In the 68th minute of the game, Arsenal midfield kicked off.

Center forward Bendtner knocked the ball back to the attacking midfielder Fabregas who had just come on.

Fabregas is the absolute core of the Arsenal team, with the highest firing authority and ball possession authority.

As soon as Fabregas got the ball, some Arsenal fans booed him.

Fabregas had an indifferent expression and seemed unaffected by the extreme fans. He dribbled the ball flexibly along the middle.

The entire Arsenal formation immediately followed Fabregas's quick movement.

If it had been at the beginning of the first half, Arsenal's attack would have been very scary.

But now, Southampton has basically adapted to Arsenal's fierce attack and pressure, and except for Fabregas and Song who have just come on as substitutes, the physical fitness of other Arsenal players can't keep up.

It is not that Arsenal are physically weak, but their repeated sprinting style means that they will be in danger of physical collapse in the later stages of the game.

This is also the biggest disadvantage of the passing and controlling flow against the defensive strangulation flow.

At this time, Southampton's central midfielder Lambert came up and intercepted Fabregas.

Even though we know it is difficult to intercept a world-class midfielder like Fabregas, we still have to keep pressure on him and not let him kick or break through easily.

Without waiting for Lambert to get close, Fabregas shook his body, made a beautiful change of direction, and used his flexible and delicate ball control skills to shake off Lambert.

This extraordinary move is very easy and freehand, and has a great artistic beauty.

Compared with his fellow student Messi, Fabregas's small-area dribbling is even more beautiful, but his continuity is far inferior to Messi.

However, even if he is not as good as the world's number one, Fabregas can still be regarded as the world's number two in this position.

After being shaken off, Lambert immediately counterattacked on the spot and reached out to pull Fabregas' jersey.

Fabregas performed a beautiful Cruyff turn, which caused Lambert to lose balance and almost fall on the grass.

Fabregas then accelerated and headed straight into the penalty area!

The rhythm changes too fast!

Southampton suddenly felt like they were facing a formidable enemy.

Dixon, Hammond, Schneiderlin, and Holmes, who had just come on, all tried their best to retreat back and form a diamond formation to strangle Fabregas.

Central defender Aaron Martin also came forward to block Fabregas.

Fabregas' dribbling speed is not fast, but his footwork is extremely flexible, and his vision is extremely broad and his predictive ability is strong.

Before Southampton's diamond formation was formed, Fabregas dribbled the ball towards Southampton's left side, and when the time was right he made a short pass to the left flank area.

Wilshere cooperated perfectly and inserted it into the left rib! Gu Ran also stepped forward to block Wilshere's angle of passing -

As soon as Wilshere stopped the ball, Gu Ran "teleported" in front of Wilshere.

Wilshere immediately half turned around to protect the ball and used his shoulder to confront Gu Ran.

Gu Ran was not afraid at all. While he held Wilshere with his body, he stretched out his foot to poke the football under Wilshere's feet.

After less than three seconds of confrontation, Wilshere was sweating profusely and was terrified!

No wonder the little tiger Walcott was abused so badly...

This Chinese kid is really tough! Just when Wilshere and Gu Ran were fighting head-on, Fabregas had already cut into the top of the arc in the middle like a ghost.

Fabregas' dribbling speed is not very fast, but his speed and awareness of running without the ball are definitely world-class.

The cooperation between Wilshere and Fabregas was also very sophisticated. Wilshere did not consider Fabregas's position and made a quick short pass.

The ball was powerful and fast, and it instantly broke through Southampton's defense in the middle.

Such a short pass with great power is also very difficult to stop the ball, but Fabregas stepped easily and placed the ball firmly under his feet.

Martin immediately made a sliding tackle on Fabregas.

Fabregas pulled the ball with his right foot, then broke through with his left foot, avoiding Martin's sliding tackle with ease.

Southampton's defense was instantly exposed!

Jaidi, Richardson, Hammond and Lambert who had retreated, all desperately surrounded Fabregas! Gu Ran, under Wilshere's hand, violently sprinted towards Bendtner who was infiltrating the small penalty area.

Fabregas made a beautiful Marseille turn, while protecting the ball, he switched the ball back to his right foot, and then made a clever through pass!

This guy's skills can be described as unstoppable! Gu Ran was pulled by Wilshere, and he could have sprinted in front of Bendtner but he was one step short! Gu Ran fell to the ground and slid to the ground.

Although he couldn't tackle Bendtner, nor could he block his shooting route, he could slightly affect Bendtner's shooting mentality from the momentum! Bendtner was blocked by Gu Ran in the first half, and now he finally had a chance, so he naturally didn't dare to relax at all. He immediately turned half-turned to receive the ball, and without even adjusting, he shot directly! The football rose from the ground like a powerful cannonball! It brushed the top of the goal... and flew to the audience behind the goal.

Bendtner missed the shot again! Southampton had a false alarm! In this wave of defense, Southampton was completely penetrated from head to toe! Fabregas is indeed the second best midfielder in the world. As soon as he came on the court, Arsenal's sharpness doubled at least! Of course, this is not the strongest level of Arsenal.

After all, Van Persie was still sitting on the bench, watching silently with his arms folded across his chest.

Moreover, the physical fitness of most Arsenal players on the field has basically reached the window threshold.

If Arsenal had taken this game seriously from the beginning, even if Southampton's iron-clad defense was strong, even if Southampton had Gu Ran, they would have been cut and torn through by Fabregas and Van Persie long ago.

Fortunately... time left at Arsenal is running out.

Bendtner, who missed the sure goal again, held his head in frustration.

As the captain, Fabregas did not communicate with Bendtner at all, but turned around and ran back to the midfield position.

Gu Ran climbed up from the grass, concentrated his mind, and allocated one of the four remaining talent points to the physical attribute.

The physical attribute immediately increased from 85 points to 86 points.

——At this point in the game, it is not a matter of tactics and skills, but physical strength.

Especially for Gu Ran, he has to sprint the most repeatedly, run the longest distance, and use a lot of system skills. This is a great test for his physical fitness and mental strength.

From this perspective, Gu Ran’s current level is indeed unable to gain a foothold in the Premier League.

It is also a very correct idea to adopt a career plan that first accumulates experience in English Football League One.

At this time, Southampton began to make substitutions.

Young central defender Aaron Martin was substituted and vice-captain Walton was replaced.

Martin's performance today was remarkable. Although he made several big mistakes, the team was facing a strong Arsenal after all. As a young player with little experience in major competitions, it was already very good for Martin to have such a performance.

Southampton fans gave Martin applause to encourage him.

Martin did not leave the field quickly, almost walking slowly to the sidelines - this was also one of the tactical strategies arranged by Coach Adkins before the game.

Southampton is now leading by one goal, so they should try to delay time as much as possible by making good use of the rules of the game.

When a weak team plays against a strong team, it has to use all its tricks and must not lose its advantage for the sake of "saving face".

Arsenal fans booed Martin.

The referee also ran over to warn Martin to leave the field quickly.

Martin then reluctantly jogged, high-fived Walton and left the court.

Walton pulled the jersey on his chest and sniffed it, then sprinted quickly to the center back position.

The game continues.

Goalkeeper Davis took the goal kick and passed the ball short to Walton who had just come on the field.

Walton was not in a hurry to kick the ball, but dribbled slowly in his own backcourt, passing the ball back and forth with Jaidi.

Arsenal's formation then quickly pressed forward.

Gu Ran immediately switched positions with Dixon and ran towards the defensive midfielder position.

Arsenal's Fabregas, Wilshere, and Song immediately double-teamed Gu Ran -

Walton seized the opportunity and passed the ball to Gu Ran.

Gu Ran was a little slow in stopping the ball. Just as he had the ball under his feet, Wilshere and Song had already reached his position from the left and right.

In fact, Gu Ran’s ball-stopping skills are not an advantage in English Football League One, but they are definitely not bad.

However, this level of ball control is indeed not good enough in the fast-paced and highly competitive Premier League.

Just a slight drop in pace and the situation became passive.

At this time, dribbling the ball and breaking through is also a solution.

But if he tried to break through with the ball, it would be like jumping into Arsenal's stranglehold.

Not only will a lot of physical energy be consumed, but the key is that there is a high probability of losing the ball in a dangerous area.

Fabregas was supporting from the side, and if the ball was lost, it would be absolutely fatal to Southampton's fragile defense.

Gu Ran immediately performed a Marseille turn to protect the ball. When he was halfway through the Marseille turn, Gu Ran faced his own goal and knocked the ball back to Walton. Then he continued to turn without the ball and completed a full set of Marseille turns!

Wilshere stretched out his foot to intercept the ball, but halfway through he realized that the ball was no longer under Gu Ran's feet.

Before Wilshire could fully react, Gu Ran suddenly accelerated and bypassed Wilshire from the side.

Song reacted very quickly and immediately turned around to chase Gu Ran. Fabregas also approached Gu Ran who was without the ball - they all knew very well that it didn't matter where the ball was, what was important was where Gu Ran was.

As Gu Ran bypassed Wilshere, Walton made a lob pass to meet Gu Ran's return ball.

The football flew over Wilshere's head and landed near the center circle of his own half.

The awareness of this lob pass was very good, but the footwork was a bit rough. The landing point was at least five or six meters away from Gu Ran, with Fabregas in the middle, and further in front of the ball was Arsenal center back Djokovic who was about to cross the half court.

Zhu Lu could have accelerated to grab the ball, but seeing that Song had blocked Gu Ran's route and Fabregas was also chasing the ball, Zhu Lu did not continue.

Seeing that Fabregas was about to get the ball first, Gu Ran immediately sprinted forward violently.

Song Ze was very experienced and stuck to Gu Ran, blocking Gu Ran's sprint route.

The moment their bodies touched, they were both secretly shocked.

The muscle strength of both of them has also been improved to the extreme! The bones of the body creaked at the same time! Song Ben thought that a Chinese grassroots would be easy to fight, especially since it was already around the 70th minute of the second half. Even if Gu Ran was fierce before, he should have no strength at this time.

Unexpectedly, Gu Ran's impact was like a mountain pressing down on one's head, making it almost impossible to breathe.

I'm afraid that today, even if I use all my impact force, I may not be able to break through Song's close defense.

Alexander Song is not playing alone.

Behind Song are more than 400 people.

Song alone has to support more than 400 relatives in Cameroon.

Since Song made a lot of money, these relatives have stopped working and just laid back, waiting for Song to make money to support them.

Therefore, Song was very serious and worked very hard on the field. He never dared to slack off and worked hard to earn fame and fortune in order to get a higher salary.

Facing such a hard-working midfielder, it is simply impossible to defeat him with your body in a short period of time.

Gu Ran then suddenly stopped, changed direction, and increased his strength, creating a distance of half a body length between himself and Song.

Song immediately continued to press forward.

Gu Ran suddenly dodged swiftly, avoiding Song's head-on collision and brushing past Song sideways! This sudden stop, withdrawal of force, and acceleration in the opposite direction was too fast!

Song didn't react at all!

By the time Song stopped and turned around, Gu Ran had already jumped two steps away! Song's body was strong and his speed was not slow, but he missed half a beat in reaction and half a beat in turning around. When he wanted to reach out and pull Gu Ran, he couldn't pull him anymore!

The moment he got rid of Song, Gu Ranfeng's son, the king of Highbury, rushed at full speed and rushed directly towards Fabregas who was about to pick up the ball.

Fabregas felt the pressure from Gu Ran without even looking back!

For Fabregas, the safest way is to step forward and poke the ball to Djokovic in front of him as soon as possible. After turning around to get rid of Gu Ran and running into the open space, he will receive the pass from Djokovic and break through Southampton's defense in one breath.

However, Fabregas chose not to do so.

Fabregas was arrogant and did not take the Chinese grassroots player Gu Ran seriously.

After all, Fabregas just won the World Cup, is the captain and absolute core of Arsenal, and his current market value is among the top five in the world.

It would be so embarrassing if they were forced to not dare to hold the ball by a grassroots Chinese player who only appeared in tabloid gossip.

Fabregas immediately accelerated and stopped the ball, then he kicked the ball with his back, trying to get past Gu Ran with his flexible and delicate footwork.

His footwork was indeed fast! Gu Ran could catch up with him with his eyes, but he couldn't catch up with his interception.

There is no solution. His ball control level is just that. It is impossible to steal the ball from Fabregas' feet no matter how much he brags.

As Fabregas knocked the ball with his back, he quickly turned his body, preparing to speed up with the ball, and used his dribbling skills to dribble past Gu Ran who was rushing towards him.

Just when everyone thought there was no solution, Gu Ran directly stepped sideways to intercept and block Fabregas' dribbling area, and at the same time, he hit Fabregas with a strong shoulder, knocking him to the ground! That's right! If I can't knock down Song with 400 people behind him, how can I knock down Fabregas?

Tough confrontation is part of modern football!

What is unsolvable? The powerful brick can solve everything! ——Seeing Fabregas being knocked to the ground, the fans at the scene all exclaimed in unison.

Gu Ran is such a brave boy! He is so aggressive!

Show no mercy when facing Arsenal’s soul player!

After being stunned for a moment, Southampton fans burst into crazy roars!

This kind of aggressive kicking style against world-class stars is exactly what they love to watch! Southampton fans' adrenaline exploded. It was just a small confrontation, but it was more exciting than scoring a goal! The second half of the game was not boring at all! And since Southampton reversed the score, the offense and defense transition rhythm on the field was very fast, and every second was exciting!

Some extreme Arsenal fans were also cheering for Gu Ran excitedly!

They were so happy to see Gu Ran knocking their "traitor" Fabregas to the ground!

Even coach Wenger, who was standing next to the technical area, had a hint of excitement in his eyes about asking for more money.

Fabregas covered his chest with his hands in pain and lay on the grass for a long time without being able to get up.

This is really not an act.

Gu Ran hit him so hard!

The referee ran over and gave Gu Ran a verbal warning with a frown.

This collision was just a strong one, but there were no violations with the hands or feet, so the referee couldn't just give a card.

Gu Ran calmly accepted the referee's verbal warning, turned around and reached out to pull Fabregas.

Although Fabregas was a little annoyed, in front of so many fans, he still politely grabbed Gu Ran's hand and was pulled up from the grass by Gu Ran.

Gu Ran patted Fabregas on the shoulder and turned back to defend.

Fabregas secretly bit his back teeth and his eyes became serious.

In this wave of attack and defense between the two sides, it seemed that Southampton lost the game, and it seemed that Southampton's attack was broken by Arsenal, but in fact, it was Arsenal that suffered the loss.

The referee awarded Arsenal a free kick near the halfway line.

Arsenal pressed forward as a whole team, while Southampton continued to maintain their iron defense and parked the bus in the penalty area.

Gu Ran and Jaidi focused on defending Bendtner.

Arsenal's central defender Koscielny took a free kick and passed the ball directly to Fabregas who was moving within the 30-meter area.

Lambert and Holmes double-teamed Fabregas.

Fabregas flexibly controlled the ball and easily took on 1v2, dribbling the ball to the front of the top of the Southampton penalty area.

Facing Southampton's tight defense, Eboue took over from the left.

After attracting the attention of at least three defensive players, Fabregas passed the ball to Eboue who was running on the wing.

Holmes immediately turned around to intercept.

But Eboue's breakthrough was very fast. After getting the ball while running, he accelerated to shake off Holmes and went straight to the Southampton baseline.

Wilshere also penetrated into the left rib area at the right time, coordinating with Eboue in terms of position.

Walton immediately stepped up to defend Wilshere, preventing him from cutting inside after getting the ball.

Eboue did not stop, but made a cross while running to the bottom line! ——Although Arsenal's physical energy consumption was very high, their passing and coordination were still very fast and sharp! Bendtner jumped high, but was squeezed by Gu Ran in advance.

Bendtner hit the ball with his head but was unable to exert any power.

Davis jumped up and caught the football firmly in his arms.

After Davis landed on the ground, he threw the ball directly to Arsenal's weak area, which is the right side of Southampton.

After Richardson got the ball, he raised his head slightly and glanced at the positions of his teammates.

Coach Adkins in the technical area on the sidelines yelled, "Go, go, go!"

At this time, the game was already in the 72nd minute, and the physical exhaustion strangulation tactics had been successfully completed. Southampton could now launch a defensive counterattack!

Gu Ran rushed directly from his own small penalty area——

The other Southampton players who had been holding back for most of the game also began to counterattack! Richardson calmly dribbled the ball in the face of Arshavin who rushed over to intercept him, and then made a long pass to Schneiderlin who was running quickly along the right side.

Schneiderlin jumped up slightly while running, used his thigh to transfer the flying ball, and then dribbled forward without stopping! This technical move of stopping the ball without stopping the speed immediately won the cheers of Southampton fans! Arsenal's defense speed was still very fast, but it was not as sharp as the sprint speed in the first half.

Ramsey sprinted forward recklessly and made a fierce death slide towards Schneiderlin who was speeding up!

Schneiderlin quickly jumped up to avoid it, but Ramsey cleanly cleared the ball out of the sideline.

Arsenal fans breathed a sigh of relief.

In this extremely short counterattack just now, Gu Ran had already sprinted from his own small penalty area to the vicinity of the center circle...

In other words, if it weren't for the genius midfielder Ramsey's extreme sliding tackle, if Schneiderlin could protect the ball, make a sudden stop and pass it across the middle, Arsenal would have trembled.

Although Southampton's counterattack has not yet been successful, it has begun to show its edge!

Arsenal's players on the field were already out of breath, and most of them were almost at their limit.

Coach Wenger's expression in the technical area on the sidelines also became extremely solemn.

At this time, Coach Adkins continued to use the substitution method.

Midfielder Hammond was replaced by team star Lallana!

The Southampton fans at the scene cheered excitedly! Lallana's substitution was an obvious attack signal!

What made Southampton fans ecstatic was that in the next 20 minutes, Southampton did not intend to play in a dirty way, but was preparing to counterattack against Arsenal!

Hammond limped off the court - his leg appeared to be cramping as Coach Adkins began his substitution.

As to whether it was a real cramp or a false cramp, only the experienced Hammond himself knew.

Hammond fought very fiercely in this game, so it is normal for him to have cramps.

After Lallana high-fived Hammond, he quickly ran to the midfield position.

Southampton also changed its previous 451 formation due to Lallana's appearance, and transitioned to a 4231 formation similar to Arsenal.

Obviously, the magical coach Adkins took advantage of the one-goal lead, delaying time by making substitutions while gradually adjusting tactics.

Lallana did not appear directly in the forward position, and the forward position was still held by center forward Guli.

Lallana stood behind Gully and acted as a front midfielder.

Lambert retreated to replace Hammond as the defensive midfielder.

When the game resumed, it was already the 76th minute and Arsenal was still one goal behind.

——There is not much time left for Arsenal.

After 75 minutes, the handicap of the game changed a lot. Many fans followed the option of total goals less than 5, which had low odds but seemed to be a safe bet.

As long as the two sides cannot score more than two goals in the remaining game time, they can recover smoothly.

…

(End of this chapter)