The game continues.

Judging from the field, Sunderland had the upper hand and Southampton was suppressed and could hardly get out of the half.

Malbranque and Henderson cooperated very skillfully, and Southampton's left side was frequently in crisis.

Gu Ran’s task today is to keep an eye on Henderson, which is also one of the defensive tactics arranged by Coach Adkins before the game.

However, Sunderland's ninth place in the Premier League this season is no pushover.

Sunderland head coach Steven Bruce also knows that Gu Ran is a super star with both offensive and defensive capabilities, and a man who can destroy Tottenham on his own, so Steven Bruce specially arranged for the card-eating master Cattermole to guard Gu Ran today.

Basically, wherever Gu Ran went, Cattermole followed.

Moreover, Cattermole was not in a hurry to push or slide Gu Ran with big moves, but instead used small movements with his hands and feet to harass Gu Ran.

I have to say that Cattermole is a very experienced player.

Although these small harassment movements will not have a critical impact on Gu Ran, the constant harassment of small movements does prevent Gu Ran from assisting in defending Henderson in the first place.

The game was in the 17th minute.

Malbranque passed the ball to Henderson who was making a crossing move. Henderson dribbled past Chamberlain and went all the way to the bottom line.

Gu Ran chased with all his might, but Cattermole directly strangled Gu Ran's neck with his arm from behind to prevent Gu Ran from moving. When Gu Ran was about to fight back, Cattermole immediately withdrew his arm.

Gu Ran didn't have time to bother with Cattermole's little tricks, so he accelerated and chased Henderson.

Henderson took a step ahead and made a cross.

Welbeck used his body and speed to get rid of Fonte's entanglement and directly kicked the ball! This shot was beautiful! But Davis stood in position early and blocked Welbeck's shot with his body!

The football bounced out and flew to the right side of the penalty area.

Asamoah Gyan rushed over and easily sent the ball into the net with a push of his foot! The ball went in! The score on the big screen at the Stadium of Light immediately changed to Sunderland 1:0 Southampton! The Black Cats fans cheered wildly, and the Black Cats temperament also shook wildly in the stands.

Southampton fans and Newcastle United fans booed wildly.

If Cattermole had not fouled Gu Ran first, Henderson would definitely not have been able to cross the ball so easily. And if Henderson had not crossed the ball, there would not have been Welbeck's shot and Gian's follow-up shot.

All the Southampton players surrounded the referee to complain and asked him to rule the goal invalid.

However, the referee ignored Southampton's appeal and instead gave verbal warnings to several leading Southampton players.

The situation of this game, both in terms of the score and the referee's sentencing scale, was extremely unfavorable to Southampton.

The game continues.

The smell of gunpowder on the field began to become stronger.

In the 26th minute of the game, Cattermole continued to use his old tricks to interfere with Gu Ran. Gu Ran made an abrupt stop and changed line, quickly got rid of Cattermole, and then sprinted towards Henderson.

Henderson had just got the ball, and before he could speed up to pass Chamberlain, Gu Ran made a fatal sliding tackle, sending Henderson flying with the ball.

The referee ruled that Gu Ran committed a foul, but did not give him a card.

After all, although the tackle was big, the ball was tackled in front of Henderson and then Henderson was knocked down.

However, this sliding tackle was obviously very fierce. Henderson lay on the ground with his teeth bared, and was unable to get up for a long time.

The game continues.

Sunderland won a throw-in.

Gu Ran and Cattermole continued to fight each other physically, and Cattermole's physical strength was declining rapidly.

At the beginning of the game, Cattermole could still keep up with Gu Ran like a dog-skin plaster, but after only half an hour of playing, it was difficult for Cattermole to keep up with Gu Ran.

Realizing that Cattermole had loosened up, Gu Ran's range of movement immediately expanded.

Sunderland's consecutive attacks were resolved by Gu Ran and Mikel.

Henderson also lost his temper due to the joint defense of Gu Ran and Chamberlain.

39th minute of the first half.

Gu Ran intercepted the ball from Henderson and passed it to Mikel, then Gu Ran accelerated as fast as he could and ran towards Sunderland's half.

Mikel made a long pass and sent the ball to the left front court.

Sunderland's defense immediately chased back with all their might, competing with Gu Ran in speed.

Gu Ran was extremely fast and grabbed the football in the first place.

Sunderland's right back, Bardsley, who had once tackled his teammate, rushed towards Gu Ran fiercely. It was obvious from the posture that he was going to slide tackle Gu Ran! Gu Ran could have continued to accelerate, but he suddenly stopped and changed lanes!

The Southampton fans and Newcastle fans at the scene couldn't help but scream!

You know, at the beginning of the game, Chamberlain was tackled by Badsley at this position!

But in the next moment, Gu Ran did a high-speed Marseille turn and passed the ball behind Badsley while turning around!

Bardsley had already fallen to the ground and slid, and there was no time to stop! Gu Ran took a shot in advance and avoided Bardsley's fierce sliding tackle!

At the same time, behind Gu Ran, Cattermole was rushing over quickly. Cattermole did not see Badsley, but only saw Gu Ran stop suddenly, so Cattermole also fell to the ground and slid!

Bang! Cattermole and Bardsley collided with each other! Both of them rolled on the ground holding their shoes in pain!

Gu Ran completed the Marseille turn and passed the ball to himself the next second!

Gu Ran immediately dribbled the ball down the field! This sideline breakthrough was really amazing! It was like a trap that had been designed long ago, trapping the two sliding tacklers of the Sunderland team in an instant! There was no one around Gu Ran to stop him anymore!

Goalkeeper Mignolet calmly blocked the small angle of the goal, preparing to face Gu Ran one-on-one!

Gu Ran did not cut inside, but directly knocked the ball back to the top of the penalty area!

Chamberlain, who was running crosswise, appeared at the top of the penalty area like a chicken blood! Chamberlain stopped the ball and made a slight adjustment, then fired a heavy shot directly at the goal! Mignolet also reacted very quickly, and blocked the ball sideways, and pushed it out of the end line! The Southampton fans and Newcastle United fans in the stands all shouted "Oh".

Chamberlain also shook his head and sighed with regret on his face.

He handled this ball too hastily.

Fortunately, Southampton got a corner kick.

Southampton didn't have many attacks in the first half, with only five in total, of which only two were shots on goal.

This corner kick was also Southampton’s first corner kick.

…

(End of this chapter)