As a goalkeeper, carry the team forward

Chapter 77
Since Jose did not play in the League Cup in the middle of the week, he recovered a lot after a week of rest, so he returned to the starting position unsurprisingly.

On the other hand, Benteke, Weiman and other key players, apart from coming off the bench in the FA Cup, they started the game and even played the whole game, so their physical reserves are also a problem.

Of course, they are all in the peak period of their bodies, and they can barely bear this consumption, but the running in the game is much less.

This is a truly close game.

控球率方面，维拉队51%对南安普敦49%；总射门次数，维拉16对南安普敦15；至于命中目标的次数则是5比4。

So the final result of 0-0 is not surprising at all.

Another draw, which is Villa's 10th draw this season.

In fact, the game was not without waves. In the 34th minute of the first half, Southampton got a penalty kick, which made the Southampton fans happy for tens of seconds.

However, he was thrown out by Jose in full view.

At this time, people have begun to believe that Jose will not be unable to save a penalty kick.

Only Jose knows that the current self is not invincible, it's just that others don't know his weakness.

In addition to the penalty kick, there was another thing that worried Southampton fans in the game. The young talent Luke Shaw was injured and forced to leave the field, which made everyone present worry about it.

Luke Shaw's glass attributes started from this time?

……

Jose and his team-mates finally had a full week to recover after the Southampton game.

Although there is not much time in a week, it finally allowed the tired body and mind to recover a little bit.

...

On January 1, the 20rd round of the Premier League kicked off.

Villa's away game against West Brom is also Villa's fifth game in January.

West Bromwich Albion has different draws with Villa this season. Most of their games in the league have been won or lost. Currently, they rank seventh with 10 wins, 3 draws and 33 points, which is very close to Villa.

...

There is no room for loss in the league, and Jose has done his part to become the starting goalkeeper.

In addition, there is good news for Villa. The defense general Vlaar has returned from injury. This is definitely a good thing for Villa's defense.

As for West Brom, Lukaku got the chance to start. At the age of 19, he not only secured his main position, but also became West Brom's thigh-level player this season.

Looking at Jose and Lukaku on the pitch, people can't help but think that Chelsea's taxi is really terrifying.

After the start of the game, both sides played very actively and frequently threatened the opponent's goal.

It's just that the intensive schedule has seriously affected the performance of the players.

Only 5 minutes into the game, Nathan Baker was injured and Lehigh came off the bench.

Villa was forced to use up the first substitution quota, which seems to be a bit unfavorable.

However, Baker's injury was quickly overwhelmed by another incident.

In the 12th minute, Nzobia assisted Benteke to score, and Villa took the lead away from their opponents.

In the 21st minute, Abanglaho had a dispute with the opposing player Olsson, and was hit by the referee with [-] boards each. They both received topaz cards at the same time.

In the 31st minute, Villa made another victory, and Nzobia assisted Abanglaho to score.

In the 36th minute, West Brom midfielder Jacob was off due to injury, and Jerome Thomas came off the bench.

Frequent injuries and retirements have made Premier League clubs extremely dissatisfied with the schedule, but there is nothing they can do.

At halftime, Villa led 2-0.

Villa seems to see the hope of winning.

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again.

Lukaku took the ball in the penalty area many times, and his strong body put pressure on both Clark and Vlaar.

Although Jose did not directly collide with Lukaku, he can still feel the opponent's strength. No wonder he was trained by Chelsea as Drogba's successor.

It's just that I don't know if Chelsea's top management has noticed that all Lukaku's goals this season are from non-Big6 teams.

In the 49th minute, Lukaku took the ball himself, knowing that it was hopeless to turn around, he chose to pass it back to Brent, who volleyed directly, the ball hit the crossbar, and then bounced into the goal.

West Brom pulled one back.

The reason why Jose didn't save the ball was not only because he was lucky, but also to save the number of stunts.

He will play in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final three days later.

We have reached the semi-finals, and everyone more or less hopes to win a championship.

Brent's goal gave West Brom the hope of an equalizer, and they fought harder.

Because of the fierce fighting, Villa's Delph became the No.3 player who ended up injured due to injury, while Brent was the fourth.

Injuries are a problem that small and medium-sized clubs cannot overcome.

In the end, although West Brom blasted 29 shots, they still failed to tie the score.

In fact, both sides had 6 shots on target, and Villa, who was more efficient, won.

Of course, this is as important as Jose's performance.

After 23 rounds, Villa and Arsenal have the same 37 points, ranking 6th due to goal difference advantage. The top five are Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton.

With 10 days left in January, the devil's schedule is drawing to a close.

...

Local time, on January 1, one of the matches in the second round of the English League Cup semi-finals began.

Villa host Bradford City.

Considering the importance of this game, except for Weiman who failed to start, all the regular main players appeared on the stage.

After the opening, Villa pressed hard.

This kind of situation is almost hard to see in the league.

The visiting team's choice is very simple, that is, to hide and defend, and then seek a quick counterattack. After all, the advantage in the first round is in their hands.

Sure enough, Villa's siege failed to work, but instead allowed the visiting team to find a counterattack opportunity.

In the 22nd minute, in order to block the opponent's quick counterattack, Clark got the first yellow card of the game.

"Come on." The fans at the scene encouraged each other.

Feeling the encouragement from the fans, the Villa players started to attack harder as if they had been pumped up.

In the 24th minute, Bennett made a cross from the wing and found Benteke in the penalty area.

Benteke received a pass from his teammate and directly scored with a header. The ball flew into the goal from the upper right corner of the goal.

1:0.

This score was maintained until the end of the first half.

If this score is maintained until the end, Villa will be eliminated, so they need to score two more goals without conceding a goal, or score one goal and then play extra time, or even a brutal penalty shootout .

During the intermission, Paul Lambert readjusted his tactics based on the game situation in the first half.

Jose has only one task, which is to keep the goal clean.

In the 55th minute, the visiting team made a successful steal in the midfield, and player No. 18 took the ball and made a cross from the wing.

Clarke, Vlaar and others failed to grab the ball. Instead, the opponent's No. 9 forward James Hansen got the ball first.

The ball drew a small arc in front of the goal and quickly flew towards the left side of the goal.

If there is no accident, this is a goal that must be scored.

"Ah." The Villa fans covered their mouths in panic.

If this goal is scored, the difficulty of Villa's task will be greatly increased.

At this time, Jose is still on the right side of the goal.

(End of this chapter)