Forty minutes into the first half, neither side had managed to score a goal, and instead, the first red card of the match appeared.
In the fortieth minute of the match, Adam received the ball on the wing and attempted to break through. He was facing the opponent's right-back, Hoyte. Adam used two feints to get past Hoyte, then prepared to dribble into the penalty area!
As a result, Hoyte, who had been faked out, became enraged. He turned around and directly tackled Adam's heel.
Adam screamed and lay on the ground, clutching his heel.
Boos immediately erupted from the stands.
"Red card!! Give that piece of shit a red card!!!!"
Luton fans roared from the stands.
Gao Bo jumped up from the coaching bench as if he had been electrocuted. The opponent's tackle startled Gao Bo; it was a very malicious foul aimed at the person, and judging by Adam's reaction after being tackled, the injury was likely severe.
He quickly ran to the sidelines, and Haruko also rushed over. The referee first signaled for the team doctor to enter the field. Haruko quickly grabbed her medical kit and, with her two assistants, ran onto the field.
At this point on the field, players from both sides were already entangled.
Vardy charged forward, directly shoving Hoyte, and then was pulled away by his Luton teammates.
"Bastard!!! Don't let me see you outside the stadium!!!!"
Vardy, with a fierce expression, shouted at Hoyte.
The reason Vardy was expelled from the Sheffield Wednesday youth academy back then was because he got into a fight defending his teammates...
Watford players rushed up to protect Hoyte behind them, and then other players came up to provoke Vardy. They wanted to thoroughly infuriate Vardy because Hoyte's recent action was likely to result in a red card, and if they could use this opportunity to get Vardy sent off, the numbers on both sides would be even again.
Kevin Keane, being experienced, pulled Vardy away, while another veteran player, Sol Campbell, held back the other Luton players.
The situation on the field was chaotic.
"Red card!! Damn it!! Give that guy a red card!! Damn it!!" Gao Bo jumped up and down on the sidelines.
On the other side, Watford's coach, Mackay, roared at Gao Bo: "Are you blind!! That was a clean tackle!!!"
"What did you say?!! You're the one who's blind!!!" Gao Bo walked over, and Mackay was also full of belligerence.
The two coaches faced off on the sidelines.
Referee Mike Dean had a huge headache. With the help of the linesman, he finally managed to separate the players from both sides, and then he started issuing cards.
He first gave Vardy a yellow card, and then gave a yellow card to Williams, the Watford midfielder who was most active in the conflict.
Afterward, Mike Dean found Hoyte and showed him a... red card!
The first half hadn't even ended, and Mike Dean had already pulled out nine yellow cards and one red card!
However, despite the opponent being sent off, Gao Bo was not happy, because at this moment, Haruko was frowning and making a substitution gesture towards the sidelines!
"Damn it!!"
Gao Bo cursed under his breath. Adam couldn't continue, and Luton had to use a substitution in the first half.
Fortunately, Hassan Ali had already finished warming up by then.
Adam limped off the field, supported by members of the medical team, and Hassan Ali immediately ran onto the field.
Hoyte's sending off made the Watford coach extremely angry on the sidelines. He waved his arm, then turned around and complained incessantly.
However, the next scene left the gentleman completely speechless.
Adam's injury resulted in a free-kick, right on the edge of the right side of the big penalty area!
Griezmann stood over the ball.
He could choose to shoot directly or pass the ball.
Griezmann looked at the goal, then after a run-up,
He chose... to shoot directly!
The ball bypassed the wall, then grazed the underside of the crossbar at the far post... and flew into the net!!
They hadn't created many opportunities from open play, but thanks to the free-kick, Luton finally took the lead.
The first half quickly ended.
As the second half began, despite Watford being a man down, the game's situation was no different from the first half.
The animosity between the derby rivals kept escalating; this match seemed less like football and more like rugby.
In the sixtieth minute of the match, Griezmann was fouled after receiving the ball, and the referee showed a yellow card!
In the sixty-fifth minute, during a Watford counter-attack, winger Jenkins was fouled by the retreating Sandro while breaking through along the touchline, and the referee showed a yellow card!!
Several Luton players also had yellow cards by then!!
The red card eventually came.
In the seventy-first minute of the match, Kevin Keane was dispossessed by an opponent, and then Kevin Keane committed a foul with his hand while trying to win the ball back... As a result, referee Mike Dean showed him a second yellow card, and Kevin Keane also received a red card.
Gao Bo shook his head on the sidelines. Now, players from both sides had completely lost their focus on the game. The atmosphere of this derby had made both sides see red.
Kevin Keane handed the captain's armband to Sol Campbell, then walked off the field.
"Boss, I'm sorry!!"
Kevin Keane hugged Gao Bo.
"It's nothing, we did well!!" Gao Bo comforted Kevin.
And Kevin Keane, after entering the player tunnel, did not go directly back to the locker room but stood inside the player tunnel, watching the situation on the field.
The chaotic situation continued until the eighty-third minute of the match.
Drinkwater's long-range shot deflected off a defending player and went out for a corner.
And from that corner, veteran Sol Campbell leaped high and headed the ball into the opponent's goal.
Two-nil!!
Luton scored again!!
Gao Bo breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that goal; it basically secured the victory for Luton. They had been leading by one goal previously, and Gao Bo had little control over the game's situation—in the derby atmosphere, both sides had fully entered this rhythm, and it was incredibly difficult to pull the players out of it.
And looking at the performance of the Luton fans, as well as the expressions on John's and others' faces, Gao Bo could probably guess that every past derby match was likely similar to the current scene.
Premier League teams might still consider the spectacle of the game. But lower-league teams wouldn't care as much.
To defeat their opponents, let alone a few red and yellow cards, they wouldn't hesitate to risk injury!
After scoring the second goal, Gao Bo began to make tactical adjustments.
He substituted Griezmann and Vardy, bringing on two midfielders, Joseph Andel and Nicklos.
Ultimately, Watford did not score, and the final score remained two-nil.
Gao Bo breathed a sigh of relief when the referee blew the final whistle.
This damn match, full of red and yellow cards, was finally over!