Football, like war, was a battle of morale. George Wood successfully defended against Henry in this one-on-one match, which greatly boosted the morale of the Forest players. Let them know that we are not much different from Arsenal. If the other team's captain, the strongest striker, could not take advantage of Wood, then Arsenal would be the same in front of our Forest team!
And Arsenal quickly made their adjustments. In the 67th minute, Wenger replaced Pennant with Freddie Ljungberg, who did not perform well. Even though the young player was from Nottingham, he received the most boos when he came off the field because he was a player trained by the Forest team's arch-rival, Notts County.
Wenger then brought on Reyes to replace Bergkamp, who was completely pinned down by George Wood and Albertini. When Reyes came on, Wenger pulled him back and asked him to pass a message to Fàbregas, "Calm down."
George Wood's excellent performance was not only reflected in his one-on-one defense against Henry, but also in his marking defense that caused Fàbregas to run into a wall several times. The Spanish young player really did not have a good way to deal with such an unreasonable defensive player.
But Wenger still insisted on leaving Fàbregas on the field. On one hand, he did not have a better candidate to replace the Spaniard, and on the other hand, Wenger thought that this game was a good training for Fàbregas. If Cesc wanted to become a player like Vieira, such a game was essential. He could only go further after going through the test, otherwise he would only be so-so.
It would be very helpful for him to calm down and learn to play more with his brain than his body. After all, Fàbregas's body was far worse than George Wood's, and there would be many such physical confrontations in various games in the future. If he could not perform at his normal level whenever he encountered a strong and aggressive opponent, such a player would not be able to achieve much.
The appearance of Freddie Ljungberg and Reyes increased Arsenal's offensive points and changed their previous weak situation on the flanks. Wenger's team was gradually regaining control.
But there did not seem to be much time left for them.
"The game has been going on for 75 minutes, and the score is still 1: 0. Nottingham Forest is leading Arsenal at home. The French team did not have much to do when facing the Forest team's tight defense, and they made a lot of mistakes. If this situation continues, it is only a matter of time before the Forest team gets their first three points of the season. "
Hmm, looks like it's only a matter of time …
The Forest players must be thinking the same thing in their hearts. Although theoretically speaking, it was not impossible for a newly promoted team to defeat the defending champion, the fact that they were able to defeat the defending champion, who had been undefeated for 42 consecutive matches still made these people feel excited.
The experienced veterans naturally knew how to deal with this kind of competition. They had experienced all kinds of situations. But there were too few such veterans in the Forest team. They could not stop the young players from thinking:
We are going to beat Arsenal! We are about to become the dark horse that will topple the defending champion! Our undefeated streak of forty-two rounds is about to come to an end!
What a tempting prospect …
Just like the mesmerizing appearance of Medusa, it made it difficult for the Forest youngsters to control themselves. They even forgot that they were still in the midst of a fierce game and what a dangerous beast their opponent was …
※ ※ ※
The game entered the 80th minute, and the Forest team still maintained their lead. The excited singing in the stands rose and fell without stopping.
Cracks finally appeared in the Forest team's oppressive defense due to the executors' lack of concentration, and more and more of them appeared. The specific manifestation was that the Arsenal players felt that the football could stay under their feet for a little longer. Sometimes, the Forest players would not even pounce forward to snatch the ball at the first instance. Instead, they would watch as they held onto the ball before deciding whether to snatch it up or retreat back to their positions.
Tang En smelled danger from it. He stood on the sidelines and roared loudly. At the same time, he constantly waved his arms. "Snatch! Snatch! Snatch! Snatch! Don't give them a chance to get the ball! Bastards! "
Tang En's request was for the strikers to carry out the oppressive strategy of snatching on the spot. However, Viduka and Eastwood were clearly not running as energetically as they had been at the start of the game. George Woodhead was running nonstop, but could he take care of the entire field alone? Albertini was also running, but he was, after all, 32 years old. Sometimes, the spirit was willing, but the strength was insufficient.
Ribéry, Ashley Young, Baines, Chimbonda … these people seemed to be unable to run anymore. In this match, they had been constantly plugging in and retreating, retreating and plugging in. Their stamina had indeed been greatly depleted. However, Tang En was still on the sidelines asking them to continuously snatch the ball. They could not give Arsenal the slightest chance. Why was the Forest team playing so well in the first 80 minutes? It was because they sacrificed their stamina to prevent Arsenal from finding the game rhythm they were familiar with.
Now that there was a problem with their stamina, Arsenal's rhythm was slowly finding its way back.
Fàbregas had also calmed down. He had no intention of going head-on with George Wood. If Wood came up and pressed too hard, he would immediately pass the ball out and create an opportunity to receive the ball through his own running. He would definitely not engage in a meaningless entanglement with Wood in the midfield.
Why were strong teams strong? Because they had more experience, because they were more patient …
After the panic in the first half, Wenger stabilized Arsenal's emotions through substitutions, even though Henry's two solo attempts were unsuccessful in the second half. Being at a disadvantage on the field did not make the Arsenal players panic. They were patiently waiting for the opportunity that belonged to them.
In the 83rd minute, after Pires and Henry did a one-two, they did not pass the ball into the crowded penalty area. Instead, they suddenly passed it outside. Gilberto Silva, who plugged in from the back, shot a long shot. It was too high! This was not the crux of the problem. What was important to note was that there were about three seconds before the Brazilian shot, and not a single Forest player went up to interfere.
Tang En was very dissatisfied with this situation and decided to make a substitution.
In the 84th minute, Aaron Lennon replaced Ashley Young. He continued to strengthen the threat on the flanks, hoping to use the younger Lennon to suppress Ashley Cole.
Lennon had just been replaced and had yet to touch the football when Arsenal launched another attack. Fàbregas and Freddie Ljungberg played together. After attracting George Wood's attention, he passed the ball to the Swede and continued to plug forward. It looked like he was going to do a one-two with Freddie Ljungberg. George Wood continued to close in on Fàbregas, not giving him a chance to receive the ball.
As expected, Ljungberg passed the ball back to Fàbregas. Under George Wood's close marking, Fàbregas quickly stopped and turned to protect the ball. Arsenal had already attacked outside the Forest penalty area. Fàbregas believed that Wood would not dare to foul here.
Gilberto saw that Fàbregas had control of the ball and pressed forward.
The Brazilian's long shot just now had sounded the alarm for the Forest players. So, this time, when he rushed up, Forest's center back, Upson, immediately closed in on him. Fàbregas also made a crosswise pass, which made Upson believe it. He took another step forward. At this moment, the Spanish young player suddenly used his heel to knock the football behind him. Separated by George Wood, the football penetrated the Forest team's defensive line. Henry received the ball in an unmarked situation!
No one expected it. Fàbregas was helpless against George Wood's defense throughout the game. The Forest players saw that Wood was entangled with his opponent and did not pay much attention to this side. Their attention was all attracted by Gilberto Silva, who plugged in from the back. Separated by Wood, with his back facing the direction of the attack, how did he see that there would be a gap there, and how did he know where Henry would appear?
No matter how Fàbregas did it, his pass allowed Henry to get his third individual goal in the game.
If he still could not score such a goal, he would not be Thierry Henry!
The Frenchman raised his leg to shoot. The football quickly slid past Darren Ward's hand along the turf, then hit the inside of the far end post and bounced into the goal!
"Beautiful! Arsenal equalized the score at the last minute!! Thierry Henry! The king of Arsenal, this may be a goal that sets a new record!! "
The stands on three sides of the City Ground stadium fell into silence. Only the stands on the other side where the away fans gathered were filled with cheers. The Arsenal players were celebrating wildly, while the Nottingham Forest players stood in place, unable to believe what they had seen.
They held on for 85 minutes, but still could not defend.
On the sidelines, Tang En, who saw his team lose the ball, smashed into the plexiglass partition on the side of the technical area. The anger and disappointment he felt could not be described in words. He only knew that he was angry, very angry. How could Upson rush up so recklessly?
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