The match was in the fortieth minute now and Manchester City were still clinging on to their one-goal lead.
They were dominating the match so far but Everton weren't making things that easy for them as they seemed to be attacking with everything they had while putting in the effort to make sure their opponents didn't break through their back line the way they did to get that third goal.
The ball flew over the bar for a goal kick courtesy of a strike from Ezra near the edge of the box.
The striker wanted to try his luck from that distance but things didn't go his way and he ended up floating it over the bar.
Moreno caught the ball thrown to him by one of the ball boys and dropped it on the edge of the box inside the eighteen-yard box before taking two steps backward.
"Everton has been quite persistent with their chances, but they'll have to try a bit harder if they have any intention of equalizing this scoreline," Mike commented.
Moreno quickly closed up on the ball and pulled back his right foot in a way that made everyone think he was going to send it flying out but then his foot suddenly shifted to the right and he sent it rolling to Rafael.
"Plays it short to Rafael."
Leo quickly rushed to the full-back as soon as the ball got to him but before he could get to him, he sent the ball rolling to Codex who quickly flicked it toward Norman down the left.
The wingback had Gomes right in front of him at that moment so he just gave the ball a little touch to lob it over him and get it to Novich.
"That was a risky pass if he had placed it any closer to Gomes' head then Everton may have gotten a chance to get that equalizer," Tony commented.
"Yeah, a very risky pass indeed."
Aleksy quickly rushed in from the right along with the other central midfielder with their focus on the ball but Novich wasn't planning to make things that easy for them.
He dragged the ball back with the sole of his right foot before quickly giving it a click forward with his left boot but this time a little to the right.
That was how he was able to maneuver through them but not entirely as Aleksy quickly stretched out his leg refusing to give up.
However, Novich was able to quickly push the ball to Axel before quickly jumping up to avoid his leg.
"Axel."
Axel had the defensive midfielder right behind him and since he didn't have anything planned for getting past him, he sent the ball rolling to Andrea.
Andrea sent the ball rolling to Novich as soon as he got his foot on it and he linked it up to Axel in the same manner.
Axel tried to escape toward the left with the ball before pushing it back to Novich who pulled back a little to the left with it because of Gomes of Aleksy before sending it over to Andrea.
"It's the triangle formation, I wonder if they're just passing the ball around just for the sake of it."
"It does seem that way, but I think it's not just that."
Andrea quickly turned around with a quick roulette spin to get rid of Leo before quickly pushing forward with the ball but he wasn't off the hook yet so he pushed the ball to Axel who had moved further up to try and lose the defensive midfielder who was marking him but the opposing player wasn't making things easy for him.
The attacking midfielder had to quickly move down to make sure he got to the ball first and now the defensive midfielder was right behind him.
"Forty-four minutes on the clock now."
"I never thought I was going to get man-marked this early in the game. Hold on, I never expected to be man-marked at all." Axel muttered under his breath as soon as he got his foot on the ball.
He knew he needed to act fast but he didn't want to make another back pass.
He quickly feigned moving toward the left leaving the ball exactly where it was and that worked well in forcing his opponent to move that way, and while he was still figuring out what happened, the youngster turned and took toward the right with the ball.
"Nicely done by Axel, he just left him disoriented."
Merino seemed to have been given too much space down the right and as soon as the midfielder caught sight of him he quickly sent the ball rolling to him.
"Pushes it to Merino."
Just before the time could hit the forty-fifth minute, the official with the board raised it to show that there were going to be three minutes of added time.
Merino quickly took off down the right wing with Aleksy quickly closing up on him from behind and the left back trying to cut him off from entering the box.
That made his job easier because he caught sight of Tacky along with Andrea closing up inside the box at that moment and there weren't that many black shirts in there.
He sent the ball flying in at that moment but at that moment one of the center backs closed in on the area and headed the ball up before it could get to Tacky.
"The defense putting in the work."
Tacky quickly took advantage of the defender's shoulder to get his head on the ball before it could drop to a good level but he didn't aim for the goalpost.
He headed it low toward Axel who was left unmarked near the edge of the box.
The youngster didn't have any time to scheme anything at that moment because his only option was shooting but he did have one thought.
'Looks like it's my call once again.'
"Axel!" Tony's voice thundered.
He struck the ball with the side of his right boot and sent it flying toward the top right-hand corner with a neat curl.
The goalkeeper was glued to a spot as the ball flew past him and hit the crossbar before falling straight into the goalpost.
"And he's on target once more! That's what I'm talking about!" Tony exclaimed.
"Three goals in three matches, he's starting to rack up his stats," Mike commented.
As soon as that ball went in, Tacky quickly rushed to the youngster and lifted him on his shoulder before he could even do anything to celebrate his goal.
"We might be seeing the next Kevin De Brunye in the Etihad stadium or should I say Phil Phoden? That was a well-placed strike and the keeper didn't even bother going after it because he knew he stood no chance."
That goal sure got a lot of fans off their feet and even a couple of opposing fans couldn't help but applaud him.
Manchester City fans were sharing their celebration with their fans near the sidelines and Axel was still stuck on Tacky's shoulder with a smile on his face.
'Yeah, that was a neat goal, I wasn't expecting it to go like that. And now it's three goals and no assists, my one thousand assists goal is yet to kick off and I'm halfway through my third game.' He sighed inwardly.