In this game, Heidward's starting lineup made a number of adjustments, Belotti and Berardi partnered with two strikers, Pierce and Goretzka partnered in the midfield, Alli in the front, Kante in the back, and the back line became Meunier, Stones, Mustafi and Mendy, and the 18-year-old Pickford in the goalkeeper position played for the first time.

It wasn't raining in the third round of the Premier League against Fulham, the sun was shining brightly and the weather was shining warmly, but Edward's starting list scared everyone out of the way.

Such a starter is too bold!

Heidward didn't explain much, and the media knew why, the draw for the EFL Cup ended last Thursday, and Portsmouth were a little unlucky to draw away to old rivals West Ham United, and the game was scheduled two days after the end of this round of Premier League.

The EFL Cup is a competition that complements the FA Cup, which runs until the winter of each year, in January, and the EFL Cup runs alongside the Premier League until February next year. The format is divided into seven rounds, and except for the semi-finals, all of them are won in a single-elimination format. Teams draw lots to decide their opponents and home and away games, with a tie at the end of the 90 minutes for extra time and a penalty kick in the draw. Although the semi-finals are played home and away, there is no rule for away goals.

The first round of the EFL Cup officially starts on August 25, with Premier League teams joining from the second round, and teams with European tasks starting from the third round, and the winner of the EFL Cup can qualify for the Europa League.

Portsmouth's goal this season is naturally to avoid relegation, but if they have ambitions, they naturally want to attack the European competition, otherwise where can they be worthy of the second place after two rounds?

Bold starters lead to bold endings, and the reason football matches are so fascinating is that a small detail can make or break the outcome of a game; Some moments can determine the fate of a team's season, the win or loss of trophies; A failed interception of a cross, a wrong position, a misuse of the body, etc., rewrite history, sometimes in just a second.

To Hydward's surprise, Belotti and Dele Ali work together, two high-level players, usually at the same wavelength, and can even resonate in a certain environment, which is a phenomenon that every coach wants to see: they can understand each other's intentions without thinking on the field. It's an innate instinct, and Ward usually has three or five players in similar positions on the training pitch, which are designed to teach players specific movements in order to be effective in the game, but so far only Klose has done a good job with his past experience.

When it came to the official competition, the inconspicuous Ali and Belotti suddenly ushered in an outburst, the two of them memorized at least six or more offensive lines in the training session, and their running positions were extremely synchronized, one appeared in one position, and the other knew how to run. This tacit understanding made the fans in the stands so intoxicated, and it also made Hydward determined to train in this area.

Belotti came on as a substitute for Klose once, and his explosiveness was evident in his debut. It was a banana ball in disguise after a sharp turn on the left side of the Liberty Stadium that extended the lead, but it was completely overshadowed by the winds of the day.

But the young man with his lean short hair soon got another chance.

Fulham have played like Arsenal this season, pursuing short passes and preferring to pass through balls that are very penetrating to the ground. Pickford will play the role of scavenger goalkeeper and aggressively attack and increase the range of control, and players must effectively compress the space on the pitch to interfere with the opponent's passing route.

With Goretzka and Pierce battling space down the middle, and the rest of the pack had to press in real time, Portsmouth could theoretically not allow Fulham any passing opportunities to take control of the game.

Another player in the front line, Berardi, played the role of an outcast in this game, Domenico Berardi's contact with professional football is too short, his technical level does not meet the requirements of the Premier League at all, and the style of play is more like a stump style of play, softer than the monster, but he is a little more spiritual than the traditional British Drogba-style black and hard pass. But considering that Fulham's central defenders are not particularly strong, it is more than enough to put Berardi in front to attract the defence. At the same time, Berardi, Ali and Goretzka actively fought for the second landing point, forming a formation similar to 442 to 424, using so many attacking players to force Fulham's backline, forcing them to drop back, allowing the team to create more space on the pitch in order to open up space for Alli to shoot from distance.

De Leari is said to have spent a long time in the off-season training on long-range shots, during which the lad could shoot a table tennis ball from a distance of 25 metres. Training was not a game, of course, and in the first 25 minutes, the team did not execute their plans well to even press their opponents or destroy their goals, and Fulham scored an imaginative elevator volley in the 13th minute from the dashing Gobertitar until the end of the first half when it was equalised by a Mustafi corner.

At half-time, Hydward emphasised control of the second drop point, and Fulham could always get the ball and immediately organize the attack every time they cleared it. Goretzka played a very impatient first half, pushing and possessing the ball very well, but allowed the opposition to seize the counter-attack opportunity on several occasions, and Ward reversed Kante and Pierce in an attempt to free up the stumbling German boy. The tweaks paid off, with N'Golo Kante providing consistent pressure in midfield, Pierce using wide vision to organise in the midfield position, and Goretzka putting all his energy on the ball.

Just when the two sides were in a stalemate, Hydward's set-up for the night and the usual special training finally came into play, as Stones took a free-kick from the back, which was grazed by Berardi and headed straight for Belotti. Belotti unloaded the ball and turned to pull the ball, Marseille slipped around to avoid the defence, and then made a return to Ali, who made a slight adjustment and fired a burst straight into the corner, the ball happened to be under the goal of the famous Westminster stands, and the frenzied cheers came like a tsunami, and the whole stadium was shaking with ecstasy and disbelief in the academy.

The scorer Alli was crushed by everyone and the goal gave Portsmouth half a foot to the door of victory.

Fulham didn't give up and the final 20 minutes of the game became suffocating, they replaced the scorer Berbatov, the dashing style of play is really not suitable for this kind of fateful situation, Costa Rican striker Ruiz put on the line-up, and the benefits of using such a fast player towards the end of the game were obvious, and sure enough, a quick counter-attack, he drove in from the back to help striker Diarra equalise in one fell swoop.

The team's occasional mistake in pressing forward was a sign of what Hydward feared, with little time left for him to pull off a miracle, and the final six minutes were held for the entire Faton Park stadium as their beloved side continued to attack.

After the half-time kick-off, everyone poured out, and the manager gave the most obvious signal to stand and lose and not draw, Louis Brent, the substitute winger tried to pass on the edge of the box and was pulled down directly by the famous central defender Senderos, penalty! Pierce bravely walked to the 12-yard point as captain and the pressure he was under was unimaginable, it was the ball that could kill the game.

A player can have all kinds of talents, but if you don't have a strong mental quality then no matter how good the ability is, there is no way for the youngsters of Portsmouth to calm down, but Pierce took a deep breath and calmly hit the bottom right corner to put the score out of the way.

After scoring the goal, Pierce ran to the sideline and hugged McVeigh, who was a caddy, which was a great legacy.

Everyone in Portsmouth held their tired legs to block Fulham's pass, and the game was not about technique and tactics at this point, the players used almost desperate ways to win the game, and in stoppage time, Brent, who had built up a miracle of success, broke through the opponent's entire defence on the counter-attack again, and then went to the next goal, until this moment Fulham gave up the pursuit.