58 Feeling Down
Man City now had most of there players focused on attacking while United were now focused on defending thier one goal lead.
Tony also tried to pull the strings of the match but he couldn't do anything to force a goal. He could only occasionally pass the ball off to other players as he tried to find a chance for goal as the amount of players between him and the post was too many.
At the 83rd minute he had the ball and quickly accelerated as he tried to dribble past them and get into the box, but just as he successfully got the ball past the second player, another player quickly slid and took him down with the ball from the side.
The referee blew the whistle for a foul as both teams began to prepare for the free kick which was about 23 yards away from goal.
While they were preparing for the freekick, Both teams made substitutions as United made some changes to reinforce there defense while Coach Taylor subbed John in to replace the left back as Man City now had more attackers than defenders on the pitch.
When they were done the right winger of Man City took the freekick as the ball went over the wall of united defenders and dropped down to the post as the United goalkeeper easily caught the ball and lay on the floor to waste time.
After that the game continued as United tried to slow down the pace of the match while City did the opposite in a bid to look for a goal.
The game was now really tense as both teams were committing fouls on the opposition to quickly get hold of the ball or to stop an attack.
Three minutes of extra time had been added to the match, as Tony realised that he had never been this frustrated by a team's defense as he tried to find an opportunity to make an impact but the United players could still carry on as they continued to press and see out the match.
United had top quality players and were really drilled in defense as they were really determined to see the game through.
After some minutes the referee blew the final whistle to end the match in a narrow victory of 1:0 in favour of as United who had been totally focused on defense and time wasting.
They successfully frustrated the city players who had tried all there possible best in looking for any opportunity to put the ball into the net but were not successful.
After the referee blew the whistle to end the match, the United players and fans all jumped up and shouted as they celebrated there win over there city neighbors, while the man city fans were already quickly leaving the stadium.
Tony and the City players recieved some empty words and actions of sympathy from the United players who were only appearing to keep up appearances for sportmanship, as the city players quickly walked towards the locker rooms dejectedly.
The players were all sad and moody by the loss as they had there showers and dressed up before Coach Taylor came into the locker room.
He was visibly disappointed but decided to console the players and encouraged them a bit as this was only there first loss of the season.
"It was a good match were we were only unlucky to have conceeded the goal, but to be sincere we were not adequately prepared to score the goals. So all of you guys should be prepared for the following week of training that would be mostly focused on attack." Coach Taylor analysed the match for the players.
"So get ready and rest properly there would be serious training from Monday morning, as there are a lot of things we have to do this week before our next match" Coach Taylor told the players in other to lift there spirits.
The players all nodded and quickly got dressed and went into the team bus for the short journey back to the Academy.
Tony never knew he could feel this way after a match, and it was only just an academy match. He began to think what Messi and the barca players felt after there champions league humiliating defeats.
And players who managed to get to the final of a championship and then lose the match that could have changed there lives. Not to talk of the feeling a player would have after loosing a World Cup final.
He was used to the feeling of watching Man City or the England team lose a match but the feeling of playing in a match and then losing a competitive match was on a whole other level.
The mood in the bus was not as lively as it usually was and even Tony and John who sat together were in no mood to discuss as they only talked about very few things from when they got on the bus and when Tony drove his car from the academy to go drop John off at home, before he then drove to his home.
His parents and younger brother told him some positive things about the match to lift his spirits as his dad even encouraged him that they were only just unlucky.
Tony in his honest opinion of the match could only agreed with his father felt they were unlucky in some aspects of the match that could have changed the game.
The whole family all sat down at the dinning and had there dinner together while they discussed about other things aside from football.
When they were done Tony went into his room and lay on his bed as he replayed the loss in his head a little.
No player liked to lose a match especially when it was against a team that was considered your number one rival.
"Hey it's only one loss so don't feel dejected or you may gradually allow this to negatively affect your game" Rose comforted him.
"Yeah, but I never knew loosing a game could be this painful, I should be better after I sleep it off." Tony said as he lay in his bed and thought about the match before he slowly dozed off.
