Madrid react quickly to Norden's late equalizer and secure the victory for Conquistadors

by: Domenico Jordano (Nightingale Press)

The coldest team and the hottest team stood face-to-face in a battle to remain in the top half of the table. Norden had a slight advantage playing on the home field, but Madrid stood 4 points ahead in the overall ranking. Two equal teams, no clear favourite and openness to experiments - everything needed for intrigue to be alive.

First 30 minutes of the match were just passing and playing with the ball, occasinally broken by unsuccessful shot attempts. It looked like both sides were OK with their middle-table status. The half-time stats described the picture perfectly: 50-50 possession, no shots on goal, no corners, no free kicks. If an insomniac had come to see this match, the first half would have certainly healed him.

The stadium was woken up by Woy Hudgson's goal against Norden, right at the beginning of the second half. The goal clearly shook the players, and they finally began to play dangerously and shoot the ball in the right direction. A couple of attempts from Harden, a couple of saves from goalkeepers - still nothing could change the score.

"It would be logical for this match to be ended in a tie," - thought Andrew Tate and put 1-1 on the sheet at 84th minute. "No, it wouldn't", - thought Gealish and put Madrid in the lead again, just 3 minutes after Top G's equalizer. Looks like two teams were just warming up for 80 minutes before pleasing people with an epic goal battle.

Although the first half required patience from the viewers, the most loyal of them weren't disappointed to witness no-goal tie turning into 1-2 Madrid victory.