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+---- Thread: Port Royal FC MD9 vs Athletico (/showthread.php?tid=10212)
Port Royal FC MD9 vs Athletico - Quitolis - 2026-07-16
It is Match Day 9 and Port Royal is in a very important match against Athletico Medellin. Port Royal is 3 points behind Jakarta after beating them last week, and it is important to keep that close. Since Jakarta won earlier today against Sydney, a win here for Port Royal is imperative. We must keep that margin close, and make sure Jakarta knows we are on their tails.
As the game kicks off, Athletico almost instantly gets it down the right side to Gruber, who gets around the defender and sends in a cross. It is cleared away by Lexington and headed out further by Thunder for a throw in. A good initial look at how this game is going to unfold.
In the 3rd minute Athletico starts with a throw in before passing it around at the back and switching sides. They do a nice angled cross in, but the defender is there to volley it out. It settles back down to Kang who takes a long distance shot which fortunately deflects off a defender for a corner kick. This corner goes in but is headed down by the first defender. Possession remains with Athletico as they reset. The next strong chance starts with Nunez on the left side challenging Velox on the dribble. He passes it horizontally to Bajramovic, who one times it again horizontally to Maple who shoots from about 14 yards out. Ampharos makes a great diving save at the low post. Another corner. This one bounces around off a few heads before the goalie comes out to grab it.
The next highlight starts at the end of the 12th minute. Athletico is passing around with their defense before making some small runs by their middle defense. Maple tries to square up on goal but Bittner does an excellent job to recover and get in front. He arrives just in time to deflect the shot out for a corner. This corner is cleared out where the Athletico defenders were waiting to push it back in towards another aggressive passing formation. They move the ball to Gruber on the right and he starts to make his run where Thunder thought for a second he could step in between Gruber and the ball. He was just a step too late and plows right into Gruber and is called for the foul. Apparently nothing comes of it.
In the 16th minute we start a new highlight with Athletico making a pretty long pass forward to Kang who was making an angled run away from the central defender but behind the full back. He takes a few strides down to about 6 yards from the end line where his cross attempt is squashed by Gerrard. Kang keeps possession and passes it back towards Smith who is in a great place to facilitate just above the penalty area. Athletico then passes it about 5 times in 2 seconds before Rumma decides to take a shot from crazy distance. All that passing must have just amped him up. His shot had very little chance of success, but it did deflect off of Tenderloin's foot generating another corner for Athletico. This one is headed right over the top, which is definitely an improvement because it means they got a head on the cross, but it was too far away from the net to be particularly dangerous.
In the 21st minute we have our very first Port Royal highlight of the game. It is a free kick for Gerrard in attacking territory. He is looking for a cross here to set up a header. The defender rises up and knocks it down away from the net, but he did not get much distance. Thunder is waiting there and heads it back into a dangerous area where it falls at the feet of Newman who sails his shot way over the goal.
In the 28th minute, what looks like an attacking chance for Athletico is quickly reversed as Gerrard times his slide tackle perfectly, and Thunder is making the run back to recover the loose ball. Thunder settles it and instantly sends the ball far up the field hoping his team members can gain possession. The first header by Athletico does not maintain possession and it falls to Cheeseburger who touched it to Newman. He settles and sees Velox making a run all alone up the right side. The whole stadium saw that unfolding. Velox is the fastest player on the pitch and he shows that speed on this run. He takes it all the way down to the corner of the goal box. At this point the defense has closed in and there is no longer a passing opportunity so he shoots! He shoots and it is deflected short of the near post, but the shaking of the net made the home Athletico crowd gasp in unison. The corner is out swinging and is headed back to the Portland player Bittner who was in good position waiting for rebounds. He puts up another small cross but it was on an Athletico head who got to it clearing it away and ending the highlight.
Right at the 30 minute mark we see a direct kick outside of the Port Royal penalty area. It makes contact with one of the heads of the wall and goes up over the goal for a corner. The header puts it up to the top of the penalty area where the following shot is saved by Ampharos over the goal. Another corner is too low and hits the first defender's head in its path. Athletico gains control and starts their new attack in the middle before finding Smith on a perfectly weighted pass. On this one though the Port Royal striker Cheeseburger is still back deep after defending the corner and he is able to use his speed to step in front of the ball and regain control for his team. Cheeseburger must be offensively minded, because he turns and sees Munchakoopa way up at midfield and he connects the pass too him. Munchakoopa corrals the ball and starts his run up the right sideline. The defender was already in good position and as he steps in front of Munchakoopa, he lays a pass off in front of Newman. It looks like a good ball, but the defender was able to out run Newman to that pass. Newman is an excellent facilitator and goal scorer, but speed is not his strong suit.
In the 34th minute we start with an Athletico throw in already deep into Port Royal territory. Smith throws it to McRae who returns it. Smith realizes that no defender stayed with him and he run deep and crosses it in. The cross is low and it is instantly cleared by Gerrard and sent into a dangerous place in the middle of the field. Fortunately Munchakoopa made a smart run back and picks up the ball. He turns and starts his run. He goes almost the entire length of the field and crosses it in finally at the touch line. Thunder and Newman were also making runs with him, Thunder all alone at the back post and Newman made a closer run in front of the near post. The cross goes to Newman who knows he has no angle, so he sends it back to Velox who was trailing the play. A quick one two and Velox makes a run of his own to the touch line. His cross did not connect to anyone in green and Athletico are able to move the ball out. A lazy clear is collected by Gerrard and the Port Royal possession is back on. The play goes to Bittner in the middle of the field, which is a sure sign of good things to come. A snazzy sequence of one touch passes goes from Newman, to Munchakoopa, and out wide to Velox making his run. Velox can not quite get the angle on the defender so he puts on the brakes and passes it back to Tenderloin. He passes it forward to Newman who sends it horizontally to the right foot of Gerrard right over the penalty spot. He completely whiffs the shot and it hooks nowhere near the goal. Its a moment I watch back and wish it was Thunder in that spot. The inside forward with a strong right foot from that place on the field would score more often than not. Gerrard is the left full back who somehow was making a horizontal run to the penalty spot.
At this point, Port Royal have finally evened up the xG to a .03 difference between teams.
In the 41st minute a corner from Athletico is headed over the cross bar. The following goal kick is brought down by Athletico and they start a fast attack with a very nice pass to the left sideline to Nunez. Munchakoopa tries a slide tackle, and while it slows the speedy run of Nunez it does not stop it. Nunez slows and crosses it to Bajramovic who is waiting at a very dangerous spot inside the corner of the penalty area. He has a lot of space and uses one touch before taking a shot directly into the belly of Ampharos. Quite a missed opportunity there as his proximity to the goal would have made it difficult to stop if he shot it anywhere else.
In the 44th minute another throw in from Athletico starts their attack. A very quick cross finds Gruber jumping over the top of Gerrard. He tries to send it back down to goal but it goes over the top. Ampharos misread the situation and was diving in the opposite direction, so a header on target would have been a goal for Gruber, ending this scoreless contest.
At half time we have a 0-0 score. Shots (on target) are 3 (0) for Port Royal and 15 (8) for Athletico. The expected goals have also jumped to a large Athletico advantage with 1.34 vs the 0.66 of Port Royal. To top it off Athletico also has 64% of the game's possession.
Port Royal starts the second half with the ball, and they start to work their passing. After being shut down on the left they go back to defense and look right but eventually find a nice thru ball to Gerrard making a run. Thunder is just standing in his way awkwardly. Gruber tried to make a play and fouls Gerrard just to the outside of the penalty box. The direct kick is a cross that goes over his team mates. An Athletico player sends it wide but Newman goes out to maintain possession. He manages to get the angle on his defender and sends a cross in. The placement of the cross was excellent, but the tallest jumpers were Athletico players, sending it back out wide. Gerrard goes out to get it and he does send in another attempted cross, but this too is sent out for a throw in which ends the highlight.
In the 57th minute we have an Athletico throw in deep in the attacking area. They play it short and get a cross in beautifully located for Bajramovic. He cannot quite get his head over the top of the ball and it does go over the cross bar. Ampharos could not be sure it would miss though as he made a dramatic dive in case the header was on target.
The next highlight is at 62 minutes starting from an Athletico goal kick. We have seen highlights start with goal kicks and more often than not it is a scary moment for that keeper. They have a quick 1 2 3 passes and get it out of their area. Gruber collects a stray pass and he turns his run up field. He has been excellent today and this play no different. Gruber sees TWO of his team mates running together right at the top of the penalty area. His forward pass lands directly at the feet of Kang who puts the shot on target, but Ampharos is there to make the save. The officials did not raiser the flag for offside but on my view it looked to be a sure thing. Goal would not have counted but still a very dangerous looks from Athletico.
In the 68th minute we start the Port Royal passing in their defense. a few passes angled up field get the offense going. Port Royal have 4 players focused on offense and 2 full backs who quickly join the attack, so when they start their attack it can be quick and devastating. Newman gets the pass and picks up his head to see 5 Port Royal players all making runs at only 4 Athletico defenders. It seems Newman was paralyzed by options and he kept the ball himself. He almost lost possession but it fell right at his feet where he puts a shot on frame. The keeper is able to get his hands on it and push it out for a corner. The attempt initially does nothing but Port Royal does maintain possession with the majority of their players in or surrounding the penalty area. After a few passes Thunder gets tackled and Athletico is able to clear the ball and reset their shape. Port Royal starts up their attack again with Cheeseburger making a run down the left side. He loses the angle and puts on the breaks and passes it back to his support ending the highlight.
We are now into the 81st minute and the xG lead is in favor of Athletico 1.92 to 0.79. The score remains 0-0, and there have been 15 corner kicks for Athletico. This next highlight starts with a direct kick for Port Royal in a dangerous location. The Athletico wall has 5 members, to give an idea of the danger. The defender Bolirstoppari shoots it hard and misses the wall, and everyone else, and the goal entirely. Goal kick for Athletico, but the highlight is not over. After 2 passes from the start of play, Rup makes a terrible pass across the face of goal and Cheeseburger steps in front and has a wide open run at goal starting at the 18 yard line. He takes one touch with his right and shoots with his left. He hooks it and it goes well past the far post. A devastating moment for Port Royal because they thought they had their moment. A mistake from Rup almost cost the game but fortunately Cheeseburger's left foot was not in good form today.
Now in the 85th minute the game is starting to run out of time. Port Royal has a direct kick some distance out, but Bolrstopari is setting up to send in a cross. The ball finds an Athletico head who pushes it out to the sideline, but Thunder closes down on it before it goes out. With his back to Gruber, he turns to his left and gets an angle to move back towards the play. He sends the ball in and sees Newman, Cheeseburger, and Munchakoopa all at the top of the goal box with only 2 defenders their at first. Munchakoopa manages to maintain good body control and rises back towards the incoming cross and he gets his head on it. He sends the ball past the diving Deschamps and into the far wall of the goal. It is a glorious goal and Rup has to only blame himself for losing position and getting beat on the header. VAR decides to check but they find nothing to take away this glorious accomplishment for Port Royal.
In the 88th minute we find Port Royal with the ball passing with their defenders at midfield. A lovely sequence of 2 passes get it wide to Velox who makes his run deep and crosses it in stride. It connects with the foot of Cheeseburger who is making his run to the near post. His goal was to just deflect it up slightly, but the keeper is in perfect position and a defender is quickly able to clear it over the goal line for a corner. This one comes in and meets the head of Lexington who was making a run far short of the near post. He just heads it out for a goal kick in a quite confusing play.
Now in the 93rd minute we have another Port Royal direct kick, with the team setting up for a cross in. Bolrstoppari sends in a perfect kick that falls right at the foot of Cheeseburger. He volleys the ball on frame, but the keeper had great position and was there to catch it. A very strong opportunity for Port Royal to add the clincher. The keeper rolls the ball out to his defender and the referee blows the whistle to signal that the game has gone final.
The final is 1-0 with Port Royal winning over Athletico Medellin. By the end Athletico had managed 60% possession and 22 total shots with 11 on target. They had a xG of 2.07 but no goals. Perhaps a brilliant display from the Port Royal defense, or more importantly from their Keeper Ampharos. He was rightfully designated as the Man Of The Match. A brutal loss for Athletico will leave the coach teaching about coping strategies that the players may need to use later in their careers. In the Port Royal locker room the coach can talk about how victory is always attainable. Can explain that the game stats don't always decide the winner. You can go out and steal a win in any game you play.