The match had just started, and Basel, taking advantage of their kickoff, prepared to press forward and attack.
But they quickly realized that they had run into a brick wall in midfield.
Kante was in excellent form this match!
The match had just begun when Kante won back possession, then he passed the ball to Drinkwater, who launched a long pass directly behind the opponent's defense -- because Basel's formation had already pressed forward.
However, his long pass wasn't well-placed, it was a bit too long, and the Basel goalkeeper got to the ball before Vardy.
Gao Bo applauded Kante's performance from the sidelines.
Just now, Kante had quickly made a prediction at the moment the opponent passed the ball, and then quickly stepped up to intercept it!
In Gao Bo's view, the focus of this match would be in midfield, because the opponent was also piling up troops in midfield, and like Barcelona, Basel was also a team that insisted on ground passing and cooperation to advance.
Their midfield configuration was still very strong.
So Gao Bo simply mainly used the cards on Kante.
The most crucial thing in this match was the efficiency of the midfield's surrounding and pressing defense.
[Match Card (Green): Interception success rate increased by 15%, designated player "N'Golo Kante" to use]
[Match Card (Green): Defensive prediction increased by 15%, designated player "N'Golo Kante" to use]
[Match Card (Green): Defensive positioning increased by 15%, designated player "N'Golo Kante" to use]
In addition to those two blue cards, Gao Bo used the remaining three card slots on Kante.
In terms of interception, Kante was now probably the most powerful midfield interceptor in the world.
Counting that blue interception card used on the whole team, Kante's interception ability was now increased by 30% on top of his original base!
Plus defensive prediction and defensive positioning,
Kante's original foundation was already very good, and after the card's enhancement, Kante was simply an iron gate in midfield.
He ran all over the field, and every Basel player who got the ball could always see Kante's dark face when they looked up.
The French player's baby face and his unwavering, accurate tackling combined surprisingly harmoniously.
The Basel midfielders were simply starting to develop a shadow over Kante!
After the match started, Basel, playing away, appeared more proactive as they tried to control the midfield.
But Luton's pressing in the middle and front of the field caused the two sides to become entangled in midfield.
Basel's attack couldn't be organized, and Luton launched several counterattacks instead.
"Kante intercepts the ball in midfield!!! He passes it directly forward to Kevin Keane!!! Kevin long pass looking for Adam... Passed it too long, the ball went out of bounds.
Basel's possession!"
"It's Kante again!!! He once again makes an interception, this time he's coming himself!!! Kante passes the ball up... A bit short, the ball is controlled by Basel's center-back Abraham!"
Leightkinsson was in the commentary box at the stadium, and the content of the match in this early period was almost exactly as he said.
Basel tried to control the rhythm in midfield, while Kante frequently intercepted, but the success rate of Luton's counterattacks didn't seem to be too high, and possession changed hands several times!
Gao Bo stood on the sidelines, these few counterattacks by Luton were a bit rushed.
He emphasized concise and fast passing, but that had to be under the guarantee of a certain success rate.
These few plays showed the players' mentality towards this match -- after all, this was a Europa League match, so the players' mentality was different from playing in the league.
They wanted to directly get the ball into the dangerous area all at once.
Gao Bo shouted at the players from the sidelines, and then made a gesture of pressing down with both hands, signaling the players to calm down.
"Go around him!!! Go around that kid!!!"
The Basel coach on the sidelines was also shouting loudly.
In fact, at the beginning, the Basel players were still very wary of Luton's counterattacks, but these few passes by the Luton players made the Basel players feel a little relieved.
So that's all they've got...
Since it was difficult to get past Kante in the middle, Basel would just pass the ball to the wings.
So Basel no longer tried to force their way through the middle, they passed the ball to the wings.
And the speed of Luton's formation shifting surprised the Basel players.
Luton quickly shifted their formation over, and the Basel midfielder Carlitos, who had just received the ball on the wing, was immediately surrounded by multiple Luton players.
In a hurry, Carlitos's ball was intercepted by Kante again.
"Luton's counterattack is coming!!!"
After the previous few failed counterattacks, even Leightkinsson in the stands didn't seem excited enough.
The Basel players quickly retreated, and their retreating speed was relatively fast, but compared to the speed of passing, they were still a bit slower!
Kante intercepted the ball, and then Drinkwater responded in the area near the center.
After Drinkwater got the ball, he turned directly, this time he didn't directly launch a long pass to find the striker.
He realized that his long pass wasn't in very good condition today, and the success rate of long passes to the front to hit behind the defense wasn't high, so he chose a ground pass.
The ball was passed to Griezmann in the frontcourt, and Griezmann didn't waste any time either.
He passed the ball to the other side at the first opportunity.
Adam White's speed was very fast, and under Gao Bo's request, he had been practicing crossing recently.
Adam ran forward while observing the situation in the penalty area.
The opponent's defenders were still far away from him, so he had enough time to think and process the ball.
"Stop him!!!!!!"
Luton passed the ball to the frontcourt with three passes and two touches, which made the Basel coach on the sidelines unable to sit still, and the Basel players on the field also felt bad when Griezmann diagonally passed the ball forward!
Several Basel players pounced on Adam, and several other players rushed into the penalty area.
And at this time in the penalty area, Vardy and Griezmann were already preparing to fight for the point, one in front and one behind.
Adam curled the ball up with his left foot, a half-high ball!
The ball bypassed Basel's front point defense!
Vardy desperately rushed to grab the point in the center, but the ball still passed by him.
And at this time, everyone's eyes were focused on the back point.
At the back point!
Griezmann!!!!!
Griezmann had already prepared, he raised his instep and volleyed!!!!
The ball flew into the net without any suspense!!!!
"Goal scored!!!!! Griezmann!!!!! One to zero!!!!!!"
Jumping up with Leightkinsson were the fans in the stands, as well as the substitute players who rushed out of the bench with their arms raised, and Gao Bo who opened his arms on the sidelines.
The entire stadium was ignited by this goal!
"This is a key match in Group E of the Europa League, and Luton, playing at home, took the lead in the eleventh minute of the match!
This result couldn't be better for Luton!
They are originally good at playing defensive counterattacks, and now that they have taken the lead, their opponents will be in an even more difficult situation!!"
Leightkinsson shouted from the stands.
"Kante's performance in this match is really too dazzling, you can almost see him everywhere, I have never seen a midfielder defender who can be so eye-catching."
Little Redknapp said, sitting next to Leightkinsson.
John and the others also rushed out to celebrate.
"That kid N'Golo is performing really great today."
John said to Gao Bo, although the goal was scored by Griezmann, the best player so far was Kante.
"He's always been great."
Gao Bo chuckled.
The effect of using three cards on a defensive player was somewhat unexpected even for Gao Bo.
In this match, Kante was simply a large door panel in midfield, he almost paralyzed Luton's midfield organization by himself...
"Well done, N'Golo!!"
Kante didn't participate in the frontcourt goal celebration, he stayed in the backcourt.
Gao Bo gave a thumbs up and shouted at Kante.
Kante grinned, the coach's praise made the shy Kante a little embarrassed, he even blushed a little, but it was hidden under his dark face.
Kante felt very good in this match, he even felt like he suddenly had a vague intuition, this intuition could allow him to predict where the ball would be passed, and where he should stand...
Luton's celebration quickly ended, and Kante returned to his position, he and Drinkwater were on the left and right when defending, but this position was not fixed, Kante's position was very flexible.
"Good job, N'Golo."
Kevin Keane took the opportunity before the kickoff to come over and rub Kante's head.
Yes... He has always been great.
John looked at Kante on the field, and then looked at Gao Bo.
These players that Gao Bo brought, each one is great...
I just don't know, how long can Gao Bo sit in the position of Luton's coach?
As Luton shines in the Europa League this season, Gao Bo's reputation will naturally rise, and if Luton makes a breakthrough in the Europa League this season.....
Perhaps the entire Luton will be dismantled by those wealthy teams.
Including the most important figure... Coach Gao Bo.
Under John's deep eye sockets, a trace of worry was hidden.