managed to slide and hit the ball towards the man city post.

The man city goalkeeper who had dived to try and save the ball that hit the woodwork was still on the floor, he could only watch as the ball rebounded and was hit by the derby striker into the net.