As soon as the game started, Jarrod quickly knocked the ball back to Lallana behind him, and then dived into the frontcourt.
Lallana dribbled the ball, kept a steady rhythm, and slowly advanced forward on the flooded artificial turf. Southampton's formation also slowly pressed forward.
This kind of weather and field environment also tests ball control skills.
Brighton did not adopt full-court pressing defense, but waited for Lallana to dribble the ball across the center line before their No. 31 attacking midfielder Craig Noone came up to intercept.
Nunn's interception was very fierce. Lallana had just returned from injury and naturally did not want to have more physical contact with Nunn, so he half turned and transferred the ball to the left.
The slippery surface increased the speed of the ball, and left midfielder Holmes almost failed to stop the ball.
This also greatly affected Holmes's quick and agile rhythm. When Holmes controlled the ball, Conor Clifford, the young talent on loan from Chelsea, blocked Holmes' forward breakthrough route with great momentum.
Holmes suddenly stopped and changed line, trying to get rid of Clifford by using his flexible feet.
But Clifford reached out and grabbed Holmes' arm, forcing the ball out of the sideline.
The referee blew the whistle and Southampton got a throw-in near the center line.
The Southampton team immediately moved forward and Gu Ran took the penalty kick himself.
Today's light rain will affect the accuracy of long passes, and the Brighton team is obviously very wary of Gu Ran's strategic grenade, so Gu Ran did not choose to throw it directly into the penalty area, but threw it to the left rib area outside the penalty area.
Lallana sprinted quickly in the drizzle and took the supporting position at the first opportunity.
No. 10 midfielder Matt Sparrow knocked Lallana away with a shoulder collision, and the ball was grabbed by midfielder Craig Noone! Southampton's defensive players immediately counterattacked on the spot.
The young central defender Siberian, who made his debut, was very active. In order to prevent Nunn from passing the ball, Siberian reached out from behind Nunn, strangled Nunn's neck and knocked Nunn to the ground.
But before being brought down, Nunn still forced the ball to Southampton's right side.
Center forward No. 39 Chris Wood threw off his long legs and sprinted madly in the rain to chase the ball! The Seagulls fans in the stands all cheered for Chris Wood excitedly.
It's a pity... the speed of the ball is difficult to control on rainy days, and Chris Wood's explosiveness and speed are not his strong points. Before Chris Wood could catch up with the ball, the football rolled out of the right sideline on the wet grass.
Chris Wood shook his head helplessly, turned around and applauded his teammates.
Southampton escaped a one-on-one opportunity!
The scene when scrambling for the out-of-bounds ball was rather chaotic, and the referee did not see the foul on Siberner's neck, so he did not show Siberner a yellow card.
Brighton captain Gordon Gill appealed to the referee.
The referee wiped the rain off his face and pointed at his nose to warn Gordon Gill.
The Seagull fans at the scene booed and cursed the referee for being blind.
——Today's penalty seems to be favorable for the away team Southampton.
But it’s hard to say. After all, it’s basic for the English referee to be blind. It’s very likely that he is not biased, but really blind.
The game continues.
The two sides fought back and forth in the rain, and both sides made many mistakes.
Compared to the match against Huddersfield Town, the pace of this game was obviously much slower.
Brighton is also an offensive team, but it seems to be more stable. They are not in a hurry to attack, but keep testing the middle and looking for opportunities.
Huddersfield Town played from both wings, relying on two wing-backs to organize the attack, while Brighton organized the attack from the middle.
Huddersfield Town’s passing style is long balls, while Brighton’s is short balls.
In the first 10 minutes of the first half, both sides made more than 5 mistakes.
Both sides were also in the stage of strategic exploration, pulling each other and looking for flaws in each other's formation.
Gu Ran had three good straight passes from the backcourt, but Brighton's defensive position was very good, and the slippery rainy weather made it difficult for Southampton's forwards to get Gu Ran's passes.
Brighton also had a very sharp breakthrough in the middle, but they failed to hold the ball because of the slippery field.
Neither side had a shot on goal.
The game also seemed fragmented due to fouls and mistakes.
In the 15th minute of the game, Hammond made a mistake in his long pass and the ball was given to Brighton's No. 5 midfielder Augustin Battipidi.
Battipidi immediately passed the ball short to No. 10 Matt Sparrow.
Sparrow dribbled the ball straight into the middle! Lallana quickly stepped forward to intercept, blocking Sparrow's breakthrough route with his body.
Holmes and Schneiderlin also quickly contracted the defense line and assisted in double-teaming.
Sparrow has a strong ability to break through the midfield. He turned half way to protect the ball, pushed Lallana away with his shoulder, and then continued to accelerate forward along the middle.
Hammond, who made a mistake in passing the ball, immediately rushed forward and slid towards Sparrow! Sparrow took a shot in advance and pushed the ball to the right side of Southampton's penalty area!
Hammond Scooped!
Southampton's goal is wide open!
Brighton's young center forward Chris Wood chases the ball with big strides!
Gu Ran immediately accelerated and sprinted to intercept with a violent aesthetic——
However, at the same time, Siberne was also intercepting on the right side of the penalty area, just blocking Gu Ran's interception route.
Seeing that his own people were about to collide with each other, Gu Ran had to change line urgently and turn to the goal line to assist Davis in defending.
Chris Wood took control of the ball before Siberia and Martin could double-team him, and then made a direct diagonal shot!
The Seagulls fans have already jumped up and celebrated!
ball……
In front of the goal line, Gu Ran, who came back in time, was shoveled out of the end line!
Super Defense: Death Slide! "Oh!!!"
Brighton fans all held their heads in disbelief.
They all thought that the ball was bound to go in!
I didn't expect Gu Ran's prediction and positioning to be so strong that he cleared the goal in front of the goal line!
Southampton escaped again! Captain Davis ran over excitedly and ruffled Gu Ran's hair.
Sure enough, with Gu Ran here, there is a chance to save the defense line even if it is rotten!
Siberne also ran over with a smile to thank Gu Ran.
This ball was originally Siberia's responsibility. It was his random running and lack of speed to intercept the ball that led to such a thrilling scene for Southampton.
Without waiting for Siberne to thank Gu Ran, Gu Ran angrily shouted at the grinning Siberne: "Fuck! What the hell are you running around for? You obviously can't stop him, why don't you shrink back and block the angle of the shot?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Siberne was yelled at so hard that he didn't even dare to breathe.
Gu Ran glared at Siberne and said, "Forget it... kick well next time!"
"Yes, yes..." Siberne was trained to be timid.
This was also the first time that Gu Ran got angry at his teammates on the field. It wasn't because he was the core player now that he had a bad temper, but because the ball just now was indeed too dangerous. If Gu Ran hadn't made a death slide tackle, Chris Wood would have scored that goal!
Chris Wood is a goal-scoring machine! He has a very keen sense of smell in front of the goal! If he doesn't yell at Sibernet and lets Sibernet keep running around like this, Southampton will be in trouble sooner or later!
Now, the crisis has not been completely resolved.
Brighton wins a corner kick on the left side.
Craig Noone takes the corner.
The ball was kicked to the far post, No. 11 Christian Baz seized the advantageous position, jumped up and headed the ball.
The football was too slippery, and Davis didn't dare to grab it rashly. He could only use both hands to lift the ball over the crossbar.
Brighton win a second corner.
Nunn continued to take the corner kick on the right side.
This time, Nunn kicked the ball to the front point.
During the scramble at the front point, Siberian was pushed to the ground, and Siberian took the opportunity to trip Christian Baz.
The referee blew the whistle to stop the game immediately! The referee showed Aaron Martin a yellow card and awarded a penalty kick!
The Southampton team was in an uproar! Davis and other players came forward to complain!
But the referee insisted on his decision! Aaron Martin spread his hands with a look of frustration and grievance! It wasn't his foul at all! It was Siberner's foul! Even if there was a penalty, it should be Siberner who got the yellow card!
It turns out that this referee is really blind! He can even admit his mistakes!
However, Aaron Martin still had no way to defend himself. He couldn't just hand over his teammates, right? Even if Siberner was bad, he was still his teammate!
Head coach Adkins also frowned in the technical area on the sidelines.
At this moment, Coach Adkins really wanted to use a substitution quota to replace the damn Siberian and never give him another chance in the future.
But the problem is that it was only the 20th minute of the first half. Making a substitution so early would definitely have an impact on the subsequent tactical arrangements.
Coach Adkins chose to endure for the time being.
Brighton center forward Chris Wood walked to the penalty spot with confidence.
Davis wiped the rain off his face and stared intently at Chris Wood's feet.
Chris Wood took a long run and volleyed the ball into the upper right corner of the goal with his instep! The ball was like a cannonball, brushing against Davis's stretched fingertips and shooting into the goal! The ball went in! In the 20th minute of the first half, Brighton opened the scoring with a penalty kick!
The Seagull fans in the stands were jumping and dancing with joy!
The Southampton players returned to their positions with depressed faces and kicked off again.
This penalty kick was really...
Gu Ran was too tired to complain.
The game continues.
Southampton strengthened their attack on the flanks.
Gu Ran also frequently made forward runs and crosses from the left back position.
In the entire Southampton team, Gu Ran was the most active, running the most and sprinting the most, while the other teammates, even Lallana, were not in good shape.
In today's game, it was really a battle between the super star Gu Ran and the entire Brighton team.
It’s hard to lead a team! …
(End of this chapter)