On the other side, Coach Adkins knelt in the technical area, cheering excitedly! Allowing Gu Ran to stand freely was indeed a correct move!
The game continued and the fourth official raised a sign, indicating that there would be four minutes of injury time in the first half.
Players from both teams continued to engage in close combat on both flanks.
The short Jamie Ward seemed to be unable to run. He had more than a dozen head-on confrontations with Gu Ran in the first half. Now there was not a single muscle in his body that was not painful. If he continued with such high-intensity confrontations, cramps would probably be a matter of time.
Jamie Ward began to use long passes to deal with the ball at his feet.
Sheffield United as a whole also played impatiently, while Southampton, under the on-the-spot command of coach Adkins, temporarily contracted its formation and played its signature defensive counterattack.
The tactics in a game are never fixed, they need to be fine-tuned according to the situation on the spot.
Coach Adkins can be called a magical coach because he has a very strong ability to read the game and adjust on the spot.
Before the game, many professional betting companies predicted that this would be a defensive game, but in the first half, both teams played a crazy offensive posture.
As the referee blew the whistle, the first half of the game ended.
Both sides returned to their respective locker rooms to rest and adjust.
Southampton's team doctors even took out the oxygen machines that had been prepared long ago to help the players recover their strength.
15 minutes later, the two teams came back on the field and changed sides to fight again! Gu Ran continued to play as the left forward and organized the direct pass attack.
Sheffield United also adjusted their strategy in time, pushing their defense line further forward. This approach was risky, but it could create offside and prevent Southampton from passing the ball behind them.
In the 63rd minute, Gu Ran dribbled the ball along the left side, and Chamberlain ran wildly to support him and pass the ball along the side.
Jamie Ward and Michael Doyle both roughly intercepted Gu Ran at the same time.
Gu Ran directly confronted Jamie Ward, and Jamie Ward was obviously unable to hold on.
Doyle reached out and grabbed Gu Ran's arm, leaving obvious bloody marks on Gu Ran's arm.
But the referee turned a blind eye.
Seeing that he could not get rid of Doyle's foul defense, Gu Ran directly used a top-notch move: Cruyff turn + 2, then Cruyff turn, beautifully knocked Doyle to the ground, and then took advantage of the open space to pass the ball straight with his left foot to Chamberlain who was already on the side.
Jamie Ward immediately turned around to chase Chamberlain, but after running two steps, he fell to the grass, covering his thigh in pain.
Chamberlain cut inside quickly without looking back.
Sheffield United captain Charles Morgan fell to the ground and slid, tackled the ball fiercely, and then kicked it out of the sideline with a big kick.
Southampton's cooperation on the left side was very beautiful, but it was a pity that Chamberlain's cut inside was a little short and failed to break through Sheffield United's defense.
In a dead ball situation, the referee blew the whistle, signaling the team doctor to come in and treat Jamie Ward who was still lying on the grass.
Taking advantage of this time, the Southampton players ran back to the technical area to replenish water.
Gu Ran drank the customized licorice sweet root water handed to him by nutritionist Loina, then threw the bottle away and quickly ran back to his position.
At this point in the second half, Gu Ran still had enough physical strength.
This is also thanks to the crazy improvement of physical attributes some time ago, which has increased the physical attributes to 90 points.
Jamie Ward limped off the field, supported by two team doctors.
He has a thigh muscle strain, and will miss not only this game, but probably the rest of the games this month.
This is undoubtedly a serious blow to Sheffield United, which relies on small and fast tactics on the flanks.
Jamie Ward was completely defeated by Gu Ran's high-intensity physical confrontation.
Sheffield United head coach Mickey Adams looked depressed and urgently summoned No. 14 Lee Williamson to warm up on the sidelines.
The game resumed.
Substitutions have to wait until the next dead ball. Now the situation on the field is 10 against 11, which is a great offensive opportunity for Southampton.
However, the two teams are not mortal enemies, and Southampton is still in the lead. Out of sports ethics considerations, Southampton returned the possession of the out-of-bounds ball to Sheffield United.
Chamberlain threw the ball out of bounds near Sheffield United's baseline and then quickly returned to defense.
Sheffield United's right back Nylon Noseworthy picked up the ball near the baseline and dribbled forward.
Gu Ran pushed forward very far and directly pressured Nosworthy.
Noseworthy wanted to rely on his own physique and speed to defeat Gu Ran, but the next second he was blocked by Gu Ran and could not move.
Fortunately, captain Charles Morgan quickly responded and Noseworthy barely passed the ball to Morgan.
Gu Ran immediately exploded and rushed towards Morgan with a sense of oppression.
As a left back, Gu Ran has already reached the front of the formation.
This pass under pressure was completely inaccurate.
Lambert grabbed the first point at the outer edge of the center circle in his own half, but before he could pass the ball, he was roughly pushed to the ground by Daniel Filiscock who rushed up.
This time, the foul was very obvious.
The referee blew the whistle and showed Felix Kok a yellow card.
Southampton then won a free kick in the backcourt more than 60 meters away from the opponent's goal.
The Blades fans at the scene applauded and cheered for Felixscock - although Felixscock received a yellow card and conceded a free kick, the foul was still worth it.
If Phylliscock had not committed a foul, Lambert would have pulled the ball sideways after stopping it, and then passed it directly to Gu Ran.
At that time, Gu Ran had already retreated quickly from the offside position to the empty area on the flank where he was not offside. So once Lambert passed the ball, Gu Ran would successfully counter-attack, break away from Sheffield United's front defense line, and directly face goalkeeper Wright in a 1v1 situation.
Gu Ran’s success rate in 1v1 is still quite high!
Therefore, sometimes, getting a card and committing a foul is also a very necessary operation.
Sheffield United's defense was remarkable.
After this dead ball, Sheffield United took the opportunity to replace No. 14 Lee Williamson.
The number of people on the field has returned to a balanced state.
Southampton failed to seize this attacking opportunity, but it was not a big problem as the initiative of the attack was still in their hands.
Gu Ran ran back to the backcourt and took the free kick from a very long distance.
The Saints fans at the scene excitedly jumped and sang the "60-meter Crescent Moon Song" on the north stand.
The lyrics of this song were originally about a 40-meter-long crescent moon, which was later upgraded to a 50-meter-long crescent moon, and now it has been upgraded to a 60-meter-long crescent moon.
Gu Ran felt a little embarrassed himself.
Although Gu Ran is indeed a growing type and is getting taller and taller, but... 60 meters is really not enough at the moment.
The 50-meter scimitar requires very, very high technical skills, and the 60-meter scimitar requires even more skills. The risk of not being able to kick it in is too high.
It's really not that easy to kick a magical ball.
When we can get Zidane's authentic Flying Fairy or Rooney's violent Flying Fairy, and improve the free kick attribute to 90 points, we can safely produce the magic ball.
Even though the Saints fans wanted it very much, Gu Ran knew very well that he would not act rashly and make unnecessary waste.
So for this ball, Gu Ran decided to use his golden right foot: accurate long pass + 1.
Gu then retreated a dozen steps, then sprinted at high speed, and with a powerful volley from the instep, the football flew over the jumping wall like a cannonball and landed directly in the penalty area! Forwards Guli and Garrod immediately rushed out from the wall to grab the ball!
However, Sheffield United's defense was not to be trifled with. Although the pass was fast enough, its trajectory was too long, giving Sheffield United's defensive players time to react. Shane Lawrie and Charles Morgan quickly caught up with Gourlay and Garrod, using their bodies to slow down their speed.
Sheffield United goalkeeper Richard Wright attacked at the first moment, jumped up and caught the ball in the air, and held it steadily in his arms after landing.
The Saints fans groaned for a moment, but soon gave Gu Ran's wonderful long-distance pass a warm round of applause.
It has to be said that Sheffield United is indeed a veteran English Premier League team with extremely strong defensive capabilities.
Southampton's weak forward line was fully exposed when facing a team with solid defense.
The game continues.
The two sides engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat again.
As their physical strength declined, the mistakes made by both sides gradually increased.
In the 77th minute of the game, Sheffield United launched an attack from Southampton's right. No. 17 Richard Cresswell relied on his strong body to break through the joint defense of Hammond and Richardson and knocked the ball to the top of the penalty area.
No. 9 Ched Evans shot the ball directly from outside the box!
The ball went through before Jaidi and Martin could close the defense, and Davis jumped to save it.
The football hit Davis' arm and bounced to the right side of the penalty area!
Evans cut in from the back row, grabbed the first point, turned around and passed it after getting the ball!
Southampton's defense missed a player! No. 10 striker Daniel Bogdanovic followed up with a shot from close range into the near corner of the goal! Davis was helpless...
The ball went in! In the 78th minute of the game, Sheffield United used their bodies as blades to tear open Southampton's problematic defense!
The entire Bramall Lane Stadium was boiling instantly! The Blades madly roared the Blades Battle Song! The score on the big screen was immediately changed to Sheffield United 3:3 Southampton! After Sheffield United reversed and then was reversed, Sheffield United tied the score again! Both teams seemed to be playing like crazy! ...
(End of this chapter)