Nico had to change tactics way earlier than expected. Raphael was an annoying barrier that didn't allow them to go upwards. An annoying barrier that they couldn't do anything about. Whenever there was an air ball in the box, he was sure to clear the ball.
Adrienne passed the ball to Eric who passed it to Neo. Neo passed the ball to Aesop who immediately executed a sweet hold-up play.
Krystal Fc's hold-up play was something that was always unexpected. Just when the defender expected them to launch a very fast paced attack, they would suddenly Lu stall with their hold up play, before suddenly picking up crazy pace and attacking with their whole team.
Aesop backed the defender as he guarded the ball and stalled fot time so that his teammates would run into the box.
Since Raphael was there, Aesop couldn't pass the ball to Eric so that Eric would loop in a high flying pass. Aesop instead, used his heel to flick the ball towards Cai.
Cai's control cut past Raphael who immediately pursued him. Cai used an elastico to get past Gerard and a roulette to shake off two defenders that came to him.
That was one reason Nico liked using Cai in his attacks. Cai's dribbles and speed allowed him to take on many defenders alone. Right now, Cai had attracted a lot of defenders to himself and he had left penalty area almost empty.
I've had enough.
Stanley Reynolds, the captain of Galaxy stars had an empty look in his eyes as he suddenly sped towards Cai.
Cai didn't notice this because Stanley wasn't close to him. Cai passed the ball to Adrienne but in the following second, a figure had appeared and intercepted the pass.
Stanley spun around and passed the ball to Micah. Micah's first touch was to cross the ball over to his brother, Neon.
Neon released another cross to Asher and they were already on a crazy counter. Krystal Fc didn't even know when the counter began, all they knew was that the ball was already half way into their half and they were short of men to stop the counter.
Asher released another cross and it flew towards the Flanks where Heath was running at high speed.
Heath controlled the ball to run forward and he was set loose.
Galaxy stars players played like they were solving a puzzle, and the with the final pass just now, it was remaining the last piece of the puzzle.
Heath released a low pass to the middle, where Destiny Xavi was.
Destiny's leg were thrown backwards, ready to execute the finish.
The fans had already started chanting his praise, Destiny never missed a goal.
Ugh!!
Lida groaned as his body hit the floor hard, in a bid to intercept the pass.
The ball hit the post and Zuri immediately caught it.
Nico's voice broke the atmosphere.
Counter!!
Zuri threw the ball upwards, towards Bice. Nice ignored all the players beside him and launched a beautiful high pass forward, and the ball easily found Aesop, their target man.
Aesop used his large body wisely and he held Stanley down. Aesop quickly leveraged on Stanley's own body to spin and create a space between the both of them.
Aesop passed the ball to Mark and the No 11 controlled the ball nicely.
Mark dribbled to the flanks before turning around.
Mark returned the pass to Aesop whose control sent the ball flying over Divine and he continued his run.
With that last dribble, Krystal fc had gotten into the penalty box of Galaxy stars.
All that was left was for the ball to land so that Aesop would patch the ball onto the net.
Suddenly, Raphael appeared beside Aesop with a showering jump to the ball. Raphael got the header away and the ball was cleared.
Aesop was genuinely in awe. That was an angelic jump that Raphael had displayed. No wonder he was known as the Angel's shower. Even the way his hair fell backwards and danced to the sound of his jump, it all gave an angelic feeling.
The throw-in was swiftly intercepted by Stanley who passed the ball to the Gk. Neo looked around, he wasn't seeing anything that would be helpful to him.
Just then, Bice tapped him.
Nico said we should switch to defensive gears, when we win back the ball, counter them with full speed. The defense would be mainly centered on captain and Liam, while the rest of us would be the supporting cast.
Neo furrowed his brows. Nico…what are you thinking?
In the sidelines, Nico's hand was on his chin. He was obviously in deep thoughts.
Adrienne…how much longer do you need…?