Football singularity

Chapter 316 316 Grace & Skill

[75]

Bozanic surged down the middle with pace down the middle of the pitch, his head up as he scanned for options. Brown and McGregor scrambled to close the space, but Bozanic's quick pace allowed him to slip past their outstretched legs. His actions instantly caused a buzz within the Hearts portion of the fans, roaring in approval as he slid a perfectly weighted through ball to Mulraney on the left wing.

Mulraney, full of confidence after his earlier run, performed a few stepovers before darting past Lustig again. With a burst of acceleration, he reached the byline and whipped in a dangerous low cross. MacLean, running towards the area close to the near post lunged for the ball as he fought off the tight marking of Ajer.

The seasoned defender did just enough to nudge him off balance, not allowing him to get an easy shot off. Both players missed the ball due to this and could only watch as it harmlessly whipped past them and out for a Celtic throw-in. Celtic immediately looked to counter. Bitton launched the ball down the line to Rakim, who chested it down, doing his best to hold off Edwards.

A quick one-two with Nitcham in the middle and he was gone, directly taking off down the wing with speed. Turning on the afterburners he quickly crossed into the final third taking on Conor who already sprang into action. The Hearts right-back squared up as the distance between them narrowed just waiting for his opportunity to pounce.

Seeing this, Rakim feigned a cut inwards with a drop of the shoulder and his left boot lightly nudging the ball. Shaughnessy, seeing this abruptly, went to turn from his angled stance, ready to chance after him when he would accelerate inwards. However, the expected burst of speed inwards never came, as the winger seemed to have changed his mind midway as he flicked the ball down the wing.

Not hesitating he chased after the ball at full speed, not to be beaten Shaughnessy turned on his axis immediately giving chase. By the time Rakim reached the side of the box he had already caught up and was only a step behind. Rakim felt the pressure of Shaughnessy's presence behind him but remained calm, his mind working quickly.

With a sudden deceleration, he rolled his foot over the ball, stopping it dead, forcing Shaughnessy to react quickly, as he came to a sliding stop in front of him. Rakim didn't give him a chance to catch his breath though, as his feet started flashing off the ball in a mix of stepovers as he manoeuvred the ball side to side. Whilst Shaughnessy was swaying back and forth in front of him keeping a close eye on the ball, Rakim didn't even look at the ball.

His entire focus was on the on-goings in the box behind Shaughnessy. He had no intention of sending another blind cross into the box hoping for the best after failing a couple of times. Thus, he decided to try something different this time around. Dropping his left shoulder towards the byline just as he spotted Souttar commit to backing up his marker, he watched as they both stepped to cover that area.

Not committing to going that way though he chopped the ball with his left foot back up the flank, before immediately accelerating towards the edge of the box. Mcgregor came to meet him just five yards beyond the box calling for a pass and Bitton presented another option as he moved to overlap with him. Seeing this he wanted to flick the ball into the left back's path, but at that moment he felt his wide field of vision granted by the Eagle King's View (Passive) skill suddenly home in on a particular area.

He instantly knew that this feeling came from his Bronze Level Goal Sense, having experienced it plenty of times and thus didn't hesitate to act upon it. Faking a flick towards Bitton, he nudged the ball forward slightly before swinging his foot chipping the ball high into the air, sending it flying with a lot of backspin towards the area around the back post. The ball sailed through the air, spinning with a graceful arc that made it seem to float for an eternity.

Silence hung in the air as every soul in the stadium closely followed the trajectory of the ball trying to guess where it would end up. Edouard who had dragged Berra with him towards the penalty spot was left stupefied when he saw the ball sail high above his head, not giving him a chance. He wanted to complain but instinctively turned his head to see where it would end up just in case, he was wrong.

Zlamal, the Hearts goalkeeper, shifted nervously, not sure whether to risk coming off his line or stay put. He was still indecisive when he heard Hickey shout "Keepers," trying to get him to go for the ball but it was already too late at this point. Turning his head in Hickey's direction his heart almost stopped as he watched the figure of Forrest racing towards the descending ball.

Shifting his body ready to lunge in that direction he watched with bated breath as Forrest let the ball descend on his grounded feet bouncing it up around chest height. The ball flicked up slightly to his right allowing him to dodge Hickey's who had caught up and tried to steal the ball. Swinging his foot to shoot trying to take it on the volley he stopped last minute choosing to flick it across his body.

That proved to be the right choice as the figure of Hickey, Berra and Zlamal lunged/dive in that direction trying to block the ball. Springing forward he swung his weaker left foot letting instinct take over. As the ball connected with Forrest's foot, it riffled towards the back of the net as the winger had put in nothing but pure power. Zlamal, who had committed to the earlier dive tried to extend his arm and leg in a last-ditch attempt to make a save, but it was too late.

"GOAL! Forrest has doubled Celtic's lead!" Callum McDonald shouted, the excitement palpable in his voice. "What a stunning strike that was!"

Roy Townsley chimed in, "That's the kind of instinctive play that wins you matches. Forrest didn't hesitate, and Zlamal had no chance!"

"From the lead up to the delivery to the execution, it was simply a master class of brilliance from both wingers," Callum commented in excitement as the replay of Rakim's dance on the wing was once again shown on the Screen. "Shaughnessy couldn't even get close to him without risking opening up a path into his box for a winger of Rakim's calibre to exploit." He continued as he started analysing what the Hearts right-back could have done better or if things could have gone worse.

"We've come to expect things like this from the young phenom, but Forrest also decided to reach deep into his bag of skills," Roy stated sounding equally mesmerised by the display of grace skill from the Celtic 49. "The composure alone deserves bonus alone. He practically forced them to give way so he could get his goal." In the 78th minute the score now reads Hearts 1 and Celtic 3.

.

.

.

.

To Be Continued...