Manchester United's right-back Hargreaves threw a powerful out-of-bounds ball and passed it directly to Nani who was also advancing on the right side.

As soon as Nani got the ball, Mikel rushed up and made a sliding tackle.

Nani avoided Mikel's sliding tackle with his speed and agility, first making sure he would not get hurt, then taking advantage of the momentum to lie down on the grass... diving!

This time, Nani's dive came earlier than before! The referee penalized Mikel for a foul, but did not give him a card. Instead, he only gave Manchester United a free kick 30 meters away from the goal.

Southampton fans booed all over the stadium!

This judgment is obviously unconvincing!

Gu Ran, Davis and others surrounded the head coach to complain and put pressure on the referee.

In this situation, if there were no star-level players to stand up and put pressure on the referee, the referee would be even more unbridled and biased. Therefore, even if appropriate pressure cannot make the referee change his decision, it will at least let the referee know that Southampton is not easy to bully. Next time when a similar situation occurs, the referee must be cautious.

Of course, this kind of behavior of putting pressure on the referee must be done with great caution. If you encounter a stupid referee like Ma Ning, you may get several extra cards.

Under pressure from Gu Ran and Davis, the referee still insisted on his decision, but his expression was not so decisive.

Davis returned to the penalty area to set up a human wall.

All of Southampton's tall players stood in the human wall.

Manchester United's offensive players were all ready, except for the stylish Berbatov, who stood elegantly at the far end of the penalty area, as if he were a watching fan.

The free kick was taken by Rooney.

To be honest, Rooney's free kick skills are not that good, not as good as Scholes and Giggs.

However, Scholes has retired, and Giggs is good at left-foot curve balls. In comparison, Rooney's free kicks do not have a very obvious curve, but are extremely powerful.

Rooney was chosen to take the free kick, firstly because he is a shooter himself and has a stronger desire to score goals, and secondly because Rooney is still in his prime, while Giggs is unlikely to have any more upward momentum.

In the last FA Cup, Rooney scored a goal against Southampton with a free kick.

Now, less than 4 minutes into the game, Rooney kicked again! The football rose from the ground like a powerful cannonball, quickly passed the high jumping wall, and shot directly into the upper left corner of the goal! Davis judged the direction correctly, and almost at the same time as Rooney kicked, he stepped sideways and dived to save the ball!

The ball is too fast!

Davis is helpless!

Bang! The football hit the top of the goal frame with great force, and then bounced back into the penalty area!

The ball didn't go in!

But the ball was not dead yet! There was chaos in Southampton's penalty area! More than a dozen players from both sides did not even have a single player who could grab the first point where the rebounding ball landed.

Berbatov appeared like a ghost near the second landing point at some point!

Rudiger, who was closest, raised his legs and ran forward to grab the ball! Berbatov's elegant running and Rudiger's exaggerated running were in the same camera frame!

Obviously, Rudiger's defense was a little weak! Berbatov got the ball first and poked it gently towards Rudiger's legs.

Rudiger quickly clamped his legs together, but it was too late! Berbatov passed through Rudiger's crotch and floated past him with ease! Rudiger looked ahead and didn't look behind, and he neither caught the ball nor Berbatov! The next moment, Berbatov was about to shoot directly!

At this critical moment, two Southampton players slid in front of Berbatov at the same time! Gu Ran! Van Dijk!

Adding Rudiger who was just "killed" by Berbatov, this is simply the football version of the three heroes fighting the vampire duke! Gu Ran and Van Dijk's sliding tackles were fast and accurate, completely blocking all Berbatov's chances to touch the ball and shoot! Berbatov originally had an elegant look on his face, and he was even ready for an arrogant and indifferent attitude after scoring a goal - because even if the ball was shot in, Berbatov felt that this goal was not exciting enough and was not worth celebrating with a celebration action. He just needed to maintain his vampire-like arrogance.

However, he never expected that after he dribbled past the young rookie Rudiger, Southampton would actually have two even more powerful goalkeepers.

Faced with the fast, accurate and ruthless double-sided sliding tackle, Berbatov could only slow down helplessly.

If he doesn't slow down, he will inevitably trip and lose the ball.

The elegant vampire Grand Duke would not do anything that could easily lead to injury or confrontation unless he had to.

Gu Ran's sliding tackle prevented Berbatov from touching the ball, and Van Dijk's sliding tackle took the opportunity to shovel the ball out of the baseline.

Although this also gave Manchester United a corner kick, there is always a 50% chance that the goal will not be scored in corner kicks, free kicks, throw-ins and even penalty kicks. If the ball is caught by Manchester United's attacking players in a fatal position, there will be no recovery.

Although Van Dijk is young now and his way of handling the ball is still a bit immature, there is generally nothing wrong with him.

In particular, he can quickly slide back from a relatively far position to make a tackle. This performance alone is enough to allow him to gain a foothold in the Premier League.

This deadly attack from the Vampire Duke was thus neutralized by Gu Ran and Van Dyke.

Southampton fans applauded and cheered for the players ecstatically.

I thought the new center forward Salah was a big surprise, but I didn't expect these unfamiliar and young guys in the back line to be a surprise! Ferguson, who was sitting on the bench for Manchester United, was chewing gum with his brows knitted together, as if he could squeeze a green bean to death.

To be honest, Ferguson really didn't expect that Southampton's major changes would be so strong.

The game continues.

Manchester United is still in control of the game.

Five minutes into the game, Southampton had only one attacking run, while Manchester United had two, as well as a free kick and a corner kick.

But the score between both sides is still 0:0.

Giggs trotted to the corner area, aimed at the penalty area, and then kicked a sharp and accurate arc ball.

Vidic jumped up aggressively, pressing Jaidi, but Rudiger headed the ball out of the penalty area before Vidic's head touched the ball.

Evra picked up the ball on the outside and shot it towards the goal, but the ball hit the sky.

Manchester United fans suddenly sighed.

In this wave of continuous attacks, Manchester United tried their best but failed to score a goal.

The transformed Southampton team can now withstand Manchester United's attack without having to rely on a solid defense.

Although it is still a draw at the moment, this Community Shield is destined to be an extremely exciting game!

...(End of this chapter)