Greatest Of All Legends

Chapter 131: Vs Rio Ave IV

The Porto players filed out of their locker room and headed back out to the field in a somber and determined.

Coming out of the tunnel, the players in bibs headed to the bench while the rest of them headed to the field, making different motions to prepare themselves for the second half both physically and mentally.

On the bench, there was a new appearance in the form of Danilo Perreira who had a less than pleased look on his face as he was obviously not happy being on the bench, but there was nothing that could be done to change that situation now.

A few seconds later, the second half kicked off with Mehdi Taremi being the one to kick off the second half.

The Porto players immediately rushed into the Rio Ave half of the field, taking their positions as instructed by the manager and trying to steal the ball back from the opposing team.

Of course, the Rio Ave team wasn’t just going to let them have the ball just like that and they quickly started passing the ball among themselves, trying to make sure they retained possession, yet their passes still had an adventurous nature to them.

It was clear what their manager had told them to do in the second half.

The Rio Ave manager had told his players to not stop attacking the Porto side as sitting back against a team as strong as F.C Porto was the same thing as inviting trouble over and sitting down without putting up a fight as Porto was more likely to equalize even if they tried to park the bus.

But if they kept the pressure on and kept the Porto team from fully focusing on the attacking side of their game, they were more likely to not only keep the Porto side from scoring against them… there was also the chance that they could further their lead.

This was what the Rio Ave manager was banking on, and it seemed to be working because even when the Porto team gained the ball, they were being a bit too cautious with the ball and only trying to make sure they didn’t lose the ball.

Yet, even with how cautious the Porto team was playing, they were still slightly overpowering the Rio Ave team and were able to keep them from building up their attack, but they were only able to do so for so long and soon enough the dam burst as Rio Ave finally found enough space to launch an attack in the 59th minute.

The Rio Ave left winger had received the ball from one of his teammates and with his first touch had sent the ball to Mehdi Taremi who had come deep to receive the ball.

Immediately he sent the ball Taremi’s way, he immediately dashed into the Porto half, trying to escape from Wilson Manafa who wasn’t letting him just run away and stayed on him.

Taremi received the ball with his back to Ivan Marcano and trapped the ball deftly with his first touch before sending a chip pass over Pepe into the path of the sprinting left winger.

The Rio Ave left winger headed the ball forward as soon as it came into his path and chased after it as fast as his legs could carry him, doing his best to beat Wilson Manafa for pace.

The Porto defenders were unwilling to let be scored against thrice within the same match and immediately gave chase, but the Rio Ave left winger managed to stay just ahead of them as he ran down the left wing, unable to cut inside due to the presence of Pepe running alongside him on the more central parts of the field.

Reaching the side of Porto’s penalty box, he immediately sent a ball towards an awaiting Mehdi Taremi.

The Iranian striker jumped up to meet the ball, but before the ball could reach him, Ivan Marcano who had been watching carefully had jumped earlier than he did and caught the ball with his head first, sending the ball out for a corner kick.

All the Porto players and fans heaved a sigh of relief as they watched the ball go out of play instead of the back of their net, but they didn’t completely let go of their tension as there was Rio Ave had gained a corner in exchange for missing that opportunity.

The players of both teams quickly arranged themselves in the Porto 18-yard box, both of them with different intentions.

*Fweeeeeee*

The referee’s whistle sounded shrilly and the Rio Ave player who stood over the corner whipped the ball into the Porto 18-yard box.

The players crashed against themselves as they tried to place themselves into the path of the ball, and then finally rose into the air.

Despite the efforts of the Porto team’s players, it was one of the Rio Ave center backs that got his head to the ball first and he directed the ball at the Porto goal.

Fortunately for the Porto side, Augustin Marchesin was up to the challenge and he immediately lunged at the ball and got his hand to it, managing to keep it away from the ball, but the ball didn’t head out of play and bounced back into play just a yard away from the right post of the goal.

Before the Porto players could get to the ball and clear it a figure they knew and dreaded appeared behind the ball with his leg swinging hard and smashing the ball back where it came from.

This time the Porto team wasn’t as lucky as the ball smashed past Augustin Marchesin who hadn’t even gotten back up and into the back of the net.

Mehdi Taremi almost didn’t wait to see the ball fall into the back of the net before he took off down the sidelines.

{It’s happened yet again and to everyone’s surprise as well}

{Porto not only bottled their lead, they are now two goals behind, and it is all thanks to this one man who has finally gotten his hat-tric… Oh wait, the referee has something here} The commentator was already speaking in a voice filled with ecstasy when he noticed the referee on the sidelines holding up the offside flag.

*Fweeeeeeeee*

The referee’s shrill whistle put an end to all the Rio Ave team’s celebration and all the Rio Ave fans who were jumping up in joy and excitement at the thought of utterly destroying the league leaders at their home ground immediately paused their celebrations and stared at the ongoing situation in slight surprise, while waiting for clarity of the situation.

After all, it wouldn’t be too late to celebrate a few minutes later, right?