Actually, under normal circumstances, Haaland might not have been able to overcome Van Dijk in that confrontation.
If Haaland were Sunderland's regular starter, Southampton would naturally study him, and Pellegrino would arrange corresponding defenses against him.
And as the main marker, Van Dijk, knowing that the opponent was an impact striker with immense momentum, would naturally be alert and fully prepared.
But it was precisely because of Haaland's sudden start that the opponent had no understanding of his characteristics, which is why they fell into the trap.
On the other hand, it was the opposite; because Coach Zhao had repeatedly instructed Haaland before the match to do his best to confront Van Dijk, Haaland had been on edge about it.
So, when he had direct physical contact with Van Dijk, Haaland exerted his physical strength to the extreme, forcefully shrugging off Van Dijk, which led to this goal.
This is like two martial arts masters sparring; perhaps Van Dijk was still the stronger one, but due to insufficient intelligence work, he thought Haaland's internal strength was lacking and that he could win with a direct palm strike.
So Van Dijk was a bit overconfident, while Haaland went all out with 100% of his strength, and as a result, he successfully launched a surprise attack!
And now, on the sidelines, after seeing Haaland's goal, everyone on the Sunderland bench, both players and coaches, jumped up in excitement.
Captain Defoe clenched his fists, roaring continuously.
Just as he had told Coach Zhao before the match, the team's victory was the most important thing, and he was now genuinely happy for Haaland's goal!
Alonso and Alan Tate, among others, high-fived each other in celebration, then hugged Coach Zhao tightly.
They were happy, and at the same time, they were impressed!
Coach Zhao's tactic of starting Haaland and Foden was simply too brilliant!
First, Haaland's retreat created space for his sprint;
Then, Foden, also 17 years old, actually saw Haaland's position and delivered a very comfortable through ball to him;
Of course, the most crucial part was Haaland's impact in holding off Van Dijk, and then he calmly converted the one-on-one opportunity!
To be honest, with Van Dijk's physique, if it were Defoe, he would truly be sent flying, and without even a foul.
Indeed, the Coach is amazing!
Only he could train young players so well in just over a month, and immediately utilize their characteristics to produce clear results in official matches!
Leaving aside other things, if it were another Coach, would they really have the guts to replace Defoe with Haaland in such a first-round Premier League match?
Such courage and decisiveness, as well as the analysis of the match situation and precise tactical application, are truly outstanding!
As young assistant coaches who are also only in their thirties, Alonso and Alan Tate both felt that being by Coach Zhao's side, there was truly too much to learn!
And Coach Zhao was hugged and shaken by the two coaches for a long time, feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart.
After finally breaking free, he made his classic downward-pressing gesture:
"Basic operation, don't get excited, everyone sit down, sit down. The match has just begun, calm, stay calm."
Today's scene was indeed all within his "expectations," and there was indeed no need to be overly excited.
For this, he had used 4 simulation points in total!
But it was really hard for others to calm down.
Especially for Alonso, today was truly his first time participating in an official match as a Coach.
Over the past month or so, he had also put in a lot of effort, learning Coach Zhao's tactical ideas while instructing the players in training.
Now, with young Haaland scoring, Alonso truly realized what it meant to be happier and more excited on the sidelines than on the field!
It was probably like seeing your own child succeed...
And equally excited, of course, were the fans in the stands.
Even Sunderland fans who had doubts about Coach Zhao's starting lineup before the match were now completely immersed in the joy of the goal.
On the South Stand, huge flags were waving, and cheers were continuous.
As the live DJ shouted, "Goalscorer, Erling--", the fans on site followed by shouting the goalscorer's name:
"Haaland!"
"Haaland!"
"Haaland!"
...
One family rejoices, another grieves.
The home team was in a joyous uproar, while the away team, of course, was in a state of gloom.
And as Coach, Pellegrino was even a bit flustered.
As the Coach who had just taken charge of Southampton this season, his position was not particularly stable.
Especially since Southampton achieved excellent results last season, finishing eighth in the League and runner-up in the League Cup, and the squad remained stable with no player losses, the media and fans would certainly have higher expectations for the team's performance in the new season.
As Pellegrino, who was not a renowned Coach himself, although he did well with Alavés in La Liga last season, he had to prove himself in the Premier League.
If they could win this first match today, it would obviously be very helpful for him to raise his standing in the eyes of Southampton fans, players, and even the management.
But now, the situation was developing worse than he had imagined.
Sunderland had already scored and were leading, and they also held an advantage in terms of play.
His midfield lynchpin, James Ward-Prowse, seemed completely restricted, finding it difficult to link up with teammates, and striker Manolo Gabbiadini hadn't had a shot in a long time.
What to do?
How should he adjust?
Pellegrino was also a bit hesitant.
They were currently trailing, so they definitely needed to strengthen their attack and try to equalize as soon as possible, so they wouldn't be so passive in the second half.
But judging from Sunderland's performance over the past 20-plus minutes, they were aggressive in their pressing and solid in defense, seemingly not easy to break through their backline.
Moreover, the young players Sunderland fielded today, especially in the attacking line, all seemed to be fast, skilled dribblers, and good at counter-attacks.
Even that tall striker, Haaland, who just scored, his burst of speed earlier was truly fast!
One careless mistake, and they might concede a fatal counter-attack and lose another goal.
Yes, still need to mark that Haaland first.
This guy's ability to get a starting spot today suggests he truly has some skills.
As long as Van Dijk sticks to him tightly, perhaps it will be like the original plan of marking Defoe, significantly reducing Sunderland's attacking firepower.
As for other things, we'll talk about them after suppressing Sunderland's attacking momentum!
Thinking of this, Pellegrino quickly shouted to the field: "Van Dijk, you stick to that kid like glue, don't let him charge again!"
Van Dijk also nodded slightly towards the coaching bench, indicating he had received the message.
For Van Dijk, although Haaland was as strong as an ox and looked a bit intimidating, he had no fear in his heart.
It was just a moment of carelessness earlier!
He had already planned to make Haaland experience what it felt like to be "imprisoned" in the upcoming match, and now that the Coach had also arranged it this way, it was exactly what he wanted!
So, after the match restarted, Van Dijk began to stick to Haaland like a shadow.
Whether Haaland was standing in Southampton's penalty area or dropping back into his own half, Van Dijk kept a tight mark on him!
Van Dijk's overall ability was already superior to Haaland's, so this kind of "close attention" naturally made Haaland extremely annoyed.
However, Haaland still kept Coach Zhao's teachings in mind: don't be anxious, don't get a card, and especially don't get sent off!
So, even though he was entangled in a struggle with Van Dijk, he still diligently ran on the field, actively creating chances for his teammates, including pressing in the attacking third.
However, Coach Zhao on the sidelines had already keenly sensed that his "exchange plan" had officially been activated.
Haaland's goal was just the beginning; now was the start of the complete tactical plan he had devised for this match!
Coach Zhao stood up.
He walked near the touchline and began shouting towards Sancho and Robertson: "You two need to demand the ball more on this side, Robertson, you can push up a bit more, attack resolutely down the left wing!"
Firstly, because the recent goal was initiated by Foden from the right wing, Southampton was now defending that side very tightly.
Secondly, since Van Dijk was positioned as the right center-back, now that he was focused on dealing with Haaland, his support for his own right wing would decrease and become less timely.
So now, Coach Zhao wanted his left wing to get more of the ball and then break through the opponent!
To achieve this, in addition to utilizing Sancho's dribbling ability, it actually relied more on Robertson's overlapping runs from deep!
It's important to know that Robertson's future candidacy for "world's best left-back" wasn't just based on his defense—although his defense was indeed excellent.
Even though Hull City was relegated last season, Robertson still contributed an average of 1.6 tackles, 1.7 interceptions, and 2.3 clearances per game, making him one of the most eye-catching players in the backline.
It can be said that Robertson performed steadily and contributed defensively, with balanced defensive abilities and no obvious weaknesses, which was the basis for him to establish himself at Liverpool in the normal timeline.
However, for Robertson, stable defense could only be considered decent; his astonishing speed and abundant stamina were what made Klopp later very fond of him and made him a starter.
Fans who have watched Liverpool matches will definitely be impressed by Robertson, who constantly sprints down the left wing all over the pitch.
Whether at the start of the match or in the 90th minute, everyone often sees him making long runs with the ball or high-speed overlapping runs to receive and cross, or quickly tracking back defensively and tirelessly running back and forth in counter-pressing.
In addition to abundant stamina, Robertson's speed is also excellent; whether it's carrying the ball forward, off-ball movement, or tracking back and counter-pressing, his explosive start and sustained acceleration abilities are very strong.
Even towards the end of the match, his sprints show no signs of slowing down!
Then, more importantly, Robertson's passing ability is also excellent.
As a full-back who often needs to deliver dangerous passes, although his overall passing accuracy is decent, his accuracy in passes in the attacking third and his long-passing ability are quite impressive.
His number of key passes in matches has consistently ranked first in his position. It can be said that in the left-back position, Robertson already possesses top-tier chance creation ability.
With top-tier stamina, speed, and passing ability, Coach Zhao would naturally confidently allow him to make extensive overlapping runs to assist, forming a strong partnership with the wingers on both flanks, utilizing speed to create more space.
At the same time, Coach Zhao would also require his two defensive midfielders, especially Cattermole, to provide sufficient protection for Robertson's attacking runs.
As for Rodri, since his passing and distribution ability is stronger than Cattermole's, he would more often take on the task of the first pass after transitioning from defense to attack.
And just 10 minutes after Coach Zhao asked the team to strengthen the left-wing attack, the opportunity came.
After winning the ball in midfield, Sunderland once again got a chance for a quick counter-attack.
This time, Rodri delivered a diagonal long pass, distributing the ball to Robertson, who had overlapped on the left wing.
Because in the previous few encounters, Sancho had repeatedly dribbled through, making Southampton's right-back Cédric defend somewhat awkwardly, so he had focused more on left-winger Sancho.
But this time, Robertson's sudden high-speed overlap caught him a bit off guard.
This was also Coach Zhao's basic requirement for this young Sunderland team: to simplify the attack, emphasize long passes and quick counter-attacks, fully utilize the speed and width of both wings, quickly transfer the ball, and make full use of the open spaces on the opponent's defensive weak side to complete quick passes and attacks.
In other words, the speed of this transfer and attack was too fast!
Cédric rushed to block in a hurry, but it was still a bit late.
Robertson had already instantly reached the byline. At this point, Japanese center-back Maya Yoshida quickly moved to cover, but Robertson just briefly looked up at the penalty area and then crossed the ball!
In the center, Haaland was already in position, but still by his side was the ever-present Van Dijk, making it difficult for him to jump for the header.
But Robertson's pass was not intended for Haaland; it was for a position further back.
Foden!
This young Manchester City prodigy had come charging up from the other side.
At this moment, of Southampton's four defenders, one was still behind Robertson, one was in front of Robertson, one was beside Haaland, and the last one, left-back Bertrand, was closest to Foden, but still several meters away.
Seeing Foden deftly control the ball with his foot, Bertrand quickly came over to block, to prevent Foden from shooting immediately.
But Foden just lightly nudged the ball to his side, feinting past Bertrand, and then curled a shot towards the far corner!
Southampton's goalkeeper, Forster, soared through the air, but his fingertips couldn't reach the ball, which found the back of the net!
"Beautiful! What a beautiful curved shot!" James Jun exclaimed excitedly, "Foden, this young player Zhao Zhao loaned from Manchester City, has actually scored in his first official Sunderland appearance!"
"That was a really well-struck shot. Foden showed maturity beyond his years. A feint, a shift, and then a calm shot to the far corner. Even though Forster made a save attempt, he could only sigh in admiration at such a shot."
"The score is now 2-0, Sunderland is two goals ahead!"
After James Jun's loud commentary, Zhang Lu also said:
"Sunderland truly showed an impressive standard tonight, something we didn't see during the preseason."
"Perhaps Coach Zhao truly didn't care about the warm-up matches, only using them to test formations and tactics. Today's Sunderland is the real Sunderland!"
"Their tactical approach is very clear, and the passion and efficiency shown by the young players in attack and defense were not even visible in last season's miraculously relegated Sunderland."
"Of course, all of this is still thanks to Coach Zhao's guidance. Including his on-the-spot command just now, it was obvious that after Coach Zhao's shouts from the sidelines, Sunderland clearly strengthened their left-flank offense, and left-back Robertson also pushed further forward."
"It was precisely this 23-year-old Scotland defender's precise cross that found the young Foden, giving him the chance to break free and shoot with composure."
"Of course, even if Haaland didn't touch the ball at all during this scoring process, I still think he played a very good role in occupying the defense."
"As Southampton's most reliable defensive backbone, Van Dijk's energy and attention were completely focused on Haaland, which gave Haaland's teammates more space to perform."
"Oh, and Rodri's diagonal long pass was also crucial; it tore open Southampton's defense, allowing Sunderland to strike hard at their opponent's weakest point."
"I'm not particularly familiar with La Liga players outside of the top three teams, but now it seems this seemingly unassuming former Villarreal player has outstanding long-passing and distribution abilities in the defensive midfield position."
At this point, James Jun interjected, "Don't forget Sancho's sharp breakthroughs, which made Southampton's right-back Cédric a bit overwhelmed. Oh, and Ruben Dias, his defending is also very solid; he's made several excellent clearances already."
Zhang Lu chuckled:
"You're right. It seems all these new young players at Sunderland are playing really well today."
"When we heard that Zhao Zhao signed these lesser-known players, we all had doubts, and certainly many people, including myself, had questions when we saw the starting lineup just now."
"But now it seems Coach Zhao knew what he was doing. Otherwise, why is he the Premier League Coach and not me? Hehe. These newcomers can really play at an extremely high level in the game! It's truly admirable."
"This shows that Coach Zhao not only has superior ability in tactical concepts and on-the-spot command, but he also excels in player scouting, judging player potential, and the courage to bring in players!"
...
Amidst Zhang Lu's endless praise for Coach Zhao, the first half of the match drew to a close.
After Foden scored Sunderland's second goal, Pellegrino finally had his team slightly narrow their formation.
Pellegrino did this hoping to curb Sunderland's surging offense and overwhelming momentum, otherwise, if they conceded another goal, the second half would be unplayable.
And this method proved effective.
Southampton's formation flattened, and Sunderland's attacking and midfield players' operating space consequently shrunk, with no further goals scored by either side.
When the referee blew the whistle, both teams went into halftime with a 2-0 score.
Amidst the applause of the entire Sunderland crowd, Sunderland's players and Coach returned to the locker room.
-----------------
In the locker room, Coach Zhao praised everyone's performance in the first half and encouraged them to continue their efforts to secure the win:
"Southampton's overall strength is actually very strong; they were just stunned by us for a moment, but if they wake up, they definitely won't be as easy to deal with as in the first half."
"They will fight harder and press more fiercely in the second half. And we, we need to withstand that pressure, and then deliver another heavy blow to make them despair!"
"What do you say, everyone, do you want to stop here, or continue scoring?"
For many seasoned players, perhaps winning is the priority, and the number of goals doesn't matter much.
But Sunderland's young players, after leading by two goals, were already pumped up and shouting wildly:
"Goals! Of course, we want more goals, many more goals!"
Coach Zhao extended both hands and pressed them down:
"Then you must be patient. If you rush to attack, it will only make them tighten their defense even more, making it harder for you to score. So, in the second half, we will do this..."
After a brief tactical explanation, everyone nodded in agreement.
From the faces of these young people, only one word could be seen now:
Trust!
-----------------
Indeed, at the start of the second half, Sunderland did not immediately launch an attack.
They patiently controlled the ball in the midfield and defense, even actively retreating their formation to draw Southampton into attacking.
Southampton, then, did not hold back and immediately launched a fierce offensive!
After all, they were already two goals down, so further defending held little meaning.
At the same time, Pellegrino also wanted to seize the initiative, create chaos in Sunderland's half, and disrupt their rhythm while Sunderland was still settling in, hoping to turn the tide.
So, Southampton players began to push forward aggressively, creating high-intensity pressing and pressure on Sunderland's midfield and defense.
But with Coach Zhao's reminders, Sunderland's players were clearly well-prepared.
They calmly passed the ball around in their own half, using precise passes to break through the opponent's press.
In the 60th minute, Coach Zhao even substituted Ben White for Kone, allowing this "bad boy" to make his Premier League debut.
The objective of this substitution was clearly because, while Ben White might not be as strong or good at interceptions as Kone, his ball-playing ability was clearly superior.
In fact, when Ben White played right-back for Arsenal in the original timeline, he once contributed four goals and four assists in a single season, having the highest direct goal involvement among all defenders.
Such statistics inherently demonstrate Ben White's excellent attacking attributes.
When Southampton players started implementing their high press, pairing Ben White with Ruben Dias, who also has good passing, could clearly better accomplish the task of breaking the press.
Of course, at the same time, Sancho and Foden on the flanks, including defensive midfielder Rodri, would also frequently run into open spaces in the midfield to receive the ball, forming multiple triangular areas to make the ball circulation from the back even smoother.
With Sunderland's response, Southampton seemed to have few options.
Sometimes they could only rely on James Ward-Prowse's long-range shots, but these were all parried away by Pickford, who was in superb form today;
Sometimes Southampton simply resorted to high balls from 45 degrees to bombard, but Manolo Gabbiadini couldn't win any headers under the tight marking of Ruben Dias and Ben White!
When the match entered the 70th minute, Coach Zhao made another substitution.
And this time, it was two at once!
"Cattermole and Khazri are off, replaced by... Rice and Brahim Díaz."
"It seems this is a like-for-like substitution. Rice will play in the defensive midfield position, while Brahim Díaz will play as an attacking midfielder."
"Unlike some of the previously starting players, these two 18-year-old players had already appeared for their respective parent clubs' first teams before coming to Sunderland."
"Rice comes from West Ham United; he played for the team in the final round of the Premier League last season for... uh... 3 minutes. He came on as a substitute in the 91st minute."
"And Brahim Díaz comes from Manchester City; he has no Premier League appearances, only one appearance in the early rounds of the FA Cup. ...Well, they're not much better than Sancho and Foden."
"Anyway, today they will also make their debut at the Stadium of Light! Oh, this means all the new signings have made their appearances in just one match!"
"Based on their performance in the preseason, Rice seems to be more offensive in the defensive midfield position compared to his predecessor Cattermole, and he also likes to surge forward for a long-range shot."
"As for Brahim Díaz, he has more refined close control and better running ability than Khazri. In other words, they are both more adept at attacking than the original starting players."
"Bringing them on, is it to launch a counter-attack while Southampton has been attacking without success for so long?"
Indeed, after failing to score for a long time, Southampton had unconsciously slowed down their rhythm.
After all, players' stamina and energy are limited, making it difficult to maintain continuous high-intensity pressing and attacking for extended periods.
And at this moment, Coach Zhao brought on Brahim Díaz, who is good at running and dribbling, and Rice, who is better at organizing and long-range shooting, blowing the horn for a counter-attack!
At the same time, because Cattermole's stamina had declined significantly due to his active defending, using Rice could also better maintain the midfield screen, preventing Southampton from finding any opportunities.
And after Rice came on, he immediately started waving for the ball, and then, after receiving it, he organized and initiated attacks.
At this point, Rodri mostly provided protection alongside him.
In the 80th minute, just ten minutes after Coach Zhao's substitutions, the effect was evident.
Rice, after controlling the ball, shifted it to Southampton's right flank, which was Sunderland's left flank.
Sancho quickly surged forward, took the ball, and sprinted forward at high speed.
Southampton's right-back Cédric immediately ran over to block, and center-back Maya Yoshida also came over to assist in defending.
Sancho, however, did not force a breakthrough. He looked up, played a cut-back pass, sending the ball to the edge of the penalty area arc.
There, Brahim Díaz had already arrived!
The attacking midfielder, who had just come on, lifted his right leg, seemingly preparing to shoot!
Van Dijk could no longer just stick to Haaland; he quickly came over to close down the shooting angle.
But Brahim Díaz only made a fake shot and a real pass, gently pushing the ball to the side.
Who was it for?
Rice, surging from the second line, had already arrived at high speed, perfectly timing his run, and unleashed a powerful shot!
The ball, like a cannonball, flew directly into the top right corner of Southampton's goal.
Forster didn't even react, simply watching helplessly as the ball swiftly nestled into the net.
"Goal again!!! This time it's Rice! What a thunderous long-range shot!"
"This is truly a miraculous substitution! Rice has only been on the field for less than ten minutes!"
"And the player who assisted him, Brahim Díaz, also came on with Rice!"
"A connection between substitute players! Coach Zhao's magical substitutions reappear!"
As James Jun's excited shouts echoed, the entire Stadium of Light erupted once again.
All the Sunderland fans stood up, frantically waving their jerseys or scarves, and loudly chanting the name of the goal-scorer, Rice.
Perhaps before today, they were not very familiar with Haaland, Foden, Rice... these players;
But it doesn't matter, now they have firmly remembered the names of these young new signings!
Meanwhile, Southampton fans could only sit in their seats, tasting the bitterness of conceding the goal.
They knew in their hearts that this match was over.
And so it was.
After the final ten minutes of offense and defense, the referee blew the final whistle.
Ultimately, Sunderland defeated Southampton 3-0, securing a winning start to their Premier League season!