Chapter 3: The Opposite

Wolverhampton Wanderers ended up winning the coin toss which meant that they were going to be the ones starting the match from the kick-off spot.

It wasn't really going to make that much of a difference but it was a good thing for them that they were going to be with the ball from the start of the game.

Their matches against Manchester City always ended terribly for them, they got trashed seven goals to two in their first meeting against the Manchester side this season in the Carabao Cup tournament and they were looking forward to doing something differently today.

"Just before the match kicks off, let's take a look at the formation and lineups from both sides," Tony commented.

Manchester City were starting the match with the four-three-three formation and their manager just like always wasn't pulling his punches against Wolves.

He had Paul Stevens and Pierre Lotus in the center-back positions, the two best defenders in the world at the moment.

Rafael Miguel was in the right-back position and twenty-year-old Davi Sky who had just moved to the club from Benfica was in the left-back position.

Then there was their goalkeeper Moreno Rodriguez who missed out on last season's league golden glove by just one clean sheet.

Axel was up front as the attacking midfielder and he had Pedro Adriano and Maxi Lars to back him up from central midfield.

Their attack was where they packed the real punch starting with Peterson down the left wing, the fourth top scorer in the league at the moment with seventeen goals.

Then they had Merino down the right wing, he had just eleven goals and fifteen assists so far in the league but his impact on the team went beyond goals and assists.

Finally, there was Tacky Martins, the team's striker and the English Premier League's top striker for the past three seasons.

Already securing twenty-four goals in fifteen EPL matches, his goal-scoring ability was unmatched.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were kicking off the match with the four-four-two formation and just like Manchester City, they weren't pulling their punches but they did that in their last meeting and still got trashed.

"Everything is pointing toward City running away with the win once again but I have a feeling Wolves came prepared this time," Mike commented.

"Well, they did get trashed on their home turf and this time they're away from home, we know City hasn't lost or drawn to them at home for the past five years."

The match was set to kick off now as a Wolves player with the number seven below the name 'Fran' on the back of his jersey standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.

The fans were waiting for the whistle and so were the players who were just standing in their positions on their side.

It didn't take long before that high-pitched sound pierced through the atmosphere and as soon as Fran heard it, he quickly sent the ball rolling to the player closest to him.

"There's the whistle and the match is on the way."

Wolves played it safe on their side for a while because they were aware that trying a quick attack against Manchester City was never going to work.

They've tried it a couple of times and the one time they came close to actually pulling it off, Moreno decided to turn on beast mode and make an unbelievable save.

They were passing the ball around in their own half close to the kick-off spot and Axel whose center of play was mostly from that point to the box was busy trying to get the ball off their feet.

"Oh, come on just play the ball into my feet just this once." The youngster sighed after one of the midfielders got past him with a body faint.

"They're finally starting to push forward."

Fran was moving down the right with the ball now but he wasn't moving too fast because he had Davi coming toward him from the front and Maxi coming toward him from the side.

He was aware that Maxi was the easier target so, just before the both of them could get too close to him, he pushed the ball toward the left with his left foot and since Maxi happened to have his legs wide open, he ended up nutmegging him.

"Way to get out of the tight spot, Fran."

The striker quickly sent the ball rolling to his teammate who was near the edge of the box so that he could link to any of those who had already covered up down the wings.

He succeeded in getting the ball to the teammate but he should have reviewed things clearly before making that pass because the player was surrounded immediately and it didn't take long before Paul got the ball off his feet.

"Manchester City gets their first touch on the ball."

Paul had to quickly send the ball rolling to Pedro down the right and without hesitation, the midfielder linked the ball up to Axel up front.

He placed the ball a little ahead of Axel with the midfielder in the area also heading toward it but just before he could get his foot on it, Axel got his foot on it and changed its direction a little to the right before moving past him from the left.

"Axel's first touch of the game, also his first career touch, and it's a good one to cleverly get past Onan," Tony commented.

The attacking midfielder was racing down the middle and he still had a lot of space to cover before anyone could get to him.

One of the center backs had to quickly rush out to prevent him from getting close to the edge of the box.

"Here you go, Peter." He muttered before he sent the ball rolling to the winger down the left and pushed forward.

"Peterson."

The winger tried to race down the wing with the ball and maybe cross it in but he didn't have the space he needed so he moved back with the ball to find another option.

"Hey, Peter! Give it back!" Axel yelled from near the edge of the box.

He was mostly unmarked because the opponents were expecting a cross.

"Okay," Peterson replied before he quickly sent the ball rolling back to him.

One of the opposing players near the edge of the box quickly dashed out at the moment to try and get the ball off him but Axel had already anticipated that.

He feigned moving toward the left with the ball to disorient the player before quickly getting past him with a roulette spin.

He still had the defender in front of him now to deal with but he had no intentions of taking him on and just drilled the ball in low to Tacky who had already gotten in position.

"He drills it in low."

'Now, my first career assist.' The youngster concluded in his mind.

That was a clear chance for Tacky but he ended up blasting it straight at the goalkeeper's hands and that sent the ball flying up a little toward where Axel was.

"No!" He screamed before quickly diving toward the ball to get his head on it just before it could hit the floor.

"Axel!"

This time there was nothing the goalkeeper could do as the ball flew right past him from the right and went straight into the goalpost.

"And he puts it straight into the onion bag!" Tony exclaimed. "His first team debut and he puts his team ahead in the first ten minutes of the game!"

"But that was such a clear setup for Tacky and he ended up blasting it at the goalkeeper, good thing Axel was there to capitalize on the rebound."

The home fans were screaming at the top of their voice now as Peterson quickly raced to Axel who was still on the floor and picked him up on his shoulders.

He was always happy to score a goal especially when it was one that would put his team ahead, but still.

'How did he even miss that? That was supposed to be my first assist.' He sighed inwardly. 'No worries, I still have a lot of time left for that, I just hope they don't start missing clear chances now.'