八字万年历

Chapter 180: Road to Liga NOS Champions 2019/20 VII

Porto fans had taken to social media and criticized and condemned the referee’s actions which had brought a large coverage to the situation.

Since almost everyone was majorly using electronics due to the effects of the COVID-19 virus, videos and memes of all kinds were flying everywhere and fans of other Portuguese clubs found out about the matter and the matter blew up even bigger, after all, nobody wanted to lose a match due to bad refereeing.

Post-match TV shows also had their show hosts and pundits criticizing the referee’s controversial decisions, especially the red card he had shown Jason while disallowing the goal that could have equalized the two teams and maybe even acted as a pivot to lead the Porto team to a win.

With this much attention given to the situation, it did not need to be said that the referee who had presided over the Desportivo das Aves vs Porto match was in serious trouble.

For Jason however, it did not make any difference.

Sure it was gratifying, but it would not change anything, his team had still lost the game and he was still suspended for the next game and would be watching the game from his couch when he was supposed to be on the pitch.

The one match rest had had an extra, compulsory, one match rest added to it and he was not happy about it, but then again, there was nothing he could do about it.

Going on social media to throw shades at the referee was not something he wanted to do as that would only make him want to beat up the guy even more and that was not good for his mental state as it would leave him annoyed so he did the next best thing and channeled his annoyance into his training.

Morning to night, he trained, only taking enough breaks so that he wouldn’t get injured from exhausting his muscles.

Since he wasn’t going to be added to the next match’s squad, he could use this time to go harder at training than usual, and that was exactly what he did.

Thus time ran by and the next match day came.

**23rd June 2020**

Porto would be hosting Boavista at the Estadio do Dragao for the match.

Since Jason was suspended, he was going to be watching the match from his house with the company of the popcorn, muffins, and smoothies he had prepared… and Fabio Viera who was also not added to the match line-up.

“Have they started?” Jason asked as he placed the smoothies on the table and sat on the couch.

“They’re about to,” Viera answered, stuffing some popcorn in his mouth.

Hearing his answer, Jason turned his eyes back to the screen to see that they were currently showing the line-ups of the match.

Seeing the line-up, Jason realized that the manager had reverted back to the 4-4-2 holding formation for this match and he was using a very familiar line-up.

Augustin Marchesin was the goalkeeper as usual, Alex Telles and Wilson Manafa were the left and right backs respectively while Pepe and Ivan Marcano were the center backs.

On the right and left sides of the midfield were Jesus Corona and Luis Diaz respectively while Danilo Perreira and Sergio Oliveira were in the center of the midfield.

The two strikers upfront were Tiquiniho Soares and Moussa Marega.

Seeing this line-up and checking it against the Boavista line-up, it was obvious who was the stronger team.

All that remained was to confirm whether the stronger names on the Porto line-up could deliver and bring forth a win for their team.

It did not take long for the Porto team to stamp their presence on the game with a goal from Tiquiniho Soares who finished off a cross from Jesus Corona which was the final pass to a long string of passes, thus sending Porto into the lead in just the 16th minute of the game.

With Porto taking the lead, the Boavista team quickly changed their playing style and sent more people forward, trying to grab an equalizer and bring them back on equal terms with the Porto team.

Unfortunately, their efforts had the opposite effects as what they were hoping for as barely 7 minutes later Luis Diaz found the net after a splendid run where he cut in from the right wing and did a one-two routine with Sergio Oliveira and then finally finishing the attack with a curling shot around the Boavista goalkeeper in the 23rd minute of the game.

With that, the scoreboard was changed once again with Porto taking the lead by two goals.

This caused the Boavista team to increase their efforts and unfortunately for them, with their increase in their efforts came an increase in their desperation. and in the 41st minute of the game, a Boavista defender brought Tiquiniho Soares down in the penalty box right after he had received a pass from Marega and was about to send the ball into the back of the net.

The Boavista team had given away a penalty in an unfortunate turn of events, thus giving the Porto team a chance to further their lead, but the player who had brought Soares down would definitely argue that leaving Soares alone to take the shot would have most likely ended with a goal so all he had done was give the team a chance at stopping the penalty.

After all, a penalty was actually a 50/50 chance at scoring a goal no matter how anyone tried to sugarcoat it.

Of course, with enough skill, one could increase the percentages in their favor, but even then, there were still variables that could occur.

Luckily for the Porto team and unluckily for the Boavista team, none of those variables affected Alex Telles as he smoothly sent the keeper flying the wrong way and sent his team even further from the Boavista team.

{Over the hills and far away, no catching them now!}

{After a disappointing outing in their last match, the Porto team are showing their dominance and sweeping away their current opponents!}

{It’s almost like the fury of their last loss is being poured on the Boavista team and only heaven’s mercy can help them now, otherwise we might end this match with a cricket score}

{If you beg to differ, you can place your bets, but I hope you are not betting your house rent!} The commentator went wild after the Porto goal that sent them to 3 and their opponents still being at 0.