Not only in terms of attacking power, but also in Southampton's midfield, the front and back midfielders have become three-dimensional! In the 88th minute, Gu Ran cooperated with Lambert and Lallana in the frontcourt, and stole the ball from David Silva's feet.
After Gu Ran intercepted the ball, he immediately passed it to Lallana, and then quickly rushed into Manchester City's penalty area.
Lallana followed Gu Ran with the ball, and when he was intercepted, he immediately passed the ball to Lambert who was supporting him on the side.
Lambert touched the ball and sent it towards Manchester City's penalty area!
Yaya Toure, Lescott and Kompany all ran towards the football together.
But Gu Ran is faster!
In such a competitive situation, Gu Ran's physical strength and explosive power were still almost at full capacity! Gu Ran took the lead and jumped high!
Yaya Toure reached out to pull Gu Ran, but it was too late!
Gu Ran used a Crouch-style high-orbit bomb and slammed the ball heavily into the goal!
This time! Joe Hart's position was perfect! He didn't make any aggressive moves, and stood right in the middle of the goal line!
Joe Hart's reaction was also very fast. When Gu Ran jumped up, Joe Hart had already determined the angle of Gu Ran's header! Joe Hart's legs seemed to be equipped with springs. He jumped with all his strength and stretched his hands to the extreme! Bang! The football was so powerful that it hit Joe Hart's fingers like a cannonball!
Joe Hart...missed the ball!
The football almost staggered and rolled towards the goal!
Joe Hart turned around and looked back at the football, his face full of despair! Joe Hart once again became a goal background!
The ball went in! Gu Ran scored four goals! This game was a performance by Gu Ran alone! The Manchester City fans at the scene were stunned! Unbelievable! The Southampton Saints fans, who were already used to miracles, were also excited and cheered wildly!
The score on the big screen at the Etihad Stadium was immediately changed to Manchester City 3:4 Southampton! Southampton took the lead again before the end of the game!
This level of competition has far exceeded everyone's expectations! Even if Southampton is tied and eliminated, Southampton's performance today is enough to convince and make the fans proud! After this game, no matter what the result is, Gu Ran's value will double! Coach Adkins immediately used the rules to make substitutions!
The forward Lallana was replaced by the defensive midfielder Dixon!
Southampton started playing the iron bucket formation with 0 forwards and 6 midfielders again!
There are 5 minutes of injury time. As long as Southampton can hold on for the last 5 minutes, they can create a miracle, eliminate Manchester City, which is full of big names, and advance to the semi-finals of the League Cup!
At this moment, all the Saints fans stood up and cheered for their team without stopping!
After the game resumed, Manchester City's attack became more crazy and the physical confrontation became more violent!
But in addition to physical problems, Manchester City has no advantage in the midfield. Southampton's midfielders may not have big names, but Southampton's 6 midfielders are pressing the whole court, which is full of three-dimensionality! Manchester City's passes are almost difficult to penetrate Southampton's midfield. Even if they can penetrate, the forward line is completely cut off and can't get the ball at all!
At this point, Manchester City should be calmer and change their formation and style of play in a timely manner, but Manchester City's head coach Mancini has already broken down! Mancini doesn't want to accept the result that he is going to be eliminated by a League One team!
Mancini, who was emotionally broken, stood in the technical area and kept yelling!
The Manchester City players on the field were also anxious and didn't know how to play! If a spectator turned on the TV to watch the game now, they would probably think that the team wearing red and white jerseys was the Premier League team, and the team wearing sky blue jerseys was the Manchester City team! In the 5 minutes of injury time, Manchester City did not create any opportunities. Instead, Southampton almost expanded the score through Gu Ran's personal breakthrough! Beep, beep, beep -
The referee blew the whistle to end the game! The players on the Southampton bench rushed into the field frantically, scrambling to hug the hero Gu Ran!
The Saints fans in the stands also went crazy and cried with joy!
This is the third time in the club's history that they have reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals since they won the Carabao Cup runner-up in 1978 and reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals in 1986!
25 years later! The pursuit and dream of a generation!
Southampton fans were so excited that they could hardly control themselves! Manchester City fans were completely devastated! They all thought this was a game without suspense, and many people even placed heavy bets on Manchester City to win by 2 goals, but in the end... they lost everything!
Manchester City players also lay on the grass in frustration.
They tried their best in this game and their physical strength has reached its limit.
Although it is embarrassing to say that we were eliminated by a League One team...but in fact, only those who have watched this game will understand that Southampton, with Gu Ran, is really strong.
Gu Ran quickly shook David Silva's hand and said, "Thank you, your performance was great! It's a pleasure to compete with you!"
David Silva smiled and said, "Manchester City has a good atmosphere, and most importantly, they have money. After this game, your value will be even higher in Manchester City's eyes. I believe that Manchester City will desperately spend money to buy you during this winter transfer window. If you can come to Manchester City, we can cooperate. I can't even imagine how powerful Manchester City will be with you as the midfield organizer."
“Hahaha!” Gu Ran laughed and said, “Thank you for the compliment, David! However, I am very satisfied with my current training and life in Southampton. I will not consider the transfer for the time being.”
David Silva shrugged. "Who can predict the future? Let me tell you, when I was in Valencia in La Liga in 2008, I had the highest salary in the team. I thought I would die in Valencia, so when Manchester City made an offer to me in 2008, I didn't even look at it. But 2010 was different. In 2010, Manchester City directly paid my minimum termination fee and gave me a weekly salary that was 10 times higher than the 2008 salary. I really couldn't refuse Manchester City's sincerity. Gu, when full sincerity is placed in front of you, you will find that your previous ideas are actually ridiculous."
Gu Ran smiled and said, "Maybe, David, let's talk about it when the time comes."
David Silva smiled and said: "I am looking forward to you coming to Manchester City. We can conquer the Premier League together."
Actually...I can do it myself.
Gu Ran thought so in his heart but just smiled.
David Silva pointed at Gu Ran's jersey again and said, "Since we are friends now, can we exchange jerseys?"
"certainly!"
Gu Ran readily took off his jersey and exchanged it with David Silva.
The Saints fans at the scene suddenly wailed.
You know, the jerseys from the victory over Manchester City are worth a lot of money!
After David Silva got Gu Ran's jersey, he exchanged a few words with Gu Ran, exchanged contact information, and then walked away contentedly.
Led by captain Davis, the Southampton team thanked and paid tribute to the Saints fans who came from afar to support the team.
Ten minutes later, the post-match press conference was held in the media hall of Etihad Stadium.
Coach Adkins brought Chamberlain with him - Chamberlain also performed well today and got two assists.
Coach Mancini was present with David Silva.
After the coaches of both sides met, coach Mancini seemed very polite and no longer had the disdainful attitude he had in the pre-match press conference.
At the beginning of the question-and-answer session, a reporter asked coach Mancini about Tevez's injury.
Coach Mancini then announced the latest news about Tevez's injury - a knee injury, which will require him to be out for at least 3 months.
Mancini said that this is obviously a huge blow to Manchester City, which is aiming to win the Premier League title, but Manchester City still has Balotelli and David Silva, and we are very sure to buy Gu Ran in the winter window, so we can overcome this difficulty and continue to aim to win the Premier League title.
Reporters asked questions one after another about buying Gu Ran.
Mancini said: "Gu Ran is our goal that Manchester City has been preparing to acquire since the beginning of this season. Considering the friendly relationship between us and Southampton, we did not take too much initiative during the summer transfer window. However, in today's game, Gu Ran fully proved his value to the Blue Moon fans. Therefore, we will directly pay the minimum termination fee at the beginning of the winter transfer window, and increase Gu Ran's weekly salary by more than five times to lure him to Manchester City. I believe that after the winter transfer window is over, Gu Ran will wear the sky blue jersey."
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire media hall went into an uproar.
No one cared about Manchester City's elimination anymore, everyone focused their attention on the news that Gu Ran was about to join Manchester City.
Paying the minimum buyout fee plus more than five times the weekly salary, isn't this transfer a done deal?
Coach Adkins immediately responded to this statement, claiming that Gu Ran is not for sale at Southampton Club. Any direct payment of the minimum termination fee is rude and disrespectful to Southampton Club. Southampton Club will make a severe condemnation and reserve all means of retaliation.
Mancini said that they respect Southampton Club very much, but Southampton Club should also have self-awareness that Southampton Club cannot retain a future superstar like Gu Ran.
Coach Adkins left the table in anger.
The post-match press conference of both sides ended in an extremely unfriendly manner.
...(End of this chapter)