Chapter 681: A goal already?

"Dear viewers, welcome to watch the 2013-2014 Premier League season, the 13th round, Chelsea's home game against Southampton. I am now at Stamford Bridge to give you a live commentary!"

"The two teams we are facing tonight are both ranked relatively high in the league. Chelsea is currently ranked fourth. This is the first season after the world-famous coach Mourinho returned to the Premier League. It is really good to be able to lead Chelsea, a team that is not outstanding, to get such a ranking!"

"Chelsea's opponent tonight is Southampton, who are currently at the top of the Premier League standings. The Saints were also the Premier League champions last season. They are very strong and have made great progress this season!"

"As you can see from the standings on the TV screen, the Saints have 10 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and have 31 points. Arsenal is in second place. After the Gunners invested heavily in signings this season, their strength has also improved significantly, especially the addition of center forward Higuain, who has become a guarantee for the Gunners' scoring."

"The third team is Tottenham Hotspur. The performance of the North London team this season is also quite eye-catching. After being acquired by a consortium from Qatar this summer, Villas-Boas' team has invested heavily in talented players including Cavani, Willian, Moutinho, Gary Cahill, Reus, Adam Lallana, Eriksen and others."

"But while the team's strength has greatly increased, Villas-Boas is also facing considerable pressure, which is how to combine this Tottenham team into a stronger and more powerful whole. After all, with Tottenham's current lineup, they should be able to achieve a better ranking."

"Behind it all, it's Chelsea!"

"In fact, if we look at the lineup alone, Chelsea's lineup is not strong. Although they have spent a lot of money to introduce powerful stars such as Mandzukic and Schurrle, they have also lost midfielders such as Oscar, Romeu and Adam Lallana, which has put Chelsea's midfield to a great test."

"Especially in the defensive midfielder position, Mourinho has used several players including Mikel, Lampard, David Luiz and others this season, but the results are not satisfactory. There are reports that Mourinho plans to introduce William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon during the winter break to strengthen the team's midfield and backcourt."

"But Sporting Lisbon has set a price of £35 million for the Portuguese midfielder, and they will have to face competition from Manchester United, which makes Chelsea's prospects for the new season full of suspense."

"Everyone knows that the first ten rounds of the league are just for fun, and only after ten rounds can we see the general trend."

"The league has been played for 12 rounds and one-third of the schedule has been completed. There is no doubt that Southampton is the strongest contender for the championship, and Arsenal, which is ranked second, is also very strong. The Gunners are only three points behind the Saints."

"But Wenger's team has always given people a feeling of anticlimactic performance in the first half of the season, but always lacks momentum in the second half. I hope the Gunners will not have such a problem this season."

"As for Tottenham Hotspur, although Villas-Boas' team is currently only six points behind Southampton, I'm afraid no one will have high hopes for the North London team. Some media even broke the news that unless Villas-Boas has an amazing performance this season, he will leave the North London coaching position after the season ends!"

"Manchester City is one of the most disappointing teams so far this season. Pellegrini clearly underestimated the difficulty of away games in the Premier League. They only got four points in six away games, which is simply a result for a relegated team. If it weren't for the good home results, Manchester City's current ranking would probably be even lower."

"Coincidentally, Manchester United, another team in Manchester, also had terrible results."

"As the strongest contender for the Premier League title last season and the team with the most experience in winning the Premier League, many people believe that Manchester United still has a good chance of winning the league title in the new season. After all, Moyes' coaching record at Everton is quite good."

"But who could have thought that Manchester United would become the most disappointing team in the Premier League this season? Moyes has the ability, but he cannot control this giant club. His poor recruitment has led to a lack of strength in the midfield. Fellaini, who was brought in at a high price, has been criticized and questioned by fans. I believe that if Moyes can't find the key to Manchester United's rebound, I'm afraid his journey as a Red Devils will end this season."

"After this analysis, I believe you in front of the TV must have seen that this season, except for the strong Southampton, almost all other teams have various problems and weaknesses."

"Therefore, how to snipe Southampton has become the biggest headache for all the strong teams in the Premier League!"

"Therefore, many people are looking forward to this game, because Mourinho is recognized as the best coach in Europe in terms of targeted defense, and Chelsea's defensive ability is also good."

"For the Blues, using their impenetrable defense to attack Southampton at home will not only help them maintain their top four position in the league, but they may also be able to go one step further if they continue to work hard."

"Of course, Southampton's attacking power this season is also terrifying. Not only do they have Ibrahimovic, Suarez and Sturridge, but they also have wingers like Hazard, Sanchez and Ravel Morrison. The controlling midfielder composed of James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Modric is also quite terrifying."

"Therefore, we can only say one thing to Chelsea: it is not easy to deal with the Saints. Good luck to you!"

As the commentator was speaking, players from both teams walked onto the field one after another.

"Okay, we see that the two teams have already started to enter the field, and I have also obtained their starting lineups."

"Chelsea's starting goalkeeper is Cech, the back line is Ashley Cole, Terry, Benatia and Ivanovic, the midfield is a combination of Lampard, David Luiz, Mikel and Ramires, and the double forwards are Mandzukic and Schurrle."

"From the perspective of Chelsea's starting lineup, although Mourinho is in charge of Stamford Bridge, he still wants to adopt a defensive strategy. Juan Mata is still on the bench, and the young Belgian midfielder De Bruyne continues to be excluded from the squad, replaced by Van Ginkel."

"Southampton has also made some adjustments to the lineup, probably because they have a Champions League group match in the middle of the week."

"The goalkeeper is Neuer, and the defense is David Alaba, Nastasic, Varane and Danilo. After Javi Martinez was injured, the central defender combination of Nastasic and Varane is also reassuring enough."

"There are some changes in the three midfield players. Bielsa uses Matic as the starting defensive midfielder, Kaka and Oscar partner up, while the front trident is still the combination of Hazard, Suarez and Sturridge."

"It is also worth mentioning that Drogba appeared in the squad and sat on the bench. After the Ivorian striker switched from Chelsea to Southampton, he was able to score goals almost every time he returned to Stamford Bridge. I wonder if Bielsa will arrange for him to play again in this game."

With a crisp whistle from the referee, this highly anticipated match finally kicked off.

"The game started, Southampton took the lead and Bielsa's team still used the iconic start, launching an attack the moment the whistle sounded."

"But Chelsea seemed to be well prepared. Mourinho kept directing the team's defense on the sidelines. Chelsea's three lines were very compact. Although they were in a mess, they defended well. Southampton failed to create opportunities in several attacks."

"Southampton started to slow down the tempo of the game and focused on possession, which is also Southampton's usual game strategy."

"But if the opponent thinks they can let down their guard because of this, it will be dangerous, because once Southampton seizes a chance, it will be fatal."

Just as the commentator finished speaking, Southampton tried to pass the ball into Chelsea's penalty area, but was intercepted by the Blues and the ball went to Ashley Cole's feet.

The England left-back was a little too confident, but he didn't expect that Sturridge would suddenly turn around and rush over to steal the ball at a very fast speed.

In a hurry, Ashley Cole immediately knocked the ball back to the middle, but Suarez and Sturridge cooperated well and snatched the ball before Benatia.

Benatia is experienced and got stuck in position immediately after losing the ball. Suarez had to dribble back and pass the ball to Oscar, who then passed it to Kaka.

The Brazilian midfielder raised his head and saw Hazard cutting into the middle from the left. After taking Ivanovic away, the entire left side was vacant. So he kicked a curve ball with his right foot, which landed on the left side of the penalty area, and then he turned around and rushed into the penalty area.

David Alaba quickly came back, received the pass from Kaka, stopped and made a cross.

The ball fell towards the center of the goal, but it was a little outside, so goalkeeper Cech did not dare to attack easily.

David Luiz, who played as a defensive midfielder, returned to the front of the goal, faced the incoming ball, and headed the ball out before Suarez.

But the ball didn't go far and landed near the penalty spot, right in front of Kaka who was rushing in from outside the penalty area.

Everyone was stunned!

You know, there was no one guarding Kaka at that time!

Not only were Chelsea's players surprised, but even Kaka himself was dumbfounded by this sudden opportunity.

But the Brazilian reacted very quickly. He faced the ball, puffed out his chest, stopped steadily, and without waiting for the ball to hit the ground, he chased after it with his right foot and shot.

The ball went almost in a straight line, between David Luiz and Cech, and into Chelsea's goal!

The TV commentator’s long shout of “goal” was heard at the scene!

Serving as a backdrop, there are also the exclamations of Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge.

The moment Kaka realized he had scored a goal, he was stunned, then turned around and ran out.

This was his first goal after joining Southampton. It was so lucky and so fortunate!

He really couldn't imagine that he would score a goal in a game like this, at this time, and it had only been less than six minutes since the start!

Is this a goal?

No matter what, the ball went in, so let’s celebrate first!

Brazilians haven't had the pleasure of celebrating a goal for a long time!

In front of the home team's coaching booth at the sidelines, Mourinho roared in anger after seeing Kaka score a goal, with his veins exposed, as if he wanted to skin all the bastards on the field.

But opposite the chairman's stand at Stamford Bridge, in the area where Southampton fans gathered, Yang Huan, who was sitting in the crowd, was so excited that he stood up and kept shouting, while not forgetting to shout to the person sitting next to him.

"Quick, quick, take a picture, take a picture!"

What is going on?