The day after Cambridge United and Tottenham Hotspur shook hands and made peace, the first round of the Premier League also fully commenced.
Wolves ultimately lost 2-3 at home to visiting Arsenal. Although they lost the match, Warnock's team did not fall behind in this game.
Birmingham, the last team to enter the Premier League, lost 0-2 away to Stoke City.
After the first round, the three promoted teams had one draw and two losses, which was not an ideal result.
With the end of this round of the Premier League, Chen Kai also concluded his first trip to England.
Back at Heathrow Airport, the members expressed their sincere gratitude for Cambridge United's warm hospitality.
The experiences of several members at Cambridge United were even made into a short film by the club, which sparked heated discussions in China!
Furthermore, Cambridge United even offered Premier League match tickets and flight tickets as prizes in some events, greatly stimulating everyone's enthusiasm to participate!
Unintentionally, Cambridge United surpassed the giants who had been deeply cultivating the Chinese market for many years, becoming the hottest English club in China today!
When Huang Hao learned that the official domestic account had begun to earn original revenue with its nearly ten million followers, he was utterly dumbfounded!
Even Ouyang Bing hadn't expected such a branch to appear in the club's revenue report!
Back then, when Cambridge United was just formed, even the match highlights were recorded and uploaded by Li Jianqin himself. All of this has undergone earth-shattering changes in four years!
And just as Chen Kai and others boarded their flight back home, the Premier League summer transfer window also closed.
Cambridge United's uneventful transfers obviously did not cause any ripples.
Manchester City, on the other hand, spent 25.5 million pounds to sign Argentinian international Tevez from Manchester United, undoubtedly becoming the most expensive transfer of the summer.
Envy aside, Huang Hao was now busy with Cambridge United's first Premier League home game three days later. And just then, news came from the ticketing department that tickets for Cambridge United's home match against Portsmouth had already sold out!
This meant that Cambridge United's fan base had already exceeded 26,000!
Hearing this somewhat shocking news, Huang Hao could only sigh that the pressure on his shoulders would be even greater in the future.
Compared to the financially struggling Cambridge United, the equally struggling Burnley, after winning their Premier League entry ticket this season, also adhered to the principle of spending little to achieve great things, splurging 8 million pounds to sign six players in one go!
Among them were experienced mainstays like Roger Johnson and young players on loan like Cristian Benítez!
Losing to Stoke City in the first round showed that Burnley still had a long way to go to adapt to the Premier League.
On August 19th, Huang Hao, standing in Selhurst Park, always had a feeling of playing away from home.
But looking at the familiar yellow jerseys in the stands and the Cambridge United flags waving everywhere, Huang Hao could finally confirm that this was indeed Cambridge United's home ground.
If in the last match, Cambridge United, though earning a point, played too defensively and stiflingly.
Then in this home match, Cambridge United experienced the thrill of Tottenham!
Although Cambridge United and Birmingham had exchanged wins and losses in their two EFL Championship encounters, none of this affected Cambridge United's ability to dominate their opponent on the pitch!
Cambridge United utilized their most effective high-press, firmly taking control of the game from the very beginning.
And Birmingham, due to the influx of many new players, made frequent mistakes under Cambridge United's press, and the little chemistry they had just developed completely disappeared!
After only 17 minutes into the match, Barry Ferguson, who was on the attack, was brought down by a flying tackle from Sun Jihai!
Sun Jihai, who successfully won the ball, immediately sent a long overhead pass from the backfield!
Lewandowski easily defeated Johnson, who had just joined Birmingham in the summer, and drove straight in with the ball!
Facing the advancing goalkeeper Hart, Lewandowski easily pushed the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, scoring his first Premier League goal!
1-0!
Cambridge United did not make their home fans wait too long, delivering the first home goal!
Five minutes later, Cambridge United came back strong!
It was again the team's most effective set-piece tactic!
Tadić sent the ball to the edge of the penalty area, where Vardy, who had already positioned himself, met the ball with a powerful shot!
Although Hart successfully parried the ball, it rebounded to Van Dijk's feet, who was guarding the goalpost!
Van Dijk, at this moment, did not hesitate with Hart, directly deflecting the ball into the goal!
2-0!
Cambridge United effortlessly extended their lead to two goals!
After taking the lead, Cambridge United's mentality became more relaxed, while Burnley barely had any decent attacking opportunities in the first half!
The happiest people about Cambridge United's strong performance were undoubtedly the fans who had just become Cambridge United supporters!
Fans who were tired of watching the performances of several London giants suddenly discovered such a powerful team with cheap ticket prices, which was like finding a treasure!
Although Birmingham managed to pull a goal back in the second half through a penalty, scored by Casley. But just two minutes later, an overly excited Casley received his second yellow card for fouling Golonas in defense, earning a red card and an early exit!
Birmingham, already on the back foot, now had no desire to fight on and hastily ended the match.
Ultimately, Cambridge United won the battle of the promoted teams with an absolute advantage, securing their first home victory as desired.
Throughout the match, Cambridge United had 23 shots on goal! If the players hadn't played somewhat casually after taking the lead, Birmingham would have probably been completely overwhelmed.
However, for Huang Hao, revealing their strength too early was not necessarily a good thing. After all, as opponents gained a full understanding of Cambridge United, the difference in player ability would gradually be magnified.
How to carve out a living space amidst the giants would also be Huang Hao's biggest task this season.
After securing their first victory against Birmingham, the entire Cambridge United team naturally received a day off as a reward the next day.
Cambridge United's third League Cup opponent was Bolton, who were currently ranked 15th in the League, having only managed one draw in their first two rounds.
Founded in 1874, Bolton had won a few championships, but they were all quite a long time ago.
Huang Hao did not spend too much effort researching Bolton, as Cambridge United was not a team that frequently changed formations. Except when facing strong opponents, they mostly played a style focused on their own strengths.
In Huang Hao's opinion, Bolton was clearly not a strong opponent.
On August 22nd, after three days of rest, Cambridge United, led by Huang Hao, confidently arrived at Macron Stadium.
However, after the match began, Huang Hao gradually realized that he had underestimated the game.
Just like before the match, Huang Hao had wondered why Bolton would still prefer to use their 35-year-old veteran goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen as their first-choice goalkeeper instead of a new player.
When the match reached the 25th minute, Vardy successfully beat the offside trap and entered the penalty area alone with the ball. However, the veteran Jääskeläinen calmly saved Vardy's one-on-one shot, ending Cambridge United's seemingly certain attack.
It was then that Huang Hao realized the value of this veteran.
Precisely at this moment, Cambridge United's goalkeeper Pantilimon felt a sharp stabbing pain in his abdomen after landing from a subsequent save!
Seeing Pantilimon lying on the ground, Huang Hao vaguely sensed something was wrong. The initial examination by the team doctor was not optimistic; Pantilimon was suspected of having a strained abdominal muscle and, to be safe, could not continue the match.
Helplessly, Huang Hao could only bring on the young goalkeeper Oblak as an emergency substitute.
“Don't be nervous, just pretend it's a youth team match!”
Darren patted Oblak's shoulder and pushed him towards the fourth official.
The 16-year-old Oblak nodded mechanically. This was indeed not his first match for Cambridge United, but all those were in the youth team, in U23 matches!
Moreover, this was the Premier League!
Fortunately, Bolton did not intensify their attack after the match resumed.
They seemed to be in no hurry to pressure Cambridge United. The players' performance on the field gave Huang Hao the strongest impression of stability!
Especially stable!
Both offense and defense appeared orderly, unhurried.
Although a lapse in concentration in the first half gave Vardy a clear one-on-one opportunity, for most of the time, Bolton's defense showed no obvious weaknesses. They had thoroughly studied Cambridge United's attacking routes, successfully neutralizing Mahrez and Tadić on both wings.
Cambridge United did not seem to be at a disadvantage in terms of possession, but their attacks felt like hitting a soft wall, instantly absorbed into nothingness.
After 35 minutes into the match, Gary Megson's team suddenly intensified their offensive!
Huang Hao was startled and turned to look at Bolton's Head Coach. Megson was calmly sitting on the bench, clearly indicating that all of this had been meticulously planned before the match!
Although Cambridge United's players were mainly young, they needed to run about twice as much as ordinary players in every match due to their high-press tactics.
It was precisely this fighting spirit that allowed Huang Hao's team to overcome opponent after opponent.
However, Cambridge United's weakness was also very obvious: in the latter part of the first half, especially in the last 10 minutes or so, Cambridge United's defensive intensity would often be significantly affected due to physical fatigue.
Huang Hao was naturally well aware of this, but apart from strengthening physical training, there was no better solution in the short term. Fortunately, most teams did not exploit this subtle change in Cambridge United, and over time, Huang Hao had become somewhat complacent.
And today, this young Bolton Head Coach had clearly conducted a very detailed study of Cambridge United. What Huang Hao had worried about after the last match was now becoming a reality.
In the 41st minute of the first half, Lee Chung-yong, who had transferred from FC Seoul to Bolton this season, received a throw-in from Robinson and prepared to break into Cambridge United's penalty area.
Kante, seeing this, charged forward without hesitation, executing a beautiful slide tackle!
Although Kante successfully dispossessed Lee Chung-yong, Robinson immediately followed up and intercepted the ball!
To counter Cambridge United's high-press, Bolton had strengthened player support and protection in this match. Balls that were tackled away by Cambridge United players would quickly fall back to Bolton players responsible for support.
Muanba and Lee Chung-yong repeatedly exchanged passes at the edge of Cambridge United's penalty area, patiently looking for a gap in Cambridge United's defense.
Just as Lee Chung-yong received Muanba's pass for the third time, taking advantage of Tadić's momentary inattention, Bolton's left-back Robinson directly darted past him towards the penalty area!
Lee Chung-yong seemed to have eyes in the back of his head!
As soon as Robinson stepped into Cambridge United's penalty area, Lee Chung-yong turned and pulled the ball back, timely passing it to Robinson's feet!
Upon receiving the ball, Robinson charged directly towards Oblak!
When only about one meter away from Oblak, Robinson took a powerful shot!
Oblak instinctively squatted down and extended his left foot. The ball, after hitting Oblak's left foot, deflected and struck the outer edge of the left post, going out for a goal kick. Cambridge United narrowly escaped! A huge sigh instantly erupted in the somewhat confined Dean Court, as if the ground itself trembled!
Less than two minutes after Bolton had a golden scoring opportunity, Davis found another chance to score!
Fortunately, Van Dijk's timely return defense affected Davis's shot, and the ball hit the side netting without much danger!
And just then, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half!
Cambridge United also got 15 minutes to adjust.
Huang Hao walked into the locker room with a gloomy face, but this time, he was not dissatisfied with his players, but rather with his own somewhat overconfident self!
Huang Hao kept asking himself, who gave him the courage to be so proud?!
Huang Hao looked at his somewhat dejected players and slowly said:
“Today, I want to apologize to you.”
Hearing the Head Coach's inexplicable words, the players looked at Huang Hao with surprise.
“I don't know if it's because our journey to the Premier League was too smooth, which made me underestimate the Premier League a bit.”
Some of the players, who had all been looking at Huang Hao, seemed to have been accurately struck by Huang Hao's words, and their eyes instantly darted away.
“So I need to apologize to you, including today's match against Bolton. Although we deployed our tactics as planned, I still didn't take this team seriously in my heart.”
“But I just took a closer look at their starting lineup and casually checked their current market values.”
“Lee Chung-yong, 2.2 million pounds; Davis, 5.5 million pounds; Muanba, 4.5 million pounds; Cahill, 3.75 million pounds; Knight, 4 million pounds.”
As Huang Hao listed the market values of Bolton's players one by one, the players' expressions gradually became serious.
“Seeing the 1.25 odds, we all want to work hard to prove that we are by no means just an ordinary relegation-battling team.”
“But, we must also revere and respect every opponent. This is not just for you, but also for myself.”
At this moment, Huang Hao chose to bare his heart to the players.
After all, he was only 32 years old. Although people often overlooked Huang Hao's age, he would also, like any ordinary person, feel proud and triumphant.
