Chapter 15: The Second Half of Regret
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At the start of the second half, as soon as Blackburn Rovers got the ball, there were at least three Southampton players around them, which was a bit unexpected for Blackburn's players. Mark Hughes's original tactical routine of wasting time on the ball in midfield was completely disrupted. The Blackburn players on the pitch now kick forward as soon as they get the ball, because they are afraid of losing the ball on their bodies. York and Steder up front also didn't have the same relaxed movement as in the first half. As soon as they got the ball, Southampton's defenders deliberately made physical contact with them and disrupted their attack. The skinny Yorke and Steder couldn't stand the two big centre-backs of Southampton. Soon the situation on the field changed. Blackburn's formation was completely disjointed, the midfield could not be well linked, and the attack was paralyzed.
Mark Hughes is more than acceptable at this point because their defense is still in the past, and besides, they are still one goal ahead. Mark Hughes looked at the game time on the big screen, and it was the 70th minute of the game. There are 20 minutes left until the end of the game.
As the game passed, the score remained at 2-1. The Southampton fans inside St Mary's Stadium were still cheering hoarsely for the home team. Just now, Chen Zhun made the first substitution adjustment of this game. Marian Pajas replaced James Beatty, who was stealthy in this game. Chen told Pajas to tell Peter Crouch to make him a fulcrum for his header in the box, and asked Crouch to tell Svensson to pass directly to the two wing-backs and let the two wing-backs cross.
In the 80th minute of the game, Blackburn's Tugai fired a long-range shot wide of the goal. Southampton goalkeeper Niemi kicked the ball in front of Crouch. Crouch took advantage of his height to give the ball to Anders Svensson. Crouch immediately ran into the box as soon as he finished the ball, and Svensson immediately passed the ball straight to David Pluton on the left. David Pluton watched Blackburn's right-back Emerton not step forward and immediately crossed into the box. Plutton's cross was high and drifting, just looking for Crouch who stood out in the box. Crouch received a cross and tried to hit the goal, but the ball grazed Crouch's scalp. Crouch's strike drew the Blackburn defence, including goalkeeper Friedel, to the point where Pajas was running from behind. The ball was ferried by Crouch's header and slowly flew in the direction of Pajas. When Pajas arrived at the ball, his body was completely in the air, and he seemed to inject all his strength into his right foot, and shot with a shovel!! The ball went in!! St Mary's Stadium is in a frenzy again!! Pajas scored his first Premier League goal of the season!! After the goal, Pajas ran wildly around the stadium, enjoying the carnival of the fans. He ran to Chen Zhun and hugged Chen Zhun high, thanking Chen Zhun for giving him the opportunity to play.
Southampton finally equalised in the 80th minute, and no, the game wasn't over yet.
Chen Zhun wants a win, he doesn't care about a draw. Chen Zhun made a gesture of forward pressure to the players, signaling the players to attack, attack, attack!
"Attack!! Attack me!! Michael (Anderson) gives me a shot!! Chen Zhun shouted loudly. Chen Zhun wants victory, and he keeps winning.
The Southampton players were cheering on St Mary's Stadium and bombarded Blackburn again and again. But the third goal was delayed.
In the 92nd minute, in the penultimate minute of stoppage time, Southampton were awarded a corner, their only chance. Anders Svensson was in charge of the corner. All eyes were on the corner.
Svensson drove out, and there was chaos in the box, with two teams of players battling each other for position. At this moment, a tall figure rose into the air, Crouch! It's Crouch again! Crouch grabbed the first point again, this time he didn't let the ball slip over his head, Crouch headed home!! Chen Zhun, the fans, and Mark Hughes all held their breath as the shot flew towards the goal.
Boom!! Crouch's header hit the crossbar and bounced off the line. Crouch didn't save the team, Southampton didn't pull off a miracle and the game ended with this header popping off the crossbar. In the end, Southampton were unfortunately held to a draw by Blackburn Rovers and did not win two in a row. Crouch fell to his knees and slapped the turf hard. Mark Hughes is a lot more relaxed.
Instead of leaving the stadium, the fans at St. Mary's Stadium stood up to applaud their warriors. Captain Dodd and his players thanked the fans for their support.
Chen Zhun was not very disappointed when he saw this crossbar, this is the case in competitive competitions, and he didn't know whether to lose or win until the last second. remembered that every time he kicked a free kick in his later life, he would always kick the crossbar, which also made his little friend Fat Man nickname him "Brother Crossbar".
At the post-match press conference, Chen Zhun praised the team's performance in the second half, as well as Pahas's amazing performance in this game. He also said that the team's defensive problems are still serious and more run-in is needed.
Chen Zhun could no longer afford to miss the draw as Southampton ushered in a two-game fixture schedule. On Wednesday, they will continue to host Bolton Wanderers. Time is tight, and the task is heavy. Chen Zhun did not plan to arrange for the players to rest the day after the game, but continued to train and adjust his condition.
After the game, England's major newspapers ignored the game itself, and instead reported in detail on the game's goal-scorer Pajas, praising the Latvian striker's performance with the word odd man. But Chen Zhun knew in his heart that Pajas couldn't get rid of the fate of the transfer, and now he was just using him to earn more transfer fees.
During the second day's training, Chen Zhun also kept an eye on the remaining matches in the second round of the Premier League. Chelsea won 1-0 away at Birmingham City and Arsenal came back from four goals to win 5-3 at Middlesbrough. After two Premier League rounds, Chelsea and Arsenal are in the top two of the table.
In the next few days of training, Chen Zhun focused on practicing a small counter-attack after losing the ball, when a player loses the ball, he must have at least two players on his side to intercept, which can delay the opponent's counterattack. For Southampton, who is pressing high, the most feared is the sudden kick behind the back, Southampton's two central defenders turn slowly and slowly, if they succeed behind the back, it is basically a direct single goal. So Chen Zhun has been discussing defensive strategies with Reed. They decided to play against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday instead of pressing high and instead compress the defence, compressing themselves and squeezing the opposition into a single space, which would free up the two wide players and give them more space to play when defending on the counter-attack.
It has been almost a month since Chen Zhun came to Southampton Club. He also spotted a positional gap in Southampton's squad. That's where the two full-backs work. Le Sox on the left and Jason Dodd on the right are both veterans who have entered the end of their careers, and Chen Zhun also saw in the first two games that the two veterans tend to consume a lot of physical energy in the latter part of the game, and the substitutes in the two positions of the Southampton team are also embarrassed except for the new star Baird, Chen Zhun has to hope to rely on his later memories to grab a few football superstars in the winter transfer. Chen Junn was starting to miss the Southampton scouts and hoped that Rudick and his men would surprise him.