64 Stoke City (2)

Immediately the ball went into the net, the man city players and fans immediately shouted in celebration, while the city players ran towards a corner of the pitch to go celebrate.

John slid on his knees while his other teammates climbed on him as they all congratulated him.

Coach Taylor who was on the sidelines with his coaching staffs were also all very happy as they also celebrated the goal. The goal was a result of the painstaking hours they had put in practicing some new attacking methods and style for the past two weeks.

After the players were done celebrating they all stood up and began walking back to their positions to resume the game. John went closer to Tony and thanked him for the assist before the referee blew his whistle and the match resumed.

Stoke City who had been defensive for the first quarter of an hour where now playing a little bit more freely as they committed a little bit more players on attack.

Tony noticed the change and was a little bit happier as he loved teams that also came out to attack, as it was easier to score against them than against defensive teams.

Stoke City tried to quickly equalise the goal but instead were nearly hit on the counter after they came out to attack. A Man City midfielder had won back possession of the ball around the half way line and immediately started to run with the ball into the other half of the pitch.

When he was getting closer to the box he passed the ball to the right winger who then saw an opportunity to pass the ball to the Man City Striker who had a little bit of space to shoot from the central side of the pitch.

The man city striker recieved the ball and quickly used his right foot to shoot the ball towards the right top corner of the post before he was closed down, but the Goalkeeper managed to push the ball out for a corner.

The game continued with both teams getting opportunities, but none successfully putting the ball into the net. Tony was also looking for a chance to score a goal for him to complete his match conditions to copy a skill from the match as he had already completed an assist.

The second goal of the match finally went in at the 33rd minute due to Stoke City now being more open and not as committed to totally defending as in the beginning of the match.

Man City had possession of the ball and the ball had gone to the right winger who was at the right side of the pitch.

He had looked for a pass but finally decided to cross the ball into the box for the man city players who were sparsely arranged in the box including Tony.

The cross was not too good and was easily nodded out by a Stoke City player. But the defender had miscued it and the headed ball moved akwardly and went to the sides directly to the man city striker who was now free and a had a direct route on goal.

He quickly recieved the ball and went closer to the goalkeeper who was defenseless and could only decide to rush out of his goal to try and block the shooting angles.

The Man City striker used the inside of his right foot and sent the ball into the bottom right corner as the goalkeeper could only use his boot to only slightly touch the ball, but the ball still ended up inside the net.

The Man City players all went off to celebrate there second goal of the match while the Stoke City players could only stare at different places in sadness and pain.

After celebrating, the game soon resumed and the Stoke City players immediately tried to increase the pressure and find a goal. Arround the 40th minute they finally got an opportunity to break through the defense and scored a goal as the Stoke City striker got some space from outside the box and shot a thunderous shot past the goalkeeper and into the net.

Tony and his teammates were a little bit sad at the goal but it was not anyone's fault. They also increased the pressure and went to attack the Stoke City's box whose players were now mostly defending their box.

Man city used a stream of short passes and movements as they unsuccessfully continued to try and break into the box to score a goal.

Tony had been observing that the weather had been slightly getting cloudier and a few drops of rain had began to drop here and there while they continued to attack. Stoke City had also won back possession of the ball on some occasions, but had unsuccessfully managed to score from the resulting counter.

Tony saw the fourth official raise the sign signifying that there was only two extra minutes of added time and he knew that he had to quickly try and score a goal in the first half when the weather was still normal and increase his team's lead.

Man city had possession of the ball and had been kept at bay outside the Stoke City box. Tony who was positioned centrally outside the Stoke City box after a while recieved the ball and faced the swarm of Stoke players between him and goal.

The Man city players who had been passing and moving in the box as they tried to draw the attention of Stoke City's defenders and score a goal. Tony raised his leg to pass to his left and then performed a feint and quickly changed direction and went past the player on his opposite side.

The Stoke players had not expected it and were caught a little bit flat-footed as Tony charged past the player and into the box. The next player quickly tried to cover up but Tony slightly nudged the ball as it went in between his legs and he went past the player.

There was still a player between Tony and the goalkeeper but he could not afford to dribble past him due to the fact that the other Stoke City players were already closing down around him.

Tony quickly used his left foot and shot a speculative shot on goal past the defender. Tony clearly underestimated the defenders reach, as the defender stretched his legs in other to block the ball from going past him.

But the defender didn't connect with the ball properly as he had now deflected the ball to the other side of the post where the goalkeeper had just moved away from as they both watched the ball go into the net.

Tony counted himself lucky as he ran to the side of the pitch with his teammates who had now begin to jump all over him while the Man City fans and players were all shouting in joy over the incredible goal.

Tony was lucky for the fortuitous deflection as he felt the goalkeeper would have easily gathered his initial shot on goal. Luckily since his shot was initially on goal, the goal would still be counted as a goal for him and not as an own goal for the Stoke City defender.

After they had gotten back to there position, the game resumed as the dispirited Stoke players tried to quickly create a chance to score a goal to reduce the deficit, but the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, which ended 3:1 in favour of Man City.

The Man City players all went into the locker rooms happily to rest and recuperate. The Man City staffs were also very happy with the players performance as they all went into the locker room.