Taking down Roma made Luton almost ecstatic for three full days, until they faced Charlton away...
Life often works this way: when you're at your most triumphant, it stabs you in the back.
Life's a bitch, isn't it?
At least that's what the Luton fans at The Valley thought at that moment. The home team's fans were cheering, while the away team's fans could only stare blankly as Charlton's players celebrated on the field.
At that moment, the game time was... ninety-three minutes, and the score was... two to one!
As per custom, the home team's score comes first, followed by the away team's.
Luton had just suffered a last-minute defeat! They were defeated by a direct league rival!!!
What could be more screwed up than that?
Luton's fans had originally expected a game where they would further widen the gap with their rivals, but now their points were likely to slip back to third place.
In this round, Luton lost to Charlton, and Leeds United's game result was already out. Leeds United hosted newly promoted Wycombe Wanderers this round, sweeping them 4-1. If this round of matches ended with such results, then Charlton would top the league, and Leeds United would rank second.
"Damn it all..."
Highbury on the sidelines was furious. The game had been very difficult from the start.
Due to the Europa League group stage match three days prior, Highbury had made some rotations for this game. However, because the opponent was Charlton, Highbury did not make extensive rotation adjustments.
Sol Campbell returned from injury at center-back, and Highbury used the two main full-backs from last season. In midfield, Josef Ander started in place of Kevin Keane, while the two young players, Kante and Drinkwater, temporarily had no fitness issues.
Lewis Emanuel also got a chance to start, and the front line was still the partnership of Griezmann and Vardy.
But in the first minute of the game, Griezmann fell injured in a challenge and was substituted...
Matt came on as a temporary replacement.
Despite this, Luton played very actively away from home, frequently creating scoring opportunities.
However, to everyone's surprise, Charlton scored first!
As the first half was drawing to a close, Charlton's counter-attack quickly reached the edge of the box, and midfielder Semedo unleashed a powerful shot from nearly thirty meters out!
The ball streaked across the sky like a meteor, leaving Schmeichel with no chance.
A super long-range shot!
A world-class goal!!
This goal sent Semedo and his teammates into a frenzy of celebration on the field.
And amidst the cheers at The Valley, Alan Pardew even began to dance.
Gao Bo glanced at Alan Pardew, who was twisting his waist for the camera, and the Englishman looked very pleased with himself.
Luton continued to attack, but there was little time left in the first half.
In the second half,
Charlton retreated into full defense, and even after Matt equalized for Luton, Charlton maintained their defensive posture.
Most of the second half was a half-court attacking and defensive drill for Luton. To be able to create such an advantage against Charlton at The Valley, only Luton could do it in League One.
Charlton had just been relegated from the Championship to League One last season, so the strength of this team should not be underestimated! But even Charlton, who was considered a favorite for promotion at the start of the season, chose a very conservative approach when facing Luton.
It must be said that Alan Pardew is still a capable young coach; otherwise, he wouldn't have thrived in the lower-mid-table Premier League teams in the future.
Alan Pardew did a good job with defensive coaching, and in terms of offense, Alan Pardew's method was also very simple.
Long balls and speed!
Charlton's last-minute winning goal relied on this tactic.
A long pass from the back, the center forward dropping back, heading the ball to the wing.
Then the winger, using his speed, burst into the box and took a speculative shot. The ball deflected off Sol Campbell's foot, leaving Schmeichel no time to react for a second save...
The game was already in the ninety-third minute. This goal meant that Charlton had a 99% chance of winning the match!
So The Valley erupted.
Charlton fans celebrated as if they had won the entire season.
Towels, hats, and anything that could be thrown into the air were flying.
And Charlton's players were celebrating with abandon.
The most exaggerated was Alan Pardew.
This gentleman first ran back and forth on the sidelines for about fifty or sixty meters, and then he performed a jaw-dropping move.
Alan Pardew, dressed in a neat suit, did a knee slide...
From the movement, Mr. Alan Pardew completed it perfectly; his knee slide was very successful.
The only problem was that he was wearing tight suit pants... so people quickly saw the color of Mr. Alan Pardew's underwear.
Gao Bo didn't have time to pay attention to the color of an English middle-aged man's underwear; he was currently very frustrated and angry.
But now the game was about to end, and he didn't know where to vent his anger.
So at the post-match press conference, an angry Gao Bo said, "Mr. Alan Pardew celebrated as if he had won the World Cup. Yes, that's what I think. A knee slide?! Haha, isn't that too exaggerated?"
After Gao Bo finished speaking, he seemed to have more to express: "I didn't celebrate like that when I won the FA Cup!!"
The media loves to see this kind of verbal sparring between coaches, because every word they say is news.
"Winning the FA Cup is indeed remarkable, but Charlton beating the FA Cup winners is also worth celebrating. I don't think there's anything wrong with a knee slide. If Luton had won this game, I wouldn't mind if Gao Bo ran naked at The Valley!"
The victorious Alan Pardew looked arrogant.
At this moment in the locker room, the players had long been scolded by Gao Bo to the point where they couldn't lift their heads.
"Do you think we have no opponents in League One anymore? Do you think such opponents can't ignite your desire to win?!"
Gao Bo waved his arms in the locker room: "BULLSHIT!!!!"
"I don't want to see a situation like today's game again!!!"
Gao Bo's voice echoed through the locker room doors and windows, in the corridor.
The team quickly returned to Luton. Their day off was canceled, and the entire team resumed training.
The news of Luton's first loss of the season also sparked a heated discussion among the English media.
Alan Pardew, who defeated Gao Bo, appeared on the front pages of newspapers, and the verbal exchanges between the two coaches after the match were fully reported by the media.
Overall, the English media viewed Luton's defeat with a sense of schadenfreude—because Alan Pardew was also a young coach, and... he was English.
So the media's stance was very clear.
As for Luton, they still had a second-leg encounter with Charlton this season.
The entire team was holding a grudge, determined to make Charlton's visit to Kenilworth Road a difficult one.
Luton and Charlton had truly formed a rivalry....