The Beautiful Game
Pep Guardiola clenched his fist in celebration, and the cameras caught the moment perfectly. “That’s it!!!”
Manchester City scores a stunning goal! The moment the ball hit the net, every Manchester City player raised both arms and began sprinting forward. Ha Sunmoon followed Kevin De Bruyne toward the section filled with away fans.
“Yeeesss~~!!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Yes!”
Soon the Manchester City players were performing their celebration right in front of the traveling supporters, and Sunmoon had joined them, thoroughly enjoying himself. When he moved beside Kevin De Bruyne, the Belgian wrapped him in what felt almost like a headlock.
After their exuberant goal celebration, the Manchester City players crossed back over the halfway line in high spirits.
At Clive’s words, Sunmoon snapped back into concentration immediately. Pep Guardiola noticed it and watched with keen interest.
I was about to tell the players to refocus… but the youngest one locked in first. He really is growing into a valuable asset.
Pep Guardiola often paid attention to these small details. Especially with young players like Sunmoon, he frequently checked for any developing bad habits. From what the manager could see right now, Sunmoon looked like an exceptionally promising talent.
“Everyone, stay sharp! Including stoppage time, we’ve got about ten minutes left. How we handle these ten minutes is crucial. We have to stay strong until the final whistle.”
At Pep Guardiola’s command, the players settled down and refocused on the match.
The referee’s whistle blew and the game resumed. Manchester United pushed forward in attack. The right-sided forward pressing toward Sunmoon had been substituted—Greenwood out, Rashford in. But ever since Sunmoon had begun joining the attack aggressively, it was mostly Ruben Dias who had been marking Rashford.
Sunmoon glanced sideways, unsure what Clive meant.
Sunmoon gave a small nod and began to move.
First, make sure the ball doesn’t reach Rashford…
Once sufficient pressure had been applied, they fortunately managed to win the ball back in midfield. The moment Rodri stole possession, Sunmoon immediately took off down the left flank.
Ha is running again!
As Sunmoon hugged the touchline, Sterling also began moving into the half-space. Rodri passed first to Sterling. With his back to the opponent, Sterling spun and threaded a pass toward Sunmoon in the half-turn.
Sterling! He finds the open Ha!
Clive was impressed by Manchester City’s smooth, flowing passes.
Sunmoon raced up the empty left flank. Then Wan-Bissaka appeared again.
A foul to stop me, no matter what.
“No. There’s another option.”
Sunmoon instead drove the ball quickly toward Wan-Bissaka.
Sunmoon was overflowing with confidence right now. He wanted to show off the tightrope-walking flair he used to display.
Step-over.
He performed a step-over toward the outside—Wan-Bissaka’s left side. This time, determined not to be beaten, Wan-Bissaka lunged in with a tackle while reaching out to grab Sunmoon’s jersey.
Fake! It’s a flip-flap.
In that instant, Sunmoon used explosive movement to attack Wan-Bissaka’s right side—the inside channel for Manchester United. Wan-Bissaka’s body was left stranded facing the outside, and even the left hand that tried to grab him was shrugged off as Sunmoon burst past.
That was all Clive could say. Sunmoon was pure Brazilian flair right now—dripping with dazzling individual skill and defensive awareness that completely melted the right-back.
Ha completely dismantles Wan-Bissaka once again! He’s melted him!
The sudden breakthrough forced Manchester United’s defense to scramble back into position. But Sunmoon was already surging past their defensive line.
The only passing lane Clive could see was that one. Sunmoon recalled De Bruyne’s early crosses—the awkward balls that flew between the defenders and the goalkeeper. They were dangerous for defenders to clear and, if the keeper came out, the ball would often skid off the grass and spin wide.
Alright. Let’s try it.
Timing it perfectly, Sunmoon struck the ball. Victor Lindelöf stretched out a leg as a right-sided stopper, but the ball had already flown past.
Ha! The cross!
The first to arrive was Sterling, who managed to redirect it with a strike.
Sterling!
But the ball slammed into the top of the crossbar! Sterling’s mid-air touch sent the ball on a good diagonal trajectory, but it rose just a little too high and rattled the top of the bar.
The second ball falls to Jesus on the right! Jesus shoooots—Gooooooal~!
Because of Sterling’s shot, De Gea had already committed to a slide and couldn’t recover his balance. Jesus received the loose ball and smashed it into the completely unguarded Manchester United net.
Gabriel Jesus! He scores his second goal against Manchester United!
Another goal that began with Sunmoon’s involvement. The strike in the 88th minute was effectively the one that sealed the match.
The second goal felt like the goddess of victory had officially chosen Manchester City. Just when it seemed they might be unlucky after hitting the bar, they seized the second chance and scored. Their opponents began to crumble.
Manchester United fans started leaving their seats and heading home. The Manchester City players, who had finished their celebration and returned to position, could clearly see it.
“Look, they’re all leaving.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Ruben Dias spoke to Sunmoon, who let out a small laugh in response.
Clive’s tone was slightly mocking, but the core message was clear: stay alert.
Huu…
Clive burst into loud laughter after spotting something. Sunmoon followed his gaze and saw an elderly man who looked rather angry after conceding the second goal.
Aha… So that’s Sir Ferguson.
While he was briefly distracted, the game restarted.
Whoops. Focus!
Sunmoon snapped back to the match. But sometimes even hard work doesn’t pay off. Three minutes of stoppage time were added. The clock showed 92 minutes and 30 seconds. Manchester United were awarded a corner.
Thinking about Clive’s instructions, Sunmoon watched Bruno Fernandes prepare to take the corner.
Whump!
The ball sailed well over Sunmoon’s head. Maguire and Dias collided and both crashed to the ground. Fortunately, John Stones headed the ball away, but it dropped right in front of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo struck it immediately.
“Uwaaah!”
Thud!
Kyle Walker had thrown his body in the way, but the ball took a wicked deflection off him. Ederson had set himself, but the sudden change in direction caught him in the wrong movement. The ball flew straight into the net.
Swish~!
Ah…
Sunmoon and Clive sighed at the same time. Having seen the goal go in, Ronaldo immediately sprinted toward the fans.
And then…
SIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~~
Ronaldo’s signature celebration echoed around Old Trafford.
Peeep! Peeep! Peeeeeeeeep!
The final whistle blew after Ronaldo’s goal. The match ended 2-1 to Manchester City.
“We won, but it feels like we lost.”
Ugh…
As a slightly nervous Sunmoon slowly made his way toward the tunnel, someone approached him.
“Was that you?”
“Sorry?”
The player who had come up to him was Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Ha. You were very threatening today. You’re still so young, yet you played brilliantly.”
“Ah! Thank you.”
“They said you nearly came here, right?”
“Yes, that’s right… Haha… But I heard the talks didn’t go well.”
“What a shame. You clearly have talent. Congratulations on the win today.”
Ronaldo patted Sunmoon on the shoulder, gave him a wink, and headed back to his own dressing room.
“Huh? He’s actually really nice?”