八字万年历

Chapter 213: Taca de Portugal Finals 2020 V

Of course, Augustin Marchesin stayed in goal, but by his facial expression and how he pumped his fists vigorously in excitement, one would know that he was also very happy.

The Porto fans in their homes were enamored by the goal, but more than that the joy at taking the lead once again filled their bodies and they jumped around in joy shouting loudly.

In more local streets, one could hear the shouts of joy from Porto fans nearby and even in the houses right beside them.

While the celebration among the Porto fans could continue for a long time, the celebrations in the stadium had to stop for a while and the players began heading back to their half of the field to resume the match once again.

*Fweeeeee*

A few seconds later, after the players were all back in their respective halves of the field, the referee’s shrill whistle that blew for kickoff for the fifth time in the game sounded and the Benfica team immediately kicked off.

Benfica didn’t immediately launch an attack after passing and contented themselves with keeping the ball away from the Porto players who ran at them with everything they had.

Fueled by the goal that had once again given them the lead, the Porto team pressed the Benfica team hard with their aim being to retrieve the ball and go in full momentum to try and get another game to put the game beyond reach of their opponents.

Benfica however were not planning to let that happen and did their best to keep the ball away from the Porto team and even when they lost possession a few times, they immediately launched a collective effort to press the opponent and retrieve the ball before Porto could do anything with the ball.

Despite majorly being defensive, Benfica weren’t letting down their attacking efforts as the end goal of whatever tactic they were following was to get a goal and get back on equal terms with Porto once again.

They could then go on to get a winning goal or at least stick it out till the end of 90 minutes and try to get a winning goal in extra time.

Of course, there were also penalties, but those thoughts were still a luxury for the Benfica team that was still behind at this point.

They would have to give more than a hundred percent of what they had if they were going to try and get back in the game and that was exactly what they planned on doing.

#77th minute…

Benfica had given all they had and some extra in the last few minutes, but the Porto team matched their efforts, doing their utmost best to keep the Benfica team from getting the goal they so desperately wanted, but no matter how they played, there were bound to be a few holes somewhere that Benfica could take advantage of.

Soon one of those holes opened up and a Benfica player sent a grounded through ball down towards the right wing behind Alex Telles.

The Benfica right winger rushed after the ball to catch it before cutting into the box and sending in a low cross into the path of the arriving Carlos Vinicius.

Carlos Vinicius managed to catch the ball with his foot, but no sooner had it left his foot when it was obstructed by the steel-like leg of the Porto captain who immediately blocked the shot with his right leg.

The ball rebounded off Pepe’s leg and came back to Carlos Vinicius who immediately took the shot again, but he wasn’t able to use as much strength as he put into the first shot thus the ball was easily deflected by Augustin Marchesin out of play.

{Saved again by the Porto No. 1!}

{The groans of the Benfica fans must be becoming more apparent wherever they are as their team is gradually running out of time and chances to equalize}

{It’s clear that the Benfica team is playing well, but the Porto team is doing more of the same and they have kept the Benfica team from getting the equalizer they want so badly}

{We still have at least thirteen minutes left for this match, will we get a surprise} The commentator spoke as the players on the field got ready for the corner.

*Fweeeeeee*

The corner was taken, but the Benfica team wasn’t able to gain anything from it, and the match continued.

#82nd minute…

The Porto team had stepped up their efforts at trying to put the game out of sight and they had gotten a chance at goal which had unfortunately been deflected off its intended target and the Porto team was gifted a corner kick.

It was a chance for them to still gain something from their attack and the Porto players in the Benfica team’s 18-yard box pushed against the Benfica players as they waited for the incoming ball.

*Fweeeee*

Telles ran up to the ball and swung it into Benfica’s 28-yard box with a left-footed cross.

The ball flew high into the air and the players of both teams battled against each other as they tried to predict where the ball would end up, and when the ball was finally close enough, those who were nearest to the path of the ball leaped into the air.

Porto’s center-back, Chancel Mbemba somehow managed to out-jump everyone and get his head to the ball first, sending it at the top right of the Benfica goal.

The Benfica goalkeeper saw the change in the ball’s trajectory and immediately began moving, running as fast as he could towards the right side of the goal before finally jumping with his body fully extended, his gloved hand drawing closer to the ball every millisecond, but in the end, he missed the ball by a few inches.

The ball dropped harmlessly into the goal and hit the right side of the net before falling to the ground behind the goal line.