Van der Vaart immediately dribbled the ball towards Southampton's half. Lallana and Lambert in the front row immediately formed a double team and took the initiative to press Van der Vaart forward.

Van der Vaart did not get entangled with Lallana and Lambert, but while running, he cleverly passed the ball to Modric who was supporting and protecting him.

After Modric got the ball, he immediately accelerated.

Tottenham's two wingers, Bale and Lennon, also followed suit and penetrated into Southampton's penalty area.

The entire Tottenham team’s attack speed is extremely fast, their positioning is extremely varied, and almost every player in the frontcourt is a forward!

Southampton's formation shrank to the edge of their own penalty area and defended cautiously.

But Gu Ran pushed forward directly and confronted Modric head-on.

Modric had also watched Gu Ran's short video. Seeing Gu Ran rushing up, Modric naturally did not dare to neglect it. He immediately stopped and stepped on the ball, then changed his line and passed the player.

Gu Ran predicted Modric's intention to pass the ball in advance, and immediately made an emergency stop, blocking Modric's route to break through.

Modric quickly changed direction and broke through with the ball.

Gu Ran didn't even pause, and directly squeezed Modric's body! Modric felt like he was being pushed by a heavy bulldozer, and he couldn't control his center of gravity at all! Although Modric looked thin, he was actually very strong in resistance and had a stronger ability to respond. However, in front of the heavy bulldozer Gu Ran, Modric had no room for resistance at all, and was squeezed from the middle to the right by Gu Ran!

Schneiderlin and Lambert also pressed towards Modric at the same time.

In this situation, Modric had no way to protect the ball and could only force a kick towards the unmanned area in front of him.

According to Tottenham's cooperation during training, at this time, Bale should be able to speed up and catch up with the ball, then cut inside and pass the ball.

Sure enough, Bale sprinted towards the football like a flash of lightning.

But just when Bale was about to touch the ball, midfielder Mikel appeared in time and made a fierce side tackle at the rolling ball!

Bale was shocked and quickly slowed down! Mikel shoveled the ball out of the sideline without any scruples.

Tottenham's first wave of attack was destroyed by Southampton's double defensive midfielders.

Tottenham's offensive style is like chopping melons and vegetables, but this time the cut was obviously not done well.

It’s not Modric’s fault that he didn’t pass the ball. It can only be said that Southampton’s approach of placing the midfielder in front was really perfect.

Modric is the metronome of Tottenham's offense, so as long as Modric is restricted, Tottenham's offensive rhythm will be greatly reduced.

Of course, just restricting Modric is not enough, after all, Tottenham has too many opportunities to flourish.

Southampton's defenders retreated into the penalty area.

Tottenham's left-back Hector threw the ball out of bounds with great force. Bale kicked the ball while being marked by three people and passed it to Van der Vaart who came up to support him.

After Van der Vaart got the ball, he immediately turned around and accelerated. Mikel immediately kept a close eye on Van der Vaart, while Gu Ran continued to guard Modric who was running without the ball.

Van der Vaart was one-on-one with Mikel. Van der Vaart's physical strength was obviously not as good as Mikel's. Just as Mikel was about to suppress Van der Vaart and steal the ball, Van der Vaart suddenly made a fake move and dodged, relying on his dribbling skills, easily shook off Mikel!

Mikel reacted very quickly and immediately reached out to pull Van der Vaart's arm!

Strictly speaking, this was a foul, but Mikel's pulling action was so fast that the referee did not react.

Seeing that he was about to lose his balance, Van der Vaart used his left foot to lift the ball past Jaidi who was rushing up to assist in defense.

There was a gap behind Jaidi! This gap was not an opportunity for ordinary teams, but for Tottenham, which had Bale, it was a huge opportunity!

Bale, who had been prepared, quickly overtook in the outside lane and cut inside diagonally!

It seems that Bale is about to get the ball and shoot!

At this moment, another more exaggerated "lightning" came from farther outside the penalty area, and made a fatal sliding tackle! Bale was not afraid! Because in the penalty area, even if he was really tackled, at least he could earn a red card and a penalty! Both of them accelerated madly at the last moment! Bang! Gu Ran's legs were long, and he was the first to tackle the ball half a beat, and then he shoveled it out of the baseline!

And Bell's sneakers hit Gu Ran's shin guards! Bell lay on the ground in pain, covering his toes and rolling around, while Gu Ran also lay on the grass with his teeth bared.

The fans at the scene couldn't help but exclaimed.

Less than two minutes into the game, the two teams' "outside lane overtakers" collided with each other.

Obviously, Gu Ran's distance is longer and his speed is faster.

However, the Saints fans were in no mood to celebrate, as each of them was worried about Gu Ran's injury.

This is the League Cup final!

Gu Ran is the absolute core of Southampton. If Gu Ran is injured and leaves the field, there will be no need to watch Southampton's game.

The referee urgently summoned the team doctors of both teams to enter the field.

Mai Fu and another team doctor ran to Gu Ran at the speed of a 100-meter sprint and carefully pulled off Gu Ran's socks.

The shin guards had cracked, but fortunately with the protection of the shin guards, plus Gu Ran's physique and the attributes of the Iron Man, Gu Ran's calves were only slightly red and swollen, and there was nothing serious.

Mai Fu pinched Gu Ran's calf, performed a detailed bone examination, and then confirmed that there were no broken bones.

Mai Fu sprayed some painkiller on Gu Ran's calf, then replaced his shin guards with a new one, packed up his things, and ran off the field.

On the other side, Bale's injury seemed to be more serious than Gu Ran's. He was still sitting on the ground, allowing Tottenham's team doctor to help treat his toe.

Gu Ran endured the pain in his calf and limped to Bell, "Hey, Gareth, are you okay?"

Bell looked up helplessly and smiled: "It's not a big problem, but... I should have been the one to comfort you, but I didn't expect that you are better than me. But anyway, thank you!"

Gu Ran smiled and said, "You're welcome. Well, please leave the field for treatment and don't delay the game."

BELL: ...

The referee thought it made sense and immediately asked Bale to go to the sidelines for treatment.

Bale could only hop on one leg and leave the field for treatment.

The game continues.

Tottenham Hotspur won a corner kick.

Although Tottenham only had 10 players on the field, they had no shortage of attacking points when it came to attacking corner kicks.

Van der Vaart sent a very fast arc ball from the left, Crouch jumped high to meet the ball, ready to bomb from a high trajectory!

Gu Ran, with his calf still in pain, blocked Crouch and jumped—

Crouch, who was as strong as a telephone pole, had an unstable center of gravity in the aerial confrontation. Although his head hit the ball, he could not exert any force at all. The high-orbit bombing was more like a header pass.

Davis seized the opportunity and jumped high, catching the ball in his arms.

...(End of this chapter)