Chapter 19: You Come and Go
When the game goes to the 10th minute. A foul by a Tottenham full-back gave Southampton a free-kick on the left side of the pitch.
Shaun Long hoisted the ball high with his right foot into the box and a Southampton defender leaped up, the ball was too close to goal and if he could get it right, goalkeeper Lloris would have a slim chance of saving.
In this moment, Tottenham Hotspur's central defender Sanchez returned to the defense in time and jumped to the top.
But apparently the pace was chaotic and it was the Southampton players who eventually got the ball in the end.
But Sanchez's hard work left him so shaken that he didn't opt for a header and instead headed the ball back near the penalty spot.
He controlled the ball from just the right angle, and directly created a shot for forward striker Adams.
At this time, Adams was completely free of Tottenham players, and he did not hesitate to shoot the ball.
By the time the Tottenham defenders came to their senses and prepared to block, they found it too late, and the ball headed straight for goal like a cannonball.
The ball was powerful, but unfortunately the angle was a little right, and Lloris, who was constantly adjusting his pace on the goal line, was waiting for him.
I saw him leap into the air and lift the ball off the crossbar with the palm of his hand.
The ball was so dangerous that the fans exclaimed, followed by a round of applause.
Southampton's extremely dangerous offensive is obviously a routine that has been practised countless times in their usual training.
The angle and strength of the ball into the penalty area were seamlessly matched by the reaction of the players and the movement of the attackers, but unfortunately there was a little bit of luck.
Lori, who made a thrilling save, was very unhappy with the sluggishness of his teammates.
As soon as he got up, he threw his fist angrily, venting his frustration in his heart.
Although Tianyi was far away from the sidelines, he could still clearly hear Lloris scolding several defenders.
"What about the posterior people? This TM can also make the opponent top, is your big man an ornament? And your penalty spot is not standing in any one, do you want them to be one-on-one? Can you keep your eyes open a little wider, don't always think about picking up girls at night, this is a competition! ”
"Hey, why is the captain so angry?" Tianyi asked his teammates around him.
"You know the, what does a goalkeeper do if he's introverted? He is the last gate of the team, the equivalent of the commander of the backline, and he can't do it if he doesn't shout.
As far as I can see, the goal didn't go in, but if it did, Sanchez and Dier would have had a bag on their heads. Tianyi's teammates replied.
After this dangerous situation, the Tottenham players were touched, they knew that they could not sit still, and the 451 formation did have a certain advantage in the organization of the central midfield, it was easier to transition the ball through the back line to the midfield, and the midfield organization formed shooting opportunities.
In the 12th minute of the game, Tottenham defender Ndombele took advantage of the opponent's defensive foothold to send a through ball in the midfield, and Son Heung-min and Lucas Jr. both rushed to the scene.
At this time, Lucas Jr. was facing the goal and waiting for the ball to come, while Son Heung-min cut diagonally from the left wing to the middle of the penalty area, and Southampton's central defenders suddenly couldn't figure out who would receive the ball.
"Mine!" Seeing that football was about to reach the feet of Lucas Jr., Son Heung-min shouted.
Hearing the call of his teammates, Lucas Jr., who was observing the direction of the incoming ball, changed his strategy in an instant, he did not play the ball, but skillfully missed the ball, turned around and ran away.
And the route of the ball happened to fall on the line inserted in front of Sun Xingmin, and the time was not bad.
I saw Sun Xingmin push the ball forward with his left foot, and the strength of the ball was controlled just right, not only to get the ball, but also to avoid the entanglement of the opponent's central defender, forming a 1-on-1 shooting opportunity with the goalkeeper.
Sun Xingmin, who had already observed the goalkeeper's position, did not hesitate to raise his foot and shoot, hitting the ground.
The Southampton goalkeeper reacted quickly, only to see him quickly get off the ground and stretch out his right leg to block the ball directly.
Pity!
Tottenham's counter-attack was very delicate, but unfortunately the last kick was unlucky and did not score.
Son Heung-min shook his head in frustration, obviously not very satisfied with the shot just now, after all, a high-quality counterattack formed a 1-on-1 opportunity with the goalkeeper is extremely rare.
If you establish an early advantage in the score on the road, you will have more initiative and psychological advantage.
And the Southampton team was not to be outdone, and in the 16th minute, Southampton passed the ball to the feet of Shaun Long, the core of the organization.
Lang looked up at the forward running position, and lightly poked the ball with his foot, only to see the football rise up in response to the sound and draw a wonderful arc, forming a long pass.
The striker Ings sprinted forward with all his might, while Tottenham's two central defenders, Dier and Sanchez, were a little embarrassed, speed was not the advantage of the central defenders, and the two tall horses did not turn fast enough, and they were left behind by the fast-moving Ings in two or three steps.
This is a classic anti-offside position, Ings only needs to stop the ball to get a single knife, at this time captain Lloris has also reacted quickly, decisive attack, in the moment Ings just stopped the ball, has rushed to his side.
But the embarrassing thing is that at this time it has left the big penalty area, beyond the range of the goalkeeper to touch the ball with his hand.
Lloris could only manage to clear the ball with a tackle, and the two controlled the ball to form a 55-open position.
And Ings was very calm in the face of Lloris, he did not choose to go viral, but took advantage of the situation to wipe the ball over.
In this process, there was a slight contact between the two bodies, and the ball bounced high, at this time, Lori had exceeded the control of the ball due to inertia, and he could only watch the ball fall to the feet of Ings.
Ings didn't wait for the ball to hit the ground, and before Sanchez, who was in action, he curled a right-footed curling ball.
Sanchez tried to clear the ball with his head, but it didn't touch the ball, and the ball continued to roll in the direction of the goal, and Dier was too late to watch the ball roll into the goal, and Ings scored the goal!
Honk... And at the moment of the goal, the referee's whistle sounded again.
"What? Can this ball be blown off too? ”
"There was absolutely no offside in this goal," the Nampton players quickly circled in the direction of the referee.
On the Tottenham side, several players, led by Lloris and Sanchez, raised their hands to signal the referee, and Ings was fouled for handball before shooting.
"His hand touched the ball"
"It's a shot that shouldn't have been"
Players on both sides began to put pressure on the referee in order to make their own profits.
The referee still signaled the players on both sides to be quiet, and he kept communicating with the technical table through the headset, because the moment Lloris and Ings grabbed the ball, the football did bounce up, and this time the technical table was confident, and they transmitted the signal directly to the big screen on the scene.
The slow camera showed that Ings's hand did touch the football slightly, and the more than 30,000 fans in the stadium couldn't help but sigh, what a pity.
Although the handball was not intentional, it slightly changed the course of the ball.
The referee pointed to Southampton for half time, which meant the goal was nullified.
In just a quarter of an hour of the opening game, the two sides have formed several very threatening scoring opportunities, but the score is still 0:0!