In the 36th round of the English Premier League. Liverpool managed to beat Aston Villa with a score of 2-0. The media was waiting for Liverpool's blunder had to be disappointed with this result. Liverpool coach, Ralf Ragnick, firmly said Liverpool only needs to win two more games to win the English Premier League 2011/2012 season, and it is not a difficult problem for Liverpool.
Although, Liverpool's opponents in rounds 37 and 38 are not as easy as Ragnick thinks. In the 37th round, Liverpool has to face Everton. Even though Everton lost in every aspect to Liverpool but as city rivals, Everton would be very happy if Liverpool failed to win the Premier League. Then, in the 38th round, Liverpool faced Blackburn. Blackburn itself is in 18th position under Wigan Athletic. Everyone knew that the team that is struggling between the relegation zone is sometimes the hardest team to beat at the end of the season because they would fight desperately to win the game.
Meanwhile, Manchester United was still closely following Liverpool by two points less. They managed to beat West Ham United 1-0 to keep following Liverpool. Even though Liverpool hadn't made any blunders, Manchester United fans believe they still had a chance. The reason was because Manchester United's schedule was easier than Liverpool's match schedule.
In the 37th round, the Red Devils would face Sunderland. Then, in the 38th round, they would face Southampton. Sunderland and Southampton are in mid-table. They have been safe from the relegation zone, defeat and victory will not have too big an impact on both clubs. Unlike Blackburn, Southampton of course would not fight all out against Manchester United in the last round, right? That's what Manchester United fans thought.
On the other hand, Southampton who faced Wolverhampton Wanderers had to settle for a 1-1 draw. The match was very difficult. Southampton in that match fielded senior players such as Osmund, Crage, Kounde, and Hugo in the front line. However, these four people had a hard time breaking through Wolverhampton Wanderers' defense.
Osmund and Kounde had successive chances, but they failed to take advantage of them. The Wolves managed to score first through Steven Fletcher's hard kick in the 43rd minute. Southampton could only equalize the score in the 76th minute of Hugo's cross which was converted by Crage's header.
Although Southampton failed to win, certainly, they will not be relegated even if Southampton loses the next 2 matches, because there is a 7 point gap with Blackburn who is in 18th position.
The same thing always happens to mid-table teams, when they were not threatened with relegation but also had no chance to compete on the European stage, then their desire to win decreases. Without a purpose, they seem to lose the will to win. Of course, the bonus goals might make the forwards play with passion, but the rest of the players are in poor form.
Southampton fans had not complained about this result, but as fans of course they wanted their team to win, no matter if the win had an impact or not.
On the other hand, Kazuki who was on furloughed for a week finally returned to doing daily training. During the week he spent with Shiraishi, things had changed. First, he more liked Southampton city. Even though Kazuki knew that he would leave Southampton one day, but he wanted to give something to this city before he left it.
Second, his relationship with Shiraishi has improved greatly. Even so, there is still no clear status between the two. Third, Kazuki started to utilize [Dream Training] for something other than practicing football. He studied several foreign languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, and German. The main reason Kazuki learned these four languages was because, in the future, he might leave England to play for another major European league club.
The GM was protesting Kazuki's behavior and thought what Kazuki was doing violated the [Dream Training] rule, which is there to train players' football skills. Of course, after Kazuki negotiated, GM finally gave in. After all, by learning other languages, Kazuki's communication with players from those countries would be easier.
Time passed quickly, finally, the 37th week of the match began. The opening match in Week 37 is Liverpool against Everton. A few hours later, there was Manchester United against Sunderland. These two matches will be the main focus. Meanwhile, the next day, Southampton will play Leeds United.
The opening match between Liverpool and Everton presents a very fierce match. The match took place at Goodison Park Stadium. Until the 10th minute, each team has received a yellow card. Everton was using foul to hinder Liverpool. Everton did not hesitate to commit a dangerous foul.
Then in the 17th minute, Everton scored the first goal through Belliand's kick. This goal made the Everton fans cheer. Liverpool found it difficult to build attacks because Everton always made tackles to stop Liverpool players.
Until the first half ended, Liverpool still could not equalize. Apart from that, Everton has got 4 yellow cards while Liverpool has got 3 yellow cards, no red cards have come out, but the game tension was very hot.
At the start of the second half, an incident occurred. Steven Roger screamed in pain after Leon Osman knocked him down. In the replay, it appears that Leon Osman's leg hit the shin of Steven Roger's left leg. Leon Osman's foul was so dangerous that the referee immediately gave him a red card. Steven Roger was replaced by Charlie Adam.
After the incident, the Liverpool players seemed to rise. They turned things around and attacked Everton all-out. However, Everton piled their players in the penalty box, so Liverpool struggled to penetrate the defense. Liverpool's goal appeared in the final minutes of the second half through Jordan Henderson's header. That way, Liverpool was held to a draw by Everton 1-1. After the game was over, Ragnick was so angry he lashed out at the Everton players for playing dirty.
Manchester United, who knows the result of Liverpool's match was very happy. They did not waste this opportunity by crushing Sunderland 4-0 without reply. That way, Manchester United equalized their points with Liverpool. However, Liverpool's goal difference was 10 goals more than Manchester United.
If Liverpool won the game against Blackburn, then Manchester United must have beaten Southampton by a score of more than 10 goals. Of course, it is very difficult. Even so, Manchester United remains optimistic, the reason was because Steven Roger was injured. The possibility of Liverpool losing or drawing against Blackburn was very high.. As long as they have beaten Southampton, then Manchester United will have a chance to overtake Liverpool.