Chapter 56: Aston Villa(3)

At the end of the first half, Aston Villa was attacking Southampton continuously. But the goddess of luck was not on their side. Until the end of the first half, Aston Villa still could not score a goal. Southampton was maintaining the score 2-0 until the referee whistle had sounded.

In the dressing room, the Southampton players discussed what happened in the first half. Kazuki also told how Cuellar informed him about Gabriel Agbonlahor's penalty kick habit. Hearing the full story from Kazuki made them laugh.

George walked into the dressing room after giving the Southampton players enough time to rest. He clapped his hands while he said, "Attention please, sit down and listen to me."

Southampton's players sat in front of their lockers. Some of the players who were drinking put down their bottles of water. After seeing all the players were sitting neatly, George nodded slightly. Then, he began to explain, "You guys have done well, in the first half we managed to lead by two goals from Aston Villa. However, we must not let our guard down."

George pointed at the board showing the formation of players from both teams. He pointed at Stephen Ireland. "This guy will most likely be replaced by Darren Bent. Rudolf, I want you to keep an eye on Darren Bent. According to the statistics, Darren Bent will play more on the wing. Benson, Wright-Phillips you have to guard the left flank well.

In the second half, keep your stamina up and if there is an opportunity to attack, make good use of it. Adding goals is always a good thing. That's all, get ready for the second half."

***

The second half started again after the Aston Villa players kick-off. As George said, Darren Bent has replaced Stephen Ireland. Rudolf marked Darren as George had assigned him.

Aston Villa started the second half. They controlled the ball with the advantage of players in midfield. Southampton did not press Aston Villa in a hurry. They put up two lines of players, forming a wall that would put pressure on the Aston Villa players as the ball approached.

At the beginning of the second half, both teams played at a slow pace. Aston Villa did not push themselves to attack Southampton, while Southampton, who had the advantage, chose to play passively and wait for the opportunity to counterattack.

In the 48th minute, Southampton got a chance. Rudolf managed to cut the pass that goes to Darren Bent. He gave the ball to Hugo. Cuellar pressed Hugo with his body. Hugo gave Freddy a pass, so Cuellar who had to guard the flank area had to chase Freddy.

Freddy relied on his speed to run into the final third of the Aston Villa defense area. He provided a curved crossing pass towards the middle of the field.

Kazuki tried to get the ball, but it was very difficult for him because the Aston Villa defender was guarding him tightly. The ball failed to receive by Kazuki and Crage. However, Wright-Phillips, who is on the left, managed to receive the ball. He gave a hard kick towards the goalpost. Unfortunately, the kick deviated from the net.

In the 56th minute, Darren managed to break through Rudolf with his skills. He brought the ball to the front of the box, then gave it to Gabriel. The Aston Villa striker relied on his physicality to hold off Okhalo, then bounced the ball back to Darren. Darren dribbled past Okhalo, then shot the ball with all his power. The ball hit the post and bounced off the field.

Aston Villa coach, Alex McLeish showed a disappointed expression. His coaching record at Aston Villa is terrible when compared to the previous Aston Villa coach. If Aston Villa loses to Southampton, then their fortune will be worse.

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In the 63rd minute, Aston Villa got a free-kick. Albrighton was brought down by Hilton in front of the penalty box. Darren will take the free-kick. Southampton was built a human fence in front of Darren. After the referee blew the whistle, Darren kicked the ball. The ball rotates towards the right of the Southampton goalpost. Dean Smith jumped up and punched the ball hard. The ball flew off the field.

In the 67th minute, the two teams clashed fiercely in midfield.

Under pressure from N'Zogbia, Simone was forced to pass the ball to Rudolf. However, the pass was not smooth because N'Zogbia pushed Simone with his body.

Rudolf and Petrov rushed forward for the ball. Both of them came to the front of the ball at the same time. Then, they moved coincidentally. Rudolf and Petrov swung their legs to send the ball forward. The ball is kicked by both players concurrently so that the ball is refracted sideways.

These two players turned around immediately. They were entangled their hands and pushing each other. Then, they were stepping on their feet to try to knock down the opposite player. No one knew who stumbled first, but both fell at the same time.

After falling to the ground, the two players had stood and pushed each other. The referee blew the whistle to signal paused the match, but the two players were blaming relentlessly each other for their dirty actions.

Seeing the two men face to face with anger and almost crushing each other, players from both teams were afraid that Rudolf and S. Petrov would act out of line, so they rushed to separate them.

The referee blew the whistle and asked Rudolf and Petrov to come to face him. Then he gave a yellow card to both players. Because Rudolf already had a yellow card, the referee gave him a red card for the accumulation of 2 yellow cards.

George was furious on the sideline and shouted at the fourth referee, "Why a yellow card?! Obviously, it was a minor foul. This is so unfair to us."

The fourth referee warned George not to speak nonsense. Aston Villa coach Alex McLeish felt very uncomfortable when he heard George complained, then he shouted, "The referee's decision was fair, don't talk bullshit, both players got yellow cards, what are you complaining about?!"

Both players did get a yellow card but Rudolf who got a yellow card in the first half was clearly more disadvantaged by this decision. Assistant coach James Ward pulled George back. If George continued to argue, there is a chance the referee will send him to the stands.

Southampton had to play with 10 men in the 68th minute. George replaced Crage with Dallas. Southampton's formation was changed to 4-4-1, with Kazuki alone upfront.

After Rudolf left the field, Aston Villa played very aggressively. As a result, in the 75th minute, they managed to score one goal. The goal was preceded by Dallas' failure to keep Darren well. Darren, who managed to get rid of the Dallas defense can penetrate the Southampton defense easily. He made a one-two pass with Gabriel Agbonlahor before kicking the ball straight into the corner. Dean Smith failed to save the ball.

Aston Villa managed to reduce the gap to 1-2.

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