Mourinho was unwilling to settle for a draw. When the game was about to enter injury stoppage time with 15 minutes left, he brought on the attacking players and continued to step up the offense. He hoped to blast open the Forest goal and end that embarrassing record before Tang En's last game.
Under his roar, the Manchester United players also realized that this was a game they had to win. If the Forest team succeeded in a sneak attack at the last minute, then the entire season's efforts would be in vain.
News of Arsenal leading the opponent by 2: 0 had come from another stadium. If there were no accidents, Arsenal would win.
Manchester United could not pin their hopes on others. They could only ensure that their fate was still in their own hands by fighting for goals themselves.
Seeing that Manchester United had stepped up their offense, Tang En stood up from his seat and whistled and gestured on the sidelines. Nottingham Forest shrank their defense and entered a defensive posture.
It was actually a defensive counterattack.
The stronger Manchester United's offense, the more opportunities the Forest team had. Tang En trained the team and taught them to be patient when the opponent had the upper hand on the field. As a hunter, nothing was more important than patience.
Therefore, even though Manchester United had stepped up their offense, the Forest team's defense showed no signs of panic. It was as if they had long been ready for Manchester United to attack.
During this time, Manchester United had no less than five shooting opportunities, but under the joint efforts of the Forest team, they did not threaten the Forest team's goal even once. The rear defensive line led by George Wood stood in front of the Manchester United players, making them feel hopeless.
Although Manchester United had the upper hand on the field, the Forest supporters were not worried that their team would concede a goal. It was just that some people felt that the possibility of the game being a draw was very high.
John Motson did not see it that way.
"I know Tony. I've been commentating on the Forest team's games for more than a decade. This scene in front of us is really nostalgic. "
The Forest team in front of them was being besieged by Manchester United. Why did it feel nostalgic?
"Nottingham Forest is simply like a spring. When the external force on them is stronger and they are compressed, the opponents should be wary of being hurt by the rebounding thorns. "
Mourinho clearly knew. He and Tang En had been opponents for more than a decade. How could he not see these signs?
He raised his wrist to look at his watch. There were less than five minutes left until the injury stoppage time, and the score was still 0: 0. Now he had to make a choice.
Should he continue to attack and strive to score a goal before the end of the match to win the match and end his fate? Or should they stop here, stabilize their defense, hold on to this draw, and win the league championship?
Mourinho did not think too long. As the manager of Manchester United, he quickly made the right choice. Compared to personal grudges, the benefits of the team were more important. What could be more important than fighting for the league title?
Mourinho thought of this and walked to the sidelines, ready to convey his latest instructions.
Slightly ahead of him, Tang En had already walked to the sidelines and shouted, "George!!!"
Wood heard Tang En's shout in the noisy environment. Although he was already fifty years old, the chief's hoarse voice had a special frequency that could penetrate the noisy environment and clearly reach Wood's ears.
Seeing Wood turn his head to look at him, Tang En did not waste any words. He just waved his hand and said, "Attack, mate!"
Seeing this gesture, Wood did not say anything, but Bell was already excited. In the second half, he was closer to the technical area, so he heard Tang En's words clearly. He simply followed the chief's example and waved his hand forward, shouting, "Attack, mates!!"
At this time, it was time for Manchester United to attack.
Wood and Chen Jian rushed at Adrien, who had the ball almost at the same time. This scene was not common. Previously, when the Forest team defended, one person went up to intercept the ball, and the other person protected at the side, waiting for the opportunity to pick up the loose ball.
Adrien was a little flustered by the Forest team's sudden move. After he pushed the football to the left to avoid Chen Jian's right leg, he bumped into Wood. In his panic, he lost the ball under his feet.
When Wood saw Adrien collide with him, he turned his body sideways and used the force to separate Adrien from the football. Just like that, he intercepted the opponent's ball.
Wood, who intercepted the ball, used his heel to knock the ball to Chen Jian behind him. The ball passed right under Adrien's feet. He looked at the football but could do nothing.
After Chen Jian got the ball, he did not dribble the ball himself. Instead, he directly passed the ball to the front and gave it to Mitchell. At this time, Manchester United had just completed an attack. Mourinho's latest instructions had not been issued, so the players did not know that they should retreat. Therefore, the Manchester United players reacted a little slowly on the point of returning to defend.
Mitchell stopped the football and turned around. He began to dribble the ball forward. His strides were big and his footwork was excellent. With a height of more than two meters, he did not struggle to control the ball. After he took big strides, Manchester United's defender, Evans, could not keep up.
Seeing this scene, Mourinho changed his mind at the last minute. He did not yell "pay attention to the defense" on the sidelines. Instead, he yelled, "Foul!!"
It was the wisest choice to foul early before they entered the penalty area to stop the Forest team's attack. It did not matter even if he received a red card because of it. Anyway, there were only a few minutes before the end of the game. He just had to grit his teeth and persevere.
Evans seemed to hear Mourinho's yell on the sidelines. He reached out to pull Mitchell and shoveled the ball under his feet. He succeeded in disrupting Mitchell's breakthrough, but he did not succeed in controlling the football under his feet. He shoveled the ball in the other direction.
Balotelli, who plugged in from behind, received the ball that Evans shoveled. Manchester United's other center back, Cathcart, did not expect the ball that Evans shoveled to fall at Balotelli's feet. He had been preparing to intercept Mitchell from the front. Now, he had to hastily adjust his direction and pounce on the Italian.
Balotelli saw that Cathcart could not come up for a while, so he dribbled a few steps forward. He ran near the top of the penalty area and suddenly lifted his leg for a long shot!
Manchester United's goalkeeper, Ruffini, had long anticipated Balotelli's move. He soared into the air and punched the ball back with both fists.
The Nottingham Forest fans in the stands let out a huge sigh. It was a pity that the attack did not score.
Many people regretfully held their heads in their hands.
But in the next second, they stretched out their hands and pointed to the sky again.
Guess what they saw?
In everyone's field of vision, Nottingham Forest's number 13, the man wearing the golden armband, appeared in front of the football's landing point like a divine soldier descending from the sky. Then, he swung his right leg to meet the football.
"George _ WOOOOOO — —"
Motson stood up from his seat. He dragged out his voice and shouted in a way that did not belong to an English commentator.
He could not predict the future, but when he saw Wood's posture of swinging his leg to meet the ball, there was a sudden rush of passion in his chest, and he blurted out as soon as he opened his mouth.
He just wanted to shout.
The football fell. Wood did not dilly-dally to adjust here and there. Instead, he directly volleyed at the football!
At this moment, Ruffini had just landed on the ground and was struggling to get up, ready to pounce on the ball again.
The football swept past the ear of the left back, Fabio, who came to replace the defense. The strong wind scratched the Brazilian's ear and made him grimace.
Ruffini struggled to jump up, but his jumping height was limited due to lack of power. The football flew over his head. There was no suspense on this side …
“WOOOOOAL！！！”
The football fiercely hit the net, swinging the white net and also swinging the arms of countless Forest fans in the stands.
Those white arms waved, like a gale blowing through Sherwood Forest, making a loud wind sound — —
"Boom —!!"
"George Wood! George Wood! A goal in the 88th minute! Nottingham Forest leads by 1: 0! Leading by 1: 0! Manchester United's championship dream is in jeopardy … No, it can almost be said to be shattered! "
"That's a powerful blow! George Wood has scored his eleventh goal of the season! "
"Aha! This is an unbelievable scene. Mourinho has lost to Tony Twain once again. Is this fate? Can anyone still say no? "
The commentators expressed their opinions on the goal.
After the television camera gave Wood more than ten seconds, it immediately cut to the sidelines and focused on the performance of the two managers.
Mourinho angrily threw away the notebook in his hand. He always wrote and drew in it when he was directing the game. Now that the notebook was useless, he threw it to the sidelines and used it as a tool to vent his anger.
Tony Twain, who was next door, rushed out of the technical area with his arms raised and hugged the people around him. It was obvious that he was excited. There was nothing more perfect than ending his coaching career with a victory.
"Congratulations to Tony Twain. Congratulations to him for achieving victory in the last game." In the eyes of these commentators, Mourinho's team was bound to lose. If Mourinho could hear the voices of these commentators, it would not be as simple as throwing away the notebook. He would definitely feel that he had received a great insult — the game was not over yet, and a bunch of bastards could not wait to announce his defeat. How could he not be angry?
But no matter how angry he was, he could only endure the cheers and celebrations of his opponents. So, his face was ashen from holding back.
On the other side, the Nottingham Forest people were wantonly celebrating.
George Wood broke free from the hugs and pursuit of his teammates and sprinted all the way. He kept waving his hands along the way, indicating for the people in front of him to quickly move aside.
Then he crashed head first into Twain's arms.
He rushed so quickly that when he crashed into Twain, Twain grimaced in pain.
"George, you're really …"
He felt Wood's arm tighten around him, so tight that he could not speak.
But he did not remind Wood that he had used too much force. He just grinned and endured it. To outsiders, it really looked like he was smiling.
Tang En did not know how long Wood had been hugging him. When he finally let go, he let out a long breath.
But he did not complain about anything. He just patted Wood on the back.
Wood's action reminded the other players. After Wood and Twain finished hugging, the person who rushed up to hug the boss was Gareth Bale, then Joe Mattock, Aaron Mitchell, Mario Balotelli … There were still people queuing up behind them. It looked like everyone wanted to come up and hug Twain. If this went on, by the time Manchester United could kick off, the game would have entered injury stoppage time.
The referee had to intervene.
"Gentlemen, I know how you're feeling right now, but the game has to go on." The referee was actually in a difficult position. In the Forest Team's home ground, he could not be too harsh with his words. He could only tactfully persuade the players to go back.
But here, his influence was far from enough.
No one made the slightest reaction to his words.
Twain, of course, saw the troubled referee behind the crowd. This was his last game, and he did not want anything to go wrong. So he stopped the players who wanted to come up and hug him. "Well, guys, by the time you've all hugged, the sky will be bright." Although he thought he said it humorously, no one laughed.
Everyone just looked at him.
"Go back." Twain did not say anything more. He waved his hand, turned around, walked back to the technical area, and sat down.
Seeing him like this, the players also knew that they could only return to the field to continue the game.
When they all reluctantly returned to the field, Twain stood up again and yelled at the field, "Don't let your imagination run wild! If the opponent equalizes at the last minute, I'll make you pay! "
He could see that many people were not in the mood to continue fighting, so he reminded them again.
In fact, he was overthinking.
In the last few minutes, although Manchester United wanted to fight back, their offense was disorganized and they fought separately. Mourinho was also at his wit's end. He could only keep shrugging his shoulders on the sidelines. In the end, he simply sat in the technical area and did not get up, silently watching everything that was happening on the field.
Looking at the Manchester United players who blindly shot long shots and ran on the field, he suddenly had a feeling that "the game was over."
How strange. They still could not beat Tony Twain like this!
He clenched his hands tightly, unaware that his knuckles had turned white.
Soon, he heard the referee's whistle. The next second was the second whistle, and the next second, three whistles, and the game was over.
※ ※ ※
PS: Today's update is complete. Tomorrow is the last day of "The Godfather of Champions" to accompany everyone. Tomorrow's plan is to release the final chapter of the finale, epilogue, and epilogue together. At this point, the book is completely written. Thank you for your support and attention every day for more than two years.
Thank you for accompanying Tony and me to the end. Thank you!
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