The game continues!
Southampton’s morale is high after scoring two goals in a row!
Gu Ran relied on his almost superb ball control ability to make breakthroughs on the wing one after another!
The Brighton players could not keep up with Gu Ran's sprinting speed, and their physical strength had declined drastically, so they were unable to defend against Gu Ran at all!
Southampton started a crazy attack!
Brighton was beaten so hard that they could hardly get out of the penalty area! Brighton's defense was in a mess! Fortunately, goalkeeper Casper Ankergren played well, blocking high and diving, and managed to stabilize the situation.
In the 85th minute of the game, Gu Ran burst through the wing and sent the ball straight into the air above Brighton's small penalty area with a magic lamp pointing the way! Southampton striker Barnard jumped up and headed the ball! Brighton goalkeeper Casper jumped up and reached out to pick up the high ball.
Bang! The two of them collided heavily! Bernard's mouth was full of blood, and he lay on the water-filled grass in pain.
Caspe also covered his shoulders, holding the football tightly in his arms, his face full of pain.
The referee temporarily stopped the game and the team doctors of both teams rushed to the court in the rain.
Other players also took the opportunity to run to the bench to replenish electrolytes and water.
After a simple diagnosis and treatment by the team doctor, Caspe stood up again.
After the treatment, Bernard lay on the grass for a long time without getting up.
The referee immediately showed Bernard a yellow card.
Bernard was stunned and quickly appealed to the referee.
The referee said that Bernard was deliberately delaying time. If he needed long-term treatment, he should leave the court and go to the sidelines for treatment before returning to the court.
Bernard had no choice but to follow the team doctor to the end line for treatment.
In fact, he really had no intention of delaying time.
Southampton is now in the ascendant and the score is still tied, so of course he wants to seize every opportunity to attack and score points.
The rules of the British Championship are different from those of other competitions. If there is a tie, there will be no overtime, but a penalty shootout will be used to decide the winner.
Southampton's overall strength is obviously above Brighton, but if the game goes to a penalty shootout because of a draw, it would be hard to say.
After all, penalties are not something that Southampton focuses on in training.
The game resumed as Barnard and the team doctor treated the player on the sidelines.
Brighton started to counterattack.
For Brighton, they don't want to just draw, they also want to defeat Southampton in the final moments.
Southampton defended with all their might with one man less on the field.
Seeing this, Bernard raised his hand to the referee, then rushed into the court to assist in defense while spitting blood.
The referee blew the whistle again and interrupted the game! The referee rushed towards the innocent Bernard and showed him another yellow card! Bernard was stunned!
The Saints fans at the scene were all stunned!
What kind of operation is this!
Two yellow cards in one minute?! All the Southampton players ran over to surround the referee and demanded an explanation.
The referee said that although Bernard raised his hand when entering the court, he had not yet received his permission, which was an illegal entry.
This... is fine according to the rules.
But I always feel that the referee is deliberately exploiting the rules!
Bernard wanted to appeal again, but the referee did not give him a chance.
Bernard could only leave the field angrily and walk straight back to the bus.
The game continues!
The fourth official raised a sign, indicating that there would be three minutes of injury time.
Southampton faced Brighton with 10 men, but it was not a big problem.
The player who was sent off on the Southampton team was a forward, which did not have much impact on defense. But on offense, although there was one less fulcrum in the frontcourt, Gu Ran had a wider range of activities.
In the 91st minute of injury time, Brighton passed the ball in the frontcourt. Gu Ran seized the opportunity and cut in at an extremely fast speed, knocking away Brighton midfielder Craig Noone and intercepting the through ball from Matt Sparrow!
The Saints fans immediately cheered loudly!
Southampton's players also followed up with a high-speed counterattack! This was basically Southampton's last chance to attack! They had to take it! Brighton also tried their best to defend Gu Ran.
Conor Clifford, the young talent on loan from Chelsea, slid directly towards Gu Ran fiercely!
Gu Ran made an emergency stop and slammed the ball before accelerating to avoid Clifford's frontal sliding tackle.
Matt Sparrow and Augustine Battipidi took advantage of Gu Ran's sudden stop to quickly flank him, using both their hands and feet!
Gu Ran made a top-notch pass: Cruyff turned around +2 and knocked the two men to the ground beautifully! All of Brighton's defensive players rushed towards Gu Ran!
Because of the obstruction of Clifford, Sparrow and Battipidi, Gu Ran got rid of it but also lost the opportunity for a fast break. However, Gu Ran was very calm and composed. He was not in a hurry to kick or force a breakthrough. Instead, he dribbled the ball steadily to the left sideline area.
Putting aside the accuracy and power of this long-distance pass, the broad vision and on-the-spot football IQ alone are enough to be breathtaking! Schneiderlin on the right easily stopped the ball at his feet and then dribbled the ball into the penalty area.
Brighton's defensive players suddenly panicked and rushed back to defend desperately.
Gu Ran took the opportunity to quickly rush to the left rib area of the Brighton team! After Schneiderlin dribbled into the penalty area, he made a shooting motion with his toes, but then kicked the ball to the left side of the penalty area! The entire Brighton defense was caught off guard!
Gu Ran knocked away two defensive players from the left ribs and leaped high with a violent aesthetic.
Super header: high-orbit bombing! This ball was fired directly from the left edge of the penalty area!
Goalkeeper Casper Ankergren was too slow to react and didn't even have time to jump up...
The ball went in! In the last minute of injury time! Gu Ran and Schneiderlin played a wonderful tactical cooperation, and finally ended this wave of attack with a Crouch-style header!
Gu Ran is a left-back/left wing-back/defensive midfielder with the ability to finish the game!
The referee blew the whistle to signal that the goal was valid! The score on the big screen immediately changed to Brighton 2:3 Southampton! Southampton came back from 2 to 3!!!
The Saints fans at the scene all cheered wildly! This kind of reversal is really exciting!
On the main stand, the young queen Taylor Swift tore off her raincoat and turned to face the stunned reporters. "Look carefully! I am the real Taylor Swift! I just love Gu Ran! I don't need you to spread rumors about me! I will make the headlines myself!"
The reporters were all dumbfounded! This... big news came too suddenly!
It's not raining, it's pie in the sky! Reporters took out their cameras and took photos of Taylor who looked very happy! The female assistant was also confused. She didn't keep an eye on him and Taylor did something naughty! Now it's good, no one is spreading rumors, because it has been completely confirmed.
"Taylor! You...go!"
The female assistant took off her raincoat and covered Taylor's head with it, then forcibly pulled Taylor away from this place of trouble.
How could the reporters miss such a good opportunity? They immediately started chasing! The three scouts in the main stand were also dumbfounded.
"What's going on?"
"It seems that a very famous pop star came to watch Gu Ran's game in the rain and blew himself up."
"Gu Ran, this boy... is very lucky."
“Winner in life!”
"If you can join us at Chelsea, you will be a winner in life."
"Joining Liverpool, you will be a winner in life!"
“Haha…I, Big Manchester City, smiled without saying a word!”
The three scouts started arguing again with red faces.
Beep, beep, beep!
At this time, the referee blew the whistle to end the game! In the second knockout round of the English Championship Southern Division, Southampton eliminated the rising upstart Brighton! Brighton's players were all dejected and stood in the rain for a long time, refusing to leave the field.
Gu Ran took the initiative to shake hands with the Brighton players on the field one by one, even though they had committed very rough fouls against Gu Ran during the game.
To be honest, Brighton played really well today.
If Southampton didn’t have Gu Ran, the winner today would probably be Brighton.
Brighton's performance is worthy of respect, and they are indeed worthy of being the team that can reach the second place in the English League One.
In the future, Southampton will definitely meet Brighton again in the English League One.
Brighton's center forward Chris Wood also took the initiative to exchange jerseys with Gu Ran.
After the exchange, the two hugged each other in a friendly manner.
Gu Ran put Chris Wood's player on his shoulders, with his upper body bare, revealing his muscles in the rain, and followed his teammates to thank and salute the Saints fans.
The female fans went crazy...
As the rain gradually intensified, the closing ceremony lasted only 5 minutes.
The Southampton players returned to the bus and wiped the rain off their bodies with absorbent towels.
The conditions at the Westdam Stadium were too poor. There were no changing rooms or places to shower. They could only wait until they got home.
Fortunately, Westbrook Stadium is only an hour's drive from Staplewood.
On the bus, head coach Adkins expressed satisfaction with the players' performance in today's adverse situation, and especially praised Gu Ran for his role in stepping forward.
Immediately afterwards, coach Adkins announced a one-day holiday and all players must return to the training ground the day after tomorrow, October 7, to prepare for the 11th round of the English League One at 3 pm on the 9th, where Southampton will challenge Carlisle United away.
Coach Adkins informed Gu Ran that he would be rested and not included in the roster for the match against Carlisle United.
Gu Ran nodded to show his acceptance.
…
(End of this chapter)