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Chapter 16 - Chapter 16: The Goalkeeper's One-on-One with the Striker!

In the 21st minute, a lofted pass from Hachim Mastour sent forward Yure Baso's header drifting wide of the post.

In the 29th minute, Leoia's entire outfield pushed up beyond the halfway line.

"Playing like this, they're going to concede."

Up in the stands, Watson had already furrowed his brow.

He couldn't help but glance over at head coach Burke Abel on the touchline, thinking that this was exactly what you got from a lower-division manager who simply couldn't read a situation correctly.

Leoia had absolutely no capacity to throw everyone forward in attack while also keeping the backline in order.

In truth, all of Leoia's attacking endeavour amounted to a great deal of noise and very little threat.

It looked lively enough, but Athletic Club B's goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga hadn't even broken a sweat, as the ball had not once landed within the frame of the goal.

On the far touchline, Athletic Club B's head coach Neil nearly burst out laughing.

It looked as though this match could be won comfortably by a comfortable scoreline.

Athletic Club B were at their very best on the counter-attack and thrived on taking their chances, and Leoia were essentially gifting them the perfect conditions.

In the 34th minute, Burke Abel wiped the sweat from his brow on the touchline.

Even though he wasn't out there playing, the enormous pressure had left him soaked through completely.

Leoia's attacking play looked utterly disorganised and they were finding it desperately difficult to get in behind Athletic Club B's defensive shape.

Creative hub Hachim Mastour had clearly lost himself in the congestion, as he simply lacked the ability to release the ball quickly.

Athletic Club B, by contrast, were defending with complete composure.

'Keep going like this for another ten minutes.'

'Change the approach in the second half.'

'There's always a chance of nicking one before the break.'

Burke Abel checked his watch and decided to see the gamble through to half-time.

And at that very moment, the situation on the pitch changed in an instant.

Three touches after winning the ball back, Athletic Club B had already sliced clean through the entire Leoia defensive line.

Guarochena burst clear at the front, leaving everyone else behind.

"Oh, no!"

"Here we go again!"

"Another one-on-one!"

"Are the midfielders and defenders all sleepwalking out there, and the forwards too?!"

"Can they stop putting Leon under this much pressure every single time?!"

"I'm actually starting to feel for Leon, who could handle facing one-on-ones this often?!"

The home supporters in the stands had already been growing restless watching their side press repeatedly without reward, and seeing the opposition carve out a one-on-one so effortlessly told them everything they needed to know.

Guarochena charged into the penalty area.

Seeing Leon rush out quickly to close him down, Guarochena stayed composed, prodding a low shot aimed directly through Leon's legs.

That kind of finish looked arrogant and provocative on the surface, but in reality it was entirely the correct choice, as dropping down to close the gap quickly is extremely difficult for a goalkeeper moving at full speed to press.

A half-height shot, on the other hand, was actually far more favourable for a goalkeeper to deal with.

But Guarochena was facing Leon.

Leon dropped down with extraordinary speed and gathered the ball cleanly into his chest with both hands.

"What the hell, how is that possible?!"

Guarochena was stunned.

At that distance and with so little time, how could he possibly have reacted that quickly?

It made no sense.

From the spectators' perspective, it simply looked as though Guarochena had casually rolled the ball straight into Leon's arms.

"Ha, turns out their striker is absolutely hopeless!"

"That's probably the easiest one-on-one save Leon has ever made!"

"That was close though, are the two strikers out there just taking turns being terrible?"

Every Leoia supporter in the stands let out a collective sigh of relief before breaking into laughter.

If Guarochena on the pitch had heard that, it would have driven him absolutely mad, because the quality of that finish had been genuinely excellent.

'Saved it again, naturally.'

As a professional scout, Watson in the stands saw it very differently from the Leoia fans.

From Guarochena's clean, crisp shooting technique alone, he could tell immediately that the strike had been of a high standard, and recalling Guarochena's general style of play and his goal-scoring record only confirmed that Leon had just produced another save of the very highest quality, even if the visual impression it left wasn't particularly dramatic.

"Growing more assured with every match."

"His one-on-one saves are simply in a class of their own."

"I'm starting to look forward to seeing how Leon handles a genuinely elite striker."

"Staying at Leoia is a complete waste of his talent."

Watson felt a pang of something close to frustration.

It had taken him just three matches to go from dismissing Leon entirely to making him his top priority, and those three matches were also the sum total of Leon's professional career.

Talent this frightening could not be allowed to wither away in the lower divisions.

"What an incredible feeling!"

Su Jing had watched plenty of football before, but she had genuinely never watched a match in person.

This was her first time watching a game live.

The level of the league was admittedly on the lower side, but it was still a proper professional match.

When Guarochena had just burst through on goal towards Leon, Su Jing had found herself so tense she could barely speak.

Watching a one-on-one in person was a completely different experience, as an ordinary shot or save often happened so suddenly that spectators barely had time to register it before the outcome was already decided.

But a one-on-one gave every person watching a moment of intense, focused anticipation.

This was the striker's duel with the goalkeeper.

Leon had won.

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