Chapter 112 - Leicester (4)

Dean Smith threw the ball to the right, Freddy pushed the ball forward and ran fast. Perez tried to chase after him, but Freddy's speed was too fast. Then, the Southampton right-back provided a cross to Southampton's right wing, namely Rustan. Relying on his speed, Rustan showed a very surprising running speed, he passed Fofana who was trying to tackle him.

Moments later, Rustan entered the Leicester penalty box. There was only Leicester center-back Evans guarding Kazuki and then goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Rustan saw a wide open opportunity. Kasper Schmeichel ran to try to snatch the ball from Rustan's feet. Cleverly, Rustan flicked the ball to the side to avoid getting attacked by Schmeichel. Then he pushed the ball to find the best position before shooting the ball into an empty net.

At the same time, Evans left Kazuki and ran towards the goal. He tried to stop Rustan's kick that had been going fast. Evans slid across the grass, then his feet managed to block the ball. Schmeichel immediately caught the ball rebound quickly.

"Ahh! Rustan's very good chance. Oooh! Brilliant! Evans, saved Leicester's goal from crisis. It's a shame Southampton failed to score after getting such a good chance. Until now, the score of both teams is still the same 1-1."

Jim Kaglin seemed deeply regretful of how much Rustan had squandered the opportunity. Opportunities like that were rare. If Rustan kicked with a little more force, then there was no chance for Leicester to save themselves. Even so, Evans' rescue was brilliant. He left Kazuki at the perfect moment. If he left too early, then Rustan would give Kazuki a pass. However, if Evans left Kazuki too slowly then a goal would occur.

Evans' save was the best saving moment in the early 2012/2013 season.

The game continued after Southampton's failure to score. Leicester regained control of the ball. The fact, despite Southampton was failing to score on the counter-attack earlier, that attack was made Leicester play more cautiously. Even though they had the ball, now the Fox was more like trying to pass the time than trying to find opportunities to attack.

By the way, Orlando's entry had a different impact than Rudolf. There was no doubt that both were equally good defensive midfielders. But the way the two of them look after the players were different. Rudolf made frequent fouls to achieve his goal, either stopping the ball or capturing the ball. But Orlando used his tall and big body to do regular zoning or blocking.

Orlando's only weakness may be in other aspects, such as his dribble was not as good as Wright-Phillips. His passing was not as solid as Simone. Or he was not as expressive as other players, making it difficult for Southampton players to approach him.

In the 55th minute, Perez tried to break through the Orlando defense, but the player could easily predict Perez's movement and then stole the ball from him. After that, Orlando gave the ball to Simone. At the same time, Kante seemed to run fast and cut the ball by sliding. He then gave a long pass towards the penalty box.

Adama prepared to receive the ball, but this time Okhalo headed in perfectly. As a result, the ball bounced towards Simone. Simone moved forward to meet the ball, he was also on guard against Drinkwater and Kante. Then Simone gave Benson a pass. The Southampton left-back had been moved forward since Okhalo headed the ball.

As Benson moved forward on the left side, Kounde's figure seemed to start shifting his body slightly to the right, leaving an empty space on the left to be exploited. Benson who saw that did not hesitate, he immediately dribbled the ball very quickly. He didn't seem to intend to give any pass at all.

Daniel Aimerte prepared to stop Benson's steps. However, the Southampton player showed skills that managed to deceive Aimerte. He took Aimerte to the side, then used McGeady Spin to get past him. Then Benson entered the penalty box. He provided a through ball to Kounde.

The Southampton left-winger dribbled the ball forward, then sent a measured shot. The ball went perfectly into the net. Kasper Schmeichel failed to save the Leicester goal. The cheers of Southampton fans in the visitors' stands filled the gloomy King Power Stadium.

"Goaaaall! Kounde, what a shot! A perfect counter-attack that was completed well. Southampton now take the lead in the 56th minute. The score is now 2-1."

Southampton frequently left behind against opponents, but when they catch up the score and take the lead, it's very rare for them to concede again.

"Can we win? Southampton are playing really well."

"Traore is useless, why didn't the coach include Vardy, he looks better."

"We are still one goal ahead, no need to worry. There is still plenty of time for Leicester to overtake Southampton."

In the 63rd minute, Evans did a handball in the penalty box. Handball was done clearly by him in front of the referee. As a result, Southampton got a penalty kick. Kazuki became the one who executed the kick.

The referee blew the whistle, in front of tens of thousands of Leicester fans, Kazuki took the penalty kick calmly. Kasper Schmeichel was wrong in guessing the direction of the ball, so the ball easily nestled in the Leicester net. Kazuki turned his body and pointed both fingers upwards. After that, he received hugs from the rest of Southampton players.

Simone looked at Kazuki curiously, he said, "I wonder what makes you able to execute every penalty kick so well? Is your mentality made of steel?" Simone had often taken penalty kicks before and had missed several times, but George started to set Kazuki as the first taker, so the other Southampton players rarely took penalties.

"I don't know, maybe the goddess of luck is crazy about me," said Kazuki jokingly.

"Cold, sharp, well done. Kazuki's penalty increased Southampton's lead over Leicester. With this goal, Leicester are 2 goals behind Southampton."

In the 76th minute, George made the last substitution. He fielded Osmund and pulled Kazuki out. As Southampton's main asset, he wanted to save as much of Kazuki's power as possible. Meanwhile, Leicester also made some changes, first, Vardy came on to replace Adama Traore. Second, Hugo was pulled out and replaced by A. Davies. Finally, Drinkwater was withdrawn and replaced by Ihenacao.

The change of the two coaches made the conditions on the field change. Leicester seemed to want to take advantage of the counter-attack to attack Southampton, while the Saints lacked strength in attacking Leicester. In the 84th minute, Vardy managed to score a goal through Leicester's counter-attack. But unfortunately, he was offside. The incident made hope rekindled, Leicester attacked Southampton continuously. But Southampton defended well.

The Premier League 5th round match ended with Southampton's 3-1 win over Leicester.. Southampton won again for the sixth time this season, including a win in the Carabao Cup.