"GOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!"
The small house at the entrance of the training base shook as its door was kicked open with a loud bang. Magis burst through, fists clenched, roaring toward the sky. His massive beer belly had completely broken free of his shirt, barely restrained by a thin leather belt struggling under the weight. One couldn't help but pity the poor belt, bearing the burden of life itself.
Inside the stadium, Luton fans erupted in wild celebration, waving their arms in the stands. The entire ground was buzzing with excitement.
The Port Vale players stood frozen in disbelief. Weren't they supposed to be up against a team of amateurs? Wasn't this game meant to be an easy win? Yet, barely a minute into the match, and Luton had already found the back of the net. This wasn't the script they had envisioned.
Sam Parker, the Port Vale captain, was equally dumbfounded. Everything he had confidently declared before the match now felt like a slap to the face.
Impossible.
How could a team of so-called amateurs string together such a brilliant attacking move?
Luck.
It had to be luck.
Sam Parker snapped out of his daze, his mind racing to regain composure. He clapped his hands, rallying his teammates.
"They're just lucky!!!" he shouted.
His teammates latched onto that explanation. Of course! In football, even amateurs could sometimes pull off spectacular goals or moments of magic. Football was a game of unpredictability, after all.
Port Vale quickly shook off their shock and tried to reset.
Meanwhile, in the stands, Roy instinctively leapt up to celebrate after Jamie Vardy's goal. But she hesitated.
Cheering now... wouldn't that mean siding with that bastard?
After a brief internal struggle, she opted for a reserved approach—no shouting, just a quiet round of applause.
It was a beautiful goal, after all.
As the match resumed, however, Port Vale soon realized just how naive their earlier assumptions had been.
Luton completely dominated the game, pressing high up the pitch and suffocating any attempt by Port Vale to build an attack. Forced to play long balls from the back, Port Vale's forwards found themselves isolated against Luton's well-organized defensive line. Even when they managed to win the first ball, Luton's midfielders were always there to clean up the second.
At the heart of it all was one man—N'Golo Kanté.
The young Frenchman was everywhere, a relentless midfield enforcer sweeping up everything in sight. Every attempt to dribble past him ended in failure. Every loose ball seemed to find its way to his feet.
"It's Kanté again! Another tackle!!" the commentator exclaimed.
The camera panned to Luton's manager, Ethan, who was clapping furiously on the touchline.
"Well done, Kanté!!! Now speed it up! Attack!!!"
The commentator couldn't help but marvel.
"I have no idea where Ethan found this guy, but Kanté's tackling is almost flawless!"
Of course, what no one knew was that, in front of Ethan, a glowing tactical interface had appeared—a secret weapon invisible to the rest of the world.
At the edge of the display, a blue-lit card slotted neatly into place.
"Stealing success rate increased by 13%."
Even without the boost, Kanté's tackling was elite. At just 17 years old, months of intensive training had already pushed his defensive attributes to an astonishing level. With the bonus applied, his ball-winning ability was nearly at its peak.
A defensive force like this didn't just trouble second-division teams—even Premier League sides would struggle against him.
Once again, the same sequence played out.
Kanté won the ball cleanly in midfield, immediately spraying a pass into space on the right flank. Kevin Keane took possession, advanced into the final third, and unleashed a thunderous shot from the edge of the penalty area—
BOOM!
Would this be another moment of magic for Luton?
The ball rocketed toward Port Vale's goal like a cannonball!
Ethan instinctively raised his arm, ready to celebrate. He knew Kevin Keane's attributes well—Luton's captain had an exceptional long-range shot.
The strike was powerful and well-placed, but the Port Vale goalkeeper reacted quickly, stretching out a hand to make the save. However, he couldn't control the rebound.
Charlie Austin was in the right place at the right time. He pounced on the loose ball inside the penalty area and calmly slotted it into the net!
2-0!
Ethan threw his arms into the air and roared in celebration! But what truly excited him was seeing the effectiveness of the system he had built at Luton. His tactical setup was proving its worth in English football.
This squad was his foundation, his first major step toward success. Countless hours of effort had gone into shaping this team, and now, after two relentless months of hard work, the results were beginning to show.
Port Vale was overwhelmed. They had no answer to Luton's tactics.
Before long, Luton struck again.
This time, it came from a blistering counterattack. Left-back Sol Davis whipped a cross into the box, where Luton had three attackers surging forward.
Danny Drinkwater timed his run perfectly, meeting the delivery with a powerful header that flew past the goalkeeper!
Ethan sprinted down the touchline in sheer excitement, while Drinkwater ran toward the bench in celebration. The substitutes and coaching staff exploded from their seats, and the entire stadium erupted in cheers!
Luton, a team once dismissed as the weakest in the league, was now putting Port Vale to the sword. Remarkably, their opponents had yet to register a single shot on goal.
The onslaught continued in the second half. Jamie Vardy rose highest to meet a cross and nodded the ball into the net, making it 4-0. At that moment, Port Vale seemed to accept their fate—they had given up the fight.
Luton refused to ease off. In the 68th minute, Charlie Austin's shot was blocked by a defender's hand inside the box. The referee had no hesitation—red card and a penalty!
Captain Kevin Keane stepped up and confidently dispatched the spot-kick. 5-0.
And the goals kept coming.
In the 76th minute, central defender Jeffrey climbed above everyone to meet a corner kick, powering home a header for his first-ever professional goal! The young Dutchman was ecstatic, celebrating wildly.
By the final whistle, Luton had completely dismantled Port Vale, finishing with an emphatic 8-0 victory. Vardy even completed a hat trick in the closing moments!
As stoppage time wound down, Ethan rose from his seat and approached the Port Vale coach. But his counterpart, still reeling from the humiliation, refused to shake hands before the final whistle.
Ethan merely smirked, turned away, and strolled into the tunnel.
There were no boos from the crowd this time—only thunderous applause.
In just one match, the young Chinese manager had already won over the stadium.