KONAMI
KONAMI

Victorious in both games, AS Monaco begins season as leaders of the league table

Manchester United FC is separated from first ranking spot by only two points, and anticipated favorites Juventus and FC Bayern München struggle to break into top positions


AS Monaco, once again, begins the 2020-21 season of eFootball.Pro leading the league table with six points. LoScandalo of Juventus, and S-Venom of AS Roma, emerged as the top goal scorers of the matchday, and Celtic FC is the sole team to sit at the bottom of the standings taking home zero points from the competition. 


The match to kick off the 2020-21 season of eFootball.Pro featured a star-studded competition between FC Bayern München and Juventus. The first game was a well fought battle, described by commentator Harry Channon appropriately as a “tale of two halves”, with Juventus coming off strong with a first goal in minute 12’ by LoScandalo, followed by his second in 34’, doubling their lead before the game reached halftime. Host, Adam Butcher, cautiously remarked that the German club had managed to turn things around before, which Alex Alguacil proved with a goal in minute 41’. LoScandalo had a chance to complete a hat trick early on with a penalty shot in minute 57’, but missed the opportunity to bring his club further ahead. In a successful effort to equalize the board, MESTRE scored a second goal in minute 82’, bringing the score to a draw at 2-2 where it stayed for the remainder of the game.


Riding the wave of game one, team captain JOSE was the third Bayern München player to score a goal during the day with an impressive header in minute 33’ of the second game. The score was then evened by an unfortunate own goal in minute 57’ by MESTRE, who then made it up to his team by increasing the score to 2-1 shortly after in minute 70’. In a last minute attempt to equalize the score, LoScandalo came through for his club yet again with the final shot in minute 86’, granting both clubs two points following a skillfully fought match. 



As the matchday continued, Celtic FC faced the 2019-20 season league leading AS Monaco. The highly experienced Monegasque squad started the competition off strong, with back to back goals by Kilzyou in minute 22’, and then Usmakabyle in minute 27’. Celtic FC team captain, Jorcha, proved that the Scottish club has a stake in the game by putting his team on the board with his own shot in minute 36’. AS Monaco continued to attempt increasing their score, but were unable, thanks to what Channon described as Jorcha’s “amazing defensive performance.” The score remained at 1-2 in Monaco’s favor until the clock ran out, awarding them the first victory of this season. 


The second game remained scoreless throughout the first half. However, the commentators warned that was the moment in the game, arguably, that AS Monaco was their “most dangerous”, which Usmakabyle proved to be correct as he scored the first goal of the game shortly after in minute 56’. This brought the score to 0-1, which stayed unchanged until the end of the game, granting all six points to AS Monaco. While Celtic FC walked away empty handed, the commentators praised their performance and spoke optimistically about the two new additions to the Scottish squad, umbee96_ and PataNegra7




Arsenal FC and FC Schalke 04 faced off for the third matchup of the day, the first to feature both teams with altered lineups this season. Following a quiet opening, it was INDOJAWA who put the English squad on the board with his goal scored in minute 42’. Harry Channon complimented the overhaul in Arsenal’s lineup, noting that brothers INDOMINATOR and INDOJAWA seem confident paired with barboza this season. Although the first game was light in goals, ending at 1-0 in Arsenal’s favor, the commentators described the gameplay by both teams as “tactically intriguing.” 


Although being just the first matchday of the season, Harry Channon described the second game as a crossroads for FC Schalke 04, predicting that the result would be indicative of their performance for the rest of the season, as they will continue to face some of the most feared teams. The German club had various chances to redeem themselves in the first half of the second game, while the English squad fought for the full six points up for grabs, yet the board remained scoreless. The goal show began in the second half of the game, with two goals back to back by German team captain, MeroMen, in minute 66’ and 70’.  In an attempt to work towards equalizing the score, INDOMINATOR managed to help Arsenal avoid a shutout, by scoring in minute, but EL_Matador solidified Schalke’s victory in minute 88’, proving to the commentators exactly what they had been speculating about. Each team walked away with three points. 




Galatasaray SK debuted their lineup of eFootball.Pro rookies facing Manchester United FC in the matchday’s fourth competition. The game was off to a quick start in favor of the Turkish team,as a result of team captain E_C_Oneill’s own goal in minute 4’. The English team produced a draw almost immediately with an equalizer in minute 9’, thanks to youngster Ostrybuch. Following the early excitement, it wasn’t until minute 78’ that E_C_Oneill redeemed himself from the previous blunder and scored a goal to bring Manchester United FC ahead on the scoreboard, which ultimately gave his team the win for the first game.


The captain continued with the trend and achieved the first goal for Manchester in minute 15’ of the second game. Unfortunately for the English team, another own goal was scored by them in minute 51’, equalizing the score against Galatasaray and leaving a victory up for grabs by either opponent. The scoreboard stayed at 1-1 until the clock ran out on the second game, leaving Galatasaray in the interesting situation where they equalized the score and walked away with one point, without any of their players scoring a goal themselves. Manchester United FC concluded the competition with four points on the league table. 




For the final match of the day, AS Roma played their first competition of eFootball.Pro against FC Barcelona. As the commentators debated whether AS Roma would be a contender for the championship title, the Italian club’s performance proved from the start that they were a team to watch. S-Venom achieved two goals in quick succession, in minutes 5’ and 12’, almost immediately followed by another scored by team captain, RoksaCzv22, in minute 17’, putting AS Roma ahead 0-3 before the clock reached the twentieth minute. Increasing their lead even further, S-Venom completed the first hat trick of the season with his third shot in minute 62’. In an attempt to decrease the goal difference, ALEX GRD put the Blaugrana squad on the board in minute 73’, and youngster ALEXR continued the trend in minute 79’, making him the first rookie to score a goal this season. With a final score of 2-4, AS Roma was rewarded for their early offensive streak with three points for the victory.


In the second game, FC Barcelona attempted to redeem themselves beginning with team captain, THE PALMA’s, first goal in minute 30’. It was almost immediately followed by youngster ALEXR’s second goal in minute 34’, praised by Adam Butcher as “one of the greatest goals we’ll see today, maybe one of the best all season.” RoksaCzv22 then put AS Roma on the table with a successful shot in 36’. ALEX GRD scored his second of the game in minute 74’, bringing the goal difference to the same as AS Roma’s victory in the previous game. At the end of the highest scoring match of the day, with both teams at a five goal total, they put themselves on the league table with three points each. 



The MVP and best goal awards of the first Matchday will be announced and presented to the recipients at the beginning of Matchday 2. Both of these prizes are individual recognitions that award the players 10,000€ each. They are determined by KONAMI each matchday, with the MVP being chosen out of the players with the top five CO-OP points from the competition. 


The following fixtures for Matchday 2 have officially been announced: FC Barcelona vs. Arsenal FC, FC Schalke 04 vs. FC Bayern München, Manchester United FC vs. Celtic FC, AS Roma vs. AS Monaco, and Galatasaray SK vs. Juventus. Matchday 2 is set to stream live on Saturday, January 16th at 1.00pm CET (12.00pm GMT).  

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