Further Apart| M. Mount

SEVEN

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Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
📍Stamford Bridge, London

It was Laia's first game back at the bridge, her nerves were put at bay before the match since she was talking to Tammy whom she'd missed during her time in Germany even though the two kept in touch. While Tammy was on the bench Laia was not, she started along side Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovačić and Cesar Azpilicueta.

The full starting 11 consisted of:
Edouard Mendy in goal.
Antonio Rüdiger, Andreas Christensen and Trevoh Chalobah in defense.
Marcos Alonso, Laia Schmidt, Mateo Kovačić and Cesar Azpilicueta in midfield.
And finally Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Mason Mount up front.

The noise in Stamford Bridge when the players stepped foot on the grass was deafening, floods of the well known navy blue the club was known for filled the bridge. Laia along with the rest of the team walked with their heads held high ready for whatever was to be thrown to them during the match.

Chances came back and forth for Chelsea with high pressing from the blues putting pressure on Palace's defence, however the breakthrough came when in the 27th minute Marcos Alonso put the blues ahead with a sensational free kick putting the ball into the top right hand corner of the net. However the blues didn't stop with the goals in the first half as Christian scored a goal from inside the box five minutes before half time putting the blues 2-0 ahead.

Once the whistle blew for the end of the first half Laia was pulled out of her concentration from a side hug given to her by Tammy as they were walking down to the dressing room, telling her about what improvements she can make when he observed her from the bench and their conversation continued until Thomas Tuchel started the half time team talk.

The fifteen minutes were finished which meant it was time for the players to jog onto the pitch ready for the whistle to indicate the start of the second half, Laia was once again brought out of her trance when she received a pat on her back by none other than Mason Mount. The gesture made her furrow her eyebrows in confusion but chose to ignore it and gave him a meek smile back, making her way back to the pitch she ran on the spot to warm her legs up.

Chelsea's third breakthrough came from Trevoh 58 minutes in who was influenced by the fans who shouted 'SHOOT' throughout Stamford Bridge, Trevoh shot with his right foot in the bottom left corner once the ball went in Trevoh fell to his knees crying while the rest of the team rushed to embrace him and congratulate him on his first Chelsea goal on his senior debut.

The teams last goal came 80 minutes in when Christian passed the ball long to Mason across the pitch with the Palace players closing in around him and leaving him with minimal space he was searching for one of his teammates in the box, that's when he heard Laia shout to him that she was free. Since she was their best shot in getting another goal he passed the ball to the girl who then shot the ball into the bottom left corner making it 4-0 to Chelsea.

The blonde ran to the corner flag to the right to celebrate with the fans as well as looking around for Mason who gave her an assist and sure enough he was right there in front of her. She ran and gave him a hug before they were jumped on by Antonio Rüdiger which made them all laugh.

"Thank you Mason". Laia whispered into his neck.

"No need to thank me". He replied with a smile across his face, as the parted she gave him a pat on the back like he did to her earlier.

The match ended 4-0 to Chelsea, with Trevoh Chalobah getting a well deserved man of the match award. She wouldn't have wanted her return to Stamford Bridge to go any different and that's when she knew that she was home: the team, the staff, the fans and the bridge felt like home and she never wanted to leave.