Chapter 31 - Hugo Explode

In the 20th minute, Simone managed to intercept the ball from Rosenberg's feet. Southampton is launching an attack again. Simone brought the ball into two out of third of the opponent's defense area. Simone gives the ball to Hugo. The Southampton right winger made a one-two pass with Denilson. Then, Hugo ran past Gridewell. After that, Hugo gave an aerial cross. In the middle of the penalty box Kazuki and Kevin jumped at the same time, they were fighting over the ball.

As Kazuki headed the ball he felt Kevin's elbow stab into his stomach, the sudden pain made Kazuki unable to control the ball well. Kazuki fell to the ground while holding his stomach.

This sparked a strong reaction from Kazuki's friends, especially Hugo. The Southampton winger pushed Kevin roughly. The atmosphere in the West Bromwich Albion penalty box became chaotic. The referee blows his whistle and points to the spot. The referee also gave Kevin a yellow card.

The decision was protested by both parties.

"Wait a minute, the referee, he tricked you! That boy is diving, I didn't touch him at all!" Kevin said with a pleading expression.

"Referee, you should give him a red card. He's a dirty player, you've seen it, he's been targeting Kazuki all the time," said Hugo.

"You two stay away, or I'll give you two a yellow card," the referee threatened to Hugo and Kevin. Hearing that, Hugo and Kevin walked away with helpless expressions.

Kazuki originally thought Denilson would take the initiative to award him a penalty kick. However, Denilson decided to take the penalty kick without saying anything to Kazuki who was credited with getting a penalty for Southampton.

All the players apart from Denilson and Ben Foster walked out of the box. Denilson puts the ball over the white dot. He took a few steps back to get ready. Then, the referee blew the whistle, at that point Denilson immediately ran and kicked the ball towards the top right of the West Bromwich Albion goalpost.

Ben Foster guessed the direction of the ball correctly, but he couldn't reach it. However, just as Denilson was about to celebrate a goal, the ball hit the corner of the post and bounced off the pitch. Denilson holds his head disappointed by his kick. Kazuki looked at Denilson in annoyance while thinking, 'If you're not confident with your feet, give that ball to me bastard.'

On the side of the pitch, Eastgate cursed in annoyance, "Damn, you just need to get that fucking ball to the net."

West Bromwich Albion fans breathed a sigh of relief as Southampton's penalty failed to convert into a goal. West Bromwich Albion gets another goal kick.

In the 30th minute, West Brom launched an attack. After many times attacking from the right side, they finally started the attack from the left side for the first time. Kevin gives the ball to Odemmiwe. Odemmiwe brought the ball into the Southampton defense area.

Hugo and Rudolf tried to intercept Odemmiwe but the player tricked Hugo and Rudolf with his skills. After passing both Southampton midfielders, Odemmiwe brought the ball into the middle. He gave the ball to Shane Long.

Shane Long held off Southampton center-back Hilton, then provided Odemmiwe's through ball. Peter Odemmiwe broke through the Southampton penalty box. After that, he did a hard shot towards the side of the goal. Dean Smith blocked the shot well. The ball bounced back to the front of the penalty box, Kevin who was there immediately made the first touch shot with a volley. The ball plunged into the corner of the goal, Dean Smith was unable to save the Southampton goalpost.

"Goaaaallll! Odemmiwe's shot was blocked by Dean Smith but Kevin managed to hit the rebound well! West Bromwich Albion is 1-0 up against Southampton."

"Well done Kevin!"

"Good luck West Brom! We can do it!"

"Let's beat Southampton!"

The Baggies fans cheered for Kevin's goal. They were happy that they finally scored the first goal. After scoring the first goal then a big burden will appear on the shoulders of the Southampton players. Because West Brom will implement a tighter defensive strategy. Players like Odemmiwe and Dorrans can also be used for counter-attacks.

Captain Simone shouted encouraging his comrades. Southampton players put away negative thoughts and get ready to kick-off. The game started again, Southampton started the game at a slow tempo. Although West Bromwich Albion leads Southampton, they only lead by a goal, there is still plenty of time for Southampton to equalize or even turn things around.

In the 37th minute, Hugo exploded, he passed Odemmiwe with a body feint, then brought the ball forward, Rosenberg made a tackle but Hugo passed it with a marseille turn. Before the other players tried to stop him, Hugo accelerated his run. He brought the ball into the middle and then made a shot from outside the penalty box.

Goalkeeper Ben Foster jumps in trying to save his goal. However, Hugo's shot went too far into the corner so he failed to reach the ball. The ball went into Ben Foster's goalpost. Hugo shouted to vent his emotions as he waved his hand upwards.

"Wonderful! A very beautiful solo goal was scored by Hugo. This player went past Odemmiwe and Rosenberg before netting a long-range shot from outside the box. Now Southampton has equalized it at 1-1."

Southampton players surround Hugo and praise Hugo's goal. The goal was Hugo's individual goal without too much help from his partner. Kazuki himself was amazed by that goal, ever since he became a member of the first team, the person he admired the most in this team was Hugo.

After this goal the game heated up again, West Brom who intended to run a counter-attack strategy, now must take the initiative to attack Southampton if they want to win this match. Of course, Southampton who also wants to take 3 points should be able to beat West Brom.

The game was fierce, fouls and physical confrontations continued, especially in midfield, Rudolf and Simone working hard to cut West Brom's attack line.

In the 46th minute, Southampton got another chance. This opportunity began with the exchange of positions between Hugo and Kazuki. After moving to the first team Kazuki's passing ability was rarely used, but Kazuki's passing ability was not inferior to Hugo's. On this occasion, Kazuki received a pass from Simone, he again used a whiplash turn to get past Gridewell who was clinging to his back. After that Kazuki immediately gave a long pass into the middle of the penalty box.

Hugo escaped the offside trap, he ran and received the ball from Kazuki then immediately shot the ball into the left side of the West Brom goalpost. The action was too fast for goalkeeper Ben Foster to react.

"Owhh!! Hugo scored two goals! After switching positions with Hugo, Kazuki crossed Gridewell and released a very beautiful pass. Hugo managed to receive the pass well and executed the opportunity perfectly.. Southampton managed to take the lead over the home team West Bromwich Albion. "