My Ultimate Gacha System

Demien slapped his palms together once, glared toward the defender who’d conceded the foul, then stopped himself before he said something he’d regret.

He walked into the goal, retrieved the ball from the net, and carried it back toward the center circle himself, wanting the restart immediately.

"United controlled that entire opening period," the commentator said, "but one unnecessary foul on the touchline has let Palace’s quality punish them."

For the next ten minutes, Palace’s block sat even deeper.

Andersen and Guéhi stayed close together around Højlund.

Mitchell refused to overcommit against Rashford.

Doucouré never left more than a stride of space around Demien.

Palace’s wide players tracked back until the whole shape resembled two narrow defensive lines stacked in front of goal.

Bruno received outside the box and shot through traffic, but Andersen blocked it with his body.

Demien switched play long toward the right fullback, but Palace recovered in time to head the cross clear.

「LEGENDARY TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED」 「Paul Pogba — Long Switch Flair」

Rashford cut inside from the left and drove low toward the near corner, but Johnstone got down and held it.

Demien tried another ball into Højlund, but Guéhi read the lane and stretched out a boot before the striker could receive it.

Each failed attempt pulled more visible frustration out of Demien.

He pointed for Rashford to hold his width wider.

He called Højlund closer before one restart.

He and Bruno disagreed briefly over who should occupy the central pocket, then sorted the spacing between themselves without breaking stride.

"Palace are conceding possession in front of them while denying the middle completely," the commentator noted, "which is forcing Demien to receive with his back to goal far more than he’d like."

Around the thirty-fifth minute, Demien changed his own position rather than waiting for the game to open.

Instead of holding between Palace’s lines, he dropped beside Casemiro, and Doucouré followed rather than let him receive freely.

Demien played one touch back to Casemiro, then accelerated past Doucouré before the midfielder could turn to track him.

Bruno saw the run and returned the ball straight into his path.

「LEGENDARY TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED」 「Claudio Marchisio — Balanced Engine」 「STATS ACTIVE」 「Reactions: 99 | Acceleration: 99 | Stamina: 99」

Demien now faced Palace’s goal with Doucouré behind him.

Andersen stepped out to close him down.

Demien drove at him, then released Rashford in behind Mitchell before Andersen could shut the lane.

Rashford burst into the box and struck across Johnstone, who got a hand down and pushed it wide.

「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Clear Chances Created: 3/3」 「Line-Breaking Actions: 3/4」

Demien shouted in frustration at the save, then pointed toward Rashford and applauded the run anyway, and Rashford answered with a raised hand of his own.

Around the thirty-ninth minute, Palace tried to counter through Eze after clearing the resulting corner.

Demien had stayed near the edge of the box for the second ball, and when Palace won it, he turned and sprinted back immediately.

Eze tried to release Ayew into the right channel, but Demien read it early, cut across Ayew before the ball arrived, and used his strength to win the ball clean without fouling.

「TRAIT ACTIVATED」 「Ball Winner」 「STATS ACTIVE」 「Interceptions: 94 | Strength: 99 | Reactions: 99」 「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Ball Recoveries: 2/3」

He released Bruno without slowing down.

Bruno returned it, but Palace retreated before United could force a clean shot, so Demien kept the move alive through Casemiro rather than forcing anything.

Around the forty-third minute, United’s second goal arrived.

Casemiro found Demien twenty-five yards from goal, and Palace’s midfield dropped toward the box, expecting another through ball toward Højlund or Rashford.

Demien played a short pass into Bruno and kept moving.

Bruno returned it first time.

Doucouré stepped out to meet him.

Demien let the ball roll across his body, his first touch suggesting he was going left toward Rashford, before his second touch dragged it back across Doucouré’s stance into the central shooting lane.

「LEGENDARY TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED」 「Jay-Jay Okocha — So Good Twice」

Doucouré turned the wrong way.

Andersen rushed out from the defensive line, but Demien struck the ball before he could set himself.

「EPIC TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED」 「Dipping Power Shot」 「STATS ACTIVE」 「Long Shots: 98 | Curve: 99 | Composure: 99」

The ball climbed over the defender, seemed to be sailing above the crossbar entirely, then dropped violently into the far top corner.

Johnstone got both hands up but couldn’t reach it.

Manchester United 2 — 1 Crystal Palace Demien Walter 43’

Everything that had built up since Andersen’s equalizer came out at once.

Demien shouted as the ball hit the net, sprinted toward the corner, and pumped both fists toward the stand.

Bruno reached him first, and Demien grabbed him around the shoulders because their one-two had opened the lane.

Højlund, Rashford, and Casemiro piled in a moment later.

「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Direct Goal Contributions: 2/2」 「Line-Breaking Actions: 4/4」

"That’s Demien Walter refusing to keep waiting inside Palace’s block," the commentator said. "He dropped deeper, faced forward, and manufactured the half-yard Palace had refused to give him all half."

Palace tried to reach the interval only one goal behind, slowing their possession, but United’s confidence had clearly grown.

Demien pressed Doucouré every time Palace tried to build through the middle.

Around the forty-fifth minute, he angled his run to cut off Doucouré’s backward pass while Casemiro closed the forward lane.

Doucouré hesitated, tried to find Schlupp instead, and Demien read it, stretched across the passing lane, and won the ball cleanly.

「LEGENDARY TECHNIQUE ACTIVATED」 「Arturo Vidal — Warrior Spirit」 「MISSION PROGRESS」 「Ball Recoveries: 3/3」

Palace’s back line had pushed out to support the possession and hadn’t fully reset.

Demien drove forward immediately.

Guéhi stepped toward Højlund, Andersen shifted across toward Demien, and Mitchell tucked inside to cover Rashford.

Bruno held his run until Andersen fully committed, then attacked the gap opening between Andersen and Mitchell.

Demien shaped as though he meant to shoot from range again, and Palace reacted to the threat of it — Andersen planting himself directly in the shooting lane.

Instead, Demien slid the ball through the gap into Bruno’s path.

Bruno took one touch into the box and finished low past Johnstone.

Manchester United 3 — 1 Crystal Palace Bruno Fernandes 45+2’ (Assist: Demien Walter)

Demien ran to Bruno immediately, grinning, pointing back at the space he’d attacked, and let Bruno pull him into the group celebrating near the corner flag.

「HALFTIME MISSION UPDATE」 「Clear Chances Created: 4/3」 「Line-Breaking Actions: 4/4」 「Ball Recoveries: 3/3」 「Direct Goal Contributions: 3/2」 「Bonus Objective — Lead at Halftime: Complete」

The referee let Palace restart, allowed one short possession, then blew for halftime.

Manchester United 3 — 1 Crystal Palace Højlund 14’ — Andersen 25’ — Demien 43’ — Bruno 45+2’

United walked toward the tunnel with real energy after scoring twice in the final minutes of the half.

Palace’s defenders gathered briefly near the center circle, the control they’d rebuilt after equalizing undone in the space of two minutes.

Demien entered the dressing room still breathing hard, still visibly wired, exchanging quick congratulations with Højlund and Bruno rather than retreating back into silence the way he usually did after a big moment.

Ten Hag opened the review with what Palace would likely change.

He moved Demien’s marker higher on the tactical board, pointing out that Doucouré could no longer follow him alone without exposing the center, which meant Palace would probably add a second body around him or push Andersen up earlier to compensate.

His instruction stayed short and direct — Demien should keep dragging Doucouré away from his position, but Bruno needed to attack the space sooner rather than waiting for it to appear on its own, and Højlund had to keep pinning Guéhi so Palace’s center-backs couldn’t step across to help.

Nobody should chase a fourth goal recklessly and hand Eze space to counter into.

United came back out for the second half to find Palace already waiting on the pitch, Doucouré talking closely with another midfielder while both kept glancing toward Demien.

Andersen stood several yards higher than before during the final warm-up touches, the clearest sign yet that Palace intended to close him down with more than one player this time.

Demien noticed the extra attention immediately, caught Bruno’s eye, and allowed himself a small smile, because an extra marker on him meant someone else on the pitch had just been left free.

Both teams took their positions.

The referee raised the whistle.

Fweeeeeetttttttt!