Football singularity

Chapter 313 313 Intrusive Thought's

The second half was set to kick off as the players from both teams were already making their way to the pitch now. Rakim was one of the last players to get into a position as he had decided to change his boots last minute after noticing a tear in his Adidas classic. Switching for a more feet friendly pair of red Pumas that were his reverse boots he jogged towards his position.

"Welcome back, everyone, the second half of the Scottish cup is about to kick off, the score is Hearts 1 and Celtic 2, In what has been an exciting meetup between these two giants of the Scottish football league." Callum announced the moment the broadcast restarted immediately doing his job of entertaining the viewers.

"Indeed, Callum it has been an exciting matchup between the two so far. We had plenty of goals, a pitch invader and a last minute goal and all that in just the first half," Roy intoned with a smile as some of the highlights flashed on the screens bringing a smile to viewers faces as they say the girl duke the two stewards.

The players were all on the pitch now as MacLean stood over the ball waiting for the referee's whistle. The referee made sure that everything and everyone was ready before he blew his whistle to kick-start the match. "There's the whistle and we are on the way once again." Callum stated as MacLean quickly sent the ball rolling to Haring who immediately sent the ball rolling back to the defender behind him.

They didn't rush to attack and were instead passing the ball around near the centre as the avoided the charge of the Celtic players. The boys in green wouldn't make things easy for them though as they had just been instructed to play calmly and retain their defensive shape and that's what they did. Hearts looking for a way through soon realised it wouldn't be easy and decided to pull back in an attempt to drag out the Celtic FC's defence.

It worked in dragging their midfield forward as Rakim found himself unable to get near the ball to even press his marker. Every time he attempted to accelerate towards Smith the latter would simply pass it away not allowing him to even get a whiff of it. Forrest faced a similar treatment as the Hearst back line cleverly moved the ball around not allowing them to get close.

It was in such an occasion when Rakim pressed forward along his wing to shut down Smith who was receiving the ball when things changed. The Hearts right back simply knocked the ball pass them oncoming winger before sending a crips pass to Edwards who dropped back into space. The Midfielder cleverly turned with the balls momentum indirectly dodging the tackle of Rogic as he manoeuvred past him.

Releasing a quick pass to wards Clare the winger deftly picked it up mid stride and immediately started dribbling down the wing with speed. In a matter of moments, he picked up speed eating up yards of grass as he crossed the halfway line. Seeing him approach at break neck speed Hayes angled his body showing towards the wing as he performed quick sequence of side steps as their distance neared.

Clare seeing this performed a few stepovers trying to bait the Celtic left back but was left disappointed when he didn't bite. Seeing that it wouldn't be easy he glanced up seeing MacLean making a run and decided to use that to his advantage. Swinging his foot in a passing motion across of Hayes towards the middle he hit the ball forcing the defender to scramble to adjust his footing.

However, the expected pass never came as Clare's left boot snaked in front of the ball knocking it back towards his right. Pushing the ball forward with a burst of energy he accelerated past Hayes speeding towards the corner flag. Clare's burst of speed left Hayes scrambling as he charged down the wing, but the Celtic defence quickly reacted. Ajer shifted over to cover the space leading to the box, and Rakim, who had finally managed to track back helped in shutting down the path back.

Cleared had no plans on going back though as he glanced up briefly checking on the situation in the box before delivering a driven low cross into the box.

The ball zipped past Ajer's outstretched leg, heading straight toward MacLean, who had timed his run perfectly. MacLean took a quick touch to control the ball, but Simunovic, sensing the danger, threw himself into a sliding tackle, disrupting the striker's shot just as he swung his boot. The ball deflected off Simunovic leg and spun out toward the edge of the box.

The danger wasn't over for the Celtic fans though as the maroon figure of Haring a appeared at the edge of the box pouncing on the loose ball, setting himself up for a long-range shot. The crowd held its breath as he unleashed a thunderous strike aimed for the top corner. Bain wasn't left with any time to second guess and had to react instinctively to the shot and he did.

Without hesitation he jumped towards his right fully stretching out his body, his breath held as his gaze zeroed in on the oncoming ball. He wasn't managed to fully get a hand on the ball, but he did just enough to send it crashing off the crossbar. The Celtic fans roared in relief as the ball rebounded into play. Forrest was first to react, sprinting forward to collect the loose ball.

[55]

After Celtic regained possession of the ball, they chose to slow down the game focusing more on their possession play rather than trying to force an attack. Keeping a cool head, they pass the ball around their midfield trying to pull and stretch the Hearts defence looking for any gaps to exploit. Rakim after swiftly turned on his axis after receiving a crisp pass from Hayes using some nimble footwork to doge Edwards.

Cutting inwards he was looking for a passing lane or an area to drive into, but the hearts fans were doing a superb job locking down the area. He took a second too long to think about it, and smith was already pouncing towards with Edwards ready to back him up. Reacting without hesitation the wing pulled the ball back turning with the momentum performing a crisp Marseille turn.

With that action he managed to escape from the two and immediately sent the ball back to Mcgregor not seeing a way forward. The midfielder took on the ball calmly as he started moving up the field quickly crossing the halfway line. It was only then that he was challenged by MacLean who had been sitting back not willing to chase the ball as the boys in green played keep away.

A quick one-two with Brown and he managed to slip away from him as he barrelled down the middle of the park. He looked left and right trying to find a teammate to pass it onto but couldn't find anything that's when a thought suddenly pooped into his mind. It was one of those intrusive thought that you unusually wouldn't act upon like when you're driving on the highway and suddenly think, "What would happen if I pulled the steering wheel hard to the right?"

It was one of those thoughts as he just happened to see the Heart's Goal keeper standing at around his penalty spot. So, without hesitation form about 40 meters out he swung his leg putting all his power into a cannon of a shoot. The ball left his boot with a loud bang instantly taking off into the air narrowly missing Haring's head who saw his life flash before his eyes as strong gust of wind blew by him.

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To be continued...