A stone was thrown into the calm water, the ripples hitting the shore before slowly returning to peace.
Life went on, day by day.
Apart from some occasional ripples when they encountered each other in their daily lives, Gao Bo's work continued as usual.
October 10th, League Matchday 11, another away game. Luton would be challenging the Seagulls, Brighton, away from home.
Brighton's form in the recent league matches had been poor; they had suffered four consecutive away defeats before this game. However, at the Withdean Stadium, Brighton had not lost any of their six matches so far – their home record was three wins and three draws, accumulating twelve points from six games. This home record placed them among the top teams in the League One standings, but their poor away form was clearly dragging them down.
As expected, playing at home, Brighton's combat strength was quite fierce. They went into the changing room at halftime with a one-nil lead – Brighton used a set piece from the attacking third to put the ball into Luton's net. Afterwards, spurred on by their home fans, they defended against Luton's fierce attacks and successfully maintained their lead into the second half.
In fact, in the second half, Brighton's defense remained strong, and it wasn't until the seventy-eighth minute that Luton finally scored.
Kevin Keane's long-range shot from the right side of the penalty area finally found its way through Brighton's goal.
After equalizing, Luton pushed forward aggressively, hoping to score again in the final moments and complete the comeback.
Brighton, however, stood united, their undefeated home record giving the players confidence, and their defense was watertight.
But ultimately, Brighton's undefeated home run was broken in the ninety-second minute, with only two minutes remaining until the end of the match.
After winning the ball in the attacking third, Kante carried it forward himself.
Brighton's defenders were marking Luton's attacking players very tightly; they knew Kante was a defensive player and that even after winning the ball, he would pass it to Luton's attackers.
It was this oversight that left Kante unmarked.
And Kante simply took a shot from outside the box. The ball just happened to pass through the dense crowd in the penalty area and nestled into the net from the corner!
Kante scored the winner!!!
Gao Bo breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines. The Withdean Stadium was indeed a difficult away ground to conquer. Luton had secured a hard-fought victory at this stadium.
Meanwhile, good news that delighted everyone at Luton came from another match.
Charlton drew nil-nil with Leeds United in this round of the league!
With this result, Luton's three points put them one point ahead of Leeds United, placing them in second place in the standings. Currently, Luton's record is eight wins and three draws, accumulating twenty-seven points, two points behind Charlton and one point ahead of Leeds United, ranking second in the league.
In the upcoming league matches, as long as their opponents make a slight mistake, Luton will climb to the top of the table!
This gave the players great encouragement!
October 14th, League Matchday 12, Luton hosted their old rivals from last season, Wycombe Wanderers, who were promoted to League One with them.
Facing this team, Luton's confidence was even greater. Against the opponent's parked bus, Luton showed great patience. Finally, in the first half, Drinkwater's long-range shot helped the team penetrate the opponent's defense.
After taking the lead, Luton's game became easier. Wycombe Wanderers conceded goals consecutively in the second half. Griezmann scored directly from a free kick to extend the lead, and then Vardy beat the offside trap to score a one-on-one goal, sealing the victory.
Wycombe Wanderers scored a consolation goal from a counter-attack a minute before the end of the match.
After this match, Luton fans turned their attention to Charlton. For Luton fans, winning the League One title would also be a very happy event.
However, Charlton's performance was stable; they did not relinquish their top spot.
Gao Bo, on the other hand, wasn't paying much attention to the status of their two league rivals, as the league season wasn't even halfway through yet, and looking at the standings now didn't really mean much.
October 17th, Luton traveled away again, this time their opponent was Milton Keynes.
Speaking of which, Milton Keynes, formerly Wimbledon, didn't have any historical animosity with Luton. However, since Wimbledon relocated to the current Milton Keynes, the two geographically close teams gradually developed into local rivals.
Gao Bo didn't have much of an impression of Milton Keynes; in fact, he didn't have much of an impression of Wimbledon either – his impressions of that place were mostly from tennis tournaments.
However, before heading to Milton Keynes, John gave Gao Bo a history lesson on Milton Keynes.
Wimbledon was nicknamed 'The Crazy Gang', but another nickname was 'The Dons'. After the Taylor Report in 1991, top-flight teams needed all-seater stadiums. Wimbledon, originally in southwest London, had to share a stadium with another London team, Crystal Palace. This temporary arrangement lasted for 12 years. By 2003, Wimbledon finally decided to move 90 kilometers north to Milton Keynes because there were no major teams there, making it an important market to fill. This caused a huge public outcry among British football fans, as Wimbledon was a well-known club. Many fans were unwilling to leave London and were also dissatisfied that Wimbledon had rejected some site options offered by the local council.
In this situation, the original Wimbledon fans, like the Manchester United fans who formed 'F.C. United of Manchester' after the Glazers' takeover, formed their own team called 'AFC Wimbledon'. Since Milton Keynes inherited Wimbledon's original league status, AFC Wimbledon started playing from the ninth tier.
Initially, the Milton Keynes team, much like Russia inheriting the status of the former Soviet Union, claimed to have inherited all of Wimbledon's history since its founding in 1889. However, this was met with fierce opposition from the original Wimbledon loyalists. Ultimately, Milton Keynes and the fans' association reached a compromise: Milton Keynes abandoned its claim and set its founding date as 2004. This means the Milton Keynes team that defeated Manchester United is officially just over five years old.
"You're saying Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes and then changed its name?" Gao Bo found it a bit confusing.
He wasn't really interested in the history of Milton Keynes; the information he had on hand was all about the current Milton Keynes team. This season, Milton Keynes's performance was good. Under the leadership of young manager Paul Ince, they had seven wins, two draws, and three losses after twelve league matches, accumulating twenty-three points and ranking fifth in the league.
"Exactly." John clearly disliked this team. Since this noisy neighbor moved to Milton Keynes, Luton fans had been very disgusted with them.
Although it had only been less than six years since this team moved next door to Luton, in these six years, Milton Keynes had successfully risen to the second position among the teams most disliked by Luton fans.
And in fact, from the perspective of Milton Keynes fans, they also disliked Luton.
Two geographically close teams quickly developed into rivals....
In the football world, it's rare for neighbors to have good relationships....