With Axel now on the bench, the game continued with City not even slowing down.
They tried everything they could to get that third goal but most of their chances ended up going to waste and the ones they did manage to get on target, the keeper put in a good effort to save.
Everton also tried their best to at least pull one back but just like noted midpoint through their second half, their method was more lackluster in this half.
They couldn't really get close enough to do any serious harm to the home team so the game ended up coming to an end with the same scoreline they had at the end of the first half.
Merino was already racing down the right wing with the ball when the referee blew his whistle for the second time before quickly following it up with the third one.
"There's the whistle folks, it is all over, Manchester City run away with another clean sheet victory." Tony expressed.
"They now have a nine-game winning streak with five consecutive clean sheets, this team doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon." Mike articulated.
Axel was announced as the man of the match at the end of the game and there was no way anyone was going to win an argument on why he didn't deserve it.
He played a crucial part in leading the midfield and getting the ball up front all the time, and on top of that, he scored the only two goals of the game.
So, it was fair to say that it was an exceptional performance for the youngster at the Etihad Stadium.
"His second man of the match award in his third game. Axel David's career couldn't have started any smoother…."
"Um…I wouldn't use that word to describe it if I were you, Tony." Mike chirped in with a cautious tone to his voice.
"Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, his career start hasn't been that great, on a personal level at least but the fact that he can pull off a performance like this despite that shows just how much potential he has."
The commentators talked about a bunch of other things before finally bringing the broadcast to an end.
Axel had to move to a less crowded part of the sidelines so that a picture of him with his award could be taken, and he did this while most of his teammates had already headed down the tunnel.
He just stood there as a picture of him with the award was taken and after that, he began to head straight down the tunnel.
There were a lot of fans calling his name from the stands but he didn't even bother to look at them probably because his mind wasn't really in its normal state.
'Our next match is against Manchester United at Old Trafford and no doubt that will be a difficult game but they haven't been playing that well this season so beating them is very much possible and I might even get my first assist in that game.'
Thinking about a match that was going to be happening in about a week just after finishing a match wasn't really something anyone should be doing but Axel always loved to think far into the future even if it was just for the sake of it.
He had a lot of delusions and football fantasies stuck in his head but right from day one, he always made sure to put in the effort to at least get close to the ones that seemed realistic a bit.
That was where his goal of a thousand assists came from because that was the ultimate goal that seemed more suitable for him as an attacking midfielder.
His mind was still not completely there when he walked into the locker room but all it took to call him back to reality was a heavy smack on the back from one of his teammates.
"Huh?"
He was about to ask what happened when he suddenly felt hands on both of his shoulders and they were from two different people.
Rafael and Maxi and they both had bright smiles on their faces.
"You're amazing, kid, it's been a while since I've played with a midfielder who can turn into a forward when the occasion calls for it." The captain remarked.
"Yeah, Sergio might not be getting his position back when he returns from injury," Maxi commented.
That comment was the laughing gas as almost all the players in the room quickly burst into a feat of laughter.
Axel didn't know what to do but join in on their laughter with a nervous smile on his face.
"Yeah, he's not getting his position back," Pierre said after the laughter seemed to have calmed down a little.
_________ ________
Axel really enjoyed the little moment he shared with his teammates after the game, it was nice to see most of them talking to him normally now. He seemed to have earned a good place in the team earlier than most players who were just starting their careers would.
However, all of that was over for now and he just had to get home to get some rest.
Since his name got blasted all over social media along with the death of his parents, wearing hooded jackets was now mandatory for him.
The one he was wearing now was a black one to go with his black jeans.
It was sort of a habit to walk home with his gaze fixated on his phone and he was doing that now.
Just like most of the people his age Axel was always curious about what was going on online but for him that only boiled down to football-related topics and his curiosity gauge always blew up after being part of a just concluded match.
After scoring two goals today, he knew his name was going to be blasted all over social media but his target wasn't the posts, he wanted to see the comments under the posts.
It didn't take long before he found a post with a picture of his right foot making contact with the ball for that second goal.
It was a nice picture even though he inflated his cheeks at that moment and the written post read 'City's wonder kid strikes again with two goals to set up their two goals victory'.
He quickly went under the comment section and just like he expected there were a lot of comments praising and admiring him, but he wasn't looking for those boring generic comments.
What he was looking for was the hate comments, precisely the comments relentlessly brushing off his effort.
It was another habit of his to ignore the positive comments under a post and look for the more interesting negative ones and he didn't have any problem doing it under a post about him.
'Just give him some time and see him flop.'
'Geez, the kid hasn't even done anything significant yet and you guys are already overhyping him.'
'And where was he against Arsenal? I'd like to see what he can do against Manchester United in their next league game, but of course, he'll probably get injured in that match just like he did against Arsenal.'
He read those and a lot of other ones with a wide smile on his face, the good ones never seemed to be that interesting to him.
At some point, the youngster had to put away his phone to walk faster, and after a couple of minutes, he was standing in front of the door with his gaze on the door knob.
"What are the odds of opening this door and finding Sis in the living room?" He muttered before using the key to unlock the door.
After that, he pulled the door knob to open the door and for a split second there he saw what looked like an afterimage of his parents along with his big sister waiting for him in the living room.
"Of course, the odds are zero." He muttered with a voice riddled with depression.