Star card system

Chapter 286 Xia Xing's journey to the FA Cup
On January 2016, 1, Leicester City ushered in the first game of the new year, playing against Bournemouth at home.

But I didn't expect that Vardy was off due to injury just at the beginning of the game, which disrupted Ranieri's layout.

At the end of the first half, Draet drew a foul while defending in the penalty area and received a second yellow card.

With a red card and a penalty kick, Leicester City fell into the bottom of the valley.

End of the Draet depressed, Ranieri comfortingly patted him on the shoulder.

Because Fox was affected by the flu, De Laet returned to the starting lineup.

But the performance of these two games was like a disaster.

In the last game, he failed to defend Aguero and was equalized by his opponent.

In this game, he directly received a second yellow card, was sent off, and gave the opponent a penalty kick.

In the end, Leicester City played 10 to 11 in this game, and reluctantly tied again 3-3.

A wave of bad four-game draws put Leicester City in trouble.

They originally had a clear lead in the league, but now they are about to be overtaken by the chasers behind them.

Arsenal, ranked second, are only three points behind them; Tottenham, ranked third, are only five points behind.

If it weren't for the downturn of the Manchester City duo, the Red Army and the Blue Army, perhaps Leicester City's hopes of winning the championship would have been completely defeated.

But even so, they are in jeopardy.

Will they start falling all the way in the middle of the season like last season, until they lose the top four position?
Fortunately, the Devil's Christmas schedule is over, and the team got a short rest. They have eight days to rest.

In the next period of time, Leicester City's stadium will calm down a little, and the schedule will not be so dense.

On January 1, the third round of the FA Cup played against Tottenham.

On January 1th, the No.14 round of the Premier League played against Tottenham again.

On January 1, the No.17 second round of the Premier League played away against Aston Villa.

On January 1, the Premier League's No.23 three rounds will host Stoke City at home.

On January 1, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, they played away against Colchester United.

Although there is not a very intensive schedule, the third front battle is about to usher in.

And the Champions League knockout round in February is coming, Leicester City must strive for league points during this period and continue to consolidate their top position.

Facing the current situation, Ranieri once again reiterated his strategy.

Strategic training domestic cup!
In fact, he had already talked about this topic with the players a few months ago.

Although Leicester City has won two FA Cups in a row, Ranieri is still not interested in this.

His goal this season is to achieve good results in the league and the Champions League, domestic cups are not important.

In fact, it cannot be said that it is not important, but Ranieri does not have so many cards.

Although Leicester City has a huge lineup this season, the gap between the main players and the substitute players is still not small.

Especially important main players such as Kanter, Vardy, Mahrez, Morgan, etc., almost all of them are not too strong rotation candidates.

Of course, Xia Xing, who is physically strong, is a special case...

Under such circumstances, it is impossible and unrealistic to compete for the championship on multiple fronts.

Ranieri is clear.

Therefore, in the two cup games in January, he arranged for substitute players and young players to appear.

However, there are still key players on the list.

Summer trip!

For Xia Xing, who is physically strong, he hopes to play more games.

FA Cup and League Cup, he doesn't want to give up!

Even though Ranieri repeatedly reminded him and advised him to take a proper rest, Xia Xing still insisted on appearing.

In the end, Ranieri could only let him go.

Ranieri thought to himself, anyway, with multiple substitutes on the bench, there is a high probability that Leicester City will not go too far.

Since Xia wants to play, let him play.

On January 1, at White Hart Lane, Leicester City played against Tottenham as a guest.

In this game, Xia Xing once again wore the captain's armband.

Tottenham played with all their main players today.

Facing this Leicester City with almost all substitutes, Tottenham are full of fighting spirit.

For them, the gap in the league, which is only 5 points behind, is not big, and they can catch up with a little effort.

Although this game is just a cup game, Tottenham look forward to boosting the morale of the team through this victory.

After all, the two sides will meet in the Premier League four days later, and if they can win by then, they will be within reach of the top position.

This season, many giants are weak, and the two teams from London are also looking forward to the top of the league. This is an excellent opportunity.

From the first minute of this game, Tottenham played against Leicester City with all their strength.

The 4-2-3-1 formation is very sharp, with Harry Kane coming forward, and behind him are talented offensive players Eriksson, Ali and Lamela.

All three are talented and have been an important combination for Tottenham's performance this season.

Behind them, there are the steady Dell and Carroll.

From the perspective of paper strength, this lineup far exceeds Leicester City's lineup today.

In this game, Leicester City's frontcourt is the combination of Okazaki Shinji and Ulloa. The strength is good, but it cannot be compared with Tottenham.

As for the midfield position, Xia Xing's partners today are Inle, Andy King and Albrighton.

Compared with Kanter, Mahrez, and Drinkwater in the main lineup, it has indeed dropped a notch.

Except for Albrighton's active running on the left wing, which made great contributions to both offense and defense, the performance of the other two was mediocre.

He defended hard in the first half, but still conceded the ball before halftime.

In the 44th minute of the game, a counterattack by Tottenham, Eriksson made a wonderful diagonal pass and went straight to the penalty area!

Harry Kane squeezed Chilwell away and scored a low shot into the net in the penalty area!
1 is better than 0!

Tottenham scored first!
In front of the British Emperor Star, the 19-year-old England little brother was powerless.

In the second half, they changed sides and fought again, and Tottenham still attacked quickly.

In order to defend Harry Kane, Inle moved back, participated in the defense as much as possible, and assisted Chilwell.

For a while, the connection in the frontcourt of Tottenham was cut off.

Ali's shot from outside the penalty area hit the post, almost expanding the score advantage.

In the 75th minute of the game, Tottenham made substitution adjustments.

They are ready to continue the onslaught.

At the moment when the staff changed, Xia Xing seized the opportunity!
With a cross from the side, he accurately found Shinji Okazaki who was going forward!
The Japanese forward shot in front of the goal and the ball scored into the net!
Asia Connection, successfully broke through!
1 is better than 1!

Leicester City once again sees the hope of promotion!

In the 86th minute of the game, Xia Xing kicked again and handed it to Andy King who advanced forward.

Although Andy King's shot was high, Leicester City got a frontcourt free kick because it was pulled by the opposing midfielder Dell.

Standing in front of the ball, Xia Xing took a deep breath.

Look in the direction of the goal.

I requested to appear in the cup game myself, and I also wear the captain's armband, so I have to go all out!
I must win this game!

Step back slowly, run up!
Take a shot!

The ball sank vigorously, and an arc cut through the night sky at White Hart Lane!
Bypassed the ten fingers of goalkeeper Lori!
Straight into the upper right corner of the goal!
The ball is in!
2 is better than 1!

Xia Xing scored the winning goal!
(End of this chapter)