Chapter 23: They Come Easier

Three days later, and it was finally time for the game against Everton.

It was a home match which meant that Evertom had to travel to the Etihad Stadium to take them on.

After Beating Brentford three days ago, Manchester City were still three points behind Aston Villa because they managed to beat Chelsea two goals to one the day after that to make sure they didn't lose their lead. 

Today was match day eighteen and it was second-placed Manchester City versus twelfth-placed Everton.

There wasn't much hype to the game, but a lot of people were looking forward to seeing how the match was going to play out.

The weak teams somehow find ways to beat the stronger teams in games like this, and a lot of people were looking forward to seeing that.

Most especially, those who used the high odds of City being the favorites to bet against them.

Axel had made a full recovery and after showing what he could do during the training sessions leading up to the match today, Gregory decided to start him in the match, but he was told to be careful.

As a teenager whose body was still developing he didn't have to overdo things.

The players from both sides were already lined up in front of the stadium now with the fans from both sides cheering them on.

"After that win against Brentford, City has now extended their winning streak to eight games and four consecutive clean sheets. A win today will extend it to a nine-game winning streak but whether they pull that off with another clean sheet or not is up to them." Tony articulated.

"Everton on the other hand are on a three-game losing streak and losing this game will extend that to four. And since Leeds United and Sheffield United have won their match day eighteen matches, it will see them drop to fourteenth place." Mike expressed. 

The players went around to shake each other's hands, and after that, the captains made their way to the officials for the coin toss. 

Everton ended up winning the coin toss, and after seeing that outcome, Rafael let out a sigh before he began to make his way back to his teammates. 

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

Manchester City were starting the match with a four-three-three formation just like always but Gregory wasn't using his full starting lineup.

First, Davi Sky wasn't starting the match as a player named Norman Loop had to take his place in that position, he had the number twenty-two on the back of his shirt.

Then in midfield, Maxi had to be replaced by Novich who had to fill in for him in his absence when they faced Brentford.

Maxi had to miss the match because of his yellow card ban but he just wasn't going to start in this one because Gregory didn't want him to.

Finally, Paul wasn't going to be playing alongside Pierre today because the center-back was being replaced by a defender who went by the name, Codex, he had the number twelve on the back of his shirt.

That was it for all the changes. Axel was back to leading the midfield as the attacking midfielder and he just couldn't wipe that grin off his face.

Unlike Manchester City, Everton weren't pulling their punches because they didn't have any reason to do something like that against a team like Manchester City.

They were kicking off the match with a four-four-two formation and from the look of things, their goal was to tangle and disable their opponent's midfield.

The match was about to kick off now as an Everton player in his black kit could be seen standing over the ball in the kick-off spot.

He had the name Ezra written above the number nine on the back of his shirt, and then on his right was his teammate who had the name Leo written above the number ten on the back of his shirt. 

There was a little moment of silence just before the referee blew his whistle, and as soon as that high-pitched sound pierced through the air, Ezra quickly sent the ball rolling to the player behind him.

"There's the whistle and we are on the way."

The midfielder who had the name Gomes written above the number eight on the back of his shirt got his foot on the ball and without hesitation sent it rolling to Leo a little to the left.

"Leo Rodriguez."

Novich quickly closed up on him at that moment but the number ten dragged him to the left before quickly turning to the right, Novich wasn't able to keep up and ended up slipping.

Leo thought he was through when Andrea suddenly popped in front of him and took the ball off his feet with a neat tackle. 

"Andrea, there to make sure Novich's humiliation wasn't for nothing." 

Leo quickly tried to take the ball from the midfielder with Ezra coming in from behind but he was able to escape from in between both of them with the ball before he sent it rolling to Axel.

"Axel."

The attacking midfielder pushed a little forward with the ball but it didn't take long before he ran into a wall in the form of two opposing players.

However, that wasn't a problem as he found Peterson up ahead a little and slipped the ball past both of the players to get it to him. 

"Peterson."

Peterson didn't have the space he needed to move forward and since Tacky wasn't in a good position, he ended up pushing it back to Norman almost as soon as he got it.

"Back to Norman, they're being cautious." 

Norman gave the ball a little touch to move it to the right a little, and without hesitation, he sent it flying over to Andrea.

"Sends it flying over to Andrea."

The midfielder brought the ball down with his chest and without hesitation, he sent it rolling to Merino.

Merino had to quickly return the ball because of the position he was in, after that, he moved a little closer to his teammate to drag the defenders along with him.

He gave them the impression that Andrea was going to return the ball to him unaware Andrea had already read the intention of his teammate's movement.

He feigned passing the ball before suddenly lifting over toward the middle to set someone up.

That person was supposed to be Tacky but Axel caught the gist of what was going before the striker could and quickly zoomed in on the location.

He swiftly moved past both of the center backs there before the ball could drop and gave it a push further with his head.

The ball dropped to the floor and he quickly took off with it with everyone else rushing after him from behind, it was a one-on-one situation.

"It's one-on-one! Can he put it away?!"

Just as the midfielder got close to the edge of the box with the ball, the goalkeeper attempted to rush out but that was his mistake as Axel took advantage of that opportunity to neatly lob the ball over him.

There was no stopping that as the ball ended up hitting the goal line before bouncing into the goalpost.

"It's in! There was no stopping that! They have the lead in under three minutes."

"I might as well celebrate this one." The youngster muttered before quickly taking off to the sidelines.

He screamed at the top of his voice before jumping as high as he could.

The fans were off their seats and his teammates were quickly rushing in from behind while the opposing team had devastated looks on their faces.

"That's his second goal for Manchester City in three games, what a midfielder this kid is turning out to be. He read Andreas' intentions clearly without any sign and got into that position before anyone knew what was going on." Tony articulated.

Peterson couldn't help but lift him up as soon as he got to him and now he was stuck in between his teammates with mixed expressions.

'It's not like there was any way for me to provide an assist in that situation but still, it's like goals come easier for me compared to assists. This sucks.'