Both sides began to have physical problems in the high-intensity confrontation.
However, Southampton's situation is obviously much better than Tottenham's.
Tottenham's frontcourt players are all speed-type players. They consume a lot of physical energy in physical confrontation, and the continuous back and forth sprints make their lungs almost explode.
Therefore, Tottenham's offensive and defensive rhythms have obviously slowed down.
Tottenham's right-back Joel Luca made a long pass to Van der Vaart in the frontcourt. When Van der Vaart got the ball, Gu Ran and Mikel had already flanked him.
They couldn't even deal with Mikel van der Vaart alone, let alone Gu Ran.
After Van der Vaart got the ball, he wanted to speed up and get rid of it as soon as possible, but Mikel held Van der Vaart's position tightly. Gu Ran rushed up directly and made a precise steal, snatching the ball from Van der Vaart's feet.
Van der Vaart stretched out his hand to pull Gu Ran's arm, but Gu Ran hit back and roughly opened Van der Vaart's arm.
Van der Vaart covered his arm and grimaced in pain. The pain made Van der Vaart uncontrollably think of his lifelong enemy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but Van der Vaart did not dare to complain to the referee.
After all, he was the first one to reach out and pull the person.
After Gu Ran stole the ball, he rushed forward with the ball.
Tottenham's defense was facing a formidable enemy and they surrounded and double-teamed Gu Ran in the direction of his breakthrough.
After Gu Ran attracted the attention of most of the Tottenham players, he immediately passed the ball to Lambert who was assisting him, and then he quickly penetrated into the right side of the penalty area.
Tottenham's defensive players immediately followed Gu Ran to defend on the right side, while Lambert took the opportunity to dribble the ball into the penalty area and passed the ball forward to Lallana while running!
After Lallana got the ball, he passed it directly into the empty space on the left side of the small penalty area!
Most of Tottenham's defensive players were in the middle and on the right! There was only one Joel Luka on the left! But Joel Luka didn't react immediately!
Chamberlain sprinted to the empty space on the left at a fast speed, facing the ball, and volleyed it at a small angle! The ball stuck to the grass and shot towards the goal! Gomez's attention was also focused on Gu Ran's interlaced movement, and he didn't expect Lallana to pass the ball to the left!
By the time Gomez counterattacked with a step-over, it was too late!
The football went into the net amid the crazy cheers of Southampton fans! After scoring the goal, Chamberlain excitedly slid to his knees on the spot towards Gu Ran and others, roaring and cheering loudly!
In this ball, Southampton's offensive coordination was so beautiful! Gu Ran's organization and connection were very perfect, almost attracting all the defensive focus of the Tottenham team.
Lallana's pass in the penalty area was also very powerful, and Chamberlain's cut-in from the back was just right!
Judging from the statistics, this goal was neither Gu Ran's goal nor Gu Ran's assist, but the greatest credit definitely belongs to Gu Ran!
The referee signaled that the goal was valid! The score on the big screen at Wembley Stadium was immediately changed to Tottenham Hotspur 4:3 Southampton! Southampton had tenaciously caught up from a 4-goal deficit! There were still 20 minutes left in the game. If they continued playing like this, Southampton would have a good chance of tying the score, or even... overtaking! All the Southampton fans stood up in the stands and excitedly sang the songs "The Saints Are Marching Forward" and "There is a Young and Handsome Oriental Man Called Gu Ran".
Tottenham fans were filled with anxiety.
In the first half, Tottenham played well, and they wanted to make Southampton score double digits every minute. But in the second half, Southampton didn't collapse yet, so why did Tottenham collapse first? Is Southampton really a League One team? Why is it so difficult to play? Did Tottenham really open champagne in the midfield?
Tottenham fans booed the Tottenham players on the field. The fans were very dissatisfied with their players' performance in the second half.
Of course, the most depressed ones are not Tottenham fans. After all, Tottenham is still in the lead. Theoretically, as long as Tottenham can defend the last 20 minutes, they will be the winner even if they play ugly in the second half.
For Tottenham fans, it is just not exciting at best.
The most depressed were the fans who left the stadium angrily when Tottenham beat Southampton 4:0.
The fans who left early all lost out.
If they had been more patient and waited a little longer, they would have been able to see Gu Ran's incredible performance.
After a brief celebration, the Southampton team, led by Gu Ran, quickly took their positions and prepared to continue the game.
Now, Southampton's morale has been completely boosted, especially after they scored 3 goals in a row after falling behind by 4 goals. This feeling is really great.
The game continues.
Tottenham stepped up their attack.
However, due to excessive physical consumption, Tottenham's sprint frequency could not be increased.
Southampton, on the other hand, used high-pressure defense and physical confrontation to put Tottenham in a state of panic.
80th minute of the second half.
Gu Ran dribbled the ball to the top of the arc and took an unreasonable long shot between the two central defenders.
Gomez made a desperate save! The ball was hooked by Gomez's finger, changed direction, hit the goal post, and then bounced out of the end line.
The Tottenham team was really scared and broke out in a cold sweat! Gu Ran smiled and shook his head.
If Ledley King hadn't been in position, Gu Ran could have kicked the ball faster and with more force, and Gomez would have had no chance of defending the ball.
Of course, it has to be said that although Ledley King is 30 years old and has long-term injuries that are difficult to heal, his defensive awareness is truly world-class.
The game continues.
Both sides' physical energy was severely depleted.
Tottenham's Crouch can hardly run anymore.
Crouch is already quite old, and his physical condition is not very strong, nor is his stamina the type that allows him to run forever.
In addition, Crouch's self-discipline is not very high. He was hanging out with Abby Clancy last night and even invited Gu Ran to join them.
Being able to play for 80 minutes is already amazing.
Tottenham coach Redknapp saw Crouch's physical problems and immediately asked No. 21 midfielder Niko Kranjcar to warm up on the sidelines.
Niko Kranjcar is a Serbian international who is a jack of all trades in the frontcourt and can play almost any position in the frontcourt.
More importantly, Kranjcar is 185cm tall and weighs 80kg, making him extremely physically confrontational.
It was obvious that Ray substituted Kranjcar at this time, intending to change the formation to 4411, with Kranjcar replacing Van der Vaart and Van der Vaart being placed behind Defoe as a shadow striker.
In this way, Spurs have both offensive and defensive capabilities.
...(End of this chapter)