The West Ham U-23 team protested against the referee, they thought the goal was invalid. However, the referee rejected West Ham's protests and insisted on continuing the match. West Ham inevitably has to accept the referee's decision.
West Ham started kick-off again. After that, they tried to attack the Southampton defense, but Southampton's low block was very disciplined. West Ham also tried to make a direct long pass to their forward but the Southampton defender managed to snatch the ball away.
In the 44th minute, Southampton launched an attack after the West Ham striker's long-range shot was caught by the Southampton U-23 goalkeeper. The Southampton goalkeeper kicked the ball forward, the ball was received by Southampton u-23 defensive midfielder Ovrebo Samanni.
Ovrebo gave the ball to Zhukovsky, the Russian dribbled into the West Ham defense. With a long pass, Zhukovsky then moved the ball to the right side of the field. On the right, Rustan sprinted past the West Ham full-back then picked up Zhukovsky's pass.
Rustan penetrated the penalty area, but he had no space to kick the ball so he made a cut-back pass. In the middle, Ryan appeared and took the pass. Ryan Jr. then kicks the ball hard. But the West Ham goalkeeper managed to hold the ball with the palm of his hand. The ball was thrown back to the front of Kazuki. Kazuki immediately kicked the ball.
The ball managed to hit the net, but the linesman raised the flag indicating that Kazuki was in an offside position. Kazuki just shook his head helplessly. Because the ball appeared in front of him of course Kazuki reflexively kicked it, he didn't realize he was already in the offside line.
The first half ended with the score 1-0, an advantage for the Southampton u-23 team.
In the dressing room, Elen does not blame the forwards for failing to convert chances into goals. However, he advised Kazuki, Rustan, and Ryan to work together more in the penalty box to trick the West Ham goalkeeper. Apart from that, Elen is satisfied with the appearance of another Southampton u-23. They applied low blocks well to prevent Southampton from conceding a goal.
The second half started Southampton U-23 had the ball well. But at the start of this second half West Ham had a different aura. They seem to have arisen from the grave. West Ham did high pressing without fear of Southampton's quick attack.
In the 47th minute, Zhukovsky was knockdown by West Ham to break Southampton's quick attack. Obviously, in this second half, West Ham will play aggressively. They will not hesitate to commit fouls to stop Southampton U-23's counter-attack.
In the 49th minute, the West Ham midfielder took the ball from Ovrebo with a tackle from the front. The West Ham midfielder passed the ball to the right-winger The West Ham winger crossed but the ball was blocked by the Southampton left-back. Corner for West Ham United.
Shortly after a corner was taken, the West Ham striker jumped high into a duel with the Southampton defender for the ball. The West Ham striker managed to win the duel but his header was too weak, so the ball fall near the Southampton goalpost.
Then the West Ham midfielder who was nearby immediately stuck his foot out and pushed the ball into the Southampton goalpost.
"Goaaall!!!"
West Ham fans screamed The West Ham players also excitedly celebrated the goal.
In this match, only Southampton goalkeeper who was more than 23 years old, as the oldest he immediately cheered on his friends.
"We haven't lost yet, cheers we can win this game," said the Southampton goalkeeper.
Those words made the hearts of the Southampton players a little calm.
the kick-off starts again. The situation of the two teams is the opposite of the beginning of the match. Southampton U-23s who had the ball, struggled to penetrate the West Ham defense as they were always stopped by fouls while West Ham eagerly launched high pressing to quickly get the ball out of the Southampton players' feet.
In the end, Kazuki came down to midfield to help Southampton U-23 build on the attack. The West Ham players also tried to foul Kazuki but were able to cleverly avoid the foul with the help of Ryan Jr.
In the 64th minute, Kazuki managed to get past the West Ham defensive midfielder. In front of the penalty box, he hit a long-range shot after seeing space on the right side of the West Ham defense The West Ham keeper was able to reach the shot but the ball bounced off the post before it finally went into the West Ham goal.
Kazuki who scored the direct goal excitedly celebrated. He ran to the sidelines before finally being knocked down by his comrades who were celebrating.
Elen on the sidelines who saw Kazuki's goal also joined in celebrating by swinging his arms in the air. The performance of the West Ham reserve team goalkeeper is really at its peak in this match. Kazuki himself for the first time after getting [Dream Training] felt intimidated after his shot was always blocked by the goalkeeper. Unlike the first goal, which relies more on ingenuity. This second goal was a representation of the training that Kazuki had done.
After scoring a goal, Southampton changed their strategy. They use a counter-attack strategy and do low blocks like at the beginning of the game. The reason is clear that by doing a low block it will be very difficult for West Ham to break into Southampton's goal.
In the 70th minute, Kazuki was withdrawn by Elen and replaced by Theodor. The Hammers had too many fouls that Elen was worried about Kazuki's plight.
In the 75th minute, Theodor got a golden opportunity by facing one on one against the West Ham goalkeeper. But his shot hit the crossbar. Fortunately, Ryan came and hit the rebound, so Southampton managed to multiply the advantage.
In the 81st minute, the West Ham striker was brought down in the box by the Southampton under-23 defender. West Ham got a penalty, their striker managed to execute the penalty well. West Ham managed to reduce Southampton's advantage.
After only goals down, West Ham was on fire again, they attacked Southampton U-23s with gusto, they didn't hesitate to commit fouls to get the ball. The referee's yellow card managed to dampen West Ham's enthusiasm.
But at the end of the second half, West Ham got a free kick in front of the penalty box. All West Ham players went into the Southampton penalty box including the West Ham goalkeeper who was far away from the goal.
The free-kick was taken by the West Ham midfielder.
The whistle blows, the West Ham midfielder gets ready, then he runs slowly and kicks the ball. The ball flew towards the far post of Southampton's goalpost. Players on the pitch jumped for the ball but nothing worked until someone unguarded jumped in and managed to deflect the ball into the Southampton goal.
He is the goalkeeper of West Ham United. Then, all the West Ham fans present came together to cheer. West Ham celebrated with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the Southampton players lay helpless. They have to accept this draw.
The MVP of this match is the West Ham United goalkeeper. Kazuki had really bad luck, he performed well in his first two matches as Southampton u-23 players but he didn't win the MVP match.