Chapter 1003: Plans Can't Keep Up with Changes
Southampton scored four goals in the first half and continued to perform after the resumption of the second half.
However, although Manchester United was defeated, Giggs changed two defenders in a row at halftime, and the Saints were already sure of the victory, slowed down the offensive and strengthened the control, so the score was finally locked at 4-0.
In the second half, the Saints didn't score a single goal.
But with the indiscriminate bombardment in the first half and Messi's hat trick, this game is worth the ticket price!
Originally, according to the British side's arrangement, on the evening of the third day of the Chinese leader's visit to Britain, a Chinese-British version of the manor meeting should be held at Prime Minister Chews's villa in Aylesbury, northwest of London.
However, he changed his mind on the spur of the day and chose the meeting place at the Underwater Hotel in Southampton.
This is not a manor meeting, but an undersea meeting.
With this meeting, the world's media immediately reported and paid attention to it, and the name of the Southampton Submarine Hotel is bound to become world-famous because of this meeting between the leaders of China and Britain.
The meeting was scheduled after the match between the Saints and Manchester United.
As the host, Yang Huan attended the dinner meeting between the leaders of the two countries, and early the next morning, the leaders of the two countries left Southampton as a gift, and took a plane to Manchester at Southampton Airport.
The planned visit to a football club in Manchester has now been cancelled.
The gathering of Chinese and British leaders in Southampton, staying at the Undersea Hotel, and the Saints' 4-0 home win over Manchester United, the ninth consecutive Premier League victory, became the focus of the world's major media reports the next day.
Such a meeting between the leaders of China and Britain brought Southampton, a seaport city on the south coast of England, into the eyes of the world again, and everyone discovered that there was such a dreamlike building in the place where the Titanic set sail.
As a result, Southampton's undersea hotel has become a hot spot for tourists from all over the world.
In the Premier League, the Saints won nine consecutive games with a 4-0 win over Manchester United to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League table, but with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Arsenal all winning this round, the Saints' lead did not widen further.
Louis van Gaal's north London side were at home to a narrow 1-0 win over Liverpool thanks to a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Portuguese were unstoppable in the Premier League.
In this year's Premier League scorer list, Cristiano Ronaldo and Suarez are two players who can be said to have a big lead, but because Suarez did not score in this round, the Portuguese temporarily ranked first in the scorer list.
But there are also many media who believe that Messi's strong comeback will bring more suspense to the Premier League's scorer list.
Manchester City beat Bournemouth 5-1 on their home turf with Aboubakar's two shots and one pass, and Sterling's hat-trick, which also allowed Manchester City to surpass Tottenham Hotspur and move to second place in the league standings, second only to Southampton.
Arsenal beat Watford 3-0 to move into fourth place in the league, while Leicester City jumped to fifth, Crystal Palace sixth and Manchester United dropped to seventh after a heavy defeat.
The Reds Liverpool are in an even worse situation, finishing 10th in the league.
Chelsea have won this round, but they are still 16th in the league and are just one step away from the relegation zone.
This has also caused many fans to ridicule Chelsea, and the main goal this season should be relegation.
And judging from the current Premier League table, it is completely predictable that Leicester City and Crystal Palace should struggle to maintain this momentum until the end of the season, and their table will slip as the season progresses.
The strength is not good, the lineup is not strong, this is their biggest weakness.
When it comes to the winter break, and after talking to more strong teams, they will have a lack of follow-up.
But in any case, the excellent performances in the first nine rounds of the season have brought great attention and influence to both teams.
Southampton remain the favourites to win the title this season, but Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur also have chances, while Arsenal and Manchester United are battling for a top-four finish.
The only regret is the fall of Liverpool and Chelsea, two traditional powerhouses, but the likes of Leicester City, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United have come from behind, which is a good thing for the Premier League.
At the very least, add some suspense and coldliness, don't you?
After playing the ninth round of the Premier League, the Saints departed for Paris, France, for the third round of the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Paris Saint-Germain are in full swing in Ligue 1 with Monaco for the league title this season.
Ronald Koeman's side have not changed much in defence this summer, but after Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas switched to Real Madrid, the team brought in Timo Horn from Coleum in the Bundesliga.
The entire backline is still at the same level as last season, but the midfield has sold older players such as Biglia, Tulalang, and Capoue, and brought in Schneiderlin, Sanson, and Wanyama, three young players who can be molded at the age of play.
The other is the introduction of Hernandez and Mbappe in the front line, and the sale of the disappointing Benzia.
There's no way around it.
Originally, the team spent a lot of money to poach Benzia from Lyon, thinking that the youngster had the potential of Benzema, but as a result, his limited progress, coupled with the player's own problems, eventually led to Monaco having to give up and send him away.
At the start of the season, Monaco won three in a row, and although the team had many problems, they won steadily.
But in the fourth round of the league, Monaco lost 1-2 to Paris Saint-Germain at their home stadium, giving up the league leader position in vain.
This battle has made Monaco and Ronald Koeman blamed and under great pressure.
However, the Monaco management, led by Michael Bolingbrook and Jean-Luc Bissin, has successively expressed their support for Ronald Koeman and believes that he can lead the team out of the shadows.
Although in the next two rounds, Monaco's performance was not ideal, with one win and one loss, opening up a gap with Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronald Koeman quickly found the key to his team's victory, and in the next four rounds, the team won four consecutive victories, including a 6-0 win at Guingamp away, a 3-0 win at Rennes at home, and a 4-1 win at home to Lyon.
However, despite Monaco's winning streak, Paris Saint-Germain are not bad.
Although the fourth and fifth rounds of the league drew with Bordeaux and Lens respectively, Paris Saint-Germain won all the subsequent games.
Therefore, in the current Ligue 1 standings, Paris Saint-Germain is still ahead, and Monaco is two points behind and is in second place.
But there is no doubt that the title race between the two teams has completely heated up.
At this time, Southampton visited the Parc des Princes, in addition to winning the third victory in the Champions League group stage and defending the top spot in the group, they also bear the burden of breaking the unbeaten golden body of Paris Saint-Germain for Monaco.
As soon as the game began, the Saints went all out and attacked frantically.
Sanchez started in place of Suarez, who had to rest because he played in consecutive international games and came back to play non-stop against Manchester United.
As a result, in the sixteenth minute, it was Sanchez who forced a break on the right and sent a low cross, and Hazard on the left followed up with a push that penetrated the Paris Saint-Germain goal.
Paris Saint-Germain consciously strengthened the defence, led by Thiago Silva and David Luiz, and the defense was very tight, and Southampton could not find a chance for a while.
In the second half, Mateo Kovacic replaced the injured Toni Kroos, and Carlo Ancelotti had to slow down his team's attack.
Paris Saint-Germain seized the opportunity, pressed heavily and strengthened the attack.
But in the 67th minute, the right-sided teenager Chambers made a wonderful pass, and Messi relied on his strong personal ability to forcibly break through David Luiz and score with a single knife, 2-0.
After Paris Saint-Germain was not to be outdone, he pressed again, but Varane made a long pass from the back in the 78th minute, and Messi easily succeeded in countering offside, and scored again, 3-0!
This goal also completely sentenced Paris Saint-Germain to death!
There was a deathly silence at the Parc des Princes, and everyone looked at the score on the pitch in disbelief, watching the team they thought was already superior to each other, being beaten into a sieve by the Saints from England on their doorstep.
The score of 3-0 shows the difference in strength between the two teams.
In the end, the Saints successfully retreated from the Parc des Princes with a 3-0 victory, leaving behind the depression and melancholy of Paris Saint-Germain, and even a little reflection.
The French media even said after the game that between Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton, there is only one Messi left!
But is it just one Messi missing?
Returning to the Premier League from Europe, the Saints soon headed north to beat the Reds 2-0 at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Suarez.
Although Liverpool is still in 10th place in the league after this game, the two-goal defeat to Southampton still makes the Reds feel very depressed.
Coincidentally, Chelsea lost 2-1 at West Ham United in this round and dropped one place in the table.
However, Tottenham Hotspur in north London beat Bournemouth 5-1 away from home, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting a hat-trick to lift them up the table.
This also surprised the British media, and they were all hype, thinking that Messi and Suarez together were barely comparable to a Cristiano Ronaldo.
That's right, if you look at the current number of goals scored by both sides, it's true.
However, in an exclusive interview with Charlene Lahri, Messi publicly responded, saying that he was in very good shape and would definitely score no fewer goals.
"The rivalry between me and Cristiano has just begun!"
In an interview with The Times, Suarez also openly expressed his unwillingness to be outdone.
"Everyone thinks that the king of shooters should be Cristiano, or Leo, but why doesn't anyone say it's me?"
"I want to break this perception of others!"
However, some media analysts believe that since Messi's return, Suarez's goals have been curbed, and he no longer enjoys the opportunities created by the Saints players as before.
Therefore, many media believe that whether it is Messi or Suarez, if they want to catch up with Cristiano Ronaldo, they must have unlimited firing rights in the team like the Portuguese.
But manager Carlo Ancelotti clearly doesn't think so.
While the British media, and even the world's media and fans, are hyping and paying attention to the goal battle of Messi, Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo, Sun Yue suddenly came to Southampton.
He also brought a very important piece of news, which made Yang Huan sigh helplessly.
It's really a plan that can't keep up with the changes!