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+---- Thread: The "Almost" Game (/showthread.php?tid=8930)
The "Almost" Game - boom - 2026-02-15
It was our third match of the season, where we'd be taking on Shanghai Dragons FC in a clash between the top two teams in Divison 1. It wouldn't be an easy outing, but I was looking forward to the opportunity to hopefully continue my strong rookie season. The match didn't get off to a great start, as in the eighth minute Shanghai got corner kick after corner kick, the pressure finally resulting in the opening goal for Shanghai in the 13th minute, though it was disallowed for an offside. The deadlock would only last for a few more minutes, though, as yet another corner kick for Shanghai found the back of the net and this one counted.
Just a minute later, we were back on the attack. Rather amusingly, I was being marked by Allie Bunson, the only other player on the pitch with red hair, and she wasn't making it easy for me to get separation. I had the inside path and darted forward to receive a pass, and when I tried to put the ball to the front of the net it was accidentally knocked in by Petter Lind. I was thrilled at having tied the match, but that excitement evaporated quickly when the goal was disallowed by VAR for an offside of our own. The offside was clear, so it's not like we got robbed or anything, but it was a pain to not have my second goal of the year. Only a few minutes later, the ball came to me on another attack and I sent an arcing pass over the head of the defender right to Miedema, but it was called offside before the pass even landed and the would-be tying goal once again never came to be.
Shanghai added another goal before halftime, but we were quickly on the counterattack and I nearly set up a goal on a pass across the goal box that was just intercepted by the keeper. In the 64th minute, we got one goal back when Leandro Dybala got a close shot past the keeper, but Shanghai scored right away and we missed two great chances in what would eventually be a 4-1 defeat. It was tough to lose a match for the first time this season, but we were still looking in great shape if we could clean up the mistakes.