Greatest Of All Legends

Chapter 67  Dreadful Wait and Final Result

{My word my word! What do we have here!?}

{In a game that we all thought had gotten away, Porto has not just pulled level but has gone a step further by taking the lead in injury time!}

{This will ensure that they keep their spot on the top of the table if they manage to end this with a win here!} The commentator quickly got to work after seeing the ball end up in the back of the net.

{The team captain came in late in the second half, but he quickly took the reins, led from the front, and is now inspiring his team potentially towards victory} The commentator's words didn't stop rushing out and played out well as a background track of the celebrations that were going on at the Estadio D. Afonso Henriques.

Pepe and the other Porto players celebrated wildly in front of the visiting fans, while the players and the Porto staff on the sidelines weren't left out as they joined in on the celebrations, but as the celebrations were going on, the referee suddenly blew his whistle loudly with his hands raised.

*Fweeeeeee*

All the celebrations paused for a short second as they heard the loud shrill sound of the referee's whistle that indicated that there was a problem.

{Oh wait, it seems the referee has gotten something here} The commentator added.

The Porto players who were in the midst of the celebration turned over to look at the referee who was surrounded by some Vitoria de Guimares players who seemed to be complaining about something.

Pepe quickly pushed away the players who were clinging to him and walked up to the referee along with some of his teammates to find out what was going on.

{It seems that some of the Vitoria de Guimares players think that their earlier attack that had led to the ball being cleared from the line by Chancel Mbemba was actually a goal}

{They seem to think the ball had crossed the goal line before it was cleared and it seems like the referee isn't sure either, but now that Porto has gotten a goal, he may have to take a second look to ensure fair play} The commentator did a good job of erasing the confusion of the Porto players with his words.

Due to the likelihood of that being the truth, the referee had blown his whistle to tell the players to stop so that he could have time to check.

The referee waited on the field surrounded by players from both teams with his hand to his ear as he awaited a response from the analyzers of the goal line technology.

A dreadful wait immediately ensued the whole stadium as everyone waited anxiously as the referee's decision would determine whether either Porto or Vitoria de Guimares would win the game.

After almost a full thirty seconds, the referee finally received a response and headed off the field to check the situation with the aid of the VAR.

At this point, the tension in the air was almost palpable and almost everyone in the stadium was unconsciously holding their breaths.

Finally, it seemed like the referee had seen enough to make a decision as he left the screen and headed back to the field while blowing his whistle and making a few gestures that caused groans from the majority of the fans in the stadium and cheers from traveling fans.

The referee had ruled in favor of the Porto side as after checking carefully he had seen that though it was very close, Chancel Mbemba had managed to clear the ball before it could completely cross the goal line.

It was a very close call as the ball was merely millimeters from crossing the goal line. That was why he had been called to personally check and make the decision as the assistant referee didn't dare to make a decision regarding this case.

All this nitty-gritty pieces of information were of course unknown to the Porto players and fans who were back to celebrating their goal as they slowly moved back into their half.

Of course, the Vitoria de Guimares players were unhappy with the referee's decision, but there was nothing they could do about it and they instead tried to hurry the Porto players' goal celebrations so they could try to equalize in the little time they had left, but the Porto players weren't budging.

They knew that the best way they could ensure that they took all the points from this match back home was to waste away the remaining time left in the match.

This was also the easiest way as they could also decide to try defending instead, but they weren't willing to take the risk when there was an easier way of getting the same results.

Due to their actions however, a fight almost broke out amongst the players of both teams, but was quickly quelled by the referee who after settling the fight, tried to hurry the Porto players back to their half, yet the Porto players still made sure to waste time by dragging their feet as much as possible.

By the time the Porto players finally arranged themselves back in their half, the four extra minutes of injury time was already over and they already expected to hear the match's final whistle at any time.

The thousands of the Vitoria de Guimares booed and cussed at the Porto players, but they weren't bothered in the slightest.

If they were the type that cared about what the opponent's fans thought about them then they wouldn't have been trying to win the game in the first place.

The Vitoria de Guimares team finally kicked off and they immediately tried to attack the Porto side, sending all their players forward and trying to get a goal before the referee blew the whistle.

For some reason, the referee didn't immediately blow the whistle to end the game and this put a lot of pressure on the Porto side who had to deal with a very desperate Vitoria de Guimares side who even had a number advantage over them.

Luckily, they managed to hold out until the referee blew the whistle a whole three minutes later to end the game.

The Porto side quickly erupted in cheers, completely ignoring the disappointed and distraught Vitoria de Guimares team.

Jason also stood up with his teammates from the bench while clapping his hands.

He was a little bummed out that he wasn't able to break his lack of matches streak yet again, but at least the team won and he felt like he had made the correct decision.

If he was the one who was substituted into the game earlier instead of the team captain, Pepe, he wasn't sure if he could score and inspire the team to a win like Pepe had done in the remaining minutes of the game, as after all, it would have been his debut match.

Of course, it wasn't an impossibility, but who cares right now anyway?

They had won the game as a team and even though he hadn't played, it still felt good to win, plus he had also been able to determine that the manager wouldn't mind letting him get on the field soon.

Maybe not in the next match since it was a Europa League match, but definitely in the match after that at least… after all, it was only fair, right?