Chereads / The Nigerian Phenomenon / Chapter 99 - Chapter 99 Who runs Calcio? Cagliari!

Chapter 99 - Chapter 99 Who runs Calcio? Cagliari!

Daddy. (Raja)

Daddy, daddy, daddy. (Daniele)

Wilian was happy, but was a little embarrassed as his friends were more excited than him and were expressing it in the middle of the flight to Cagliari.

I wonder if you told the teacher about this, especially since it's very good news, his daughter was born. (Daniele Contii)

Well, I think it's better to tell him, because he must at least know what my trip home was for, I left and he entrusted me to you without any questions, I'm even a little embarrassed to use his trust and good character , without asking me let me go home. (Wilian)

He really trusts you a lot, so much so that he allowed us to accompany him. (Radja)

You guys are really naughty, he didn't let you leave because he just trusted you, he allowed you to do whatever you want after a big game like that. (Claudia Nainggolan)

The three of them looked at Claudia, a little embarrassed by this remark, as it was very effective and blunt, it was something that any of the three could have simply thought of and avoided saying, but Mrs. Nainggolan mentioned it as if none of the three had noticed.

They had returned home instead of going directly to the club to talk to the teacher, which made them miss the day of training before the game against Calcio Cantana.

Wilian, Radja and Daniele performed on the day of the game for boss Ivo.

I see that they arrived here at the right time, of course they obviously should have participated in training yesterday, as they were scheduled to play today, so now I wonder what they were doing that was so important that they had to go to Abia to do it and they just came back now on game day as if I had simply given you a free pass to do whatever you want? Will I have any explanation? (Ivo)

Well, boss, could you calm down and sit down, because this is super important information. (Radja Nainggolan)

What is so important that I have to sit down to receive it. (Ivo)

Well, well the reason why I returned to my hometown.

The fact that made me return in the middle of work and training to activities carried out by you that are important is because something happened at home. (Wilian Usman)

Yes, I already noticed you said that you had information that you will have to tell me and you already mentioned it at the beginning of our conversation, you made me sit down and now I'm here waiting for you to tell me what it was, what happened that I have to sit down to receive this information? (Ivo)

Well, boss, hahaha, sorry, I'm just going to say, well, my wife gave birth to my first daughter. (Wilian Usman)

Did your wife give birth to your first daughter? (Ivo)

The three of them stared at Boss Ivo in silence, waiting for his reaction or his understanding of the information he received.

Did your wife give birth? (Ivo)

First daughter? (Ivo)

But, Sofia isn't pregnant, how could she have given birth? (Ivo)

Well Sofia is my second boss wife. (Wilian Usman)

Your second wife, is she your second wife? (ive)

Yes. (Wilian Usman)

You're a bigamist and now you're a father. (Ivo)

You are already a dad? (Ivo)

A man in his late 50s was very confused as his club's newest star and considered this club's player of the year had just become a father and was here peacefully after seeing his daughter born the day after she was born.

It's ok you can go, but I'm afraid that your teammates will be uncomfortable that I let you leave in the middle of the season so take certain measures you three are very important to the team, but you three are not the whole team remember that. (Ivo)

Usman, Contii and Nainggolan got out and headed towards where their companions were.

--

(Agostini POV)

To really think that the boss would give such great favoritism to the point of leaving and allowing players to leave without any kind of explanation for other countries, who would have thought that Cagliari would ever reach this level. (Agostini)

Slot was listening to him and was also showing an expression of displeasure about such a situation, but unlike Agostini who was complaining loudly he was just with an expression of disgust, a new player was causing confusion in the group's hierarchy chain, and not just him caused confusion as he also knows that he cannot complain and show his dissatisfaction like Agostini, in the last game he simply carried the team that was losing in all aspects, technique, strength, mentality, dominance, control the team was simply being massacred and was trailing 2-0 in the first half, before the first half ended he went there and scored making the team come back strong against Everton.

Everton began to suffer more and more from the end of the first half until the middle of the second half, the overwhelming pressure that only one player could create, the atmosphere itself was becoming contradictory, as they were playing at home, yet the Cagliari team he was starting to scare them and crush them unilaterally making the game 3-2 with 2 goals from him and an assist.

With this pace of play he brought victory to the Cagliari team, if it weren't for the defenders' hesitation in defending Everton's last move in the last 10 minutes of the game, the match would not have ended 3-3 with Cagliari's victory, based on the cup rules and yes it would end 3 to 2 with a legitimate victory for Cagliari and the one who brought it was this kid they were angry with that made him more rational making him stop thinking about what this kid went to do returning to his city Christmas in the middle of the season and it just made him wonder how he was going to play today.

This match wasn't as important as the previous one, but it was still a match that could bring home the championship trophy which made it more important than it seemed.

7 points with 7 games to go, on the one hand it seemed like a long way off, on the other hand it was just 2 wins and 1 draw in 7 matches, if Juventus managed to achieve this in the next 3 games and we wavered, or even went in with our guard down to compete against the teams in the next matches we would practically be handing over all the hard work done during the previous 31 games of the season.

Slot looked at Agostini and spoke.

I know you are angry and dissatisfied, but you shouldn't create such a fight at the end of the season with no games left for us to be champions, I would prefer if you complained to him after we win the championship or after the championship is over, if possible I would thank you.

Okay, I'll try to keep my mouth shut. (Agostini)

The other players faced Agostini and Slot after this conversation and returned to their tasks.

--

(Willian Usman's POV)

He, Contii and Nainggolan had arrived in the room and saw that strange atmosphere until Usman himself apologized.

I apologize to all my companions, something suddenly happened at home and I had to go back to find out in person what happened. I hope you can forgive my imprudence. (Usman)

Of course, of course kid, why don't you sit down and get dressed, we're close to the match, there's little time left before it starts. (Agostini)

Astori and Dessena approached Usman and placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him showing support for their young friend.

Thanks to you both. (Usman)

Don't say that you saved us from our terrible performance in our previous match that's why we are fawning over you. (Astori)

Don't look at me, I'm with him on this one, in our last match simply if it weren't for you it would be very shameful, we thought and thought about it and we just realized that we have the chance to become national champions by losing to a team that is for das champions next season in a ridiculous way. (Dessena)

Yes, we are finally realizing what we have just done this season after playing against them, we reached the top of the table, and only now do we know how big team players feel. (Astori)

Well, I can't say how the big players feel, for me to be playing all this with you two, to be participating in a team that has achieved such feats is like I'm asking a magician for a wish and he's helping me make it come true. , because I still can't believe what we do this season. (Usman)

I understand, you are still starting the steps of your professional career, in addition to your debut team you had great development in your second year of career, so you clearly cannot realize how incredible you are and how incredible you have become, but I hope may one day remember that it is you who made this all possible, if you think about it or look at our scores before your arrival our team has not changed much, only you have joined, so always tell yourself, the gladiator is a man who fights against 1000 and kills 1000 because if he doesn't kill them he will die. (Dessena)

Are men ready for today's match? (Nainggolan)

I want you to listen to me well and record my words, today we will enter the field, not to play but to crush them, winning is what we want and 3 points is what we will have after today there are only 6 games left for our eternal glory in Every game we enter in this last match we will do a ritual, I want you to come together here making a circle. (Nainggolan)

What we want? (Nainggolan)

???

Victory? (???)

What we want? (Nainggolan)

The trophy? (???)

What we want? (Nainggolan)

We want victory! (Usman)

Victory! Victory! Victory! (Usman)

Do you want victory?! (Nainggolan)

We want victory! (all)

What will we do for this? (Nainggolan)

We will crush them!!! (all)

Together. (Nainggolan)

Cagliari!!!

-- Part 2 --

Jim Beglin POV

The Cagliari team comes with the lineup.

GK Agazzi 1

CB Ariaudo 3 Astori 13 RB Camilleri 2 LB Agostini 31

DMF Dessena 21 CMF Nainggolan 4 © Slot 11 AMF Cepellini 32

CF Sau 27 and Usman 10

I see that today they rotated again Jim, neither Cossu nor Conti are on the field. (Jon)

It's more that the team is still incredible Jon, they still have their gladiator with 30 goals on the field today, so the team is still going strong. (Jim)

Do you think he will score today? (Jon)

I would bet so, Jon, this boy impresses us a lot with his evolution in football. It may seem crazy that last season Cagliari had bought him when they already have strong strikers at the club like Pinilla and Saú, two great strikers on Jon's team. (Jim)

Yes, but he shut his mouth, my mouth and if the Cagliari fans themselves doubt it with his performance this season he is close to scoring 33 goals in the championship and breaking the record for most goals in a season in the Italian championship. (Jon)

On the other side we have Calcio Catania with their respective athletes;

GK Andujar

CB Legrottaglie and Spolli RB Bellusci LB Potenza

DMF Paglialunga and Almiron CML Lodi CMR Sciacca (CM Central Middle L Left and R Right)

SF A. Gomez CF Bergessio (SF Second Frontier)

We are here at the Is Arenas stadium, the stadium that was renovated in order to respond to the large crowd that was taking place this season, more than 40,000 fans are here today at the stadium to watch the match, they want to see and be part of football history, They want to know if the former giant Cagliari will really do a great job in the final phase of this season or if it was just what we call an exchange of goals between the big competitors like Roma and Juventus, the two continental cup champions from last season. (Jim)

I doubt you're not excited Jim, because I'm excited, I really want to know what happened in these last 7 league games, did they manage to keep the trophy, did they lose the trophy, at this moment only him and Napoli are playing 3-way and at some point they may face each other again. (Jon)

-- Part 3—

Today's game would be a hot one in the stadium. Normally, both teams would fight to see who was the best in the Calcio region, but this time Cagliari was superior in terms of achievements.

Calcio Santana, even knowing this, knows that each game is a dispute of the moment, so they will still play giving their all.

Sau starts the game by passing to Usman. Usman passes the ball back to Cepellini.

Cepellini drives the ball and passes to Usman. Usman controls the ball with his right foot, passes to his left and drives the ball through Santana's field.

Usman dribbles past Almiron and Paglialunga continues to drive the ball to attack.

Usman heads towards Santana's area, being chased by Paglialunga. Usman passes between Bellusci and Legrottaglie.

As he passes them, he comes face to face with Andujar and finishes the ball on his left side.

Andujar was unable to react quickly enough and the ball goes past him.

Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal! Goal!!!!! (Jim)

Cagliari scores, it's his, in the first few minutes of the game, Wilian Usman! (Jim)

Unbelievable. (Jim)

Yes Jim, I wouldn't believe it either, today we were expecting a more intense match, a slower game, scoring in the first minute of the game wasn't within my expectations. (Jon)

Usman runs to the touchline and raises his arms to the side "His position was terrifying".

Bergessio restarts the game and passes to A. Gomez, Gomez passes back to Scaccia, Scaccia controls the ball and continues to drive slowly, he moves so slowly that Usman takes the opportunity to steal the ball and protect it, Usman tries to pull the ball to the left and go on the attack, but Scaccia manages to anticipate him and recovers possession of the ball.

The ball falls to Bellusci's feet, who tries to advance down the right side of the field towards Cagliari's half. He fails to control the ball and the ball is caught by Slot. Slot passes the ball to Cepellini.

The ball passes close to Paglialunga, who tries to intercept it, but he fails.

Cepellini passes to Usman, who is attacking down the left wing. Usman, with his boldness and confidence, tries to dribble past Spolli and loses possession of the ball.

Spolli manages to take the ball away from Usman and makes a long pass to his teammate who is inside Cagliari's half.

Lodi tries to position himself to control the ball and attack, but he doesn't expect Dessena to intercept the pass and head the ball back towards Santana's half.

The ball falls to Cepellini's feet, who controls the ball and protects it from Paglialunga.

Cepellini looks to the right and sees Nainggolan free. Nainggolan receives the pass and drives the ball forward.

Nainggolan cuts to the left and fakes a pass, then does it again and passes the ball to Usman.

Usman receives the ball close to Santana's area.

Usman pulls to the right, avoiding Almiron and seeing the edge of the area very close by.

He thinks about going in, but realizes that his teammate Nainggolan was advancing into the area and his teammate Sau was inside the area between the two defenders without being marked.

Usman passes to Sau, Sau controls and finishes the ball towards the goal, the shot doesn't go very well because of the spin and the ball goes straight where Andujar manages to defend it, the ball goes for a corner kick on the left side of the goal.

Cepellini takes the corner kick and crosses the ball inside the area to the second post, Usman and Slot go up towards the ball to head it, Usman manages to send it into the goal.

Goal! Goal!

They score again it's his, it's his, it's his, Usman the Gladiator. (Jim)

At 6 minutes of play they score two goals, he scores another double, he reaches 33 goals in the Italian championship. (Jim)

It's Jim, we're seeing another magnificent story being created, we're seeing the beginning of a legend, I also can't believe he reached 33 goals in the championship this season, one more goal and he surpasses the current goal record. (Jon)

What kind of shitty marking is this, I have to play alone in defense? (Andujar)

I'll have to ask the coach to change you guys, in our last game we conceded 3 goals, but that was in the whole game, in this one we didn't even get past the first 10 minutes and we already conceded 2 goals, due to 2 defensive errors by you, do you think they'll stop after that? (Andujar)

Catania's teammates shook their heads saying no.

From now on, if you can't steal the ball, be aggressive and engage in a close game, we can't embarrass ourselves by facing them, no matter how well they're doing this season, this is a Derby, a precious game between rivals from the same region. (Andujar)

Catania's players had renewed their strength to return to the match as if they wanted to win, even if they might not be able to, they can't play defensively and expect Cagliari to stop attacking.

Bergessio restarts the game by passing the ball to Gomez, Gomez passes it to Scaccia, Scaccia controls it and advances, driving it.

He approaches Slot and makes a cut to the left, managing to dribble him. In return, he receives a kick to the foot, unbalancing him.

Scaccia tries to keep possession of the ball, but Usman, who is chasing him, manages to steal it and turn against his own field.

Usman tries to advance by driving the ball and manages to dribble Almiron, but he cannot pass freely because he is hit by the shoulder and spins off balance.

The two teams are in a physical dispute for the ball in the middle of the field.

Almiron manages to win the dispute and passes the ball back to Spolli, Spolli passes it to Paglialunga, Paglialunga passes the ball to Almiron.

Almiron drives the ball forward and passes it to Sciacca.

Sciacca dribbles past Slot and makes a high pass, but the ball is intercepted by Ariaudo who jumps and heads it away from Cagliari's half.

Usman manages to receive the ball that was intercepted by Ariaudo and control it.

Usman drives the ball down the left wing being marked by Spolli. Usman dribbles towards the center and manages to get past him.

Usman dribbles past Paglialunga who is returning to help in defense and passes to Nainggolan who is running to the right wing.

Nainggolan tries to dribble past Potenza and loses possession of the ball. Potenza passes to Lodi.

Lodi leads the attack and passes to Gomez.

Gomez receives the ball and returns it and advances. Lodi makes a high pass, but the ball is caught by Ariaudo.

Ariaudo calms the team down by slowly driving the ball through the defensive half and passing it to Dessena.

Dessena fails to control the ball and it falls to Lodi, who starts another Catania attack.

Lodi passes to Sciacca, Sciacca holds on to it and slowly drives it through the Cagliari half, pulling it to the left side of the field, moving away from his marker and passing it to Bergessio.

Bergessio controls the ball and finds himself marked by Agostini. Agostini tries to get the ball and makes a tackle, but Bergessio reacts faster and pulls it to the right, heading towards the center while advancing towards the Cagliari goal.

Bergessio passes to Lodi, Lodi dribbles past Slot who is returning to the defense to mark him, Lodi continues to drive the ball through the Cagliari field, Lodi drops back a little, driving the ball and attracting Slot, then he pulls to the right and sends a high pass to Sciacca who was freely passing on the right side and almost entering the Cagliari area, but fails to reach the ball by running diagonally and only manages to control it on the right side of the Cagliari area, attracting the defense to retreat.

Sciacca manages to pull inside and dribble past Agostini, then he makes a half-height cross, the ball hits Slot who manages to block the path of the ball and heads towards the goal line.

Good! (Astori)

Astori shouted after the ball went out.

They couldn't defend it, but they stopped the play.

Gomez took the corner kick and sent a cross into the area.

The cross was too narrow and the ball ended up in Agazzi's hands, who managed to grab it.

Agazzi kept the ball, waited for his team's positioning and passed it to Nainggolan with a handball. Nainggolan controlled it and passed it to Usman.

Usman drove the ball forward to increase his speed, and lost possession of the ball to Paglialunga, who managed to get close and steal the ball in an instant.

Paglialunga lost his balance after stealing the ball, but his teammate Almiron was close by and managed to keep possession of the ball for his team.

Almiron passes the ball to Bellusci on the right, Bellusci risks not advancing and passes the ball back to Paglialunga who gets up, Paglialunga continues to drive the ball and sees his teammate pass, Paglialunga tries a high pass to Gomez.

The pass is intercepted by Camilleri who manages to jump and head the ball towards Astori, Astori controls it and passes it to Ariaudo on his side, Ariaudo drives the ball to the left wing and passes it to Cepellini, Cepellini receives it, looks towards the attacking field and passes it to Dessena, Dessena passes it to Usman, Usman controls it and tries to advance, driving it, he meets Almiron and loses possession of the ball, the ball falls to Cepellini who is right behind Usman, Cepellini manages to protect possession of the ball and passes it to Usman.

Usman continues to drive the ball again and tries to finish from outside the area, Paglialunga gets in the way of the shot and the ball hits him and goes out for a throw-in.

Agostini takes the throw-in, Dessena receives the ball, controls it and drives it down the left wing, he finds Cepellini free inside the area and makes the pass, Cepellini tries to finish on goal but is stopped by Sciacca who manages to take the ball off his foot in the last second of the movement.

The ball falls to Bellusci who doesn't risk it and sends it far from the Catania area.

Bellusci's shot sends the ball to the center of the field where Bergessio and Ariaudo fight for possession of the ball in the air, Bergessio wins by heading the ball towards the center of the midfield, the ball reaches the feet of Camilleri who manages to reach it with his speed, Camilleri continues to drive it across the Catania field and is marked by Paglialunga, Paglialunga can't react quickly enough and brings down Camilleri in an attempt to steal the ball.

Bleep! (referee)

The referee simply came close to them and pointed to the spot where the foul had occurred. He didn't show any cards or call the player for a chat, showing that it was just a common speed error in a normal play.

Cepellini picked up the ball and looked at the goal.

From where he was, there was an imaginary line at a 15-degree angle to the goal.

He was close to the right end of the field and he was right-footed. It was the worst place to hit the ball if he couldn't get the ball to curve in the opposite direction, going to the center and turning right, going to the right corner of the goal.

But he was still very confident and decided to take a beautiful shot straight at the goal.

The shot was extremely flat and went straight on a diagonal from right to left, going out the left side of the goal.

But it really scared the Catania players because the shot was kicked with perfect force to go into the goal and the goalkeeper wouldn't have been able to reach the ball if it had gone in the right direction.

Andujar restarts the game by sending the ball into Cagliari's half with a powerful kick.

The ball is contested in the air and Slot wins it by sending it to Usman. Usman controls it with his chest as he advances through Catania's half.

He doesn't stop at any point and manages to get past Bellusci, but he can only run towards the left side of the field. Unable to slow down to enter the area, he advances along the edge of the field.

He approaches the area from the wing and looks into the area.

Inside the area, he sees his teammate Sau and 3 or 4 Catania players trying to mark him or take the ball out of his defensive area.

But Usman doesn't sulk (he retreats). He crosses the ball into the area.

The ball, incredibly enough, goes right towards Sau and goes down where he could head it.

Sau manages to head it, but his header is too strong because he is being marked by the Catania defender.

Usman runs along the edge, Usman continues to drive the ball and sees his teammate inside the area! (Jim)

Usman crosses! (Jim)

Goal?! Will there be a third? (Jim)

Unbelievable, he sends the ball into the stands! (Jim)

The attacking play was magnificent, but the finish. (Jon)

Sau puts his hands on his head for having failed to finish in a ridiculous way, even though he is winning it is not good to look bad.

Andujar once again sends the ball away.

Bergessio loses the dispute with Dessena, Dessena manages to send it to the center of the midfield, the ball ends up at the feet of Usman, the star of this match.

Usman pulls it again to the left and attracts his marker after that he passes to Cepellini, Cepellini controls it and looks towards the Catania area, Cepellini risks a high pass to Sau.

The pass fails, as Legrottaglie anticipates and intercepts the header, the ball ends up at the feet of Almiron who controls it with his chest and passes it to Paglialunga, Paglialunga continues and passes it to Lodi, Lodi drives the ball back into his own half and passes it back to Paglialunga, Paglialunga tries a pass to Sciacca in the air, the ball is intercepted by Slot, Slot passes it to Cepellini.

Cepellini turns and passes it to Usman, Usman tries to drive forward but loses control of the ball and it is caught by Spoli, Spoli protects and drives, passes the ball to Paglialunga, Paglialunga drives and loses possession of the ball, but the ball falls to Sciacca, Sciacca passes it to Almiron, Almiron passes it to Paglialunga, Paglialunga passes it to Lodi, Lodi continues with it and makes a pass to Gomez in the air.

Astori reaches the ball first and sends the ball towards Catania's half.

The ball falls to Cepellini who manages to touch it to Dessena. Dessena passes to Slot.

Slot takes the ball and advances across the field.

He tries to touch it to Usman but misses the touch, sending it to Paglialunga who was in front of him.

Paglialunga passes it back to Spolli.

Spolli passes to Bellusci who passes to Sciacca. Sciacca continues down the right flank and finds himself prevented from continuing by Dessena.

Sciacca stops and passes the ball back to Spolli to restart the play.

Spoli receives the ball and passes to Almiron in the center of the midfield.

Almiron passes to Paglialunga. Paglialunga passes to Sciacca. Sciacca takes the ball across the field and passes it to Gomez. Gomez manages to reach the ball and enter the area.

Gomez advances close to the goal and finishes.

Agazzi jumped and managed to block the shot, sending it to the right.

The first Cagliari player to reach the ball was unable to keep his cool and calm in the area because he could not see if there were any dangers near him, and he sent the ball to the left wing.

With this advance, the Catania fans began to shout like crazy, encouraging their players on the field.

Forward! Forward! Forward! Catania! (Catania fans)

The Cagliari players were stunned. They thought that with their pressure and dominance in the game, the match was already won. Then they looked at the scoreboard again and saw that the two goals were still there and the time was 38 minutes into the first half.

For a while, they lowered their danger sensors because they were completely dominating the match.

Bergessio received the throw-in, pulled the ball to the center and crossed it into the area.

This time Agostini was prepared and managed to head the ball out of the area, sending it towards the center of the field.

The ball is caught by Paglialunga who manages to continue the team's offensive. Paglialunga controls the ball and tries to drive it, but Usman, who returns to the defensive field, steals the ball and starts a counterattack. He sees Cepellini passing and touches it.

Cepellini drives the ball and is marked by Spolli. Cepellini plays it to Nainggolan on his right. Nainggolan manages to control the ball, but is unable to drive it because Spolli was chasing the ball that was touched by Cepellini.

Spoli manages to regain possession of the ball and plays it to Potenza.

Potenza plays it to Lodi. Lodi tries to advance by driving it, but is stopped by Nainggolan.

Nainggolan fails to gain possession of the ball, but manages to stop Lodi's advance. Lodi retreats and plays it to Potenza.

Potenza plays the ball to Paglialunga.

Paglialunga drives and advances through the Cagliari field.

He approaches Dessena and loses possession of the ball. Dessena passes the ball to Usman, Usman controls it and tries to find a way to dribble past Catania's defenders.

Usman uses his agility to pull the ball towards the left wing, but the Catania players react much faster to return to the defensive field, which leaves him trapped by players marking him from the front and behind to his left.

Usman remains calm and cool, pulling the ball to the right and dribbling past Almiron. He finds another defensive error and advances, being chased by Legrotaglie, who tries to pull him back in every way.

Usman uses his strength and continues to advance, but Legrotaglie's pull manages to slow him down and he is unable to dribble past Spolli, who stops in front of him in the half-moon area.

Usman even tries to pull the ball to the right and dribble past him, but it is too late and he loses possession of the ball.

Usman chases Spolli trying to regain possession of the ball in attack and fails, the ball ends up at Potenza's feet.

Potenza holds the ball in the defensive field and passes it to Spolli, Spolli passes it to Legrottaglie, Legrottaglie passes it to Spolli, and they keep passing the ball around inside their own area trying to end the first half, but the two end up getting so close while passing it to each other that they end up getting in each other's way by hitting each other.

The ball falls to Usman who was constantly trying to steal the ball from them in his defensive field inside their area, Usman pulls the ball towards the center of their area and tries to finish.

This time Andujar was prepared for a x1 against Usman who managed to get away from the two defenders and is in front of Usman who is finishing the shot.

Usman finishes! (Jim)

Andujar!!! (Jim)

Incredible save!! (Jim)

In the last minute of the first half, goalkeeper Andujar manages to stop the Gladiator, preventing him from scoring his first hat-trick in the Italian championship and second hat-trick in his career, in addition to being his second hat-trick for the club and this year. (Jon)

Do you think there was something missing for the ball to go in, Jon, class, composure, technique? (Jim)

I don't think there was anything missing, Jim.

This time the goalkeeper got the better of him and managed to stop him. We still have the second half to see what will happen.

We will have another duel between these two, without a doubt, Jim.

---Part 4---

Men, I must say that today I am surprised, not only surprised, but amazed, how a team that manages to score two goals easily at the beginning of the match manages to end the match being dominated by the opposing team. (Ivo)

The players' thoughts of joy were cooled by the cold shoulder their teacher was giving them.

They simply remembered that after the two goals most of the time they were being stopped in both individual and strategic plays, even though they had more opportunities after the two goals, two of them were wasted and one of them came from the exhausting effort of a player who was pressing alone in the opponent's area. First, avoid long passes.

No long passes. They are focusing on counterattacks and are doing so more and more.

Second, don't hold the ball too much. You are becoming easy targets for them.

At this point, they are no longer focusing on stealing it, but on taking you down.

For them, losing a player to a card is nothing.

For us, losing a player to injury is a historic loss. Whose fault will it be? You will think it is theirs, but they are just doing their best to stop you.

When they do that, it will not be their fault. It will be their merit. (Ivo)

Third, Usman, try to touch the ball more. (Ivo)

Everyone looked at the Gladiator and understood what the teacher was saying. They were hunting him on the field. They could not stop him easily, so the only way left was to destroy him completely. (Ivo)

Now you will return to the field and finish what you started. (Ivo)

The game restarts with Bergessio getting the first touch on the ball, Gomez passes the ball back to Sciacca, Sciacca takes the ball and goes into a challenge against Usman who quickly goes towards him trying to steal it.

Sciacca wins and continues to follow the ball at his feet, Sciacca passes it to Bellsuci on the right side, Bellusci continues to drive and manages to get past Dessena's marking, Dessena doesn't give up and keeps chasing him, Bellusci manages to get close to the goal line and tries to make a pass inside, the pass is intercepted by Agostini who takes the ball out of the area.

The ball ends up at Paglialunga's feet, Paglialunga pulls it to the right and passes it to Almiron, Almiron tries to dribble past Cepellini and almost loses possession of the ball, he manages to recover it, runs towards the area and crosses the ball past everyone and arrives on the left side, Potenza manages to catch it.

Potenza passes to Gomez inside the area, Gomez catches Camilleri and tries to dribble him by running towards the goal, the dribble fails, as Camilleri manages to touch the ball, making him go back out of the area to recover it, Gomez tries to feint to one side and then to the other, trying to find a way to enter the area.

Failing to do so, he sees an opening in the marking on him and tries a shot at goal directly. The ball curves beautifully towards the goal, but goes over the post, posing no risk to goalkeeper Agazzi.

Agazzi sends the ball far away, it is disputed by Cepellini and Paglialunga, Cepellini heads it towards Camilleri, Camilleri passes it to Nainggolan, Nainggolan passes to Slot, Slot observes Usman's positioning and passes to Sau, Sau receives it, turns to face the goalkeeper outside the area and tries a shot at goal.

The shot goes wide as if it were American football (Rugby).

Andujar starts the match again by passing to Spolli, Spolli passes to Bellusci, Bellusci leads the way on the right, passes to Slot and passes to Sciacca, Sciacca passes to Lodi in the center, Lodi advances driving and loses possession of the ball to Dessena, the ball ends up at the feet of Nainggolan who quickly passes to Usman.

Usman receives and drives the ball quickly towards the attack, Usman runs driving the ball and passes Paglialunga using his speed, after that he drives diagonally to the left and tries to dribble Potenza who tries to stop him at all costs and knocks him down causing a foul.

Luckily nothing happened to him physically, he just remembered to be careful not to get injured in the next match he would be playing in the semi-final of the Italian Cup.

Cepellini approaches Usman and whispers in his ear.

Try to pull the defender as close to the goal as possible and focus on your positioning and I'll tell you what to do. (Cepellini)

Usman waved and then went into the area, Usman positioned himself closest to the goal being marked by Bellusci, Cepellini took the free kick sending a pass over the wall and the ball was disputed in the air by Usman and Bellusci, Bellusci managed to win the battle of strength and jumped first heading the ball to Cepellini, Cepellini ended up making a mistake in his decision and headed the ball forward the ball ended up at Gomez's feet.

Gomez pulls the ball to one side and then the other and passes it to Alvarez, Alvarez passes it to Lodi, Lodi pulls the ball to the right and sends a pass to Sciacca, Sciacca manages to control the ball calmly and tries to pass it through the center to Bergessio, the pass is intercepted by Astori.

Astori passes the ball to Usman in the air, Usman heads it to Cepellini,

Cepellini tames it on the ground, Cepellini passes the ball to Sau, but Paglialunga intercepts the pass, Paglialunga passes it to Lodi in the center of the midfield on the Cagliari side and Nainggolan manages to intercept the pass by touching it first time to Slot.

The pass does not go in the right direction and Dessena ends up having to move to save the play, Bergessio tries to get the ball, but Dessena manages to deflect it, sending it completely to Slot, but at this moment he falls into Bergessio causing a foul for the Catania team.

Taking advantage of the dead ball, Ivo takes off Cepellini and puts Cossu on the field.

Lodi takes the free kick by sending a pass into the area, but Ariaudo manages to clear the ball with his head.

Lodi manages to position himself where the ball falls, after Ariaudo's head, he fights for the ball with Sau and loses, the ball ends up at the feet of Nainggolan who starts an attacking move with 5 more players running towards the attack.

Nainggolan passes to Dessena, Dessena passes to Nainggolan, Nainggolan sees Usman ahead and passes to Usman, Usman uses his acceleration and runs diagonally past Legrotallie and Paglialunga after which he cuts to the left using the hole in the middle of the area to put the ball in front and run straight towards the goal.

Usman even tries to finish, but Andujar is fully prepared to stop him by coming out from under the goal early and getting the ball.

Andujar passes the ball to Bellusci, Bellusci passes to Paglialunga, Paglialunga passes to Alvarez, Alvarez drives down the left flank and passes to Paglialunga, Paglialunga drives and ends up being marked by Cossu.

Luckily he doesn't lose the ball and manages to pass it to Lodi, Lodi passes the ball to Alvarez on the left flank.

The pass is intercepted by Nainggolan, Nainggolan passes to Cossu, Cossu controls it, turns and passes to Usman, Usman dribbles past Spolli, playing to the left and tries to run into the area, near the edge of the area Usman finishes the ball with a left-footed diagonal shot into the right corner of the goal, the ball goes 2 meters from the goal on the right flank.

Usman puts his hand on his face, breathes heavily, then looks up at the sky while kicking the ground with the tip of his foot, the goal didn't come again, it was right there, after the two goals all his plays pass the players perfectly, but fail completely in the conclusion.

Andujar sent the ball to the attack, the ball was disputed between Lodi and Nainggolan, Lodi manages to head it to Paglialunga, Paglialunga controls the ball and is marked by Usman, Usman almost manages to steal the ball, but it remains at Catania's feet.

The ball manages to stop at the feet of Almiron who was in the center of the field, Almiron starts the attacking play and makes a high pass to Bergessio, but the pass is too strong and Agazzi himself comes out from under the goal to grab it. Agazzi sends the ball away, it is contested in the air by Usman and Spolli, Spoli wins by heading the ball into Cagliari's half, the ball falls to Slot's feet, Slot takes it to the center and passes it forward to Dessena, Dessena passes it to Usman, Usman makes a safety move against Almiron to receive the ball, Almiron pushes Usman hard and knocks him down after that he gets the ball.

The referee blows the foul.

What's up?! (Usman)

What's up with that sugar body. (Almiron)

Don't keep the ball or I'll get you too, you idiot. (Usman)

$%#¨(Usman)

His teammates arrive and separate the players so that Usman doesn't get a card.

Cossu takes the free kick, sending a pass over the wall to Sau.

The ball is headed out of Catania's area and falls to Usman who had left the area.

Usman passes Sciacca and tries to enter the area again.

He manages to get close to Legrottaglie and dribble him, cutting between him and Sciacca who was chasing him.

Usman enters the area, but misses another opportunity to shoot at goal with Andujar stepping forward to get the ball.

Huff, huff, (snorting). (Usman)

Another beautiful play in which Andujar manages to stop him.

Andujar throws the ball to Salifu, Salifu passes to Paglialunga, Paglialunga passes to Sciacca, Sciacca waits for Paglialunga to advance and passes to him, Paglialunga passes behind to Almiron, Almiron protects Sau and passes the ball to Alvarez on the left side.

Alvarez takes the ball and is marked by Camilleri and chooses to pass the ball back to Paglialunga. Paglialunga tries to make Salifu run by passing it forward, but the ball ends up at Cagliari's feet.

The players pass the ball between themselves until Nainggolan passes the ball to Dessena, Dessena passes it to Slot, Slot passes it to Usman again and Usman does what he does best: dribble 1, dribble 2, dribble 3, enters the area and tries to pass it to Sau.

The pass is easily caught by Almiron who starts a counterattack by sending the ball high into the Cagliari field to Bergessio.

Bergessio is unable to control the ball because he is being marked by Camillari.

Camillari heads the ball towards Catania's field, stopping the counterattack.

The ball is disputed between Cossu and Paglialunga, Paglialunga manages to take advantage of Cossu's lack of control to head the ball to Gomez, Gomez passes the ball first to Sciacca behind.

Sciacca is unable to control the ball because the Cagliari team was retreating and at that moment Slot manages to intercept the pass and catch the ball.

The pass goes straight from Slot's feet and stops at Cossu's feet, Cossu passes to Usman, Usman takes the ball and tries to work it with an individual play, because he is very tired his burst of speed and agility loses rhythm and he loses possession of the ball again.

With the loss, the Catania team starts an attacking play, Almiron stops Paglialunga, Paglialunga passes to Salifu, Salifu passes to Alvarez and Alvarez takes the ball leading the team through the Cagliari field until he is caught by Camilleri who manages to steal it. Camilleri pulls to the left and passes to Dessena, Dessena passes to Usman, Usman takes the ball towards the left wing and tries his best to get into the area, making a run from the center of the field to Catania's area, taking the ball, he manages to get into the area and was close to finishing on goal, but Almiron once again used a devious plan against him, putting his knee on his thigh as he passed, he took the blow and lost control of the ball, but the referee did not see this play, meaning the loss of the ball was normal and not a penalty.

Spoli manages to recover possession of the ball after Almiron slowed Usman down, Spolli controls the ball and passes to Sciacca, Sciacca takes the ball across Catania's field, advancing to attack, he leaves Slot who retreats to defend.

At that moment Dessena manages to reach him and get in front of him to mark him, Sciacca cuts to the left, dribbling Slot, giving him a flick and passing the ball to Paglialunga.

Paglialunga continues running to the left and passes to Pablo Alvarez. Alvarez slowly drives the ball and then accelerates with a burst of speed to try to dribble past the defenders. At that moment, he sees Salifu passing by the left winger free and makes the pass to him, but Salifu was too fast and was offside because he was slow in making the pass.

In the 90th minute of the game, close to finishing, Ivo takes advantage of the opponent's offside and takes off Usman, who he had already been trying to replace for 10 minutes.

Usman comes off, Pinilla comes off, at the same time Slot comes off and Pisano comes on.

On the other side, Paglialunga leaves the field and Catellani comes on.

The game restarts with Camilleri taking a free kick and sending it high to Cossu in the middle of the field. Cossu controls the ball, dribbles past Almiron and makes a high pass to Pinilla, who risks a quick attack to create an opportunity to shoot at goal in the last minute of the game, but the ball is intercepted by Spolli with a header.

The ball is headed by Sciacca who passes it to Bergessio and Bergessio tries a low pass to Castellani. The play by both teams does not work out and the referee blows the final whistle with the ball being touched by the Cagliari players in the middle of the field.

As incredible and unexpected as it may be, teams like Napoli and Roma also managed to win away from home, keeping the top table tight.

Juventus, not being fools, also crushed Sampdoria at home.

In another match, Usman had emerged as MVP, the best player on his team away from home, he was considered the goalkeeper Agazzi and the worst player Dessena.