Sunderland kicked off first.

Center forward No. 33 Asamoah Gyan knocked the ball back to No. 8 "Little Zidane" Malbranque.

Malbranque immediately accelerated and dribbled forward.

Lallana came forward to intercept, but Malbranque dribbled past Lallana in a show of skill, then easily dribbled past Lambert who came up to assist, and then rushed towards Gu Ran with the ball.

Gu Ran did not get entangled with Malbranque, but deliberately exposed a flaw in his defense.

Malbranque curled his lips and accelerated to break through the gap in Southampton's defense.

As long as they can break through this loophole, Southampton's penalty area will be wide open!

However, just as Gu Ran exposed his weakness, Mikel approached silently from the side.

Malbranque was so busy defending Gu Ran that he never expected that the man the Southampton team used to mark him was Mikel! When Malbranque reacted, Mikel rushed over and knocked Malbranque out!

Fortunately, Malbranque reacted quickly enough. The moment he lost his balance, he quickly pushed the ball to the left side of Southampton.

Henderson immediately ran after the ball.

Gu Ran had already been guarding against Henderson and sprinted synchronously behind Henderson.

Henderson ran as fast as he could, but his sprinting speed was no match for Gu Ran.

Gu Ran almost instantly surpassed Henderson, got in front of Henderson's body, used his body to protect himself, and made Malbranque's quick pass go out of bounds.

The first wave of attack by the Black Cats Sunderland was thus resolved by Gu Ran.

The game continues.

Sunderland adopted a high-pressure approach throughout the game.

This is also Sunderland's usual tactic of flying on both wings and using physical pressure.

Especially when playing against a League One team like Southampton, Sunderland is still very confident that they can press high up the pitch.

After Southampton kicked the ball out of bounds, Chamberlain took the ball on the wing and prepared to turn and break through.

Henderson rushed over and pushed Chamberlain from behind.

Chamberlain lost his balance and took the ball out of bounds.

Chamberlain quickly raised his hand to appeal to the referee, but the referee seemed to have suddenly developed cataracts and turned a blind eye.

Bardsley rushed forward to fight for the out-of-bounds ball from Chamberlain.

How could Chamberlain pass the ball to Badsley so easily?

What's more, Southampton's teammates had not yet fully returned to defense, so Chamberlain had to delay time.

The referee blew the whistle, indicating that Chamberlain had committed a foul.

Chamberlain then stopped arguing with Badsley and threw the ball into Badsley's face with a look of disdain.

Bardsley was immediately furious.

The game resumes.

Henderson gets the ball on the wing.

Gu Ran and Chamberlain teamed up to double-team Henderson.

Henderson wanted to use his body and speed to eat Chamberlain alive, but Gu Ran's response was very timely. He kicked the ball off Henderson's feet with one kick. Then Gu Ran didn't even turn around, but passed the ball to Chamberlain with his heel.

Chamberlain got the ball and immediately accelerated like a rocket.

Bardsley intercepted Chamberlain like an Iron Dome missile.

Chamberlain made an abrupt stop and changed line, trying to pass Badsley and then cut inside.

However, Bardsley did not give Chamberlain any chance at all, and directly used a fatal sliding tackle with a scissors kick, making Chamberlain taste the feeling of being tackled like Ronaldo.

Chamberlain covered his ankle and fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

Gu Ran ran to the referee and complained to him, asking him to give Badsley a card.

However, the referee did not accept Gu Ran's appeal. The referee believed that Badsley tackled the ball first, and then the inertia of his body knocked Chamberlain down.

The referee asked Chamberlain to go to the sidelines for treatment and not to delay the game.

Chamberlain could only limp to the sidelines with the help of the team doctor and receive spray treatment.

The game on the field continues.

Southampton wins a throw-in.

With one less player on the field, Gu Ran took the penalty kick himself.

Gu Ran exerted force on his waist and abdomen and threw it with all his strength! The football flew across most of the field like a cannonball and flew straight into the Sunderland team's penalty area! Lallana started synchronously and shook off the Sunderland defenders who were in a very forward pressure position! This ball was not offside! Lallana was about to rush into Sunderland's penalty area and head the ball, only to see Sunderland's goalkeeper Mignolet rush out from in front of the goal and confiscate the ball with both hands in front of Lallana!

Lallana didn't have time to stop, and his body hit Minnie, who was 193cm tall and weighed 88kg! They both fell to the ground at the same time!

But Mignolet quickly got up and held the ball tightly in his arms.

Lallana grimaced and took a long time to sit up.

The impact was so strong that Lallana was stunned for a long time before he finally came to his senses.

Less than 5 minutes into the game, two of Southampton's main attacking players have been tackled and hit. The intensity of this game is really high.

And this is when the "card-eating master" Cattermole has not yet made his move.

Sunderland's oppressive nature is evident.

After Lallana recovered, Chamberlain also returned to the field.

Chamberlain's ankle injury was not serious, it was just a tackle on the muscle tissue, so he can still continue playing.

After the game resumed, Sunderland continued to press hard in the midfield and frontcourt.

The Southampton team, with Gu Ran and Mikel as the core, defended with all their strength and waited for the right opportunity.

The game was in the 11th minute.

Malbranque dribbled the ball to the front of Southampton's penalty area like a butterfly. Before Mikel rushed up to intercept, Malbranque immediately passed the ball directly to Heber Welbeck.

After getting the ball, Welbeck immediately accelerated and sprinted into Southampton's penalty area!

Welbeck is extremely fast and has great impact!

Fonte and Richardson, who were responsible for defending Welbeck, were unable to intercept Welbeck at all!

Welbeck kicked the ball while running! Shot from a small angle!

Goalkeeper Davis was a little slow! Davis was helpless——

Bang! The football hit the goal post hard and bounced back.

Davis was quick-witted and quick-handed. He dived down and pressed the football firmly under his body!

The fans of Southampton and Newcastle United were all sweating!

Southampton's defense was too fragile in front of Malbranque. Fortunately, Welbeck's shooting skills were poor, so Southampton escaped.

Welbeck, who missed the ball, was holding his head in front of the goal, looking depressed.

The game continues.

Sunderland continued to press high and attack fiercely.

Southampton, on the other hand, remained steady and waited for their chance.

...(End of this chapter)