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Chapter 280: The Blue Side of Manchester IV

While the Porto players celebrated their goal at the ETIHAD stadium, the Porto fans who couldn’t be at the stadium did not show less enthusiasm and excitement as they celebrated from their homes.

On the sidelines, Sergio Conceicao clenched his fist and a hint of a smile appeared on his face as he turned away from the players celebrating.

He would not admit it, but he was more than a little happy at having taken her lead first, but he also knew that it was too early to get overly joyous at scoring a goal.

He knew how dangerous his players’ opponents were, especially when they were on the back foot, and it was his job to remind his players before they got carried away.

As the Porto players headed back to their half of the field, Sergio Conceicao repeatedly told the players to maintain their focus and composure and the players nodded affirmatively as they took to their positions on the field.

Soon the game resumed with another kick-off from the Manchester City team after a shrill whistle blast from the referee.

#24th minute…

The match between Manchester City and Porto had heated up after Porto had scored and now the Manchester City team was raining down attacks in the form of players and balls into the Porto team’s penalty box.

It was like the Manchester City team had chosen to no longer take a no from the Porto defenders as an answer and they somehow managed to squeeze the ball into the Porto penalty box and past the Porto players.

At first, Porto was able to keep up with most of the attempts by the Manchester City players, but soon they were being overwhelmed by the Manchester City players’ constant rotation.

The off-the-ball movement of the Manchester City players was impossible to keep up with as every player on the Manchester City team was always moving to keep themselves free which always left at least one or two options open for a pass to the player with the ball.

Unsurprisingly enough, even with all the confusing movements from the Manchester City players, it was only the Porto players who were confused and finding it hard to keep up.

The Manchester City players were becoming freer and settling into their element and the Porto team’s defensive grasp on them was rapidly loosening and after a few wasted chances, Oleksandr Zinchenko found Raheem Sterling with a through pass.

Raheem Sterling had just run past Wilson Manafa as he received the pass, smoothly bringing it under control and cutting inside the Porto penalty box from his wing.

With Raheem Sterling having escaped from his grasp, Wilson Manafa immediately began to chase him down, not willing to let him get away, but he had barely touched Sterling from behind with a plan to hassle him off the ball when Sterling crumbled to the floor like his skeleton was made of air.

Wilson Manafa’s hand immediately went up in the air to signify that he had barely touched him, but as if the universe had decided to throw all the bad luck in the world his way, the referee’s whistle blasted loudly behind him.

Wilson Manafa turned to face the referee pointing at the penalty spot and he immediately ran up to the referee to defend himself that he had barely touched the opponent, but the referee wasn’t budging and all he did was put a hand to his ear and consulted the VAR.

However the VAR recorded that Manafa had indeed touched Sterling but as for how hard the collision was remained undecided which meant that it was up to the referee to decide whether to give the penalty or not and unfortunately for the Porto team, he decided to grant a penalty to the Manchester City team.

The Porto players could not believe that the referee actually gave the penalty and went up to complain, but apart from a threat that they would receive yellow cards for complaining further, they gained nothing and could only watch the Manchester City team set up for a penalty.

Sergio Aguero took the ball to the penalty spot as he was the one to take the penalty for his team.

He set the ball on the spot and used the spikes of his boot to create space behind the ball for a clean hit before stepping back and waiting for the referee’s whistle.

The referee made sure everything was in place before putting his whistle to his mouth and blowing hard on it.

*FWEEEEEE*

Aguero ran at the ball with ease in his steps before smoothly hitting the ball down the middle of the goal while Augustin Marchesin had already dived down the left side of the goal.

{Straight down the middle and he puts it away!} Derek Rae shouted into the microphone with excitement

{That was very cheeky coming from Aguero and he would have been a laughing stock if the goalkeeper stayed in the middle, but luckily the goalkeeper misjudged him} Alan McKenzie calmly analyzed the goal, his tone not having as much excitement as his co-commentator.

{I don’t think it was as much luck as it was experience and skill as we’ve seen him do this quite a few times} Derek smoothly put out his own opinion and ensured a non-stop flow of commentary.

{I don’t know about that Derek, but what I do know is that Manchester City have equalized with that penalty} Alan took up the commentary a gain.

{Porto will be kicking themselves if they don’t end up winning this game, what are your thoughts on the penalty decision, Alan?} Derek asked his partner in the box.

{It was clear that the Porto defender did come in contact with the Manchester City winger, but I don’t think such a touch warrants a penalty, but the referee made the decision and the penalty was given} Alan replied without a pause, keeping the commentary flowing.

{You’re right that the referee’s decision cannot be changed and because of it, Manchester City has gotten their equalizer. Porto has a lot to do from now on if they want to keep Manchester City from building off the momentum of their equalizer and going on to score another} Derek Rae said as Porto once kicked off to resume the game.