Chapter 149 - A Chance To Win

Okhalo gave the ball to Ryan. Ryan brought the ball forward. He broke free frok Dembele by outpaced him. After that he accelerated his running. Ryan's speed slowly increased. He was running past Kyle Walker. Then, Ryan provided a through pass into the middle. Kazuki received the ball and shot it. The ball passed Tottenham goalkeeper, Llorente, and shake the net.

Southampton counter-attack managed to make them 2-0 up against Tottenham. This advantage will make it easier for Southampton to win the game. On the other hand, the goal also made Tottenham confused. They looked surprised by Southampton's second goal. Southampton's two-goal advantage was a burden that will continue to grow as the game progresses.

At the end of the first half, Tottenham attacked Southampton all out. However, Southampton was lucky, they were able to keep their goal from conceding. Until the end of the first half, Southampton was still able to maintain their advantage.

At the start of the second half, Southampton and Tottenham both made strategic changes. Tottenham somehow played more passively when they were clearly behind. On the other hand, Southampton control the ball and rhythm of the game as best as possible.

In the 46th minute, Rudolf gave Simone a pass. Erik Lamela hit Simone's body, as a result Simone was fell. Simone accidentally lost the ball, Eriksen ran forward and grabbed the ball that bounced off Simone's feet. Then he kicked the ball hard to Shradder. Shradder dueled with Freddy. Fortunately, Shradder was able to defeat Freddy in the duel.

Shradder then penetrated into the penalty box. He flicked the ball sideways when Hilton tried to tackle him. Then, Shradder provided a pass to the right side of the penalty box. Saldado gave a hard shot towards the Southampton goal. Dean Smith raised his hand and blocked Saldado's hard shot. The ball flew up and went off the field.

In the 55th minute, Benson received a pass from Okhalo. He pushed the ball to the side. Saldado followed Benson's movement, but at that time, Benson quickly brought the ball to the right. Saldado was late, Benson crossed him and brought the ball into the middle of the field. After that, he gave the ball to Bennett. Bennet was dueling with Eriksen. Luckily, he managed to head the ball towards Kounde.

Kounde accepted the pass, but he soon pass back the ball to Benson, who went up the front. Benson brought the ball leaned to the middle. He unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty box. The ball past through the gap between the players and then glided to the right side of the net. Too bad the ball was went too far to the right and went off the field.

In the 61st minute, Dean Smith caught Luminaire's shot. He then kicked the ball far forward. Bennet collided again with Eriksen. This time Eriksen had the advantage. He gave the ball towards Erik Lamela. Erik received the ball and then gave it with a backheel to Eriksen. Eriksen took a few steps forward and kicked the ball towards Shradder.

Shradder flicked the ball to the right, then he immediately gave the ball into the middle of the penalty box. Luminaire managed to escape from the offside trap. He then changed the ball direction with his feet. Dean Smith failed to catch the ball, but Okhalo appeared and headed the ball out. Then Hilton secured the ball and kicked it off the field. Luminaire looked very disappointed, obviously he didn't expect his shot to be blocked like that.

In the 68th minute, Southampton and Tottenham both made substitutions. Tottenham included a young player named Harry Kane while Southampton included Wright-Phillips to replace Kounde. Once again, Southampton changed formation to 4-3-2-1. Wright-Phillips, Rudolf, Simone will be holding midfielders. With three defensive midfielders and four defenders, it is clear Southampton's defense was getting solid and very difficult to penetrate.

In the 73rd minute, Eriksen provided a pass to Erik Lamela. However, the ball was cut off by Wright-Phillips. He then brought the ball forward. Southampton's players simultaneously dashed forward. Wright-Phillips sent the ball to Benson. Benson dribbled forward, he then passed easily over Shradder and gave the ball to Bennett.

Bennett passed the ball to Ryan. Ryan avoided Anderson, then took the ball into the penalty box. After that, Ryan gave the ball to Kazuki. When Kazuki was about to receive the ball from Ryan, Dawson appeared and cut the ball. Dawson kicked the ball so it was thrown off the field.

Dawson's managed to keep Tottenham from conceding for the third time. Because of that, Dawson's action received applause from the Tottenham fans. Southampton's counterattack once again made the Tottenham defense break out in a cold sweat.

In the 79th minute, Tottenham attacked Southampton. The attack started with Moussa Dembele's pass to Shradder. Shradder baited Freddy to up forward. Shradder then gave the ball to Kyle Walker who had passed Freddy. Walker then pushed the ball into the penalty box. But when Walker was about to chase the ball that he had pushed. Hilton came and blocked him.

The ball slid off the field. Corner kick for Tottenham. Eriksen became the one who executed the corner kick. The referee blew his whistle loudly, Eriksen slowly walked over and kicked the ball into the penalty box. The riot occurred in front of the Southampton's net. The players fight for the ball. An advantage for Southampton, Okhalo managed to kick the ball off the field. Throw-in for Tottenham.

In the 85th minute, George replaced Kazuki with Osmund. In the final minutes of the game, Southampton suffered attack after attack from Tottenham luckily they managed to hold on. As a result, until the game ended Southampton still won with a score of 2-0. This victory extended Tottenham's lost streak to Southampton.

Victory over Tottenham extended Southampton's winning streak. In addition, this victory was also a good welcome for Ryan. After not playing for almost two months, Ryan finally rejoined Southampton.

On the other hand, this victory made the media think carefully again. So far they had always avoided the artikel about the possibility of Southampton winning the league, but this time they decided to speak out about Southampton's chances of winning the Premier League.

The Sun put out an article entitled, [Southampton and the miracle, how close they are?] in which The Sun began to explain that they were optimistic about the miracle Southampton would create. They even wrote down the reasons why Manchester City and Chelsea will fail to compete with Southampton.

Of course this article makes Manchester City and Chelsea fans angry. They believe that their favorite team that will win the championship, and obviously was not a team in the middle of nowhere like Southampton.

The article created by The Sun was followed by other magazines. They were both optimistic that Southampton will win the championship. Although this article made Southampton fans happy. But the Southampton players felt a sudden heavy pressure. It must be admitted that although Southampton continue to win game after game, their goal was only the top 4, not champions.

When the media was suddenly optimistic about the Southampton championship. Southampton's mentality was suddenly disturbed. Young players like Ryan and Bennet were nervous. The pressure will increase every game.

In the next match, Southampton suddenly won a draw against Huddersfield. The score in the match was 0-0. Kazuki failed to score and neither did the other players. In this match Southampton completely dominated the match against Huddersfield but failed to score a goal.

This draw clearly made Southampton realize that thinking too much about winning was not a good thing. The burden that needs to be borne to maintain the championship goal was too great. It's better to focus on winning every single game.

The next week arrived. Southampton visit Everton Stadion.

"Welcome everyone to the 28th round of the English Premier League. In this match Southampton will visit Everton's home.

In the previous match Southampton got a draw against Huddersfield. Meanwhile, Everton lost at home to Aston Villa. Both teams need a win to quickly back to the right track.

In this match Southampton used a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeepers: Dean Smith;

Defenders: Vicente, Hilton, Jimny, Ben Carter;

Midfielders: Orlando, Bennett, Wright-Phillips;

Front: Ryan, Kazuki, Osmund.

Meanwhile, Everton use a 4-3-2-1 formation.

Goalkeepers: Tim Howard;

Defenders: Tony Hillbert, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin, Leighton Baines;

Defensive Midfielders: Seamus Coleman, Darren Gibson, Steven Pienaar;

Attacking Midfielders: Fellaini, Leon Osman;

Front: Nikica Jelavic.

Next, let's see how the first half match between Southampton and Everton goes."

At the beginning of the game Southampton immediately played aggressively. They put pressure on Everton who had just started kick-off. The pressure was carried out by Orlando and Wright-Phillips. That was made Everton uncomfortable.

In the 7th minute, Darren stepped up to press Bennett. However, the Southampton player was fooling Darren, so that Bennet easily passed Darren. then, Bennet sent the ball to Ryan. At the same time, Vicente rushed forward to overlap. Ryan gave the ball to Orlando. The Southampton midfielder held the ball strongly, he evaded from Fellaini, who tried to steal the ball from him.

Orlando passed the pass to Kazuki who fell backwards. Kazuki turned his back on Distin. Soon, he gave a through ball to the right. Vicente, Southampton right-back immediately competed with Baines for the ball. Just before the ball crossed the touchline, Vicente pulled the ball back. Then, he sent the ball back at Bennett.

It did not take long for Bennett to launch a cross to the left. Ben Carter headed the ball into the middle. There was Kazuki who was guarded by Distin while Jagielka was guarding Ryan. Kazuki held Distin with his hand then he pushed the ball towards Ryan. Ryan ran and kicked the ball. Too bad Jagielka managed to block the ball with his foot.

In the 14th minute, Bennett sent a long ball into the middle. Orlando managed to head the ball to the side. Ben Carter overlapped to helped the attack, he received the ball from Orlando and then carried the ball forward. After that he gave the ball to Osmund who left Southampton's left wing. Osmund competed speed against Tony Hilbert. Luckily Tony managed to throw the ball first.