Chapter 86 - Valencia

In the 56th minute, Arsenal managed to reply to a goal through Theo Wallcot's hard kick. Cooperation between Arsenal players made Southampton players confused. At a crucial moment, Arsenal's young striker, Jay Smith, managed to send in a beautiful curled pass. The pass seemed to avoid the Southampton players and immediately looked for Wallcot. The pass was successfully executed by Theo Wallcot.

Southampton's reserve team goalkeeper Foggan Schluzstein failed to catch the kick. As a result, Arsenal managed to equalize the score. Arsenal's game was beautiful enough that the crowd's cheers for this goal were very high.

The match continues. After things became equal, Arsenal tried to continue their dominance, but the pressing applied by the Southampton players was too tight, so Southampton was able to hold Arsenal's game. The presence of Joe Bennet made Southampton's game better. The rhythm and vision of the attack were better than Southampton's previous game. But Bennett also had a fatal weakness, he didn't look good in confrontations against Arsenal's players.

In the 76th minute, Vicente provided a pass to Bennet. The player on loan from Manchester United drove quickly and got rid of the Arsenal players who guarded him. He then poked the ball to the left. Wright-Phillips came and immediately sent the ball that he received, into the middle of the penalty box. Kazuki escaped from an offside position and kicked the ball into the Arsenal goalpost with ease.

The goal managed to put Southampton back ahead of Arsenal. Then at 80 minutes, George pulled out Kazuki and put in Theodore, who happened to be brought in this pre-season training. Theodore was a Southampton b team or reserve team player. Kazuki had almost forgotten about the person if not for his name.

In the 91st minute, Southampton scored again. Bennett, who was separated from Arsenal's defensive midfielder, shot from outside the penalty box. The ball slid straight into the corner of the goalpost. The Arsenal goalkeeper did not have time to save the goalpost that he was guarding.

The final score of the match was 3-1. Southampton managed to win from Arsenal. Meanwhile, Valencia also managed to beat Juventus on penalties. The two big teams in this group lost. In the next match, Southampton will be against Valencia, as long as Southampton won, the first position will be obtained.

Meanwhile, George's target in the match against Arsenal itself failed to be achieved. Although Southampton won but Arsenal recorded 58% possession of the ball. They also recorded 10 shots on target in contrast to Southampton who only recorded 6 shots on target. This shows that there are still things that George can evaluate from the Southampton team.

Two days later, the match between Southampton and Valencia was held in the evening. Valencia fielded a different formation and players than against Juventus, while Southampton fielded a different composition but still used a 4-2-3-1 formation.

In this match, Kazuki did not become a starter but instead became a substitute. This time, George wanted to see Southampton play without Kazuki as a striker. Instead, he fielded Osmund as the main striker.

In this match, Southampton performed worse than the first game. Bennett, who was back as a starter, suddenly played badly. He often loses the ball while dribbled the ball. Not only that, but he also frequently made mistakes in passing.

Meanwhile, Osmund also struggled to penetrate Valencia's defense. On the wing, Ryan performed quite well on the left, but his cross was regularly missed by Osmund. Then, on the right-wing, Rustan looks tired and often loses in duels against Valencia's left-back.

In the 30th minute, George replaced the players who were not showing their best form with other players. Crage came in for Bennet, while Kazuki came in for Osmund. Crage swap positions with Ryan so that Ryan fills the attacking midfielder post.

Although Valencia managed to dominate in the first 30 minutes, they failed to convert their chances into goals. This could be regret for Valencia because George's substitution made Southampton bounce back.

In the 41st minute, Kazuki scored the first goal of the match. He managed to score a goal through a counter-attack scheme. Ryan sent a long and measured pass forward, and Kazuki managed to win the duel against the Valencia center-back. When facing the one-on-one goalkeeper, Kazuki rubbed the goalkeeper with his skills and then put the ball into the empty net.

Until the first half ended, no goals were created again. Southampton tried to strike back late in the first half, but Kazuki's shot this time was caught by the Valencia goalkeeper.

At the beginning of the second half, Valencia replaced several players. Meanwhile, Southampton also made substitutions. Rustan and Ryan were pulled out and replaced by other players. Both teams made substitutions at the start of the second half. The rhythm of the game of both teams became quite slow. Southampton still had the ball, but they were not rushed to attack Valencia.

In the 60th minute, Southampton finally launched an attack. Crage accelerates on the left side. Valencia's right-back held Crage's shirt while trying to block the player. Crage is not as fast or as good as Ryan in handled the ball, so he preferred to back-pass Simone received the back-pass and then gave the pass to his side.

David Hower, a substitute who has also been called up to the first team this season, provided a cross into the middle of the penalty box. The two Valencia defenders kept Kazuki tight, but the Japanese player managed to stick his foot out and bounce the ball to the side. Vicente, who did the overlap kicked the ball hard. The ball made it into the Valencia goalpost. 2-0 for Southampton advantage.

The match went more smoothly. Southampton continued to dominate the game. Change after change made by Valencia, but overall they began to fail to get the ball from Southampton. George's new tactical system was taking shape.

In the 75th minute, Kazuki scored again through the penalty spot after the Valencia center back had previously played handball. Kazuki who was the executor managed to handle the penalty calmly. Southampton won 3-0 over Valencia.

In the final minutes of the second half, Valencia rose and tried to reply to a goal. They managed to get some golden opportunities, unfortunately, Valencia failed to convert those opportunities into goals. In this match, finishing seems to be a problem for the Spanish side.

Until the end of the game, the score was still 3-0. Southampton still showed superiority against Valencia. The victory made Southampton firmly occupy the top of Group B. On the other hand, Arsenal finished second after beating Juventus with a score of 4-0.. Juventus fielded several core players but still could not avoid defeat against Arsenal.